Headlines, 9-25-08

"Obama calls on McCain to keep Friday Debate Date," LA Times.

Either McCain has the worst campaign manager ever or he is afraid to debate Barack Obama or he truly wants to lose the election. Or, all of the above.

"NYPD investigates two officers in Taser death of naked Brooklyn man," Daily News.

The NYPD lieutenant who ordered the second officer to Taser Inman Morelas was stripped of his badge and gun and assigned to desk duty. Yet another example of persistant problems with NYPD officers' aggression towards minorities.

"Energy Drinks can cause caffine intoxication," LA Times.

Lay off the caffine. From the LA Times, "Caffeine intoxication is a recognized clinical syndrome. It is described as nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeat, restlessness and pacing. In rare cases, caffeine intoxication can cause death."

"Judge Orders Mistrial in P2P Piracy Case," PCMag.com.

From PCMAg.com, "Jammie Thomas, who was ordered to pay $222,000 to a group of music labels for allegedly pirating songs using the Kazaa peer-to-peer service, has been granted a new trial...The key word and definition was 'distribution,' which both the labels and Thomas' lawyers disputed. Both sides agreed that the only copying of files in the case was by MediaSentry, a firm hired by the labels to seek out pirates. The lawyers for Thomas had argued that a copyright holder or its agent, MediaSentry, can not infringe its own copyright."

"Johnny Depp Signs on to bring back Captain Jack in 'Pirates 4,'" MTV.

Oh, please. Give it a rest. The man is 45 years old and his most famous role is a pirate with make-up and the movie is based off of a roller coaster. Time to move on.

911 is a Joke

Lose your arms and legs to them, it's compilation
I can prove it to you, watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up, get get down
911 is a joke in your town
~"911 is a Joke," Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet, 1990

Since Flava Flav of Public Enemy cackled these words over a decade ago, the emergency services in New York City have only proven him correct. During the racial tensions of the 1990s, there were several instances of attacks on black Americans, especially black males. However, while many would hope that the situation has improved since then, today is yet another stunning example of the lack of progress made and the lack of accountability for institutions that perpetuate racism.

Today, Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict that the three NYPD detectives who shot the unarmed, 23 year old Sean Bell on his wedding day were to be acquitted of all charges. However, instead of murder charges, the most serious charge facing Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper was the manslaughter charge facing Isnora and Oliver.

While some may think that even though it is extremely suspicious for three police officers to shoot a man 50 times and believe that this is an isolated incident, the history of race-related killings by the NYPD proves otherwise, as the Associated Press reports:

In 1999, NYPD officers killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant who was shot 19 times in the entry to his apartment building.

The four officers in that case were acquitted of criminal charges. In 2003, Ousmane Zongo, 43, a native of the western African country of Burkina Faso, was killed during a police raid on a warehouse where he repaired art and musical instruments. Zongo was shot four times, twice in the back.

If progress really has been made by this country in its race relations, the NYPD should step forward to condemn these detectives and take its role seriously, instead of joking around with the lives of innocent Americans, like Sean Bell.