Patterico's Pontifications

12/21/2014

NYC Police Shootings – Update

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:18 am



[guest post by Dana]

The NY Post is reporting that a third police officer was targeted last night:

A third cop narrowly escaped with his life Saturday night when a suspect pointed a gun directly at the officer’s head and pulled the trigger in The Bronx — not realizing it was empty.

Cops went to East 140th Street in Mott Haven at 9 p.m. on reports of a man shooting out windows with a.357 caliber revolver. They spotted the suspect, identified as Raymond Leonardo, 18, and ordered him to drop the gun. Instead, he took point blank aim at one of the officers, officials said.

When the gun didn’t work, he put it in his pocket and ran. Cops tackled him a few blocks away. “It looks like he used up all of his bullets’’ firing at the windows, a law-enforcement source said.

The officers were able to subdue the suspect without harm. No police officer was injured.

Police, believing they are under seige, showed the following tweet to the NY Post. The tweet was posted 2 hours *after* the police officers were killed:

“Kill em all i’m on the way to NY now #shootthepolice 2 more going down tomorrow.”

From Hawaii, where he is on vacation, the president responded to the killing of the 2 NYC police officers:

‘I unconditionally condemn today’s murder of two police officers in New York City. Two brave men won’t be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that, there is no justification. The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day – and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day. Tonight, I ask people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal – prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen’

(It’s a dangerous world out there, people, watch out for those harmful words.)

–Dana

Update: The NAACP responds with more gun control and mental health care. Further, do not attempt to connect the current unrest and protests throughout the country with these assassinations:

These two killings and the life-threatening injury, like so many other unfortunate incidences of gun violence, provide a stark example of the need for sensible gun control measures, and the need to thoughtfully address untreated mental illness.

While some may suggest a causal link between these killings and the recent protests and activism focused on the serious issue of police violence against unarmed African Americans, we caution against escalating an already tense national state through rumor and conjecture. Whatever motivation lay in the apparently troubled mind of the now deceased shooter of these officers, there is no connection between the peaceful protests of thousands of people of all races all over the country and, indeed, around the world, and this hideous act of violence.

As stewards of civil and human rights, we continue to seek a productive and open dialogue about ways to improve relations between communities of color and law enforcement and remain unwavering in our demand for accountability when any innocent lives are taken. For now, we pause in respectful sympathy with the families of the two officers who lost their lives today in this senseless act of violence and extend our wishes for the speedy recovery of the surviving victim.

Remember, the NAACP would never rely on rumor and conjecture to decide one’s guilt, and clearly, they would forcefully condemn any and all who would.

97 Responses to “NYC Police Shootings – Update”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (8e74ce)

  2. Now we are getting the copycats. Or is there something more to this? It is certainly being investigated.

    Sammy Finkelman (6a57b5)

  3. Meanwhile, I imagine pols like Emanuel will say that the anti-gun ordinance in the Windy City at least served a useful purpose in this particular incident, and it could have been much worse for the mayor’s son.

    chicago.cbslocal.com: The teenage son of Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the victim of a robbery outside the mayor’s Lakeview home Friday night, a spokesperson from the mayor’s office confirms. Emanuel’s 17-year-old son went out to make a phone call when he was jumped by two men who stole the teen’s cell phone.

    Police officers are assigned to the mayor’s home front and back 24 hours a day. There are also cameras at both ends of the block.

    Police say no weapon was used. The suspects remain at large.

    More gun control, please! And also please make sure to emphasize the existence of rogue cops before anything and everything else.

    Mark (c160ec)

  4. This has an excellent chance of going bad in a hurry. As a retired Police Officer (37+ years) I can attest that the Officers in the streets will be on pins and needles and they won’t think twice about protecting themselves. One commenter made the statement on another website that it won’t be racial but others against “Blue” and that is exactly correct. The Blue family will pull together and protect themselves against all comers and this has the potential to escalate dramatically, especially if another incident takes place in another city and more Officers are killed or wounded. It will push the Officers into a siege mentality and the snowball will grow into an avalanche of devastating proportions. Sharpton and DeBlasio have a lot to answer for and the Officers in the cars are caught in the middle…and when you are caught in the middle, you fight your way out.

    Lowready (9e3900)

  5. Obola’s responce is characteristic. His facts are wrong. He equates words with actions. He frames the argument in terms that will self-serving as this story develops. Botttom line is that this is just another crisis that he will try to exploit.

    bobathome (348c8a)

  6. It’s also a crisis he has inflamed, as usual. He, Holder and $harpton, among others, have a lot of blood on their hands. But they are OK with that. It’s all part of the plan.

