Ferguson

[Moomin]

They're actually repurposed military equipment. The Pentagon sells off equipment it no longer wants/needs for military use at very low cost to police departments across the US. The secondary cost is next to nothing, but the practice itself is alarming, probably worthy of another thread.

Still, its a new maintenance / service contract for the manufacturers and the Pentagon have money to spend on new machinery.

It's scary, but at least if Zombies run amok the local police can run them down in armoured vehicles.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Still, its a new maintenance / service contract for the manufacturers and the Pentagon have money to spend on new machinery.

It's scary, but at least if Zombies run amok the local police can run them down in armoured vehicles.

Not sure it generates much income, but you make a good point about the service contracts with equipment suppliers. On the zombies, so long as they're black zombies then I feel like my local PD is well-trained to handle any problems that may arise.

 

[DanEFC92]

http://www.newsweek.com/how-strong-legal-case-against-darren-wilson-265675

...until he became aware that a robbery had taken place. He INITIALLY told the guy to walk on the sidewalk.

THEN, he heard about the robbery and noticed the cigars and went back to him.

There is no contradiction.

Read the article (or read it again.)

I meant conflicting reports from different media sources, not that article specifically.

 

[Dell Boy]

I wonder if something like this situation would ever kick off in the UK or Ireland ?

Presumably in the early/mid 80s riots there would have been talk of the escalation of more and more inner city no go areas. It hasn't turned out like that at all here. At least yet.....

 

[Moomin]

I wonder if something like this situation would ever kick off in the UK or Ireland ?

Presumably in the early/mid 80s riots there would have been talk of the escalation of more and more inner city no go areas. It hasn't turned out like that at all here. At least yet.....

ERM, the Tottenham riots a few years.

 

[L4Everton]

I wonder if something like this situation would ever kick off in the UK or Ireland ?

Presumably in the early/mid 80s riots there would have been talk of the escalation of more and more inner city no go areas. It hasn't turned out like that at all here. At least yet.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...f-woman-which-sparked-1985-Brixton-riots.html

29 years to apologise. Thats some doing. And they'd let her die before they got round to it, heaven only knows how many of her friends and family had been 'gotten to' by undercover police.

 

[applecrumble]

The militarisation of the police over there is scary, this video pretty much nails it.

 

[TX Bill]

Increasing voter registration is a positive thing - no? There's clearly a huge amount of angst in the area to put it mildly. Attempting to channel that into political engagement is a good thing surely.

I made my point very poorly.

What I should have said is if Republicans showed up, put up a booth looking to increase voter registration after an incident like this one, you would have never heard the end of it. Never.

Political engagement is a good thing. Piggie-backing on a tragedy of large scale proportions to curry voters is in very poor taste. I have no problem with anyone doing what they did. The problem lies on the where and the when of doing it.

Since it's a group of liberals, they get the automatic free pass from the drive-by media here in the U.S.

 

[TX Bill]

Yes. I was not addressing his question. I was addressing the fact that his statement contained racist content. And it did. Because it painted black people as rioters rather than simply asking the question you suggest.

Yes, the majority (perhaps the entirety!) of the rioters are black. That does not make black people rioters. It makes some black people in this specific context rioters. Which is not what his post said.

It said "The Blacks have been out looting and burning for nearly a week".

That's not exactly what you're presenting, is it?

Possibly not but you were the one who brought up semantics earlier.

The statement that "the blacks have been out looting and burning for nearly a week" is a statement of fact.

The statement does not say (nor do I think it was implied) that "all of the blacks have been out burning and looting."

Maybe I missed something in translation somewhere previously but I didn't think that the statement was racist, nor was it intended to be racist, in nature.

 

[TX Bill]

Why would you? The whites do not start from a position of disadvantage in the United States due to their race - we don't need any group to fight for 'White Equality'. Unless you're advocating a group that harms white quality of life to bring it more in line with minority groups.

Now who is making generalizations?

There are whites who are just as disadvantaged as other races. Where are their groups?

Personally, I don't believe that organizations like the NAACP and other raced based groups bring anything positive to the table when it comes to race relations and hucksters like Sharpton, Jackson, and others thrive on the racial grievance industry. In fact, good ole Al showed up in Ferguson.

Surely it was to keep the peace and to have an objective look at the facts and what's happened right?

Nope. Not anywhere close.

 

[TX Bill]

If, of course, Mike Brown was assaulting the officer, then force could have been acceptable. Obviously there are aspects to the story that we don't yet know.

Either way, the militarization of the police force is upsetting, and there are clear racial tensions at play in the town (and the country!), even if the straw the broke the camel's back should not have.

I also wonder, still, if I had done the same thing if I would be dead, or just tazed to hell.


This amuses me considering your stance on gun rights (yes I know that some criminals will always have guns).

Well in many instances, force is necessary to keep the peace wouldn't you agree? Or do you believe that all criminals in general will be compliant with law enforcement when confronted?

Law enforcement needs to be armed, that's a given and not even up for debate.

I keep hearing about the "militarization" of our police force. Our police forces across the country have been armed for nearly a century. But now all of a sudden, they're "militarized."

I'm not buying that so much as that's what the media here wants you to believe. Yes. Law enforcement is armed, and some, quite heavily depending up on the situation (SWAT, etc...) but not every officer is carrying an assault rifle or shotgun. Most are armed with a standard issue pistol or revolver.

 

[TX Bill]

http://www.newsweek.com/how-strong-legal-case-against-darren-wilson-265675


I meant conflicting reports from different media sources, not that article specifically.

Ah...understood.

Yes, there are conflicting reports, as you would fully expect in this situation. We'll see but I've already read several well written articles that state that regardless of what the outcome is, there are going to be some unhappy people and that one side or the other is going to feel wronged, that justice hasn't been served, etc...

I just don't see any light at the end of the tunnel on this one sad to say.

 

[madkiwi]

I just don't see any light at the end of the tunnel on this one sad to say.

I have disagreed with a lot of what you've posted, but agreed with the manner of your posts.

If others in power could have the same reasoned and reasonable arguments, maybe there would be some light?

 

[WA Toffee]

Now who is making generalizations?

There are whites who are just as disadvantaged as other races. Where are their groups?

Personally, I don't believe that organizations like the NAACP and other raced based groups bring anything positive to the table when it comes to race relations and hucksters like Sharpton, Jackson, and others thrive on the racial grievance industry. In fact, good ole Al showed up in Ferguson.

Surely it was to keep the peace and to have an objective look at the facts and what's happened right?

Nope. Not anywhere close.

Such as? I'm sure a lot of disadvantaged groups contain white people, but I can't think of any groups which are disadvantaged because they are white.

 

[madkiwi]

I can't think of any groups which are disadvantaged because they are white.

Does this count?