| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
Guy pulls a gun on a cop . . . . gets shot. Seems unfortunate but justified. City is torn apart in riots last night . . 16 cops injured. Tonight the aggrieved are back in the streets shooting each other up in something akin to the Watts riots. And . . . I see cops saving folks and charging in to help the injured. I wonder if anyone was tempted to say "let the sob lay there and bleed out"? Cops in America, even on their bad days, are amazing. | ||
| Macbuell |
I'm sick of this shit. At this point they are just looking for excuses to riot and wreck things. There is absolutely no consideration of the circumstances regarding whatever they are rioting over. Next they will be rioting when some gangbanger shoots another gangbanger because black lives matter. | ||
| Crusty |
Cops in America, even on their bad days, are amazing. +1 | ||
| Court |
We are living in a day when we seek "Justice" but will settle for a 42" widescreen TV. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I take every opportunity to let my local cops know exactly where I stand, in solidarity with them against exactly this kind of BS. Even with my checkered past, I can't abide this nonsense. My time spent behind bars taught me a lot of things, and increase the respect I have for law enforcement and the very difficult job they have to do. | ||
| Reepicheep |
My patience is gone as well. I've worked all my life to not be racist, and to stop racism. I've read first hand accounts of the murder and oppression in the 60's in the civil rights movement, I get it. This is racism alright, but it is the opposite of what the BLM folks are trying to make it look like. Their core assertion seems to be that blacks, unlike whites, can't be smart enough to drop a gun when a cop with a gun tells them to drop a gun, and can't control themselves enough to avoid a life of chronic crime, and so must be protected as great big children who can't behave responsibly, lawfully, or even just with common sense. It makes me genuinely angry. In the few cases I have seen where a cop really does make a mistake, they are headed to jail. I feel bad that the cost of their screwup at their job is jail, but murder is murder. And to continually paint "thug with gun gets shot for being thug with gun" as "this is racism" makes me do a slow burn. Because racism *IS* a problem we need to solve, and lying about what it is and how it happens just moves us backwards and makes it that much harder to fix it. *deep breath* (And yes. I used the word thug. And if you want to call me a racist or claim I am using a dog whistle for saying that, then don't take this the wrong way, but %^%$ you, you are wrong, and you are an idiot. A thug is someone who will take advantage of those weaker then themselves to get an advantage without regard to the impact of their decisions on others. That's a thug. Always has been, always will be. Hillary Clinton is a thug. Trayvon Martin was a thug.) | ||
| Elsinore74 |
"Next they will be rioting when some gangbanger shoots another gangbanger because black lives matter." I doubt it. Doesn't advance the narrative of local cops being the problem. Example (just one of several): A shooting (not by an LEO) in DC resulted in two men dead, six injured this past weekend; one of the injured was an 8-year-old boy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety /two-killed-six-wounded-in-southeast-gunfire/2016/ 09/17/5409b418-7d3e-11e6-beac-57a4a412e93a_story.h tml No protests, no outrage. Why? | ||
| Hughlysses |
There is absolutely no taint of logic in any of this. The police officer was African-American; the dead man's brother proclaims "all white men are devils". The dead man's wife claims he just had a book; they have photos of the pistol on the ground at the scene. http://heavy.com/news/2016/09/keith-lamont-scotts- brother-white-people-devils-video-watch-charlotte- riots-facebook-live-brentley-vinson-black-lives-ma tter/ | ||
| Ratbuell |
"A demonstrator critically injured by another demonstrator".... And WHY doesn't the reporting call out how f-ing STUPID that is?? "We're gonna riot to protest evil white cops (even though the officer in question is black, and serves under a black police chief)...and during our riots we'll go ahead and not only trash our own neighborhood but we'll make sure to send some of our own to the hospital". W T F . | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
Payback for our for fathers mistake. Should have sent em all back to Africa. | ||
| Prior |
Listening to the local news about this Charlotte mess has been interesting. Lots of facts left out, certainly the message is slanted towards a killer cop and an innocent with a book. Reports this morning had no mention of the officer's race. I'm not sure what the Charlotte Hornets had to do with all of this, but folks were apparently angry enough at them to loot their store... (Message edited by awprior on September 22, 2016) | ||
