Looters of America

It was a calm day and night in Charm City yesterday. That doesn't mean there were no protests -- there were. Good, disciplined, strong protests. But there was no repeat of this past Monday night with burnings and lootings and violence and mayhem. The National Guard is still here, and the curfew is still in effect, though many businesses, especially bars and restaurants have appealed to the city to lift the curfew. So far, that's not happening. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said that she's not averse to lifting it early if conditions warrant it. Meanwhile, there's plenty of looting going on elsewhere: 

More Ways You Can Help Baltimore

St. Peter Claver /St. Pius V church on N. Freemont Ave. as food is gathered to be given out to people in the Sandtown community of West Baltimore. Photo by Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun.

First of all, another shout-out to the reporters and photographers of the Baltimore Sun, who have been doing such an impressive job of covering the protests and riots (two different things, by the way). Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was going to send you a bouquet of flowers but decided a better use of that money is for some of the worthy groups/causes outlined in these two articles -- I hope other people will be encouraged to donate as well:

How to help: donation and volunteer opportunities in the aftermath of riots

Heaps of donations for first responders, residents affected by riots

You Can Help Baltimore Neighborhoods

From Pamela Wood of the Baltimore Sun:

The state's Department of Human Resources set up a hotline for people in Baltimore needing help with food, emergency assistance, or concerns for children or the elderly. 

Dancing, Singing, Chanting, Drumming PEACEFUL Protests in Baltimore Now

(Photo by Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun) 

I'm writing this on Tuesday, April 28th, at 7:45 pm (and yes, I know the night is young, and things could still change). There are several huge, celebratory, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-age, peaceful protests going on in Baltimore now. Singing, dancing, chanting, drumming, chess-playing, roller-skating, voter registration, and those great, vibrant, colorful, gotta-see-em-to-believe-em proud black marching bands. And signs with Freddie Gray's face, and chants of "Black Lives Matter! White Lives Matter! Brown Lives Matter! All Lives Matter!"

From the Baltimore Sun's excellent, indispensable Livefeed -- thank you, Sun reporters! -- check it out: 

Quit Telling Us To Burn Down Baltimore

Large group of volunteers cleaning up burnt CVS in Baltimore, Photo by J Jouvenal, Baltimore Sun (click to enlarge)

I live in Baltimore. I was one block away from Mondawmin Mall at 3:30 yesterday. I live three blocks from the mayhem that ensued on Greenmount Avenue last night. I know what political activism is. I applaud the peaceful, non-violent protesters and demonstrators in this city, who have been extraordinarily disciplined while still being active. They were active Saturday night. They personally stopped attempted destruction Saturday night. 

The rioters yesterday are not "protesters" or "demonstrators." They are opportunistic jerks who are brutalizing the very neighborhoods that are already routinely brutalized by the police. They are burning and looting the very stores where their parents and neighbors work, and on which they depend for everyday needs. They are handing the racist, authoritarian power structure in this country a gift on a silver platter. 

But rioting and opportunistic fuckery ARE going on today

Riots are, however, going on today. I was, by happenstance, one block from one of the worst hotspots. I made it home fine.

It should be needless to say that I don't excuse or condone any of this stupid, brutal, counterproductive, opportunistic violence by a bunch of wankers who are only hurting themselves and their own communities. Just as I don't excuse or condone police brutality. 

Hello?? There were no riots in Baltimore on Saturday night!

OK, I have to write this, since so many people from elsewhere in the country have gotten in touch with me to ask if I'm all right.

Dear god, yes. Yes!

The media has blown this completely out of proportion. Repeat after me: THERE WERE NO RIOTS IN BALTIMORE ON SATURDAY NIGHT! (Saturday, April 25, 2015)

STOP FAST TRACK -- the TPP Is A Disaster

Obama, as usual, is selling us out. When will people wake the fuck up and realize he's no better than Bush?? The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a global disaster, and he's trying to shove it down our throats -- with the full support of Republicans and plenty of Democrats, for those of you Dems who still don't get it. And one of the worst provisions, essentially outlawing the BDS movement, was written by Maryland's own Sen. Ben Cardin. Call, email, write, and call, call, call your Congressional reps. Click StopFastTrack.

Shoshana Hebshi settles lawsuit against TSA, Frontier Airlines

Shoshana Hebshi, the Ohio woman who was handcuffed, hauled off a plane at gunpoint, and strip-searched in a jail cell -- all without probable cause -- has settled her lawsuit against the TSA, Frontier Airlines, and other government agencies. 

