Thursday, July 10, 2014

the wages of dehumanizing drug "offenders"...,


WaPo |  The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General  has just released part of its report on the awful case of Daniel Chong. Here’s some background from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Chong was a 24-year-old engineering student when he was caught up in the drug sweep by a DEA task force two years ago.
On the morning of April 21, 2012, Chong was detained with six other suspects and transported to the DEA field office, where agents determined that he was not involved in the ecstasy ring that was under investigation.
A self-confessed pot smoker, Chong told investigators he had gone to the University City apartment that Friday night to celebrate April 20 — an important day for marijuana users — and spent the night.
After being interviewed at the DEA field office Saturday, agents told Chong he would be released without charges and driven home soon.
But agents forgot about him and Chong spent the next four and half days inside the five-by-10-foot cell without food, water or a toilet. He said his screams for help went unanswered.
Chong was discovered near death on Wednesday afternoon. Agents called 911 and he was rushed to a hospital. Chong spent four days in the hospital for multiple conditions but has since recovered.
The OIG report is infuriating. We often call it the drug war, but we don’t even treat prisoners of war this way.
Four different federal drug agents saw or heard Daniel Chong during the five days he was handcuffed in a holding cell without food or water after a 2012 narcotics sweep, a U.S. Department of Justice report released on Tuesday found.
The agents did nothing because they assumed someone else was responsible for the detainee, and because there was no training for agents on how to track and monitor wards at the Kearny Mesa detention center, the report found.
So Chong wasn’t forgotten. He was ignored. The former would merely be callous incompetence. The latter is what happens when you’re conditioned to see drug offenders as less than human. To see Chong as a man dying in a cell would require some empathy. Drug Enforcement Agency agents aren’t trained to empathize with drug offenders. Quite the opposite. Because Chong is just a lowlife addict, it’s easy to pass him off as someone else’s responsibility. For the four DEA agents who saw Chong suffering, coming to his aid — hell, just preventing him from dying — wasn’t the moral obligation of a fellow human being, but a task to be assigned within the bureaucracy. That task hadn’t been assigned to them. So hey, it wasn’t their job.

23 comments:

BigDonOne said...

OTOH, if you don't hang out with druggies in the first place, the problem goes away....play with fire and you can get burned.

Vic78 said...

I'm expecting a comment about two parent households. C'mon Big Don. You really should cut it out sometimes. Any activity seen as deviant puts you on a shit list. But you are a brony so I have to accept you. I don't get upset if a dog barks at a stranger. Maybe there's a tea tard gene.

rembom said...

BD: You ever seen "Reefer Madness"? Cnu is hip to this, and it's worth another look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azf320JDdqU&feature=kp



People patently ignorant of substances and their actual effects should not be the ones we choose to make policies about those substances. In 1937, when "Reefer Madness" was made, most of the public, having no personal knowledge at all of cannabis, didn't realize how absurdly ridiculous that gov't-made movie was. Part of the more recent relative acceptance of cannabis is that a large segment of the US population today has at least some passing familiarity with it. Ideologically driven propaganda sets off a fear response that then makes impossible any sort of constructive approach to studying how substances may be of benefit. It even puts out of reach any realistic understanding of the risks of various substances.

BigDonOne said...

We raised our kids to Avoid Even The Appearance Of Guilt. Not certain they always observed that, but the point was if you are with a group of peers and one or more of them are doing something illegal better to GTFOH otherwise if they get busted, it's guilt by association. Has nothing whatsoever to do with how "harmful" said activity might be. Same principle as what nailed Chong.
Far as weed goes, we have seen first-hand in the neighborhood kids start doing pot and FTO goes bye-bye - all they wanna do is hang out and get stoned. Academics, grades, motivation, their future, all suffer. Yes, some can do it and stay on more-or-less track, but there is a varying genetic tendency to lose direction, e.g., like alcoholism runs in families. Not worth taking the chance....

makheru bradley said...

It’s very simple. I’m morally obligated to defend truth and justice. The deafness of specific ears is irrelevant. If you think I’m going to remain silent when a person is advocating a holocaust, you’re completely out of your mind.

“The only thing to worth doing and pursuing is to burn these old oxygen thieves to the ground and leave even their ashes unrecognizable, seriously.” -- Craig Nulan 7/8/2014

Secondly, I’m not going to tolerate a person who has proven his ignorance of history, time and time again, assault the character of people who risked their lives fighting for the rights of Afrikan people.

Tom said...

Most friends of my generation who own pets treat them just the way CNu treats BD. They let the dog run around licking babies in strollers, putting its muddy paws on people's suits, it's all good.

CNu said...

