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Stephenson:Neal:Cryptonomicon:743:Malaysian Air flight attendants(Alan Sinder)

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

This Cryptonomicon page will describe how Randy got set up as the world's stupidest heroin smuggler

Stephensonia

If we ponder the sending a message aspect of Mercury — it comes across as a thug of some sort (akin to Bud) and comes across as one of Ares' proteges failing to act with grace ; Whereas Enoch Root is all about the Metis later:      “... The Malaysian Air flight attendants all have big smiles for him on the way out; as globe-trotting expat technocrats all know, hospitality-industry people think it is just adorable, or pretend to think so, when you try to use some language--any language--other than English, and they remember you for it. Soon he is inside good old NAIA, which is sort of, but not fully, air-conditioned. There is a whole group of girls in identical windbreakers gathered by his baggage carousel, chattering like an exaltation of larks under a DEATH TO DRUG TRAFFICKERS sign. The bags take a long time to arrive--Randy wouldn't have checked baggage at all except that he acquired a lot of books, and a few other souvenirs, on his trip -- some salvaged from the ruined house and some inherited from his grandfather's trunk. And in Kinakuta he bought some new diving gear that he hopes he will put to use very soon. Finally he had to buy a big sort of duffel-bag-on-wheels to carry it all. Randy enjoys watching the girls, apparently some kind of high school or college field-hockey team on the road. For them, even waiting for the baggage carousel to start up is a big adventure, full of thrills and chills; e.g., when the carousel groans into action for a few moments and then shuts down again. But finally it starts up for real, and out comes a whole row of identical gym bags, color-coordinated to match the girls' uniforms, and in the middle of them is Randy's big duffel. He heaves it off the carousel and checks the tiny combination padlocks: one on the zipper for the main compartment and one on a smaller pocket at the end of the bag. There is one more tiny pocket on the top of the bag which has no practical function that Randy can think of; he didn't use it and so he didn't lock it.      He deploys the bag's telescoping handle, lifts it up onto its built-in wheels, and heads for customs. Along the way he gets mixed into the group of field-hockey players, who find this extremely titillating and hilarious, which is slightly embarrassing for him until they start finding their own hilarity hilarious. There are only a few customs lanes open, and there is a sort of traffic director waving people this way and that; he shoos the girls towards the green lane and then, inevitably, ducts Randy into a red one.      Looking through the lane, Randy can see the area on the other side where people wait to greet arriving passengers. There is a woman in a nice dress there. It's Amy. Randy comes to a complete stop the better to gape at her. She looks fantastic. He wonders if it's totally presumptuous of him to think that Amy put on a dress for no other reason than that she knew Randy would enjoy looking at her in it. Whether it's presumptuous or not, that's what he does think, and it almost makes him want to faint. He doesn't want to let his mind run completely out of control here, but maybe there is something better in store for him tonight than digging into a bowl of Cap'n Crunch.      Randy steps into the lane. He wants to just bolt through and head straight for Amy, but this would be a bad idea. But it's okay. Anticipation never killed anyone. Anticipation can actually be kind of enjoyable. What did Avi say? Sometimes wanting is better than having. Randy's pretty sure that having Amy would not disappoint, but wanting ain't such a bad thing either. He is holding his laptop bag out before him and drawing the big duffel behind, slowing gradually to a stop so that it won't roll forward under its own momentum and break his knees.      There is the requisite long stainless-steel table and a bored fireplug-shaped gentleman behind it saying, "Nationality? Port of embarkation?" for the hundred thousandth time in his life. Randy hands over his documents and answers the questions while bending down to heft the duffel bag up onto the metal tabletop. "Remove the locks please?" the customs inspector says. Randy bends down and squints at the tiny brass wheels, trying to line them up into the right combination. While he's doing that, he hears the customs inspector working right next to his head, unzipping the tiny, empty pocket on the top of the duffel bag. There is a rustling noise. "What is this?" the inspector asks. "Sir? Sir?"      "Yes, what is it?" Randy says, straightening up and looking the inspector in the eye.      Like a model in an infomercial, the inspector holds up a small Ziploc bag right next to his head and points to it with the other hand. A door opens behind him and people come out. The Ziploc bag has been partly filled with sugar, or something--maybe confectioner's sugar--and rolled into a cigar-shaped slug.      "What is this, sir?" the inspector repeats.      Randy shrugs. "How should I know? Where did it come from?"      "It came from your bag, sir," the inspector says, and points to the little pocket.      "No, it didn't. That pocket was empty," Randy says.      "Is this your bag, sir?" the inspector says, reaching with one hand to look at the paper claim check dangling from its handle. Quite a crowd has gathered behind him, still indistinct to Randy who is understandably focusing on the inspector.      "I should hope so -- I just opened the locks," Randy says. The inspector turns around and gestures to the people behind him, who en masse move forward into the light. They are wearing uniforms and most of them are carrying guns. Very soon, some of them are behind him. They are, as a matter of fact, surrounding him. Randy looks towards Amy, but sees only a pair of abandoned shoes: she is sprinting barefoot toward a line of pay telephones. He'll probably never see her in a dress again.      He wonders whether it would be a bad idea, from a narrowly tactical point of view, to ask for a lawyer this soon. ...” • • • • •      “...    "Let me ask you this," Randy says. "I understand that financial resources, wielded properly, could free me. But what if some rich person wanted to use his money to send me to death row?"      This one stops Attorney Alejandro dead for a minute. "There are more efficient ways for a wealthy person to kill someone. For the reasons I have described, a would-be assassin would first look somewhere outside of the Philippine capital-punishment apparatus. That is why, in my opinion as your lawyer, what is really going on here is that--"      "Someone is trying to send me a message."      "Exactly. You see, now you are beginning to understand."      "Well, I'm wondering if you could give me a ballpark estimate of how long I'm going to be locked up. I mean, do you want me to plead to a lesser charge and then serve a few years?"      Attorney Alejandro looks pained and scoffs. He doesn't deign to answer. "I didn't think so," says Randy. "But at what point in these proceedings do you imagine I could get out? I mean, they refused to release me on bail."      "Of course! You are charged with a capital crime! Even though every one knows it is a joke, proper respect must be shown."      "They pulled the planted drugs out of my bag -- there are a million witnesses. It was a drug, right?"      "Malaysian heroin. Very pure," Attorney Alejandro says admiringly.      "So there are all of these people who can testify that a sack of heroin was found in my luggage. That would seem to complicate the job of getting me out of jail."      "We can probably get it dismissed before an actual trial is launched, by pointing out flaws in the evidence," Attorney Alejandro says. Something in his tone of voice, and the way he's staring out the window, suggests this is the first time he's actually thought about how he's going to specifically attack this problem. "Perhaps a baggage handler at NAIA will step forward and testify that he saw a shadowy figure planting the drugs in your bag."      "A shadowy figure?"      "Yesss," says Attorney Alejandro irritably, anticipating sarcasm.      "Are there a lot of those hanging around backstage at NAIA?"      "We don't need a lot."      "How much time do you think might pass before this baggage handler's conscience finally gets the better of him and he decides to step forward?"      Attorney Alejandro shrugs. "A couple of weeks, perhaps. For it to be done properly. How are your accommodations?"      "They suck. But you know what? Nothing really bothers me anymore."      "There is concern among some of the officials of the prison service that when you get out, you may say harsh things about the conditions."      "Since when do they care?"      "You are a little famous in America. Not very famous. A little. Do you remember the American boy in Singapore, who was caned?"      "Of course." ...”

