"Maybe you have special powers."

"I no longer have the energy for meaningless friendships, forced interactions or unnecessary conversations." - Joquesse Eugenia

In today's 'People Who Probably Shouldn't Be Cops' News.  Afternoon links: California judge strikes down the state death penalty - The Washington Post: "A Georgia police officer who shot a kid who apparently answered the door holding a Nintendo Wii controller won’t be charged, despite a grand jury’s initial recommendation. The same officer previously shot a kid who was removing his backpack, under the mistaken belief that he was reaching for a gun."

  

America's Response to Child Refugees Fleeing Bloodbaths Is to Take Terrible Care of Them and Send Them Back | Alternet: "Those seething with so much rage and xenophobia that they’d hurl ugly epithets in the faces of children fleeing bloody violence in Central America bring shame to the whole nation. But the response of mainstream America hasn’t been much better. The media’s characterization of what’s going on at our southern border as a “crisis,” politicians pointing fingers at one another and Washington’s refusal to provide the resources necessary to care for a small wave of refugees — not to mention the bipartisan push to send them back home — is just as shameful when one considers the context.In June, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that in 2013, the global population of refugees from war and persecution hit 51.2 million — exceeding 50 million for the first time since World War II.Half of them were children.The vast majority were “internally displaced persons,” homeless people within their home countries. Many live in fetid refugee camps run by underfunded NGOs, where they face continuing privation and abuse."

In summary.  Study: Looks Matter Less To Women Than They Do To Men | Chateau Heartiste: "Men dig beauty. Chicks dig power. The rest is commentary."

Marijuana Smell Doesn't Justify Car Searches, Says MA Court - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Courts have "repeatedly held that the odor of marijuana alone can provide probable cause to believe that marijuana is present." Following up on such precedent, a Maryland prosecutor writes for Police Chief magazine that "no law enforcement agency should forget the importance and accuracy of the human sense of smell." And just last month, Ybor City, Florida, cops followed up on their important and accurate honkers to dismantle a man's truck. They found nothing. Now, at least, Massachusetts residents May gain a bit of a respite from searches by police wielding the Fourth Amendment-piercing power of their sense of smell...  In its Craan decision, the Bay State's Supreme Judicial Court built on its 2011 Commonwealth v. Cruz ruling, saying "in view of the decriminalization of marijuana occasioned by the 2008 initiative, 'the odor of burnt marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity.'" (Sullum covered the Cruz ruling at the time.) That's because the odor of marijuana doesn't indicate the quantity, and possession of less than an ounce is decriminalized in Massachusetts in the wake of the passage of Question 2."

Brickbat: They're Just Pals - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has accused Ashers Baking Co. of illegal discrimination and threatening to sanction it if it doesn't bake a cake featuring Muppets Bert and Ernie. A customer ordered the cake, which would also feature a slogan supporting gay marriage and the logo of a gay right's group, but the bakery canceled the order, saying it would violate the director's Christian beliefs."

This is Awesome.

Nightwing (x) - Britt Reads Comics:

Of course.  NSA sees your nude pix 'as fringe benefits of surveillance positions,' says Snowden - Boing Boing: "You've got young enlisted guys, 18 to 22. They've suddenly thrust into a position of extraordinary responsibility, where they now have access to all of your private records. Now, in the course of their daily work, they stumble across something that is completely unrelated to their work in any sort of necessary sense. For example: an intimate nude photo of someone in a sexually compromising situation, but they're extremely attractive. So what do they do? They turn around in their chair, and they show their coworker. And their coworker says, "Oh, hey, that's great. Send that to Bill down the way. And then Bill sends it to George, George sends it to Tom, and sooner or later, this person's whole life has been seen by all of these other people. It's never reported. Nobody ever knows about it, because the auditing of these systems is incredibly weak."

Fake TSA screener infiltrates SFO checkpoint, gropes women - Boing Boing: "He was allegedly drunk, and had at least two victims before SFO's crackerjack private aviation security outfit, Covenant, noticed... Because all his victims had already flown by the time anyone noticed that the guy in khakis, a blue polo, and blue gloves who'd been steering women into the private screening booth wasn't actually airport security, they can't charge him with anything except being drunk in public. Meanwhile, the woman travellers whom America has systematically trained to defer to aviation authority or face brutal punishments apparently didn't notice anything amiss."