Hurricane Irene

Well, its here. Irene is on our back doorstep folks.

In 24 hours its been downgraded to a tropical storm since hitting the Big Apple. Right now, its just a steady gentle rain with a few wind gusts. We caught the western fringe of it as New York City was cowering in terror. I filled up water bottles 24 hours in advance, brought in the garbage cans and grill, and got medication stocked up for myself and food for the rug rats. Nope, not sorry about this in the least. Better to prepare and have it be nothing than not prepare and find yourself up shit creek without a canoe.

Synapse noticed something else about Irene. Even as it's withering away into a tropical depression, its ignited a storm of another sort... the degeneration of American society. People are actually complaining that it was only a Category one and not a three or four. They're disappointed that it wasn't alot more destructive. And only 10 or 11 deaths what the hell is that? One hapless Weather Channel reporter was giving a televised report on the storm only to have a group of tards flounce past in their bathing trunks... one mooned the camera. Then he "sunned" it. I'll leave the rest to the imagination :D

Maybe there is no saving this country's politics after all. There is no electing officials who are reasonable and honest when the rest of the population leans away from those trends.

At this point, I can only witness the stunning spectacle of the downfall of humanity while munching on my popcorn... in amazement. And it's going to keep downpouring stupidity long after Irene dissipates...

Random BlogBits and a Supercane???

Well, old Synapse knows that Hurricane Irene is coming to town. The shoulders ache with arthritis or is it overexertion from making all these preparations?

Living way the hell inland, I don't foresee too much of a problem aside from heavy rains and gusty winds, and if the power goes out, you might not see another post until it comes back on. But it can never hurt to have some bottled water on hand...

Some of the projections place Central New York in the fray, others place it to the sidelines. Whichever one it is, we're prepared for just about anything, save the random hurricane-spawned tornado that blasts a tree through a second story window and hits my roommate in the head, and when he wakes up from his coma some 17 days later he's fluent in Chinese. Heh.

Yelling at kids doesn't do anything to ease the tension in my shoulders either. Nor does picking up after two slobs who refuse to lift a finger or do anything other than run off to fuck around with their little friends and only pop in to eat when they feel so inclined. And a policeman showing up at my door to ask whether my kid was a thief did little to improve my disposition... especially since this police department employs some of the most useless fuckers on earth.

Watching the news doesn't help all that much, or reading it for that matter. Picking up my paper to see my friend's name in the paper in connection with her arrest only made it seem as if she definitely has a winnable lawsuit... after all if it wasn't a real rape because the rapist never used a weapon, then it wasn't a real arrest either because the cop never handcuffed her... I just wonder how that would hold up in court.

In any case, Synapse feels like working on a device that will unleash supercanes and earthquakes on whoever he decides pisses him the fuck off. Oh yeah we felt one of those too, two actually.

But I have to sleep on it first... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz X-)

Stupid Cops

Normally Synapse bags on stupid criminals. This week, he's going to bag on dumb cops. A friend of mine, Carol (Names and some details have been changed to protect the innocent) was raped in her home in broad daylight. Her normally sharp judgment had been clouded by stress and anxiety about her husbands health and lack of sleep. The fellow kept hammering away at her to give out her address until she relented. When he came to the home, he ended up raping her. The only way she was able to get rid of him was to cough up a lung until he became so repulsed he left the house.
When she finally called the police some four hours later (after trying to regain some of her wits, making sure someone could take the kids so she could deal with the aftermath, etc) They came to the house, took her to the station, and over five hours period of time, they had her write it. Then, after having read it, the (male) officer stated he didn't believe her story and had her rewrite the deposition to his liking (i.e. the sex was consensual) The case was dropped, and the whole time, she states, he was calling her "Sweetie" and "Honey" and completely just badgering her to say it was consensual. Now, Carol is facing charges of filing a false report. (A class A misdemeanor)
Now, common sense dictates what is consensual and what isn't. If the woman keeps saying "no" and trying to move away, chances are it wasn't consensual, no matter what the woman's past history or anything else was. If the police actually did their jobs as opposed to trying to rid themselves of paperwork, we might actually get a few problem people off the streets. Rape kit = not done. Asking for a description of the assailant = not done. Allowing another female or support person in the police interview = not done. Treating the victim with respect = not done. And the insinuation the cop made that she should have just loosened up and gotten into it = COMPLETE AND TOTAL GIBBERISH. And why is a male cop allowed alone in a room with a female victim???
Carol is seriously considering suing the department, as their treatment of her was completely atrocious. And, she adds, "I will never again look to the police for their help, and I want my tax money back."