My darlin' and I went around for a lap on Friday night...my first Friday in many years, decades perhaps. I'd been groomed to avoid the mess of the strand just west of the Coast Guard station, too much randomness. Friday and Saturday evenings were the only two times I avoided the island.

The cruising traffic was up, and I was surprised to see many people speeding...the sunset was incredible, it was perfect for a slow-roll. But two state boys had a couple emptying out their trunk, not far from the casino...surely that was a buzz-clamp for the middle-aged black couple, meeting up with white-faced authority. I'm sure whatever they did to get pulled over warranted them emptying their entire fucking trunk. With double-trooper supervision...it looked like they were bullying two folks out for a romantic eve.

Then again, on the way out, another couple of rangers had another car-full of young black kids pulled over, more folks learning that Belle Isle is no longer a welcome place. Again, two vehicles in a great show of overwhelming force...

Neither of these cars were what I'd deem troublemakers, but I'm sure the white-faced authoritarians will have trite comments in their reports as to how necessary it was to totally fuck up their nights.

I've seen a concerted effort through the media to put the lid back on this Pandora's box of kindling. 'Blah-blah, it is good to have the state finally paying attention to this gem.' Right.


This is going to get worse as the weather improves...the state acquiesced on shutting down the island for those 4 days in September, let's hope they keep learning how not to destroy what has largely been a peaceful gathering place. Not sure if there've been any disturbances since 1943, but it seems the white-faced authoritarians want to foment one.

I'm ready for all y'all law-n-order types to drop in and try to dig more from my words than I intend, I'm merely describing what I see. Both my gal and I were troubled by the apparent over-use of force...searching for crap well beyond what should have simply been a initial offense introduction and warning.


This is heavy-handed and will backfire on the State and all of those who think the law is always right. Sometimes the law merely codifies and institutionalizes bully behavior.