Brickbats

Brickbat: Cracked

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(Crystal Kirk / Dreamstime.com)
Canadian police
Crystal Kirk / Dreamstime.com

A police officer in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada gave Dave Balay $465 ticket for having a cracked driver's license. Balay notes the crack is a small one and does not obscure his photo or any information.

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Charles Oliver is a contributing editor at Reason.

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  1. “If we as a society allow them to do that, then we are basically giving them the go-ahead to charge us with whatever their little hearts desire.”

    horses leaving stable. Ships sailing etc…

    also..

    “Because I wasn’t doing anything untoward.

    untoward? Screw this pretentious git.

  2. One of the officers told Balay they’d had a tip about a swerving car that matched the description of his Honda Accord.

    They couldn’t have ticketed him for reckless driving they didn’t actually witness or have evidence of (if there was even a tip), so this was the only thing the cop could do to make it worth the effort expended pulling the guy over. They will always find something to make quota.

    1. Suthenboy

      Let’s see some evidence of that tip…recorded phone call, note made by dispatcher, etc.

      1. epeeist

        From story in Canadian newspaper yesterday, a woman posting about it:

        “…When she honked at the vehicle, she said its only response was to suddenly accelerate from 80 km/h to 130 km/h. “At this point, I was convinced the driver was impaired and called 911,” read the post. Asked to follow the vehicle by the dispatcher, she turned on her hazard lights to attract a police helicopter. As the Honda approached Edmonton along Anthony Henday Drive, she said it veered across three lanes, narrowly missing both a barricade and another vehicle. “At no point did I feel comfortable letting him out of my sight because I truly felt that after all that I had witnessed, an accident was imminent,” she wrote…”

        http://news.nationalpost.com/n…..d-stop-him

  3. I got a crack you can inspect, officer.

    1. Adans smith

      Be careful, they may give you a ‘field test’.

  4. Cyto

    A police officer in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada gave Dave Balay $465 ticket for having a cracked driver’s license.

    You have a typo there. I think you meant to type “dick”.

    1. ant1sthenes

      But not a private dick, to be clear. A public dick.

      1. Wizard4169

        And as with just about everything, the “public” variety is sure to be worse.

  5. sarcasmic

    According to the police department statement, “should the driver choose not to pay the fine, it will be up to the Crown and the courts to determine whether or not this charge was appropriate; therefore the EPS can’t offer further comment on this incident.”

    I wonder what happens when an officer has a history of inappropriate charges. Discipline? Loss of job?

    Haaa ha ha ha ha ha! Whew! I’ll be here all day!

  6. Cyto

    After reading the entire article, it sounds like they are a bit defensive about the whole thing, saying they could have charged him with a lot worse.

    He’s on warning. They’ve been made to look bad in public. Look for him to be getting further citations in the coming months.

    Oh, and “matching the description” of his nondescript silver Honda. It is probably one of the 3 or 4 most common vehicles and colors on the road.

    1. Wizard4169

      Yeah, I’ll bet twenty bucks you can’t drive a mile in a typical urban area without seeing a silver Honda.

  7. Cyto

    After reading the entire article, it sounds like they are a bit defensive about the whole thing, saying they could have charged him with a lot worse.

    He’s on warning. They’ve been made to look bad in public. Look for him to be getting further citations in the coming months.

    Oh, and “matching the description” of his nondescript silver Honda. It is probably one of the 3 or 4 most common vehicles and colors on the road.

  8. “Hey, he should be a LOT more grateful for this theft. We could have fucked him even worse, you know.”

    Don’t any of you get uppity about this, either. The RCMP will ride in and bitch-slap you silly.

  9. (((Renegade)))

    So sloopy’s mom getting beaten by cops and arrested on bogus charges to cover it up is too local for Reason, but a traffic ticket in Alberta, that’s worthy of coverage.

    1. WTF

      Hey, we don’t have the resources to worry about nurses getting beaten and thrown in jail for trying to help someone having a potentially life-threatening asthma attack when there are unfair traffic tickets in Alberta to whine about.

      1. Do you have a link to the story? Thanks.

    2. Brett L

      Yeah. Pretty much this.

    3. Monty Crisco

      ^ Fucking THIS!!!

      Reason editor: “Well, how does a member of the reason commentariat’s mother being beaten arbitrarily by a cop reflect the magnitude of Trumps Hitlerness?!?!? It doesn’t – therefore we ignore it!”