    Gazzer (ae5179)

  7. His facts are wrong. The officers killed were a man and a woman.

    He equates words with actions. He uses a six syllable word to indicate that he is really upset. But the focus is on how he feels, as though this is of any significance. What actions will he take? What conditions attended other statements in which he just condemned something.

    He frames the argument in terms that will [be] self-serving as this story develops. He equates violence with words that harm, and this equivalence will be used to silence critics of the Mayor an others who encouraged the organized criminal elements to consider such actions.

    Wouldn’t it be refreshing if Obola had said he regrets that his statements and actions had created an environment where such a thing can be expected. Instead he apologizes to Castro.

    bobathome (348c8a)

  8. bob, they have pix of the officers up at Hotair, please tell us which one is the gal?

    askeptic (efcf22)

  9. I have always questioned if Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton were really preachers since they have no church.
    When I heard Al Sharpton was guest preacher at a black Houston Church, I decided to check him out in person and see what it was all about…
    I sat down and Sharpton came up to me, I don’t know why, maybe it was because I was the only white person in the Church. He laid his hands on my hand and said: “By the will of Jesus the Lord All Mighty, and the will of God, you will walk today.”
    I told him I was not paralyzed. He came back and laid his hands on me again, and repeated the same thing.
    Again I told him there is nothing wrong with me.

    After the sermon I stepped outside and lo and behold, my car had been stolen!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  10. That’s your basic funny right there, Colonel.

    Gazzer (ae5179)

  11. A police officer in Florida was shot and killed last night in the line of duty. A male suspect is in custody, but no further information is being released. At this point, there is no known connection between this and the murder of the NYC officers.

    Dana (8e74ce)

  12. These are crimes of opportunity. The NYPD killer was always going to do it. He was a member of a Panther spin off group whose main goal was to kill cops. He was really mad at his girlfriend but the current climate allows him to be perceived as some kind of “hero.” Sadly, there will be many more and JEF and $harpton won’t do a damned thing to prevent it. It’s their stock in trade.

    Gazzer (ae5179)

  13. askeptic, my apologies. I read a report somewhere on the web, and I can’t find it now. Lesson learned. Link it. So Obola got that right. Ramos was 40 years old and married and joined the force in 2012, and Liu was a seven year veteran of the force and had just recently married. De Blasio walked a gauntlet of NYPD officers facing away from him on both sides in order to “pray” with the families. Never let a crisis go to waste.

    bobathome (348c8a)

  14. TKS!

    askeptic (efcf22)

  15. deBlasio really needs to stay away from these funerals.
    This is so depressing.
    and i agree with bobathome about the President’s response. The response needed to call out the black anarchists and needed to be less of a show off of his feelings.

    seeRpea (7ce5fe)

  16. But, EVERYTHING is about The Lightworker!

    askeptic (efcf22)

  17. The two police officers killed yeserday in New York were both men.

    One, Wenjiian Liu, was 32 years old, 7 years on the police force, and had just gotten married two months ago. The other one, Rafael Ramos, was 40 years old, but had only been on the police force for 2 or 3 years, apparently his lifelong dream. He had worked before as a school safety agent. He was married with children, the oldest being a 13-year old boy.

    Both men got out of the car alive, but were extremely severely wounded, and apparently didn’t go very far. They had probably not been looking in the direction of the guman when they were shot.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  18. The problem with what Presdident Obama said was that, in condemning the killings, he
    treated the idea of killing policemen like a debateable proposition, that a reasonable person may erroneously believe was the correct thing to do. And that’s wrong. It’s not a remotely debateable proposition. It doesn’t need condemnation. If he wanted to condemn anything, it should have been all those people who ‘liked’ the Instagram post about putting wings on pigs.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  19. Hmmmm. As officer Friday would say, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

    Reading that account, I’m puzzled. More than one police officer is called for a person firing a gun, and when they encounter him, he aims his weapon and takes two shots then turns around and runs..

    I would have thought the officers would have had their own weapons in hand, and when he raised his weapon at them at least one would have taken shots at the guy.
    Perhaps they were overly cautious in light of recent verbal attacks against police, perhaps they were some typical police officers who had never had to fire their weapon before and were no prepared to respond as necessary to such a situation. I cannot imagine it is standard police procedure to wait until the person actually shoots his gun at you to take action.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  20. for some news that is not depressing and that maybe this country can still get out of the abyss:

    http://www.timeslk.com/technology/2642/double-amputee-controls-bionic-arms-his-mind

    seeRpea (7ce5fe)

  21. re #18: well written, you were able to get across pretty much what i had in mind.

    seeRpea (7ce5fe)

  22. What is particularly infuriating is that a video made to encourage cop killing starred two public defenders for NYC

    Taxpayers pay their salaries — but that hasn’t stopped two Bronx public defenders from appearing in a vile online rap video that urges black people to kill NYPD cops.
    The sickening video, for a rap called “Hands Up,” shows black men holding guns to cops’ heads and features the disgusting lyric, “For Mike Brown and Sean Bell, a cop got to get killed.”

