Sick. Just SICK.

[Doc]

Jack Booted Nazi Thugs Invade SC High School

As for the 10 year old girl, there is a massive amount of gagging right now. For reasons of national security apparently, or some such crap. The above story was gagged for a while to, most folks absolutely refused to believe it, many parents accused their kids of lying. In the case of the girl, trying to search for 10 year old assaulted or some such returns to much child porn.

I am sure, in time, when more folks keep spreading what happened by word of mouth, sooner or later somebody powerful to demand answers will do so, and, more of what happened will leak out. Just like with the story above. You must understand Southern Ways. Any thing remotely dirty can and will be swept under the rug and totally ignored by any means necessary. Digging out the truth can be quite dangerous, and takes time.

[Occhidiangela]

Doc, this thread is a good troll, and well done. You sought to evoke an emotional response, to evoke a sense of injustice, and you got it. Attat boy, I have that t-shirt too.

Then you went and played the Nazi card,

  Jack Booted Nazi Thugs Invade SC High School

which means the thread is, for all intents and purposes, over. What is curious is that you played it on your own thread. ;)

[Occhidiangela]

Stratford High School is in Goose Creek, a middle-class suburb of Charleston. It's considered one of the best high schools in South Carolina -- a place where students do well on state tests. 

Sounds like my High school, in 1976.

Parents move to Goose Creek so their kids can go to Stratford. But McCrackin, the school's principal, feared it was becoming known for drugs. There had been 15 arrests in the first three months of the school year, compared with 16 arrests the entire year before.  

Sounds like my high school, 1976.

Acting on a tip from a student, McCrackin called the police. Together, they monitored several days of videotape. Convinced they were witnessing drug activity in the main hallway before class, they planned the raid.

Sounds like my high school, 1976. That time, a few dozen stoners got busted for nickel bags, and a few got hit on Cocaine. Progressive school, I suppose. B)

I am not going to say I find the Principal's approach subtle, and perhaps he was trying for a shock and awe approach to send a message. 6 45 AM? UH, why not do the bust at lunch time? That is what they did in my high school, in 1976. I expect the local school board and some of the parents are gonna give him a case of the red ass.

In future, please have a care with how you characterize cops. Your reference to cops as Nazi Thugs is a crock of crap, and you know it, Mr "Not So Retired Activist." :)

My wife's brother in law, the Cop, just got moved from the Family Violence division to the Homicide division. He and the boys pulled a guy in last week who did in a lady who the perp he met via the internet in Florida, and who the perp subsequently robbed, killed, and buried. The cops here got him, they extradited his sorry ass back to Florida. The good guys won that one.

I've got two old military buddies who work DEA: for the past 15 years. NOT Nazi Thugs.

Ciao

[WarLocke]

In future, please have a care with how you characterize cops.

In Doc's defense, I have no problems with characterizing cops who bust into a school and beat up students as jackbooted Nazi thugs. It's a very apt description of the scenario in question.

If Doc had been speaking of cops in general, you would have a point, Occhi. But the way his posts read to me, he just means the particular cops involved with this incident. The bad apples, if you will.

[Doc]

In my defense...

The police in question even found their actions questionable. Several officers refused to take part in the raid. After the fact... Several officers feel horribly ashamed of what they have done and feel what they did is not the American way. Any thing to say for those poor fellas Occhi? A man should not feel ashamed of his job. One officer was even on a local type news program, admitting that in the preplan stages, he was told to rough up the n****r children a bit to give them a good scare and set them straight. Since his tv interview the officer has been on leave with out pay. The official police report still claims that the guns were never even pointed at kids, and, several times in the video you can clearly see not only are guns pointed at students heads, there is one student smashed in the mouth with the butt of a rifle. America's Finest. Yup. They got big brass balls and can prove it by beating up on kids. (Or molesting them as the case might be)

Officers ran riot through the crowd, guns loaded, ready to fire, and threating to kill students that resisted. The dog in question, as it turns out, was not even qualified yet for field work, still in training stage, and having it along put a lot of folks, both officers and students, in danger.

