Really? 20+ grown men with bullet proof vests, tazers, pepper-spray, etc couldn’t subdue a teenage boy armed with a knife? The Toronto police force must be full of wimps. He was walking away from you when you shot him. Perhaps resisting arrest, even. Did you fear for your own safety or the safety of others when you had him trapped, alone, in that street car surrounded by other ‘police officers’? If you did, you might want to consider a change in vocation. You can rationalize what you did to yourself and to the public, make excuses, give it names like ‘excessive force’ and ‘reasonable conduct’. That boys family and anybody else with half a brain will call it what it was – ‘MURDER’. Why does wearing a badge give you a free pass? —They aren’t all bad…right?
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.
Darwin’s first rule; When a heavily armed squad of police tell you repeatedly to drop the fucking knife, you drop the knife and get nicked and alls well with the world. Don’t comply with Darwin’s first rule, blam blam you’re dead.
I don’t know about y’all but if there be a gun pointed at me, I’d be dropping alot more than the knife!
Reality’s Rule: people with mental health or other cognitive issues aren’t always capable of complying with your designation of “Darwin’s first rule”. Streetcar doors can be closed and locked from the outside. Sammy could have been contained until the crisis subsided and taken for mental health treatment.
Another case of Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Too bad, so sad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YyBtMxZgQs
News report said Sammy didn’t have any mental issues, according to his family.
It’s terrible that another youngster is dead, at least one Cop is suspended and an investigation has been started. Some asshole Tazered him after he’d been shot. Dumb ass TO Police need some serious refresher training. Tazer first, shoot last.
OB. Have you ever been stabbed or got a real nasty cut? Fucking hurts I tell you, I’d shoot you well before letting you close enough to cut me.
One of the rules I live by – Never argue with someone who has a stick and a gun.
Ah, the old “I saw a minute of video and I can pass judgement without any further details” know it all. Before spouting off, let the SIU do their jobs and release their results.
John, you realize that wasn’t scripted, Harrison Ford had the flu feeling rotten and instead of doing the fight scene, he pulled out the gun and fired. It was the best scene in the whole movie.
Shot him multiple times and then tazered him, with a good number of officers there. Honestly, he could have charged them with a god damn Rambo knife and they should have handled it differently. It’s not like he surprised the cops with the knife, they were aware and telling him to drop it. What’s the point of a tazer or sandbags, if you’re just going to shoot at someone multiple times with deadly force? Cops should have better training and should have to wear cameras like they do in their cruisers.
Something tells me if this wasn’t caught on tape it would have never made it into the public eye.
Try preaching Reality Rule in the Public Housing, Sprytown, the Darkside and any other charming spot where the filth congregate. In the spirit of international co-operation HRM need to hire a new police chief, preferably one who is used to those touchy feely tactics employed by Ivan’s darlings, the Spetsnaz.
Meteoman – they could’ve been a little more public and health conscious and harvested his organs?
http://www.steakarmy.com/wp-content/upload…
Toronto police lost one of their own to a nutter armed with a snowplow 2 years ago. I’m not going to fault them for not wanting to let knife wielding criminal get access to a bus. The only thing the officer involved needs is more range time.
Bro Tim, in addition to video, witnesses have confirmed what was inferred from the video. Furthermore, both enhanced video and eye witnesses have confirmed that:
(1) He was shot three times and subsequently fell to the ground.
(2) After falling to the ground he was shot another six times.
(3) After being shot nine times, he was tasered.
I’m not sure how gun fire can be viewed as a reasonable response to a knife wielding threat, given that police are trained in hand-to-hand combat and have other less deadly options at their disposal, such as batons and tasers. That said, even if part (1) is deemed reasonable force, I would be floored if (2) and (3) were not considered excessive. But, then again, the police have been known to get away with murder, so nothing should surprise us.
Maybe people should stop glorifying the guy pulling a knife on innocent people. Maybe if you pull a knife on a is you might get shot. How about that for a change? This guy was breaking the law and threatening people , if you do that, you it might not end well for you.
Brandishing a knife = death penalty? Wow, am I in Texas?
