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I was off my bike for a full week because I fell, not off my bike, but trying to hop out of my car over a puddle of water. I slammed my kneecap on the cement pretty good. That shit was painful! My knee is definitely on the mend and I can actually see the outline of my kneecap again. It was pretty swollen there for a while. Once I got back to riding my bike, I found that the pedaling motion actually made the pain lessen and helped heal the contusion. Go figure.
I’ve been out of a job for 4 weeks now and unemployment hasn’t kicked in. I don’t want to depend on the government for a check so I’ve been on the job hunt and had an interview this week. I busted out the pantsuit and heels and added in a much needed accessory (copying 40 Hands who did the same thing last week):
Yesterday was my first long ride in almost two weeks. I am nowhere near ready for Mohican. I am just trying to build endurance at this point. No intervals. No HRM. Just hours and hours in the saddle. I wish it was my Voodoo that I was riding, but the rain has made it impossible to ride trails. The ground is saturated and the river is so high that parts of route 8 are flooded.
I rode for several hours on my own, and then last night, joined the Slow and Steady ride out of Northside. It’s just that – a slow and steady ride to downtown, across the bridge, through Covington to Newport, and back across the Purple People bridge. There were maybe 20 riders total, some with helmets, some without. A few stopped to smoke a cigarette, drink a beer. A few underage kids joined in on BMX bikes, though no one seemed to know who they belonged to. It was only my second time riding with them because I always worked on Thursday nights. My buddy Kelon has been leading this ride for 3 years and it’s a good time, guaranteed to make you smile.
Gnome brought this to my attention last night and I am in awe:
On Monday, Lynda Wallenfels won the 2011 Arizona Trail 300 race; in fact, she was the first woman to ever finish the grueling multi-day event. Of 20 people who started the race, three finished.
Disturbing video. A cyclist in NYC gets pulled over by not one, but 3 cops, because he rode on the sidewalk. Look who goes to jail.
More here on the NYC Bikeblog.
This is for my buddy Bones, RIP, who was shot and killed on Monday by the Cincinnati Police Department.
Black Flag – Police Story
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Disturbing? Not so much. Dude is just a dumb ass for not know when to shut his mouth. Lucky he didnt get a wooden shampoo.
There is always a problem when people behave with impunity, but its fucking terrifying when the police do it because they can fuck you so hard. I never see a cop without feeling threatened and unsafe, that is a problem, but the bigger problem is that citizens cannot speak up to the police about how threatened they feel because the cops can take you away for absolutely no reason nowadays.
Their suspicion has become probable cause in too many cases. That “dude” is not a dumbass for not knowing when to shut his mouth, he’s just ignorant to his own rights and how to stand up for himself in the right way. He has a right not to shut up. That’s another big problem in this country, there is no priority in the schools or elsewhere to educate people on their personal constitutional rights and how to stand up for them, especially in regards to dealing with the police. Hmmm, I wonder why?
YOUR Constitution, have you read it?
It’s happening but the progress is not occurring fast enough to cause any sort of revolt en masse given the nature of the beings. Sheeples. Mooples is more like it. So many weak minds. They just want to follow the trail of melted butter. They hope it leads them to a big stick of buttery salvation they can call their own.
Continue to look down at what you are grazing upon. Keep the vernacular simple and quiet. Continue to Moo’ve a long. One cop against you is not going to provide an opportunity to retaliate… unless you are belligerent and choose to be dumb. That ten minutes of fame wasn’t worth it. Or was it? Precursor.
“When the people fear the Government it is tyranny. When the Government fears the people it is liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson.
Disturbing? Maybe. It depends on the jurisdiction. Generally, where a state statute allows a police officer to ask for identification, there isn’t a lot of wiggle room – you just have to produce it. I believe this is the relevant statue in NY: http://law.onecle.com/new-york/criminal-procedure/CPL0140.50_140.50.html.
Was there reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed by this defendant as required under the statute? Generally, investigative “stops” or “seizures” that do not involve a frisk require only a reasonable suspicion that the person being stopped is engaged in criminal activity (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_suspicion). The defendant was ultimately charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. I know nothing about the particulars of those three crimes in NY (or anywhere, really). But, it would seem at first blush that yelling at a cop while he is issuing a ticket to some third party, even for something as silly as riding on the sidewalk, might rise to the level of disorderly conduct and or harassment. Assuming it does, and that may prove to be a pretty big assumption, it would follow that the Officer had the requisite reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed (or was in the process of being committed) by the defendant, and that his subsequent engagement with the defendant and request for identification was permissible (i.e., not a violation of the defendants 4th Amendment rights, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution). Therefore, the defendant should have produced identification when asked, and the defendant’s refusal to do so led to a permissible arrest of the defendant.
