Baltimore

JimmyV said:

rgambs said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

dignin said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

dignin said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

dignin said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

dignin said:

To make it clear, I have no problem with the subject of the thread. It's the comments within it that are so over the top with outrage that I find interesting.

I find the ones justifying the riot infinitely more interesting.

Justifying and empathizing are completely different things.

I understand that.

Let's not be ultra selective with whom we choose to 'empathize' with then. We can explain every behavior, but doing so doesn't make the behavior any less deplorable when the behavior is deplorable. For the people lashing out at others outraged over rioting in Baltimore, be consistent: also lash out at people who express outrage for, say, the next pedophile to creep on to the MT- he was abused as a child.

I don't see people who loot and burn property on the same plain as child rapists.

No. The offence of rioting is definitely more palatable.

Its definitely easier to get behind a bunch of rioters than it is a pedophile. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

No one is getting behind anybody. You are way out on a limb thirty, but carry on.

Far from that.

I am reading several- including some from you- posts that, whether you care to admit it or not, seek to rationalize poor behavior (and admonish others in the process).

I come from the mindset where there is no justification for poor behavior. Of course I can understand why some people or communities might act as they do, but that still doesn't excuse brutal behaviour. Find another way.

I know- easier said than done.

Again, you are reading them that way because it is the way you choose to. The same issue has happened in other threads.
Seeking to understand is not excusing.

If posts are being misread/misinterpreted then some responsibility falls on the author, too. With all due respect, this does read like you are excusing:

rgambs said:

It's not hard to understand if you just step outside of your own experience. If you feel like authority has no respect for you, why would you have respect for authority?

Again, understanding and excusing are not tje same.

Dirtie_Frank said:

dignin said:

Dirtie_Frank said:

Best video of all from yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q16QY7xtCnw

Great Mother!!!

Yeah, mother of the year here. All mothers should punch their sons in the face repeatedly. Has a real Jerry Springer quality to it.

I believe she is doing the right thing. Maybe if there were more parents involved in Baltimore there would be less rioting?

Fuck yeah!

Last-12-Exit said:

Cliffy6745 said:

It is sad that the riots are taking away from the conversation that a kid was likely murdered by police. No way you can claim self defense on this one.

You are correct. Yet the criminals who chose to riot made it pretty easy to forget what they were supposed to be out there protesting.

And the best thing to come out of that shit last night was the one mother that cared enough to go out there and discipline her child for breaking the law and embarrassing her. Good for her. Better her slap her kid upside the head a couple of times than him help burn down buildings. I can't believe some of you here talk against that. It wasn't an 8 year old kid. It was a teenager. He deserved way worse than a couple of slaps.

Well-said, both of you.

Just catching up on this and haven't read every post but it looks like the latest rioting is happening in a town called AMT.

Btw- if more parents got on their delinquent kids like this lady did,maybe some of the school age rock chucking punks would have been trying to help life and property and not trying to injure the officers.

rr165892 said:

"Two wrongs don't make a right"
We were all taught that when we were young.
Whatever ground was gained in the peaceful protests was washed away with the human cockroach behavior of some of the lowlife peices of shit that chose to Steal,Burn,and destroy the livelihoodsand dreams of there neighbors.These are criminals,punks and thugs and there is no excuse at all for there behavior.Props to those with the balls to try and protect these dwellings and businesses.

Slashing fire hoses,are you fucking kidding me!

I see the excuse crowd is in full effect again.Justifying the actions of criminals.Typical.
The actions of the police are being investigated.If wrong doing was done then I expect those responsible to pay for their actions as well.To the full extent of the law and if it was a hate crime,throw the book at the dirty fuckers.
It's almost comical that the drugstore and the mall were the two new places built in that area to provide an upswing in the economy and living conditions and services withinn that depressed area.So what do the idiots do Burn em and rob em.Classy,classy stuff.

Don't forget the $16 million dollar senior center being built. Which brought work into the community.

I'm just finishing reading Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior's excellent book Like a Hurricane which goes into great detail about the American Indian Uprisings in the 1970's. One of those incidents involved the Indian take over of the BIA building in D.C. During that siege, angry Indians destroyed furniture, some of the Native American artwork and many of the documents contained therein. The authors show why these actions were tragic- the loss of artifacts for historic purposes but even more importantly, the loss of documents needed for some American Indian's to maintain their land. BUT, as tragic as this was (and considering these authors are Indians and understand their subject matter very well) the authors clearly demonstrate that there were reasons for this anger, primarily the continued injustices toward these people and that despite the losses incurred at the time, these actions (and the others that the book covers) raised awareness in a big way- they were a major wake up call and much positive change eventually resulted from them.

We need to stop looking shortsightedly at the kinds of incidents that is happening in Baltimore and learn from it and start enacting changes that will prevent this from happening in the future. As long as police brutality and oppression and racism continue, these tragic incidences (which, if you understand what I am saying, I am not supporting) will continue to reoccur.

brianlux said:

I'm just finishing reading Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior's excellent book Like a Hurricane which goes into great detail about the American Indian Uprisings in the 1970's. One of those incidents involved the Indian take over of the BIA building in D.C. During that siege, angry Indians destroyed furniture, some of the Native American artwork and many of the documents contained therein. The authors show why these actions were tragic- the loss of artifacts for historic purposes but even more importantly, the loss of documents needed for some American Indian's to maintain their land. BUT, as tragic as this was (and considering these authors are Indians and understand their subject matter very well) the authors clearly demonstrate that there were reasons for this anger, primarily the continued injustices toward these people and that despite the losses incurred at the time, these actions (and the others that the book covers) raised awareness in a big way- they were a major wake up call and much positive change eventually resulted from them.

We need to stop looking shortsightedly at the kinds of incidents that is happening in Baltimore and learn from it and start enacting changes that will prevent this from happening in the future. As long as police brutality and oppression and racism continue, these tragic incidences (which, if you understand what I am saying, I am not supporting) will continue to reoccur.

Nice post Brian. But no matter how many times you say it you will still be painted as a criminal sympathizer.

Better just get on the condemnation train, shake your head, wag your finger, be outraged, call them thugs, criminals and call it a day. Nothing to see here.....nothing to learn, just bad people doing bad things, en masse.

Just remember, maybe we aren't beating our children enough. We need to go back to the old days! Where is my switch!!


^^^^sarcasm

dignin said:

brianlux said:

I'm just finishing reading Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior's excellent book Like a Hurricane which goes into great detail about the American Indian Uprisings in the 1970's. One of those incidents involved the Indian take over of the BIA building in D.C. During that siege, angry Indians destroyed furniture, some of the Native American artwork and many of the documents contained therein. The authors show why these actions were tragic- the loss of artifacts for historic purposes but even more importantly, the loss of documents needed for some American Indian's to maintain their land. BUT, as tragic as this was (and considering these authors are Indians and understand their subject matter very well) the authors clearly demonstrate that there were reasons for this anger, primarily the continued injustices toward these people and that despite the losses incurred at the time, these actions (and the others that the book covers) raised awareness in a big way- they were a major wake up call and much positive change eventually resulted from them.

We need to stop looking shortsightedly at the kinds of incidents that is happening in Baltimore and learn from it and start enacting changes that will prevent this from happening in the future. As long as police brutality and oppression and racism continue, these tragic incidences (which, if you understand what I am saying, I am not supporting) will continue to reoccur.

Nice post Brian. But not matter how many times you say it you will still be painted as a criminal sympathizer.

Better just get on the condemnation train, shake your head, wag your finger, be outraged, call them thugs, criminals and call it a day. Nothing to see here.....nothing to learn, just bad people doing bad things, en masse.

Just remember, maybe we aren't beating our children enough. We need to go back to the old days! Where is my switch!!


^^^^sarcasm

LOL, digin!

Last-12-Exit said:

Sorry, I'm not buying the actions that led to this argument. This is a result of criminals using the death of a citizen as an excuse to act like animals. There were peaceful protests going on. But that wasn't enough for those morons. NOTHING good will come from those riots. If anything, it will hinder the progress that the peaceful protesters accomplished.

In some ways, I want to agree with you Last 12. I would love it if our society responded to peaceful protests. But we simply do not. Looking clear back to the war in Vietnam- there were peaceful sit ins and there were clashes with police that lead to photos on the news of young people with bleeding heads. Unfortunately, it was the bleeding heads that got the attention.

If we become a society that is educated and listens to reason rather than respond to violence, maybe we will cease to have violent confrontation. But even more importantly, if we get to the root cause of problems- things like discrimination, racism, inequality, poverty/economic disparity and police brutality, we'll even more likely see fewer violent confrontations.

And don't forget, you heard this from a dope smoking, tree hugging, pinko, long haired, flower power, peace and love, good karma, groovy dude. (Did I miss anything, haha!)

I wish the cops would start busting heads.. Show that on tv and maybe the thugs will think twice when it happens in the next city..