Changes Coming Down the Pipeline

I apologize for not posting in a while, but the past week has been filled by transatlantic flights, a short stint in an old Soviet bloc country, and a funeral. I have also been working on an expansion of the blog, but don't want to divulge any details at the current moment.

Some stories I have been following, just to try to keep things fresh and current:

New York Governor Paterson really is like most people think: incompetent and easily manipulated. (NY Post, Washington Post)

Toyota's been raked over the coals for their acceleration problem, bringing flashbacks of the Ford/Firestone controversy. (Washington Post, NY Times)

Gridlock in Washington continues. (Washington Post)

There's Something About the US

I love my country, but sometimes it baffles me. I don't know what it is about the land or the people here—maybe it's a result of our 70 years or so of global hegemony, but our nation just doesn't care about really important things the way other nations do. Or maybe it's not that we don't care, but rather that we listen too much to people who tell us not to care.

I'm referring mostly to our overwhelming lack of concern for the most overwhelmingly concerning problem facing our planet—global climate change. The science is out; climate change is happening, and humans are 90 percent certain (a conservative estimate) to be the primary cause.

But then we have the talk show radio hosts, bloggers, and yes, even influential lawmakers arguing that they know better than expert climatologists. And people believe them, not because they necessarily think that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Jim Inhofe are remotely knowledgeable about climate science, but because it's so much more convenient to believe them. It's convenient to assume that we aren't having an impact on our changing weather patterns, droughts, floods, sea levels, and storms, because we don't want to have to pay more for our energy, drive our big cars any less, or force our industries to acknowledge the harm they are inflicting on our planet by partially internalizing those deleterious externalities.

No, Americans would rather remain skeptical, deny the facts, and, thanks to the most inflammatory demagogues, even get angry at scientists and those who urge international action (I'm looking at you, teabaggers). I suppose it's partly due to the same problem that we see in the media; when two opposing sides are just as loud as each other, even if one is dead wrong, they will garner similar amounts of credence among their audiences. And in the case of climate change, the skeptics' arguments are just so much more appealing ("don't worry, you're not doing anything wrong") that people are much more satisfied adopting them than the truth.

This is why republicanism is so important to modern government. Mass manipulation and ignorance needs to be offset by expertise and good judgment at the elite level. Even if constituents are not informed, representatives should be, and they should do their part to help their constituents understand the facts, instead of feeding off ignorance and proliferating lies because it's convenient and could help them earn votes ("a vote for me means lower energy prices!"). I appreciate having healthy political discourse in this country, but not when it exacerbates ignorance and diminishes our capacity to protect our country, our fellow man, and our entire world.

Images: Teabagger with sign (New Mexico Independent)

Albany Democrats Expel Monserrate

In a rare showing of tesiticular fortitude, the New York State Senate has expelled convicted criminal Hiram Monserrate from its ranks, because he slashed his girlfriend in the face with broken glass and was subsequently convicted for misdemeanor assault. Details are scarce, but deliberations have been going on for hours behind closed doors among Senate democrats, parts of which involved Monserrate himself, other parts of which he was asked to leave.

Of course, this would not be a Hiram Monserrate story if it did not involve Monserrate acting like a hubristic jackass. Monserrate has already begun the process of digging in his heels and fighting the expulsion, with one of his lawyers, perennial public advocate loser Norm Seigel, stating to the New York Times that, "This case raises substantial questions concerning what a constitutional democracy is all about."

While Seigel seems confused, as it is Monserrate's state senate career that has pissed on what "democracy is all about," what's clear is that those in Albany have let their guard down and actually got something worthwhile done. Only problem is that it was just six months too late. This should have been handled last year, not at a time when Democrats are getting killed in the polls, New York's budget situation is beyond dire, and our governor is a walking punchline. So, kudos to State Senate Democrats for expelling Monserrate (and hopefully Espada is next), but the timing of it all only proves how woefully out of touch they are with reality and their constituents who are subject to it.

Photo - Ex-State Senator Monserrate (NY Daily News)

Boston Police Officer Justin Barrett Finally Fired [Updated]

Boston Police Officer Justin Barrett (CNN)

Despite proving to the entire country that he was not mature enough to be a police officer back in late July of last year, the Boston Police Department has just gotten around to letting ex-Officer Justin "Jungle Monkey" Barrett go. After what they called a "thorough" investigation, BPD announced last week that Barrett was terminated, effective February 5.

What is insulting is that Barrett has been paid this entire time while awaiting his fate. If, as Police Commissioner Ed Davis says, "The Boston Police Department is committed to a standard of excellence," and ex-Officer Barrett's actions were of such an "egregious nature," then why did Massachusetts tax dollars continue finding their way into Justin Barrett's bank account? Why the "thorough" investigation, when it was already clear that the email came from Barrett and he even went on national television to apologize for sending it?

Do me a favor: re-read the email and try to justify keeping Barrett on the force. It's impossible. Now, to add insult to injury, keep in mind that Barrett continued to be paid up to his termination date. Clearly the Boston Police Department was embarrassed by this because they decided to make the announcement of Barrett's termination at 3:13 pm, ensuring that it would not make the local news wires until around 5:00 pm on a Friday. That leaves a few days for other news stories to surface and eclipse this one in relevance by the time the local morning news shows fire up on Monday morning.