Am I 100% on this? No. But that’s what I’m seeing at the moment.
See also:
Stop and identify statutes. Take a look at the breakdown of police–citizen encounters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes.
US citizens do not enjoy a constitutional right to refuse to reveal their identity when requested by police. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0622/p01s01-usju.html.
Appeals Court Rules That Asking For I.D. Not A Seizure. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/05/appeals_court_r/.
Fighting for Right Not to Show ID. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2004/02/62438. (broken link fixed)
Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiibel_v._Sixth_Judicial_District_Court_of_Nevada.
ACLU search for “police request identification”. http://www.aclu.org/search/police%20request%20identification?show_aff=1.
I put a lot of links into this comment. Some of it may not be relevant nor current law. Please correct any inaccuracies as you see fit via your own following commentary.
* As I am required to do so under ER 5.5. Unauthorized Practice of Law, let it be clear between us: IANAL (I am not a lawyer) & TINLA (This is not legal advice).
He tried to take too many dips out of the bucket. If you’re gonna talk shit to the cops while they have someone else detained make it quick and get out of there. Don’t keep coming back and give them an opportunity to box you in, (legally this is being detained), because now you can’t move without them calling your movement “resisting arrest”, it’s all bullshit and it’s designed to make the citizen a full time loser and the cops full time winners. I can’t prove it in a court of law and I don’t have to, the courts don’t serve me, they serve the state. (Oh, and also, I’m just adding my 2 cents, I’m not trying to argue or disagree with anyone, just ranting because bitching about police/citizen encounters is a hobby of mine, like model rail-roading.)
The Police = para-military group. They are as numerous, or more, than the military (all branches, spread across the world), and they have easier access to better equipment than the military. Call it what you will, but it’s Their word against yours. Unless, you have video proof of the Cops being bullies, good luck.
So far, here, in the last 2 months 4 DPD have been fired because of use of excessive force: Cops fired for beating detained women, and, Pigs act badly.
“Bad boys, bad boys/What you gonna do?/What ya gonna do when [We] come for you?”
when the cop tells the guy he is being aggressive, it’s just absurd. i don’t see any aggression. none. he was talking to the guy on a bike, getting a ticket, not to the cop. it all got out of hand. is this really what the tax payers pay for? really? and +1 to what keith said about feeling threatened when dealing with the police. i pee a little if i have to talk to a cop. its scary as shit. and they are supposed to “protect and serve”???
Perhaps I am the only one here who has learned better than to talk shit to the biggest guy at the bar, because of the possible consequences(3 cops is a pretty fucking big dude in any bar). Like the above poster said, talk your shit and roll. I have had my run ins and talked more than my share of shit to cops and have been put in the tank for it. Fights? Yes, I have had them and gotten my ass kicked for “being right.” Victim? Perhaps of my emotions and self righteousness getting the best of me. I learned a lot from the experiences, mainly to shut the fuck up. You guys can cry fowl, but one is required by law to present ID when asked and the “vicim” in question refused to do so and found what this holds. You guys can wave your “fuck authority” banners and wear your t-shirts, but dont dont get up on your cross when you are confronted for your views.
Alot of shit certainly isn’t fair or right, but using the right amount of politeness, respect and cooperation goes a long way when dealing with police officers in any situation. We can all have our own opinions about law enforcement and that particular incident, but one just opens oneself up for whatever may come if one can’t use a little common sense and discipline to shut the fuck up when interacting or in this case, just spectating.
Spoken from someone who is knocking on wood about never having gone to jail for anything including my principles. My principal is Jail = Bad, avoid it at all costs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxBs4f4RIU
Officer/Overseer…they both ride horses.
…DISCRETION…
…1 : the quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment : the quality of being discreet : circumspection; especially : cautious reserve in speech
…2 : ability to make responsible decisions
…3 (a) : individual choice or judgment (left the decision to his discretion)
…3 (b) : power of free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds (reached the age of discretion)
…4 : the result of separating or distinguishing
…in other words, let’s be practical…constitutional or “free speech” rights aside, if you don’t show a certain ‘discretion’ in particular situations, the cop has the power backed by the court to use his/her ‘discretion’ as to how he/she wants to handle said situation…
…his/her actions may involve a certain amount of discomfort &/or force applied to you, now considered the perpetrator, right or wrong & while his/her actions may later be discredited by the court, thus leaving you legally if not morally vindicated, you, bucko, will have already paid a price in the procedure…
…& it’s unlikely you’ll receive anything more than apology, at best, from the court…
…there are a lotta good cops out there but there are a lotta cops who are willing to show you that “i’m a cop – you’re not – i win”…
…why play ???…use discretion…
and if you are in cincinnati, wear a bullet proof vest….
