The invisible Glass experiment
Scientists once placed a transparent glass barrier inside an aquarium.
On one side was a fierce pike, and on the other side were several smaller fish swimming freely.
When the hungry pike saw the smaller fish, it immediately rushed forward to attack.
Bang. It slammed straight into the glass and bounced back.
Confused, the pike kept trying again and again, but every attempt ended the same way.
The repeated collisions injured its head and knocked off some of its scales. Eventually, the pike became frightened and retreated to a corner of the tank.
After some time, the scientists quietly removed the glass barrier. The smaller fish now swam freely throughout the aquarium, even brushing against the pike’s mouth.
But the pike never tried to eat them again.
Even though it was hungry, it refused to attack. In its mind, the invisible wall was still there.
A few days later, the pike reportedly died of starvation, surrounded by food. This phenomenon is often referred to as the Pike Effect or Pike Syndrome.
It’s often used as a metaphor for how repeated failure can create invisible limits in the mind.
Pouring one out for The Reverend Jesse Jackson. A giant and a champion for civil rights and equality.
But can anyone read Green Eggs and Ham better? No.
This is Disgusting: ICE drags a half-naked old man into the snow, in single digit temperatures in St. Paul, MN, refusing to give him a coat.
The cruelty is the point.
Sheriff Chris Swanson, the elected Sheriff of Genesee County, Michigan, is a career law-enforcement officer, not a pundit. He became nationally known in 2020 for prioritizing de-escalation during protests. What he says about the Minneapolis shooting directly exposes how bad MAGA-era policing policies fail.
Swanson calls the shooting tragic but predictable. Masked federal agents in unmarked vehicles confronted a 37-year-old woman, gave unclear commands, and then fired three shots as her car was backing up and turning away. The agent who fired was not hit, not run over, and not in the vehicle’s path. Two shots were fired as the car was already driving away.
That is not lawful deadly force. That is bad policy producing bad outcomes.
Swanson is blunt about the force continuum. You do not shoot people who are fleeing. You do not shoot when you are not in danger. “Tough on crime” slogans do not override use-of-force standards, no matter how loudly MAGA politicians repeat them.
What follows is worse. After the woman was shot and crashed, Swanson saw no attempt at life-saving aid. No urgency. No trauma response. He contrasts this with his own deputies, who once returned fire on a suspect who had already killed two people, then immediately tried to save his life anyway. That is professional policing. What happened in Minneapolis was not.
He also points to missing body cams and officers leaving the scene instead of securing it for investigation. These are not accidents. They are the results of policies that reward aggression and optics over training and accountability.
Swanson makes one thing clear. Calling this out is not anti-police. Blind loyalty is what damages law enforcement. Accountability is what protects it.