German Bosque, Police Unions, and What the Hell Opa Locka FL?

About a year and a half ago, Madison erupted in massive protests against Scott Walker's bill aimed at depriving most public employee unions of, among of other things, the right collectively bargain.  And like many people who lived in Madison, I joined in the protests, signed the recall petitions, and voted in the recall election.  While the legislation did not hurt me at the time, it may very well influence my future, since the UW-Madison's Teacher Assistant Union was affected by the bill, and voted to reject state certification rather abide by the new law.

In general, I support unions, but I won't go into the reasons why because that's not the point of this post.  One type of union that I am wary of, and I think should be either severely restricted or done away with completely are police unions, usually known as the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) .

And the Miami Herald has a perfect example of how FOP unions don't help the public, but positively fuck the tax payers like a dime-store fleshlight:

Opa-locka has the dubious distinction of employing the cop who can’t be fired. Though the city keeps on trying.

Sgt. German Bosque of the Opa-locka Police Department has been disciplined, suspended, fined and sent home with pay more than any officer in the state.

He has been accused of cracking the head of a handcuffed suspect, beating juveniles, hiding drugs in his police car, stealing from suspects, defying direct orders and lying and falsifying police reports. He once called in sick to take a vacation to Cancún and has engaged in a rash of unauthorized police chases, including one in which four people were killed.

Arrested and jailed three times, Bosque, 48, has been fired at least six times. Now under suspension pending yet another investigation into misconduct, Bosque stays home and collects his $60,000-a-year paycheck for doing nothing.

(Hat Tip to PoliceMisconduct.net for the original link)

Two-Tiered Justice System Operating in Milwaukee

In his new book Liberty and Justice for Some, which I do not have the money to buy or the time to read at the moment, Glenn Greenwald writes about what he calls "Two-Tiered Justice System" of America.  At the higher tier, inhabited by political and financial elites, promises scant if any charges or prosecutions relating to serious and damaging crimes, such as the creation of the Bush Torture Regime and the events that led up to the Financial Collapse of 2008.  Most other people, including me and everyone else I know, fall into the lower tier of the Justice System.   If most people are charged with a crime, they have the largest, most well-funded criminal justice system in the world bearing down on them; which includes district attorneys who can and do break the law and violate constitutional rights with few, if any, legal ramifications, a brutal punishment-oriented prison system, juries that assume a defendant's guilt before the trial begins, and a broken, underfunded public defense system.

For people who read up on issues like criminal justice, Greenwald's point is not news.  And from the reviews I've read, his focus on elites, both political and financial, misses what is one of the worst routine miscarriages of justice in the country: the relative immunity of police officers.  Unless the crime is particularly violent and heinous, such as the shooting death of Kathyrn Johnston or the New Orleans Police murders on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina, police officers almost never face criminal prosecution for the crimes they commit, which often include assault and battery, false arrest, and depriving citizens of their constitutional rights.

Close to home, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently finished a two year long investigation into Milwaukee police who commit crimes.  And the picture the investigation paints is not pretty:

Student Loans Will Own My Soul Part 2

Because what this country needs is more student debt:

As part of the savings to trim the deficits, Congress would scrap a special kind of federal loan for graduate students. So-called subsidized student loans don't charge students any interest on the principal of student loans until six months after students graduated. 

A graduate student who borrows the maximum of $65,500 in subsidized loans would owe $207 a month in interest payments over the course of 10 years. But with a subsidized loan, the government pays that $207 each month the student attends school until six months after graduation...

A graduate student who borrows the maximum of $65,500 in subsidized loans would owe $207 a month in interest payments over the course of 10 years. But with a subsidized loan, the government pays that $207 each month the student attends school until six months after graduation. 

This change would shift some $125 billion in loan volume over to unsubsidized loans and would cost students $18.1 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

At least most of the money saved through the cuts to subsidized student loans will go towards funding Pell Grants, but the cuts will still leave the Pell Grant program short some $1.3 billion dollars.  

Student Loans Will Own My Soul

Among the other statistics in the article, The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that graduate students in master's programs in particular are relying more on student loans to finance their education.  

It is a problem that is likely to grow with budget cuts, especially for us in the humanities.  As a soon-to-be second year MA student, by the this time next year I will owe the government nearly $30,000 in student loans.  And if I am unable to secure funding for the year after next through either a fellowship or as a TA or PA, that number will grow.  Especially the Wisconsin state government is has slashed $125 million in funding from the UW system and has raised tuition 5.5% this upcoming school year alone, with other rises in tuition in the coming years likely.  

I am not alone.  Of the other people I know who are in school for graduate degrees, many of them have had to take out some sort of student loan to pay for tuition or to make ends meet financially.  Luckily, I was able to avoid taking out any student loans while I was an undergrad, and have avoided the situation of two of my friends who both owe over $100,000 in loans.  Most of those come from unsubsidized loans, which accrue interest even when you are in school.  

More than the weak housing market, the national debt ceiling, or credit card debt, student loans are the elephant in the room that could easily ruin the economic future for my generation.  Thankfully I own a tent and a hiking backpack, so I am at least prepared for life in the Hoovervilles. 

Sexual Abuse in American Theravada Temples

This is disgusting:

The meeting took place at Wat Dhammaram, a cavernous Theravada Buddhist temple on the southwest edge of Chicago. A tearful 12-year-old told three monks how another monk had turned off the lights during a tutoring session, lifted her shirt and kissed and fondled her breasts while pressing against her, according to a lawsuit. 

Shortly after that meeting, one of the monks sent a letter to the girl's family, saying the temple's monastic community had resolved the matter, the lawsuit says.

The "wrong doer had accepted what he had done," wrote P. Boonshoo Sriburin, and within days would "leave the temple permanently" by flying back to Thailand.

I recommend reading the whole article, as it talks about how the monks responsible for the sexual assaults are able to avoid capture and sentencing, as well as the lack of accountability coming from the Sangha officials in both America and the country of the temple's origin.