KingCharlemagne
KingCharlemagne's JournalA sober warning (and one of the best essays I have read thus far about Ferguson):
~snip~
It's a dire evil to have any cultural, political, or institutional tolerance for lynching by badge. But you don't get to the point where you have a national crisis from that without some pretty highly placed enablers and gatekeepers in elite places. Malignant tumors benefit from a well-suppressed immune system, and a nation that has a nagging sickness in its body is no different. I find it a breathtaking compounding of injustice to have a man like Bob McCulloch at the wheel at the exact time that you fundamentally needed his opposite. At a point when our nation needed to cement the vitally important message to everyone in the land that, yes, you can have full faith in the rule of law. What this nation needed was clear. Here. Look. Justice is possible. The system works. But that is not the message that was sent out in this dark time.
On some deep and fundamental level a disaster like MucCulloch will always fail to grasp how institutionally and systemically malignant his pathetic performance has been for our nation. People are going to die because of this man. People are going to be hurt as a direct result of his willful and ignorant negligence and neglect. Because he had priorities other than justice. Worst of all? He's not alone. America's interests are truly threatened by "public servants" who serve a thin and very narrow slice of the public's good, and who do so in so smugly and so overtly a fashion. This was a dark day in this nation's history, mistaken by a fool for a triumph. His rambling, self-congratulatory babbling brings my blood to a boil whenever I think of it. He tried harder to put Twitter on trial than a murderer who gunned down an unarmed man.
No enemy of this nation has the ability to lay America low this way. From the inside. Hacking and chopping away at the foundation like it's repairing a crumbling road or bridge to do structural damage to it. Here. This. This is what you get. This is how things are versus how you might imagine or with things could or should be. Stop complaining. This is the deal. Suck it up. It is very possible that, someday, a cop is going to be shot and bleeding, and somebody who could help him, who once might have helped him, is just going to mind his or her own business and walk away. "Live by the sword, die by the sword". Like the cop and the drug dealer are just mirror sides of the same coin. That's what a performance like McCulloch's gets you as a nation over time. A nation where people who have to buy in, don't bother. They don't believe.
This is a force multiplier for really bad outcomes. This compounding of evil just cannot stand. Recently, an impatient driver plowed into a large crowd of protesters in Minnesota. Nothing came of it. Now, if you are a person who is already out in the streets over the free-pass murder of Michael Brown, do you have any good will towards the authorities to give out any benefit of the doubt here? Or. Does this compound what is already in your heart and mind and take you to an even darker place? Everything in context. Everything in the context of the moment. Certain people can kill a person of color whenever they claimed to feel threatened. Now? Some can even mow down a crowd of protesters for the sin of being inconvenienced. Everything just feeding negative energy into the great puke funnel that is drowning a dream.
~snip~
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/27/1347424/-Mr-McCulloch-s-America-Can-t-Stand
Mass Arrests Underway On 3rd Night Of Protest Across LA In Michael Brown Case
Source: CBS News (Los Angeles affiliate)
The Los Angeles Police Department made mass arrests of demonstrators Wednesday during the third night of protest in response to the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case.
According to officers, protesters were arrested an hour after an unlawful assembly was declared in the area of Sixth Street and Hope Street.
~snip~
In total, about 60 demonstrators were arrested.
“Right now, they are under arrest for failing to disperse,” Neiman explained. “A dispersal order was given earlier this evening. We’ve been following this group for some time now, and at this point we were finally able to contain them.
Continues at link
Read more: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/11/26/protesters-halt-traffic-on-101-fwy-in-downtown-la/
By arresting the 'troublemakers' on Thanksgiving Eve, the cops will keep them off the street until Monday at the earliest, if they cannot make the $500 bail.
I am a very unhappy Angeleno tonight.
I've been reading Volume 4 of the Grand Jury testimony, mainly
concerning testimony of Dorian Johnson thus far.
It's pretty riveting reading and, as a result of reading it, I'm now convinced that Wilson lied through his teeth in his GJ testimony about his reason for reversing his car. Had nothing to do with the Ferguson Market 'robbery' but everything to do with Wilson being pissed off that two black commoners were lipping off to him and not respecting his 'authoritah.' When he backed up, according to Johnson, Wilson shouted 'What did you just say?' at the two of them.
Johnson's account reads like true human experience. Wilson had to lie about why he reversed his car because the truth would make his shooting unjustifiable and thus open him to criminal liability. According to Johnson, Wilson said absolutely nothing about the alleged robbery at the Ferguson Market.
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1371051-grand-jury-volume-4.html (Johnson's comments about what Wilson said when he reversed his car appear first on p. 49 and again with the word 'just' added on p. 88.)
How did Wilson's gun get out of its fucking holster???? Answer that, you
motherfucking piece of shit McCulloch:
"During the altercation, two shots were fired by Officer Wilson . . . "
Starts at about 12:50 in the linked video.
How did that god-damned gun get out of that fucking holster, you worthless fucking piece of shit?
FBI Warns Ferguson Decision ‘Will Likely’ Lead to Violence By Extremists Protesters
Source: ABC News
As the nation waits to hear whether a Missouri police officer will face charges for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., the FBI is warning law enforcement agencies across the country that the decision “will likely” lead some extremist protesters to threaten and even attack police officers or federal agents.
~snip
“The announcement of the grand jury’s decision … will likely be exploited by some individuals to justify threats and attacks against law enforcement and critical infrastructure,” the FBI says in an intelligence bulletin issued in recent days. “This also poses a threat to those civilians engaged in lawful or otherwise constitutionally protected activities.”
