Kafka Lives In Roadside Drug Testing Kits

These two people were held in an Arkansas jail for
two months because authorities thought baking soda
found in their truck was cocaine, and didn't bother
to properly test it to prove their suspicions. 

A couple from Utah learned the hard way that in today's America, if you have a baggie full of baking soda in your truck and the cops decide it's cocaine, then it's cocaine and you're in a heap of trouble.

Talk about living in a post-fact world!  

According to KUTV in Salt Lake City, Gail Griffin and her husband Wendell Harvey are truck drivers who haul explosives for the military.

At least they did until the fine law enforcement officials in Arkansas went into stubborn batshit crazy mode over a couple bags of baking soda Harvey had in the truc.

As KUTV describes it: "They have top security clearance, and they've never been in trouble with the law. So in May, while driving through Arkansas, they weren't concerned when police stopped them in Fort Chaffee."

They should have been concerned, it turns out.

Police found the three baggies full of baking soda. The cops used a roadside drug testing kit to see what was in the baggies. The widely used drug testing kit is known to be wildly inaccurate, coming up with zillions of false positives, but it's used by lots of cop shops anyway.

The road side drug testing kit decided that the baking soda was $3,000 worth of cocaine, so police locked the couple up.

For two and a half months if you can believe that, because nobody in Arkansas would do a more accurate follow up test to see if the baking soda was really cocaine and not, you know, baking soda.

Only after lots of pleading from the Arkansas Public Defender's office that the stuff was tested. According to television station KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, the couple didn't have phone numbers memorized and so were not able to call relatives for help getting an attorney.

No easy phone access was provided. Prosecutors dragged their feet getting the substance authorities found in the truck tested correctly. And you guessed it, the powdery stuff in the baggies was baking soda.

By the way, the truck drivers arrested were African-American. This being Arkansas, there is the possibility of racism, though I know I can't prove that here

The Fort Chaffee Police Department is basically shrugging its shoulders at locking an innocent couple up for more than two months and quite possibly destroying their livlihoods.

Fort Chaffee Police say they tested three times using the faulty device and it came up cocaine three times. Good enough for them.

Sure, hold the couple until you get a more sophisticated test, but why did authorities wait two months to do it, and only when prodded?

A reporter for KUTV got his hands on one of these road side test kits and received instruction on how to use it. He tested common household items like Comet cleanser, aspirin, cold medicine and chocolate. Four of the ten tests he did came up (false) positive for illicit drugs.

Now that's a REALLY inaccurate testing device!

Even if Arkansas authorities were trying to demonstrate how "tough" they were on drug criminals, they wasted a lot of Arkansans' tax money on incarcerating the pair.

Says KUTV: 

"As for Harvey and Griffin, they only recently got their truck back from Arkansas authorities. But they say the truck has major damage that requires repairs. 

The couple also said they have not worked since they were released from jail. They said they are still trying to get their security clearance reinstated, and that they are running out of money.

Harvey said what is expecially concerning to him and his wife is the fact that other people may have been victimized by the test."

Or by Arkansas and perhaps other states. As I said, I can certainly see holding a suspect for a day or two until it's determined whether the stuff they had was drugs.

Shouldn't Arkansas authorities compensate Harvey and Griffin, since they were punished severely for not doing anything wrong?

I'm not holding my breath on that one.

This Ad Is Why Many Republicans Loathe Donald Trump

Connor Edldridge, a Democrat, is running for
U.S. Senate from Arkansas. He just
gave a early view of how Democrats
will use Donald Trump to
go after Republican opponents  

I've never heard of Connor Eldridge.

Eldridge, a Democrat, is apparently a former U.S. attorney running for a U.S. Senate seat from Arkansas.

I haven't researched Eldridge, so I have on idea if he'd be an awesome U.S. Senator or a jerk.

But he's released a campaign ad which illustrates perfectly why many Repubicans are terrified of the idea that Donald Trump will probably win the Republican nomination.

Trump took Indiana last night, Ted Cruz dropped out, so it's pretty much a guarantee Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee.

The Eldridge ad, which in my opinion is incredibly effective, is at the bottom of this post.

Republicans understandably don't want to lose control of the U.S. Senate. Especially if Hillary Clinton or (long shot) Bernie Sanders becomes president.