At the end of the day, it was painfully obvious by his e-mail that Barrett was not qualified to be given a badge and a gun to serve and to protect the people of Boston. The fact that it took the BPD almost half a year to figure this out, while continuing to pay Barrett, is concerning. Will Barrett be getting any pension or benefits from the department or will he have to pay back any of his money to the taxpayers? An e-mail into the Boston Police Department media relations has not been answered. It took too long, and cost the taxpayers way too much, but at the very least Justin Barrett is no longer a Boston Police Officer.

[UPDATE]: The Boston Police Department responded to my query about Barrett's benefits and whether he will have to pay back any of the taxpayer-funded salary he received while waiting nearly half a year to be fired. The answer to both is no. So just so the people of Boston and Massachusetts know how much they're paying Barrett, let's go over the numbers. In 2008 Barrett made $78,991.04. Let's say his base salary last year was $55,000, just a hair over his 2008 base salary. Barrett was suspended at the end of July, so we'll say that 152+36 (31 in January 2010 + 5 in February 2010) / 365 = 0.42 years. 0.42 x yearly salary of $55,000 = $23,100 paid to Barrett during this "investigation" to get rid of Barrett (and this is a conservative calculation, because we're not counting benefits). In a year in which the state faces a $2.75 billion budget gap, to pay an individual like Barrett with tax monies for six months after he embarrasses the BPD and himself is a slap in the face.

Iacoviello Trial Over, Sentencing Tomorrow

Robert Iacoviello (My Fox Boston)

With Tuesday's guilty verdict handed down, the picture of what happened that night back in 2008 on the fields behind Revere High School between a group of off-duty police officers and gangsters has finally come into focus.

As came out in trial testimony, the officers had been drinking since leaving the shooting range at Fort Devens when Officers Soto, Franklin, and Talbot cracked open a few beers (with Soto driving.)They continued to drink at local watering hole Margarita's, and then after that brought some alcohol to the bleachers behind Revere High School. This is where they would fatefully encounter Derek Lodie, who was cutting through the high school fields.

When the group saw Lodie, testimony states that the group began to harass him. In his testimony ex-Sergeant Franklin stated that, at most, they were just looking for a fistfight with Lodie, whom Talbot recognized from his work in the gang unit at Revere PD. During these taunts, Talbot yelled numerous things at Lodie, including "gangster," "slob," and "BK." Lodie, who was associated with Blood gang members, would have taken these statements as Talbot pledging allegiance to the Crips street gang (it should be noted here that rumors of hand signs have been going around - testimony during trial indicated that while off-duty Talbot would "clown around" and make gang symbols with his hands, but as far as it taking place that night, there's no testimony to support that.) Slob is a put-down that Crips direct at Bloods, and BK stands for Blood Killer, another Crips identifier. Lodie, who believed that he was being targeted by a group of Crip gang members, called up some of his Blood friends, which included Robert Iacoviello.

After Lodie made the phone call to his gangster friends, Iacoviello showed up with Thomas Papandrea, who was the prosecution's main witness against Iacoviello, and Dararin "Johnny" Heang (James Heang's younger brother.) At this point the gangster contingent began hurling insults back to the off-duty officers. When this began Talbot left the bleacher area to confront Lodie and his associates, despite several warnings and pleadings from the other officers and his fiance to stop. This is when Iacoviello pulled out a Hi Point 9mm that he brought with him and shot Talbot in the head, which would kill him hours later. The gangsters fled, with Officer Soto returning fire without hitting anyone.

I've already gone over what the officers did post-shooting, and now we know more about what Iacoviello and his friends did. Iacoviello returned to the party he left and in the hours and days that followed enlisted the help of numerous people to help break down the Hi Point and get rid of other evidence, such as shoes and clothes. This is where Gia Nagy comes in; her DNA was found in the knot of a rubber glove holding pieces of the murder weapon. This is the only DNA/fingerprint evidence found on the murder weapon as the gun was heated with a blowtorch and Cloroxed after it was used to kill Talbot. However, the elder Heang was convicted of accessory after the fact for his role in breaking down the gun and depositing it in storm drains in Revere.

On top of all this, Iacoviello apparently confessed to a jailhouse confidant, Randy Furtado. Furtado got his sentence reduced from 5-7 years to 2.5 years on unrelated drug charges for his testimony in which he stated that Iacoviello told him that he fired at Talbot thinking he was a Crip and did not mean to hit him.

All in all, Robert Iacoviello was found guilty of second degree murder for being the triggerman, Derek Lodie pleaded guilty to accessory before the fact and received 8-12 years, Gia Nagy pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received 1-2 years, and James Heang was found guilty of accessory after the fact with Iacoviello. Iacoviello's attorney, who says that Iacoviello did not kill Talbot, says his client will appeal the verdict.

Both parties involved here were in the wrong. To pretend to be a rival gangster while looking for a fistfight with a kid who you know is associated with Bloods behind a public high school at 1:30am after you've been drinking for the majority of the evening shows incredibly bad judgment and, in this case, got Daniel Talbot killed. Did he deserve to be killed for his errors? Absolutely not, and that is why Robert Iacoviello will be behind bars for at least a decade and a half.

Iacoviello Guilty of Lesser Murder Charge

MyFoxBoston is reporting that Iacoviello has been found guilty of second degree murder in the shooting death of Revere Police Officer Daniel Talbot. Additionally, Iacoviello's accomplice James Heang was found guilty of accessory to murder after the fact. That's all that's really known right now. More details as they emerge.

Iacoviello Verdict Expected Around 2:00 PM

As soon as I hear what the verdict is I will post it.