OK, so this little bit of excitement just went down on the corner of my property.  I think it’s a very typical example of what cops have to deal with and it brings up several issues.  I’m posting it here because I think the media deals with way to many “out there” cop stories as opposed to what usually happens on the streets.

While researching the military’s current modular sleep system after being very cold on a camping trip in upstate NY, I hear shouting from the corner of my property.  I turn off the lights and look out the window.  A first generation polish woman is yelling at a young woman in broken English.  The young woman runs down the block and the polish woman and her husband chase after her.

At this point the party grows larger.  There are two men involved on the young woman’s side and the polish woman and her husband on the other side.  The two men are being very loud.  The polish husband is also being very loud and he apparently pushed the young woman at some point.  I did not witness the push, I think I was raiding the fridge for refreshments.  My neighbors are starting to fill the streets to see what’s happening.  It turns out that the young woman is the daughter of a neighbor that I am very friendly with.  It is slowly becoming a Poles vs. “Natives” dispute.  Broken English on one side and racial slurs on the other.

One of the men from the “Natives” side rushes the polish husband.  He reels his hand back as if to throw a huge haymaker.  It is the kind of move you only do when you want to be dramatically restrained.  For the record if you want to hurt somebody very calmly walk up and while using a soothing tone severly damage their genitals or sensory cluster.  Anyway, the men on the “Natives” side hold him back.  A black and white squad car races up the street.

Two police officers step out and seperate the parties.  One cop, about my size and looking very bored, keeps the peace while the other interviews each side individually.  The bored cop answers the questions of passers-by very honestly.  “No I don’t know what’s going on, just please walk around.  Thank you.”  Things begin to calm down.  Some highlights of the inverviewing cop’s conversation:

Police Officer: “No sir, I am not Jesus Christ, you can call me officer.”

Police officer: “Cool it.  The cops are here.  It’s over.  Don’t you get it?  When the cops show up it’s over.”

I found the second line to be the most amusing, because the Polish guy was flipping out and the cop was probably expecting to break up the fight just by showing up.  That sort of thing happens in just about every other neighborhood in Trenton.

Anyway from the interviews the cop surmises that the “Natives” went to the Polish people’s yard to ask them to turn down their music.  The Polish people weren’t in the yard.  Here is where it gets hairy, the Polish people say their radio was broken, the “Natives” say they didn’t touch it.  I wasn’t there.

The cop advises the Polish people that they should have called the police to their residence if the radio was broken.  He then explains how they can fill out a report.  The Polish man demands that the officer give him a report.  The officer explains that he would have to come to the station to fill one out, he doesn’t have one on him.  Then the officer says to the Polish man, “Go home”.  Note for the ensuing property rights bru-ha-ha that this post may generate, all parties are on my property for this event.  I’m drinking Kiwi-Strawberry drink and watching through my kitchen window.  I’m also thanking Cthulu that earlier I didn’t decide to partake in any substances that may make me hide behind the furnace after seeing the cop cars screech to a halt next to my house.  Aside to ramuh, “Oh shit here they come again!”

The Polish man refuses to leave.  The cop again states “Go home”.  This continues for about 10 minutes.  The cop tries many tactics, including ignoring the man and appealing to his wife.  The man will not go home.  The “Natives” have already started going back into the house seeing how the cops are getting more and more pissed.

Finally the Polish man launches into a tyrade threatening the “Natives” and saying the cops aren’t police officers.  He was obviously feeling very slighted and the language barrier was making it difficult for him to interact with the police.  Two cops grab him from behind and crank his arms behind his back.  The Polish man is struggling half-heartedly.  They cuff the Polish man and he spits at one of the officers.  One officer puts a gloved hand over the Polish man’s mouth as my neighbor blurts, “Did he just spit at them?  Oh shit.”  They start taking him to the squad car.  The Polish man trips and falls on the pavement.  This was a legitimate stumble on his part.  The cops scoop him up and push him into the car, making sure not to bang his head.  They instruct him to pull up his feet.  The man does and they close the door.

The wife refuses to go home.  She keeps putting her hands behind her back, drawing her wrist together and saying “Take me.  He’s my husband.”  The cops choose to ignore her and leave.  The “Natives” begin searching for a lost flip-flop with flashlights.  The Polish lady curses them out and they ignore her.  Finally she is left alone on the corner of my property.  Some other Polish people come out and walk her home.