Just one reason for their fear is that Clinton or Sanders, along with a Democratic Senate, will almost surely appoint a relatively liberal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his campaign ad, Eldridge easily ties Trump, very brutally, to the billionaire's misogyny. The implication is that being that a cad like Trump is just horrible for women.

Eldridge helpfully points out in his ad that as a federal prosecutor, he's gone after people accused of domestic violence and sexual harassment.

Eldridge also points out his Republican challenger, just might support Trump in the general election.

Conservative pundit Erick Erickson (did I mention he's really really conservative?) commented on Eldridge's ad this way.

"This is brutal. This is exactly what you can expect throughout the country in the general election. This is the ad for the Democratic challenger in Arkansas and provides a helpful roadmap to other Democrats on how they are going to take back the Senate."

I almost never agree with Erickson. Here, though, he's spot on.

Many Republicans are no friends of women, what with their attacks on Planned Parenthood, opposition to equal pay and other issues. But at least most politicians know enough to be respectful to huge constituencies, unlike Trump.

Women make up a little more than half of all voters, so you'd think they'd consider that.

This also crystalizes why I am both fearful and hopeful of Trump. Fearful that he'd somehow actually win and hopeful that he'll inadvertently roll back the worst of Republican or conservative weirdness.

You definitely can't paint all Republicans with the same brush you do with Trump. But Trump's ickiness might rub off on other Republicans, whether those other Republicans deserve it or not.

Here's the ad. (H/T Joe My God)

Woman Fired From Crappy Low Paying Job By Crappy Boss For Saying The Pay Was Low

A minimum wage employee at this Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Days Inn says she was fired after telling a reporter
her minimum wage salary doesn't cover her expenses.  

My latest nominee for the worst boss in America is Herry Patel, who manages a Days Inn in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

This all started when Washington Post reporter Chico Harlan stopped at the Days Inn to talk to people about an upcoming 25 cent increase in the Arkansas minimum wage.  He was working on an article about the subject. 

Harlan interviewed Patel, who then suggested the reporter speak with Shanna Tippen, a minimum wage employee, about the paltry pay increase coming her way.

Tippen told Harlan that the increase would help a bit, but wouldn't lift her above the poverty line. Harlan dutifully reported all these facts.

In a column in Monday's Washington Post, Harlan reports he's learned that Patel fired Tippen for talking to him. Remember, Patel was the one who suggested Harlan and Tippen have a conversation.

From Harlan's column Monday:

"'He said I was stupid and dumb for talking to (the Post),' Tippen said. 'He cussed me and asked me why you wrote the article. I said, 'Because he's a reporter; that's what he does.' He said it was wrong for me to talk to you."

At that point, she was summarily fired.

There might be more to the story, of course. Maybe Tippen wasn't totally innocent, but this whole thing looks bad.

On the day in which Harlan talked to Tippen about being fired, Patel called the Post because he objected to having been (accurately) quoted that he objected to that 25 cent minimum wage hike.

To be specific, Patel said the tiny 25 cent minimum wage increase was "bad for Arkansas. Everybody wants free money in Pine Bluff."

Yeah, there's nothing worse than somebody who works 40 hours a week and actually expects to make enough money during those 40 hours to put food on the table and pay the rent. How selfish!

Harlan said he tried calling Patel for comment about his firing Tippen, but Patel sounds like a belligerent scardy cat.

Writes Harlan:

"A man who sounded like Patel, reached recently at the Days Inn, declined to comment in several separate phone calls. On one call, the man said he'd never met Herry Patel and did not know who he was. On another call, he threatened to call the police if 'you keep bothering us.'"

Hours after Harlan's story on Tippen's firing was published, there must have been blowback down in Pine Bluff because Patel called Harlan back, finally.

In an update to his Monday Washington Post piece, Harlan wrote that Patel disputed Tippen's version of events. He said she walked out on the job after a disagreement. Patel said he'd approached Tippen to ask about her past criminal record, which was outlined in the previous Washington Post story.

Tippen stood by her story, and said Patel didn't bring up her criminal history during the hiring, and only spoke heatedly to him after she'd been fired.