    Pretty classy.

    Mike K (90dfdc)

  23. md @19: Reading that account, I’m puzzled. More than one police officer is called for a person firing a gun, and when they encounter him, he aims his weapon and takes two shots then turns around and runs..

    What account? The words “More than one police officer is called for a person firing a gun,” look like something is garbled there.

    There had been a warning issued to the NYPD, but it was less 15 minutes after that that this happened. Bratton says police are going to get tablets etc later.

    The policemen were there on some kind of practice anti-terrorism exercise. (?)

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  24. Sammy, I think you are mistaken in what I was referring to. I was talking about the incident with the third policeman that started out this post. That had nothing to do with the NYPD being warned about the guy from Baltimore.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  25. 24- This is a natural response to excessive criticism of procedures – no one wants to be the next xxxx called on the carpet, and appearing on the front page of the NYT.
    Yes, when cops are told “don’t do xxxx”, they hold back a bit, hesitate, and someone may get killed because of that hesitation.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  26. Just thought I’d mention that the “Kevin M” who’s commenting on Insty isn’t me. I use a slightly different handle there.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  27. What is particularly infuriating is that a video made to encourage cop killing starred two public defenders for NYC… Taxpayers pay their salaries

    nypost.com: The organization has received about $107 million from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice since 2007, according to city comptroller records

    That makes me think of the hundreds of millions of dollars that, among others, the Bank of America was recently forced to pay to leftist “non-profit” organizations at the behest of the crooked Department of Justice and its head schemer and scammer, Eric Holder, based on lawsuits alleging discrimination or woe-is-me complaints of vicimization.

    Welcome to the United States of Banana-Republic America.

    Mark (c160ec)

  28. From my (rather bitter) perspective on our post-racial President: he and his handlers wanted a Black Intifada, he’s done everything he could over the last 6 years to stir up a Black Intifada, and now he’s GOT a Black Intifada.

    My only happy thought about this dude is that “Hawaii’s got sharks”.

    A_Nonny_Mouse (f0c33c)

  29. One of those policemen could have been Obama’s son. The other, not so much.

    Denver Todd (5f001f)

  30. ‘I unconditionally condemn today’s murder of two police officers in New York City.

    Typical Prom Queen. He/she/it refuses to take responsibility for pouring gasoline on a fire.

    Steve57 (98542d)

  31. The post has been updated with the official response from the NAACP.

    Dana (8e74ce)

  32. I read the update, Dana.

    Clearly Sarah Palin is to blame.

    Steve57 (98542d)

  33. White racists killed Eric Garner and Michael Brown. White racist gun culture revenged itself on white racist cops.

    Or something.

    But as I tried to explain on another thread, the important thing is that the hatred the NAACP has for whites emerges unscathed. It is a moral imperative to hate whites. Who are all racists.

    Did I mention that the NAACP thinks racial profiling is a hate crime?

    It’s a good thing that being white is the complete absence of race. That’s why you can’t get more diverse than a historically black college. No whites. You can’t get more diverse than all black.

    Steve57 (98542d)

  34. people are forgetting this all happened after that horrible story got out about how that poor lady was treated on the train

    happyfeet (831175)

  35. 40,000,000 black americans say Don’t shoot are we shoot back!

    40,000,000 black americans say (622987)

  36. I was thinking, “All we need is Perry to complete the drum circle.”

    Steve57 (98542d)

  37. at least perry appears to be fluent in Ebonics…

    its inate incoherency is a perfect match for his “intellect”.

    😎

    redc1c4 (cf3b04)

  38. the naacp can cat my shorts.

    their troubled victim wasn’t supposed to have a gun under current gun laws, so what else should we do, short of violating the civil rights of LAW ABIDING citizens?

    redc1c4 (cf3b04)

  39. #PantsUpDon’tLoot!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  40. The NAACP calls for “sensible gun control measures,” huh? The fact is that Mr Brinsley had a criminal record, and thus was in violation of gun control laws. At what point do the idiots at he NAACP believe Mr Brinsley would have started to obey gun control laws?

