Ferguson

++It's tough to keep the curfews and ceasefires straight these days--Ferguson, Gaza. There is nothing to add to the chaos in the St.Louis suburb that hasn't been in the blogosphere and the mainstream media. The awesome terribleness of the Ferguson police even got Ross Douhat's attention in the New York Times. His main point in all this is why do we equip our police like an army and isn't this silly.

++You can drill down as far as you want into the racism at work. Michael Brown was shot once and pleaded for his life and then was shot five more times and no one did anything to check on whether he was still alive. The Feds have now stepped into the situation to perform the autopsy.

++The wave of rioting that triggered the state of emergency declared by Gov. Nixon was caused by the release of a video showing Brown swiping a box of cigars. The white policeman who gunned down Brown had no idea about the theft. The DOJ pointedly told the police not to release the video because it would trigger a violent reaction, which it did. 

++The prosecutor is a piece of work. He continues to build the case to defend the police but is working at this date on the robbery. The whole police apparatus and the local prosecutor should be removed to a desert island--as far from Ferguson as possible.

++Fox News got in the act by warning their audiences the Black Panthers were getting involved. Yes, they were--to help maintain order and protect shops from getting destroyed by further rioting. 

++One of the tragic ironies of the situation is that none of the young will listen anymore to the established African-American leadership, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Last night something called the Revolutionary Club arrived and tried to counterman the Black Panthers.

++On a national level, the incident has raised the issue of the Pentagon giving local police forces upgrades in weaponry and militarized vehicles. Over the past year, the Pentagon has given $500 million in equipment to local communities. Studies show that outfitted in military gear, police stop acting as law enforcement and act as if they are military with higher civilian casualties. 

++The abandonment of Posse Comitatus came after 9-11. Police were interconnected with federal agencies in the fight against terrorism. So naturally anything became tinged with the possibility of terrorism.

++Take the race out of the Ferguson situation and you have what the Fusion Centers did against Occupy Wall Street across the country.