DAILYJOURNAL.BLOGSPOT.COM - 2 Post (extra) Special

Thursday, November 29, 2001
[November 29, 2001 | 11:05 AM] Howard Roark

I just returned from some program called "Police Pride". Description: Community police officers come into the school to interact with the teeange children. Its purpose is to place the adolescents in the shoes of the police and give them a taste of what is like to be a cop. Most of us teens do not have favorable impression of the police, and rightfully so.

We see the police every day after school. They watch us closely. They mace us whenever there may be an "altercation" between two students. I, for one, being involved in local politics, get harrased along with my compatriots by the cops under the umbrella of the part machine in power.

But after this program, I along with the other class leaders that were chosen by the principal to participate, acquired a new perception of the police - one that is more understanding and more appreciative. It seems easy what the police do on a daily basis, but this program showed us that it really isn't as it seems. We saw that a crowd of people can esaily turn into a mob. We saw that a simple car stop can turn into a total shoot out.
posted by Howard at 8:21 AM

Monday, November 05, 2001
You enter the offices of Dr. Daniel Nozza and you see political lawn signs hanging on every wall. Next to one door, someone has taped an "End Tolls" bumper sticker on a door. Every room and hall has been stripped from the medical tools and tables and replaced with campaign lit, computerized voter lists, and telephones. Only the faint, unmistakable aroma of a doctor's office remains.

There are four rooms. In each one, there are about two or three people assigned to a city, pulling up voters and calling them up.

"Goodafternoon, is this the Dalton Family? . . . I'm calling from the 20th District Republican Party . . . Will you be voting on November 6th?"

No one is being paid. Every single person, including the senate, assemble, and freeholder candidates are there on their own spare time with the same purpose: to defeat the Democratic party machine.

posted by Howard at 7:27 AM

BEENGONE.BLOGSPOT.COM - (But Now I'm Back)

Sunday, August 20, 2006
What "diss" Means
Boarding the Washington Metro on a sweltering summer Sunday for a trip to the Eastern Market for brunch. With trains running only four times an hour -- itself a revelation after Germany's well-served mass transit networks -- the train is crowded when it finally arrives. There are four seats available, though, so we are happy to sit down. One seat has a young man's papers on it, which he moves so one of us can sit. Another seat has a rumpled newspaper lying on it, which my son picks up to move out of his way.

"Hey, man, keep your hands off my stuff!" the young man on the seat next to the newspaper barks.

"Oh, sorry," my son says, and sits in a nearby seat, putting the newspaper down.

"Don't mess with my property, man. Ask me to move it and I'll move it. You mess with my stuff, you disrespect me!" the young man bellows. "Don't disrespect people's stuff!"

"Okay," I say across the aisle, sternly. "He's just a kid and he said he's sorry. Let it go."

"Just tryin' to teach him some manners, is all!" the young man shouts at me. "Just tryin' to teach him some respect."

"Okay," I say back, loudly. "We get it. He gets it. Let it go." I stare at him and he meets my gaze briefly and then looks away.

We ride in silence for several stops. There is a tense silence among the others on the car. As the train approaches a stop, the young man gets up. He stands a few feet away, waiting for the train to stop. I feel him staring at me. I look up and briefly meet his eye, then look away. He is standing without holding on, his arms curved outward and fingers twitching like a gunfighter about to draw his six-shooters.

"Just so you know," he bellows as the train pulls to a stop,"we're gettin' stronger and smarter every day. Every day. Every day, man!"

"I don't know what that means," I say quietly. "I just think you're making a big deal over a piece of newspaper."

"Just keep your mouth shut," someone behind me mutters. To me or to the other guy? To me, I think.

"Well maybe you should find out!" bellows the young man. "Cause we're gettin' smarter and stronger every day!" The train stops and he stalks off.

There is a collective drawing of breath as the doors close. Several people around me meet my eye and smile faintly, shaking their heads.
posted by The Suit at 7:36 PM 0 comments