So, how do I feel about the whole event?  The clash between the two parties definitely presented a clear and present danger to those involved.  The altercation needed to end before violence ensued.  The radio damage needs to be assessed.  My neighbors did the right thing by going over to talk to the people about turning down their music.  I really hope this instance doesn’t dissuade them from pursuing that tactic in the future.  I also hope they didn’t break the guy’s radio.  Now, should the Polish guy be allowed to stand on my property and curse at my neighbors?  I dunno.  It’s a sidewalk, so I don’t really own it, I just have to maintain it.  If it were up to me, I’d have him removed from my property just so things don’t get violent.  What do you guys think?

PS - I ate breakfast at a waffle house today and the guy sitting next to me at the counter stated, “I want to be a park ranger so I get one of those big nasty fishhook tasers.  You know, the ones that can kill people.”  He appeared to be about 19.

I spend a decent amount of time on the streets of Trenton, mowing the grass, picking up trash, talking with neighbors, biking around, harassing squirrels etc.  I manage to collect some interesting stories and meet weirdos (probably because I am one).  Anyway here are two such stories that occured in the past three days:

I have a neighbor that walks his pitbull past my house every couple of days.  He’s a large white man who grew up not liking black people but kept it to himself mostly.  He went to prison and became an evangelical racist.  I think he may be affiliated with a prison group, such as Aryan Nation, but I’m not sure and I don’t really want to ask.  Anyway he walked past the house a proceeded to ask:

“Ready for school to start again?”

I responded, “Yeah, time to fight the good fight once more.”

His reply, “You know they keep taking my money but it seems all the kids end up behind the courthouse or under the ground.”

My reply, “Yeah, we’re undergoing an education crisis.  The kids don’t want to be there and they don’t want to learn what we’re teaching.  It’s unfortunate.”

His reply, “I know why that is.”

My reply, knowing what he thinks the problem is, “It’s systemic.  There’s tons of reasons.  The problem is you can’t just fix one and expect it to go away.  Personally I think compulsory education is stupid and the way we fund the schools is an affront to people who disagree with our schooling methods.”

His reply, “No it’s because…” <racist rant concerning evolution and certain people who “never made it out of africa”.  Also there was something in there about BET>

So hopefully my neighbor got something out of it before he launched into his rehearsed diatribe.  It’s almost as if everyone, even the most screwed up people, can clearly see the problems.  It’s the causes that people disagree about.

OK, second story.  I’m biking home from the post office when I roll up next to a car with a Ron Paul sticker.  I look in the car and yell, “Woo hoo Ron Paul”.  The guy looks me up and down, mind you I need a haircut so bad my hair sticks out of my helmet and I was wearing a T-shirt with a vomiting clown on it, and then proceeds to say, “Yo” and stare straight ahead.

Bile was kind enough to forward me an email stating that A.804: The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was going to be heard by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee. The email suggested using this link to send an email (or letter) to the members of the committee. Now I thought short and fleetingly about whether or not I should send a letter. I ended up typing something up, but I’m not sure if it would help or hurt the cause. That’s where you guys come in. Based on this letter, which may or may not be emailed tomorrow morning, what do you think, help or hurt?

I am composing this letter to give you my opinion on the “NJ Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act”. I will be forthright. I think it is an egregious breach of my civil liberties that I am not allowed to do whatever I like with my body. I also think that for the majority of people marijuana has very limited medical use. Obtaining a government issued license (registry identification card) to use marijuana would highlight the infringement of my rights. This begs the questions, why am I writing you to support this act?

People’s opinions do not change overnight. It takes time for people to fully understand something. Society is slowly discovering the true effects of marijuana, both positive and negative. Any legislation that would make people more familiar with the actual effects of marijuana as opposed to the propaganda produced by the government could cause a shift in public opinion. For these reasons I think you should help pass this act.

I understand that for some of you this is exactly the opposite of what you wanted to hear. One of the major arguments I hear opposing medical marijuana is that it will cause people to think marijuana use is acceptable. My response to that is simple. It is. There are eleven of you on this committee. Though you may never admit it, chances are six of you have tried marijuana. Obviously you lived through the experience. I can think of far more lethal plants that are currently legal, Atropa Belladonna comes to mind. Passing this act could help the public to realize that our current policy of incarcerating people for choosing to use a drug that is relatively harmless is futile.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or would like to speak to me in person I would be happy to oblige you. I live in Trenton so I can actually bike down to the state house. My address and phone number are attached.

Blog of Bile PS: Oh and for the record, my opinion changes overnight, but I’m a weirdo.