“hand to hand combat” FFS – Give yourself an enema and stick the pipe between your ears. You fucking civilians make me puke up (and I am one, as well, so get fucked) Critiquing people from the safety of your couch, for making split second life and death decisions that you possess neither the brains nor the balls to do. If some wanker is going to threaten to use deadly force (ask the girls on the bus that little “sammy” confronted with his prick in one hand and a knife in the other about alternate fucking options) then deadly force is exactly what he has coming to him. Fuck him and fuck you chairborne pogues as well.
Police are always justified, period. How dare you question their authoritaaah? You must be a member of those dirty hippy, occupy douches.
My Ivan crush is growing stronger.
For what it’s worth Nukka, I’m sportin’ a woody after typing that. >; )
Ewwww…you want Ivan’s balls on your chin, gross.
Deadly force should be the ABSOLUTE last resort. I obviously wasn’t there, but from the video and reports it sure seems like it was far from that point. Police are suppose to be trained to defuse a situation without shit like this happening. The guy probably couldn’t even think straight or understand orders when he has multiple guns pointed at him. I get nervous when a cop talks to me and I’m doing nothing wrong.
I am in no way praising this guy. He was breaking the law and didn’t obey orders, but from what I’ve read there were no hostages and the police were not in immediate danger (even with the knife). There’s a number of very similar stories where the person was tased and/or subdued by non lethal force.
All I know is there are a lot of cases of the police stepping way over the line and usually it’s when they are inexperienced or think no one is watching. Just think of all the times this has happened and been swept under the rug because it wasn’t filmed/caught on tape. All I ask is that the force learns from these encounters so they don’t start shooting whoever the fuck they want because someones breaking the law in one form or another. Just because someone is holding a knife doesn’t mean you should end their life.
I’ll give the police the benefit of the doubt for now and will be interested to see what becomes of it. I would just hate to see someone die because of a lapse in judgment under extreme circumstances or a cop getting a nervous trigger finger because they don’t have enough training/experience.
Once you’ve worn the Soviet Goggles, you’ll never look back, HarperD.
Well said Meowalot. Sammy wasn’t innocent. He did fuck up and certainly deserved some jail time, no question. But he should not have been murdered. Gunned down and shot almost a dozen times, then tazered. Sorry but I think law enforcement officers should be held to higher standards than that. Where is the line drawn? Who is to say that someone who is acting within their rights might not receive the same treatment.
This was not a life or death situation for the officers. They had many tools at their disposal to subdue sammy but they chose to kill him. There were more than 20 of them. I don’t care if getting cut hurts – these cops had the tools and the hand-to-hand training. If they couldn’t solve the problem without killing this kid then they should not be given lethal weapons and put in a position of absolute authority. Period.
Yes, I for one can’t wait to hear the “facts”, presented by the police police. Imagine that, a bunch of cops investigating themselves. Taking statements from a bunch of triggerhappy rednecks protecting their fellow triggerhappy rednecks. Should be a knee slapper, fo sho!!!!
I for one can’t wait to see how many of greater Toronto’s multi-ethnic community organizers wind up with brand new 50 Inch plasma TVs following the next “Justice for Sammy” vigil.
I wonder if Darwin’s Law applied to John T. Williams in Seattle. If I were deaf and you were yelling at me I simply cannot hear you.
Ivan: I listed hand-to-hand combat as one of a multitude of non-deadly alternatives that could have employed to disarm the perpetrator. Baton and taser, to be specific. I’m sure other strategies could have been employed.
I may be a bit left-leaning, which naturally leads one to associate me with anti-police mentality, but I am aware that they have a difficult and high-stress job. I have a few close family members in the force, so I understand that the job is no walk in the park. That being said, the police are indeed well trained and should be able to handle high stress situations such as this one. Police are granted special privileges to carry out reasonable force. With those privileges come the responsibilities to make appropriate judgements, particularly with respect to life and death situations, and to be held accountable to the public (i.e. us fucking civilians). So perhaps it is you who should get fucked.
And, while I’m on it (again), at least six of those gun shots weren’t required. This view is supported by enhanced video and eye witness accounts. And while I’m still on it, Canadian law does not allow for the death penalty, so in no way can his death be rationalized by the fact that brandished a knife (or his private parts).
I’m becoming a meowsalot fan. I actually can’t believe that people are defending the police in this instance. It’s so transparently, blatantly unjust. Not that commenting on a thread will ever make a lick of difference but still…carrying a concealed weapon does not equal murder. I got 1 year probation for having a knife…
The following is information only and no comment on the Toronto incident as it is an ongoing investigation and we don’t know everything.
