10.23.2012

Local Paper Helps Spread Paranoia and Fear

Now, I am not going to say that people should not be aware of their surroundings and take precautions when something doesn't seem right, but when we have a newspaper raising the public alarm over nothing it's quite telling as to the state of mind the powers-that-be want to instill in society.

Of course, there will be those that say I am just being paranoid, that the mainstream media doesn't actually try to brainwash their customers, but ask yourself something. What makes this first article a truly newsworthy story? People see "suspicious" things every day. What makes this particular story a news event so important as to put the Hudson Valley on alert? The fear of a bald black man, preying on a (presumably white) teenage female student?

Of course, this whole thing is only one little blip on the radar. One minor story that no one will remember, but is still another example of the brainwashing our society undergoes every single day.
Town police investigates suspicious man

The Town of Poughkeepsie police are investigating a complaint of a suspicious male following a female student, police said.

The police received a complaint Tuesday at approximately 4:30 p.m. in the area of Autumn Drive in the Vassar Oaks development.

A teenage female student reported being followed by a bald, black, clean-shaven man in his mid-30s after getting off the school bus. He was driving a newer model, four-door sedan, possibly a Chevrolet, police said.
Police encourages residents to notify authorities if there is a suspicious person or vehicle in their neighborhood. Anyone with information on this case can call police at 845-485-3666 or leave a tip at townpolice.net.

(I don't claim to be some expert on the English language, but you would think that a newspaper would have writers and editors who are. Now maybe I'm wrong here, but that headline doesn't look like proper English. They should have dropped the "s" from "investigates." Town police are a plural, whereas the town police department is a singular. Just nitpicking here of course, but just another example of the fast junk-food flavor our mainstream news sources have taken on.)

All in all though, it was awfully nice of thePoughkeepsie Journal to print a retraction of sorts, with the following blurb.
Suspicious man just practicing for his road test, police say

An earlier report of a suspicious man in the Town of Poughkeepsie has been dropped, police said.

The vehicle was spotted again Monday, but it was revealed the man was a resident practicing for his driving test and no criminal conduct was involved, police said.

The complaint was reported in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Oct. 18.

Technically, the Poughkeepsie Journal, the most widely circulated newspaper in the mid-Hudson region of NY State did only actually report the facts. So there is no issue of libel or anything like that. What we are seeing here is more a matter of ethics, and professionalism. Why would such a mundane police report be elevated, by this newspaper, to the level of a public broadcast alert? Especially considering the resolution of the police investigation.

Not to mention the fact that some poor guy who was just out there practicing for his driving test wound up being the target of an intense police investigation.

Is it any wonder that a black man often says things like "Damn, can't a brotha even drive down the street without being harassed by the po-po?!" 

This dude didn't do anything wrong, just out there using a public street like everyone out there has the right to do. And suddenly he is the target of a police investigation and general insinuations by a major newspaper.

I hate to throw the race card out there, because there are an awful lot of white folk who are targeted for bullshit reasons too. But damn, can't a brotha ever catch a break?









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