Baltimorei

[bae]

i would like you two to ruminate on the pain and suffering of all of the pets who died in a deliberate arson fire of a newly built condo complex near me. It was so sad,they held a memorial for all of the pets. No humans were harmed.

i certainly feel like executing the asshole who perpetrated that crime.

About two years ago in the space of several long days, I responded to 3 simultaneous arson fires in a very small village near mine:

- The Olga Artworks - a communal space in a historic restored barn. Dozens of artists showed their work there, and there was a lovely café in the back of the building. It just reopened last week, after much reconstruction. Many jobs were lost, and people had to move away from the community because of this fire. I suppose many jobs were created from the reconstruction project though....



- The _____ house fire - a lovely shoreline house, home to friends of mine, burned to the ground, fire was so intense we couldn't save it. Luckily they were away, or I suspect there would have been several deaths. The arsonist burned it in a manner that indicated he didn't check for residents first.



- The _____ workshop fire - near to that, a large workshop set ablaze. We got that one in time, still caused many thousands of dollars of damage, and put the guy out of business for a month or so, causing him to lay off several workers.




All these fires were *at the same time*, the evil bleep setting them was doing so in part to cause huge trouble for the responders, judging from the timing and location of the events.

The arsonists endangered the lives of residents and responders, caused loss of jobs, and cost a huge amount of $$$.

So, yeah, no sympathy for arsonists.

[gimmethesimplelife]

i would like you two to ruminate on the pain and suffering of all of the pets who died in a deliberate arson fire of a newly built condo complex near me. It was so sad,they held a memorial for all of the pets. No humans were harmed.

i certainly feel like executing the asshole who perpetrated that crime.

In this case I happen to agree with you, IL. It's beyond sickening that pets should die due to arson, I agree with that. I'm also glad some respect was shown to have a memorial service for the pets. Rob

[flowerseverywhere]

And the people the arsonists really hurt...their own people

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...o-much-to.html

does anyone honestly believe that stores will be rushing to rebuild? The CVS employees barely escaped. Very sad senseless destruction.

[gimmethesimplelife]

And the people the arsonists really hurt...their own people

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore...o-much-to.html

does anyone honestly believe that stores will be rushing to rebuild? The CVS employees barely escaped. Very sad senseless destruction.

I don't disagree with you stating that this was very sad and senseless destruction. There's a BUT coming but before I deliver it I'm hoping you will understand that I agree with your point here to some degree. BUT.....this did not happen in a vacuum for no reason whatsoever and maybe, just maybe if these officers in Baltimore had not seemingly behaved in a way that was completely against the laws they are sworn to uphold.......GEE MAYBE this didn't have to happen? Ummmmmmm.....maybe?

I'm not thrilled with the rioting and looting and burning, most especially the burning - the burning really turns me off much more than the rioting or looting. Burning to me seems very senseless. BUT having lived in fear of America and having learned how little human life truly means in this country, I can understand the anger that leads to such behavior. I sure can. This is why I often refer to Mexico as a safety valve - the closeness of Mexico keeps things much calmer here than if Phoenix were located a great distance from the border. It's not like people in Baltimore can easily get to Mexico for medical/dental/inexpensive time away from insanely turbo charged American capitalism. Here at least people can run to the border and chill and get their acts together. Baltimore is far from such a safety valve. AT any rate, I'm not thrilled with what took place in Baltimore but I also believe those six officers would not have been held accountable to the law had Baltimore not gone nuts. The blame for this I have no trouble placing at the doorstep of this citizenship, either. How does one forgive America for the need to conduct such behavior for police officers to be accountable to the law? I'm not a saint, I can't forgive America for this, nor can I ever forget it. I am however hoping that such drama repeats itself this summer (if police officers blatantly break the law in such instances with the assumption that they are above the law). It's very sad America is like this but if this is what it takes for residents of low income neighborhoods to not be vulnerable to illegal and overzealous behavior on the part of the police, it's like I said before. It takes what it takes. Just remember that this is America's fault the next time the media images of such startle or disgust you. I won't be startled and disgusted, however. I will be depressed that such acts are necessary in the United States to level and equalize the playing field - so that all are more equal under the law.

To summarize - I agree that the need for this behavior is sad - I wish this were not the case - We all deserve to be equal under the law and America itself creates this situation where such behavior is necessary to more level the playing field under the law. It takes what it takes. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I don't disagree with you stating that this was very sad and senseless destruction. There's a BUT coming but before I deliver it I'm hoping you will understand that I agree with your point here to some degree. BUT.....this did not happen in a vacuum for no reason whatsoever and maybe, just maybe if these officers in Baltimore had not seemingly behaved in a way that was completely against the laws they are sworn to uphold.......GEE MAYBE this didn't have to happen? Ummmmmmm.....maybe?

