Positive News from the USA

saip · Post by **saip** » 28 Nov 2014 02:19

Heard most of the property that was damaged in Ferguson belonged to blacks. Akin to most of the Muslims that are killed is by fellow Muslims.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 28 Nov 2014 02:35

^^^ Yes the actions resulting from real victimhood can be very similar to the actions resulting from manufactured victimhood.

Look at the root cause of the disease, and not just symptoms.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 28 Nov 2014 04:04

The rioting took away focus from the policeman's action and has resulted in tut-tut comments all over the media.

Saip, Don't you think in black neighborhoods the property owners will be mostly black? Hence damage will be to their property.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 28 Nov 2014 04:23

UlanBatori wrote:Back in 1961, an elephant got a bit mad and decided to get some exercise in the narrow streets of downtown Ulan Bataar, Kerala. Rather large target, mind u, other points of comparison ignored. The Kerala Polis were heroic then as now, and well-prepared. Since the elephant's trajectory was predictable, they brilliantly predicted it, cleared the streets, formed an Ambush Box, and had their 0.303s at the ready.
COMPANEEE!!! AIM FOR THE LEGS, ONLEEEEE THE LEGS!
was the order.

They waited until they saw the white of the tusker's tusks, calmly raised their 0.303s to their shoulders, and fired. 20 bullets. ONE hit the elephant. In the middle of the forehead. Finis.
.

The part of MB stealing cigarillos and the Elephant probably knocking over an SDRE's wares and the Elephant and MB's disproportionate punishment by police is a parallel alright.

What is the Ulan Bator equivalent of shooting a 12year old from 10 feet? MB:big elephant (in UB, Kerala)::Tamir Rice:??

It seems that Wilson panicked just like those policement in UB, Kerala. But any way here is the conflicting description:
http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7287443/d ... nson-story

Overall, three basic cultures are regularly exposed in the papers in Khanland - Gun culture, Rape Culture and Drug culture. Oh! well!!

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 28 Nov 2014 21:02

I always liked Bill:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nette.html
My eyes are up here! Bill Clinton caught 'not paying attention' in selfie with attractive brunette
Gautam

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 29 Nov 2014 07:32

But any way here is the conflicting description:
http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7287443/d ... nson-story

Overall, three basic cultures are regularly exposed in the papers in Khanland - Gun culture, Rape Culture and Drug culture. Oh! well!!

What comes across in Johnson's story (if it is reported accurately on that site) is that Brown was indeed no angel - his style was to go rob law-abiding people, and physically abuse them. That is a "town rowdy" - maybe there was a whole lot of such types there.
Given that, it is quite clear that some form of violence would have been necessary to stop his sort of behavior so that law-abiding people could continue to mind their business.
OK, so there is no point in second-guessing the police officer: his attitude that such people tend to be violent, was on the money. His attitude may seem prejudiced, biased, racist, aggressive, whatever you call it, but he is the one sent into that area when an innocent person is attacked. He has to form some sharp decision criteria to do his job and stay alive. He did, and he was accurate: The two, at Brown, WAS violent and abusive. Was he already on drugs? How would the officer know? After going to Houristan? I don't think I can ask him to do that.

Now we are into Lokesh's question: But did Michael deserve to die that that? That's hair-splitting. The police officer was put in a position where he did have to draw his gun, and fire.

I can see why the Gland July could not decide to indict Officer Wilson. His behavior was consistent with that of police anywhere in the world, asked to go alone and catch and subdue a violent thug who was terrorizing the neighborhood. Probably the shopkeepers sighed in relief:

One down, many more to go

What would Mumbai or Dilli polis have done if they were alone against someone like that? Say "yes, sir! and back off when the guy shouted **** you! etc? Sorry, American police, and police anywhere, are supposed to uphold respect for their badge etc., not be namby-pamby piskologists.

It is not up to Officer Wilson to reason that the thug's behavior was the result of his great-great-grandparents having been enslaved and brutalized - but certainly not by the Indian store attendant. It WAS people with Brown's attitude that generated the Simon LeGree types that made life so terrible for Brown's ancestors.

Brown lived down to the worst stereotypes. The officer lived down almost all the way, but of the two, it was the officer who had a job to do, Brown only had to do nothing. I can't honestly second-guess the officer.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 29 Nov 2014 08:14

^^^ From anyone else, I would let this go, having seen the match teams form. But it is not for you to captain team Murica. This, I believe.

