During the G20 protest a man collapsed and later died after being corned by police. Police say they were unable to assist him because bottles or possibly other projectiles were being thrown at them. The man was a member of a group caught up in a “kettle” established by the police. The process as well as the outcome is described in this quote:

They used familiar tactics to trap 4,000 people into streets outside the Bank of England in a practice known as “kettling”, tightening the cordon when violence flared in one part of Threadneedle Street and a group of protesters, whose faces were covered, broke into the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the operation, said his aim was to facilitate peaceful protest. But those peaceful demonstrators caught inside the cordon with no toilet facilities, and little water, questioned the idea that they were being allowed to exercise their right to march.

It seems some were contained in this “kettle” for up to 7 hours. Someone who was detained by the police is also quoted in the article:

“I was kept for two hours. Lines of police lined up with their batons and they were completely pumped up and looking to have a go. My feeling was everyone in there was peaceful but they wanted to clear them out.” Responding to the police use of the kettling technique she said that although the courts had ruled that it was legal, there had to be a good reason. “I asked one officer could I go and he said no – I might to and cause trouble. I giggled and said that wasn’t very likely and he said, ‘you can never tell with these people’.”

It is unfortunate that the police use this violent tactic to limit an individual’s movement. While the water may be muddied by acts of violence taken by individual protesters, a communal punishment is certainly not the answer. It is also worth noting that riot police have an established history of wanting to “crack skulls” and teach protesters a lesson. The lesson being that you are not free to assemble and say whatever you want to say. I believe these tactics will lead to an increase in violence, much like beating a cornered dog who’s already pissed off at you and trying his hardest not to bite.

UPDATE: Here is a really good article with pictures and some personal accounts.

UPDATE 2: MRZine has picked up the story with an article of their own. It includes a reporters commentary in spanish.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/623439.html

A South Buffalo family wants answers after police shot and killed two of their dogs during a raid Saturday, leaving blood puddled on a living-room carpet and speckled on the wall.

Police, who were looking for a drug suspect and narcotics, left the Indian Church Road home without finding any evidence or arresting anyone, according to residents of the house.

The incident has left the family distraught and angry over the loss of the dogs, Essy and Moosey.

“It was just the most traumatizing, horrible thing,” said Rita M. Patterson, 27, who lives in the house with her 68-year-old father, Daniel J. Patterson.

Rita Patterson’s boyfriend, William F. Hanavan, 32, paroled last year after serving eight months in prison on a drug charge, was home but was not taken into custody Saturday.

However, Hanavan was arrested on a felony assault charge Sunday afternoon, Buffalo police reported.

When police stormed the house on Indian Church Road, near Seneca Street, at about 5:30 p. m. Saturday, Daniel Patterson was on the couch, watching the news.

“They shot the dogs for no reason at all,” he told The Buffalo News on Sunday.

Rita Patterson said she was cooking dinner in the kitchen when she heard loud noises at the side door. Hanavan was upstairs taking a nap, and at first she thought he may have fallen out of bed.

Before she knew what was happening, police wearing masks and helmets and carrying automatic weapons had broken through the door. They tied her hands with a zip tie and put her on the floor.

Her father pleaded with police not to shoot the dogs, but they wouldn’t allow him to grab the dogs and put them in another room, Patterson said.

One of the officers started firing a shotgun at the two dogs, one a pit bull and the other a pit bull-boxer mix.

One of the dogs was shot three times: once in the throat, once in the back and the last time in the leg while trying to run away, Rita Patterson said.

The other dog was cowering behind a table. Neither was a threat to the police, the residents said.

The police had a warrant for the home, but it named no suspects. It said only that investigators were looking for a white male and Hydrocodone. Information that led to the warrant, according to the warrant itself, came partly from an informant, Rita Patterson said.

I hope the assulted man was the informant. He probably gets paid to rat people out. A guy on parol for drug posession/selling is an easy target to rat out without any real evidence.

From NHCompassion.org on March 18th:

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The New Hampshire House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13-7 to recommend passage of a bill today that would allow seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana if their doctor recommends it. The vote by the full committee came after a three-member subcommittee voted 2-1 in favor of the bill.

Today’s vote means the bill, HB 648, will now go to the House floor for a full vote by the chamber with the committee’s “ought to pass” recommendation. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D-Lancaster).

Full press release here.  Congratulations New Hampshire.  Keep up the good work NH Common Sense.

The topic of violent video games came up in a PA house of representatives committee hearing last Friday.  The subject of a 5% tax on violent video games came up as state reps discussed it.  The person they asked stated that it would be legally problematic.

Original speech

I missed this on Wednesday but it’s worth sharing.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/…

What is the appropriate role of government?

Traditionally, the division between conservatives and liberals has been over the role and size of the welfare state: liberals think that the government should play a large role in sanding off the market economy’s rough edges, conservatives believe that time and chance happen to us all, and that’s that.

But both sides, I thought, agreed that the government should provide public goods — goods that are nonrival (they benefit everyone) and nonexcludable (there’s no way to restrict the benefits to people who pay.) The classic examples are things like lighthouses and national defense, but there are many others. For example, knowing when a volcano is likely to erupt can save many lives; but there’s no private incentive to spend money on monitoring, since even people who didn’t contribute to maintaining the monitoring system can still benefit from the warning. So that’s the sort of activity that should be undertaken by government.

So what did Bobby Jindal choose to ridicule in this response to Obama last night? Volcano monitoring, of course.

And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens.

The intellectual incoherence is stunning. Basically, the political philosophy of the GOP right now seems to consist of snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny. The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead.

The intellectual incoherence is stunning. Especially that coming from Krugman. There is no incentive to monitor a volcano because there are free riders? That argument applies infinitely. There is no way to have an interaction with others without effecting them in some way. The free rider problem is the way of the world. There is nothing one can do about it. If you can’t peacefully convince people to pony up a few dollars to monitor the local natural disaster in waiting… it’s obviously not that bad a problem. If the residents learn otherwise… they won’t be living there very much longer. Knowing when a hurricane is coming is great for the Gulf coast settlements… too bad since it’s done at the threat of violence and then combined with other risk reductions not directly felt by the inhabitants you have for generations people living in locations they wouldn’t have otherwise.

Did Krugman ever bother to investigate Katrina? How many private firms went to help and were turned away by the government bureaucrats? How they arrived faster than FEMA? Uncoordinated private action is exactly what was needed. Those closest involved know better than some DC bigwig as to what is necessary. The arrogance of Krugman’s statements would be stunning if it wasn’t for the volumes of statist, know it all opinions on how helpless their fellow man is I’ve read. Why not rely on armed citizens? Does this man forget US history? Has this man ever read a history book? The things he advocate have been shown to be self destructive. Whether it be his Keynesian economic beliefs or his etatist beliefs in the power and role of government.

He makes no argument. No logically consistent statement. No means to prove his examples. What is says is mearly assumed true. Rather obvious to the average sophisticated NYT reader. Order comes from above. Man is helpless without the god State’s protection and guidance.  Spontaneous order is a novel but false idea. Or at least inefficient. Man couldn’t possibly know what is best for him. I am the only one with the knowledge to show them the way. For the betterment of himself and everyone else.