And, as it turns out, the officers broke the law. No warrent was ever served, and now the whole unit is coming under fire and soon faces possible carreer termination. And that's only the beginning of the laws broken and rights violated that day. Doodoo is about to hit the fan. I am all for supporting the law when they do the right thing. I refuse to support the law when the boys in blue become the criminals. Blue uniform or not, they can be hung out to dry just like regular folk.

The raid was called simply because the principal was worried by the number of black students attending the school, and the massive shift of black middle class moving into the area and black parents wanting their kids to get a better education. The man was even on camera making a jackass of himself saying that the black criminal element moving to his school would not be tolerated. He is no longer in charge. Whew!

The real truth behind the issue, as far as drug busts go, is the white kids. A majority of the drug busts that took place over the years in the school has been white kids being busted for pot or performing enhancement drugs taken by the sports teams. As more black families have moved in, it has been proven that the criminal element of the black population has dropped as more and more programs have been started for black culture, after school stuff, saying no to drugs, and other trouble avoidance programs have taken root. So the so called black criminal element is a non issue. Numbers are better here then other schools in the state... Which are the real cause of concern.

Perhaps in time, our police will be remembered as Jack Booted American Thugs and people round the world will use that moniker. I sure hope not.

A bad guy is a bad guy is a bad guy. Nuff said.

[Occhidiangela]

And thanks for the amplification, Doc, I suspect there is even more detail not in the story. Not surprised to see some officers displeased by what went down. I have some experience with drug sweeps in sailors' barracks in the early 80's. As I said, the whole op strikes me as unsubtle and even poorly timed. However, rich suburban kids have kept the drug trade prosperous since I was a teen. I aint shedding a tear for anyone, though the line that the real culprits were tipped off surprises me not in the least.

Warlocke, you are wearing blinders: your mental laziness in your reply to me is blatant. You are better than that.

The Nazi Jack Boot comment shows a lack of depth and paucity of imagination matched only by the moronically repeated 60's taunt of "Pig." Doc, you met a no fooling Pig here and there in your day, per your narratives elsewhere, you know the real deal. The problem is a whole passle of folks adopted that epithet without a clue as to the reality, because it was fashionable to "rage against the machine. So too is this low mental effort required appellation of Nazi: a coarsely fashionable throwaway.

[ShadowHM]

However, rich suburban kids have kept the drug trade prosperous since I was a teen.

I don't want to detract from the other points Occhi made, but this generalization cannot be passed over.

BAH Only the 'rich suburban kids'? I flatly refuse to believe it. Drugs (as discussed on another board recently) have been about a long time and are tested/enjoyed by many the teenager of all backgrounds.

I graduated from high school in 1972 and, while there was no cocaine available, it was easy to find marijuana products (hash by preference, because it was more easily transported), LSD, peyote, MDA and other fun-enhancing stuff, including that ever-important drug - alcohol. In general, while the transactions did not take place inside the school, it was certainly possible to place your order there. This was not rich suburbia. This was a lower-middle class rural small town.

There will always be 'drugs in the high schools'. The issue is whether the culture of that school makes it open or secret. A good administrator will ensure that those who partake take pains to conceal it from others while in the school. And it doesn't have to involve armed police raids to accomplish that.

[Selby]

I don't want to detract from the other points Occhi made, but this generalization cannot be passed over.

BAH  Only the 'rich suburban kids'?  I flatly refuse to believe it.  Drugs (as discussed on another board recently) have been about a long time and are tested/enjoyed by many the teenager of all backgrounds.

Occhi never said it was only rich suburban white kids. They just tend to have more money and parents with influence to get them out of trouble compared to us poorer folk. So while I would go to jail if I was a dealer\user the rich sector would just get a slap on the wrist and go right back to paying top dollar for the good quality stuff. In my high school the difference between the poor and the rich as far as drug use went was how the drugs were paid for. The poor generally sold them and used on the side while the rich kids had loads of cash coming in from mom and dad that they used to fund their habits.