    The part that needs to be addressed is that the people who enabled Mr Brinsley are the criminal justice officials in Georgia and Ohio who kept turning him loose. He had along rap sheet, and should not have been able to kill anyone yesterday, because he should have been sitting in jail.

    The coldly realistic Dana (1b79fa)

  41. seaRpea wrote:

    deBlasio really needs to stay away from these funerals.

    Actually, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association ought to demand Mayor de Blasio’s resignation, and state that they are all going to go out on strike at 6 AM on Tuesday if his resignation has not been tendered by then.

    They won’t, but they should.

    The Dana who knows that it won't happen (1b79fa)

  42. redc1c4 wrote:

    at least perry appears to be fluent in Ebonics…

    its inate incoherency is a perfect match for his “intellect”.

    Perry hasn’t even written on his own blog for over a week. He does seem to prefer commenting on other people’s sites, but he’s been banned from so many that I never see his stuff anymore.

    The amused Dana (1b79fa)

  43. And if you want to see some of the vileness of the left — a more subtle vileness, to be sure, but vile nevertheless — check out the comments on this open thread on the Delaware Liberal.

    The unamused Dana (1b79fa)

  44. Seek help, Perry

    JD (0b13b1)

  45. Dana – you could not have been more wrong about Perry.

    JD (0b13b1)

  46. OK, JD, which comments above came from Perry? I didn’t see this thread until the time I made my first comment, so it’s possible that I missed some which he posted and you subsequently removed, but when I looked, I saw none that reminded me of his style.

    The inquisitive Dana (1b79fa)

  47. 40,000,000 black americans say Don’t shoot are we shoot back!

    40,000,000 black americans say (622987) — 12/21/2014 @ 3:01 pm

    This may not be the Perry you remember, but it is Perry.

    JD (86a5eb)

  48. 40,000,000 black americans say Don’t shoot are we shoot back!

    You wanna know something interesting, Perry? White cops shoot blacks at about the same rate that black cops shoot blacks. Given that stat, it’s hard to see the police shootings as racially motivated.

    Chuck Bartowski (3e0e89)

  49. I especially loved this part:

    …40,000,000 black americans say Don’t shoot are we shoot back!

    Who knew? Perry is Al Sharpton. He’s wrestling with his teleprompter like, like, like…

    …Ted Kennedy over a bottle of Stoly!

    Resist, we much!

    Steve57 (98542d)

  50. So the NAACP issues this press release on the shooting in Brooklyn …. “we caution against escalating an already tense national state through rumor and conjecture. Whatever motivation lay in the apparently troubled mind of the now deceased shooter of these officers, there is no connection between the peaceful protests of thousands of people of all races all over the country and, indeed, around the world, and this hideous act of violence.”

    …. Um wait a second, the NAACP makes lots of money and bases it entire reputation on spreading rumor and conjecture about whites. That is exactly what they do when they accuse people of racism. They don’t know what is in a person’s heart. But they sure do lots of rumor and conjecture to get there.

    And in terms of motivation comment, um wait a second …. then why have Hate Crimes Laws they support? Laws designed to punish people more for crimes with perceived racial component. Murder by animus of race is worse than murder by animus of yyyyyy.

    These folks are something.

    Rodney King's Spirit (8b9b5a)

  51. Shorter NAACP, Mr. King’s Spirit.

    “We’re full of s%$@ and we’ll call you names if you come close to blowing our cover.”

    Steve57 (98542d)

  52. re #41: police strikes / blue flu are never a good idea, and at this time it is an awful idea.

    Do you know who will suffer the most if the NYC police go on strike for Christmas? The Jews. It would be like ‘The Purge’ (an awful movie) except the Jews would be targeted.

    seeRpea (7ce5fe)

  53. I agree that NYC needs sensible gun control laws. The idiotic laws they have now prevent innocent citizens from protecting themselves and should be amended or repealed.

    Oh, wait. That probably isn’t what the NAA(L)CP meant…

    WarEagle82 (b18ccf)

  54. seeRpea wrote:

    re #41: police strikes / blue flu are never a good idea, and at this time it is an awful idea.

    Do you know who will suffer the most if the NYC police go on strike for Christmas? The Jews. It would be like ‘The Purge’ (an awful movie) except the Jews would be targeted.

    Would those be the same Jews who voted Bill de Blasio into office in the first place?

    The consequences of a police strike to force Mayor de Blasio’s resignation would be ugly, but sometimes ugly is necessary.

    The hard-assed Dana (f6a568)

  55. Err, what do you call it when the police pick the government?

    Bueller?

    nk (dbc370)

  56. The consequences of a police strike should be de-certification of the police union, and firing of the strikers with loss of accumulated pension contributions and permanent ineligibility for any government job. Like Reagan did with the air-traffic controllers. Ach, Reagan!

    nk (dbc370)

  57. what is a conditional condemnation ?