There really is no basis for forming conclusions against Brown given what we have been shown. Do note that Ferguson HAS cruiser cameras, it claims not to have the money to install them.

Do note that Wilson is on TV, in lawyered up language, hours after the jury verdict. This is not the behavior of a responsible person. The gentleman was not carrying a tazer by choice. He had a chance to disengage when Brown tried to run away, but chose to get out and shoot him. Then he went to the station, washed his hands, made sure no fingerprints, pictures or recordings were made, and then hid.

These circumstances preclude a Brown vs Wilson responsibility allocation. One is a trained officer, even if once fired as part of disbanding an entire station. The other took no oath. You cant compare these, except at your own detriment.

In the age of donut incentivised security people demanding tanks, justification of Wilson is a justification of militarization.

Re. Dilli or Mumbai pandus, in most cases the cane (which often causes blunt force injuries) is a savior. However, this is how the downhill skiing that is law enforcement started. Tomorrow (perhaps even today), the pandus will use use the Merican justification to demand infinite power and ever lesser scrutiny.

Everyone with power, any kind of power, is a dictator in their own little kingdom. I know you are too. Where there is no scrutiny, much more abuse will take place. The officer has a case to answer to his community. MO will have let him go scott free regardless, but having to sit through public hearing is a small price to pay compared to the damage the alternative chosen did.

Praising the officers "for their service" five times a day does not make them angels. Going through bthe motions is like playing the full match even if you are ten goals down and have had two players sent off. Anything shorter is throwing the match.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 29 Nov 2014 11:21

Holding onto horses, mounted police officer ended shooting spree

At least three shooting attacks on downtown Austin buildings ended early Friday morning after a mounted patrol officer confronted the suspected shooter, police said.

Shortly after 2:30 a.m., Sgt. Adam Johnson, a 15-year veteran with the Austin Police Department, was corralling two horses after his night shift when he saw a man firing multiple rounds at the police headquarters building and managed to return fire, police said.

“For a guy to keep his composure and holding two horses with one hand and taking a one-hand shot with the other hand, it says a lot about the training and professionalism of our police department,” Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.

The suspected gunman was later pronounced dead but police said investigators and the medical examiner’s office are still working to determine whether a shot fired by Johnson or by the gunman himself caused his death.

Johnson had been placed on administrative leave, which is standard police protocol during officer-involved shootings.

Johnson has been leading the 12-member mounted patrol unit, which focuses primarily on keeping Sixth Street and the Warehouse district safe at night.

The mounted patrol unit was one of several police units that responded during the Halloween floods in 2013. Johnson and the other unit members helped find lost horses along Onion Creek.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 29 Nov 2014 13:22

Shreeman wrote:Re. Dilli or Mumbai pandus, in most cases the cane (which often causes blunt force injuries) is a savior.

There is a difference. In the situation in Ferguson, US:-
1. Offr. Wilson was all alone (even though he had a big cruiser for himself)
2. Gun culture is quite prevalent there. So he can assume that the MB and his pal may also would be armed.
3. MB and his pal had just finished a "noble deed" of robbing a shop and assaulting an Indian sales man. And Offr. Wilson was aware of it. That is why he pulled back to confront MB.

Now in India:-
1. No police patrol goes with one single man. It would have at least 2-3 people inside. Even foot patrols/beat would have two people.
2. Guns are still a rarity in India. The police can expect some crude weapons like a knife etc. But they have more strength in numbers to deal with the culprit.

Everyone with power, any kind of power, is a dictator in their own little kingdom.

Was'nt it a former Police Commissioner in Bangalore who reminded his Police Inspectors a simple truth - "There should only be one rowdy in any area. It would either be a professional rowdy, or the police inspector himself".

To be quite honest, if MB had actually killed Officer Darren Wilson, I feel there would have not been so much issue. Well, it is all part of the job. That is what people would say. The American media seems to be very very similar to our own NDTV etc. etc.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 29 Nov 2014 13:47

Sachin,

There should be no rowdy. None. And a court is not a place to create an excuse for rowdy behavior.

Re. Brown/Wilson, other units (other cops) had responded to the store incident. There was no reason for Wilson to act in the way he did. Wilson wanted Brown to move to the footpath. The whole thing had nothing to do with the store incident until afterward. If Brown was such a demon, and help is in the area do you recommend immediate kushti to resolve the matter? What if Browns friend had actually been armed or joined brown in acting against wilson? This does not add up, and no gymnastics will help.