So you are, in fact, required to carry identification at all times.
Unless you are an illegal alien.
Interesting.
Bike kid could have rode away. The cops gave him a chance to and he blew it.
@joe. +10
http://youtu.be/qcRisFC9ab4
Chris Rock had it right…
This shit will continue as long as we are more afraid of them than they are of us. Scared cops, that’s what we need. How can we make this happen?
Joe,
That has to rank up there as one of the stupidest statements I’ve ever read!
You don’t want scared police, Africa, South America & the ex-Soviet states are full of that, sneeze in an encounter with them & you won’t die from the bullets, you’ll die from the draught blowing through all the holes.
Yes there are some bad eggs, but I’ll had some encounters with American police & they were all right people.
My grandfather was a cop as was my brother in law & they were good people.
New Zealand police are fucking fantastic, yes there is a sergeant up before the courts at the moment charged with excessive force but overall they are a wonderfully dedicated bunch of men & women, I’m bloody grateful that there are people that will do that kind of job.
Ask yourself, could you do that job, knowing that you may not make it through the shift ? & the pay is pretty average & you’ve got a family .
People get the government they deserve & ditto for the police force..
ANZAC day down under, time to reflect on the fallen & those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
“We will remember them”
No, Hurben, it’s not stupid. It’s bloody brilliant if you had the brains to see it.
I’m not talking about American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. I’m not against it either, but set that aside for a moment.
All the piggy-piggies have is the courts to back them up. Anyone (and in this country I do mean ANYONE) has access to lethal force. What needs to happen is this:
A vigilant* citizenry, armed with the technology of today, a comprehensive knowledge of their rights, and the expectation that their servants will be held to the highest professional standards, needs to become much more involved in documenting the conduct (and especially the misconduct) of said servants.
The servants, in turn, must have the keenest understanding that:
1-Their authority is derived from the consent of the governed, as outlined in this country’s founding documents and
2-Any abuse of that authority will be met with swift and certain consequences, including but not limited to the harshest criminal penalties.
You see, in this country the government is the servant of the people, and not the other way around.
What, apart from your jumping to conclusions about my intent, is stupid about any of that?
*”Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”
Thomas Jefferson
Crap. Not Jefferson; Wendell Phillips. Got Jefferson on my mind here lately for some reason. But you get my point if you have half a brain.
No Joe,
I’ve got a whole brain & a damn good one but frankly your point is just meaningless bullshit.
The fact that you call them “piggy-piggies” shows your attitude.
I’m done here, arguing with you is like pissing in the wind & I have way better things to do in the real world..
And Hurben? I’ve a niece who’s a detective. Watched her grow up. Enjoyed spoiling the hell out of her, even. So don’t even go there with me.
And my flesh crawls when I think of some of the things she’s probably seen and had to forget, code of silence and all.
“…shows your attitude.”?
If your argument was worth a fuck you might try something to change it. Oh well, have fun pissing in your pants, or whatever it was you said you were doing.
wow joe, how condescending. judi, good luck with the job hunting.
the FOP will always protect their own. we’d be fighting a lost cause. the cop that shot my friend had been reprimanded in the past for not following correct procedure and he will probably get away with murdering my buddy, a harmless drunk, in a situation that went very, very bad.
onegeargood, I ain’t the one who bailed.
“What, apart from your jumping to conclusions about my intent, is stupid about any of that?”
@Joe— spoken like a man who’s never been to the ghetto. Jeebus, dude, you’re being a moron. Again.
my take on Joe’s comments thus far on DC sum up with: I mean well, am passionate about my beliefs, and also want to shit on anyone else with a different view point.
You lose all your credibility when you end your coherent statement with something like “if you had half a brain”. So ask yourself, do you want a conversation or an arguement?
Uggh, sorry to take up you reading space with my response to Joe.