    KaiserDerden (faa0ee)

  58. 56. They haven’t been able to connect the killer to any protest.

    Right before the shooting, he spoke to two people in the neighborhood.

    He asked them what gang they belonged to, and told them to look at what he was about to do.

    After the shootings, two Con Ed workers followed him.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  59. 53. Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn gave Joe Lhota the highest percentage, after the any remaining hard core Republican areas and some areas were carried by him.

    Bill de Blasio got just 51% of the Jewish vote overall, compared to 73% of the overall vote in the city.

    http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Brooklyns-hassidim-give-strong-support-to-Lhota-but-Jewish-vote-ultimately-evenly-split-330830

    This represents a big shift away from the traditional pattern of the Jewish bloc overwhelmingly voting for a Republican candidate, as happened during the elections of former mayors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.

    As of Wednesday not all votes have yet been counted, but according to an election map breakdown provided by local TV outlet NY1, the Jewish vote in particular tells a “tale of two cities,” said David Pollock, director of government relations at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

    In Brooklyn, for example, while almost all other neighborhoods came out strongly for de Blasio, the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach showed a strong turnout for Republican candidate Joe Lhota. Both of these communities are mostly a mix of Russian-speaking and Orthodox Jews, Pollock said.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  60. 55. Calvin Coolidge did this with the Boston police union, and that, in large part, was responsible for making him Viice President.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  61. 17. I made some errors.

    The 13-year old is the younger son, not the older son of Rafael Ramos. I think I made that mistake because I read something about him having two sons, and only the 13-year old was mentioned, so I thought the reaosn the other one wasn’t mentioned was maybe because he was too young.

    But the older son is 19 and is a college student in Maine.

    Both men got out of the car alive, but were extremely severely wounded, and apparently didn’t go very far.

    On closer examination, this seems to be based on only one witness, Courtney Felix, 23, who spoke to three newspapers – the New York Post, the New York Daily news and Newsday.

    But no other account says that and some seem to contradict it.

    One person said they were slumped on their seats. Also Bratton said they were both struck in the headI think the slumped account should be beleived. Another said other police dragged them out of the car.

    Courtney Felix claimed that they were clutching their wounds, one his neck and the other his collarbone, but one (or both) managed to stumble out of the car.

    That’s not what someone else said. It also is maybe not possible, and Police Commissioner Bratton said they were both shot in the head.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  62. Steve57 (98542d) — 12/21/2014 @ 2:53 pm

    Remember your Physics:
    White is the absence of color, Black is the presence of all colors.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  63. because he should have been sitting in jail.
    The coldly realistic Dana (1b79fa) — 12/21/2014 @ 3:57 pm

    As Walter Brennan said once (or more times): There you go again!

    askeptic (efcf22)

  64. There’s atimeline.

    Brinsley entered his ex-gridfriend’s apartment in Owings Mill, maryland, using a key he was not supposed to havem or not beelived to have, at 5:30 AM Saturday. She called her mother, who heard arguing and the pohone was abruptly hung up.

    At 5:50 am Baltimore police receive a report of a simnngle shot fired.

    When poilce arrive, Shaneka Thompson identifies Brinsley as her shooter.

    6:05. Brinsley, who had stolen Thompson’s cell phone phones her mother and tells her he shot her daughter by accident and he hopes she lives.

    He continues to call her, and from taht she and police learn he’s heading toward New York.

    He starts posting threats.

    10:50 Brinsley gets off a Bolt bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42ns St.

    He gets on the N train and heads to Brooklyn. No word on whether he paid his fare. He eventually arrives at Atlantic Avenue and the Barclays Center, where the Nets play, among other things, and leaves the phone there. Maybe he realized or knew it was posisble to trace him.

    2:10 Baltimore police contact the 70th precinmct in Brooklyn – probably somewhere around where Brinsley onmce lived or he has family or something.

    Bity he’s not there.

    2:46 – The NYPD receoves a fax telling all about Brinsley.

    2:47 – Brinsley speaks to two people telling them to watch what he’s going to do, and shoots the two policemen.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  65. NYPD striking would, as nk indicated, probably induce the Reagan response to the PATCO strike.
    Blue flu is also not good.
    What would be good is “working to the rule”:
    DeBloviator has stated that he wants more of the petty rules enforced – such as that which resulted in the death of Eric Garner – so, give him what he wants.
    Relentlessly enforce the rules against Jaywalking, Double Parking, Riding bicycles on the sidewalk/against traffic, etc., etc., etc. Everyone you stop for a cite, run for wants/warrants – keep the Paddy-Wagon filled.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  66. Right now the police department has issued rules – and that wold be Bratton really – that really reduces police response – a lot of policemen have to respond to anything and don’t arrest anyone or give him a summons nless it is really necessary.