Non-lethal instruments are good. They provide a second chance.

Finally, the is a special hatred in Murica against officer shootings. Collatral damage or exhorbitant expenditure are both excused in the endless hunt (hunt, since they are rarely caught alive) for perpetrators. A simple google search would provide plenty references.

It is the contradiction that Brown had no weapons, in Murican society where you expect to be shot for mnaking a U-turn in the wrong driveway, yet Brown insisted on taking down the officer not once, but more than once that is preposterous. Brown must have had superhuman courage to do what he did. The consequences for a black male to assault an armed cop are obvious to the most dimly lit.

You cant brush this sort of thing under the carpet, and then go about a media campaign to restore the image of the law enforcement. Those who deal with pandus understand the appropriate interaction approach, as do the black citizens.

The very mnessage of this thread is -- if there is any -- image management is inherently pakistani. Facing the facts squarely, even if they are inconvenient is unavoidable. Sooner or later.

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 29 Nov 2014 14:18

Do note that Wilson is on TV, in lawyered up language, hours after the jury verdict. This is not the behavior of a responsible person. The gentleman was not carrying a tazer by choice. He had a chance to disengage when Brown tried to run away, but chose to get out and shoot him. Then he went to the station, washed his hands, made sure no fingerprints, pictures or recordings were made, and then hid.

Looks like Amreeki training and "following rulebook" only extends up to the point of shooting.

habal · Post by **habal** » 29 Nov 2014 14:28

MB case is a perfect example of 'persecution complex' meets 'police state'.

this is what happens when both meet.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 29 Nov 2014 22:28

Cain Marko wrote:Not to belabor the point Karan, but what you are missing is perspective. While it might not be easy for many to see, a bunch of the ills we see in india today are directly due to the colonial legacy. And every time we blame Macaulay or Muller, we are not providing excuses but looking at things in a relevant context.

The way the police is trained to handle situations requires deeper thought. US culture, including police procedures, is a product of its history, and the relevant episode here is especially traumatic. One can't just wish it away. Under the circumstances, I think it is fair to question the official line.

Are we absolutely sure that the dead man actually assaulted the cop ? And that too in such a fashion that the officer was scared for his life? Do images show what should be truly drastic damage to the officer's face? Keep in mind, hulk Hogan would pretty much pulverize a five year old. And then, having just beaten the officer within an inch of his life, said demon decides to run away. Wonders don't end here, now the quaking officer of the law who has just had a brush with the grim reaper, suddenly finds his courage, and gives chase. In another twist, dead man who presumably ran away out of fear, now has a change of heart and turns around, simply because he decides it is a better idea to run towards the gun toting officer instead of away from him. It doesn't end here, crime scene images are supposedly missing because professional photoman has sudden case of dead batteries and carries no spares. Off course, jn an age of smart phones and ubiquitous cameras, nothing is available. Then the dead man stays unattended for a few hours. The list of wonders goes on....

Again, this is.not to.condone thuggery or rioting, but to look at deeper factors. and unless this is done, I doubt the situation is going to change. Afterall, the punishment for robbing an unfortunate desi is not death so what is the point in bringing up dead mans aggressive nature. Surely, his criminal behavior in the convenience store does not constitute proof that he was aggressive with the officer?

All I am saying is that all this deeper factors, perspective stuff you are quoting goes right out of the window when it's your life at risk. Put yourself in the shoes of that cop and then see whether you would not have acted the same. That's the crux of the issue here.

BTW if one has have ever been in a confrontation, the stuff above, officer fearing for his life, then reacting disproportionately rings very true. That's what many people would do, swing between fear to seeking to end it on their terms, when the balance of power swings their way. It's human nature.

Unfortunately, Hollywood movies have made most people think that some basic PT and gun range work makes an average cop into a stone cold emotionless ST6 pro who can respond with some mega calibrated sophisticated approach when in real life, panic plus adrenalin kick in to make somebody react with violence. Add in the fear of being alone and in a hostile neighbourhood.

Similarly despite all the evils of colonialist stuff and it's impact on us apart, we have had seventy years to get our shtick together. We haven't. After a point of time, the excuses don't cut it because the colonialist have gone but their behaviour remains because we let it. The vast majority of our fellow Indians whom we see acting like dunces were not born during the colonial era, many have had decent resources. They still act like they do because a dysfunctional system lets them think they can do so and because a bunch political jerks made sure only their clan got power and demonised local culture and revival. And these jerks were elected by Indians.