Anyways, in regards to the NYPD, I totally support their actions. When you have a job to do and there is an angry, possibly violent person attempting to impede such task, then you take that person into custody. Homeboy should have minded his own business, and dude on the bike is even stupider for not taking off if they didn’t have his i/d
It isn’t disturbing. The dumbass should have just kept walking and not talked shit to the kid on the bike. He caused the problem, not the police. The police just acted based on the fact that the guy was yelling at the top of his lungs and being an idiot. When they asked him for his i.d. that should have been his cue to stfu and get walking, instead of being, unfortunate for me to say, a typical loud ass african american.
Spoken from the mouth of a dood who saw the wrong end of a police stick or two, “can’t we all get along?”
Judi- keep your head up. Best of luck with the job hunting. In the past 12mos. I’ve been unemployed twice and now on to my third job. When one door closes, another opens. I start my new job on monday. School’s a mere few weeks from being done and the family’s got to eat. Ego in the back pocket and trying to make a life out of it. But you know what? Pedaling and being happy are free.
Nothing wrong with getting money from the government. You get 1/100,000 of what a weapons maker gets. An AGM-65 missle’s price tag in 2000 was $500,000. The ‘defense’ budget went up, not down. While people are too proud to go on unemployment, the big boys are walking by you with stacked Magliners full of public funds. You’d get one hundred bill out of the bale. Feel guilty about that?
Retirees in the military get pensions for life AND free drugs right up through the pill popping elder years. This benefit is paid as part of the defense budget and is yearly in billions.
Several years ago, the Federal Reserve printed $100,000,000,000 cash and this cash was forklifted by $13,000 a year military personnel onto a C-5 which subsequently landed in Baghdad. The cash proceeded to disappear, and very little if any of it came back to the taxpayers.
Why is it that simple math cannot sway those that continue to complain about ‘welfare subsidies’ and how the poor work the system over and get paid. It’s something like .6% of the total budget.
LJ: +100,000,000,000.
cash.
Judi – keep yer head up. Take advantage of the time (projects, people, adventures) whatever you do, STAY BUSY. During my unemployment, idleness would send me into The Pit, but being even slightly productive was a vast help.
I dunno how things are in AZ, but in Boston things have definitely picked up in the last 6 months. My wife recently got hired after a long drought, along with many friends.
Hang in there kid!
@lj – i figured you’d say that. im not too proud. i have my claim in, but they haven’t paid me. the claim hasn’t been denied nor approved. i am onto week 5 now and my fucking mortgage is due next week. if you think i am going to sit around and wait for them to issue me a check, you’re stupid. then again, i live in a house, not a bread truck…..
…the whole concept of fighting fear with corresponding fear & expecting anything worthwhile as a result is simply absurd…
…to begin with, you DO realize we’re talking idealistically here, ya ???…
… so with that said, would it not be realistic to understand that while fear has been used for centuries to contain individuals & populations, a productive environment is hampered by fear ???…
…if we’re gonna be idealistic, why piss around & waste energy & resources when we’d all benefit by less fear ???…
I surely wouldn’t discourage your work search. Sitting around and waiting is never any fun. Agreed – earnings are preferable to a hand-out.
By the way – Katie got around to telling me, when I asked, about the t-shirts. She has a Hard Rock now in place of the bike that was stolen.
Judi — the socks really MAKE the heels here. Just be sure to sit carefully at the interview so you don’t flash too much DC all at once.
You’ve got nerve! I swore 25 years ago I would never again don a dress or heels to get or keep a job. If the tables were turned and I was the suddenly unemployed one, would I waver? Hard to know, but good on you for kicking adversity in the nuts and going out on the job prowl. You must have an absolutely INSANE resume and I feel confident you’ll find something soon.
Heal quick and feel better soon! –hugs, b
for the past few months its been a real nightmare to ride in NYC. people have been getting ticketed/arrested for the most absurd stuff. god bless the nypd. when they aren’t raping you when you are drunk or shoving a walkie talkie up your butt, they are giving you a ticket for having your purse on your handlebars! i feel safer already!
Syzmon, just don’t suggest in any manner that We The People should hold these uniformed miscreants accountable for their transgressions. Not around here, anyway. Unless you’ve got a flamesuit.
Yep. Now a days just opening your mouth is a good enuf excuse for a cop to start a beat down.
I used to like cops. Comfortable shoes and all. Now they are all jack booted thugs getting off on the power trip. And I have to say all because that blue wall allows the bad ones to contaminate them all.
There is no longer much of a line between police and military in this country and this is a bad thing for everybody. These “cop” discussions can always get heated so let me just say, “I love all of you, even the cops,” which is why I (and probably Joe too) get so upset when I see the cops acting in ways that betray their profession and their oath of service to the constitution and the public.