TSA rigged system to grope men’s genitals

From KCNC, the CBS affiliate in Denver, comes this completely unsurprising "news": TSA clerks at Denver International Airport deliberately messed with the strip-search scanners to alarm on attractive male passengers so one of the blue-shirted goons could grope them.

No, Virginia, say it ain't so! 

Terroristy breast milk strikes again! UK & US equal in stupidity

Because, as we've reported before, the UK is just as fearmongering and civil-liberties-violating as the US, and is in many ways the lapdog of the US, it should come as no surprise that our brethren across the pond have adopted the worst practices of the TSA.

It used to be that you could fly in/from Europe without being mauled and abused by "security" at the airport. No longer. (And yes, I'm burying the lede.) 

Older Woman Tells Off Younger Women at The Guardian

This is so fab. From the comments section of an article at The Guardian. Older woman telling off younger women:

profetic 10 Jun 2012 17:27

SICK, SICK, SICK of the patronising of those of us deemed too 'elderly'. Lay off us please and retreat to an area in which we may be able to give you internet guidelines on how to suck eggs, or will forward that instruction to your iphone or ipad. 

Listen - many of us, possibly most of us, don't fit in to your meeja fixations on naming us as 'elderly' and thereby squeezing us into some kind of youtubeism of 'poor souls' and 'thank God we're not at that point yet' and 'they're as needy as teenagers and in need of serious help' or 'they're all demented'.  

Needed: Kindness

Redditor finally discovers the TSA is abusive

From a thread started at Reddit by someone who is just now discovering that the TSA is abusive. Duh. Sorry, patience is admittedly not one of my virtues, but I really can't take it anymore -- not only the surprise exhibited by people who seem to have been living under a rock for the past, oh, six years, but worse, those who deny, deny, deny what's right in front of their faces.

Leaked doc proves what we’ve been saying for years: TSA is nuts

Everyone's been sending me the article from First Look/The Intercept about the latest "confidential" TSA document. 

Though I'm a huge supporter of Glenn Greenwald and his journalistic endeavors -- and have written so here -- and am glad for any light that is shed on the TSA's myriad abuses, I have to say this latest article is a bit on the day-late-dollar-short side.

The Slobification of America

YES!! Sing it! And it comes from Fran Lebowitz, of all people:

I have to say that one of the biggest changes in my lifetime, is the phenomenon of men wearing shorts. Men never wore shorts when I was young. There are few things I would rather see less, to tell you the truth. I'd just as soon see someone coming toward me with a hand grenade. This is one of the worst changes, by far. It's disgusting. To have to sit next to grown men on the subway in the summer, and they're wearing shorts? It's repulsive. They look ridiculous, like children, and I can't take them seriously. 

TSA clears known felon for pre-check

Ha ha ha ha! Don't you just love it when someone -- or in this case something -- gets hoist on its own petard? Not that it matters, of course; rarely does. People and organizations whose stupidity, hypocrisy, and incompetence are laid bare for all to see rarely change their ways. On the contrary, they double down. 

2016 Presidential Election in a Nutshell

STOP THE PRESSES: Football player exhibits functioning brain

Wow, a football player with a functioning brain. Amazing! 

SF's Borland quits over safety issues

Chris Borland On His Decision To Retire

49ers linebacker Chris Borland speaks to Mark Fainaru-Wada about his decision to retire from the NFL over concerns about the effects of head trauma

Of course, those of us who've been pointing out the brutality of this sport for, oh, 40 years, have always been told we don't know what we're talking about. But such is life in the USA, where bloodsport of various kinds is all the rage.

Blogger on the blink, won't update pages, Master List

UPDATE: I've started a Page 2 of the Master List since Blogger won't accept an update. Click both tabs above, the original, fully titled one, and also Page 2.

Blogger, the blogging platform here and for all "blogspot.com" sites (owned by Google), is often messed up and won't allow updates to existing pages. Since I maintain the Master List of TSA Crimes and Abuses, I try to update it regularly. But here it is March 2015 and Blogger hasn't allowed an update since January 2015. Every time I add another incident to the list and hit "Update," nothing happens. Over and over and over and over again. Here's the message I always get:

An error occurred while trying to save or publish your post. Please try again.

By perusing on-line help forums, I see that this is a common problem with Blogger. It sucks, but there's nothing I can do. If it won't update, it won't update.

Technology is great when it works, but a total pain in the ass when it doesn't. 

You'll have to click any TSA post or the label "TSA" listed at the righthand side of this page to see TSA-related posts, including the most recent incidents, which, as I said, Blogger won't allow me to add to the Master List.