| Pwnzor |
How about we send "them" all to your house? Idiot. | ||
| Mtnmason |
No one should be confused as to why this is happening. The people who spilled into the streets of Charlotte (and others like them in cities across the nation) will now use ANY excuse whatsoever to rage against the system en masse. We are living in a day when we seek "Justice" but will settle for a 42" widescreen TV. Absolutely correct here. But perhaps even more unnerving is the fact that we are living in an age where the truth is worth FAR less than a 42" LED tv or a few iPads. For example, try explaining to these people that their movement has been funded, co-opted and thus controlled by rich white elites. They'll hear none of it. A few more truths that they can't acknowledge: Hard evidence revealed a gun belonging to Scott at the crime scene - doesn't matter. He dindu nuffin. He was shot by another black man - doesn't matter. He was still a cop. Had Scott (or Brown, Sterling, Crutcher - pick any of them (except maybe Castille)) simply followed the police's orders they would all still be alive. As long as this type of behavior is going on in the city (this one only about 2 hrs from me) I'll continue to sit on the couch with popcorn watching it unfold and coming here for the related commentary. It will not ever be a problem where I live, of that I am certain. God help us if they ever do act on the notion of taking the riots to the suburbs. | ||
| Hughlysses |
On the plus side, there's an LAP surplus EBR 1190SX for sale in Charlotte: http://inventory.carlotz.com/web/used/EBR-1190SX-2 015-Charlotte-North-Carolina/31981861/ Maybe they'll give you the "widespread rioting" discount for even MORE savings! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Man, I wish I wasn't broke-ass right now. It's a great time to be in the market for a new bike. | ||
| Zane |
I flipped between the Fox and CNN coverage of the Wednesday night riot. After about 10:00 pm local time did it seem to anyone else that it had turned into a big street party for a lot of the protesters? A violent street party but street party none the less. I saw people walking around drinking, people on skate boards and bikes. There was even a group of motorcycle riders cruising around. I even saw a guy hand his cell phone to a girl who looked like she was giving him her number. What the hell is the matter with people that they can enjoy a riot?? I have to ask: Is it time for the black community to move back to mother Africa? If they are so unhappy here and can't get ahead perhaps they should go somewhere where they can build a country that works for them. Let's be clear, I'm not suggesting a forced relocation but a voluntary relocation with generous assistance to help them get on their feet. | ||
| Reepicheep |
While I struggle to find any way to disagree with that conclusion, it is an absolutely reasonable one to reach when the media and leaders of the black lives matter movement stand up and say a cop is in the wrong for shooting a black man continuing to threaten them with a gun when he had been told to drop the gun. And they say it's a problem, because, you know, he's black. The obvious implication is that these blacks just can't control themselves, and there needs to be special police training to protect blacks from their own lawlessness and stupidity. I hesitate to even post this, because it would be so easy to misinterpret or take out of context. I don't believe *any* of that. But it's the obvious conclusion from the message the BLM and media are promoting when the facts of the situation are known. When a white guy gets shot in those circumstances, the obvious conclusion is that he dies from being a stubborn •••••••. We shrug, and move on with our lives. But when it happens to one of those neeegroows, you know, they just can't help themselves. It's the white mans burden (now Democrats burden) to protect them from their low intellect and base nature. Like you said, its idiotic to conclude that, and so stinking offensive to me, and tragically similar to the crap I was hearing in 1975 when I first got old enough to detect it. And coming from all the same ignorant sources. It makes it feel like the only thing we have achieved is to empower some black leaders to be just as racist and manipulative as white leaders. Which shakes me to my core when I let it. There have been at least two clear cut cases of white cops murdering black citizens. One near here in Cincy where a campus cop shot a druggie who was fleeing but not any kind of threat to the officer. The other similar. Those are real concerns. And those are two guys that have (or will) go to jail. They are also, statistically, within the range of "mistakes happen and repercussions follow and we should do everything we can to reduce them but when you have 1 million opportunities for a mistake a year, there will be mistakes every year". | ||
