You're on Candid Camera

Larry Elder in Townhall reports on an interesting and unexpected result arising from police use of body cams. Body cams were introduced in many jurisdictions to supposedly keep the police honest in interactions with the public during stops. Elder details the surprise finding, though, in a recent study:

"In 2012 in the city of Rialto, California, population approximately 100,000, cops were randomly assigned body cameras based on their shifts. Over the next year, use-of-force incidents on the shifts that had cameras were half the rate of those without cameras. But something rather extraordinary also happened. Complaints against all Rialto police officers with were down almost 90 percent from the prior year.

It turns out when civilians knew they were being recorded, they -- not the cops -- behaved better and stop making false accusations. The use of force by cops also declined, but, again, not because the police changed their conduct. No, the cops continued performing as they'd been trained. Civilians, aware that they were being taped, were less confrontational and were more likely to cooperate and follow instructions. As a result, cops needed to use force less frequently."

Are there bad cops? Sure, but the use of a camera makes all sides toe the line, and that's a good thing. 

Now They've Done It!

Breitbart reports that BBC’s Head of Comedy Shane Allen said that Monty Python were somehow not “original” because their members were too white, male, and middle class. What a serious turd! Even John Cleese is incensed. It's time to sic the Black Knight on him!

www.breitbart.com/london/2018/06/21/bbc-rejects-its-oxbridge-comedy-past/

A Little Tragedy

Kylie Jenner is now a super model, but she was still just being a daughter when she posted a picture on-line on Father's Day of her dad, Bruce Jenner (nka "Caitlyn"), with her and her sister as little girls, adding the caption, "so lucky to have you." Of course, this set off all the social justice warriors who absolutely trashed her for her faux pas. In 2015, Kylie told an interviewer:

"My dad is my dad, but he’s not there physically anymore. But she lets me call her dad — that’s the last little piece of dad I’ve got," she said.

Sigh. I'm glad she's still human, even if her tormentors are not. 

www.dailywire.com/news/31999/kylie-jenner-gets-trashed-wishing-caitlyn-jenner-amanda-prestigiacomo

MAMA!

Wayne Allyn Root in National Review pretty much nails the current state of the Democratic party, saying they:

"... support MS-13. They don’t think jobs matter to middle class Americans. $1000 bonuses are insignificant “crumbs.” The lowest unemployment ever for blacks and Hispanics is meaningless. Skyrocketing GDP is unimportant. Open borders are good. Defeating ISIS is bad. Peace with North Korea is unacceptable.

Their slogan should be: "MAMA: Making America Miserable Again."

Think it's hyperbole? Guess again. Bill Maher on his show on HBO first admits the economy is booming and Trump's tax cuts are responsible, but then says what we need is a good economic crash in this country, yessiree, and goes on:

"I’m hoping for it. I think one way you get rid of Trump is by crashing the economy. So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts people, but it’s either root for a recession, or lose your democracy."

Great theme for the mid-terms folks! 

townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2018/06/16/trump-proves-torture-works-n2491260

THE #MeToo Solution

Sexual power plays at work are wrong, even apparently now for Bill Clinton some 20 years after the fact. Netflix has come up with the ultimate solution to battle this problem, forbidding its production crews from looking directly at one another for more than 5 seconds. Perfect! Except, let's say you are a director working with a young female star who has just messed up a scene 5 times in a row and you are trying to get across what you want. You look at her to get her attention but are thinking "OK, every 5 seconds I have to avert my gaze. How long do I have to look elsewhere? 5 seconds sounds reasonable. Wait, get HR on the phone! Aw cripes, I snuck a glance and it was only 4 seconds. And she's looking at her nails..." And then the suit from corporate arrives to find out why you are going overtime shooting this feature. "Arrgh!"

townhall.com/tipsheet/chrisreeves/2018/06/14/netflix-bans-crew-workers-from-looking-at-each-other-for-over-5-seconds-to-fight-sexual-harassment-n2490436

Trump and Korea

The summit is over and President Trump came away with a 4-point document that may or may not mean anything - time will tell. Ben Shapiro, writing in the Daily Wire, says it's either a "masterstroke or a horrible debacle." I tend to agree with him.

Some things have not changed. Kim Jong Un is still a monster. His cruelty and depravity are virtually unmatched anywhere in the world except perhaps with ISIS. He is a psychopath with megalomaniac delusions. He sees himself as a world leader but his country is one of the poorest on earth, put there by generations of rule by his family. The Korean War is still with us. There has been a truce of sorts since 1953 but no formal peace treaty. He has nukes. Will he really give up the one thing that has kept him in power? Call me a skeptic, especially since he has made the same promise before to the U.S. and lied through his teeth. China doesn't want to see a reunified Korea as a South Korea writ large on its border, as it would be too threatening. I don't see this has changed and since the Norks get most of their food and coal from China, they are on a pretty short leash. 

The power of personal diplomacy is vastly overrated. Ultimately, countries look after what they consider their best interests. If Trump made it clear that the alternative to good faith performance of all of the glittery and ambiguous promises was to be turned into a fine nuclear dust, then perhaps KJU will see the light. Short of that, however, I am very concerned that Trump may have made the worst deal of his life. Was it worth taking the risk? We'll see. 

www.dailywire.com/news/31740/trumps-big-north-korean-moment-either-masterstroke-ben-shapiro

I Am Not Shocked

Here comes another study from UCal - Irvine showing that for each $1/hour the minimum wage is raised, the poverty rate increases by 3%. This tracks pretty consistently with a University of Washington study on the same subject a few years ago when Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15/hour. Coincidentally (not), Seattle is now #3 in the nation for homeless people. Wonder how that could have happened? 

www.wnd.com/2018/06/higher-minimum-wage-increases-poverty-in-poor-areas/

Let Sports be Sports

Pollster Scott Rasmussen has an interesting idea in National Review this morning. As you know, many of the "oppressed" people in the NFL, NBA, etc. are refusing invitations to the White House to appear with President Trump after winning championships. There has been a lot of back-and-forth about this ("running dog racist oppressor" vs. "spoiled ingrates") but Rasmussen suggests, why not drop these visits altogether permanently? He says it would create a "civic buffer" between the pollution of politics and the world of sports - basically, let sports be about sport and avoid political pollution. 

Hadn't thought about it, but it's not a bad idea. I mean, what a novel idea, letting sports be just about sport! And I'm sure that the Democratic party when they are in office, ESPN, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, assorted NFL players who suddenly lose the ability to stand when the national anthem is played, etc., will gladly go along. We'll see. 

townhall.com/columnists/scottrasmussen/2018/06/07/lets-end-official-white-house-visits-for-sports-champions-n2488101

D-Day; June 6, 1944

We kicked open the door of Hitler's Festung Europa, but here is the price we paid. May you rest in peace and may we never forget that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and uncommon valor. 

Only One Thing Left to Do

Arthur Guiness invented Guiness Stout because the water of that time was unfit to drink and  the common man was drinking himself to death on cheap gin. The alcohol in the beer was much lower proof than gin and it killed any harmful bacteria. Salud to Mr. Guiness!

Salem has again posted a bad water alert due to cyanotoxin from blue/green algae at its water source, Deroit Reservoir. Following the lead of Arthiur Guiness, there's only one thing left to do when the water is bad - have a beer! Salud!