In short, MB May be a deeper tragedy etc, but his actions were bound to elicit confrontation. And deeper factors don't excuse his actions or indict the cop.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 30 Nov 2014 00:01

Yes, Being a bolicemann is the most dangerous job in the USofA, the land-o-guns and em black thugs

The report found that across the entire country, only 76 LEOs were killed in “line-of-duty” incidents. 27 died as a result of “felonious” acts and 49 officers died in accidents–namely, automobile (ironically, of the 23 killed in car accidents, 14 were not wearing seat belts–a violation for which cops routinely ticket drivers). More officers die from accidents than actual murders on the job. The report also outright admits that intentional murders of cops were down from 2004 and 2009.

Driving a car is safer than being a cop, things are so dangerous onleeeee

27 police officers in a country with over 300 million people died last year. Law enforcement deaths-by-murder are included in the 49,851 “assaults” against officers, which means that .05 (half a percent) died as a result of alleged attacks. Crime against cops has dropped to a 50 year low. It’s more dangerous to drive a car than be a cop (this is bolstered by the fact that the number of cops who died in car accidents almost equals the total number of cops murdered–23 to 27).

Bliss to read the report 'ere (very interesting):
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/le ... leoka-home

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 30 Nov 2014 00:18

BTW, let me tell you guys this:

Unless you have been on the wrong side of the cops gun (I have a couple of times), you would have no idea, no perspective on how fast you can meet your maker. So spare me the bullshit about how I am playing the victimization card here.

Colonization has left a deep deep impact on our psyche, one can read some of the other threads if one cares. Connecting a study of the psychological impact of colonialism to the impact of a deeply racist administration here that has caused immeasurable harm to every community involved and drawing an '==' between them, shows lack of understanding and perspective at best and bullshit peddling at worst (which is what privileged whites do).

I am really disappointed that some here are peddling exactly line by line what some ch()()tiyas in stormfront do.

I can bet that most of you who are peddling this line aren't living in the US or havent yet been on the wrong side of the law (be it with your doing or not). Having a gun pulled on you is a life changing event, if you are not dead at the end of the episode.

When I say "you will get perspective when you are on the wrong side of a cop's gun", I dont wish that fate on anyone here. Even if we disagree vehemently with each other.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 30 Nov 2014 00:42

I am taking a small vacation off BRF, but let me leave you guys with this:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/0 ... s-in-utah/

This was the guy who was killed for wearing a costume, and also do look at the video and tell me who likely assaulted whom (Not graphic video, does not show victim while shots are being fired):
http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/26/72 ... h-shooting

Also note, the bullets hit him "right in the middle of the back". The police department has come up with multiple version of stories. Currently its at V3.0 which completely contradicts the V2.0 story and of course both of them completely contradict what any person with any intelligence can see in the video posted above. He is not going to get justice and neither will you (or your sibling or your child) if one of you ever end up in his situation.

Note that it is a mostly white neighborhood, and a couple of women walked very close to him without ever getting "attacked". How did this man who for all practical purposes seemed to be rational and sane, end up running for his life and then get shot in the back all in a matter of a couple of mintes. What was the justification for that? The cops were not fast enough so they had to stop the threat to their life. He was a 100 feet away when the started shooting, what could he have done with the sword: Throw it backwards and pray that it hits cops?

Is that all what someones life is worth? Of course I will be blamed for playing the victim and race card here. The whites are apparently tired of hearing that, and that is because of incidents like this and their frequency means that non-white people are living it everyday.

Complaining of the "race card" in America is like complaining of getting wet while swimming in water. (Source: Hari Kondababu? standup comedy routine)

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 30 Nov 2014 00:46

X-Post from the US relations thread - A departure from the usual passive reporting about the US:

Racism and law enforcement - Editorial, The Hindu

A grand jury’s exoneration of Darren Wilson, the white police officer who on August 9 shot dead an unarmed teenager on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, sent shock waves across the United States this week. The fact that 18-year-old Michael Brown died violently on the streets of the quiet St. Louis suburb and no one will be held accountable for his death has left Americans of all colours once again searching their souls for answers. Some of them made their anger known to the world. Thousands took to the streets across major cities, braving the likelihood of yet another heavy-handed crackdown by the police and the National Guard. In Ferguson, the rage spilled over and took an ugly turn as gunfire erupted across the night, dozens of buildings and police cars were set ablaze, and looters had a free run in parts of the city. President Barack Obama reiterated his muted call for calm on all sides, but had clearly not sensed the mood of collective anguish that was engulfing the African-American community, or did not wish to confront the questions that they were asking: why had a behind-closed-doors grand jury that was 75 per cent white decided that there was no probable cause to take the case to trial? Why was police officers’ use of deadly force, especially against minorities, considered an acceptable practice?

