"Scold's bridle."

The 90s were a magical time.

North Carolina Cop Admits in Court to Lying About 911 Call to Enter Home, Police Chief Shocked—Shocked—This Would Happen in His Department - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "An unidentified police officer in Durham, North Carolina, reportedly testified in federal court that he lied to a resident, claiming there was a 911 call from the home when there hadn’t been, in order to enter the house, and claimed this was standard practice in his department. Durham’s police chief, Jose Lopez, is shocked this is happening in the department, and claims it’s the only time it’s ever happened. "

Mom Jailed Because She Let Her 9-Year-Old Daughter Play in the Park Unsupervised - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "Watch the news: It sounds like Debra Harrell committed a serious, unconscionable crime. The reporter looks ready to burst with contempt. But what are the facts? She let her daughter play at the park for several hours at a time—like we did as kids. She gave her a daughter a phone if she needed to call. Any "danger" was not only theoretical, it was exceedingly unlikely. But, "What if a man would've come and snatched her?" said a woman interviewed by the TV station.

To which I must ask: In broad daylight? In a crowded park? Just because something happened on Law & Order doesn't mean it's happening all the time in real life. Make "what if?" thinking the basis for an arrest and the cops can collar anyone. "You let your son play in the front yard? What if a man drove up and kidnapped him?" "You let your daughter sleep in her own room? What if a man climbed through the window?" etc. These fears pop into our brains so easily, they seem almost real. But they're not. Our crime rate today is back to what it was when gas was 29 cents a gallon, according to The Christian Science Monitor. It may feel like kids are in constant danger, but they are as safe (if not safer) than we were when our parents let us enjoy the summer outside, on our own, without fear of being arrested...

But because some busybody thought she knew more about this girl's safety than the girl's own mother, a family has been separated. Harrell is in jail and the child is in the custody of the Department of Social Services. If only the girl had spent her whole summer sitting in McDonald's—surfing the internet and eating a Big Mac instead of playing outside and getting fresh air—this never would have happened."

Opinion: I was 17, on death row -- and innocent - CNN.com: "I was once the youngest person in the U.S. on death row. And I was innocent. There was videotape of me in 1995, at 16, playing basketball just before the time of a murder in New Orleans' French Quarter. There was even a clock showing the time on the videotape. My basketball coach was driving me and my teammates home at the time of the crime. My airtight alibi didn't matter. The eyewitness to the murder, who was on a first date with the victim, told the police she was not wearing her contact lenses or glasses and could only see shapes -- critical information that the prosecution withheld from my attorneys. She was pressured to change her story. At my trial, she identified me as the killer and told the jury, "I will never forget that face." A detective said two other witnesses identified me as the killer, but it later came out that he had lied to get the arrest warrant. The prosecution pressured another witness into saying he heard me brag about the murder, which was untrue."

That's a full evening, right there.

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely -- at least, not all the time -- but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.” ~Hunter S Thompson

Why Is The Huffington Post’s Robin Korth Shaming Natural Male Desire?: "Every human being’s body is in part a record of the life that they have led. That doesn’t mean all bodies are sexually attractive, though.  Korth, hurt by Dave’s sexual rejection, in effect argues that he should find her attractive, because her body is that of a real woman who has lived a life filled with experience. The fact that he doesn’t makes him a ‘sad man’, deserving of pity or censure (and pillorying on social media, albeit anonymously, via a Huff-Po article). But in a way, Korth’s logic  is akin to that of the man who thinks that a woman should be attracted to him because he is nice and kind, helps her with stuff and has an interest in the metaphysical poets. Unfortunately though biology is a cruel mistress — in the real world nice, intelligent men frequently get rejected by hot young women in favour of jerks because these qualities, while laudable, are not in themselves sexually attractive. In the same way, a 59 year old woman may well be incredibly accomplished, but—sorry—she sure as hell isn’t sexy. Let’s take a leaf out of Dave’s book and be brutally honest for a moment. Men are programmed to desire sex with fertile, healthy young women, because the biological  purpose of sex is reproduction. That is the truth of the matter and everyone knows it. No amount of window dressing or pretty lies can get round it."

The curious grammar of police shootings - The Washington Post: "You’re probably familiar with the weaselly way politicians tend to apologize when they’ve been caught red-handed. The most famous example is the use of the line, mistakes were made. Use of the passive voice in an admission of wrongdoing has become so common that the political consultant William Schneider suggested a few years ago that it be referred to as the “past exonerative” tense. You’ll often see a similar grammatical device when a police officer shoots someone. Communications officers at policy agenies are deft at contorting the English language to minimize culpability of an officer or of the agency...

There was a particularly egregious example of this with the L.A. Sheriff’s Department last April. While responding to reports of a stabbing, LASD deputies shot and killed 30-year-old John Winkler. In an initial press release, the department said Winkler “aggressed the deputies and a deputy-involved shooting occurred.” Note that Winkler’s actions were put in the active voice, while the officers’ actions were put in the passive.

As it turns out, Winkler was innocent. He hadn’t “aggressed” the officers at all. Rather, he and another victim, both of whom had been stabbed, were running toward the police to escape their assailant. (The deputies shot the other victim, too.) The press release incorrectly assigned criminal culpability to an innocent stabbing victim, but carefully avoided prematurely assigning responsibility to the deputies who shot him...

All of this wouldn’t be much more troubling than your typical grammatical ass-covering by other public officials if it weren’t for the fact that (a) we’re talking about people getting shot and killed, and (b) in most cases, the same police agencies engaging in linguistic gymnastics to publicly deflect responsibility for police shootings will inevitably be in charge of investigating the same officers for the same shootings."

New full-length 'Gotham' trailer - Batman News:

Why Germany Won/Don't Hassle the Hoff.

Things used to be different.  On the other hand, it probably cut way down on gossip.  Scold's bridle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "A scold's bridle, sometimes called a brank's bridle or simply branks, was an instrument of punishment used primarily on women, as a form of torture and public humiliation.  The device was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head...  Wives who were seen as witches, shrews and scolds, were forced to wear the branks, locked onto their head...

First recorded in Scotland in 1567, the branks were also used in England, where it may not have been formally legalized as a punishment. The kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland inflicted the contraption mostly on female transgressors and women considered to be "rude" or "nags" or "common scolds".  Branking (in Scotland and the North of England) was designed as a mirror punishment for "shrews'"or "scolds"; women of the lower classes whose speech was deemed "riotous" or "troublesome"; — often women suspected of witchcraft — by preventing such "gossips or scolds" from speaking. This also gives it its other name 'The Gossip's Bridle'"

"Just because I have it doesn't mean it's true!!!!!!" - "How make people think you die?" - "Big booty Puerto Rican goddess." - "Clear history."