Sunday, April 16, 2006

Courtesy Strictly Enforced
"With its precipitous drops in crime, New York has increasingly been able to turn its attention to policing offensive behavior, from the mere faux pas to outright misconduct that puts others at risk. And that has put it on the front line of a national crackdown on incivility.
Under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the city has increasingly focused on social policies that were once thought to be beyond the realm of government. Mr. Bloomberg was largely responsible for the city's smoking ban, overcoming opposition from the tobacco companies and their lobbyists to clear bars, restaurants and nightclubs of a potential health hazard as well as inconsiderate smokers.

The mayor also overhauled the city's noise code for the first time in three decades, taking aim at loud nightclubs, barking dogs and even that staple of summer, the Mister Softee jingle, all in the interests of keeping the neighborhood peace."

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Maybe 500 fucking cameras on lightposts can correct our incivility...


Back To Stonewall
"(New York City) Gay community leaders want answers from New York police over raids Friday night on seven gay or gay friendly businesses.

Executing warrants simultaneous raids looking for drugs were carried out at Splash, Avalon, Deep, Spirit, View, Speed and Steel Gym.

The businesses were all closed while the raids were conducted. Twenty people were arrested, 13 of them for allegedly selling drugs.

Most of those arrested had already been identified by undercover officers.

The warrants were obtained under the city's Nuisance Abatement Law but LGBT activists are questioning why so much force was necessary when police already knew who they were looking for.

'It's a little chilling when one looks back on history,' Robert Woodworth, a spokesperson for the LGBT Community Center said.

Woodworth said in the minds of many gay New Yorkers, especially those in Chelsea where six of the raids were carried out, it brought back memories of the pre-Stonewall era where police regularly targeted gay clubs."

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Don't Mess With Texas
"Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

'We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this,' she said.

'There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car,' Beck said. 'People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss.'

She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state."

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There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated on Power, i.e. passing this scary law. How many more freedoms can they steal before we say, "You know what? Fuck you. Fuck you and your twisted, sick, pre-emptive controls."