The Off Topic Topic

[CountDeMoney]

like making note of length of skidmarks and such?

Lol, "skimarks"

[Josquius]

I saw Pixies live yesterday.
Anyone else done so in recent years?
Pretty sure Frank's voice has gone to hell.

[Savonarola]

GLORIOUS MOTHER RUSSIA CONTINUES ETERNAL BATTLE AGAINST WESTERN DECADENCE!  FIDGET SPINNERS REVEALED TO BE PLOT OF CIA!

Russia probes 'aggressively promoted' fidget spinners that 'zombify' youth
By Eliza Mackintosh, CNN

(CNN)Russia's consumer watchdog has launched an investigation into fidget spinners amid claims that Russian opposition groups are using the children's toy to "zombify" youth.

It is the latest attempt by state media to explain away youth protests that have gripped the nation in recent months. The anti-corruption demonstrations held in March and June, organized by opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, were the largest in Russia in years.
In late May, Navalny was captured on camera spinning the small hand toy while awaiting trial in Moscow.

Russia's consumer protection agency, Rospotrebnadzor, urged parents in a statement to be vigilant when buying the "aggressively promoted" fidget spinners and to supervise children playing with the toy. The watchdog has apparently teamed up with researchers to "study the influence" of the device on young people.

Fidget spinners -- a small gadget that started as an aide for children with attention disorders like ADD -- have become a global phenomenon among middle school-aged students. The toy, which has reached Tamagotchi-level popularity, has been banned in some schools in the United States as a distraction.

The Russian statement was released on the heels of a report on state-owned Rossiya 24, which claimed that the popular toys have been sold at anti-corruption rallies to lure in young supporters.

"Probably it is not a coincidence that they started selling the spinners at events by the opposition," Rossiya 24 host Alexey Kazakov said.
In the report, Kazakov cites an Omsk-based journalist's suggestion that the gadget could be used as "an instrument for zombifying" users, triggering a kind of "hypnosis."

It was not the channel's first segment on the device, which featured in another news broadcast that aired last month.

Fidget spinners "were already seen in the hands of a non-systemic opposition," Kazakov claimed in the piece. Kazakov's co-anchor, Nikolay Sokolov, raised suspicion over the provenance and dissemination of the toy.

"It's a mystery why it only recently became so popular in Russia. Who is pushing it into the masses?" Sokolov asked, suggesting that fidget spinners had been sold at an opposition protest against corruption on June 12.

Russian independent journalist Alexey Kovalev was among those to call the bizarre broadcast into question, tweeting: "Fidget spinners are used by opposition to pacify followers and distract them from real issues. Because that's what opposition usually does."

[Grey Fox]

Russia, ally of school teachers across the west world.

[Razgovory]

Some of Seedy's former coworkers plant evidence


http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/20/us/baltimore-cop-allegedly-planting-evidence/index.html

(CNN)New video casts a glaring light on Baltimore police practices as the department and city grapple with a distrustful public and record-setting violent crime.

The video reportedly shows what happened during what might otherwise have been a typical drug bust on January 24. Released by the Office of the Public Defender, the video purports to show a Baltimore police officer planting evidence at the scene of a drug arrest.
The Baltimore Police Department has launched an investigation and held a news conference releasing other videos while offering a timeline of events.

Seeking to allay public concern, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis called the video "a serious allegation of police misconduct," saying, "Our investigation will ultimately determine what happened, it will identify if any criminal misconduct took place, any administrative procedures were violated, and we're determined to get to the bottom of it."
The video, recorded on police body-worn cameras, shows the officer placing a plastic bag into a food can, then partially hiding it under a piece of debris. Thirty seconds later the audio begins, and the officer says, "I'm going to check here. Hold on," as his colleagues laugh. The officer then gives a cursory look at other items in the debris-strewn lot and appears to stumble onto the drugs in the can.
"Yo!" the officer shouts at his colleagues as he holds up the small cellophane bag containing several pills. One of his colleagues shouts back, "What's up?" The video ends a few seconds later.
As the officer searches the lot for evidence, a colleague can be heard saying, "Is that 30?" -- possibly a reference to the way the body-worn cameras operate. They record 30 seconds of video without sound before an officer actively turns on the camera, according to the manufacturer Axon. Referred to as a buffer, it's meant to capture crucial evidence that might occur just before an officer activates his camera.
Davis said of the video, "I saw video footage of officers apparently placing evidence and recovering evidence in a way that initially based on what I saw (is), very narrowly, inconsistent with the way police officers do business."