Well Meow if you ever took the Force Continuum course, as I have, when a knife comes out so does the gun. It takes as little as 3/4 inch penetration, depending on the area, for a stab to be fatal. Here is a simple form of the Force Continuum which is a guideline and can go from Number 1 to lethal in as little as a second to hours. It can also go up and down as a situation progresses. The course, when I took it over 15 years ago, was a week long and I’m not sure how long it is now. I may have missed something.
1. Officer presence
2. Officer Verbal direction (either orders as in drop your weapon or just plain talking)
3. Officer physical direction (controlling the subject usually using pressure points)
4. Officer use of intermediate weapons (baton, pepper spray, taser). Not all officers carry all these items. One has to take in consideration the environment, weather, space, and other things as to which weapon can be used properly in which situation,
5. Officer use of lethal weapon (side arm, rifle, shotgun, etc)
There is no cookie cutter manual as to what you use when as each situation is unique. Usually the first thing that flashes through a cop’s mind when he or she pulls their side arm is Holy shit now I have a ton of paperwork and I have to justify my actions to everyone and their dog. It is not an easy decision but sometimes a necessary one.
As for multiple shots, that can occur in two ways. More than one officer shooting at a time (five cops, 10 rounds as they are taught to fire two rounds in rapid succession). This should be changed so that the officer in charge at the scene only uses two officers as shooters if necessary. Two because a gun could misfire. The second way is the subject continues to be a threat even after being shot. Being shot doesn’t mean the subject automatically becomes incapacitated. Even shots to major organs doesn’t guarantee that the subject becomes instantly incapacitated. There have been many times when people, soldiers, etc continue on with multiple gunshot wounds.
Targeting. Officers are train to aim and fire a the center of body mass, which simply means the center of whatever is showing, be it head, torso, part of an arm or leg. There is no shooting a weapon out of someone’s hand or any of that other Hollywood crap. As for missing the target, that is one of the biggest things and the biggest cause is adrenalin rushing through your body. Training can help but it doesn’t eliminate it.
When I talk to people about what they’ve seen in the media and they use words like “Seems”, or “It looked like”, or whatever, they are doing so without having all the facts.
So calm down, let the SIU do their investigation, and if the cop broke the law then nail him to the wall, if he didn’t, then a lot of people owe him an apology.
And for the record I’m about as far left as you can get; if you have a problem with that then you can go fuck yourself. A.C.A.B. Only some are murderers. And those that are murderers should be charged and sentenced accordingly. If they are exempt from the law then there is no meaning to the law or to law enforcement, just roving gangs armed and funded by the gov’t (my taxes) who can do whatever the want without consequence. Sort of how the feudal system worked. Give your head a shake and wake the fuck up. This isn’t an isolated incident, it’s just been in the news. One of these days we’re going to fight back and our numbers will be bigger than yours.
i go left and down^^
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: “You have a knife? Good. You can retrieve it from your own person after I take it from you.”
Honestly, a knife vs. a gun? You have to be a testicle-less motherfucker to think a knife is a threat to you when you’re packing heat. Unless you’re dealing with an Apache that you cannot see. However, there are incidents out there where martial artists have taken knives away from opponents or managed to simply knock it out of the opponents hand. Ever hear of a standing key-lock? I have and it doesn’t tickle.
Then you know squat about the lethality of a knife. The martial artists you speak of are those with decades of experience and would use their experience as a last resort. You make it sound like it’s easy and it certainly isn’t. I doubt many martial artists would go up against an expert in the use of a knife.
You don’t take a knife to a gun fight and you don’t go unarmed to a knife fight.
BTW ask a martial artist to wear a police uniform with all its accouterments and ask him to do a few moves, then ask him how easy it was.
Timmie, your curriculum does not preclude non-lethal options in this case. I suppose we’ll see what the outcome is in court. Hopefully the “special” police can police the police, as weird as that sounds. The first three shots were sufficient to disarm the suspect. Afterward the suspect was on the ground. I would hope that a reasonable judge would find additional gunfire to be unreasonable and excessive.