[Occhidiangela]

I have lived through exactly what I am talking about it. I went to high school in a middle and upper middle class area. Plenty of teenagers with too much money and an environment tolerant to dope smoking as "cool." 1974-1976. The predominate drug of choice was dope. It cost from 25-50 dollars per ounce, depending on the alleged quality, be it Columbo Brown, Columbo Red, Jamaican, Mexican, local, Hawaiian, what have you.

Sensamillian did not seem to appear in our county until after I left high school, but it was huge in the early 80's. Cocaine was uncommon but available for those with the cash in 1975-1976. It had not become then what it became in the late 1970's early 80's and beyond, but it was getting there.

LSD was common as hell and relatively easy to make. I had numerous offers for taking a tab of acid, but I think my drug education/scare campaign in junior high had convinced me that if I took acid I would have freaks for kids one day. I was afraid of acid, or who knows, I might have tried it. I sure had opportunity aplenty.

Killer Weed, PCP, was not uncommon at all.

Heroin was rare, but a few of my classmates had track lines on their forearms.

Speed and Barbituates, and particulary Quaaludes were rampant. Mushrooms, Peyote and Mescaline were not that common.

Beer was quite popular as well. I was in the beer and whiskey crowd. My high school, Herndon High, had 2600 kids in it. My senior class had 595 students. Robinson in Fairfax had nearly 5000.

Your appear to be disagreeing with my knowledge and experience based on your different experience. Believe it.

It takes money to fuel the drug trade. It aint just a poor person's problem. The rich kids are a very lucrative market, as are rock stars, musicians, and other wealthy folks who choose to use recreational drugs.

So, sadly, are folks who pour the rent money into a hole in their arms or snort the grocery money up their noses, or guzzle the car payment down their throats.

We won't get into legal speed: caffeine! :)

[Doc]

Bad Doc, hijacking his own thread! Bad bad bad!

I was just reading the other morning in an A.M.A. report that the powerful chemical cocktail in coffee stimulates hair growth and may help prevent hair loss. Along with preventing diabetes and other fun and wonderful life ruining things. Stimulants in coffee have also been shown to assist in erections and sexual stimulation and increase nipple sensitivity in both male and females. God bless the sacred brew.

[whereagles]

I hope you guys realize the only way to stop the institutional abuses is to put the cross in the right place every 4 years...

[Doc]

I hope you guys realize the only way to stop the institutional abuses is to put the cross in the right place every 4 years...

Voting? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA That's rich. You know, I have a bridge I would love to sell you.

Voting went sour a long time ago... How about all those dead folks buried in the ground that somehow put JFK in office. Or just recently, oh, say, 4 years ago, right here in SC, all of the districts that would have put John McCain ahead were all closed down, either not opening at all or closing early before a full vote was accounted for.

Or need I point to Strom Thurmond yet again... A man who stayed in power for how long? A man known affectionately as The Emperor... People who ran against him suffered all sorts of accidents or just dropped out of the race for reasons unexplained.

Voting is where the worst of abuse happens.

Now if you will excuse me... I have bridges to sell.

[ShadowHM]

Your appear to be disagreeing with my knowledge and experience based on your different experience. Believe it.

I do not disagree with what you saw. I was suggesting that you over-simplified. You implied that it was rich suburban kids who create the market and keep it going. I still disagree.

It takes money to fuel the drug trade. It ain't just a poor person's problem. The rich kids are a very lucrative market, as are rock stars, musicians, and other wealthy folks who choose to use recreational drugs.

So, sadly, are folks who pour the rent money into a hole in their arms or snort the grocery money up their noses, or guzzle the car payment down their throats.

Exactly my point, Occhi. Drugs are a people problem. And it really isn't about how much money they have. That only affects the quality of the drug purchased.
You can get your alcohol fix with Seagram's Five Star or you can get it with Remy Martin VSOP. Either way, if you drink too much, there is a problem.

