Octopus Overlords

Racism in America; exhibit whatever-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... -carolina/

Nonpaywalled version (USAToday today).

At least the second dude doesn't look like he is missing his brain cavity.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:42 pm Racism in America; exhibit whatever-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... -carolina/

I’m not so sure about this one. For one thing, the young man the soldier pushed is reportedly being investigated for at least two other incidents of touching women inappropriately and grabbing a baby in that area. They also mention he may have some underlying mental health issues, although I suspect that wasn’t known by the people in the video. Also, we don’t see what happened leading up to the confrontation. There seems to have been some kind of incident involving the young man as a woman is heard offscreen talking about some other confrontation involving him.

But I would like to see/hear what happened before the camera started rolling.

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:30 pm

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:42 pm Racism in America; exhibit whatever-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2 ... -carolina/

I’m not so sure about this one. For one thing, the young man the soldier pushed is reportedly being investigated for at least two other incidents of touching women inappropriately and grabbing a baby in that area. They also mention he may have some underlying mental health issues, although I suspect that wasn’t known by the people in the video. Also, we don’t see what happened leading up to the confrontation. There seems to have been some kind of incident involving the young man as a woman is heard offscreen talking about some other confrontation involving him.

My only pause there is the complaints are being made after this incident. Is it retaliatory? Are they smearing his name to justify this guys rage? It's messy at best.

But I would like to see/hear what happened before the camera started rolling.

I don't think it matters. This jacked up dude is straight up bullying someone much smaller than him. Worse he is a drill instructor in the military and is representing his unit. He needed to show a heck of a lot more discipline than that. Even if he wasn't a professional soldier in our military he had no right to push the kid around or command him off a public sidewalk. They called the police. Great. The next step is to back off. They had every right to bar him from your own property but he went far beyond the line no matter what happened before the video.

Edit: One other note, the second Pentland said, "You’re in the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker. Get out!" This turned from bullying to racist bullying. Even if that wasn't what he meant...he damn well better know that *sounds awful*. Again a military drill instructor. He should know better.

If the smaller guy was picking fights with women in the neighborhood (as one report states) I would think any of you with a wife or daughter, or even seeing a defenseless neighbor being threatened, might do the same.

“You’re in the wrong neighborhood” is something someone would yell at someone who was also doing something wrong and in that situation, it’s not necessarily an act of racism. I’ve heard it yelled between White people (among others).

As I said, I would like to see what happened before we got to that point before I start condemning his actions as racist. We can trivialize racism by applying it to any situation involving different races. There’s enough of it out there that we don’t need to try to work it in everywhere.

If it does turn out the soldier was just being an aggressive, racist ass though, I'll be among the first to say he should pay a price for such things.

I’ve probably seen that over a hundred times. It’s been years, but I can still remember every one of the kid’s names. We used to use the full version of the “Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes” report in our D&I training. It always led to some very powerful and emotional discussions.

I guess (?) this goes here? I'm stunned; it's easily one of the most depressing things I've read in a while.

A data breach at a Christian crowdfunding website has revealed that serving police officers and public officials have donated money to fundraisers for accused vigilante murderers, far-right activists, and fellow officers accused of shooting black Americans.

In many of these cases, the donations were attached to their official email addresses, raising questions about the use of public resources in supporting such campaigns.

Not really into doxing those that did, but for me this reinforces the idea that the system is rotten to the core; we have a major problem.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:22 pm I guess (?) this goes here? I'm stunned; it's easily one of the most depressing things I've read in a while.

A data breach at a Christian crowdfunding website has revealed that serving police officers and public officials have donated money to fundraisers for accused vigilante murderers, far-right activists, and fellow officers accused of shooting black Americans.

In many of these cases, the donations were attached to their official email addresses, raising questions about the use of public resources in supporting such campaigns.

Not really into doxing those that did, but for me this reinforces the idea that the system is rotten to the core; we have a major problem.

They need to be fired in my opinion. Don't care about the doxing.

Every cop that pays union dues is supporting the defense of fellow officers accused of shooting black Americans (and any other Americans).

Smoove, had you seen this article? It's about maternal and infant death for Black people in NJ.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog ... -our-black

First, the landscape: Our nation, for all its wealth and advancements in health care, is ranked 55th in the world in maternal deaths. Out of all 50 states, New Jersey is ranked 47th. And, as disturbing as that reality is, it gets worse.