The Brown-Wilson case holds up a mirror unto the troubling state of race relations in America. First, it is only the latest in a long list of flashpoints triggered by law enforcement brutality towards unarmed African-Americans, including the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin (17) and the videotaped 1991 beating of Rodney King, both cases in which the accused officers were acquitted. Second, it shows how public prosecutors or other government officials may manoeuvre juridical proceedings in a manner that renders a plaintiff victory effectively impossible. Since the verdict was announced, the St. Louis County Prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, has come under fire for his decision to use a grand jury in this highly sensitive case, thus precluding a transparent and exhaustive trial involving detailed cross-examination. Third, the imprint of the racist stereotyping of African-Americans amongst police officers, which was arguably evident in the testimony of Mr. Wilson, has a wider echo in terms of relatively higher incarceration rates. The searing racism in the U.S. has often made it an uncomfortable place for minorities, as it was for Muslims, Sikhs and even Hindus in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. African-Americans of all backgrounds, however, face a daily, ongoing threat to their lives and security, given the toxic mix of historical prejudice and law enforcement’s gun culture.

P.S. Posting this on this thread as this is a take of an Indian newspaper about some event in the US. Mods, if this is not acceptable here, I will move this post to the 'Understanding US' thread.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 30 Nov 2014 00:47

X-Post from the US relations thread - A departure from the usual passive reporting about the US:

Another op-ed, The Hindu seems to be on a roll. Posting in full, as IMHO, these are rare examples of some 'positive news' about khan land by desi media.

Contours of prejudice - Narayan Lakshman, The Hindu

The Ferguson episode shows how nothing has changed for the African-American community since Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation into law in 1863

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty — Thomas Jefferson

Each year incidents of violence against African-Americans sear the national conscience in the U.S.; yet in most cases there is little accountability for the crime, fragile hope for a fair review within the judicial system and an infinitesimal chance that justice will be served.

When an unarmed 18-year-old African-American Michael Brown was shot no fewer than six times by a white police officer Darren Wilson on August 9 on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, his death was a poignant reminder that nothing fundamental has changed for this community in the 151 years since Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation into law.

When Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called out 2,200 members of the National Guard and declared an emergency in his state ahead of a ruling in the case this month, it was an eloquent statement on the atmosphere of suspicion and repression that has engulfed parts of the U.S.

America’s intractable “race problem,” which has shown no sign of withering under the nation’s first-ever African-American President, Barack Obama, is rooted in multidimensional prejudice, which taints not only the various institutions of law enforcement but also seeps through broader socio-cultural mores.

Brown’s case exemplifies all that is wrong with this state of hate. In the immediate aftermath of his killing, peaceful protesters in Ferguson, comprising African-Americans, whites, and other ethnicities, were greeted with a fierce crackdown by police armed with military-grade weapons.

Despite President Obama’s appeal for calm, tensions escalated as the police began strong-arming and arresting protesters and mediapersons in Ferguson. Already bitter from experiencing police intimidation and the use of tear gas against them, protestors and those seeking justice for Brown had to wait for more than three months for his legal case to make its way through the justice system.

Grand jury’s verdict

On November 24, a grand jury effectively exonerated Mr. Wilson of any wrongdoing by refusing to indict him for the shooting and thus blocking the case from proceeding to a trial jury. The very use of a grand jury in such a sensitive case begs interrogation.

Grand juries in the U.S. are in some senses an anachronism of medieval English law, wherein a coterie of “informed citizens” would aid the king and his administration in sifting through rumours and common knowledge about an alleged crime, before a formal verdict was reached and punishment meted out.

While the functioning of modern-day grand juries in this country has some similarities to its transatlantic antecedent, U.S. law does not permit criminal prosecutions to be brought by private individuals for the most part, unlike in medieval England, and grand juries serve in an environment of prosecutorial guidance or discretion.

This means that in a majority of cases the public prosecutor calls up a grand jury when he is actively seeking to prosecute, and once he does so, the prosecutor has a free hand to present his side of the arguments and urge the grand jury to produce an indictment so long as they find probable cause.

