Brickbats Archives - Page 2 of 121 - Reason.com

Four young children, dressed as a firefighter, a veterinarian, a police officer, and an executive in a business suit. | Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com

Government employees

Brickbat: Friends in High Places

Charles Oliver | 7.4.2025 4:00 AM

A young boy is handcuffed behind his back. | Alexander Raths | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Second Opinion

Charles Oliver | 7.3.2025 4:00 AM

A German Shepherd K-9 police dog in training bites the forearm of a person wearing a thickly padded training suit. | Jaroslav Frank | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Take a Bite out of Crime

Charles Oliver | 7.2.2025 4:00 AM

Close-up of sunglasses on the side of a pool, in summer. | Mikael Damkier | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Too Hot to Cool Off

Charles Oliver | 7.1.2025 4:00 AM

A male police officer brandishes a Taser that has been deployed. | John Roman | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Fool Me Once…

Charles Oliver | 6.30.2025 4:00 AM

A woman's hand grabs a handful of cash from a pile of bills. | Paul Hakimata | Dreamstime.com

Government employees

Brickbat: Minimum Effort

Charles Oliver | 6.27.2025 4:00 AM

A young man in a police uniform and sunglasses, holding a baseball bat. | Artrotozwork | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Batter Up

Charles Oliver | 6.26.2025 4:00 AM

A female laboratory technician in protective gear swabs inside a little girl's cheek for a biological sample. | Kuprevich | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: What Could Go Wrong?

Charles Oliver | 6.25.2025 4:00 AM

bb4 | Illustration: Peter Bagge

Brickbats: July 2025

News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.

Charles Oliver and Peter Bagge | 6.24.2025 6:00 AM

Trains queued up at the BART station in Millbrae, California. | Jack Yaco | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Work–Life Balance

Charles Oliver | 6.24.2025 4:00 AM

A prison guard in uniform stands with his arms folded, between rows of cells. | Andrey Popov | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Illegal Search

Charles Oliver | 6.23.2025 4:00 AM

The arm of an excavator demolishes a residential home by tearing into the side, exposing an upper floor. | Hanna Kaplia | Dreamstime.com

Local Government

Brickbat: Hole in the Wall

Charles Oliver | 6.20.2025 4:00 AM

Two women in yoga poses on the shoreline of a beach. | Msfiolent | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: A Bit of a Stretch

Charles Oliver | 6.19.2025 4:00 AM

A stage with a stool and a microphone on a mic stand, under a spotlight, as if at a comedy club. | Fernando Gregory | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Funny Business

Charles Oliver | 6.18.2025 4:00 AM

An overhead view of Canadian money, depicting bills in various denominations. | Gabriel Vergani | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Border Bills

Charles Oliver | 6.17.2025 4:00 AM

A man in a floral-print shirt laughs while pointing at his cell phone, as if he has just seen something funny. | Jose Maria Ruiz | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: That's Not Funny

Charles Oliver | 6.16.2025 4:00 AM

A car is flipped upside down on a rural two-lane road, while a police cruiser is parked on the road a few feet away. | Robert Hyrons | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Failure To Report

Charles Oliver | 6.13.2025 4:00 AM

The scales of justice. | Derek Phillips | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Two-Tiered Justice

Charles Oliver | 6.12.2025 4:00 AM

St. Catherine's Monastery, a Greek Orthodox site near the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. | Kylie Nicholson | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Freedom of Religion

Charles Oliver | 6.11.2025 4:00 AM

A young woman wearing a Santa hat smiles while holding her toddler son close. | Antonio Guillem | Dreamstime.com

Government abuse

Brickbat: Bad Santa

Charles Oliver | 6.10.2025 4:00 AM

A paraglider in the sky. | Jinfeng Zhang | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Up, Up, and Away

Charles Oliver | 6.9.2025 4:00 AM

The Massachusetts State House in Boston. | Eurico Rodrigues | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Friends in High Places

Charles Oliver | 6.6.2025 4:00 AM

A view, from inside a home under construction, of the front door. | Susan Leggett | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Not Permitted

Charles Oliver | 6.5.2025 4:00 AM

A triangular street sign depicting a human figure doing using a shovel, signifying there is road work taking place ahead. | Andery Moskvitin | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Road Hard

