[Outcast_Searcher]

But Planet, how can this be? Every gung-ho liberal will tell you over and over that only FOX News distorts things or gets involved in things to push their agenda. They will insist that the pure and wholesome folks at MSNBC would NEVER do such a thing -- that they are pure messengers of goodness, light, and even "Truth".

Frankly, with all of this kind of distortion getting reported from MANY supposedly "good and reliable" media sources -- when things really come apart -- we won't have reason to trust just about ANY media source.

Currently, "The Economist" seems to me to have reasonably balanced and accurate reporting, so far as I know. And I like that its perspective is not US-centered. Aside from them, I see far too many biases or chicanery not to be suspicious about virtually ANY controversial story.

edits -- corrected minor spelling and puncuation errors, and inserted the eye-roll that I originally intended to include.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'C')onsidering the fact that there are over a million concealed permits in Florida, it would be wise to assume that there is a distinct possibility that the Floridian you are interacting with is armed. Consequently it makes no sense to escalate an encounter to the point of violence. Never, never frighten someone; they may shoot you. Bottom line, be polite even if the other guy is an asshole.

[Outcast_Searcher]

I like to wear WalMart style hoodie sweatshirts and coats throughout the coldest 4 months of the year. They are durable, comfortable, warm, practical, and cheap -- all things I like in winter clothing.

Now will I have to run around in yuppie looking expensive clothing from Polo and L.L. Bean? Oh wait - that will make poor people want to mug me. Also, I'd rather give such money to charity or save it for my later years if needed.

Too bad we can't get beyond surface appearance when deciding how to deal with people -- surface appearance VERY OFTEN has very little do do with the actual substance/values/behavior of the person, in my experience.

For me, 99.9% of the time, I treat everyone with respect UNTIL they demonstrate I shouldn't.

If they act like jerks, or provocative -- I ignore them (thinking, I will **NOT** lower myself to this idiotic level of behavior).

In the tiny fraction of the time there is danger, then haste is more important than manners, even if seemingly disprepectful behavior like yelling (a warning - especially to a willful child), grabbing someone's hand to shove it under cold water to prevent a bad burn from becoming worse (i.e. first aid **IF** you know what you're doing), blow a horn at an inattentive motorist doing something stupid/risky, etc.

Those situations do arise, but not that often, at least to me.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'D')id I do the "right" thing? Christians may say no. My unshot-at head says yes.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'T')he guy was a street person, sitting in front of CVS. All I did was forcefully ask him to keep his distance (can't remember what I said exactly) -- this was AFTER I politely said I don't have any money and he kept coming.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', ' ') After all, we draw about the same salary, but they pay twice my mortgage, ten times my fuel bill, and divine wisdom only knows what they spend on the vehicles themselves; if I were them, I'd spend most of my time freaked out too!

[rangerone314]

I often shop up at the bank or post office on a Friday payday wearing torn jeans, boots and a plaid long sleeve shirt I wear outside, sometimes my boonie hat on if there is either light sprinkles or a lot of sunshine... often caked a bit with mud and/or compost from gardening. Often look like I got in a wrestling match with an alligator, especially if I was doing some like weeding the blackberry portion of the hedge.

I don't know if I scare people with that or anything. My car is probably more scary, at least the inside.

[Fiddlerdave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'C')onsidering the fact that there are over a million concealed permits in Florida, it would be wise to assume that there is a distinct possibility that the Floridian you are interacting with is armed. Consequently it makes no sense to escalate an encounter to the point of violence. Never, never frighten someone; they may shoot you. Bottom line, be polite even if the other guy is an asshole.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'I')f this sensible lifestyle lets you retire when you're (say) 50, then fantastic for you.

[JohnRM]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'I')'m all for CCW and no retreat at home but encouraging shootouts in public seems kind of a step backwards to me.

[Sixstrings]

Two black teens carjack a man near Sanford, drag him out of his vehicle and beat him with a hammer, put him in ICU:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')img]http://www.trbimg.com/img-1333403344/turbine/beating.jpg-20120402[/img]

Two arrested in brutal hammer beating in Seminole

A tip to Crimeline has led to the arrests of two men in a brutal beating that occurred a week ago in the Midway community east of Sanford.

Julius Ricardo Bender, 18, and Yahaziel Isaac Israel, 19, face charges of attempted first-degree murder, burglary with assault or battery and armed burglary.

The victim, a 50-year-old Winter Springs man whose name has not been released, is on life-support at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Deputies were called to the area of Lincoln Street and Beardall Avenue about 6:30 p.m. March 26 to investigate a report of a man being beaten, Seminole County Sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Smith said.

They found the victim in the woods on the north side of Lincoln Street.

According to arrest affidavits:

A witness told deputies he heard someone screaming for help and saw two men pull the victim from his vehicle. He said he watched as one man held the victim and the other beat him in the head with a hammer.

After they dragged the victim into the woods, the men drove away in his sport utility vehicle, which was later found abandoned about a half-mile away on Garbo Jack Lane.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-02/news/os-two-arrested-seminole-beating-20120402_1_victim-arrest-affidavits-crimeline

[Sixstrings]

According to various other sources, the victim is white, and the Orlando Sentinel has a policy of not mentioning race regarding to crime:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'U')PDATE: We have confirmed that the victim is white. A CofCC.org reader received an e-mail reply from the Orlando Sentinel admitting that the race of the victim was censored on purpose, and that it is the policy of the newspaper to censor race. Also, shortly after CofCC.org wrote about this crime, the Orlando Sentinel removed the perpetrators’ mug shots from their online article. The Orlando Sentinel censored the race of the perpetrators in a previous article, even though they were still at large when it was published.
http://ncrenegade.com/civil-unrest/where-is-the-outcry-white-man-on-life-support-after-hammer-attack-by-two-black-teens-near-sanford-fl/

[jedrider]

As far as race is concerned, I think it is much better for police to ask for identifying features. If Black, Hispanic, or Caucasian is an identifying feature, then that is fine. If they were white and wearing gang jackets, then that would be an identifying feature. That makes much more sense.

There's this report that Zimmerman has a domestic violence injunction against him already and, supposedly, by law one is not allowed to carry or possess a firearm at that point, which, I presume makes it a felony if he did. Of course, gun control opponents get all hissy over this as we have two sets of laws, one restricting gun ownership and one advocating gun ownership, putting them on opposite sides, probably politically, too.

So, if 'stand your ground' (I call it the 'make my day' law, though) doesn't apply to this case, then this opens the floodgate of civil suits as well. Is this why they are taking so long to decide what to do?

[Cog]

Stand your ground is irrelevant to this shooting. The only thing that matters is if Zimmerman believed that he was in danger of great bodily harm or death due to the beating that he was receiving from Martin. (If that occurred the way Zimmerman described it)

[jedrider]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'S')tand your ground is irrelevant to this shooting. The only thing that matters is if Zimmerman believed that he was in danger of great bodily harm or death due to the beating that he was receiving from Martin. (If that occurred the way Zimmerman described it)

[Roy]

If you're sitting on top of me, bashing my head against the ground, I'm going to shoot you and kill you. If you don't die with the first round, I will continue to discharge my weapon until you do. I don't give a fuck. It would be a righteous shoot and I, like Zimmerman would not be breaking any law or subject to any prosecution. The fact that the police on scene and the EMTs on scene saw the evidence and discerned that it was consistent with Zimmerman's account of the events speaks volumes about what happened.

But but Trayvon is a nice 11 year old kid the MSM says. Oh wait a minute, was his Twitter handle really "No_Limit_Nigga"? Was this dude a racist himself? I contend that anybody who uses a slur like that as their handle is racist as hell. Anybody who uses that vile word in conversation is racist.

Here;s some of Trayvon's brethren in Baton Rouge Louisiana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e52-Vx5PMCQ. Think Obama's sons...

These are some nice young men, upstanding, contributing to society, paying taxes, being responsible fathers, being good role models for their children, providing for and protecting their communities, just like all of us should aspire to do. (/sarc) Why wouldn't you want to live near a large concentration of such nice and upstanding people?

The MSM has totally mis-represented the facts in this case, the pols jumped in before all the facts were known, and now we have a bunch of people who don't even know the facts, protesting against a man protecting his right to life and liberty.

If you're sitting on top of me, bashing my head against the ground, I'm going to shoot you and kill you. I don't give a fuck if you're black, white, brown, red, yellow, or purple with pink polka dots.

That's my right as an American, to defend my right to life and liberty. And if someone is sitting on top of me and banging my head on the ground, they're attempting to deprive me of liberty and possibly life.

That's the issue being overlooked by the MSM and the politicians who've inserted themselves into this story.

Has the MSM picked up on the brutal murder in Sanford of the white guy by two young black teens noted above? What about that guy's rights? Were the black kids racist? did they pick him out BECAUSE he was white? Because he was 50 (ageist)? Or because they're sociopaths? Or all of the above?

[Fiddlerdave]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roy', 'I')f you're sitting on top of me, bashing my head against the ground, I'm going to shoot you and kill you. If you don't die with the first round, I will continue to discharge my weapon until you do. I don't give a fuck. It would be a righteous shoot and I, like Zimmerman would not be breaking any law or subject to any prosecution.....

[Cog]

"Stand your ground" does not give you the right to beat someone unconscious because they are following you around. You need to read the Florida statute. Unless Zimmerman brandished a weapon or swung the first blow at Martin, then it was a righteous shoot.

[rangerone314]

Sometimes I wonder if certain people aren't just waiting in the wings for some random black person to do something stupid and get killed, so that they can celebrate "Grab a Free TV day".

[Cloud9]

Last Friday night 14 people were shot at a funeral in Miami. Two black men died. One had a six day old child. Of the twelve survivors that were shot, one is a five year old little black girl. The shooting took place on what should have been holy ground at a wake no less. If you are not as equally outraged by this shooting as the shooting in Sanford then you might be a racist.