To Put It Bluntly

Here's my take on the New AriZona Immigration law:

Your actions define you; and this is how Arizona is defining itself.

Fort Lauderdale Cop Scoffs at the Law.

Bob Norman's Pulp blog brings us the story of a Fort Lauderdale cop who is basically a threat to law and order, and an affront to our justice system.  Officer Jeff Overcash arrested a man for having the temerity to ask Overcash for his name and badge number. 

According to Attorney Brad Cohen, who is representing that man, this is what happened up to the moment caught on video:

"We have several witnesses for the incident prior to the arrest.  The facts are essentially the train was going past the intersection, on SW 2nd Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.  My client,  Brennen Hamilton, was waiting with his wife and friends for the train to pass.  My client leaned up against the rear of the police car.

Officer Overcash approached my client and took him by the arm and said "Get your ass off the car.  How would you like it if I leaned my ass on your car?"  My client remained silent and rolled his eyes.  The Officer said "Really tough guy, you have something to say to me?"  My client remained silent.  Officer Overcash then said "Yeah, that's right tough guy, you've got nothing to say."  The train passed and my client and his wife went to his car and called Fort Lauderdale Police, to complain about the treatment he just received.  There wasn't a Lt. or a Sgt. working at that time, so he left his number.  During the call he was asked for the Officer's name and badge number.  He did not know that information.

After getting off the phone he went back to Officer Overcash and asked him if he could please give him his badge number and name.  That is where the video is recorded .  You can see my client approach calmly and request his badge and name.  Without hesitation Officer Overcash immediately puts my client in cuffs, and ultimately charges him with resisting without violence and disorderly intoxication."
- JAA Blog

Here's the video:

Here's the thing; this crooked cop claims that he's arresting law-abiding Brendan Hamilton for "a previous incident."  But if there was such an incident, Overcash would have been compelled by law to arrest Hamilton at the time of the incident.  So either Overcash broke the law by not arresting Hamilton in the first place, or he broke it when he arrested him on camera.  One way or the other, Overcash was clearly derelict in his duty.

But it seems pretty obvious that there was no "previous incident."  Overcash and two other officers are slouching against the patrol care, looking in a completely different direction.  There is no sign that just moments before there was any kind of scuffle that might have warranted arrest.  They're leaning against the police care (just as Hamilton had done) watching the crowd go by.  They almost look bored.

No, Overcash abused his power simply to punish a citizen for lawfully exercising his civic duty. And it should cost him his career.

We can't tolerate officers who abuse their power in this manner.  Every day that thugs like Overstreet - who don't give a shit about the law - remain on the job, we're all in danger.

Let's all remind Chief Adderly that this city belongs to the citizens, not a few
jack-booted thugs.  You can reach him at:
franka@fortlauderdale.gov
954-828-5590

A Salty Rejoinder

NY1 reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is working with several companies to voluntarily reduce salt content of foods within the Big Apple.

And how does the salt industry react? 

In a statement, Salt Institute President Lori Roman said, "The Mayor's time would be better spent educating consumers on consumption of fruits and vegetables...

The problem with that approach, Lori, is that it doesn't actually help us control our salt consumption, does it?  And let's face facts: when my doctor told me to cut back on salt, he DID tell me to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.  We all know we're supposed to be eating our greens.  We just don't do it.

When I prepare foods at home, I can track how much salt I'm getting.  I can read packages in the grocery store to see how much salt is in prepared foods I might pop in the microwave.  I can decide if I really want to eat a can of soup that has over half my daily intake of salt in it.

But when we go out to restaurants, all bets are off.  There's no nutrition label affixed to my blue-plate special.  That's not to say that restaurant food is too salty;  while there are probably some meals at some restaurants that are, the real problem is simply knowing the content so we can track our intake.

Mayor Bloomberg is simply working to correct that.

Nobody is advocating the elimination of salt from our diets - that would be stupid. We need salt.  But we don't need so much.