So you saw video of the subject being disarmed after three shots? I’d love to see that video. Because none of the videos I’ve seen showed anything clearly including the subject. But hey why wait for facts when you can speculate. There hasn’t even been an autopsy report to say how many times or where the subject was hit. So unlike you, I will wait for reports with facts.
Dim Tim, I will refer you to STEPHEN HARPER IS THE DEVIL. on 08/02/2013 at 5:42 PM regarding “facts”.
Clearly you’re so biased in favour of the police that there’s no point arguing with you. Video evidence and eye witness accounts simply are not good enough for you.
If a trained police officer needs nine shots to disarm a kid on a narrow aisle of a street car, within what looks to be fairly close range, then the police need better training.
And again you know shit about what you speak. You get partial information and make a judgement. Like I said, let the investigation happen, submit the report, and lay charges , if warranted. Is that a bit too difficult to grasp? There have been many cops who have been investigated, charged and convicted on a myriad of offences, so saying cops always get away is naive at best.
Shut up, Tim. The video I watched may have been “unclear”, but basic physics dictates how someone who is attacking will fall and what direction they will fall. The guy, after being shot 3 times, falls on his side (or on his stomach, that’s the unclear part) in the direction of the back of the bus. Presumably, if a person with a knife is in “attack mode”, where he will inevitably have to descend stairs to attack, would have fallen forward, down the stairs and out of the bus.
The cops were on scene for a matter of a minute and a half before they shot a kid with a knife. No regard for why he was in the situation he was in. Was he mentally unstable? No one knows now, do they, Tim? Just another criminal piece of shit, right? Hose down the bus, give the cop a medal and move on, right?
I can tell you this right now, this is why most people who disrespect the police, disrespect the police. When it comes to regular folks, cops automatically categorize (profile people, if you prefer) and assign guilt based of their preconceived “suspicions”, that’s why the need for lawyers, courts, and judges. Because cops can’t be trusted with impunity, period.
When it comes to cops doing wrong, they get suspended WITH PAY and everyone gathers around them, tells him/her it’s okay and they were justified in their actions because their job is hard, and “unless you do this dangerous job you have no right to judge”. Ummm…yes we do. You work for us, dipshit. You are there to “serve and protect” US, sometimes you may even have to PROTECT US FROM OURSELVES.
Shooting a troubled person is not protection. Taking time to find out the “facts” (the same “facts” you like to wrap yourselves in) of the situation is your job, not proclaiming yourself judge, jury, and executioner.
Well said, Steve-o. Shitty situation all around.
“to wear a police uniform with all its accouterments” nuff said.
the rcmp think a stapler is a dangerous weapon
They’ll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands….
http://forum-img.pinside.com/pinball/forum…
So SHITTY link to the video you are talking about.. The one at the Herald showed nothing useful.
So if Bro Tim attacks me with a twig I have full right to use a 2×4 on him … with all my accouterments. Way to know nothing of martial arts, bro. I’ll await your attempt to put me to sleep with a d’arce choke.
Yeah but Ching Ching beats all martial arts.
BTW I’ve never read in the paper many, if any articles about martial artists disarming gun or knife wielding people in real life. Again that is more Hollywood than reality.
This Ching Ching?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUPOJi7nZ_…
“If you’re in a fair fight, someone in your chain of command has fucked up big time”
-attributed to anonymous foot soldiers from the beginning of recorded history to the present day.
THE BATTLE AT THE OK CORRAL
Look, all of this can be settled at the next summit. Guns, knives and tasers will be permitted. As judge, I shall award points for “kill shots” made by members of each team. Extra marks will be awarded for difficulty and style. When I drop my handkerchief, the lights will go out and the action will begin.
Good luck and Godspeed to all!
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
Fuckin “A”! Now we got us a game….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV1EL6wQtfw
some things are so obvious they should move anyone. enough people here have accused me of ‘supporting the cops no matter what’ (tj – your post about the drive thru)
I watched the video. one officer walking towards the group of others was holstering his gun when the others started firing. he obviously thought there was no need. I think one guy freaked and started firing and the others lost their minds. they panicked.
not something that gives you the warm and fuzzies about people who are supposed to be trained to the max about reactions, overcoming their own instincts (who else would go TOWARDS danger?) and judgement in volatile situation.
I DO give cops the benefit of the doubt first. but I can’t on this. the guy was probably a creep, and could have been Hannibal lector but still should not have been shot by police. he simply was not dangerous to THEM at that moment.