Oh, and yes, I clear my cache constantly, almost obsessively, so it's not that.

Ted Rall on Drones and the National Security State

The great Ted Rall strikes again (as always, click to enlarge):

Winter Is the Season of Shit

"Now is the winter of our discontent."

You're goddamn right it is. 

All of you who love winter, who love single-digit temperatures and 40mph winds and foot-high stacks of snow and freezing rain and thin veneers of treacherous ice -- you all need your heads examined. Get thee to a shrinkery.

And yeah, I know the Shakespeare fragment isn't complete and isn't about actual winter. I get it.

Winter is barbaric and those who love it barbarians. I'll stick with the civilized, thank you very much. Cannot wait for this season of shit to end.

Obomber

Brought to you by the Nobel Peace Prize Prez:

Kerry Makes It Clear: Obama Wants Authority to Deploy Ground Troops in Iraq and Syria   

by Sarah Lazare

"The 2001 AUMF has been stretched well beyond what Congress intended, and there is no reason to believe the 2015 AUMF will not as well." —Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. 

But, as usual, for know-nothing Democrats -- as bad as the know-nothing Republicans they love to decry -- Obama can do no wrong.

I used to say, back when Bush was president, that, for the Republican faithful, he would have to personally go up in a plane, bomb American cities, deny it, and still his supporters wouldn't shake their faith in him. They would find a way to make excuses. Well, the same is true for party Democrats now. 

The overwhelming sentiment of voters in this country is: "It's all okay, as long as my guy is doing it." 

And then we have the spectacle of former anti-war activist John Kerry leading the charge! The hypocrisy of this country is off the charts.

More TSA Crime - Blogger not updating, so Master List continues here

Blogger is still messed up, so I can't update the Master List of TSA Crimes and Abuses (see tab at top of page). I've tried dozens of times over the past couple of weeks, and no matter how many times I type the info in and hit "Update," it doesn't save the changes. So I'm just going to start continuing the list in posts such as this one.

UPDATE APRIL 9, 2015: I've started a Page 2 of the Master List, so now these incidents have been added:

Man abused by TSA, jailed by cops; TSA agent lies under oath

by LISA SIMEONE on FEBRUARY 4, 2015

HTTP://TSANEWSBLOG.COM/15515/NEWS/MAN-ABUSED-BY-TSA-JAILED-BY-COPS-TSA-AGENT-LIES-UNDER-OATH/

Another TSA agent charged with child sex abuse

by LISA SIMEONE on FEBRUARY 13, 2015

HTTP://TSANEWSBLOG.COM/15568/NEWS/ANOTHER-TSA-AGENT-CHARGED-WITH-CHILD-SEX-ABUSE/

Another TSA sexual predator

by LISA SIMEONE on FEBRUARY 19, 2015

HTTP://TSANEWSBLOG.COM/15583/NEWS/ANOTHER-TSA-SEXUAL-PREDATOR/

Another TSA agent charged with child sex abuse

Today we have news of yet another TSA agent arrested for child sexual abuse. 

Democrats and Republicans

Whistleblower John Kiriakou Finally Freed (kinda, sorta)

Former CIA employee and torture whistleblower John Kiriakou has been freed after almost two years in prison. He is the only American who has served prison time in the (on-going) U.S. torture scandal. While Dick Cheney, George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, John Yoo, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, John Rizzo, and other assorted psychopaths walk free -- and, in fact, are sought out and promoted by the so-called news media -- Kiriakou went to jail for exposing the U.S. torture program. 

The K Chronicles: Keith Knight on Your Rights

Political cartoonist Keith Knight:

Another TSA abuse, another day in the USA

Unfortunately, Blogger is on the fritz and has been for days, so I can't update the Master List of TSA Crimes and Abuses (see menu at top of the page -- Pages 1 and 2 both). I give up. So here's an addition (along with my reply to her) that might someday be added to the list, if Blogger ever gets its act together. From February 2, 2015:

Trish24 • 2 days ago

I may never fly again and I am serious thank you TSA. I was TSA prechecked but my hands got wanded and supposedly something showed up. My carryons were totally dumped out including my wallet I was taken to a room for full pat down..breast, groin they reached inside my pants...degrading, humiliating and frightening..I am a 63 year old woman with high blood pressure they are lucky I didn't stroke out! As I tried o repack my carryons and tuck in my shirt I heard the agents state that I was the fifth false positive that morning and they knew the wand was defective. Not going back to RSA Fort Meyers!

Julian Assange and Wikileaks