    That’s giving the protesters what they want. (this is acting as if there are a lot of would-be police murderers around.)

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  67. askeptic (efcf22) — 12/22/2014 @ 11:28 am

    the Reagan response to the PATCO strike.

    Pro-union Comrade mayor Bill de Blasio is not going to do that. But there won’t be a strike either.

    If there was, the union would be driven into bankruptcy and individual police offiers lose two days pay for every day off. But they don’t want to do that.

    One time the firemen had a strike vote, conducted by the Honest Ballot Association, but the Honest Ballot Association didn’t ensure that the vote was reported honestly, and the union leader reported a majority for a strike when the truth was the opposite.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/02/nyregion/city-lore-the-day-the-firemen-went-on-strike.html

    …Nov. 6, 1973. On that day 30 years ago, for five and a half tense hours, most of the city’s 10,900 firemen (they were all men) picketed outside their firehouses or simply watched as some 80 fires burned citywide, chanting ”Scab! Scab!” at makeshift firefighting crews…

    …In October, he mailed firefighters ballots asking whether they backed a strike. The votes were counted by the Honest Ballot Association, which, under an existing agreement, told only Mr. Vizzini the results.

    At a Nov. 5 union meeting attended by thousands of firemen, Mr. Vizzini declared that his members had voted overwhelmingly to strike….

    …No deaths were reported because of the strike. The firemen who walked were not fired, but fined two days’ pay under the state’s Taylor Law, which forbids public employees from striking. Under the contract signed later, their salaries increased by $950. The word ”strike,” a current union delegate said, has never been uttered at a union meeting since.

    And Mr. Vizzini? He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment for the bluff, was put on three years’ probation and served out his union presidency. In 1977, he was elected to a second term.

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E01E0DA133DE03AA1575AC1A9679D946290D6CF

    http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1649&context=ulj

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  68. sammy, you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.
    As I said, striking would be not only illegal, but non-productive, as would be The Blue Flu.
    That leaves “Working To The Rule”, which can gum up the works better than a barrel of molasses on a winter day.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  69. Re: working to the rule.

    That’s known or used to be known, as a “Rulebook slowdown.”

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  70. In 1947 New York State passed the Condon-Wadlin Act, hich imposed severe penalties for municipal employees striking, but they were so severe they were never enforced maybe because mayors didn’t want an extended strike. Strikers were to be fired, and could not be rehired at a pay higher than they were getting before, nor receive any pay increases for three years and were to remain on probation, without civil service protection, for 5 years.

    In 1967 it was replaced by the Taylor law, which there was hope would actually be carried out, and that has been borne out..
    .

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  71. Anyway, I think the Patco (or Coolidge) reponse is not a legal option now in New York state.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  72. askeptic wrote:

    Remember your Physics:
    White is the absence of color, Black is the presence of all colors.

    If you are actually remembering your physics, white light is all colors together, and black is the absence of light; your statement is correct when referring to pigments.

    Howsomever, as a kid, I just had to experiment, and melt a whole box of crayons together, to see if the result would be black; it would up s sort of greyish purple. No one who knows me is in the least surprised that I did this.

    (Ask me about my electromagnet some day! 🙂 )

    The physicist Dana (f6a568)

  73. I stand, in a very dark place, corrected.
    What would your Mother say about your electromagnet – and how long did it take her to forgive you?

    askeptic (efcf22)

  74. BTW, it seems the NYJets have a touch more class than does the St.Louis Rams.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  75. When I was a kid, I got all of these science magazines, and one showed how you could make an electromagnet by using a dry cell battery, and hooking up a steel nail to it, wrapping copper wire around it and connecting it to the terminals.

    So I said to myself, “Self, if you can make a small electromagnet with a dry cell battery, imagine how powerful it would be if you used 110-volt house current!”

    So, I just happened to have a cord with a switch in it. I stripped the ends of the wires, attached them to the ends of the nail — a full 16 penny nail, mind you — plugged it into the wall, flipped the switch, and BOOM! Fuse blown!

    You can just imagine my disappointment that this great experiment failed.