One time the cops turned their lights/siren on while behind me in a drive-thru line. Fuck them. I didn’t budge. Ain’t no way Ivan and Bro Tim were going to the Mozzas and onion rings that my post-tax-deduction dollars paid for.
That was you?
Man, I had the munchies something fierce that night. Had to shake down 3 donair shop owners with threats of waterboarding and Femen tittie pix before I felt sated.
I don’t mind paying your salary but not your mufuckin’ burgers, cuz!
“He pullzh a shawarma; you pull a shouvlaki. He shendhz one of yourzh to McDonldzh. You shend one of hizh to Red Lobshter. Thatsh the Halifaxsh way, Mr. Nesh”
http://content7.flixster.com/photo/64/03/8…
Ching ching, the sound an automatic pist makes when the slide is brought back then released to put a round in the chamber. I’m still waiting for someone to show a better video than what was in the Herald.
And what is this business about a fair fight? This is not boxing under the Marquis of Queensbury Rules.
Again I will wait for the autopsy and investigation reports.
Bro Tim:
http://content9.flixster.com/question/67/6…
Bro Tim would defend a cop’s Tasering of a kitten or a puppy because that kitten has fangs and claws and the cop’s life could have been threatened by those weapons.
Better to be judged by 6 than carried by 12
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdv3vdwl…
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/c…
Well Steve Lombardi, the worst record in wrestling, if you even bothered to read my posts, You would have learned first I never commented on the Toronto case other than to let the investigation happen and for it to be released. If the cop is found to be in the wrong then charges need to be laid and dealt with. Rogue and bad cops but all the good ones in a bad light. But hey why wait for the facts when you can lynch him now.
I’ll repeat Hoist’s link.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/c…
“But hey why wait for the facts when you can lynch him now.”
I wonder if that’s what the officer that shot Sammy thought right before he pulled the trigger.
So, this went from the police were not justified to shoot the guy nine times, to the first three rounds were sufficient. So whoever fired the first three rounds is off the hook but whoever the hell fired the other six is going to pay dearly and they crossed the line! Then as Hoist just pointed out, its alright to lynch the cops but little Sammy was just a defensless little guy armed with a knife who is currently not guilty of anything, but not the cop!
No one is perfect. Should we expect high standards from anyone in uniform? Yes we should. But wait, they’re people, not gods amoung us. So let the public inquiry start and lynch every police officer that has done something wrong. Then of course we’ll be left with empty police stations and a parking lot full of cruisers. Then who will answer the 911 call for the next poor little Sammy guy?
Kurt Cobain once said “left wing, right wing, broken wing”. I’m the broken wing of politics, neither left nor right. But if some knife weilding maniac gets shot and killed I couldn’t care less. My god, the story wasn’t “unarmed teenager shot using public transportation”.
This is the best example of our perverted sense of entitlement.
What is an autopsy going to show that will change anyone’s perception of what took place? Obviously he died from the gunshot wounds, or the tazering.
I have lost a lot of respect for some of you.
“…as Hoist just pointed out, its alright to lynch the cops but little Sammy was just a defensless little guy …”
-Nukka on 08/07/2013 at 10:30 AM
“Sammy wasn’t innocent. He did fuck up and certainly deserved some jail time, no question. But he should not have been murdered.”
-HoistThatRag on 08/02/2013 at 6:19 PM
The same people who cling to our justice system when it comes time to wait and see if the cops will find themselves guilty of any wrong doing are the first ones to ignore the fact that Sammy did not receive the right to a fair trial. Hell even Paul Bernardo and that rapist/murderer Colonial Russell got that much at least.
But yeah, you guys are right. Sammy deserved it. The cops should be allowed to shoot anyone they want.
Wonderful news
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/stor…
Awesome! Thanks for the update SirMeow!
Now for those who went on about cover ups and no charges would be laid can shut the fuck up. Investigation is completed and charged laid. It worked. Now for the court system to work and if found guilty, throw the book at him. Se the system does work. When it doesn’t it’s usually because people don’t want to “rat” on someone.
Bro Tim, where were people going on about conspiracy theories? If you like you and I can have a contest and see who can find more links to stories where cops abused their power and got away with it vs actually stood trial and were convicted of a criminal offense, in which they received a standard prison sentence. Charges have been laid, he has yet to be convicted or sentenced. Still waiting to see if justice will be served here.
