Stimulating Packages
April 25th, 2008Stimulating Packages
The Downward Spiral
So, the economic stimulus tax rebates are on their way. Make sure you fasten your seat belts because the economy is suddenly going to take off like a rocket!
Yeah, right…
Most people will use this “rebate” to pay bills. Others might save it. And I’m sure a very large portion of it will end up in the hands of the oil companies.
And those who decide to go ahead and spend this money - what do you think they’ll be buying?
Chances are it will be a Japanese televison or video game system. Maybe a Japanese camera, or a Chinese-made iPod.
Excuse me, this is going to help the economy how?
I’m not hurting for money, and don’t really need this rebate. Maybe I’ll donate mine to the Get The Fuck Out Of Iraq Fund. In my opinion, there’s no better way to help the American economy right now.
As of this writing, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers $514,286,975,551. This increases by approximately $341,000,000 per day.
I’m not “anti-war”. I’m not even “anti-Iraqi-war”. But the time has come where the cost in human lives and American dollars is far greater than the return on investment.
Shreveport - America’s Baghdad
April 22nd, 2008Shreveport - America’s Baghdad
Only Worse
Here’s a little bit of information related to the Angie Garbarino arrest that seems to have been swept under the carpet…
It was revealed in one of the videotapes that after Angie was taken from the Shreveport Police Department room where she was “injured” - you know, from that “fall”, a police officer joked to a colleague about taking his picture lying near the pool of blood from Garbarino’s injuries.
A part of that tape of the encounter between Garbarino and police officer Wiley Willis, who was with her when she was injured, shows another officer make light of what happened after Garbarino was taken away on a stretcher and police officers and firefighters were the only ones in the room.
The officer in question took a picture of the blood with his cell phone, then joked about what happened.
“Let me lay down there beside it like it’s mine,” the officer said of the blood. “Take a picture so I can freak my kids out.”
The officer never got on the floor. It apparently was his sick idea of a joke.
Garbarino’s attorney called the incident “deplorable” and “insensitive”.
Related:
Angela Garbarino - Not Forgotten
Don’t Fall In Shreveport
Stating The Obvious
April 21st, 2008Stating The Obvious
AKA: The News
Actual Reuters headline from April 21, 2008: High gasoline prices hurting U.S. consumers: poll
So, gasoline is $3.50 per gallon in most of the United States - as of this writing… I’m sure it will increase by the time I hit the “Publish” button. But, there remains a question as to whether this is hurting consumers?
Apparently this is the case, because the Consumer Federation of America conducted a survey of 1,004 “representative Americans” to come to this conclusion.
Maybe I’ll conduct a survey of a thousand “representative Americans” to see if they breathe air every day.
Gasoline Prices
April 8th, 2008Gasoline Prices
It Isn’t All Bad
The U.S. Federal Energy Information Administration are reporting that summer gasoline use will be down in 2008, for the first time in 17 years.
Due in no small part to the high price of gasoline, Americans are finally beginning to drive less and use public transportation more. There’s also evidence that we might just be breaking our love affair with gas-guzzling SUVs.
Personally speaking, my SUV is a midsize and isn’t exactly gas-guzzling, but those little 4 cylinder engines are looking more and more attractive each time I fill up.
Nonetheless, the lower fuel consumption by Americans is certainly one upside of the high gasoline prices.
Global Something
April 5th, 2008Global Something
It’s Too Hot, Or Maybe Too Cold
The BBC reported today that UN meteorologists indicate that “global temperatures will drop slightly this year”.
In fact, not only are the average global termperatures expected to drop this year, further analysis indicates that global temperatures have not risen since 1998.
Wait… Oh my God!!! It’s the coming of an ice age! We’re all doomed! Everybody panic!
Now, of course, to protect the ongoing funding and grants for their “research”, the global warming crowd suggest that this cooling is temporary and part of the normal cyclical changes in the environment.
Wait… What? Why is cooling normal, but warming is reason to panic? Don’t you need to have an amount of warming in order to have that “normal” cooling?
The Robin Williams Endurance Test
March 26th, 2008The Robin Williams
Endurance Test
Know When To Fold ‘Em
Robin Williams and his wife are splitting after 19 years.
19 years…
19 years with Robin Williams.
Not only should she get half of everything, she should get some type of medal for 19 years of mental anguish. I can’t imagine spending 19 minutes with this guy, much less 19 years.
Angela Garbarino - Not Forgotten
March 21st, 2008Angela Garbarino
Not Forgotten
The original Angela Garbarino post on Blog About Nothing continues to be one of the top destinations for visitors to this website, so there’s clearly continued interest in this topic. I hope that continues – and I hope others remain as outraged about this case as I do.
