Loopy in the Heat.

Last week the trial of a transportation cop in California ended with a verdict of involuntary manslaughter.  A trial by a jury of his peers as mandated in the Constitution of the United States.  He was due to be sentenced to a few years, three or four or something.  But family and friends of the deceased took issue with the perceived ‘lightness’ of the verdict and the sentence and made loud public noise.  Some people who objected demonstrated, and some of the demonstrations included breaking into a couple stores and looting them bare.  As a result of the perceived dissatisfaction the guy is now going back to court, Federal this time, to see if he somehow violated the deceased’ civil rights, for which he could get a universally more satisfying punishment of many more years.

They did this in L.A. some years back with the Rodney King trial after some rioting convinced City government that the verdict wasn’t ‘good enough.’  They succeeded only in totally gutting the morale of the Los Angeles Police Department making it one of the most inefficient and paranoid police departments in the country.   With an oversight committee of mostly black people and an appointed chief who probably hated cops anyway. 

I guess this is part of the new law enforcement in this country.  If you don’t like the verdict, you go out and commit criminal actions and damage and destroy public property.  Then the government will have a whole new dog and pony show to make the results fit the intensity of your protest.  I’d rather have my constitutional law back.

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Summer Flood. 

Concerning the new place I’ll live beginning October.  Back in the 40's and 50's there was a mom-and-pop quarry operation there that provided limestone and dolomite for building.  Down at the bottom was a little foreman's shack and a derrick and trucks would go up and down carting limestone to builders.  The whole outfit closed for vacation one year and while they were gone, a hidden spring burst out and when the folks got back they had a 70-foot deep lake.  Later people built houses there, and the New Place was also built, originally as retirement housing for Union members.  It's still run by AFL-CIO but all you have to do to live there now is be 60 and have nice manners.  Hence Lake ShoreLake Shore is right beside it. apartments. The derrick and shack are still down under the lake but it's a wondrous place to sit and catch the sun, or the wind, as you prefer.  The lake is in the center of the aerial, I did a composite from MapQuest and

Ta!