[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'I')t appears that they did not do a normal investigation of the scene like photographing and measuring and collecting evidence.....Brown was not tested for power residue from wrestling for the gun, the gun was not tested for Brown's DNA.

[wildbourgman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')restonSturges wrote:
It appears that they did not do a normal investigation of the scene like photographing and measuring and collecting evidence.....Brown was not tested for power residue from wrestling for the gun, the gun was not tested for Brown's DNA

[PrestonSturges]

Oh thank you, it seems like this information about the hand wound has only been revealed in the last couple days. And this did not come out in the first 48 hours because????? Even when the grand jury wrapped up, the only statements were mealy mouthed nonsense with no factual content.

The information is still buried in testimony and reports, so I guess there will never be comprehensive report and there will be a thousand versions based on various interpretations. And we'll never be able to reconcile the various contradictions.

I'll pose the question to those of you who are obsessed with this case: what about the other bullet wounds? And for me the thing they are not talking about is the neck wound. Are they ever going to release the x-rays and info about the bullet fragments?

To me it's pretty clear that Brown was shot in the top of the head when he was going down or on the ground. Buuuut, that's OK as we can see in the shooting of the mentally ill guy in St. Louis where then fired several shots into him after he was on the ground.

Wilson seems to be typical Barney Fife material - not very bright, poorly trained, panics under pressure, sees reality in a cartoon form, not safe with a firearm.

[wildbourgman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')o me it's pretty clear that Brown was shot in the top of the head when he was going down or on the ground.

[Sixstrings]

Putin's take on "minorities:"

* He says minorites have primitive culture

* He says Russia doesn't need minorities, minorities need Soviet Russia

* He says Russia won't ever change anything, for any minorities, no matter how much they talk about "discrimination"



Now before anyone jumps up and down and starts agreeing with Putin too much, just remember that actually liberalism means free societies and free thinking and a free flowing culture, and that does wind up meaning the most possible innovation.

Which is why the US out-innovates Russia and China -- especially China, Chinese don't have the freedom AND they're just very "in the box" thinkers. They may graduate a gazillion engineers, but they can't innovate like American engineers do.

The freedom is our only competitive advantage. So no, you really don't want a right wing state in charge of culture and regulating political speech and telling people what to think, it stifles innovation.

OTOH.. Putin's got a point.. you don't want to become a Denmark either, or a Norway, or a Britain, and how ridiculous they can get with political correctness.

[SeaGypsy]

Open & tolerant multiculturalism is all nice & dandy until you get an infiltration by a particular group with no regard whatsoever for the status quo. Variations immediately springing to mind include Sharia advocating Islamists & agents of Chinese industrial espionage.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'O')pen & tolerant multiculturalism is all nice & dandy until you get an infiltration by a particular group with no regard whatsoever for the status quo. Variations immediately springing to mind include Sharia advocating Islamists & agents of Chinese industrial espionage.

[SeaGypsy]

No I don't think Aussie has been overwhelmed, I think it's doing pretty well all considered.

The problem with Islam in general is that the extreme versions are actually based on the Quran & therefore anyone of that faith is prone to siding in favour of extremists, therefore even moderate Muslims, in large numbers, become a problem. The problem with the Chinese industrial espionage system is that it is invisible almost, until copy products start hitting the shelves. Both have in common the stealth factor allowed by huge numbers of ordinary moderate people to migrate to first world countries.

[wildbourgman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he problem with Islam in general is that the extreme versions are actually based on the Quran & therefore anyone of that faith is prone to siding in favour of extremists, therefore even moderate Muslims, in large numbers, become a problem.

[evilgenius]

So, which one of you who thinks that Darren Wilson murdered Michael Brown would take Wilson's place in the confrontation? Anybody? You'd be dead now for giving him that moment of hesitation. If you can't admit that then you need to do some thinking.

It's true that Michael Brown was a teddy bear of a giant young man. It's also true that he went on a rampage that day. You tell me how any police officer who encountered him would have been able to tell that he was essentially a teddy bear. He appears to have been wrestling with something inside himself. Even his actions when he confronted Wilson seem to indicate that, going through a whole series of seemingly contradictory behaviors. At the end he put his hands up. Too bad, and I mean too bad, he didn't decide to do that soon enough.

Dealing with inner demons is bad enough. Doing it in a compressed time frame on the street is worse. Like passing by homeless people who really could use some help, people don't want to deal with your problems. They don't want to even more if you stick them in their faces. And they don't want to even more than that if you violently demand they pay attention to them.