Bro. Feed, errbody here and they cousin realize by now that "cuttin-up" in other folks comment sections is your primary avocation and amusement in life. But dayyum dood, every single post is not fair game for one of your hypothetical "how many angels could dance on the head of a pin if it was made out of copper instead of steel?" disquisitions....,

If it's not obvious to you what all of this story has to do with the "war on drugs", simply accept that you don't get it - but don't presume to call into question anybody else's logic, language, values, or understanding.

BigDonOne said...

Michael Vick and his Ey-Cu 75 pals notwithstanding, most dog owners Love Their Dogs.
As their best friends. -- Our last passed on 14 yrs ago but we still keep his memorial well-maintained.

Vic78 said...

People getting high is common. It's over for the stereotypes and 'observations.' It's going to be legal in the US soon; in spite of the anti drug stupidity. I wish you had an idea how many people got high. In your day to day interactions you've had to deal with a weed smoker. This is beyond race and class. Chong was an engineering student. I take it you don't know about 4.20. A trip to Washington State or Colorado would do you some good.

Tom said...

Yeah. And hopefully the lawsuit will be a deterrent to torture of future suspects. They imprison someone and then "forget" to give him water day after day? Every person who knew about it and didn't intervene needs to be prosecuted.


Obviously if Chong's friends really had those quantities of pills, I would hope my kid would be bright enough to avoid their apartment. I wonder sometimes whether BD thinks his comments are some form of "higher math" that isn't obvious to everyone.

CNu said...

lol, and the whole point eluding your grasp is that not a single one of these hundreds of thousands (millions) should have ever even been given so much as the side eye by the popo..., you desperately need to do a dab and chill...,

ken said...

Somebody's getting concerned this may not work out so well...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/07/10/houston_woman_on_immigration_crisis_what_about_the_kids_in_our_neighborhood.html

Constructive_Feedback said...

Brother CNu:


You just gave me an excellent idea for discussing today's irony about JUSTICE SYSTEM SPENDING related to DRUGS.


* After decades of telling us that the US consumption of illegal drugs is responsible for the violence in Mexico, Columbia, etc
* These host nations (and transit nations) have been over-run by drug gangs and corruption
* As the US policy makers turn away from "Mass Incarceration" and begin to liberalize drug laws......
* The Chaos in Mexico and Central America where young people are suffering from the terrorism related to the collapse of order where they live.................
* Are emigrating out and heading to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - the "Police State" with the aforementioned "War On Drugs"
* In irony to end all irony - those same forces who told us about all of the MONEY THAT THE US CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS SUCKING OUT OF "SOCIAL SERVICE AND EDUCATION" PROGRAMS - are now in agreement that close to $4 billion is needed - in order to provide JUSTICE for the young illegal immigrants who are flooding the US Southern borders.
***** More Judges
**** Better Accommodations in the holding facilities
**** Better Programs for their care, feeding and education




INDEED - THERE IS AN IRONY - UNLESS You Choose Not To Label The Facilities That Are Storing Them As Law Breakers - Away From The General Population AND ONLY Focus One's Reporting On The OFFENSE Of Some Lawmakers Claiming That Because They Are Not Vacinated THEY Could Be The Source Of An Epidemic In The United States.


Even though the "Anti-Vaccination" crowd is seen as "kooks" by the mainstream thought -BECAUSE they seek to ostracize those who make this cautionary warning from an Immigration Critic - THEY are forced to suppress their own view about the importance of immunization so they don't sound like those who they tarnish as "RACISTS".


It is THEY who are never made to GOVERN THIS NATION, producing results that look anything like their SOCIAL JUSTICE raison d'etre.
They only need to INTEND to produce this greater world.


It would be more reasonable to provide them with the video game "The SIMs" and force them to PROVE their competency in cyberspace - a change in my previous view that they should make local MISSION ACCOMPLISHED CITIES work before their NATIONALIZED COLONIAL IMPERIALISM DOMESTICATION scheme is allowed.

Vic78 said...

Like I said earlier, you don't always have to fall back on the PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE. The drug war has been going strong since Nixon. And it's caused problems worldwide. One of the consequences is what we see in Mexico. The leaders from Mexico, Central, and South America asked the President to legalize drugs in the US. He said it was a non starter. The easing up on drugs stateside is a recent development.

If you're seen as a kook, people aren't paying attention to you. So fuck what the anti vaccination crowd thinks right now. How do you deal with the kids? Well, there is a pattern with officials saying and doing fucked up things. So they should shut the fuck up and figure out what to do for the short and long term.

Constructive_Feedback said...

NON-WHITE WHITE SUPREMACY - is what you are infected with, BRO.

* American corporations EXPLOIT cheap labor in "Nations Of Color" and thus they CAUSED the collapse of Detroit, Cleveland, etc

* American drug users created DEMAND for opioids and serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor in mass quantities. The US government's choice to REGULATE these chemical compounds gave the natives in Mexico and South/Central America an ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY through channels that US CORPORATIONS would have monopolized BUT FOR the illegality of the substance in the USA.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Cocaine3DanBS.gif

THINK ABOUT IT YOU for a moment Vic78.