Tim: STFU, the police station needs its floors mopped. Dingbat!
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds”
Theodore Roosevelt, 1910.
Suck it, pogue.
Who is striving valiantly to do good deeds? You, right? Must be you.
“It is not the critic who counts”. I take exception to that. Critics from the public play an important role in holding public institutions to a certain standard and ensuring that abuses of power are held in check. You can quote whomever you choose, but those who are granted special privileges to carry out functions to the benefit of the public ought to be held accountable to the public. That is the very nature of what it means to be a public servant. The relationship between the police and the public (you and I) involves an explicit exchange of special power and authority for accountability and transparency. It is the role, or perhaps even the responsibility, of the public to ask questions and critique.
Imagine if we lived in a police state where no one criticized the police out of fear of reprisals of one sort or another. If that were the case, there would be no video recordings of police brutalities, no media coverage, no public commentary and, in all likelihood, no charges laid in the event of police brutality of even the most extreme kinds (murder). Unjust killings would go on with no one held to account.
So, please keep to yourself your righteous condemnation of critics.
No Sport, it isn’t me. I’ve been accused of viewing the world and it’s conflicts through the simplistic prism of a Tom Clancy novel or the unobstructed certitude of a war movie or video game and there’s some truth to that. But the sofa-bound “forensic expert” and the pampered, protected, armchair critic really weary my ass. To the point that I react, with human predictability, to the opposite extreme. Because the threat to me does not lie with that miniscule number of individuals ,who have volunteered to protect society, who may err, or overstep their bounds. It lies with the vastly larger amount of semi-evolved filth who have made the conscious decision to prey on society and the people in it. (you and I).
So, if a law enforcement professional, decides that there was an error in tactics – I’ll buy that.
But you – you may be competent to write a restaurant or movie review based on what you like but when it comes to life and death issues, a man should know his limitations. It’s not your “right” to criticise better men than yourself, that I question.
It’s your competence to do so.
Mere peasants such as myself can only judge restaurants presumably because we’re glutinous half-wits.
Following this logic, only rapists can judge other rapists, only murderers can judge other murderers, and only genocidal maniacs can judge other genocidal maniacs.
Yes, I agree that my opinion regarding his guilt is just that – an opinion. It’s probably as valid as the premature assertions of OJ Simpson’s guilt, and we all know how that turned out.
But I only jape.
I’m not arguing about my capabilities as a crown prosecutor. I am suggesting that public criticism, even armchair criticism, can sometimes be a necessary condition for an impartial evaluation of wrongdoing by public servants, particularly those who have the ability to conceal and manipulate evidence when it is in their interest to do so. Handwaving is sometimes needed to draw the attention of those with necessary authority, expertise and professionalism. I don’t think we would be talking about a trial were it not for the public’s role in keeping this on the daily news. That includes bitching and whining about police brutality.
First of all, I am pleased that a review took place and that the officer responsible for firing the gun was charged with a serious offense. If the circumstances around this case were more vague (no video, eyewitnesses, etc) I might be inclined to give the responding officer the benefit of the doubt. However, in this particular case, there should be little doubt in the minds of a rational thinking individual that grossly inappropriate actions were taken which resulted in the unwarranted and illegal death of a young man. I think that valid advances can be made to support the assertion that this problem is a little more systemic and a little less isolated than some of us would like to believe.
Here’s a look at the bigger picture and I really hope those who are interested in this topic on either side of the argument take a moment to watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=play…
Skip to 2:00 if you don’t want the backstory about the fiscal cliff that we’re about to leap off of like a country full of lemmings. The cops are not your friends.
“Glutinous half-wit?”
You mean like this:
http://www.thecolonialtheatre.com/col_wp/i…
Any peasant can write a restaurant review. Observe:
“The sous-chef at The Emancipated Macaque was offended by my use of the word puke. But, to me, that’s exactly what her garlic infused puree of Brussell’s sprouts, looked, smelled and tasted like”.
Easy, no?