The same goes for the designer marijuana. (Sorry if we have confusions over the use of the word 'dope'. Dope = drugs. Marijuana is one kind of drug. Where I learned the phrase, 'all doped up' could mean anything from speed to tranquilizers and all other items in between.) You can get your marijuana in damn near any flavour you want these days, if you are a rock star. The selection is a bit smaller in the high school levels, but the drug is available to rich and poor alike.

And, yes, thank the PTB that they have yet to ban my drug of choice - caffeine. :D

[kandrathe]

Maybe X would be a better word choice. My mind instantly visualized brutes down south there erecting a burning cross on Doc's lawn.

Or, you mean every year. Or in, fact in my community, every month. How active are each of us in our local political processes, to insure that the right people are given the reins of power (and in many ways these local leaders have more impact on our quality of life).

If you are thinking about Federal 4 year terms, I disagree to an extent that who sits in Washington may be able to write policy, but it is people at the local level who carry it out. The politicians in DC are as responsible for this event, as Janet Reno was for Columbine, or Ruby Ridge. (I would include Waco, but I think she actually was pretty involved in that one.) The leadership and policies of some agencies like the FBI, ATF may lead to abuses of power and aid a public perception of "jack booted thugs". Tom Ridge is the guy responsible for homeland security, and the abuses of any federal authorities would be his responsibility. If the airport security was a local force, then it is a local problem. I think we have already determined that the high school drug raid was a local issue, and if I lived there, I would be at the next school board meeting whether or not I had kids attending that school.

Overall, I believe that any policies written by the Federal government (any administrations) that are to be enacted at a local level are often flawed, and often under or unfunded. I think that insofar as "homeland security" is concerned that the Feds should fully provide funds for and administer "border security", which includes airports.

My search for the elusive airport incident only yielded this fodder for thought;
The Loaded Teddy
15 year old & 9 year old daughters searched.
32 Women complain of groping during search

[Doc]

As for burning crosses on my lawn or jack booted thugs banging on my door... I will let these words speak for themselves.

This home protected by Smith & Wesson Security Systems.

[Occhidiangela]

You implied that it was rich suburban kids who create the market and keep it going. I still disagree

You inferred that. Rich suburban kids make a considerable contribution to the revenue stream, but they are not the only customers who keep the business thriving. College kids do as well. I never said they caused it.

Dope = Marijuana in my post. I should have used "pot" for clarity. :)

[Occhidiangela]

I use the three R's of home security: Ruger (Blackhawk and Mini 14) and Remington (870 12 guage), and "Redial 911." (Phone) :D

[LochnarITB]

Remington (870 12 guage)

Since, by now, I am probably considered the king of thread hijackers (what fun is it to stick to the topic at hand?) I better jump in and attempt another.

As to the above mentioned WMD, good choice! During my high school years (1976 grad - you too?) I had a strong interest in hunting - small game and deer, never got into fowl. However, I was only equipped with a hand me down .22 and a wooden recurve bow (compunds were just coming into being). Christmas of '74 or '75 I asked santa for a Remington 870. I didn't get it. I found out later that I was going to get it until an uncle advised my dad that it was more gun than I needed. :( I eventually lost interest in hunting with what I had and felt that anything else was beyond my means. To this day, I believe that good equipment would have established a life long love that would have benefited me both mentally and physically.

[Doc]

I recently scored a S&W 500 Revolver. Don't ask, do a search if you don't know. It will blow a hole the size of a basketball into a tree and probably into a human being or large threatening animal as well. Standard conventional body armor is utterly useless. This IS the BFG. Kicking like a mule would be toning it down, I have never held a hand gun with more recoil. The gun is perfection. It's HUGE. It's heavy. It makes Dirty Harry's 44 look like a cork gun. I worship this gun.

Firing the gun is utterly amazing. The force of the recoil, the sound, the vibration, it's all so powerful that it will turn the wax in your ears into a runny liquid that dribbles out, your vision fuzzes over, and every bone in your body aches a bit from absorbing the energy. If it were possible, I would want this gun to bear my children.

[WarLocke]

If it were possible, I would want this gun to bear my children.

Now that's a scary image.

*POW*

WAAAAAAH!!