IF the SUPPLY CHAIN from Columbia to South Side Of Chicago was a "legal distribution system' - then YOU would be attacking the RESULTS (addicted Black people) - with the notion that some NEFARIOUS SCHEME TO DESTROY BLACK PEOPLE (as is the case in the 'Ronald Reagan CIA /Contra Connection that YOU CAN STILL HEAR ABOUT - turn in to "wrfg.org" tonight at 7pm eastern to listen to the "Black Progressive Radical - "Friday Night Drum" - it is a good show because at least they stand against the MACHINE Black Progressives - the 'We Are In The White House Negroes" )

Today in America we have advocacy for a MARIJUANA SUPPLY CHAIN as a notion of PROGRESS.

I ASSURE YOU that once some CORPORATE Distribution Expert with a team of Harvard MBA Marketing trained propagandists get their hands on the fledgling industry the sight of a new generation of "Afroman" ("Then I Got High" ) taking root within the Black community - STEALING AWAY our PRODUCTIVITY and going to the Korean owned "Chinese Stir Fry Joint" around the corner WILL BE your NEXT ATTACK upon the AMERICANIZED NEGRO.

You will forget to do a DNA test to see that YOU ARE THE FATHER OF THIS BABY. You were among those who "Pulled The Train" but YOUR genes made it through the vaginal canal and actually fertilized the egg - WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY's WOMB.

AFROMAN - "Because I Got High" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw

AFROMAN - Sell'in Drugs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWylUZub5KM

CNu said...

rotflmbao...., whew!!! priceless.comedy.gold..,

Constructive_Feedback said...

Vic78:


1) I have no self indulgent pictures of myself in my "Man Cave".
* I have one section of "Obituaries" of lost loved one's - to KEEP ME ON TRACK
* I have another section of "Jet Beauty" -type pictures
* I have another section of "Technical Posters"
* I have a poster of "Marcus Garvey"
* and finally - I have some Health Related / Goal setting documents - blood pressure, dietary, etc


2) "So Lonely" was never one of my favorite Janet Jackson songs. ("What Have You Done For Me Lately" is in the top 3 because I recall being in college while I was pledging my frat, "Skating" in my room and not answering any harassing phone calls from my big brothers - that song was playing when I heard that the "Space Shuttle Challenger" had blown up)


3) How "MY POSTS" come off TO YOU - is merely a manifestation of YOUR CONSUMER-LEVEL RECEPTION of WHAT I POST and your reaction to MY ARGUMENTS, a portion of which are critical of YOU and YOUR ANTICS done in the name of "Black Activism" - that are light on "Black Community Development" and "INVESTMENT PROTECTION" that one would expect after 50 years of BLACK COMMUNITY MINERAL HARVESTING into Political Opportunism with little return.

Vic78 said...

How "MY POSTS" come off TO YOU - is merely a manifestation of YOUR CONSUMER-LEVEL RECEPTION of WHAT I POST and your reaction to MY ARGUMENTS, a portion of which are critical of YOU and YOUR ANTICS done in the name of "Black Activism" - that are light on "Black Community Development" and "INVESTMENT PROTECTION"

Once again: "...but don't presume to call into question anybody else's logic, language, values, or understanding."

You just can't help yourself. Your deal is that you only shoot one way. You can't put the straw man down for three minutes. I did tell you that you give up a lot to work with as far as the jokes. I can do that all day.

BigDonOne said...

Testing of Colorado traffic fatality corpses has shown an apparent death increase due to stoned driving (this morning's Drudge)........

Vic78 said...

Lol @Drudge report. THC stores itself in a person's body fat. So it's in your system long after you smoked it. There's no way of telling what condition the dead drivers were in. Do you know how primitive the anti weed thing is right now? You're missing out on good times. Accept the change. You'll be better for it. Get a day when you have nothing to do, get a bong, get something that has a name like God's Gift or Blueberry, and light up. You'll see what you've been denying yourself. Fuck the Puritan foolishness. Those people are trying to fuck with your vibration.

Vic78 said...

Dude's a genius. He should go viral.

CNu said...

lol, he's five minutes away from his own legal personal ticket to paradise, but you know he's incapable of overcoming a lifetime of propagandization, strolling down to the legal dispensary - and finding out for himself. That'd take cojones approximately equivalent to my own at the age of 13 - the first time I got my ticket punched and took that deeply embodied ride.

Vic78 said...

I meant to say that subculture's going to give us more Joe Kennedys. They aren't going to allow the big companies onto their turf after having fought for so long. These people are sophisticated. Like I said earlier, get a spare room and a thousand dollars. You can jump in this new market. I didn't even bring up the things you can do with hemp once the govt gets out of the way.

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