Armchair criticism, by it’s very nature, involves pre-existing prejudices, not to mention the gratuitous and unsupported presumption of expertise so don’t ever think that it has the slightest thing to do with an “impartial evaluation”. In this particular case, those crying “Good Morning, Justice” will be certainly claiming the opposite if the officer is acquitted, even if the evidence is overwhelmingly in his favor, or, more likely, insufficient to gain a conviction.
And, I’ll re-iterate. If you are going to demand professionalism, you should probably know whereof you speak. Watching 30 seconds of video doesn’t make one an expert, no matter how many times they watch it.
So, in my eyes, the armchair critic remains a pitiable, contemptible creature, which has the right to make itself heard, but not the obligation to be heeded.
Now this on the other hand, is outrageous, egregious and preposterous:
http://www.tmz.com/2013/08/19/lebron-james…
“So, in my eyes, the armchair critic remains a pitiable, contemptible creature, which has the right to make itself heard, but not the obligation to be heeded.”
Of course, that works both ways colonel. At least the ‘armchair critic’ you’re speaking of is doing research, rather than just blindly trusting/loving/accepting brutal force against citizens. I am neither pitiable nor contemptible for choosing to be aware of the direction in which we are headed – not only as a nation but as global society. I am a freethinker and I have an open mind, I’m not against authoritarian institutions by design, I’ve actually put a lot of time into LEARNING what is going on and why.
The link I posted mentions plans in the U.S. to disarm American citizens. It is actually a Sheriff speaking out against it at the end of the video. There is some hype in that video that I don’t care for but there are also a lot of facts…I wonder why the department of national defense (U.S.) has spent billions of dollars in recent years stockpiling ammo, drones, tank-like police vehicles, FEMA prison camps and training officers in military tactics? There can only be one answer: America is arming itself against its citizenry while attempting to disarm them. I would think you’d be against that sort of thing.
If you chose not to learn about these things, that’s your choice. But don’t be surprised if your freedoms (that men/women have died to protect) get stripped away. It’s easy to be apathetic when these things happen to people you can’t relate to such as Trayvon or Sammy (small scale examples) but not as easy when it’s happening to ordinary folks whose only crime is SPEAKING out against a perceived injustice perpetrated by the state.
When MY freedoms get stripped away, in THIS country, it will be done in the name of ‘social justice”, “cultural diversity” “community cohesion” and “sustainability”. And the people doing it will be very, sincere, very earnest and utterly convinced that it is for the greater good. And they will expect me to agree with them, because only a lunatic, or conservative, could possibly be against such things. The clip was interesting, but anything from Infowars sets off alarm bells to me. All that was missing was Jesse Ventura saying “Wait just a minute. I’m a former Governor. And Navy SEAL. I thought this was America” For an interesting intellectual exercise, sit down, as I have done, with some Occupy Kids, or anybody who identifies as Left, Anarchist, Socialist, Green, etc. Get them going on the subject of police power, capitalist economics, law and order whatever. Then ask them about “reasonable” restrictions on individual liberty when it comes to environmental protection or redistributing the wealth. Pretty frigging eye-opening.
Now you ask why the American Dept. of Defence has been stockpiling ammunition, investing in drones developing tanklike vehicles (you mean like tanks?)and training it’s officers in military tactics, – my answer is – Because it’s the Army? Seriously, an 11 year war, high intensity urban operations in failed states, a technological revolution in Remotely Operated Combat Vehicles – there’s nothing particularly sinister about this. And if America is arming itself against it’s citizenry, American business is arming the citizenry at an even faster rate. It always has.
In the early 30’s General John Thompson was marketing his privately developed M-1928 pattern submachinegun to law enforcement. Sales in that sector only began to take off when gangsters like Al Capone and bank robbers like John Dillinger began popularizing it.
Read Bryan Burroughs’ book “Public Enemies” to see how a minor public functionary named J. Edgar Hoover in an underfunded branch of the Treasury Department used a “War On Crime” to create a personal empire, as well as a reasonably effective branch of Federal Law Enforcement (A cracking good read, as well).
Like you, I tend to have a rather pessimistic vision of the future but I believe that the current revolution in information technology is radically reshaping our notions of personal privacy, personal liberty, personal responsibility. The apparatus of The State is, like it always has been, behind the curve, struggling to deal with these changes – not driving them.
Anyway – thanks for the thought provoking info.
