Here’s some aloe for that sweet, sweet, burn:
Also, what is the correlation between extractive industries like mining and logging and the “right” to statehood? I’d like to hear what rhode island and other states have to say to the gentleman from Wyoming…
JFC, if this were in a satire article I would cringe and say it was over the top, but we just lived through it…
Holy fucking fuck.
I work in a largely white male field, and I can tell anyone who wants to hear that (not all) older white men take the gold medal for “victim mentality.” Any meeting I’ve facilitated, and there have been plenty, the whiniest, least willing to look for solutions but most willing to point out problems or make excuses for why shit couldn’t get done group is older white men.
I did not know getting into this that I would essentially be baby sitting for a fair part of my work time.
The list of questions these students were asked to respond to is reprehensible. Like, throw up in my mouth reprehensible. 
Another traffic stop turned into an assault. The survivors have to keep hitting municipalities in the wallet until the whole driver fails to immediately pull over = police chase followed by use of excessive force pattern is eliminated.
Another problem solved by defunding police. If they aren’t burdened with traffic enforcement, then this scenario, and the ones like it, go away.
Gotta figure out a better revenue stream for municipalities who can’t make do without those sweet, sweet traffic ticket dollars.
How about, I don’t know, I’m spitballing here…Taxes?
they don’t really even need the money i think. it’s more just pure and simple corruption.
the towns are incorporated basically for the purpose of pulling over drivers and extracting money. the town council and the police get most of the cash ( including civil forfeitures ) while the locals get a few nice things in return – say a community center or a park – as a bribe.
as an additional benefit, you usually get cops who play nice with the mayor’s friends and who are willing to harass anybody the mayor doesn’t like.
jersey might be the worst – pine valley for instance has 12 residents and 6 full time police – but i remember reading the twin cities have a large number of jurisdictions you have to cross. each one looking to give someone a ticket.
to fix racial profiling and all the bad by design apples you have to fix it in each and every town – which is basically impossible. the structure has to change. give all traffic tickets to the state, and those police would disappear overnight.
No kidding, right?
Still, they are known to bite the hand that feeds them when elected officials make decisions they don’t like. We’ve seen police unions and associations threaten elected officials when they start talking about defunding. Remember the sick-outs, quitting, and other tactics they’ve used to get back at pols?
That’s when they figure out what the rest of us have known all along - the cops are only in it for themselves (blue line, blue lives, etc.). No amount of past favors exchanged will cover taking away their power, jobs, guns, and perks (like kickbacks or immunity). Until cops get the message that they’re not the ones in charge at any level of government, and that their job is not to play judge, jury, or executioner, they’ll keep abusing their authority.
In the meantime, I just wonder what Black people facing enraged officers could use to de-escalate and escape injury or death. Personal N2O canisters? Blasting stress-reducing tunes on the stereo? Custom camouflage clothing?
Abolition of police is a goal I get behind, but in the meantime, actual reform sounds good.
It’s just a thought
This is why everything outside of Pittsburgh and Philly is called Pennsyltucky:
Pittsburgh on one end, Philly on the other, Alabama in between. As it was, so it shall be. My family is from PGH, and seeing all the Trump signs (still) up between here and there is disheartening to say the least.
According to the indictment, Hillman stopped officers from saving Wilson as he hung himself with his bedsheet inside his cell.
The cell was opened a minute later but Hillman allegedly ordered the officer to remain outside, saying Wilson was faking it because he was still breathing, prosecutors said.
She called for non-emergency backup and ordered the door closed while Wilson remained hanging inside, but by the time medical personal arrived, Wilson was dead, the indictment said.
So I guess the fact that she is at least being prosecuted is a good thing, but holy shit, REALLY??