| Pwnzor |
two clear cut cases of white cops murdering black citizens. And how many cases of cops murdering citizens of any other color? Citizens murdering other citizens? Murder is murder, doesn't matter if it's a cop other than potentially holding the individual to a higher standard due to the fact they are in a position of authority. Like a priest raping a child being worse than anybody else raping a child. It's the same, but different. The "idiot" comment was directed at the guy throwing rocks from Greece, if that's really where he's from. | ||
| Sifo |
These emotions have been being cultivated since the "the police acted stupidly" moment. The facts don't matter. They are owed something. They will not be denied, even if it means burning down their own neighborhoods. I wonder if they understand who has to pay for the police cars they destroyed? Do they understand the effect of destroying businesses in their own neighborhood? I'm pretty sure that they have been taught to not understand these things. I'm pretty sure that they have been taught that they are owed things from others, just because... Sadly, the only ones empowered to really help them, is themselves. When they are taught this, they will be able to begin to better their situations. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I agree completely. The only distinction I would make is that I'd cut a person (or any color) who could have just avoided a situation by walking away a LOT LESS SLACK than a cop I sent into a dark building because it is reasonable to believe somebody is waiting in there to kill people who walk in. I don't require cops to be superheros that can disarm every opponent with a karate chop, and shoot a 1" group at 1000 yards in 1/1000 of a second to shoot the gun out of a bad guys hand, or discern instantly and flawlessly that somebody jumping out of the shadows charging them with an object in their hand is actually just high and carrying a cell phone. I expect them to be professional, respectful, universally and unconditionally honest and transparent, and to do their best at all times. | ||
| 86129squids |
Hey all- below is an essay written by one of my favorite local writers, Stephanie Piper. Just published today. Whenever she has a new piece published, in some way it is guaranteed to move me, often to tears, due to her eloquence and beauty of expression. I am a good writer, even once had a regular column published for a local MC magazine- but I'm not as good as S. Piper. At the Knoxville Mercury site, you should be able to go into the archives for her writings, if you care to. I routinely forward them to my sister. Climate Change: Look for the Helpers In At This Point by Stephanie Piper/September 21, 2016/Leave a Comment/ I’m trying to recall what civility feels like. Remember civility, that quaint notion of public and private discourse characterized by mutual respect and an absence of screaming and name-calling? Mostly, it feels like a distant memory. I’m also trying to recall a period when the lead story on every news outlet wasn’t about war, or rumors of war, or another mass shooting or the latest vitriol-spewing politician. There is ample evidence to suggest that these are not the worst of times. I came of age during the Vietnam War, an era that ripped the country apart. My parents lived through the Great Depression and World War II and had the first-person narratives to prove it. History reminds us that violent discord is nothing new. In 1856, a dispute over slavery prompted a cane-wielding Preston Brooks of South Carolina to go after Charles Sumner of Massachusetts on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The Broadway hit Hamilton chronicles the life of the first Secretary of the Treasury, killed in an 1804 duel by the sitting Vice President, Aaron Burr. The fact that strife goes way back seems like cold comfort in today’s 24-hour news cycle. A click of the remote or a swipe of the phone calls up a new catalog of horrors, a fresh supply of tweets to ignite rage and division. I alternate between vowing to turn it all off and muttering unprintable words at the screen. And then I wonder what an ordinary person living an unremarkable life could do to change a climate of negativity and fear. Mr. Rogers, a prophet in a cardigan sweater and sneakers, often quoted his mother. Faced with scenes of violence and destruction, she offered this advice: Look for the helpers. I thought of this while watching coverage of the Sept. 11 anniversary. From the first responders charging up the stairs