      READ THAT YOU FUCKING LIBTURD EDITORS!!!

    4. Here’s an idea: instead of bitching an whining in the comments section, why not find a link to a news story about it and email it to someone at reason? Then if they ignore it, you can bitch all you want.

      1. ant1sthenes

        I’m imagining that’s already happened more than once.

        1. Thread’s dead by now, but covered in the AM Links. I “got told” and then some.

      2. Trshmnstr hates nurse beaters

        Already been done. You can ask sloopy for the details of that interaction.

  10. Wait, did they fine him real dollars or Canadian dollars?

    1. I’m loving the more recent exchange rate. The Quebecers had their fun down south during the parity years.

      1. I found out that the best view of both falls was from Goat Island – which is in New York, so I won’t actually be travelling to Canada when I take my road trip. So no border crossing or currency exchange rate concerns for me. (I still have a stack of Pound Sterling coins from my last trip that had gone unspent but would cost more to convert back to dollars than they are worth.)

        1. I predict fewer speedos at Maine beaches this summer.

        2. Also, all of my acquaintances and friends that have been to Niagra advised to stay on the Canadian side; they indicated that the NY side is kind of dilapidated and touristy as fuck. *shrug* Haven’t been yet. We were going to go last year, but elected in favour of much closer Montr?al.

          1. While you can see a difference in Google street view between the two sides of the falls, I really don’t want to cross the border. A slightly shinier building is not worth the hassle.

            1. Hassle = dealing with the bridge traffic at peak-ish hours?

              1. Hassle = dealing with US Customs and Border Patrol trying to return home.

                1. Ah.

          2. Rufus The Monocled

            Meh. Haven’t been on the USA side but the Canadian side is touristy as well. It’s okay but didn’t strike me as A1 either. The centre town is sketch. They can do better.

            1. Yeah. When all is said and done, to date, the spectacle of standing next to a big waterfall hasn’t been motivation enough for me to feel enthused about driving 8 hours each way just to jocky for position in traffic and on walkways with fat tourists. Same goes for dropping the $ for a flight into Buffalo and driving an additional hour. /wet blanket

              1. My planned route had me passing the area anyway. So, as long as I’m there…

    2. Mr Lizard

      Omicron Thalers actually

  11. Preach it, Sista

    1. Suthenboy

      Here is another commie gem:

      “However, we do think that capitalism is not necessarily meeting the needs with the income inequality in the country.” – Nancy Pelosi

      http://hotair.com/archives/201…..-are-they/

      I think they are finally out of the closet entirely. We do need two parties for robust debate but the dems aren’t the party we need. The dem party has been commandeered by far left radicals that have nothing to offer in debate besides batshittery. They need to wither and go away.

      1. “However, we do think that capitalism is not necessarily meeting the needs with the income inequality in the country.”

        Possibly true if she needs more income inequality. It’s crazy how far they’ve gone from what Bill or even Hillary said 20 years ago.

        1. Every time someone blathers on about “Income Inequality” my mind goes back to the Margaret Thatcher quote. “They would prefer the poor be poorer so long as the rich were less rich.”

        2. Well then, why doesn’t she give away all but the minimum wage of her government salary, and all of her property?
          Maybe she is a hypocrite?

      2. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the San Francisco democrat is the ninth wealthiest member of Congress and has a colossal net worth of $196,299,990

        Seems like capitalism is meeting your income inequality needs quite nicely, Senator.

        1. Fuck You - Cut Spending

          They always dance around this by saying they got lucky with their investments but that it isn’t capital gains until they sell. Which is totally true and I am fine with it.

          What Pelosi and her ilk only want to do is tax the most productive labor. Which would leave her completely unscathed. To every Democrat and most Republicans certain forms of gambling are more sacred than working. And don’t forget these shitheels are legally allowed to engage in insider trading.

        2. Trshmnstr hates nurse beaters

          has a colossal net worth of $196,299,990

          “Hello Madam Congresswoman, since you are so concerned with income inequality, why don’t you show your concern by starting with your own wealth? If you were to liquidate your estate, keep $1M, and give the rest to your local homeless in San Francisco, you personally have enough wealth to give each of them just short of $50,000. That would be a huge first step toward reducing income inequality!”

  12. AlmightyJB

    We rape you because we can

  13. But they don’t let you laminate them to prevent tearing.

    1. Radioactive

      I got something you can laminate right here…

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