In a case of relevance to India the indictment and re-indictment of Devyani Khobragade, former Indian Deputy Consul General who was arrested in New York in December 2013 on visa fraud charges, was by a grand jury which, upon receiving arguments and evidence from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, found probable cause in the prosecutor’s case.

It is in this context that a former judge famously said that prosecutors could persuade a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich,” a likely reflection of official figures suggesting that of the 1,62,000 federal cases prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in 2010, all but 11 resulted in an indictment by the grand jury.

What went wrong here?

One “catch” with the mechanism of grand juries, and a reason why incensed protestors in Ferguson and across the nation have taken to the streets, is that grand juries do not hear the full extent of evidence that trial jurors would, and neither is there an established precedent for cross-examination.

While it may be true that in the Darren Wilson case the 12 members of the grand jury heard 70 hours of testimony, the hearings were held in secret and even the public release of reams of evidence presented to the grand jury was not tantamount to a public trial.

Racial composition

The second, disturbing aspect of the grand jury was its racial composition — of the 12 jurors “selected at random from a fair cross-section of the citizens,” according to Missouri law, 75 per cent were white. Although St. Louis County’s overall population is 70 per cent white, nearly two-thirds of Ferguson’s residents are African-American.

Whatever the intentions of Mr. McCulloch in taking the case before a grand jury in this manner, even if it was to create a sense of public legitimacy or deflect blame away from himself for the outcome, his decision to not exercise prosecutorial discretion and allow a fuller examination of evidence and testimony is one more nail in the coffin of fair trials for a much-trampled community.

If the country’s juridical proceedings can thus be manipulated to undercut minority communities seeking justice, then a quiet undercurrent of racist stereotyping in the wider society perpetuates the notion that these communities are legitimate, even deserving, targets of malign official power.

Some of the stereotypes that haunt African-Americans can be gleaned from Mr. Wilson’s testimony, in which he said that Brown’s face looked “like a demon,” and that while the two scuffled in the officer’s car Mr. Wilson felt “like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan.”

Finally the Ferguson episode highlights a devastating, constitutionally protected, disease of the U.S. — gun proliferation, and the use of deadly force by law enforcement, particularly in incidents involving minorities.

In this regard, it carries echoes of the racially charged 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin (17) by an abuse-hurling George Zimmerman, the gun-toting “neighbourhood watch” officer who, similar to Mr. Wilson, went on to get acquitted by a jury on the charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

That episode appeared to test the practised neutrality of Mr. Obama who said at the time, “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.” You may not have a son, Mr. President, but the nation is your ward, and you have failed to speak up for core values that you’d want all Americans to have.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 30 Nov 2014 01:27

Whatever be the case, an investigation should appear impartial. This one does not with the prosecutor 'outsourcing' his job.
Here is some more info, see the columns on facing the officer and where MB's hands were (the chart is from PBS).
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... n-shooting

svenkat · Post by **svenkat** » 30 Nov 2014 08:13

America is a classless land-even the Presidents daughter is

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 01 Dec 2014 01:23

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... y.cnn.html

Brotherly love during black friday sales.

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 01 Dec 2014 16:51

Some rapper made a song about endemic police brutality (I kind of like it, the song not the brutality shown).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY9C6pzxKc

About the Brown fella: he strikes me as someone who used his big build to intimidate people and to get them to do what he wanted. I have had to deal with such people (blacks) personally. I noticed the same kind of bullying behavior in the video posted of Brown where he threatens a shopkeeper hours before he was shot. Brown probably thought that he could get away with that kind of bullying with a police officer. That was his *fatal* error. I have no sympathy for Brown, because I know their predatory mindset only too well.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 02 Dec 2014 14:48

EMS rig == ambulance.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 02 Dec 2014 19:07

Multatuli wrote:Some rapper made a song about endemic police brutality (I kind of like it, the song not the brutality shown).

Though at times the singer had such a face expression as if he had not visited a loo for a week, and constipation was taking its toll

.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 03 Dec 2014 00:37

'Ferguson is everywhere': More crowds demand action
Ferguson episode seems to have exploded with image of unfairness to American minorities.

[*] From Harvard to Texas A&M to Stanford, college students nationwide have walked out of classes or staged "die-ins" to decry police violence and racial profiling.
..
[*] up to 50,000 additional body-worn cameras for law enforcement agencies," Obama said.
..
[*]In the first leg of his national dialogue, Attorney General Eric Holder met with community members at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church -- where Martin Luther King Jr. preached.
Holder's speech was interrupted by a group of protesters chanting, "No justice, no peace" and "We have nothing to lose but our chains."
..

