Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

Quick question, has this been confirmed or is this guilt by association? I ask because every report I have read said that he had no group affiliation and was upset about Black Lives Matter(which can have a number of meanings).

Why is this important? It's important in the same way you shouldn't call a semi-automatic rifle an assault rifle and the same way you shouldn't call a hoodie "gangster-wear".

Note my use of self-proclaimed. I have no idea if he was affiliated with the movement, only that he said he proclaimed he was. While I disagree with their intersectionalist mindset, they aren't the Nation of Islam.

And yes that he proclaimed he was part of a movement does matter. If a white man shot at a BLM protest and proclaimed he was part of a racial or Communist movement, that would matter too.
 
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Note my use of self-proclaimed. I have no idea if he was affiliated with the movement, only that he said he proclaimed he was. While I disagree with their intersectionalist mindset, they aren't the Nation of Islam.

I did take your use of "self-proclaimed" into consideration when I posed my question. I have not read any official reports that say he made any self-proclamation to be a Black Lives Matter activist hence me asking was it confirmed or is it guilt by association.
 
You watch these videos of police abuses, there is usually one officer who leads the charge and becomes excessive. The others follow him/her, even if deep inside they may have qualms about his/her actions.
I'm not so sure the latest two cases are even abuses. In one the guy was pulled over because he very closely matched the description of an armed robber, not because of a broken taillight. He then basically told the officer that he has a gun and a license and started reaching for something - gray situation. In the second case the guy was resisting arrest and reached for his gun. Of course you won't hear any of this in the news....
 
This is why feminists can't have nice things (like credibility):



And they're still attacking anyone who (wisely) won't touch the fraudulent "female viagra" pill with a ten-foot pole:

 
The questioner cites an implicit bias test hosted by Harvard. This test scientifically (or let's assume so, for the sake of argument) demonstrates that most people, regardless of race or gender or whatever identity, tend to agree on a certain perception of black people.

Hey, that was fun while it lasted:


An inordinate amount of social science seems to consist of shuffling numbers around on paper until they support some leftist narrative, after which an inordinate chunk of news media and blogs toss out further exaggerated headlines about it.
 
Random Thoughts (Political Edition)

And why do you think the other side of the political spectrum doesn't do the same?

In this "war of information", for the lack of a better term, everyone has dirty fingers.
 
And why do you think the other side of the political spectrum doesn't do the same?

In this "war of information", for the lack of a better term, everyone has dirty fingers.

It's usually down to cause du jour, though something I always found funny is that the left typically says "government will take care of you and protect you" while at same time screaming that all cops are racist. How they reconcile the two I have no idea
 
Well, the cop problem you have there, is an American problem.

You see, despite the USA being the "Land of the Free", freedom is kinda limited to when you have to deal with authorities there ;-) One wrong word to a policeman and you end up arrested. Peeing against a tree? The local Sheriff might give you the "My town, my road, my tree" speech and off you go to the county jail.

Law enforcement doesn't have this kind of power here. No matter what you have done, they're suppoed to treat you with respect and consideration. They are representatives of the state and are trained to react calm to almost everything.

I understand that things are different over there, mainly because every drunkard could have an Uzi in his pick-up truck but the problem you have with cops over there right now, is very much down to too much authority and a certain feeling of power they have. And as you surely know, power corrupts.
 
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Well, the cop problem you have there, is an American problem.

You see, despite the USA being the "Land of the Free", freedom is kinda limited to when you have to deal with authorities there ;-) One wrong word to a policeman and you end up arrested. Peeing against a tree? The local Sheriff might give you the "My town, my road, my tree" speech and off you go to the county jail.

Law enforcement doesn't have this kind of power here. No matter what you have done, they're suppoed to treat you with respect and consideration. They are representatives of the state and are trained to react calm to almost everything.

I understand that things are different over there, mainly because every drunkard could have an Uzi in his pick-up truck but the problem you have with cops over there right now, is very much down to too much authority and a certain feeling of power they have. And as you surely know, power corrupts.
A) You are wrong, cops don't have authority to haul you off to jail for mouthing off to them. They can come up with another reason to do so but that's a different story
B) You don't have the war on poor and war on drugs as we do, that's the main reason for violent police
C) You only see the bad interactions because they are blown out on the news, US has more than 3x the population of Germany and almost 4x the number of police (though US has less per 100,000 than Germany) and there are how many cases of unjust arrests? Did you know that majority of cops don't ever use their weapons in the line of duty?

Now don't get me wrong US police is militarized and the general style of policing needs a massive revamp but to claim that you would get hauled off to jail for saying the wrong thing is completely and utter BS.

However this is quite outside of my point, the same people *in the US* who are screaming about police being power hungry killers are the same ones who tell you that you don't need guns because police will protect you.
 
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Here we go again, Mac and his ignorant ranting...


One wrong word to a policeman and you end up arrested.
Wrong. Courts have even ruled that giving a cop the middle finger is perfectly legal under the First Amendment.


