Profiles in outrage

The Southwest Border Task Force wants to cut back on local enforcement of federal immigration laws, according to Themonitor.com in McAllen, Texas.

"Our goal is to get all of the Southwest border on the same playing field and draw out the realities on the border versus the rhetoric," said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, the task force’s vice chairman.

Civil rights and Hispanic groups have urged President Barack Obama’s administration in recent months to end the 287(g) program amid mounting evidence that some participating police departments have used the newly granted authority to justify racial profiling. (That's probably true, but the reporter is making an unsupported argument by using the word 'evidence'. Tch.)

As you'd expect, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the bootcamp jail guy, is the poster boy for the alleged abuses.

There are 18 other recommendations, but I haven't seen the report posted on the DHS website yet. The article summarizes several others.

I've tried to follow what 'the authorities' are doing with racial profiling. We all do something like that naturally, even if it's unconsciously; I think it's genetic. It can be useful *sometimes* but profiling is very, very dangerous to our civil liberties.

Travel travails

There's an interesting blog in the online New York Times suggesting that airport security may have been a factor in the Olympics going to Rio de Janeiro instead of Chicago.

Entering the United States can be "a rather harrowing experience," I.O.C. member from Pakistan Syed Shaid Ali is quoted as saying.

If you've been following U.S. travel numbers, they've been steadily declining since 911. One of the reasons the Marianas Visitors Authority dreads Nov. 28.

Temporary tattoo

Totally unrelated from a local paper: sounds like this purse-snatcher should just cut his hair. "The suspect was described as local male, in his late 30’s, about 5’4” tall, 140-150 pounds, wearing a gray sleeveless shirt, dark shorts, and short dark hair, covered with tattoos."

Olympic gold lame'

I was sympathizing with Canada's low medal count over at The Saipan SCUBA Diving Blog. Well, not so much maybe: I wondered why the horses didn't get to stand on the podium.

That brought back familiar Deep Thoughts. Every four years I gnash my teeth about events like ribbon twirling, Busby Berkeley swimming, badminton... you get the idea; it's out of control.

What does a medal count mean when you can get one for walking like you've got hemorrhoids? Swimming? Sure. Track and Field, though I'm not sure about pole-vaulting-- okay, I almost impaled myself several times trying it out. The decathlon should be the premier event.

Where do we stop with the martial sports? Sumo? Wrestling is fine; it's hard to think of a sport that's more Greek. But Judo, Taekwondo and boxing?

Skeet shooting? Come on, is that before or after the fox hunting? All of the shooting is lame, unless the host country gets to pick the weapon. Kalashnikovs at 100 meters-- yeah! Maybe the modern pentathlon is all right, but there are those horses again.

Trampoline? Right, with Jimmy Kimmel as a commentator. What kind of sport has judges?

Enough, I don't want to wade through every event. (Or watch a lot of them either.) Besides, that's already been done on the Real Man's Olympics website. It ranks countries' medal totals by the manliness of the sports. You can change each sport's weight to suit your own taste. Fair warning, this is a MISOGYNY ALERT, so don't rag on me if you follow the link. Hard to believe, he left the horses out.

I'll relent a little: I'm not against a lot of the sports that don't belong, I just think the meaning of the Olympics got watered down over the years. Also, it would be a little disheartening to spend most of your life training only to have some stuffed-shirt Olympic Committee say "Nevermind."