5th Avenue Ticket

Just a second, sir. I know it's in here somewhere.

Counter Terrorism Task Force

"We'll take a couple of those JELL-O's in the case."

This is obviously a very effective way to make sure you don't get overcharged at the deli. Keep your fingers on your gun the whole time. NYC cops are tough. If you overcharge them, they'll shoot you.

Undercover Rolls Up on Macy's

Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel

Here's an example of your typical undercover NYC police car stopping to harass a street vendor selling perfume or some other unnecessary street junk on 35th and Broadway, near Macy's. The guy in the backwards baseball cop is a police officer (all these guys look the same) and there's another one sitting in the back seat of their unmarked completely nondescript automobile. There's also a cop in uniform in the picture who rolled up on a 10-speed bicycle too.

These are the people keeping our city safe, one bottle of counterfeit perfume at a time.

Alela Diane is a singer/songwriter and part of the so-called New Weird America folk genre. She's a terrific lyricist and sure knows how to write a good song.

I figured I'd post the only cool pirate song I know on account of today's conviction of Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, the sole surviving accused pirate from the foiled bid to hijack the huge U.S. container ship, the Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia last month. Prosecutors said that he was the ring leader of the pirates or at least conducting himself that way and was the first to board the ship. It's pretty crazy that four or five pirates in a small boat can take over a massive ship. Apparently he is the first piracy conviction in the US in nearly 100 years or so. I think he was only doing this piracy thing because his parents couldn't afford braces. After all, his parents said he was only 15, but I don't think the court believed them for a second. I'm not convinced either way. They should have asked his Somalian orthodontist to testify. After looking at the picture (link above) I am sure you'll agree. He's facing a mandatory life sentence in prison. That may wipe the buck-toothed smile off his face.

Quick, Before Anyone Sees Anything

You don't get very many opportunities to tag a police car.

Men in Blue

These are some of the massive numbers of NYC police that were on duty last night to arrest the crowds of drunk people from New Jersey that descended on Times Square for the annual New Year's Eve celebration. Of course, many of these police officers would admit that they were mainly on duty to check out the teenage pop sensation Jonas Brothers who performed in the bitter cold.

Crimestoppers

Two special police jackets on 5th Avenue.   

Machine Guns on the Avenue

Morning of 9/11/08. It's scary to have a machine gun pointed in your general direction. There were lots of police on the streets and nary a terrorist in sight.

A Sea Of Blue

A police action.