April 19, 1775

BY the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Publicola also reminds us of last year's post.

We're the Only Ones Off Key Enough...

A Hermosa Beach police officer named in two excessive force lawsuits was arrested in Redondo Beach last week after he got into a scuffle with someone who reportedly was heckling him during a karaoke performance.

You like me. You really like me!

Or else.

For my next number: Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Black and Blue...

Mi-mi-mi-i-i-i....

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Responsive Enough

POLICE chiefs were today facing demands for an inquiry into how a technical fault left hundreds of non-emergency police calls unanswered...But the most recent April call figures show the centre receives around 80 non-emergency calls an hour from all over Edinburgh and the Lothians meaning that around 360 calls may have gone unanswered...It is ust another hiccup for the £10.4 million call centre, which ran into controversy soon after opening in February 2004, when 300 calls went unanswered in the first three weeks.

"You don't need to have a gun; the police will protect you."

Ri-ight.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Protected Mayors Plot Disarming Everyone Outside Their Jurisdictions

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will host a summit next week for about a dozen of their colleagues to discuss gun violence, a problem that has long frustrated big-city mayors.

Mayors from Dallas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Seattle are among those scheduled to attend the meeting at Gracie Mansion, the historic Upper East Side house where Bloomberg holds official events.

And they'll meet under the finest armed security taxpayer money can buy!

Dare I Speculate?

Siretha Woods, whose daughter was killed last month by stray gunfire, also called on guns to be relinquished. Siretha White, 10, was struck by a stray bullet at her surprise birthday party in an Englewood home. Police have said the intended target was someone standing on the porch.

"I got 11 more kids," Woods said. "Let's let the rest of them grow up."

12 kids in all? Different last names from you? Grammar indicating lack of education? An intended target was on your porch, an invited guest to one of your parties?

Siretha, I don't suppose any of your life choices have contributed to a culture where stuff like this happens...?

Big Crybaby Quits Sierra Club

“It appears to me that the Sierra Club should have better projects to spend $15,700 on than sending some nimrod to Alaska to shoot wildlife.”

He doesn't get his way, so he calls people names, then takes his ball and goes home.

Paul Watson, you're a paragon of maturity.

[Via John Schaefer]