    The electrical engineer Dana (f6a568)

  76. You weren’t the first kid to test the wonders of Westinghouse’s AC system.
    Some of us actually survived it for the wiser.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  77. I read a story about a fellow who observed that his mother was having troubles with squirrels getting into her tomatoes. Wanting to be helpful, one day while his mother was out he rigged up an extension cord with one wire attached to some aluminum foil partially buried in the ground, and the other to some foil dangling amidst the foliage of the tomatoes.
    I forget the details of what happened next, but I think mom came home at just about the same time said squirrel encountered the booby-trap, shot up in the air quite a few feet, promptly ran to the nearest tree when he came down, and gave his mother the worst squirrel cuss- out ever encountered. Of course, her first response was to yell to her son, “What did you do this time?!?!”

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  78. Mom’s never understand (or they do, too well).

    askeptic (efcf22)

  79. Fortunately, I have learned something about sparktricity since those halcyon days of youth, enough so that I even work on 440-volt three-phase systems. I can make things light up now without setting them on fire.

    The sparktrician Dana (1b79fa)

  80. From the CBS Evening News:

    When cop hater and killer Ishmael Brinsley broke into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson, he pointed his gun at himself and threatened to commit suicide. (saying what? that he’d kill himself if she didn’t love him?)

    She talked him out of suicide.

    He subsequently shot her.

    Then he travelled to Brooklyn and killed two policemen.

    Then he killed himself.

    Also, his family says he tried to kill himself a year ago.

    Does this mean that people should not attempt to prevent all suicides? And in this case, was it knowable what he might do?

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  81. As time goes on, facts get corrected.

    Ishmael Brinsley didn’t exactly threaten to kill himself while in Shaneka Thompson’s apartment.

    He threatened a murder-suicide. He pointed the gun at himself and said he would kill her and kill himself if she called the police.

    He abandoned his own phone in Baltimore, and took hers. Several thousand videos and photos have been found on his phone, including what looks like footage of protest in Union Square in New York on Monday, December 1, almost three weeks before the killings. NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce says he wasn’t participating in that protest, but rather just took a picture of it.

    In Shaneka Thompson’s he demanded that she call his estranged sister, who then put their mother on a 3-way call. Is this sister the same person who spoke to CBS News who said she didn’t what he did had anything to do with “police brutality?” “Police brutality” is a really old term that people don’t use very much any more – Lee Harvey Oswald used it when complaining about his arrest in Dallas on November 22, 1963..

    Brinsley begged his mother not to call the police, although he sounded suicidal. His mother, by the way, had previously told (police?) she was afraid of him. Brinsley’s mother did not confirm this conversation to the New York Daily News, saying only that they’d been “estranged for afew years, with occasional contact.”

    The last that police know of Brinsley’s movements before the assassinations was him being caught on video at the Atlantic Terminal Mall at 12:07 pm Saturday. he was talking on a cellphone and carrying a small white plastic bag that probably contained the handgun.

    They would like to know where he was and if he spoke to anyone. How did he know where to find police. It’s not like the old days when someone had to make a false police complaint.

    It seems he was using an app called Waze to track police.

    http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/ismaaiyl-brinsley-was-using-police-alert-app-waze-to-track-cops-before-fatal-shootings—should-it-b/question-4639142/

    This app was created in order to help drivers avoid tickets.

    http://shoebat.com/2014/12/20/man-just-murdered-two-police-officers-brooklyn-muslim-jihadist-prepared-muslim-violence-america/

    Shoebat says he had the Qur’an verse “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (8:60) on his Facebook page.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  82. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/24/alleged-cop-killer-s-blood-soaked-screenplay.html?via=newsletter&source=CSMorning

    Brinsley went by the name “Moses” in Atlanta.

    He had no known interest in the protests – he didn’t even attend one that was down the street from where he lived.

    He was talking about making a movie, or video, to be called ‘Until I Meet My Maker.’ which was supposed to be about, or based on, anecdotes of shootings of people Brinsley knew. Note: It doesn’t say shootings by police! There was no script yet, but he was taking notes. He had in mind 10 people shot of whom 4 died.

    He had other business plans, too, that never worked out.

    His girlfriend had broken uo with him because he never had the money he promised and he wasn’t keepiong up with his share of the bills. In fact, his friend says, “he didn’t have any money really ever.”

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  83. Theer have been several people arrested for making terroristic threats against the police, less arrested for making false complaints saying other people , whom they wanted to get arrested, made threats, and one informer who peddled what I suspect is disnformation (he claimed he overheard) that the “Black Guerrilla Army,” which probably doesn’t exist, was going to hav a shoot out with police at the 79th precinct. The next door firehouse was evacuated.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  84. Officer Rafael Ramos is some sort of Protestant who will have a wake on Friday and a funeral on Saturday.

