Sheereverence

We may as well close out the year with some degree of sheer irreverence. Web Guy, however, wants me to tear into a certain City of Phoenix peace officer who just screwed the PR pooch, or something like that. From the duly diligent (though pulseless) Arizona Republic:

An ongoing neighborhood squabble about a cat stuck in a tree led a Phoenix police officer into a flurry of public criticism Tuesday for confronting would-be rescuers in his pajamas with his gun drawn.

The officer hustled outside, flashing his badge, worried for a moment that an intruder interrupted his afternoon nap by climbing a ladder into his backyard near Bell Road and 12th Street.

Boiled down to salt, it looks like two things have happened here. Foremost, a cop cracked under the mildest of strain, cause enough for reasonable concern. Beyond that, it would seem these pet-people have apparently gotten under the wrong person's skin, and no wonder.

The media got involved because the Humane Society got involved, and so the dominoes fell. It bears mentioning that anyone who witnessed the scene - a man in his pee-jays running out into his yard waving a firearm - could've shot that officer in defense of any innocent bystander who might be in immediate life-threatening danger; so sayeth Arizona law.

The same lawbook also calls the policeman's actions a felony. You can't run outside your home brandishing a pistol, even if you happen to carry one at work. But, don't worry, nothing is going to happen to the policeman. The department is actually defending him in (or against) the press, saying that pet rescue isn't their job anyway.

This really isn't a bone I want to pick. Not with the Phoenix Department of Public Safety. Not after documenting the blatant racial profiling that took place in front of my home last year. Not after having once described their actions as terrorism for shooting a dog in Maryvale. Not after loudly deriding motorcycle patrolman Larry Peterson as "an asshole" and "a prick" a few years back...

Some fights, you walk away from. This might be one of them.

The problem is that I told Web Guy that I would say something about it. Specifically I vowed to urge those poor folks whose cats, God forbid, may happen to expire in the near future to dispose of the bodies in this particular cop's front yard. It's a form of social justice and it will save them money besides.

But I can't do that. Besides, the Blue Shield won't release this bozo's name and/or address. They're covering for him, because they know he's created this unnecessary mess. It's nothing new, nothing pretty, nothing worth looking at twice. It's a slice of reality. You suck on it like a lemon wedge, make a face, and move along.

What I really wanted to write about - Happy New Year, by the way - is how one can often tell what a particular State is like by it's shape. Michigan, for instance, is shaped like a mitten so you can easily guess that it's cold there. Florida rather resembles a flip-flop, so one could rightly expect sandy beaches, palm trees, sunshine, stuff like that.

Nevada is shaped like a funnel (or a guillotine blade, depending on how you look at it). Alaska looks like a Rorschach test. Texas and Oklahoma, on the other hand, look not at all vaguely like toilets, so you can probably guess what you're going to find there. Is that not fair?

See you in O-Nine.

pH 12.31.o8