I would love a few people with even half her spirit in the judicial branch…

Thank you for sharing all this! This has been one of the most interesting posts I’ve come across in a long time.

I’ve had many interactions of all types with police, some good, some bad, and some really bad.

The ones that dealt with my gf’s mental health emergency could have really nailed her on a ton of charges, but they seemed to understand better than the rest of us at first that this was mental and not criminal. I don’t even know if she got any fines. They worked with the judge after seeing she got professional help and she got her record sealed and now she is doing amazingly well, and though very dramatic, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to her in the long run because she got help.

I do still feel bad for the one civilian she attacked in addition to the cops, because he was absolutely not happy she was essentially set free. It’s not something he deserved to have gone through, and I don’t expect him to feel better because a stranger was dealing with an untreated disorder. But now she is helping people in a medical job instead of being unable to get any job from having a violent assault record.

A friend’s brother was a cop and killed someone who absolutely should not have been shot. The person shot was also going through some mental health thing, so that is really scary that it could have happened to my girlfriend. No charges were brought against him, and he’s still with the same department over a decade later. I don’t think he’s a bad person. I do think he should have faced punishment, and he panicked under pressure and killed someone, so I definitely don’t feel he should be a cop.

The only cop that was ever purposefully mean to me ended up getting hit by a drunk driver and hospitalized, and then they caught him with…illegal porn…and I was not unhappy either day those events occurred. I hope he got everything coming to him.

I briefly had another job that had me in regular contact with about a dozen or so police, and while they all seemed nice enough, the ones with personal vehicles with punisher skulls and all that didn’t thrill me.

I guess I think there are a lot of systemic problems with American policing, much like this article addresses, on up to police being able to investigate their own crimes, and I think that attracts a disproportionate number of people that will take advantage of that.

But I wouldn’t blindly hate anyone for being a cop any more than I’d think every priest, scoutmaster, or whatever was a bad person just because of their job. But if you’re in a position of power, and you violate that, I think punishment should be harder and swifter than if it were your standard person. There is just such an increased ability to perpetrate crimes and cover them up, that we need to take away those incentives, not double down on them.

Bianchi said he plans to stay at the NYPD for the foreseeable future, although he plans to use his upcoming windfall to reduce his reliance on the paycheck he gets from the city. He said he hopes that his lawsuit — and his payout — encourage other would-be whistleblowers to speak up about corruption, even if there is a cost.

No, he is still a cop and wants to use the money to keep doing what he’s been doing and trying to encourage others.

I’ve got a healthy skepticism of authority as much as the next Lemming, which is why I went and saw what info was out there about this. It was easy to find, and it seems to show this guy was retaliated against for doing what was morally right, there doesn’t seem to be much denying that. Are we here to role play as wanting social justice, or are we here to support the people doing it? This guy did the literal thing all the top posts here every day say needs to be done: he used his power for good to hold accountable those who were not.

While he may not be Serpico, he’s someone we should all be commending in this particular case. We have facts that on multiple occasions he did good for the city at risk to his personal life and career. If someone wants to lump him in with the ones that are corrupt and murderous or look the other way at things like this, they’re the asshole. If we don’t support this guy, why would we execpt anyone else to follow his lead?

Original article is paywalled so I looked up another, as from the comments here, it seems some more details are needed. I’ll include some snips of a WaPo article here.

One driver giggled when New York police officer Mathew Bianchi pulled her over for talking on her cellphone, because it was the second time in as many days that he had done so, the officer said.

Another was going at least twice the 30-mph speed limit while driving on the wrong side of the street and blowing through red lights, he added.

A third who had been doing 50 mph in a 30-mph zone reacted to Bianchi approaching his Mercedes SUV by fanning out about two dozen “courtesy cards” and telling him to pick one, Bianchi said Wednesday.

In fact, all three of them had the cards issued by the New York Police Department’s biggest union to officers who then give them to family, friends and anyone else they want to be able to get out of low-level encounters with law enforcement, Bianchi told The Washington Post.

“There’s no fear of any kind of enforcement if they have the card,” he added.

Although he let all three of those drivers go, Bianchi eventually got fed up with letting reckless drivers off the hook, some of them repeatedly, and started writing tickets even if they had the cards, he said. That allegedly led to escalating retaliation that in May 2023 resulted in Bianchi suing the city and a police captain after he was pulled off the traffic unit and put on the night shift.

Bianchi patrolled on Staten Island, where he estimated as many as half the drivers he pulled over had one of the cards, he told The Post. Officers can buy 30 of them a year for $1 each, he said. They’re given not only to friends and family, but also in exchange for perks like meal discounts, he said, adding that he believes that is violating the public’s trust that police treat everyone equally.

On Nov. 28, 2018, Bianchi gave a driver a ticket even though she presented a card, the suit states. Several members of the Police Benevolent Association allegedly approached him, one telling him that he had to obey the courtesy-card customs or the union wouldn’t protect him.

Bianchi started objecting to the practice, first to his direct supervisor and then his commanding officer, who told him they couldn’t do much, he said. Then he filed a series of complaints — to the union, NYPD internal affairs and the New York City Department of Investigation — without getting any results, according to the suit.

All the while, Bianchi kept writing courtesy-card-carrying drivers tickets when he thought it was appropriate and kept getting scolded for it, the suit states.

Bianchi said he plans to stay at the NYPD for the foreseeable future, although he plans to use his upcoming windfall to reduce his reliance on the paycheck he gets from the city. He said he hopes that his lawsuit — and his payout — encourage other would-be whistleblowers to speak up about corruption, even if there is a cost.