The original post regarding the Angela Garbarino beating at the hands of a Shreveport police officer can be reviewed here…
There are a few updates in this case that have occurred over the past few weeks.
In the first sign of any justice for Angie Garbarino, Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn has fired the officer responsible for the beating, Wiley Willis, after an internal affairs investigation.
Sadly, the Chief decided against criminal charges, concluding he “could not determine whether it was a case of police brutality”. Instead, Willis was fired for not following Shreveport Police Department procedures.
On the bright side, it has been reported that the Caddo district attorney and the FBI are conducting separate investigations to determine if criminal charges should be filed.
Willis has appealed his termination to the civil service board. Originally scheduled for mid-March, the Shreveport fire and police civil service board announced that they rescheduled Wiley Willis’ hearing for 8:30 a.m. on May 14, 2008. The board is awaiting the outcome of the criminal investigations by the Caddo Parish district attorney’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
It has now also been revealed that a surveillance camera in a room adjacent to the one where Angie Garbarino was injured during her booking recorded the sound of two loud collisions in the room.
Part of the federal and local investigations into this case deal with what happened in the room between the time officer Wiley Willis turned off the tape to take Garbarino to jail and the time he turned it back on to show her lying on her side in a pool of blood.
The camera in the adjoining room, where officers’ desks are located, showed nothing of what happened between the officer and Garbarino, but it did record the sound of two solid collisions coming through the wall.
Hopefully, further analysis of the audio from the second camera will shed additional light on why one minute Angie Garbarino was in sitting in a chair, and the next she was found lying almost lifeless in a pool of her own blood, with a broken nose and severe facial bruising.
The Shreveport Police Department have also announced they are planning to install additional cameras around the headquarters – cameras that record digital video directly to servers, and out of the control of local officers and employees. That won’t help Angie, but it is a step in the right direction.
More to come…
Don’t Fall in Shreveport
February 21st, 2008
A Shreveport police officer has been fired after an incident in which a female prisoner taken into custody on suspicion of DUI wound up lying on a floor at the police station in a pool of blood.
A large portion of what happened was recorded on a videotape - but ironically, there is a gap of undetermined length. During that time, the woman wound up injured. She said she was beaten up; the officer said she fell.
The woman is Angie Garbarino of Shreveport, LA. She was clearly argumentative when she was brought to the DUI unit’s office last November. The videotape shows she did not want to listen to Officer Wiley Willis as he read her rights. She was insistent on making a phone call and said so repeatedly.
Yeah, that phone call. What we normally refer to as a RIGHT. Ms Garbarino specifically mentions the names of attorneys AND another police officer that she wanted to contact.
At one point, the videotape shows that Angie tried to leave the room but was stopped by the officer and then handcuffed. Given the circumstances, this certainly seems reasonable.
But, from there, the situation escalated and the videotape shows the officer push the woman against the wall, after which she fell to the floor crying and telling him not to touch her.
For reasons that should be obvious, she later tried to leave the room again and had to be restrained when she resisted.
Then the mystery begins… What happened next was outside the view of the camera but the woman can be heard hitting the wall and screaming before she is placed back in a chair.
Seconds later, the tape is conveniently turned off as the officer apparently prepares to take her and book her. It is not known what happened while the tape was off, but when it was turned back on Garbarino was lying on the floor on her side in a pool of blood.
Willis turns her on her back and tells her, “Lay down; don’t move,” the videotape shows.
“I can’t believe you just did what you just did. I really can’t”, she said.
The officer left the room. Another officer came in shortly after that to look at Garbarino and then left. At some point, a Fire Department ambulance crew was called. They took her to the hospital.
Ms Garbarino’s lawyer, Ron Miciotto, said she suffered a broken nose, a severe cut on her forehead, two broken teeth and bruises on her arms and shoulder. Pictures taken of her later show two severely bruised eyes, as well as other bruises.
Willis was finally fired in early February 2008 for what officials said was his handling of the incident. No criminal charges were filed accusing him of injuring the woman.
Willis said she slipped and fell and hit her head.
Here’s the short version:
“It was something that needed to be handled internally”, Police Chief Henry Whitehorn said of the decision not to file charges against the officer. “There was not enough (evidence) to pursue criminal charges.”
Willis’ attorney, Eron Brainard, said Willis did not beat the woman. Her injuries, he said, happened when she fell while trying to leave the room again.
Yeah… OK. “Although very unfortunate, her injuries were caused by her own erratic behavior and her failure to comply with lawful, reasonable and standard instruction for arrested persons”, Brainard said.
Nope. No excessive force there…
For those that are interested, here’s the full version - in 5 parts:
