ICrappedMyPants | 302 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 7 minutes ago, avatar! said: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/us/minneapolis-george-floyd-police.html Mitchell Erickson’s fingers began dialing 911 last week before he had a chance to even consider alternatives, when two black teenagers who looked to be 15, at most, cornered him outside his home a block away from the park. One of the boys pointed a gun at Mr. Erickson’s chest, demanding his car keys. Flustered, Mr. Erickson handed over a set, but it turned out to be house keys. The teenagers got frustrated and ran off, then stole a different car down the street...“Been thinking more about it,” he wrote in a text message. “I regret calling the police. It was my instinct but I wish it hadn’t been. I put those boys in danger of death by calling the cops.” This kind of thinking seems insane to me. It’s perfectly reasonable to worry about the safety of your kids around a homeless encampment. That doesn’t mean you think they’re all inhuman and dangerous, but you have to be careful with your kids. I am not afraid of being around homeless people, but one time I asked a guy what time a church opened on our honeymoon. He was either on drugs or mentally unstable. He screamed and chased my wife and me. I wasn’t afraid, but she was. She said, you’re married now, you can’t just do that anymore as you aren’t just taking care of yourself. These kids had a gun and put it into his chest. What if they did that to someone else who was jumpy and scared or surprised them to the point that they shot them? What if someone resisted them and they shot them during a struggle? I think it’s the duty of one to protect the community from this potential harm. I can’t rationalize these people’s way of thinking, no matter how noble it is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,731 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Yeah, armed robbery merits police imo. And a specialized responder could ask for their help in incidents where violence is probable. There are other situations when they are currently the default, and should not be. Make changes, and they can be more effective when truly needed. Also, they don’t need tanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,731 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 2 hours ago, Silent Hill said: Generally, yes. Especially violent crime. Would you theorize on why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,585 Editorials Team · Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Guy's a moron. "Think of the children!" Uh, you mean the guys that robbed you at gunpoint? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kguillemette | 1,547 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 43 minutes ago, Tulpa said: Sarah Palin. If anything sunk McCain, it was her. Multiple people I spoke to said she was the reason they didn't vote McCain. Me too. She seemed looney to me, and time has proven me correct! I was truly undecided until I started hearing her talk. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange | 1,701 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 I think it’s possible for there to be “bad apples” in the police force and still acknowledge that those bad apples exist because of a fundamental flaw in our police system in the United States. My police officer friends agree. Take the young officer in San Jose for example. He was bouncing up and down like the pre-match screen of a Call of Duty game, talking about how excited he was to lay out some protestors. Later on in the night, a protestor made fun of the way he looked and he went from excitement to anger as he yelled “Fuck you, bitch!” and started firing rubber bullets into the crowd of protestors. This is indicative of a culture problem in our police force. The kid is clearly not mentally fit to wear the badge, so why was he hired? Why is it that officers that are fired or rejected from one precinct can easily get a job two towns over? I also know plenty of people who were rejected from the police force. One of them is ex-military. They rejected him because his high school GPA was “too high.” This is a common report from former officers around the country - that there are some precincts who will only accept people below a certain GPA because, in theory, it’s indicative that they’re easier to keep in line, keep quiet, or convince to do a suspect job. I don’t think it’s radical to suggest that our police forces need higher standards for hiring. We can’t keep handing these scrawny kids who were picked on in school authority and gun because they’re bitter and want power. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Hill | 276 Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 1 hour ago, The Strangest said: I think it’s possible for there to be “bad apples” in the police force and still acknowledge that those bad apples exist because of a fundamental flaw in our police system in the United States. My police officer friends agree. Take the young officer in San Jose for example. He was bouncing up and down like the pre-match screen of a Call of Duty game, talking about how excited he was to lay out some protestors. Later on in the night, a protestor made fun of the way he looked and he went from excitement to anger as he yelled “Fuck you, bitch!” and started firing rubber bullets into the crowd of protestors. This is indicative of a culture problem in our police force. The kid is clearly not mentally fit to wear the badge, so why was he hired? Why is it that officers that are fired or rejected from one precinct can easily get a job two towns over? I also know plenty of people who were rejected from the police force. One of them is ex-military. They rejected him because his high school GPA was “too high.” This is a common report from former officers around the country - that there are some precincts who will only accept people below a certain GPA because, in theory, it’s indicative that they’re easier to keep in line, keep quiet, or convince to do a suspect job. I don’t think it’s radical to suggest that our police forces need higher standards for hiring. We can’t keep handing these scrawny kids who were picked on in school authority and gun because they’re bitter and want power. Totally agree. I wish the push was to allow visibility into the allocation of police funding, and potentially add more funding, assuming there's a valid gap when it comes to mental health, recruitment strategies and training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Hill | 276 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Link said: 4 hours ago, Silent Hill said: Generally, yes. Especially violent crime. Would you theorize on why? I think it's primarily a cultural issue, personally, and I've seen some pretty compelling supporting data. (especially around the household structure) - Gangs, violence, racism, misogyny, drugs, anti-police, etc. are commonly referenced in popular cultural media, especially rap music. - Extremely high percentage of single mother households (~75%)* - High School/College dropout rates (plus the lack of challenging curriculum in a lot of inner city schools since they have to cater to the lowest common denominator) - Certain Government Assistance Programs (those who abuse/embrace it) *Statistically, you're far more likely to be in poverty, jail and to drop out of school if you come from a single parent household. ^I tend to believe strongly in this because I was raised by a single mother who had me at the age of 16. I was fortunate enough to have my Grandparents help raise me early on but by the time High School rolled around, I wasn't on a great path. Drinking, drugs, and ended up dropping out of High School as a Junior (though I was intended to skip 3rd grade and was in an Enrichment program during Elementary School - totally threw that path away) My Dad was around (he was 17 when I was born) but he remarried when I was 5 and had two stepchildren (2 year old twins). Combine that with him living in another city, not on speaking terms with my Mom and working second shift, I didn't spend much time with him. I opted to stop seeing that side of my family between the age of 16-19 while continuing down the wrong path. Luckily when I reconnected with my Dad, he helped me understand the ignorance in how I was living. I ended up getting my GED at 20, got a full-time job and 14 years later, I'm married with two kids and I've worked hard enough to have my wife stay at home. I was lucky enough to do the right thing, but many others don't reach that turning point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estil | 1,265 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, ICrappedMyPants said: This kind of thinking seems insane to me. It’s perfectly reasonable to worry about the safety of your kids around a homeless encampment. That doesn’t mean you think they’re all inhuman and dangerous, but you have to be careful with your kids. I am not afraid of being around homeless people, but one time I asked a guy what time a church opened on our honeymoon. He was either on drugs or mentally unstable. He screamed and chased my wife and me. I wasn’t afraid, but she was. She said, you’re married now, you can’t just do that anymore as you aren’t just taking care of yourself. These kids had a gun and put it into his chest. What if they did that to someone else who was jumpy and scared or surprised them to the point that they shot them? What if someone resisted them and they shot them during a struggle? I think it’s the duty of one to protect the community from this potential harm. I can’t rationalize these people’s way of thinking, no matter how noble it is. You know how I warned over and over again how BLM is repeating the same mistakes McCarthyism did? Back then a popular saying was "better dead than Red!"...I guess maybe it's now "better dead than [presumed] racist"? PS: Mitchell Erickson didn't put those two boys in danger...the two boys chose to put themselves in danger of being caught and imprisoned. Edited June 26, 2020 by Estil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,585 Editorials Team · Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 I'll just leave this here... Surveys bear this out. A 2016 poll of nearly 8,000 US policemen by the Pew Research think tank found that 69% of black officers believed that the country needed to "continue making changes to give blacks equal rights with whites", compared to just 6% of white officers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Man, since when did it get so civil in here... Somebody throw a pie or something, for God's sakes! Eh, I guess I'll take a break and get a soda refill. You cucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,753 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 8 minutes ago, OptOut said: Man, since when did it get so civil in here... Somebody throw a pie or something, for God's sakes! Eh, I guess I'll take a break and get a soda refill. You cucks. Let's forget about BLM for a bit, and discuss knife crime in the UK. Got any stats on the buddy? I want numbers, dammit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,731 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 26 minutes ago, OptOut said: Man, since when did it get so civil in here... Somebody throw a pie or something, for God's sakes! Eh, I guess I'll take a break and get a soda refill. You cucks. Shut the fuck up, commie pinko fag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 17 minutes ago, fcgamer said: Let's forget about BLM for a bit, and discuss knife crime in the UK. Got any stats on the buddy? I want numbers, dammit! Not so fast buddy! You ain't gonna trick me into doing a politics THAT easily! If you could rephrase the question in a way that involves ME somehow, well yeah I'd probably fall for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Link said: F slur. You kiss your mother with that mouth? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,753 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 9 minutes ago, OptOut said: Not so fast buddy! You ain't gonna trick me into doing a politics THAT easily! If you could rephrase the question in a way that involves ME somehow, well yeah I'd probably fall for that! Well from what others have said, it's mostly minority groups centralised around London that make up the majority of knife crime in the country. Hmm. Yeah I'd love to see some stats on it either way though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 5 minutes ago, fcgamer said: Well from what others have said, it's mostly minority groups centralised around London that make up the majority of knife crime in the country. Hmm. Yeah I'd love to see some stats on it either way though. Not my problem pal. NEXT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,753 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 6 minutes ago, OptOut said: Not my problem pal. NEXT! If you're not doing something to help the issue, you're part of the problem OptOut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 5 minutes ago, fcgamer said: If you're not doing something to help the issue, you're part of the problem OptOut Fine by me. I'm a wealthy, married, 30 something white dude. What use is politics to someone like me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcgamer | 4,753 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 9 minutes ago, OptOut said: Fine by me. I'm a wealthy, married, 30 something white dude. What use is politics to someone like me? Two truths and a lie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptOut | 8,892 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Just now, fcgamer said: Two truths and a lie? Nope, straight up! What you see is what you get! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,731 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Silent Hill said: I think it's primarily a cultural issue, personally, and I've seen some pretty compelling supporting data. (especially around the household structure) There is a lot to unpack here. First of all, I am glad that you as an individual were able to get through your suffering and make a life for yourself that is better than what you grew up with. That is exceptional. 5 hours ago, Silent Hill said: Gangs, violence, racism, misogyny, drugs, anti-police, etc. are commonly referenced in popular cultural media, especially rap music. Life reflects art, art reflects life? All of those things are common in white pop culture too. 5 hours ago, Silent Hill said: Extremely high percentage of single mother households 5 hours ago, Silent Hill said: dropout rates (plus the lack of challenging curriculum in a lot of inner city schools since they have to cater to the lowest common denominator) More numbers but still not examining root causes. Facts can be cherry picked to prove whatever conclusion one wants about society. We have to look at bigger pictures if we want to move forward. (One of my lifelong favorite jokes: “There’s lies, damned lies, and statistics.”) 5 hours ago, Silent Hill said: Certain Government Assistance Programs (those who abuse/embrace it) The “welfare queen” myth has been roundly debunked many times over. Abuse and taking advantage is greatly exaggerated by people who bring them up, and assistance programs take up a very small portion of budgets relative to military et al. Edited June 26, 2020 by Link typo ans /and 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link | 2,731 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 If I may recommend some reading, there is an excellent essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates, titled The Case for Reparations. It’s a thorough explanation of why black people in America are specifically affected by or involved in the problems they are. Such as poverty, violence, crime, etc. These are the root causes. Not “this is what’s going on”, rather “this is how we got here” — more important question imo, to be followed up with “how we proceed from here”. It’s a long read, but more digestible than a 5 or 10 minute youtube rant. Especially if you’re here on a text-based forum. But, if you like the video discussion format, here is a pretty compelling conversation to check out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estil | 1,265 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 The main problem with the idea of reparations though is how do you determine who gets them and who pays for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estil | 1,265 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 47 minutes ago, OptOut said: Fine by me. I'm a wealthy, married, 30 something white dude. What use is politics to someone like me? Well I'm a married 40 year old white dude, married with kitty, but I've never been above working class. But I totally get how you feel about the second part...I mean I'm just a regular guy in a regular apartment in a regular community with (as the Cat Forum place wrongly called him!) "a regular cat" Aside from me being an introvert with an old fashioned view regarding privacy (no pics of me; only of kitty, you only get first name/state) what would be the point of me trying out being on YT for example? What is there out there I could possibly do that hasn't already been done way better by way better qualified/experienced people? Trust me, my life is not that fascinating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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