I’m not sure how much more some of you want out of this guy. He got tired of a crooked system, and at cost to himself, he stood up for the right thing. He’s taken more direct action for change than most people ever will. I can’t speak of all his actions, but if he went through this much for something like traffic tickets, I don’t think he was doing a bunch of bigger corrupt stuff on the side. It would seem we would want more police to follow his example, but instead people here are lumping him in with the rest.

I dunno, her dad is ex military and she’s a helicopter pilot who did competitive helicopter games with the Soviets in the 70s from what I could find. I think she can use it.

Rolling Stone says it’s a MAC-10, but that’s the only reference I could find.

Johnson is not a middle-of-the-road politician. She owns a MAC-10 submachine gun — and received an A-rating from the NRA. On the campaign trail, she comes across like a pro-choice Ron DeSantis, vowing to give a voice to “really pissed off” Oregonians who are “terrified of the progressive left,” while blasting “wokeness” as “another form of intolerance.”

I was honestly shocked there isn’t video of her blasting away at something as so many others seem to do any more.

I was also wondering if it was a Johnson Machine Gun and she was related to the inventor or that it was at least something historical.

Absolutely. If this special prosecutor thing doesn’t work out, he can definitely land roles as Overly Strict Commanding Officer, or with the beard, Morally Grey Old West Sheriff.

I agree. Tired of this well done portrait of a terrible “judge” and ugly pictures of Smith. Let’s flip that:.

With his disheveled hair and angry glare in 2the majority of pictures he just looks like Cody Johnston’s disappointed father. I think he looked better less shaggy, though he could still lighten up a little bit.

He keeps pretty good rhythm!

There are still parts of the world that think owls are bad luck or ill omens and will kill them or drive them off.

That said, anything popping out of the dark or making sudden unexpected sounds is going to startle people pretty good. That’s led to plenty of spooky stories and owl based spirits over the years.

I choose you for choosing there dead wife ∆∆∆∆∆

As I like learning about history as well, having historical music education helps tie things together also. You can follow who are the trendy cultural centers of the time, and different countries get the best composers, and just the attitudes of the people of the time, if you have songs meant to be played by some rich guys full orchestra, or one person playing folk music on a single instrument. With being the musician, you’re not an observer, you’re trying to embody the spirit that song was composed to share with others. It’s like a very basic time machine if you really get into what you’re doing. I think it’s really cool stuff!

Bravo, those are by far the best recorders I have ever heard! My music teacher is in a recorder quartet, so she has a few of the decent modern Yamahas, and they’re leaps better than the classroom recorders kids play, but I still don’t really dig how they sounded. Flute is her primary instrument, and I’d much rather hear her play that. The recorders in the video look like another huge step up from the Yamahas though. I do feel though they definitely serve a purpose in music education though.

I am glad there are people keeping all these instruments and musical styles alive though. Like any other bit of art/culture, it’s easy to forget about it when it goes out of style, and by the time anyone remembers, it’s all been lost. One of the surprising parts of my musical education is learning just how much of a joyous part of life music was for so much of our history. With no tv, internet, or recordings, live music was a way to have fun, an opportunity to dance or sing, a way to cross cultures and learn about places you would only ever hear stories about.

It does seem like that was definitely a part of it. It seems he developed issues with Ted Kennedy and lost most of the support of his own party, and without anyone backing him, he severely limited himself from the sound of things.

This is why it’s probably not a great situation if we do end up becoming too enamored with any one politician in general.

I believe we are having a miscommunication. You seem to be a bit upset at me, but I feel I’m in agreement with your points.

I feel public schooling should be a free, all inclusive experience for all kids. The schools should provide all the materials, and they should make sure kids are growing up healthy despite whatever their home situation should be. It is something I support my tax money going to even though I do not have kids and never will.

I’m supportive of free school meals. I don’t think I’d much like someone who didn’t think kids are entitled to eat.

My best friends are teachers, my ex is a teacher, and I’ve known a bunch of others through my adult life and know how screwed they get by school funding as well.

My original question was just wondering out loud why school lunch price does not seem to have risen much with inflation. I didn’t know if they are getting less food, cheaper food, or what, and I thought some of you may have kids in school and could educate someone asking a question so they can form an accurate take on things. I don’t have my own kid to ask, that’s all.

That sounds pretty reasonable. I like seeing “Go Florida!” moments now and then.

Their site says they service about 30,000 schools. It’s good it can be used for multiple things as well and the kids don’t need to worry when they forget to bring money. I always hated when I forgot to bring it.

I agree, it is probably not advisable for most people to do what I did.

There are many details left out of the story, but the things that really helped were that it was obvious to everyone she was a good person that was having some kind of mental illness. The police and judge were definitely not thrilled with her, but they all seemed to recognize she was not your typical troublemaker. They could have made the situation much harder to deal with.

Also her being from a family that is solidly upper middle class that is very close with each other. They also supported her emotionally, and were able to afford her treatment at the hospital and her lawyer whereas I would not have been able to.

She was extremely fortunate, all considered, throughout the whole process. It was always apparent that she wanted help. I’m a bit of refurbished “damaged goods” myself, so I was able to spot a lot of potential situations before they got much chance to develop, and could tell her to get her medications adjusted or what things to talk to her psychologist about.

Most people in her case I’m sure do not have anywhere near the resources available we did, which I do not take for granted, and she has known that also, especially being in the group therapies has shown her what could have been and I feel that was very helpful.

I don’t like getting credit for anything, as with any one factor being missing from the whole situation would have let the whole mess fall back down. I absolutely was one key ingredient, but if you asked me, I’d say a few other people were more overall significant.

But she’s the only one that had to be there through the whole thing. The rest of us could all have given up if we wanted to at any time. But she faced it all head on and dealt with every bit of it herself. It takes an amazingly strong person to do that, and that is my favorite thing about her is that inner strength while still caring so much for the other people around her.