Issues faced by REAL AMERICA seems to have come into limelight for a moment, however rightly or not, for the black minority community of USA.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 04 Dec 2014 07:19

Consistency: The Hallmark of a First-World Justice System

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 04 Dec 2014 13:05

I just watched the video where 3 to 6 police officers jump on Eric Garner.

From what I can see, Eric Garner was not a threat to anyone, I certainly would not have felt threatened by him. Eric Garner was just protesting his innocence. Now let's assume the police officer was right and Eric Garner did sell cigarettes, it still does not justify the violence used against Eric Garner. I am wondering if the police in America is allowed to use those methods to subdue a person. The police officers clearly treat Eric Garner as some wild animal, not as a human being. It's so degrading and inhuman. Goddamn those officers who did that to an unarmed and harmless man!

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 04 Dec 2014 13:20

^^^ What are you talking about? He is a big black scary man and a leech who lived off of social security and unemployment pension. If they had not jumped on him, he would have whipped out his phantom black weapon: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/12/0 ... o-weapons/

/posted in the spirit of this thread... i.e. sarc

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 04 Dec 2014 18:07

It's all dem libral turdwhirlders whining. Real Americans (police officers and Grand Juries esp) are brought up on REALITY: Just see above for proof:
Demons
Hulk Hogan
"Grizzly"
Tarzan
Phantom
FOX News
CNN
Marshal Dillon
Gungi Dan
Is it OUR fault, that y'all cyaint understand dem Historical and Current Realities?

Yes, let me add too: Note that this thread is for POSITIVE News. No

. Ooops! Did I do that? NOOOO!! And I can get a Grand Jury to side with me any time on that!

saip · Post by **saip** » 04 Dec 2014 20:26

LokeshC wrote:^^^ What are you talking about? He is a big black scary man and a leech who lived off of social security and unemployment pension. If they had not jumped on him, he would have whipped out his phantom black weapon: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/12/0 ... o-weapons/

/posted in the spirit of this thread... i.e. sarc

Add to that, in 43 years of his life, he was arrested 31 times!

That should make a true ogre!

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 04 Dec 2014 22:08

wow why is no one highlighting that fact

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 04 Dec 2014 22:43

saip wrote:
LokeshC wrote:^^^ What are you talking about? He is a big black scary man and a leech who lived off of social security and unemployment pension. If they had not jumped on him, he would have whipped out his phantom black weapon: https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/12/0 ... o-weapons/

/posted in the spirit of this thread... i.e. sarc
Add to that, in 43 years of his life, he was arrested 31 times!

That should make a true ogre!

Just 31? Let me double that number for you.

krishnan wrote:wow why is no one highlighting that fact

Please see above.

rajsunder · Post by **rajsunder** » 05 Dec 2014 04:03

LokeshC wrote:^^ Most of them have PTSD, and grow up in houses with poor stability (both are correlated). They will be unable to provide for their next generation and the cycle continues, right from the days of slavery era to jim crow era to current day post-modern latent-racism era.

Many have just given up on society and dont even know of many of the avenues they can avail of. Inner city US is a clusterf****. These guys are poor, they cannot pay taxes, the school district get de-funded because of low tax revenue, quality of education falls, resulting in the next generation of poor with no scope of upward mobility.

Try to compare that with India and her policies. There is really no comparison here.

u forgot the important thing where in males behavevious is more of a "Fck and forget". And in the end most of these wanabe thugs end up growing up in a single parent home(close to 80% of them)

rajsunder · Post by **rajsunder** » 05 Dec 2014 04:04

Abhijit wrote:LokeshC, how was the grand jury rigged in this case? And what do you mean by 'file charges first' and then convene a grand jury from some other state? Yesterday, based on the outpouring of sympathy that I saw on the BR for MB, I shot from the hip in my discussions on another board. Then I started reading the transcripts of the GJ proceedings. There is no reason to believe that the GJ was rigged in any way. Thousands of questions were asked and the witnesses were properly grilled. The GJ has a much much lower bar for indictment - any other GJ would probably return the same verdict. and the actual trial would have a much higher bar for conviction.

BTW, your assertion that Mexicans have a huge support system in the form of Mexico is completely nonsensical. Every Mexican laborer in US send money to Mexico, not the other way around. In what way is Mexico a support system for the latinos?

