A LOT WENT WRONG WITH THE DAUNTE WRIGHT TRAFFIC STOP He was initially pulled over for having expired tags, but then a warrant for a "gross misdemeanor" popped and the police tried to arrest him. He decided to fight them and try to escape. A veteran cop made what can only be described as an unbelievable, horrid mistake and shot him instead of tasing him. The warrant was because he had been charged with aggravated robbery after allegedly attacking a woman whose home he stayed at after a party. He choked her and held her at gunpoint and demanded her rent money. He was out on bail and his bail was revoked because he did not keep in touch with his probation officer and also "due to his 'failure to not possess a firearm or ammunition' and not keeping in touch with his probation officer, court papers show." I'm not telling you this to imply he "got what he deserved" or any such nonsense. But I have seen a MILLION untruths flying around the internet about this and I'm trying to make sure you have information that can be backed up with documentation.
One of the things that has been said is he got pulled over for hanging an air freshener from his rearview mirror, which is apparently illegal in Minnesota. How about Colorado? Here you go:
Different states have slightly differing laws about hanging items from the rearview mirror. Colorado Statutes Title 42subsection (4) states:
No vehicle shall be operated upon any highway unless the driver’s vision through any required glass equipment is normal and unobstructed.
An annotation at the bottom of Colorado Statutes Title 42 states:
An air freshener hanging from a rearview mirror is not an automatic violation of subsection (4). The air freshener must actually obstruct the driver’s vision to be a violation.
So who decides if it obstructs the drivers view? These are the kinds of laws that lead to interactions with police that frankly don't need to happen. I get it if someone is driving with an obstructed view and gets into an accident, but if not, why is this a thing? This column makes the point that we have too many laws that criminalize too many things. And some of those have ended up in death for black men in the country unnecessarily. We shall discuss.
ARI ARMSTRONG HAD THE BEST TAKE ON THE DAUNTE WRIGHT SITUATION IN ONE TWEET And it was this one.
Until we get there, we have more of this. It's inevitable.
WE'VE MOVED THE BOOK OF QUESTION And given it a semi permanent home on Wednesday to free up some Friday space. Find the book here if you'd like to buy it.
HANK AZARIA HAS AN APOLOGY FOR EVERY INDIAN AMERICAN Because he has had a come to Vishnu moment and now realizes he helped create a hurtful stereotype that is hurled at Indian people in this country. Good for him, if this makes him feel better. He says he wants to apologize to every Indian American now. That could take a while.
I'M GUESSING HE WON'T HAVE MANY MOURNERS AT HIS FUNERAL The King of Investment Scams is dead. Bernie Madoff died in prison at the age of 82 after bilking investors of $65 BILLION dollars over 40 years.
DEAR JOURNALISTS, STICK TO THE FACTS PLEASE That is the overwhelming ask for normal people of journalism. A recent survey of Americans showed that we really just want journalists to give us the facts. That was the biggest answer in a ten question survey about what people expected of the news media. Problem is until journalism admits it has a HUGE bias problem or just goes back to giving us the what, why, when, and how they will never gain back the trust of half of the country. Fact.
WOULD YOU RATHER EXERCISE AT HOME OR THE GYM? This is an interesting question, because last year I would have said the gym but now I've settled into my home workout routine, I have the equipment I need and I prefer working out at home. I'm not alone, as more American say they'd rather work out at home now.
NIKE COMES UP WITH A WAY TO MAKE MORE MONEY AND VIRTUE SIGNAL TOO! The Nike Refurbished program is a good idea. It takes shoes that were returned for whatever reason and resells them at lower prices based on condition. As a regular shopper at consignment stores, I have no problem getting a deal on used shoes. It annoys me that they are trying to spin this as some big move for the environment. Sure it's good to keep shoes out of landfills when they have plenty of life left in them but lets not hurt ourselves patting our own backs, okay?
NOW A WORD ON AIR CONDITIONING
WILL SMITH MOVED HIS NEW MOVIE FROM GEORGIA TO A STATE WITH WAY MORE RESTRICTIVE VOTER LAWS And it is NOT EVEN CLOSE. Check out the racist requirements already in place in Louisiana! This is all so freaking stupid. Stupid people doing stupid things stupidly.
A TEXAS COP HAS BEEN SHOT But there will be no looting to commemorate the event. There will barely be any coverage of this I'm guessing.
THE SIXTH CIRCUIT APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS A BAN ON DOWN SYNDROME SPECIFIC ABORTION The state of Ohio passed a law outlawing abortion if the abortion is being sought specifically because a child is going to be born with Down Syndrome. Now an earlier court has been overturned by the Sixth Circuit and the word eugenics makes more than one appearance in the decision. Do we really want to go down the road of committing genocide against people who have Down Syndrome? Because that's what it is.
NOW FONTS ARE RACIST And y'all, I can't with this. Read it here but be prepared for your eyes to roll so far back into your head you won't be able to see.
REALIZING SCARING PEOPLE TO DEATH PAYS OFF MAGAZINES SWITCH TO CLIMATE EMERGENCY Now that the media has learned without a doubt from Covid that running the scariest possible headlines ever pays off they have decided to refer to climate change as the "climate EMERGENCY!!!!" from now on. Okay, maybe they won't all caps it with four exclamation points...yet.
IF UNIONS ARE SO GREAT WHY DO WE HAVE TO FORCE PEOPLE TO JOIN? This is a GREAT column on the worthlessness of unions and how Democrats want to pass laws that allow unions to force people to join. Why? Because they know they have outlived their usefulness and have to wear pork chops around their necks so dogs will want to play with them.
TEN WAYS TO STOP OVEREATING!
WYOMING IS LAWYERING UP AND THEY ARE COMING FOR COLORADO My initial reaction to this story about Wyoming passing a bill authorizing funds to sue other states whose policies negatively affect Wyoming was the Tenth Amendment. Each state can do what they want for their state. Then I kept reading and this whole thing makes MUCH more sense. It seems Colorado's Green policies affect a company based in Westminster which also operates in Wyoming. Because Colorado forced them to adopt green energy standards, it could mean they shut a coal plant IN WYOMING. Kind of a big deal. I'm not sure who has a leg to stand on here to be honest.
ONE LAST STORY ABOUT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE This is from last August. As we know, my friend Michelle paid privately to get her gallbladder removed after being referred for an "urgent" referral in December. She is STILL on the NHS list just to see how long it will take, but she's one of 300,000 people waiting to get a surgical consult in Ireland, a list that could take...wait for it...TEN YEARS to whittle away at.