One officer in the video has been suspended, and two others were placed on administrative duty pending an investigation by the department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
Police said the arrest involved a drug sale that led to the discovery of two bags of heroin in gel capsule form. One bag was tied off, and the second was opened and recovered by officers at the scene.
"It's certainly a possibility that we're looking into to see if the officers in fact replaced drugs that they had already discovered in order to document their discovery with their body-worn cameras on," the police commissioner said.
The public defender's office said it turned the video over to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, which is responsible for prosecuting those charged with crimes.

In a statement, the public defender said the "prosecutor in the case claimed to be 'appalled' by the video and dropped the charges in the case." The State's Attorney's Office added in a statement, "Our office immediately implemented established protocols to not only refer this matter to the Internal Affairs Division of the Baltimore Police Department but began identifying active cases involving these officers."
The public defender said the officer in question is a witness in 53 open cases and was used recently as a witness by a prosecutor despite knowledge about the behavior captured on video.
The State's Attorney's Office did not respond to questions about why the officer in question had testified as a witness in at least one subsequent trial.
In a statement, Debbie Katz Levi, who leads the public defender's Special Litigation Section, said, "Officer misconduct has been a pervasive issue at the Baltimore Police Department, which is exacerbated by the lack of accountability. We have long supported the use of police body cameras to help identify police misconduct, but such footage is meaningless if prosecutors continue to rely on these officers, especially if they do so without disclosing their bad acts."
Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Baltimore's main police union, urged patience. "I'd love for everyone not to jump to conclusions" he said, "and wait for the outcome of the investigation. It will all come out."

Baltimore police have been rocked by controversy since the death of Freddie Gray in April 2015. Six officers were charged in connection with his death. The trials ended in either a hung jury, or officers were found not guilty or had charges dropped after the state's attorney was unable to proceed with prosecution.
Deaths due to gun violence in the city are up 21% this year over 2016, with 186 killed so far, according to Baltimore police. If that pace continues, the city is on track to set a record.
Long plagued by charges of corruption, the Baltimore Police Department has struggled to win public confidence. In March, seven Baltimore officers were federally charged with robbing citizens, filing false reports and claiming overtime fraudulently. Shortly after, in ending plainclothes policing, the police commissioner told The Baltimore Sun he was concerned their methods "accelerated a cutting-corners mindset."

Since 2011, Baltimore has paid out more than $13 million to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct. In April, a federal judge approved a consent decree after a Justice Department report found a wide racial disparity in the way the Baltimore police treat citizens.
This latest episode is another blow for the city.
"There is nothing that deteriorates the trust of any community more than thinking for one second that uniformed police officers and police officers in general would plant evidence of crimes on citizens," Davis said. "That's as serious as it gets."

[garbon]

OJ back on the streets!

[Razgovory]

My dad is in the hospital again with a blood clot.  I fear he may lose his leg.

[Ed Anger]

Say, the noise that Austria is going to block the passes to Italy gives me a MODERATE WAR BONER.

[Malthus]

OJ back on the streets!

Lock up your sports memorabilia.

[Monoriu]

I was in university in Vancouver when I was pretty much forced to watch that guy, OJ Simpson.  It was IMPOSSIBLE to avoid him, even for someone who wasn't an American football fan.  I can't believe people are still talking about him today. 

[Valmy]

The juice will eventually be loose in time for Halloween. Oh damn that is what everybody is going to dress up as for Halloween this year isn't it?

[Savonarola]

I was in university in Vancouver when I was pretty much forced to watch that guy, OJ Simpson.  It was IMPOSSIBLE to avoid him, even for someone who wasn't an American football fan.  I can't believe people are still talking about him today.

That was quite the media circus.  It's fitting that today's Google doodle celebrates Marshall McLuhan.

[CountDeMoney]

The juice will eventually be loose in time for Halloween. Oh damn that is what everybody is going to dress up as for Halloween this year isn't it?

I dunno, man.  The way I hear it, R Kelly is going to be MUCH more interesting in the near future.

[Monoriu]

I was in university in Vancouver when I was pretty much forced to watch that guy, OJ Simpson.  It was IMPOSSIBLE to avoid him, even for someone who wasn't an American football fan.  I can't believe people are still talking about him today.

That was quite the media circus.  It's fitting that today's Google doodle celebrates Marshall McLuhan.

I didn't have internet back then, and there was no wiki.  I did try to ask one or two locals what was so special about this Simpson guy.  They thought I was trolling or something. 

[Eddie Teach]

It's funny watching the talking heads who think since he got away with murder, it's only fair that he stay in jail the rest of his life for stealing some trophies.