Those deaths do not affect all mothers equally. In New Jersey, a Black mother is seven times more likely than a white mother to die from pregnancy-related complications. A Black baby is over three times more likely than a white baby to die before his or her first birthday.

Pretty scary stuff. When will it end?

Yes, thanks. We cover maternal health disparities as well. Overall, the state of maternal health in the US is terrible, but it's really shameful when you start to dig into the details.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:36 pm other three MSP officers present at George Floyd's murder to be charged with Aiding and Abetting 2nd Degree Murder (and Chauvin's charge to be upgraded to 2nd Degree Murder):

https://www.startribune.com/ellison-wil ... 570984872/

Verdict for Chauvin is in and will be read soon.

Guilty on all three charges. Let the appeals phase begin!

Wow - one of my friend's who is a cop here in NJ is going off right now. I hope people are careful out there tonight.

Seeing those handcuffs on him was gratifying.

Kurth wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:11 pm Seeing those handcuffs on him was gratifying.

Totally. That is an important image for many.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:08 pm Wow - one of my friend's who is a cop here in NJ is going off right now.

If he's afraid that people in his profession are now in danger of being held accountable, I can only hope the wave of retirements and resignations in the coming days is unprecedented.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:20 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:08 pm Wow - one of my friend's who is a cop here in NJ is going off right now.

If he's afraid that people in his profession are now in danger of being held accountable, I can only hope the wave of retirements and resignations in the coming days is unprecedented.

Nah. Cops protecting cops blindly is...a reflex at this point.

We have to put this in the proper perspective. The guy knelt on a guys neck for 9 minutes while lay people yelled at him that he'd kill him. When Flo7d was clearly in distress the crowd pleaded for Chauvin to stop and help Floyd. I'm glad we convicted Chauvin as this was obvious, but I don't see us holding many cops accountable. Plus the number of officers convicted actually getting sentenced/serving time is even lower than convicted. It's a funnel. I'm not predicting he'll walk but he has a higher chance than a regular person.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:20 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:08 pm Wow - one of my friend's who is a cop here in NJ is going off right now.

If he's afraid that people in his profession are now in danger of being held accountable, I can only hope the wave of retirements and resignations in the coming days is unprecedented.

+100

I can't agree more.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:36 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:20 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:08 pm Wow - one of my friend's who is a cop here in NJ is going off right now.

If he's afraid that people in his profession are now in danger of being held accountable, I can only hope the wave of retirements and resignations in the coming days is unprecedented.

Nah. Cops protecting cops blindly is...a reflex at this point.

We have to put this in the proper perspective. The guy knelt on a guys neck for 9 minutes while lay people yelled at him that he'd kill him. When he was clearly in distress they pleaded for him to stop and help Floyd. I'm glad we convicted him, this was obvious, but I don't see us holding many cops accountable. Plus the officers convicted actually getting sentenced/serving time is even lower than convicted. It's a funnel. I'm not predicting he'll walk but he has a higher chance than a regular person.

So what is it your cop friend is going off about then? What's his beef with this verdict?

It's an anecdote but that guy was one of ... weird to say ... the sweetest guys I knew. He was friends mostly with some of my wife's college friends. He was the guy who would give you the shirt off his back. Once we were at a friends pool, he broke a step on a ladder, and he left the party and came back with the part and fixed it. He ended up becoming a North Jersey beat cop and he changed drastically. And this was a regular suburban rich north jersey town. It wasn't like he was patrolling Camden but he became mean, sullen, and angry. He is deep in their cop culture. Whatever is going on in that department...man it is poison.

Edit: @Unagi - something along the lines of people don't understand why we make decisions but that doesn't make them wrong. But starting with some swearing. It'd almost be fair if the circumstances weren't so blatantly obvious here.

Edit 2: It is hard to parse these because cop culture is highly performative sometimes. My friend in the NJ/NY Port Authority said that Chauvin should be convicted (privately in chats) - he'd never say that publicly. That particular guy didn't change when he became a cop. Well for a little while he was talking cop stuff and one of our other friends was really challenging him...but it calmed down after his probation period ended...enough said.

Meanwhile on the other side of Hazzard...



Also, apparently the right-wing hate machine is starting to predictably blame the guilty verdict on Waters.

Edit: Updated with Fox madness.

Oh FFS, Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi: "Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice ... Because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice."

I get what she's trying to say here, but...sheesh.

It's weird to thank him. I mean he didn't get up that morning with the purpose of becoming a lightning rod for police brutality. I wouldn't have phrased it that way. More like we are sorry for your death, but today we know that your death meant something to the world and that more change will come.

It kills me that these people are our leaders. Just kills me. What a stupid, stupid thing for Pelosi to say.

Lorini wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:52 pm It's weird to thank him. I mean he didn't get up that morning with the purpose of becoming a lightning rod for police brutality. I wouldn't have phrased it that way. More like we are sorry for your death, but today we know that your death meant something to the world and that more change will come.

Seriously. He didn't "sacrifice his life" for justice. He was fucking murdered on the street. Those are not the same thing and to conflate them is to totally lose sight of what's going on here.

"Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice ...

That's fucked up. He didn't sacrifice anything. He was murdered.

Edit... Yeah, that, what kurth said.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:29 pm Oh FFS, Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi: "Thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice ... Because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice."

I get what she's trying to say here, but...sheesh.

Yeah. That’s just not what needs to be said.

This was a ‘good day’ for justice in America , but I’m sure George Floyd would have rather skipped the ‘sacrifice your life’ part.


I mean , maybe Trump would have been impeached and put in jail , and the eyes of the county ‘Truly Opened’ if only the insurrection managed to catch and kill Pelosi ... but she wasn’t willing to make the sacrifice
Just a dumb ass thing to say.

malchior wrote:Edit: @Unagi - something along the lines of people don't understand why we make decisions but that doesn't make them wrong. But starting with some swearing. It'd almost be fair if the circumstances weren't so blatantly obvious here.

“You’ll never understand his snap decision to slowly choke the life out of a man while a crowd of onlookers begged him to stop!”

Unagi wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:25 pm This was a ‘good day’ for justice in America , but I’m sure George Floyd would have rather skipped the ‘sacrifice your life’ part.

The Pelosi thing is awful.

I'm not sure this is justice, exactly. I feel more comfortable saying that for once a police officer was held accountable.

Fretmute wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:52 pm

malchior wrote:Edit: @Unagi - something along the lines of people don't understand why we make decisions but that doesn't make them wrong. But starting with some swearing. It'd almost be fair if the circumstances weren't so blatantly obvious here.

“You’ll never understand his snap decision to slowly choke the life out of a man while a crowd of onlookers begged him to stop!”

Exactly! It is basically a cop mantra but dumbly, blindly applied.

It's really chilling to read the official police account of what happened

This fabricated police story might have become the official account of George Floyd’s death if concerned citizens had not intervened and recorded the police.

It's been like 3+ hours and I'm still trying to process that if not for a random 17 year old walking by with a cell phone camera, everything would likely have ended differently. Completely random and yet, critical.

As others have started stating, the entire 9+ minute act was filmed in HD and we were all still wondering if Chauvin was going to be found guilty. Our country needs help.

Conservative Twitter is having a complete meltdown tonight. These people are seriously nuts.

Yikes.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:47 pm Conservative Twitter is having a complete meltdown tonight. These people are seriously nuts.

Yikes.

Yup. The howling at the moon is super loud. A couple of experts extremism monitoring telegram are saying it's ugly.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:38 pm As others have started stating, the entire 9+ minute act was filmed in HD and we were all still wondering if Chauvin was going to be found guilty. Our country needs help.

There was no way that with that piece of evidence he was going to be found not guilty.
No way.
If he was, this country would have burned. And I'd have brought the marshmallows.
Now we just have to go thru the ridiculous appeals process and see if it holds up and what he ends up actually serving.

stimpy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:09 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:38 pm As others have started stating, the entire 9+ minute act was filmed in HD and we were all still wondering if Chauvin was going to be found guilty. Our country needs help.

There was no way that with that piece of evidence he was going to be found not guilty.
No way.

I suspect Philando Castile's family would strongly disagree with your conviction about the outcome here.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:38 pm It's really chilling to read the official police account of what happened

Absolutely.

"At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident."

Right. Just the full weight of an adult body pressed on a windpipe against pavement.

Jim Crow never ended. It just learned stealth.