We see citizens get hammered on really hard for everything, everywhere, and at all times. Judi’s friend was shot and killed by a cop who will probably be put on paid leave while an “investigation” (I call it a cooling off period where the cops wait a while until the event is mostly forgotten) and they will declare no wrong-doing. Mr. Trigger Happy will go back to work, and you will get a $500 ticket for running a red light, every time. We all see this happen, feel powerless to change it, and this breeds anger and resentment towards the police. They respond by amping up the animosity.
The big problem I have with this is how so few people are willing to hold the police to the higher standard to which they have voluntarily made themselves a part. The guy on the street can act like a jackass, it’s not the best behavior but it’s not illegal and I expect a police officer to have a strong enough character not to respond to immature, disrespectful behavior by simply returning it in same. I don’t get the apathetic attitude, “If you talk shit to the cops, they will fuck with you, everybody knows that so don’t be stupid.” NO I DEMAND THAT THEY FUCKING ACT LIKE PROFESSIONAL ADULTS WHO TOOK AN OATH OF SERVICE! I’ve never been treated like dog shit by the police personally, but I have always treated them respectfully as well so that probably has a lot to do with it. You’d be amazed how much respect you can get out of cop when they hear you speak intelligently and you let them know that you know your rights. Keeping your emotions in check is key when dealing with the police. When I see ego and emotions guiding the words and actions of a cop it pisses me off. I know they are only humans too, but they are supposed to (and they will be the first to remind you of this when it is convenient for them to do so) be held to a higher standard of conduct than normal citizens. When they fail to do this it is not only scary to see, but it violates their service oath and professional code. To know that while the public gets slammed with expensive tickets for everything nowadays the cop gets away with everything just feels like piling on to me.
Joe, I don’t think cops fearing the public would be the best thing, but I’d be willing to give it a try just to see the difference. Ideally, a mutually respectful relationship needs to exist between cops and citizens, we’re all members of the same community after all. Education is the way, read your constitution, know your rights, stand up for them. The cops prey on ignorance, laziness, stupidity, etc.
Keith, I’m just a simple working man. I love my family, do my job, ride my bike and drink my beer; not necessarily in that order. So forgive me if my inelegant words have muddied these waters that all of us are trying to navigate as best we can.
I never meant to suggest that the cops should fear the public; only that they should fear the consequences if they step out of line. On that point it appears that we are in agreement.
Afew years ago I was on the wrong end of a road rage incident. No damage, but the sick fuck who nearly took out me, a semi and God knows who else managed to convince the cop (PA state trooper) that I was the bad guy. Dude came to my house eith Dumb and Dumber from our town “police” force and was a total douchebag on MY property, during MY dinner hour. I sent him on his way.
The next day, while my wife and I were out celebrating our wedding anniversary, the same bunch snuck up to our driveway and crawled all over my car, trying to find some “evidence” that they could photograph. My next door neighbor had a local kid working on some improvements to his garage at the time. The “officers” told him that he’d best not say anything to anyone about their presence on my property if he knew what was good for him. How’d that fat inbred comedian say? “What the hell is this, Russia?” Let anyone convince my that such abuse of power is not a common thing, here in the so-called “land of the free”.
And Judi, my heart aches for your friend who was murdered-there, I called it what it is-and for you and all who loved him. Jail is far too good a fate for his killer.
Joe, you don’t need to ask me for forgiveness, you sound like an all right guy, I am as guilty as anyone about getting really angry about abuses of power and responding to it by saying really nasty things. I’m not saying you did that, maybe some people think you crossed a line, but all I’m saying is I understand where the anger comes from and I know how bad it can get too. Also, I said that the cops prey on ignorance, laziness, and stupidity, but your story highlights something I forgot to say, which is that sometimes the cops prey on you for absolutely nothing and that truly is the worst. I just don’t see how more people don’t see it as a big problem that law enforcement in this country has been militarized against it’s people and they are above criticism, accountability, transparency, and reproach. It’s fucking scary.
Oh, and as to the cops being “members of the same community”, it usually goes that way in this neck of the woods-usually. Maybe it’s the same where you live. But much too often and in much of this country they are perceived by and large as being simply an occupying army. Guess who the work will fall on if this is to change.
I think the only point to be made is Judi lost somebody she cared about.
It doesnt really matter how or why, A simple sorry for your loss… would suffice.