Charles Oliver | 6.4.2025 4:00 AM

A code inspector in a hard hat stands in a building under construction, holding a clipboard and giving the camera a suspicous look. | Brian T. Young | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Quick Work

Charles Oliver | 6.3.2025 4:00 AM

Close-up of an older man's hands in handcuffs. | Svershinsky | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Armed, Elderly, and Dangerous

Charles Oliver | 6.2.2025 4:00 AM

A closed hotel room door, with a blue sign on the handle that says "Please Do Not Disturb." | Ezthaiphoto | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Third-Rate Romance

Charles Oliver | 5.30.2025 4:00 AM

A man covers his nose, as if experiencing a terrible smell or something painful. | Andrey Popov | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Tough Guy

Charles Oliver | 5.29.2025 4:00 AM

The Facebook login screen on a phone in India. | Seemanta Dutta | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Watch What You Post

Charles Oliver | 5.28.2025 4:00 AM

bb1 | Illustration: Peter Bagge

Brickbats: June 2025

News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.

Charles Oliver and Peter Bagge | 5.27.2025 6:00 AM

A gold pan sideways in a stream, full of gold nuggest. | Clearviewstock | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Struck Gold

Charles Oliver | 5.27.2025 4:00 AM

An AI-generated image of a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit walking alone down a hallway toward a line of guards, all dressed in uniform. | Yaroslav Litun | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Group Effort

Charles Oliver | 5.26.2025 4:00 AM

A car has a "PARKING VIOLATION" citation wedged into the driver's window. In the background, a parking attendant in a neon vest writes up the information. | F01photo | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Parking Violation

Charles Oliver | 5.23.2025 4:00 AM

Close-up of a woman's hand behind her back, clutching fanned-out cash in 20s and 50s. | Vlad Ispas | Dreamstime.com

Government employees

Brickbat: They Won't Miss It

Charles Oliver | 5.22.2025 4:00 AM

An AI-generated image of a prison inmate in an orange jumpsuit, sitting in a dark prison cell, facing a barred window. | Ihor Lukianenko | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Breathe It In

Charles Oliver | 5.21.2025 4:00 AM

A bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, bugling. | Tony Campbell | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Rack Them Up

Charles Oliver | 5.20.2025 4:00 AM

A Sussex Police Department car, parked in Hastings town centre. | Andrew Sutherland | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Prodigal Son

Charles Oliver | 5.16.2025 4:00 AM

A man in a plaid shirt sits at a laptop open to the Google homepage. | Lightfieldstudiosprod | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Pay per Link

Charles Oliver | 5.15.2025 4:00 AM

Law enforcement

Brickbat: Getting Hosed

Charles Oliver | 5.14.2025 4:00 AM

Brickbat: Reading Problem

Charles Oliver | 5.13.2025 4:00 AM

A jail holding cell with the door standing open. | First Name | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: 940 Days in the Hole

Charles Oliver | 5.12.2025 4:00 AM

Close-up of a pen filling out a paper check. | Pictac | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Cooking the Books

Charles Oliver | 5.9.2025 4:00 AM

A black-and-white photo from inside a jail cell, with the cell door open. | Simon Campbell | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Texas Injustice

Charles Oliver | 5.8.2025 4:00 AM

A man in a hoodie holds up his fists, as if ready for a fight. | Alpar Benedek | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Collegial Atmosphere

Charles Oliver | 5.7.2025 4:00 AM

Two kids play hide and seek: A little boy covers his eyes while a little girl runs off to hide. | Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Hide and Seek Champion

Charles Oliver | 5.6.2025 4:00 AM

An Auckland, New Zealand, police car. | Rafael Ben Ari | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Stop and Go

Charles Oliver | 5.5.2025 4:00 AM

Three police officers, in various degrees of uniform, walk in a line. | Thomas Carter | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: Toxic Trio

Charles Oliver | 5.2.2025 4:00 AM

A burglar in a hoodie uses a crowbar to break into a locked door. | F01photo | Dreamstime.com

Brickbat: License To Break and Enter

Charles Oliver | 5.1.2025 4:00 AM

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