Wednesday, January 24, 2007

January 24

La Migra: we weren't planning a raid, but the inmigrantes jumped on our cars!

That's one rape trial down, one to go for Jemini Jones. Shouted a friend of the alleged victim, "Police... just proved they can get away with everything."

Cue the violins: The murder of Antwaine Curbeam (14) has made Loyola students nervous about walking to the CVS. Though the Police have never said killing was drug-related, Loyola Director of Public Safety Tim Fox was quick to reassure students: "All indications are that it was drug-related. It was a single shot, so that it kind of tends to look like it was maybe a hit of some sort."

Dear Readers, Does anyone have a CBS radio login they could share? Tried to register unsuccessfully and I kind of miss listening to Ed Norris...

22 comments:

ppatin said...

HFS really ought to put some podcasts of the Ed Norris show online. You can download all of their other shows, and if they can put in the effort to podcast garbage like The Junkies and Don & Mike then you'd think they could bother with Ed Norris.

Maurice Bradbury said...

And WTF's with the login?
You'd think they'd be thrilled to have people listening to that effing "finger in the beer" ad over and over.

Corporate media, your time has come! I'm Marcie jones, bitch, BOW DOWN b/c in 10 years I WILL OWN YOU!

Maurice Bradbury said...

First step: fire Stinky, hire a more intimidating mascot

(image matters, kids!)

John Galt said...

Liz, we're on the same page here. (regarding your comment yesterday)

Yesterday I met with reps of Parole & Probation, State's Attorney, Juvie Justice, and BCPD.

I asked what they proposed to do about all the handguns floating in my neighborhood. The acknowledged that everyone over age ten seems to have one and claimed that we have tough handgun laws, like Auto Five, which I believe is federal.

I asked: so how about Brandon Grimes? Why didn't he get Auto Five ?

"Oh, well, he needed to be a convicted felon."

Yeah? He was arrrested 17 times. He plead to theft, auto theft and got unsupervised probation, which was violated when he was caught with a filed-off gun. Twice, I believe. But apparently, that wouldn't qualify you.

"Well, you know, we can't jail everyone. We need to offer counseling, job training, and better schools."

Yeah, but you're law enforcement. Your job is to arrest (guilty) people and jail them. I don't care whether you have to arrest 1% or 95% of the population to accomplish it, provided they did it. The number of incarcerated males doesn't matter.

"Well, we want to give people a second chance."

Yeah, how many times ?? Basically, until they shoot someone.

These people are not trying to make life here safe. They're obstructing justice as justice system employees.

No means no, but only after about 20 maybes.

There's no reason to get out of the game until you've already shot someone, because until then you've still got a second chance coming.

This city is simply uninhabitable, and should be burned. No one's doing anything credible to change it one bit. Not the SA, the courts, the police, nor the legislators. Can they be prosecuted for obstructing justice?

ppatin said...

Heh, reminds me of when HFS still sounded like a local radio station, rather than just another "Free FM" franchise. I don't know if CBS had already bought them up back in 1998, but if they had at least they didn't make it quite as obvious.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Well said, Galt.

ppatin said...

Hocojoe, it sounds like Loyola students behave the same way as students at Hopkins. Every year we'd have a bunch of freshmen who'd apparently never left Connecticut going "OMG, Greenmount is the most ghetto area I've ever seen, I'm so scared there." Admittedly Waverly has problems, but it's not like walking around 33rd & Greenmount during the day is unsafe.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Gotta say, the only other places I've seen more (figuratively) ghetto than 33rd and Greenmount are all in Baltimore.

Anonymous said...

Galt,

Just to be clear Grimes wasn't arrested 17 separate times he was arrested on one case with about 12 stolen cars. That the police saying 17 arrest which isn't true. Second, to be 5 w/o parole you have to have a prior felony conviciton. None of Grimes' cases were. People do the best they can with the cases they have. You hope if you have to give a suspended sentence to someone that you get them on the back side - Violations of Probation but clearly that didn't happen here when he got a big ole 6 months of 10 year sentence.

ppatin said...

The parts of the city that really freak me out are the areas around JHMI in East Baltimore where the majority of houses on a block are boarded up. At least the part of Greenmount that's near Hopkins has businesses and people who're doing something semi-productive with their days. Other parts of the city just look like an urban wasteland.

burgersub said...

i'm not really "freaked out" by "the ghetto" anymore (unless there are people there that are actively threatening me), but i'd have to say the parts of the city that depress me the most are the public housing projects. even if all the people living there were healthy and happy and there was no poverty or crime, the architecture would still be butt ugly. rowhouses, no matter how run down or fucked up looking, no matter how dangerous and desperate the area they are in, will always be beautiful to me, and i sometimes like to daydream about a time in the future when they'll all be fixed up and nice again.

Si Fitz said...

The claim that ICE was "not planning a raid" strikes me as not credible. Witness described the event yesterday at the 7-11 at Broadway and Lombard like a classic jump-out, with multiple unmarked cars swarming the corner, a well-known gathering spot for day-laborers that was portrayed on the third season of The Wire.

Perhaps it is a coincidence, but yesterday saw one of the "largest [immigration] sweeps" ever by US American law enforcement.