Does anybody have a right to impose this kind of thing on others? Is it like yelling 'fire' in a crowded movie theater, or is it like yelling 'help'? I guess we ought to come to some kind of answer for this because the future is going to put a lot of people through the same kind of despair that Michael Brown was feeling and many of those people who undergo it, like husbands who murder their wives and children and then commit suicide, are bound to think that 'sharing' what they are going through is some kind of legitimate response to their pain.

Guess what, you can say the same thing about all of the violent protests accompanying the verdict and the killing. Like the lack of self acceptance of blame for the housing crash there is a lot of lack of self acceptance of blame for what happened within the black community. Oh, really, I accuse them of something? No, I say that Michael Brown had reasons for going through the despair and anger he was dealing with when he died. I say that if the community isn't willing to face that then more will follow, only they probably won't do it so publicly. Learn how to vote and why that is important, for Chrissake.

This was not like the murder of Trayvon Martin. Cid is right, Trayvon was murdered and the law was the worst part of his murderer getting off. That law exists largely to placate white fear of the unknown, which includes a racist prejudice assuming black people are violent.

It's dangerous to be a cop. No other job a person can do as a matter of course is as dangerous. The job is only getting more dangerous as we deal with the issues that determine who we are as a people.

That being said, I think there are too many police officers employed in this country. Largely, this is an issue of local municipalities longing for DUI money, but it can also be that instead of a willingness to change our systems we would rather force people to comply.

This is important because our systems will have to change a lot over the next several decades. Peak oil will be the catalyst for that change.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wildbourgman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')o me it's pretty clear that Brown was shot in the top of the head when he was going down or on the ground.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')It's been too much, from just one place -- Mexico and central America. It's not that they are bad people, it's just too much from just one spot. We're talking ten million more illegals that Obama is now legalizing. The last time Reagan did this, it was one million. What will the next legalization be, 40 million Mexicans?
...
We've had too much immigration from central America. I actually like the South American immigrants, but in sum total we're becoming a spanish speaking nation, it's all the Mexican immigration that's been too much.

[wildbourgman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wildbourgman', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')o me it's pretty clear that Brown was shot in the top of the head when he was going down or on the ground.

[Plantagenet]

Speaking of football, five St. Louis Rams NFL players held their hands up in the air as they ran onto the playing field today. It wasn't clear if this was a sign of support for Michael Brown, the stoned strong-arm robber who was shot dead resisting arrest in Ferguson 3 months ago, or if they were practicing how to celebrate a touchdown

Five NFL players hold their hands up in the air---was it a touchdown or a protest? And later in the game some refs held their arms up in the air. What gives?


Hands UP! Don't SHOOT! Touchdown!

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wildbourgman', '
')You got it Preston that's how it happened, that's what eye witness testimony and forensics said. I'm a football fan and I see large men run in that position for several yards at a time. I see running backs run with they're head down, looking at the ground all day long. It's a natural way to protect your face while running into danger. The NFL actually has a program called heads up where they are trying to re-teach players to lead with thier face up looking where they are going due to injuries.

[wildbourgman]

Preston, this thing should be over with. The cop acted correctly. The thug who robbed the store and beat on the cop got killed. Why all the hand wringing when this is as clear cut as it gets. There are other cases where cops really screwed up and the stupid traveling protest crowd picked this one. I'm not one to take up for law enforement when they make mistakes, but this wasn't a mistake.

[Plantagenet]

Maybe the obama justice department will bring charges against Wilson?

Surely Wilson violated Michael Brown's civil rights by fighting back after Brown pushed into the police car and started hitting him and trying to steal his gun.


Its still possible the DOJ will brings charges against Wilson for violating Michael Brown's civil rights

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wildbourgman', 'P')reston, this thing should be over with. The cop acted correctly. The thug who robbed the store and beat on the cop got killed. Why all the hand wringing when this is as clear cut as it gets. There are other cases where cops really screwed up and the stupid traveling protest crowd picked this one. I'm not one to take up for law enforement when they make mistakes, but this wasn't a mistake.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wildbourgman', 'P')reston, this thing should be over with. The cop acted correctly. The thug who robbed the store and beat on the cop got killed. Why all the hand wringing when this is as clear cut as it gets. There are other cases where cops really screwed up and the stupid traveling protest crowd picked this one. I'm not one to take up for law enforement when they make mistakes, but this wasn't a mistake.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '
')I think people wanted a trial, and there would not have been any expectation of a conviction, but they wanted an open investigation.