With respect to the apparent suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in Portland, Oregon over the past few weeks:
Members of the U.S. military (it is asserted) are rounding up and detaining uniformed protesters on the streets. This has been reported in Portland for some weeks now, and a few recent videos appear to demonstrate the truth of it. (more…)
I almost didn’t write this one.
It’s not fear of all the hate this’ll drag down on The Not Fake News. Truth is never popular, less so when it’s truth to power and least of all when that power is the mob, the nameless faceless mass of public opinion. Telling unpopular truths is what we do here, and it’ll never pay and it’ll never make us beloved.
What almost stopped me is that there are three families out there (more…)
Breonna Taylor was shot in bed by police on 13 March 2020 during a no-knock drug raid aimed at a pills-by-mail scheme. The targets of the warrant were already in police custody at the time of the raid. (more…)
There’s a slogan: A.C.A.B., or “All Cops Are Bastards”. The premise is, if you’re a good person you don’t join the side of the oppressor. You don’t don jackboots and riot gear. You don’t swing the club, and you don’t launch tear gas.
It’s a good slogan; effective, it’s viscerally appealing. It speaks to us where we live.
And yet it’s wrong. Not completely, as you’ll see, but fundamentally. (more…)
I’ve spoken with an awful lot of angry people this morning. Most are also terrified. It’s hard not to be when you wake up and look around, and all you see is ashes.
Take heart, my friends! Be of good cheer! For I tell you truly, today is a day of vast possibility, containing with it a hope for a glorious future.
No, I haven’t snapped, and I’m not drunk (more…)
When there’s a crisis, people tend focus on the present situation and ignore the abstract, regardless of the wisdom of doing so. This is reason enough for us to do the opposite. And so I pose for consideration the following question:
Of what use are property rights to a man who has no property?
You’re going to hear this asked a lot going forward. It’s an important question, and one well-deserving of an answer, but posing it directly risks missing the point of what’s been happening in Minnesota and across the country. Because there are only two reasonable answers immediately apparent, and neither holds up to scrutiny. (more…)
Fires are raging in downtowns across the country, and I don’t know what to write. I really don’t. You shouldn’t expect reasonable conclusions and easy answers from me, not tonight.
Ever since I was old enough to understand the concept, I’ve been opposed to violence. I try to never raise my voice in an argument because the moment tempers get out of control, people stop listening. Human beings don’t accept new concepts very well even at the best of times, and the middle of an argument is a far cry from that.
What’s so very striking here is the mindless destruction, though that can be (more…)
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