The parent company of the Days Inn in Pine Bluff, Wyndham Worldwide, seemed to wash its hands of the situation.

The company said in a statement, "While we do not control or oversee staffing decisions at our franchised locations, we do require that each independently owned and operated hotel comply with all local, state and federal laws, especially as it relates to employment practices."

Way to sidestep things, Wyndham. Labor laws are weak in Arkansas, so Patel probably was complying with Arkansas law. Federal law is pretty hands off in this area, too.

Ever think to look into whether or not this firing was ethically OK, even if it was legal?  

Look, I get it. Raising the minimum wage probably affects prices for all of us. But NOT raising the minimum wage does, too.

I'm not happy with the idea of paying taxes for government assistance so that people who are working 40 or more hours a week can survive.

I'd much rather pay an extra nickel or whatever for a Big Mac or a cheap toy at Walmart so that people can make a livable wage.

I also get it that the CEOs of these big corporations ought to be making much more money than the chambermaids, the hamburger flippers and the gal behind the register at the mini-mart.

Still, I don't think making it a little easier for people to make ends meet without government assistance will ruin the frickin' economy.

With the income gap in this nation putting us into another 1890s Guilded Age, maybe it's time to put a little dignity back into working for a living. That means paying people fairly when they do work, and not kicking them aside if they object to NOT being paid fairly.

I know my little screed here won't make any difference on this topic. But the more we all say it, and the more often, the better off everybody will be.

Including the ultra-rich CEOs. After all, employees who are treated fairly tend to do a better job. And maybe make more money their employer, too. 

A Great Big Gay Weekend Unfolds

Twitter was, um Atwitter Saturday night with these three facts repeated ad nauseum in hundreds of 140-character or less missives:

Michael Sam, with his boyfriend, being told
Saturday that he is being drafted by the NFL team
St. Louis Rams.

1. A bearded drag queen singer named Conchita Wurst won Eurovision, the enormous, premier annual song competition in Europe. She's quite good.

2. Two lesbians got married in Arkansas Saturday, complete with a valid Arkansas State marriage license, thanks to a judge's ruling on Friday

3. The NFL team St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam, the openly gay football player. When Sam got the news he kissed his boyfriend, and the pair playfully smashed cake into each others' faces.

Needless to say, few of us, including Yours Truly, never thought we'd see any of these things happen, much less all in one bright Saturday in May.

It sure does leave me in a cheerful mood, though.

Bearded drag queens, Arkansas lesbians and gay football players might or might not be your cup of tea, but the message to the LGBTQ community is clear: You've come a long way, baby.

The world still isn't perfect for gay people, but it is slowly becoming more fair.

There will always be a virulent anti-gay crowd, still paranoid that any time a gay person gets married, or keeps a job, or adopts the kid, the Apocalpyse Is Upon Us.  So far, the sky hasn't fallen, so I think we're safe.

This anti gay crowd has long seen the writing on the wall, which is why they seem to have been getting more shrill and unhinged in their opposition to gay rights.

This couple got married in Arkansas Saturday.  

The news from Saturday will probably really put them over the edge.

I have mixed emotions about that fact. Of course I have a terminal case of schadenfreude, that sense of guilty pleasure over people not having a good time, so I'll indulge in that for awhile.

I'm sure the religious right, and probably Fox News, is depressed, angry and distraught at the moment.

On the other hand, when some people are ideologically backed into a corner, they lash out like a trapped animal. I worry that the drumbeat of great news for the gay community will increase gay bashings, as a few yahoos take matters into their own hands, thinking they're "saving the world" when they're just being idiots.

Other nations see what's going on and are joining the gay bashing wagon, too. These national leaders trying to distract their populace from their own incompetence or mendacity by exploiting anti-gay hate for their own self-preservation.

That's why Vladimir Putin in Russia has been pushing anti-gay laws. And why Brunei wants to put gay people to death via stoning.  And why Uganda is pretty much doing the same thing, pushed along by the odious American anti-gay activist Scott Lively. 

But you've got to be brave. That's how Conchita Wurst the bearded drag queen, our happy married lesbians in Arkansas and Michael Sam got what they wanted and deserve.

For the rest of us, it encourages to seek and win our own little victories.

Which is always an awesome thing