Peeing against a tree? The local Sheriff might give you the "My town, my road, my tree" speech and off you go to the county jail.
Wrong. Public urination is primary a concern of public indecency or something along those lines. Basically, you shouldn't be swinging your dick in public.


Law enforcement doesn't have this kind of power here. No matter what you have done, they're suppoed to treat you with respect and consideration. They are representatives of the state and are trained to react calm to almost everything.
Maybe if you didn't get all your news from biased mainstream media sources that cherry-pick their stories, you'd realize that that's the case in the US.


I understand that things are different over there, mainly because every drunkard could have an Uzi in his pick-up truck...
Wrong on two counts. Carrying while intoxicated is illegal and you'd be really hard-pressed to find an Uzi here - full auto is very, very strictly regulated and said Uzi would cost one to $10k to get.
 
Read a startling fact today...

It's estimated that France's prison population is between 60-70% Muslim, with Muslims making about 12% of the population. It's a similar trend in other European counties. I think Belgium the number is 35%, with 6% of the population


Edit
I'm sure the reason can be attributed to a mix of immigrants (children of immigrants) not wanting to assimilate and the governments doing a terrible job of trying to assimilate them
 
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And why do you think the other side of the political spectrum doesn't do the same?

In this "war of information", for the lack of a better term, everyone has dirty fingers.

Fair to say. And I oppose pseudoscience and propaganda coming from the right as well, but IME they get far fewer free passes for it (in America) in the news media. It probably has a lot to do with the percentage of leftists in both academia and journalism.


I'm sure the reason can be attributed to a mix of immigrants (children of immigrants) not wanting to assimilate and the governments doing a terrible job of trying to assimilate them

Conversion after incarceration could be a significant factor too, if it happens anywhere near as often in Europe as the US:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Islam_in_U.S._prisons
J. Michael Waller claims that Muslim inmates comprise 17-20% of the prison population in New York, or roughly 350,000 inmates in 2003. He also claims that 80% of the prisoners who "find faith" while in prison convert to Islam.
 
Read a startling fact today...

It's estimated that France's prison population is between 60-70% Muslim, with Muslims making about 12% of the population. It's a similar trend in other European counties. I think Belgium the number is 35%, with 6% of the population


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I'm sure the reason can be attributed to a mix of immigrants (children of immigrants) not wanting to assimilate and the governments doing a terrible job of trying to assimilate them

The problem with taking in so many people is that background checks aren't happening. I can understand being loose with the Syrian refuges, but the economic migrants don't have the same desperate need to leave their home countries. The annoying part concerning the latter is that it costs more to take them into Europe than it does to provide assistance to them in their own countries (Tino Sanandaj has been making this point, but no one seems to care).

Unfortunately, outside of the Kurds, there aren't too many secular muslims in the Middle East (according to the PEW polls).

Conversion after incarceration could be a significant factor too, if it happens anywhere near as often in Europe as the US:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_to_Islam_in_U.S._prisons

Malcom X is a good example. He joined the Nation Islam (which is more a cult than a form of Islam) in jail. Not until he became a Sunni and visited Mecca did he become non-violent.
 
However this is quite outside of my point, the same people *in the US* who are screaming about police being power hungry killers are the same ones who tell you that you don't need guns because police will protect you.
Man, I'd fucking love to see some actual quotes to back that up.
 
I'm not diggin for someone I'm arguing with. Provide proof or own being wrong.

Then why don't we apply same standard to you? You made plenty claims you never bothered to back up. My point wasn't about specific individuals but more the liberal "platform" in general. Calvinhobbes is a perfect example of this.

On political side, Bill DiBlasio current NYC mayor pissed NYPD off early in his term over choking out a black man yet he fully supports stupidly restrictive gun control we have. Hilary Clinton has said there was "systematic racism" in US government yet she has said many times that she will fight for more gun control.
 
I'd like to make a general statement about "applying proof" and the likes. It is justified in some cases, true. Mainly if facts are in dispute.

But if it apparently is only demanded to cover up somebody's lack of education or knowledge or laziness to look things up themselves, I couldn't be bothered. Some facts are facts and you don't need a degree or a scientific article just to underline the obvious.
 
I'd like to make a general statement about "applying proof" and the likes. It is justified in some cases, true. Mainly if facts are in dispute.

But if it apparently is only demanded to cover up somebody's lack of education or knowledge or laziness to look things up themselves, I couldn't be bothered. Some facts are facts and you don't need a degree or a scientific article just to underline the obvious.

Can't believe I agree with you but yes it is a common deflection.
 
In the US even though there is a 200+ year policy of Church and State separation Christian groups keep trying to butt in where they should not be. Free thinker, Atheist and humanist groups have been fighting this with limited success, but the Satanic Temple has been gloriously stepping into this fray. They've been fighting religious invocations at town hall meetings and insidious Fundy Evangelical "Good News Clubs" in public schools. They basically offer these towns and schools a poison pill of their own making, either drop the religion in the public sphere or include them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...f485e6-5427-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html
 
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