Wednesday Open Thread [8.20.14]

More Ferguson, to be filed in the Annals of Really Bad Policing -- video of a cop in last night's protests in Ferguson of a cop waving his weapon at peaceful protesters telling them that " I will fucking kill you!" There are two videos here -- one of the cop threatening the protester and a clearer one of the cop and the other cop who caught up to him to get him to lower his weapon. Seriously, this cop doesn't look angry -- he looks scared to death. In a group of people with their hands up (and often you can see the light of smartphones filming), folks. No wonder he didn't want to give his name.
Tuesday Open Thread [8.19.14]

Tuesday Open Thread [8.19.14]

Some on the left expect President Obama to wade into the Ferguson protests and demonstrations and condemn the police, to excuse the violence as justified and righteous, and take sides. Some expect a new Race Speech, like what he gave in Philadelphia during the 2008 campaign during the height of the Jeremiah Wright mess. I call bullshit on that. For a couple of reasons. First, he is the President, and as such he, as the head of the Federal Government, cannot bias any coming federal investigation or intervention with his own one sided views. Second, there is every indication that the election of President Obama was made race relations far worse in this country. It is not his fault, it is the fault of the racists. But far from isolating existing racists into further obscurity, the election of a black man as President was a Batman signal for all of the racists to let their freak flag fly. Racists, once embarrassed by admitting their racism, are now proud to. Because it is a sign of opposition to Obama, and because a legitimate political party embraced racism as an acceptable form of opposition to the President early on, even before his inauguration. So, knowing that, what can the President say that will not make the situation worse?

Monday Open Thread [8.18.14]

Mychal Denzel Smith writes about what matters in Ferguson, for we are in danger of losing sight of it due to continued stupid violence and looting, which of course feeds right into the county cops' and the right wing's narrative:
Michael Brown was shot and killed by an officer of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department. This is what matters. The name of the officer has been released (it’s Darren Wilson, who has been on the force for six years), alongside allegations that Brown was involved in a robbery. This does not matter. It doesn’t matter because people accused of robbery should not be shot. It doesn’t matter because people who put their hands up in surrender should not be shot. It doesn’t matter because a body should not lie in the streets for hours after being shot by a police officer. Michael Brown was shot and killed by an officer of the Ferguson, Missouri, police department. Everything else is irrelevant.
Too bad some fucking idiot criminals have seen fit to embrace violence instead of nonviolence. Thank you for giving cover to the local police. Thank you for obscuring the story. Thank you for confirming all the biases against you. Fucking idiots.

Who Gets Casino Money?

The other day, I listened to a story from WHYY on Delaware legislators who get money fron casino interests. The report they referenced noticed the recent casino bailout and wanted to see if there was any clear connection to votes for the casino interests with contributions from those interests. They led with their conclusion: Legislators who supported Del. casino 'bailout' received more industry cash. Referencing a recent report from the Follow the Money website called Ante Up: Gambling and Casino Contributions in Delaware, they reported:

Saturday Open Thread [8.16.14]

Have you been following the #iftheygunnedmedown campaign? As the conversation has evolved this week about how Americans see its black men, it is black men (and women) who have taken to Twitter to ask the question: Which picture of me would the media and authorities use to represent me if I was gunned down by the police today? Here are a few of them: