Iris lilies, how are things in your hood?

[gimmethesimplelife]

That kitten video is the cutest thing I've seen lately. Oh my, he is at the absolute peak of kittendom.

It was cute, I agree. I forgot that you like cats, too. We share this in common, I am very much a cat person. Rob

[bae]

It is absolutely amazing that I have posted my reason - what I have witnessed and why I distrust the police - and it seems that a few posters here are OK with this in the sense that it remains uncommented on.

I'll comment.

I think you are being unreasonable. I work with police officers every single day (I'm about to head out to teach a 2-hour safety class to children, with some police officers working on their own personal time). They vary from great guys and gals, to people I don't particularly like. They are humans, and span a wide range of skill and personality. I've seen some do heroic or sensitive things, I've seen others be out of line.

I don't tar all police with the same brush, just as I don't prejudge entire races based on my encounters with particularly unpleasant outliers, or entire religions based on a few blown up buildings.

[gimmethesimplelife]

There is a case of a SWAT team invading a Chicago hospital and shooting to death a 95 year old white man for his refusal to have a surgery he was afraid would be the end of him. Yes, the elderly are at some risk here unfortunately.....I'm not unaware of this. Rob

What is your source for this, Rob?

Google 95 Year Old Man Shot By SWAT Team and several stories from different sources pop up. It's a real eye opener about being elderly in the United States for sure. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'll comment.

I think you are being unreasonable. I work with police officers every single day (I'm about to head out to teach a 2-hour safety class to children, with some police officers working on their own personal time). They vary from great guys and gals, to people I don't particularly like. They are humans, and span a wide range of skill and personality. I've seen some do heroic or sensitive things, I've seen others be out of line.

I don't tar all police with the same brush, just as I don't prejudge entire races based on my encounters with particularly unpleasant outliers, or entire religions based on a few blown up buildings.

And I'm willing to give you that not all police officers are bad and not all would behave the way I witnessed. Granted. The problem is that there are those that do, and much like Mexican drug cartels engaging in violence and murder, American cops that behave this way tend to get away with it. Based on that alone - complete and total distrust until some mechanism (constant fear of pension loss?) is put into place to regulate their behavior. The police get no free pass with me, period. Rob

[iris lilies]

Here's something further interesting. A Ferguson police office has been suspended indefinitely for pointing a semi-automatic assault rifle at a peaceful protestor and yelling obscenities. At least the police did something here about it, I'll grant that much, and hopefully he will lose his pension. I'm hoping anyway. One way I can think of to regulate police behavior? Constant and continual fear of pension loss - that would strike terror into their hearts where nothing else will. And the story I reference above is entitled Ferguson Protest March Marks Two Weeks Since Police Shooting on yahoo.com/news. Rob

Only one police officer? you haven't been keeping up on HuffPo.

The guy referenced above isn't Ferguson police, although I realize that's a minor detail. He's an officer with another small municipality. In the riots and looting that took place in Ferguson, hundreds of officers worked that arena having had to be brought in from other jurisdictions.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Only one police officer? you haven't been keeping up on HuffPo.

The guy referenced above isn't Ferguson police, although I realize that's a minor detail. He's an officer with another small municipality. In the riots and looting that took place in Ferguson, hundreds of officers worked that arena having had to be brought in from other jurisdictions.

I haven't been to HuffPo since Thursday, IL, it's not my only source for news. Rob

And I came back to add that you are right and I am wrong - the officer I mentioned above is from some place called St Ann and is not with the Ferguson Police. My bad, sorry. And it was stated right there in the article, too. Sorry. Rob

[iris lilies]

It was cute, I agree. I forgot that you like cats, too. We share this in common, I am very much a cat person. Rob

This is Yo's secret reason for posting a cute cat video: to bring us all together. Can't we all just get along?

[Yossarian]

And the militarization and excessive force used by the police will have an impact on tourism revenue from abroad, like it or not. Rob

At whose expense? The problem is the behavior to which the police are responding. When I go to Brazil, I don't worry about the police even though they have been very aggressive against criminals. I worry about the criminals. No way I'm stepping foot in a favela. I'll keep my valuables locked up and stay in Itaim Bibi and be grateful the cops are cracking down on the bad guys.

It's totally counterproductive behavior. Some people say Watts and Detroit are the way they are today because of the riots long ago but half the people on my plane from Miami last night was going back to France. They riot in the suburbs of Paris but I still go to Nice. Who's really going to suffer because of the riots Rob?

[gimmethesimplelife]

At whose expense? The problem is the behavior to which the police are responding. When I go to Brazil, I don't worry about the police even thought they have been very aggressive against criminals. I worry about the criminals. No way I'm stepping foot in a favela. I'll keep my valuables locked up and stay in Itaim Bibi and be grateful the cops are cracking down on the bad guys.

It's totally counterproductive behavior. Some people say Watts and Detroit are the way they are today because of the riots long ago but half the people on my plane from Miami last night we going back to France. They riot in the suburbs of Paris but I still go to Nice. Who's really going to suffer because of the riots Rob?

WE should probably agree to disagree. I see the police as part of the problem and definitely a reason in this situation for the escalation of behavior. I'm thinking that cameras on cops and on their dash at all times with instant termination coupled with pension loss for disabling them during any kind of issue - coupled with knowledge of instant pension loss for excessive behavior, such as the officer above pointing a semi automatic assault rifle at a peaceful protestor and yelling obscenities - would be good ways to reign them in and flatten them down a bit. Rob

[shadowmoss]

Google 95 Year Old Man Shot By SWAT Team and several stories from different sources pop up. It's a real eye opener about being elderly in the United States for sure. Rob

Two different incidents. The 95 yo man in Chacago was shot by Forest Service police for refusing to be taken to the hospital. No previous issues with him in the assisted living center where he lived. He threatened them with a 2' shoehorn. Then he picked up a knife. While sitting. They tazed him, then shot him with a beanbag charge. He died.

The SWAT team killed a 107 yo man in Arkansas when he started shooting at them. They tried tear gas, but he still was able to shoot at them. They make 'em tough in Arkansas.