Wikipedia: Police abuse

Police brutality is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, and verbal attacks and threats by police officers. Widespread, systematic police brutality persists in some countries with authoritarian governments, corruption, or ineffective judicial systems. Individual incidents of police brutality occur in most or all countries, even those which actively prosecute and successfully punish such activity. Brutality is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include false arrest, intimidation, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse (fondling while checking for arms), and police corruption. Police brutality with respect to certain social groups can in some cases be disproportionate or be perceived to be disproportionate. Differences in race, religion, politics, and economic status between police and the citizenry can contribute to the creation of an antagognistic relationship in which a significant portion of the population view the police as oppressors and a significant number of the police view the population as deserving punishment. Some instances where perceived or actual brutality has become a political or religious issue include: 1. African-Americans in the United States 2. Arab and African immigrants in France 3. Catholics in Northern Ireland 4. Protests at political rallys, including the 2004 Republican and Democratic National Conventions 5. Various protests and/or street preaching by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians in the United States 6. Various pro-democratic activities in China, Cuba and other countries. 7. Various strike actions, protests, and acts of civil disobedience, including recent anti-globalization protests.

Entrapment

In jurisprudence, entrapment is a procedural defense by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were induced (or entrapped) by the police to commit said acts. For the defense to be successful, the defendant must demonstrate that the police induced an otherwise unwilling person to commit a crime. However, when a person is predisposed to commit a crime, offering opportunities to commit the crime is not entrapment, such as in the widely held misconception that policemen must answer prostitutes' questions truthfully. Entrapment is an issue that must be considered in designing sting operations. John De Lorean was arrested in 1982 for selling cocaine to undercover police; in court, De Lorean argued that the police had asked him to sell them the cocaine (and threatened him as a form of coercion). He was found not guilty. De Lorean's attorney stated in Time (March 19, 1984), "This [was] a fictitious crime. Without the Government, there would be no crime." The defense of entrapment was unsuccessful in the Abscam operation in which several members of the United States Congress were convicted of accepting bribes.

Political repression

Political repression means the restriction of the abilities of certain groups of people to take part in the political life of a society; or the persecution of people for their political adherence. This is often associated with discriminatory or even violent methods. Repression is an organized form of oppression that is carried out by using the power of the state, or by paramilitary groups that can operate with or without state approval. Sometimes sections of the state apparatus engage in political repression without the approval of the official government. In the United States, the COINTELPRO operations by the FBI from 1956 to 1971 represent an example of this form. Political repression is usually accompanied by various forms of surveillance abuse and police misconduct, including Police brutality. In some states, such as the former Soviet Union, "repression" can be an official term and official policy with respect to internal political opponents of the state. See also: Purge

  1. Oppression
  2. Oscar Elías Biscet
  3. Amadou Diallo
  4. Falun Gong
  5. Abner Louima
  6. Rodney King
  7. Mark Fuhrman
  8. Starlight tours
  9. Community Resources against Street Hoodlums

Articles

Books

  • Goldstein, Robert Justin. (1978). Political Repression in Modern America, From 1870 to Present. Boston, G. K. Hall, Cambridge, MA: Schenkman. ISBN 0846703017
  • Donner, Frank J. (1980). The Age of Surveillance: The Aims and Methods of America’s Political Intelligence System. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0394402987
  • Donner, Frank J. (1990). Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520059514