Apple? Again? Really?

What is it with these guys?

And what is it with Apple's fans?

If you're a fan maybe you can fill me in, but I don't think I'm going to be sold. After all, we've been here before.

Once again, we see that the cool, hip, Apple people decide that the way to act in the world is to do their best impression of the Spanish Inquisition. This time Gizmodo ran an article about the next generation of the Apple Brick, which. I'll grant you, may be a totally cool phone.

What does Apple do? Gizmodo has the story:

Police Seize Jason Chen's Computers

Last Friday night, California's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team entered editor Jason Chen's home without him present, seizing four computers and two servers. They did so using a warrant by Judge of Superior Court of San Mateo. According to Gaby Darbyshire, COO of Gawker Media LLC, the search warrant to remove these computers was invalid under section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code.

Even taking at face value that the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team is a real thing, and not a made-up name for some kind of farcical police squad, and that's pretty hard to do, Doesn't this seem like a bit of an overreaction to you?

Me too. Wherever you draw the line, breaking into journalists' houses so that Steve Jobs has the chance to launch his new toy at his next event is way over that line. I'm hoping the journalist shield defense holds up.

Meanwhile, if you're an Apple supporter, just pause for a moment and think about the activities your dollars are supporting.

Watch Brick City

You know what we learned from The Wire, right? Among other things, we learned a lesson that we seem to need to repeat endlessly: that our cities are neglected, that people are suffering, and that a system that offers them no hope condemns them and their children to poverty, violence, and death.

It is telling that The Wire, the best show in the history of television, never won an Emmy. Maybe it's a little to real for people who prefer to watch undertakers or suburban Mafiosi, or maybe it's just part of the phenomenon it reported on.

Now we have a new series that has been compared to The Wire, but it's a documentary. In five consecutive nights, Brick City documents the struggles of people trying to make Newark, N.J., a better place. The star is undoubtedly Mayor Cory Booker, but the heroes are in every scene, including gang members, ex-felons who have taken to the streets to save Newark's youth, to guys who get out of prison and decide they need to serve their families by making the hard choice to look for a straight job.

The entire series ran this past week, but it's still playing on the Sundance Channel. You need to watch it.