[News] The USA Police State will never satisfy its lust for beating, gassing, and imprisoning minorities

GasBandit

Staff member
Ad hominem. Ad hominem. Straw man. Circular reasoning. What's next, so's your old man?
You live in the biggest, most fallacious glass house. Careful with those stones.

But if you're going to specifically ask for it, here it is: You are the Charlie of gun issues.
 
This quibbling is missing the most important detail that another young black person has been killed by police. I left it out of the thread title to seem slightly less inflammatory.
That's right. This thread is not at all about the big mess in the produce section, it's about the fact that someone took an orange from the bottom!

--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
In other words, it's fine only when you do it.
At least I only do it in threads actually about gun control.

DA Logic -

Then: "You shouldn't be allowed guns because you will shoot people!"
Now: "How can you not be shooting people, you hypocrites?! YOU HAVE GUNS!"
 
At least I only do it in threads actually about gun control.

DA Logic -

Then: "You shouldn't be allowed guns because you will shoot people!"
Now: "How can you not be shooting people, you hypocrites?! YOU HAVE GUNS!"
Yup. It's only okay when you do it. Because context is for pussies.
 

Dave

Staff member
I agree with Rand Paul on something. I feel dirty.[DOUBLEPOST=1408041945,1408041602][/DOUBLEPOST]It's all about power, man. We gotta save ourselves and our corporate interests from the unwashed masses.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Honestly I admit I'm a little paranoid about the increased police militarization. I can't help but think that either we are expecting more foreign attacks on American soil, or that politicians are truly expecting a revolution a little way down the road.

Neither possibility is good.
I don't think it has overtly nefarious motivations... probably just an excuse to grow government budgets, as always. However, it has and will continue to have unfortunate consequences.
 
I don't think it has overtly nefarious motivations... probably just an excuse to grow government budgets, as always. However, it has and will continue to have unfortunate consequences.
Actually, I was thinking it was a result of all of the anti-terrorism money being thrown around 10 years ago (and since). The police departments simply snatched up the lavish buffet put before them. Opportunities to better fund their departments with minimal effort? Have at it!
 
I don't think it has overtly nefarious motivations... probably just an excuse to grow government budgets, as always. However, it has and will continue to have unfortunate consequences.
Only thing nefarious would be greed. Local jurisdictions are having money thrown at them in the name of "fighting terrorism" or "the war on drugs". The money's got to be spent, or it's lost. In steps a senator or congressman, or more likely an ex-senator or ex-congressman. They have a lead on firepower that your average grunt in Afghanistan can only dream of getting. And they get a little something something for themselves as a "commision" or "finders fee". Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. Say no more.

I'm not saying that's what's going on, but in this day and age, it sure feels that way.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Only thing nefarious would be greed. Local jurisdictions are having money thrown at them in the name of "fighting terrorism" or "the war on drugs". The money's got to be spent, or it's lost. In steps a senator or congressman, or more likely an ex-senator or ex-congressman. They have a lead on firepower that your average grunt in Afghanistan can only dream of getting. And they get a little something something for themselves as a "commision" or "finders fee". Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. Say no more.

I'm not saying that's what's going on, but in this day and age, it sure feels that way.
I'm not sure that the graft angle is even necessary. A budget is power and control... increasing it is its own reward.
 
FPD chief denies they're gassing journalists...


so Al Jazeera does a split screen...

You were saying, chief?

(and now, bed... clock may say 4pm, but it's like 1am to me. ZZZ...)
 
Five days after the shooting, and several days after the beginning of excessive police violence, President Obama finally steps up to the podium: http://abcnews.go.com/US/president-obama-excuse-excessive-force-police-ferguson/story?id=24980370

Also http://www.mediaite.com/online/don-lemon-white-people-in-willful-denial-over-racism-in-ferguson/
About fucking time.

The whole thing of the police chief withholding the shooter cop's name is bullshit. In NYC, the names of police are not kept secret.