Yes, I have talked to people in the Occupy thing in Halifax. I was not a fan of them. Most of them had no idea what they were talking about, listening to the speeches was like being lectured by a junior high student on the challenges facing retiree’s. I even sat and listened to this guy in a wheelchair talking about chemtrails and advanced robotics. It was completely ludicrous but entertaining none-the-less. Still have it on video.
I guess I am pretty left wing, though usually I try to stay neutral. Lately, libertarianism has been interesting me but there are a lot of whack jobs on that front as well. I will check out Bryan Burroughs’ “Public Enemies” the next time I’m at the book store. I’ve got a couple ones on the go now but I will definitely add it to my short list. I enjoy reading things from different perspectives, even ones I might not agree with.
Yes, the source of my video was not exactly A1 in the reputability department but some of the topics they touched on are legitimate concerns of mine. I don’t care for the hype as I said but I am wary of these FEMA prisons and the military tactics used by police (NOT the army) against citizens. It would be much more preferable to have this discussion in person as there are a lot of points that I’d like to make but find it difficult here – I keep wanting to go and find things on google to support my assertions but that just gets annoying and we’re having a chat, not debating on a political stage or writing a thesis.
One point that is noteworthy is the current state of Detroit. If this is to be a precursor of the fate of the rest of America, do you not think that will have significant impact on us here in Canada? What is the point in living in a ‘free and democratic’ society when you can’t escape the watchful eye of big brother (for lack of a less obnoxious term)? How free are we really, if the police or the government can suspend our basic rights indefinitely?
That is why that it is such a positive thing that second-degree murder charges have been laid in the Yatim case. It is proof that there are still repercussions for officers who use excessive force against citizens. Even those who may deserve to be roughed up a bit.
A book that I would recommend to you, that I found very eye-opening (years before this occupy movement – which I both agree and disagree with for a litany of reasons under each category) is “Shock Doctrine: The Rise and Fall of Disaster Capitalism” by Naomi Klein. No doubt you’ve heard the title, there’s been a documentary made about the book that, IMO, does not do the written text justice.
And just for your amusement Colonel, I will share with you a FB convo I’m having with my best friend about the clip I posted here. He’s a lot smarter than I am. I mean, I think I’m pretty smart and I try to stay focused on facts but sometimes I get a little carried away or tricked by misleading articles. That’s what he is for. For example, I don’t know a few of the names he mentioned in his reply on FB. This link might not have been my best choice today…the brackets are me:
i have to get onto the coast message boards. i’m going to watch this. i know i’ll like it because ron paul is in it (He is being funny)
i’m like 3 minutes in and so far i’d say it’s 20 percent factual and 80 percent conspiracy stuff.
any time i see infowars i get skeptical (Sound familiar?)
oh jesus there’s david icke. (Who?)
i dunno man
7:34pm
B*** M****
i think the message is somewhat correct but the sources are mostly wack. i don’t think there’s a grand conspiracy leading the western world into a police state. (I also don’t think it’s a ‘grand conspiracy’ but I do think we are headed in that direction)
David Icke – lol.
I enjoy watching Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy show for the laughs. Icke is sometimes featured, but oddly enough, never expounding on the 12 foot tall interdimensional Reptilian Aliens who form the centre-piece of his theories. Guess even Jesse has his credibility limits.
I confess that I consider Ron Paul to be a chucklehead of the highest order. Anybody who can make a statement like (and I’m paraphrasing) “We may find that diplomacy is more important than bombs or bribes in keeping America safe” is an idiot. If a politician can’t recognize that bombs, bribes and every option that falls in between is “diplomacy” then he probably shouldn’t set his sights higher than running the local Chamber of Commerce.
His cuntish “live by the sword” comment on the death of Chris Kyle was beneath contempt.
I can’t promise that I’ll read the Klein. She is , after all, on my Enemies List >: ) (Part of the fun of being a reactionary old crank is having an Enemies List, heh heh heh) But, never say never.
I am interested in how the media and political commentators treated Obama’s handling of Hurricane Sandy vs. Bush after Katrina. People on the “shore” were without services for just as long and at a worse time of the year but we never once saw someone like Jon Bon Jovi on national TV saying “Obama hates Guidos” D’you suppose that the great unwashed had a massive group epiphany that President’s can’t magically fix natural disasters with a pen and a photo-op?
Any way, once again – many interesting points to consider. Much obliged.