of the towers to the stranger offering an arm to a stumbling office worker, the helpers were the only visible agents of hope. I saw it again in a recent news story about a rescue group in Syria, volunteers who comb the ruins of bombed buildings for survivors. Whatever their political affiliations, they put them aside to save the lives of other human beings. Closer to home was a story about two nuns, brutally murdered last month in their home in rural Mississippi. They worked in a medical clinic nearby, providing the only health care available to the poor of the area. As I watched the news coverage and listened to interviews with clinic patients who described the sisters’ unfailing compassion, I struggled to understand why these helpers were struck down in the midst of their vitally important work. The only answer that surfaced was a question that repeated itself in my mind: What am I doing right now to foster peace, civility, hope? I thought about making a donation to the clinic, about supporting the rural poor in my own county. These are good ideas, as far as they go. It is unlikely that I will become a medical missionary or a social worker at this point in my life. But I also thought about smaller, less apparent ways of cultivating peace. I thought about judgment and its power to limit generosity of spirit. I thought about silence, and how it nurtures clarity of thought and action. I reflected on the vast universe of things I don’t know, and how I might give people the benefit of the doubt. I considered the cumulative effect of saying the word that lifts up rather than the word that casts down. I thought about the scenes of chaos that confront us on the news every day, and about looking for the helpers. It gives me hope when I see one. Someday, I would like to be one. | ||
| Slaughter |
http://mikerowe.com/2016/06/look-for-the-helpers/ Came out when the Orlando night club shootings took place. Mr Rogers is right though. Look for the helpers. | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
Send them I have plenty of ammo | ||
| Reindog |
Came out when the Orlando night club shootings took place. Is Sunny aware of this? :-) | ||
| Aesquire |
Send them back to Africa? First. If you're not making a bad joke you just lost any respect & credibility. Second... that's not where they're from. They're from Charlotte. You going back to Europe? Third. Africa won't take them back. Grow up. | ||
| Aesquire |
Reep, I gotta call you out on that. "Children" will now be racist.  | ||
| Reepicheep |
 I reread my post and wanted to clarify something. The conclusion I can't find any way to disagree with was that it was idiotic to say send them back. But the whole "send them back" perspective is exactly what the entire BLM movement seems to be trying to drive people to conclude. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
"Payback for our for fathers mistake. Should have sent em all back to Africa" He said, "SHOULD have sent them all back. Meaning, immediately following the conclusion of the Civil War. The first part of Figor's comment, "Payback for our for fathers mistake." is a statement of fact. Had our forefathers not enslaved blacks and robbed them of their identity none of this rioting nonsense would have occurred. Their crime is the genesis of the problem. | ||
| Court |
I do not for one minute subscribe to any of the "payback" or "send anyone anywhere" rhetoric. These people are Americans. We have problems that occurred in history and we can solve them. But, quoting Albert Einstein here . . . .
We are, collectively, bigger and more intelligent than that regardless of what the behavior of a few may seem to represent. I grew up with people of all races. I served in the United States Marine Corps, and trusted my life, to people of all races and I work in one of America's most diverse Fortune 500 companies. It is a small mind, indeed, that would dismiss a serious social problem as to be something so simple as just skin color. I don't accept that. But . . . this dialogue has to be started be a coalition of diverse folks and their number can't be mandated by government fiat based simply on quotas. We've tried that in federal highway construction and it failed miserably and, frankly, served to only enslave more. Every person in America is entitled to the dignity due an American. No one of us, in fact no polar group, may . . alone. . . solve these problems. But . . . until responsible leaders emerge this barbaric crap will continue. | ||
| Hootowl |
Former slaves were given the opportunity to be returned to Africa. Some did return. See Liberia. The vast majority of slaves were, at the end of the war, not first generation, and had to country to return to. The first president of Liberia, Africa's first and oldest republic, was a man from Virginia. |