Within hours of the FBI issuing its bulletin, some police departments across the country issued their own internal memos urging officers to review procedures and protocols for responding to mass demonstrations.
Still, the bulletin’s conclusions were blunt: “The FBI assesses those infiltrating and exploiting otherwise legitimate public demonstrations with the intent to incite and engage in violence could be armed with bladed weapons or firearms, equipped with tactical gear/gas masks, or bulletproof vests to mitigate law enforcement measures.”
~Continues at link
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-warns-ferguson-decision-lead-violence-extremist-protesters/story?id=26980624
Notice how the FBI memo signally fails to mention any possibility of police violence or a 'police riot'? Nor is there any mention of the death threats made by the KKK.
Grammar goof in headline comes from ABC, not your humble narrator.
If you want to add your voice to the national protests expected when the St. Louis County
Grand Jury fails to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the murder\extra-judicial execution of Michael Brown, the link below contains a list of actions planned nationwide for the day of the announcement or the day after the announcement:
http://fergusonresponse.tumblr.com/
I will be attending the action at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles (the day after), but may also join spontaneous wildcat demos the day of.
Ferguson Police Chief Says Darren Wilson Will Return To Active Duty If Not Indicted
Source: Politicus USA
In a conversation with St. Louis news station KSDK 5 on Friday evening, Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson told the station that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will be immediately reinstated to the active duty if he is not indicted by the St. Louis County grand jury in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Jackson did say he isn’t sure if Wilson wants to return, but if a ‘no true bill’ comes back from the grand jury, the officer can return with no problem. Wilson has been on paid administrative leave since he shot and killed the unarmed Brown on August 9th. A decision is expected from the grand jury by the end of the month.
~snip
Continues at link
Read more: http://www.politicususa.com/2014/11/15/ferguson-police-chief-darren-wilson-return-active-duty-indict
Is it me or are the authorities there talking and behaving in ways designed to incite a riot?
Missouri Klan leader alleges conversations with St. Louis County law enforcement officers
Frank Ancona, head of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, tells MSNBC's Chris Hayes that he has had 'off the record' contacts (via 'friends') with local law enforcement about the Michael Brown Grand Jury and anticipated protests.
Watch the video at about 4'50" in.
Should the DoJ and FBI be investigating local law enforcement to see whether it has been infiltrated by the KKK?
http://www.msnbc.com/all
Mediaite has a good article with a link to the Chris Hayes segment in it:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/kkk-group-threatens-lethal-force-against-terrorists-in-ferguson/
Walmart Memo Orders Stores to Improve Grocery Performance
Source: New York Times
The dairy section in the Walmart supercenter here, just across the border from Queens, was sparsely stocked. Some gallon jugs of milk were dented, others soiled with what looked like dirt. The meat aisle had run out of ground beef patties and strip steak, and residue streaked some shelves.
The disarray and out-of-stock items at just one store appear to be examples of wider problems that Walmart is pressing store managers to address.
Last month, the retailer issued an “urgent agenda” memo to managers across the country pushing them to improve performance on “Chilled and Fresh” items in its dairy, meat and produce departments, part of an effort by Walmart to stem long-sluggish sales. It also reflected customer complaints that Walmart has received in recent years as it has expanded offerings of organic foods and produce, often at cheaper prices than its competitors.
The memo, marked “highly sensitive,” tells Walmart marketing managers to make sure that the company’s 4,965 United States stores discount aging meat and baked goods to maximize the chance that those items will sell before their expiration dates. The memo — leaked for public use by a Walmart manager unhappy about understaffing — also tells stores to be sure to “rotate” dairy products and eggs, which means removing expired items and adding new stock at the bottom and back of display cases.
~More at link~
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/business/walmart-memo-orders-stores-to-improve-grocery-performance.html
Anyone who feels compelled by circumstance to shop for groceries at MallWart should check expiration dates on perishables very carefully, as some store managers may 'overlearn' the lesson of that 'urgent memo.' The pics that accompany this article tell quite a story themselves.
The six heirs to the Walton family fortune control as much wealth between them as the bottom 48 million Americans combined.
Missouri Governor Says National Guard Is Still Option in Ferguson
Source: New York Times
Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that the Missouri National Guard was part of a multiforce contingency plan by law enforcement authorities to avert violence as the region around St. Louis awaited a grand jury’s return in the death of Michael Brown three months ago.
“The Guard will be available when we determine it is necessary to support local law enforcement,” Mr. Nixon announced in a news conference at a state highway patrol headquarters here, standing beside law enforcement leaders from the St. Louis area. “Quite simply, we must and will be fully prepared.”
~snip~
“In the days immediately following Michael Brown’s death, peaceful protests were marred by senseless acts of violence and destruction,” he [Nixon] said. “Vandals smashed the windows of small businesses. Criminals looted and set fire to stores. Gunshots and Molotov cocktails endangered citizens exercising their First Amendment rights and law enforcement attempting to maintain peace. That ugliness was not representative of Missouri, and it cannot be repeated.”
~snip~
To that end, three large police agencies in the area — the St. Louis County police, the St. Louis city police and the Missouri State Highway patrol — will operate under a unified command system. Leaders from all of them appeared beside the governor on Tuesday afternoon, though police officers from the beleaguered Ferguson department were not seen there, nor was their role in the handling of possible protests mentioned.
~More at link~
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/us/missouri-governor-says-hes-prepared-to-use-national-guard-in-ferguson-again.html
Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming, eh?
Notice how Gov. Nixon is buying the right-wing spin machine's BS about Molotov Cocktails (never documented by anyone in the non-Fox MSM)? Too bad Nixon couldn't have exercised the same authority over that stooge DA Bob McCulloch.
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