John Galt said...

But Si, over half of them were criminals. Not immigration violators; actual conduct criminals. That means they're not very good people and I definitely want them deported.

What's wrong with that?? Sounds like good policy.

Unknown said...

e actually call the "ghetto" the "hood" now...

And Galt, it seems like everyone in justice from The BCPD to the courts is a fucking moron. I'd say no more than 5% of people working in justice are actually not corrupted and are still trying to uphold justice.I'm not at all surprised by the responses you received.

Anonymous said...

The stuff in So Cal did seem to have been closely targetted, and does not seem to be related to the Broadway arrests, which seemed relatively random and only coincided with date. I reckon that was not related.

Since ICE is now a part of Homeland Security, they are bound to have more sophisticated media skills, since they are in the same department with people that manipulate international news and overthrow governments and that sort of thing. I suspect the story planted about the immigrants jumping on an unmarked DHS car looking for work was crafted to make this story seem light-hearted or otherwise milk its media value.

John Galt said...

I dunno, Liz, I think the word 'Ghetto' has a certain retro cache, particularly if pronounced with the emphasis on the last syllable, a la Jimmy Walker.

Anonymous said...

Its a code that "JAKES" follow in this city ....or better yet simple rules for survival at the BPD!! just
a few.........

#1. Dont try to be a hero.....this is HARM(BALTIMORE)CITY!!!
#2.Stay in your patrol car at all times."Its cold(hot)out there!"
#3."Since(we)are driving most of the time,let's pull that person over for
a broken headlight,expired tags etc"
#4.Take as much time as needed to fill out simple paperwork "no need to rush, we've got 8hrs..."
#5.Be sure to be present at all court hearings, even though you are not prepared!!"It's OVERTIME!!!"
#6.Harass and arrest (honest working class citizens) for standing at a bus stop or in front of a public place.. and walking in public....
#7.Leave the tougher jobs for the
FLEX SQUADS(who are crooked as HELL),even though you spotted the criminal activity months ago!!!
#8.Be sure to get your arrest qouta
before the end of every month...
"lets add to the over-crowded jails,
and jam up the court system with bogus arrests by throwing this young kid from TOWSON in jail for buying WEED!!".
#9.Pretend that you are smarter than
the average "JOE" from BALTIMORE by
projecting ARROGANCE and DISRESPECT
when citizens call us for HELP!!!
#10.Let your SICK TIME build-up so you can use it during the summer...
when CRIME is at its peak!!
#11.Be sure to call for backup when
a 12 year old boy(with no criminal record)is threatening you with a pocket-knife."or,just shoot the kid in the chest and say that he had a GUN".. you'll later find out the kid had mental disabilities and didnt take his medicine or couldnt afford
to seek help!!!!"Dont worry though,
the HIGHER-UPS(City Hall won't question you at all"
#12.WE TOOK AN OATH, SO WE MUST ALL
STICK TOGETHER!!! GOOD(raises,promotions,overtime etc.) OR BAD(fatal shootings by us,
corruption i.e robbing, extortion)

Unknown said...

I get your point Galt.

The only thing that irritates me about that word is when I hear {soory Burger} a hopkins student say it in a sentence like " Oh My Gosh that is so gheeto" or 1 I actually heard last Wednesday between 2 naive morons at the bar when a black girl walked in with bright blonde hair "that's just sooo ghettotabulous"... some people use it as an insult, especially naive kids from out of town who wander into a bar like the Vous.

John Galt said...

Send 'em over my way. They wanna know ghetto, we'll show 'em ghetto.

Anonymous said...

"Gotta say, the only other places I've seen more (figuratively) ghetto than 33rd and Greenmount are all in Baltimore."

Guess you've never been to Detroit.

Anyway, I live one block from 33rd and Greenmount, and I have to say this is probably one of the least ghetto areas of the city...anyone who thinks this is "the hood" should take a busride over to West Baltimore sometime. Or better yet, take a stroll down Washington or Pennsylvania Aves, while doing their best whiteboy meets Lil Jon "YEEEEAAHHHHH!"

John Galt said...

Oh, as I've said, 33rd & G doesn't look ghetto at all. It looks kinda nice... well, decent, actually. But what it is behaviorally is really, really, really bad. It's the nerve center of all crime above North Ave. in Northern Baltimore. Take a look at the mapping of criminals in Baltimore B.

Question: Have you any idea just how many of the young males on the Greenmount/Old York corridor are carrying handguns? Just like Al Anbar or the slums of Sadr City.

And yes, Detroit is statistically worse than Balti-less. So is the Ninth Ward.

... said...

For all of those talking about Greenmount being ghetto, and the ppatin who commented students "who have never left Connecticut" will find it ghetto... Get the fuck out of Baltimore and take a look around. This whole country is ghetto. I used to work health outreach in Connecticut and besides Litchfield County (basically NYC's bedroom) Connecticut was one big trailer park - especially in the NE. Homelessness, illiteracy, the heroin use capital and transport hub of the *entire* U.S. - if you haven't been there don't try to talk like you're all so worldly in your assessment and the like... Yet more armchair philosophers pontificating... and getting it wrong