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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#332301: Oct 7th 2020 at 8:53:38 AM

[up][up][up] Starts trying to work that into something that can be sung to the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

OH come on what a page topper...

Edited by singularityshot on Oct 7th 2020 at 8:54:18 AM

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#332302: Oct 7th 2020 at 8:53:59 AM

They can start by having the Secret Service forcefully remove all members of the GOP that tested positive for Covid and lock them all up in isolation cells for their own and everyone else's protection, since they so blatantly are disobeying the rules in that regards as well and endangering everyone else around them by doing so.

Treat them as "nuclear waste" until their conditions change for the better.

As a start.

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#332303: Oct 7th 2020 at 8:54:56 AM

Reposing so this doesn't get lost at the bottom of the page to a Mary Poppins reference. tongue

Well, to address the one generalisation—ACAB is definitely a more provocative way of putting at it, but it comes down to the same idea that's behind defunding the police (which itself means moving money to other ways of solving problems than throwing policing at it), which is that the police system in the USA is fundamentally broken. On the legal side, it's far too easy for police to claim self defence when there's a lethal response, and qualified immunity means that no matter what they do in the process then any victims are left with no ability to do anything.

On the cultural side, policing doesn't have anywhere near as much community involvement as it should, especially in some cities where none of the police actually come from the areas they work in, which only exacerbates a with us or against us mentality, and officers are expected to present a united front even if someone does something fragrantly wrong. And if you're a whistleblower, then you're more likely to be thrown out, which means there's a distinct lack of what people would call good cops. Further compounded by unions that will do their best to prevent any repercussions no matter how obvious it is that the officers are, in fact, in the wrong.

And thirdly there's the problem that US police are severely undertrained in comparison to those in most countries, with a steady accumulation of equipment that makes many departments look indistinguishable from paramilitary groups. When the most important skill they need is de-escalation.

Leaving us with a situation where all cops are either A) problematic in and of themselves (the disturbingly gung ho lot), B) unquestioning of the system they're in, or C) silent for the sake of their own job. Corruption in a nutshell.

Semi-[nja]

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#332304: Oct 7th 2020 at 8:56:49 AM

Amendments being difficult is kinda the point. The very structure of the government isn't to change every time the political winds blow a bit more blue or red. The changes should be things there is very substantial agreement on.

But it does make needed changes even more difficult in a polarized climate.

On the other hand, as I said, I don't think starting from scratch would make getting agreement any easier.

The answer is persuasion to overcome that polarization. Which isn't easy, but I think it's right.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#332305: Oct 7th 2020 at 8:58:45 AM

Cops are the only group of people in the U.S. that are legally allowed to shoot us whenever they, themselves, think it's warranted to do so.

It would be mind-bogglingly stupid for us not to be critical of how and when they exercise that privilege.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#332306: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:01:19 AM

And that's not even getting into civil forfeiture and what this says about funding.

Hodor2 Since: Jan, 2015
#332307: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:07:06 AM

To make a serious comment, I'm a bit hesitant to totally buy into "ACAB" and don't support eliminating police entirely.

However, I definitely think qualified immunity needs to go and that there should be (potential criminal) penalties for turning off a body cam.

Also, in light of various instances of police brutality and/or killings and statistics on white nationalism among officers (and honestly just from reading the Twitter account and public statements of any police union), it is hard to dispute that there is something wrong with a lot of the people who become police officers.

Whether or not they are a majority, I don't know (and I hope not). But regardless, even if bad apples don't spoil the barrel you still need to throw out the bad apples.

smokeycut Since: Mar, 2013
#332308: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:10:08 AM

The beliefs behind ACAB aren’t new. They go back a long way. Just look at what happened to Serpico in the 70s. The belief is that all cops (meaning everyone who stays a cop) is either actively corrupt or protects/ignores the corrupt cops. Anyone who tries to stop it gets fired, left to die, or betrayed in some other way.

So all cops who are still cops are the ones who support the corruption and brutality.

RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#332309: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:10:39 AM

Anyone suggesting the abolishment of all policing is really fringe left.