Family support for Mexicans or any south american is way better than african americans.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 05 Dec 2014 07:47

Fire in the hole!!!!

arun · Post by **arun** » 05 Dec 2014 10:52

US sells the man who helped them locate their archenemy Osama Bin Laden hiding at a compound right next door to Pakistan’s West Point and Sandhurst , the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul near Abottbad, down the river. Condition that aid provided to the Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Military of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan requires Dr. Shakil Afridi to be released from jail in Pakistan is dropped by the US:

Congress seeks report on US-Pak security cooperation

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 05 Dec 2014 11:43

rajsunder wrote:
u forgot the important thing where in males behavevious is more of a "Fck and forget". And in the end most of these wanabe thugs end up growing up in a single parent home(close to 80% of them)

And you my dear friend, forgot to mention that those who don't "Fck and forget" "wannabe thuggggs" are killed offby the one and only great LEO of Murrrrica.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 05 Dec 2014 19:40

This is what you call "stealth" warfare!

Female US Navy sailors 'were secretly filmed in submarine showers' !!!
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 05483.html

Report alleges at least three female officers were taped at various times over the period of a year
Victoria Richards
Friday 05 December 2014

A criminal investigation has been launched following allegations that at least three female officers were secretly filmed showering and changing aboard a US Navy submarine.

The incidents are alleged to have taken place on ballistic missile submarine the USS Wyoming, which is based in Kings Bay, Georgia, over a period of a year.

US Navy officials have confirmed that no one has been taken into custody, but a report filed last month alleges that the recordings may have been distributed to other crew members.

The report also claims that the recordings took place in the boat's unisex bathrooms.

According to CNN, Navy Vice Adm. M.J. Connor stated in a letter that "an investigation is in progress." He said that the women affected were receiving assistance and that the alleged perpetrators had been removed from the ship pending the results of the probe.

"Incidents that violate the trust of our sailors go against every core value we hold sacred in our naval service," he wrote. "We go to war together with the confidence that we can rely on each other in ALL circumstances, and incidents of sailors victimizing other sailors represent an extreme breach of that trust!"

Women were first deemed eligible to serve on submarines in December 2011, and the USS Wyoming - which holds 135 people - was one of the first to host female officers. Mr Connor wrote that integration had made the US Navy "unequivocally... a better force". Women are expected to be integrated on fast-attack submarines for the first time in January, when female officers will be assigned to the USS Virginia and USS Minnesota.

Read more:
• US Navy deploys first ever laser gun against drones
• US sailors attacked by protesters in Turkey

Service spokeswoman Lt. Leslie Hubbell confirmed in a statement that the US Navy was aware of allegations of alleged criminal activity and was investigating. "If the allegations prove to be factual, the Navy will ensure individuals involved are held accountable for their actions," she added.

It comes as the number of reported sexual assaults in the US military rose by eight per cent this year to 5,983.

"Given the under-reported nature of sexual assault, the department believes this increase in reporting is likely due to greater victim confidence in the response system," the report said.

While the total number of overall troops who said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact fell - from 26,000 two years ago, to 19,000 in 2014 - almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of those who reported sexual assault admitted they had faced retaliation.

Of those 19,000 people, around 10,500 were men and 8,500 women, according to the anonymous survey conducted by the Pentagon.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said a three-year crackdown on sexual assault was showing "real progress" but there was still "a long way to go".

He said that the issue of retaliation should be tackled "head on", adding: "When someone reports a sexual assault, they need to be embraced and helped, not ostracised or punished with retribution.''

Multatuli · Post by **Multatuli** » 06 Dec 2014 00:48

About the "F*ck and forget" mindset among African-Americans: During slavery the black male was used like male animals (bulls, stallions, etc.) are used for breeding purposes. The healthy and strong male slaves had to mate with women the overseer would choose for him. To say that any kind of bonding between the biological father (the black slave) and the children he fathered was discouraged would be an understatement; it was in fact punished.

It was made clear to the slaves that the children they produced were not theirs but property of the slave/plantation owner.

It was necessary for the male black slave, for his own well-being, to develop a carefree attitude towards his offspring.

Eric Garner was with his wife for 27 years or so, he raised five children with her. He was a good father, husband and son (from what his family said about him). It didn't save him from being murdered in broad daylight by half a dozen police officers who were then found innocent by a "grand jury".

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 06 Dec 2014 02:38

looks like that the convenience store that Brown robbed of Cigars was owned by a Desi. Check

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/1 ... 82659.html