I'm not thrilled with the rioting and looting and burning, most especially the burning - the burning really turns me off much more than the rioting or looting. Burning to me seems very senseless. BUT having lived in fear of America and having learned how little human life truly means in this country, I can understand the anger that leads to such behavior. I sure can. This is why I often refer to Mexico as a safety valve - the closeness of Mexico keeps things much calmer here than if Phoenix were located a great distance from the border. It's not like people in Baltimore can easily get to Mexico for medical/dental/inexpensive time away from insanely turbo charged American capitalism. Here at least people can run to the border and chill and get their acts together. Baltimore is far from such a safety valve. AT any rate, I'm not thrilled with what took place in Baltimore but I also believe those six officers would not have been held accountable to the law had Baltimore not gone nuts. The blame for this I have no trouble placing at the doorstep of this citizenship, either. How does one forgive America for the need to conduct such behavior for police officers to be accountable to the law? I'm not a saint, I can't forgive America for this, nor can I ever forget it. I am however hoping that such drama repeats itself this summer (if police officers blatantly break the law in such instances with the assumption that they are above the law). It's very sad America is like this but if this is what it takes for residents of low income neighborhoods to not be vulnerable to illegal and overzealous behavior on the part of the police, it's like I said before. It takes what it takes. Just remember that this is America's fault the next time the media images of such startle or disgust you. I won't be startled and disgusted, however. I will be depressed that such acts are necessary in the United States to level and equalize the playing field - so that all are more equal under the law.

To summarize - I agree that the need for this behavior is sad - I wish this were not the case - We all deserve to be equal under the law and America itself creates this situation where such behavior is necessary to more level the playing field under the law. It takes what it takes. Rob

PS I came back to add - there are so many US cities that are powder kegs just waiting to ignite - and I have no real faith police officers have learned enough from these events to conduct themselves as the law permits without crossing the line. Which city will be next? My guess is something in the South like maybe Atlanta, but who knows?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Yeah....it's the "T" word.

I have no problem throwing the word "thug" around - provided the word is used somewhat fairly and democratically. Case in point - it's looking very much like the six officers charged in Baltimore - ummmmm.....government thugs (and with to die for benefits and a pension which to me makes it even more evil on their part).

Now, I will grant the folks who burned and looted - also thugs - yes I said that - also thugs. The problem here though is like I stated above, this situation did not happen in a vacuum. Had the government thugs with to die for benefits and a defined pension not conducted themselves as they did....hmmmmmmmmm........maybe this wouldn't have happened to begin with? The government thugs drew first blood here - it could be said that two wrongs don't make a right - but with the underlying anger just waiting to explode in communities like this, one would really think the police ummmm.......might take a course in American Social Classes 101 and realize that such behavior might come back to bite them in the rear end? I mean I understood these realities by the time I was a sophomore in high school - no one had to tell me any of this. I was able to look around and figure it out on my own - why shouldn't police officers not know these basics at an older age, especially when dealing with lower social classes is part of their job?

Anyway, I digress. My point here was that BOTH sides of this equation are thugs - but I blame the police more as they drew first blood here. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

Here's something I found interesting - apparently the US is not the only country in the developed world with police brutality issues - in yesterday's (05/05) USA Today there was an article about police brutality in Tel Aviv, Israeli. Apparently some police officers in Tel Aviv beat an Ethiopian Israeli. Israel being the developed country it is, of course most people have smartphones and of course video was taken and used much the same way it would be used here. I will keep up with this story online if I can find more information - I want to see if Israel handles this better than the US does. Rob

[LDAHL]

I agree that the need for this behavior is sad - I wish this were not the case - We all deserve to be equal under the law and America itself creates this situation where such behavior is necessary to more level the playing field under the law. It takes what it takes. Rob

There is never a "need" for mindless violence. "It takes what it takes" has been the justification of every murdering tyrant and sociopath since the beginning of time.

[jp1]

And apparently in this case what it took was knocking a handcuffed man around in the back of a paddy wagon for 40 minutes to teach him a lesson. Or something. After all, he looked guilty of something. But maybe that look and running away was just fear that exactly what happened would happen.

[flowerseverywhere]

Rob, why do you stay in the US?