The problem, well, is summed up by this comic: the police are being used to solve too many problems like a hammer. That and the war on drugs.

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#332310: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:13:55 AM

So how are the FBI-hearings going?

singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#332311: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:25:54 AM

Check previous page, it's done. Long story short, it was about the extradition of UK born ISIS members to the US to face trial. There was nothing nefarious in the news conference so the fact it got hyped up the way it did says more about the political climate then anything else.

Edited by singularityshot on Oct 7th 2020 at 9:26:16 AM

TitanJump Since: Sep, 2013 Relationship Status: Singularity
#332312: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:31:52 AM

I see.

...

Looks like Trump has lost another futile fight to keep his tax returns hidden, and now is forced to release them at last.

Makes one wonder why he just keep trying and not get it over with from the get-go.

Galadriel Since: Feb, 2015
#332313: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:34:17 AM

I thought NYT already published them.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#332314: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:34:51 AM

> Makes one wonder why he just keep trying and not get it over with from the get-go.

It makes him look bad and he's concerned about his 'image' too much

Edited by Ultimatum on Oct 7th 2020 at 4:35:05 PM

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
devak They call me.... Prophet Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
They call me.... Prophet
#332315: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:35:38 AM

TBH, i see plenty of people who say "abolish the police" as shorthand for "abolish our heavily militarized police, transfer much of its responsibilities to other agencies better equipped for it and for whatever's left we can have regular cops like the rest of the civilized world".

Like, other countries have special officers with limited powers for minor tasks such as parking tickets, who aren't equipped with assault rifles and military vehicles.

Edited by devak on Oct 7th 2020 at 6:37:40 PM

Robrecht Your friendly neighbourhood Regent from The Netherlands Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Your friendly neighbourhood Regent
#332316: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:40:43 AM

[up]x6 Yep...

And then preferably also stop teaching police officers that they are in constant danger and need to shoot anyone they feel threatened by.

No other civilized country I know about does that and, surprise surprise, the police aren't needlessly killing people on a daily basis in those countries, but also the police aren't dieing in droves the way proponents of training police officers that way claim would happen.

Edited by Robrecht on Oct 7th 2020 at 6:41:16 PM

Angry gets shit done.
Lazlo74 from A tropical hell-hole Since: May, 2018
#332317: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:46:44 AM

Holy shit. I'm hearing scuttlebutt from Trump's base in parts of the internet that the GOP may be a victim of a biological assassination ploy from the Democrats by deliberately infecting them.

I need to stop going around in social media. These people are really out of their minds.

Scaled seeker
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#332318: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:49:19 AM

...scuttlebutt?

i'm tired, my friend
devak They call me.... Prophet Since: Jul, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
They call me.... Prophet
#332319: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:49:49 AM

"Holy shit. I'm hearing scuttlebutt from Trump's base in parts of the internet that the GOP may be a victim of a biological assassination ploy from the Democrats by deliberately infecting them."

To be honest, why are you surprised? They were already saying it's a biological weapon from China and/or democrats to destabilize the economy and hurt trump. The "the democrats are trying to assassinate the president with bioweapons" take is exactly up their alley.

Edited by devak on Oct 7th 2020 at 6:49:59 PM

TheRoguePenguin Since: Jul, 2009
#332320: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:50:57 AM

To be at once so diabolical that you could infect an entire party and so incompetent that there's a less than 10% chance any one individual will die from it.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#332323: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:55:24 AM

...scuttlebutt?

It's a profoundly fun word for rumors. It sounds military, but I'm not sure about its origin.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Oct 7th 2020 at 9:55:47 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#332324: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:56:09 AM

[up][up][up] Especially funny as they have a Republican bias in general to their results.

Edited by RainehDaze on Oct 7th 2020 at 5:56:19 PM

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#332325: Oct 7th 2020 at 9:56:56 AM

Make up your mind.

Either the disease is engineered to kill you, or the disease is engineered so the vaccine can be used to inject you with tracking nanomachines to cure it.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes

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