    Officer Wenjiian Liu did not belong to any church, and is said to have prayed at home. His funera
    l, about which no announcement has been made, will probably take place in January, after some family members arrive from China.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  85. it seems do not link is a catchy thing:

    http://freebeacon.com/culture/politicos-identity-crisis/

    narciso (ee1f88)

  86. This is about the new editor of Politico. I had no idea Politico had been around for 8 years. The new editor seems to be interested in scoops, or in big analysis, not scooplets, according to this free Beacon article, and staff are quitting. It was the scooplets or micro-scoops that kept people coming back to the website.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  87. Howsomever, as a kid, I just had to experiment,

    I remember as a kid trying to counterfeit a nickel, using cardboard instead of metal, to see if it would work in a toy bubble gum machine that I got for Xmas. Alas, my cardboard nickel did nothing but jam up the whole works.

    Mark (c160ec)

  88. well I was referring to pieces like DeBlasio’s nightmare,

    narciso (ee1f88)

  89. When cop hater and killer Ishmael Brinsley broke into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson, he pointed his gun at himself and threatened to commit suicide.

    At least the excuse makers who’ve been rallying against the cops — and would do so regardless — can backtrack and say, “hey, don’t blame us! The guy was a sociopath and self-destructive!!”

    Speaking of which, this is another case where a shooter/killer of cops, politicians or others can be characterized as having a liberal belief system. The former LAPD cop (Christopher Dorner) who went on a killing rampage in 2013 also leaned left and was an Obama-ite.

    Just one more indication that the glib saying of “liberalism is a form of mental illness” may not be pure sarcasm.

    Mark (c160ec)

  90. 89
    To counter that, there is the guy in Pennsylvania. To borrow a line I saw elsewhere “Score for 2014…Right Wing Nuts maintain lead 3-2 despite late surge by left wing nuts.”

    kishnevi (294553)

  91. To counter that, there is the guy in Pennsylvania.

    Are you referring to the following guy? If so, that person has ideological leanings that sound more anti-establishment, pro-libertarian or pro-anarchist, and therefore can easily be more of the left than the right. His past act of thievery also indicates an unethical streak (to say the least), which is rooted in more of a feel-good, self-entitled liberal mindset than a conservative one.

    nbcphiladelphia.com, October 31, 2014: [Eric] Frein allegedly held anti-law enforcement views for many years and expressed them both online and to people who knew him. But the source of his alleged vendetta remains unclear. His criminal record appears limited to a decade-old misdemeanor case involving items stolen from a World War II re-enactors event in upstate New York, for which he spent 109 days in jail.

    Police found a U.S. Army manual called “Sniper Training and Employment” in the suspect’s bedroom at his parents’ house, and his father, a retired Army major, told authorities that his son is an excellent marksman who “doesn’t miss,” according to a police affidavit. Authorities believe he had been planning a confrontation with police for years, citing information they found on a computer used by Frein.

    Mark (c160ec)

  92. 89. quoting me in 80 summarizing something on the CBS Evening News Monday:

    When cop hater and killer Ishmael Brinsley broke into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson, he pointed his gun at himself and threatened to commit suicide.

    Except that turns out to be a little bit wrong. He did point the gun at himself, but what he said was that if she called the police, they would both be dead.

    There was something in brinsley’s mind that made him think that if he killed two policemen, he would look better.

    Sammy Finkelman (1b38fa)

  93. Libertarianism is a “right wing” ideal…as little government as possible. When applied to social issues and civil rights, that often means they appear to be on the left, but they are not.

    And conservatives can be as unethical as liberals. Your biases are showing there. (As quick evidence, look at the snake oil ads Newsmax mixes into its headlines.)

    kishnevi (294553)

  94. Libertarianism is a “right wing” ideal…as little government as possible.

    I characterize libertarianism as being sort of a cross-breed of leftism and rightism, although if your saying that libertarians are of a rightist bent based on the ideal that government should be as small as possible means, in turn, the corollary of that applies to the category the left occupies — or the conclusion that liberals love Big Brother — that’s a definition I’m willing to apply to the two different camps.

    Also, if you (or the person you were quoting) want to lump Eric Frein together with the right, I’ll say that indicates your biases are showing.

    Mark (c160ec)

  95. It was announced a few days ago that Joe Biden will attend the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos on Saturday.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)

  96. There will be a wake for Officer Wenjian Liu on Saturday, January 3, and a funeral on Sunday, January 4. He came to New York from China while a teenager and his father lives here, but there were other family members in China.

    Sammy Finkelman (d542b2)


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