In my imagination, this was more a tactic against the Ferguson police. You step out of line on this incident? Guess who just became the guy who shot Michael Brown. That's unlikely, but it popped into my head today.

I felt we were having a more peaceful discussion in Gas's thread, but maybe that's because fewer people noticed it there. In any case, hopefully the state police will do better than the over-geared, under-trained assholes who've been aiming rifles at protesters, gassing journalists, and spraying mace at little girls. That's not exactly setting the bar high, so they shouldn't have a problem.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Twitter's saying the crowd is cheering as the "guard is changed" for police/security in Ferguson. The new cops showing up are not wearing SWAT gear.
 
Well, the good cop, bad cop routine really seems to be paying dividends.
I kinda doubt they planned it that way, but they'll make it work for them.

Helps also that the new guy in charge isn't a doughy middle-aged white guy who refers to the people of Ferguson as animals.
 

In many (really, many) areas of that article I could have replaced "America" with "China/Korea/Japan" and some of it would have mirrored some of my own experiences. That's not a critique of the article. That's an unfortunate reality of a place that isn't living up to expectations. I might expect to be cheated, bullied or looked down upon in a mono-ethnic country, but that shouldn't happen in a multi-ethnic nation like the US. A lot of what he says kind of has me thinking what Jun is going to experience when she gets here with her less than perfect English and innocence about what life is like in the western world.
 
Most of my friends are not white. I never hear stories of them dealing with discrimination and assumed that was because they hadn't experienced any, because why wouldn't they tell me? We all met at or around college, we've all been friends for almost 10 years.

But that article makes me wonder. I'm not going to pry, of course, but still.
 
can't help but think that either we are expecting more foreign attacks on American soil, or that politicians are truly expecting a revolution a little way down the road.

Neither possibility is good.
The first is a reason to increase your National Guard, not arming police in the style of militaries.

There's a reason why you are constitutionally BANNED from deploying the army on home turf. Anything army-like shouldn't be what's enforcing the law. Special SWAT teams? Maybe in very VERY bad areas/cases, but in the vast majority of even your nation, that's not necessary, and shouldn't be part of the repertoire.

As with most things of governmental power, your "give a child a knife" thing is true, with government at least. Private citizens are more trustworthy there IMO because they face the consequences, and know it. As somebody else somewhere said, "I'll believe a corporation is a person when Texas executes one." Same principal, but government departments (and larger). Their bad behavior may OCCASIONALLY cause individuals to go down, but generally they protect themselves from any outside harm or criticism.
 
tumblr_na8ghuka6l1ram4lgo1_1280.jpg


Above is a protester, wearing the red, white and blue, lobbing a tear gas (I think) canister back at the police line.

I feel like this is one of those pictures that could go viral, like that pic of that couple making out in the street during the Hockey Riot or the like.
 
The first is a reason to increase your National Guard, not arming police in the style of militaries.

There's a reason why you are constitutionally BANNED from deploying the army on home turf. Anything army-like shouldn't be what's enforcing the law. Special SWAT teams? Maybe in very VERY bad areas/cases, but in the vast majority of even your nation, that's not necessary, and shouldn't be part of the repertoire.

As with most things of governmental power, your "give a child a knife" thing is true, with government at least. Private citizens are more trustworthy there IMO because they face the consequences, and know it. As somebody else somewhere said, "I'll believe a corporation is a person when Texas executes one." Same principal, but government departments (and larger). Their bad behavior may OCCASIONALLY cause individuals to go down, but generally they protect themselves from any outside harm or criticism.
It's very apparent that large cities need SWAT teams to handle specialized situations. We learned that during the North Hollywood shootout, where two guys with AKs, drum mags, and full body armor were able to hold off an entire police department until the cops borrowed some hunting rifles from a nearby store. There is definitely a need for them. The REAL issue is that SWAT units cost a fortune to outfit and train for what amounts to something that is only used in a worst case scenario and it's hard not to look at those toys and think "No one would mess with our guys if they ALL looked like that".

Unfortunately, that's the road to fascism but few realize it.
 
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