Iris lilies, how are things in your hood?

[gimmethesimplelife]

Rob, Sharpton and Jackson have a history of making bad situations worse. They also only focus on things that fit their agenda of white on black.

There was a 9 year old girl killed in Chicago recently. Did they bring their entourages and the media that follow them to bear attention on that? Nope. Why? It's black on black. Huge problem for the black community, but it doesn't fit their (Sharpton and Jackson's) agenda, so they do little, or nothing, about the issue.

I don't disagree with your point here at all. But what has happened transcends your point in my book. Police use of excessive force and police brutality have been going on for far too long - I have witnessed my next door neighbors being assaulted for flying a Guatemalan flag on their property which they own and told that aliens dealing drugs are not appreciated - the neighbors don't deal drugs. I have known them for years and I know the signs of drug dealing - not going on next door. Once you witness something like this you are never the same if you have any sense of right and wrong or justice at all. This is the real reason I broke down and bought a smartphone - I feel horrible that I wasn't able to help their (successful BTW) lawsuit against the Phoenix police via video and audio. Had they had video and audio they may have been able to get more money. Sadly enough, there are posters here who don't understand this is not an isolated incident. Those of us who are Caucasian are less likely to be assaulted for no reason but it's not 100% and you can not trust the police or the courts. Period.

That said, you are not without your point, I'll give you that. The outrage though here stems from a long, long, long term history of police use of excessive force and police brutality pretty much nationwide. If you are interested, google what the police have been up to in Albuquerque lately, killing homeless people that did not provoke them or cause them any threat. Terrifying. I am grateful to this country for picking up the tab for my recent gallbladder surgery but also terrified of it's police nonetheless. Rob

Came back to add - my neighbors have been in the US for years and are citizens, not aliens. It took them a long time but they moved from green cards to naturalization several years ago, before the Phoenix police broke the law by assaulting them for no reason. To me police brutality/use of excessive force is to the point that the US government should print out handouts to anyone legally entering the country admitting to the police being out of control and offering tips as to how to minimize the chances of becoming a victim. Yes, it truly is that bad now. Rob

[bae]

Did you say that a .22 is an easy gun for beginners? Maybe I need to buy one, living a block and a half from public housing projects as I do.

I just keep three of these set up with interlocking fields of fire on the approaches to Hound House here, seems to keep the ravaging Seattler WTO hippy protesters at bay quite well.

[JaneV2.0]

Jane, I just did some research regarding the Seattle police department. It turns out that they hammered out an agreement with Eric Holder and the US Dept of Justice about the use of excessive force in the past and now 120 officers of the Seattle police department are suing to have this overturned in Federal Court and are seeking financial compensation. The irony here is so thick I could almost cut it with a knife. I'm reading online of Seattle residents fearful to go out at night - not due to random crime or thugs but due to their own police department. I feel the same exact way here in Phoenix - I have more to fear from the police than from random thugs, even living in a lower income 'hood. Back to the Seattle PD though - apparently they have been on the Justice Department's radar screen for some time as there have been numerous incidents of brutality and use of excessive force and people up in Puget Sound started legally striking back - good for them! We as a nation really do need to organize and claim back our rights from these government thugs that get a pension.
...

I assume that this culture of brutality was fostered by--or encouraged--by bad police management. Seattle isn't that kind of city--the kind where it's all about violence--so I don't know how they got away with it for so long.

[Packy]

A moat, and an enclosure for reptiles around your perimeter--Zurra-style snakes, such as Copperhead and Water Moccasin. Large Zurra Blacksnakes, that can climb trees and walls, and confront you at eye level. That should keep intruders out. But wait until I figure out a safe way for you kids to keep from being bitten too, before you implement this security system.

[dmc]

I'm not sure what you want or expect to happen Rob. You seam upset that police get a pension so you want that gone. And your afraid of the police so I guess you don't want them in your neighborhood. I guess your answer to the crime in the minority, crime ridden hoods is just give the hoods enough money to leave the country. I'm not sure who would take them though, Obama can work on that.

So give the poor more money, no police, or if we do have a few make sure they don't get a pension and they behave like Mr. Rodgers. And free transportation to Mexico for health care, and a few extra bucks to pay for that as well.

would this make you feel better? Anything else?

[dmc]

I forgot, no social classes, the government can just take care of everyone. Everyone can just live on the same amount. Maybe we can all get together and sing on Saturdays.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'm not sure what you want or expect to happen Rob. You seam upset that police get a pension so you want that gone. And your afraid of the police so I guess you don't want them in your neighborhood. I guess your answer to the crime in the minority, crime ridden hoods is just give the hoods enough money to leave the country. I'm not sure who would take them though, Obama can work on that.

So give the poor more money, no police, or if we do have a few make sure they don't get a pension and they behave like Mr. Rodgers. And free transportation to Mexico for health care, and a few extra bucks to pay for that as well.

would this make you feel better? Anything else?

Police behavior around the US is out of control and they have a record now of behaving as if above the law and treating minorities with excessive force, discrimination and disrespect. I want the police to be held accountable when they break the law and I want all victims awarded punitive damages, plus involved officers to forfeit their pensions and their jobs. Is this too much to ask for, that police be held accountable and not break the law? If it is, I have no desire to live in such a country. I deserve better. It's so bad now that the UN is getting involved thrashing the US (as this country so richly has earned) for police brutality and use of excessive force. I don't do denial - no country is worth that, I have to see this for what it is and respond appropriately. Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I forgot, no social classes, the government can just take care of everyone. Everyone can just live on the same amount. Maybe we can all get together and sing on Saturdays.

I didn't drink the Kool Aid - I started seeing through the US when I was 9. Obviously, not to this point, but I started grasping some of the basics even then. No one had to tell me anything, I figured it out on my own. YMMV, you get to see things as you wish. That does not make either one of us wrong or right. If how things are in the US now works for you, great. Just don't be surprised that it doesn't work for everybody and those disenfranchised start standing up for themselves. Rob

[Tradd]

Rob, you're stuck on the police brutality issue. You can't see past it. There are bigger issues in the black community, and even in the Hispanic one, I'd say. Or do you not give a flying fig about the crime problem that comes from the gangbangers?

[bae]

I didn't drink the Kool Aid - I started seeing through the US when I was 9. Obviously, not to this point, but I started grasping some of the basics even then.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."