Michael Cob wrote:

> And if
>you've never lived in South Central LA or been harrassed and had hands or
>batons laid on you because of your racial or class position, please don't
>try to respond with some comparative analysis of how So Cen LA doesn't
>fit the technical definition of police state.

The cops there seem positively proud of it. There's a tv show we get over
here called "LAPD", which appears to be some kind of misguided propaganda
effort by the LA cops. Being I night owl I sometimes watch the scenes of
cops  treating everyone with outrageous contempt - pointing guns at unarmed
people, handcuffing witnesses, forcing minor traffic offenders (at
gunpoint) to degrade themselves, interrogating people on the street for no
apparant legitimate reason, etc.

This would horrify ANYONE used to living in a free country, but then this
is only their public relations front. That's a REAL scarey thought!

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tasmania