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Friday, August 15, 2014

AMERICA 2014: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE....


FERGUSON, MISSOURI, 2014. 
LEFT: FERGUSON MISSOURI, 2014. RIGHT: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, 1963




LEFT: FERGUSON, MISSOURI, 2014. RIGHT: ALABAMA HIGHWAY PATROL,  BIRMINGHAM, 1963.




FERGUSON, MISSOURI, 2014



TIANANMEN, SQUARE, CHINA, 1989.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course:

"They're ALL THE SAME."

Really?

Anonymous said...

it's what being at war for over a decade does, it militarizes our police forces with all the left over equipment. Why is no one complaining about this?

Anonymous said...

Can you believe in the USA in 2014, the police would arrest and harass the media just covering a story?

I hope the feds arrest the police for that. It's simply not American.

What's next, raiding gay bars and arresting everyone there simply for being in a gay bar?

Anonymous said...

The reporter was being as much of an a-hole as the cop was. Watch the video.....

Anonymous said...

Unless we as American citizens wake up and reclaim our rights to this country both legal and common, this is what is going to happen. Militarization of local law enforcement, us against them mentality, govt. vs the people. Domination and intimidation of the masses. They hide behind the lies that crime is on the rise and criminals are more violent--so that "the average joe" interprets their actions as protecting society when in essence they are positioning the government to supress all dissenting views. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

8:49 a.m., search the internet. Everybody is complaining about the militarization of police, the federal giveaways of military equipment, MRAP vehicles from Iraq, surplus weapons and electronics, etc. under the 1033 program and the new mentality of police treating the American people like the enemy.

Anonymous said...

10:07 a.m., you are absolutely right. And crome, specially violent crime is way down and does not justify these power excesses by government.

Anonymous said...

The militarization of law enforcement MUST (sadly) continue as long as the NRA continues to advocate for arming any and all career criminals, mentally ill with the most powerful weapons available. Does anyone recall LA about 10 years ago when the police were out-gunned by two thugs with automatic rifles? The police had to borrow weapons from a gun shop in order defend themselves!! Want to end this? Stand up to the NRA!!

Anonymous said...

8:49- read the Cato Institute. Read Radley Balko. Go to Reason.com. Libertarians have been screaming about this for years.

Anonymous said...

In 1913 Leo M. Frank, an Atlanta factory manager, was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a thirteen-year-old girl in his employ. The evidence against Frank was all but non-existent; but Frank was Jewish, and the Atlanta newspapers created an atmosphere of mob hysteria that carried judge and jury along and resulted in conviction.


Frank’s lawyers pursued every appellate remedy. On April 12, 1915, however, the United States Supreme Court held – over a dissent authored by Oliver Wendell Holmes and joined by Charles Evans Hughes – that there was no basis for federal habeas relief. Frank v. Mangum, 237 U.S. 309 (1915). It would be eight years before the Court, with Holmes this time writing for the majority, held that “mob justice” was a deprivation of that due process which the Constitution guarantees and which the federal courts are bound to protect. Moore v. Dempsey, 261 U.S. 86 (1923).


The Moore opinion came too late to help Leo Frank. On August 16, 1915, shortly after nightfall, twenty-five of Atlanta’s and Marietta’s leading citizens kidnapped Frank from the state prison in Milledgeville, drove him through the night to a farm adjoining Mary Phagan’s birthplace, and hanged him from a tall oak tree. Three thousand people came to see the body before it was cut down. The hanging rope was cut into pieces and sold for souvenirs. One of the leaders of the lynch mob, a local judge, arranged for Frank’s corpse to be removed to prevent its desecration.

Anonymous said...

Calling the Shumie for the Ferguson police dept.

Anonymous said...

12:49 No one, least of all the NRA calls for arming criminals or the mentally ill. You know that, of course, which makes you a liar.

The militarization of the police hasn't a thing to do with lawful gun ownership in the U.S. Presuming you actually believe your statement otherwise, that makes you a fool. Read Radley Balko's important work, just as a start, and cure your ignorance.

Now, the servile reflex that makes you a supporter of a state monopoly on force, well that makes you a sheep, and there's likely no curing that. I hope your chains rest lightly upon you.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm...Rabbi gets killed and they hold a real large prayer rally and pray for him.

Hmmm... black guy who may have just robbed a 7-11 is killed and locals loot and riot.

What's the difference?

Could it be the neighborhood?

I bet someone calls me a racist. I'm not but, friends have asked me this question.

Anonymous said...

Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift. Obat Diabetes Murah

Anonymous said...

One is of course 'free' to advocating easy access guns for the career criminal. I guess that is what contributes to American exceptionalism. So, when the next slaughter of the innocent occurs (and it will)just say it would not have happened if more guns were on the streets. Anyone who does not support a more violent America is not a real American. American is indeed exceptional. And, that is both sad and deadly!!

Claude Erskibe-Browne said...

Has anyone seen the security video if the young man in Ferguson committing a StrongArm Robbery of a liquor store only minutes before the encounter w the Police? The " Victim" in Ferguson is not as "Innocent" as the media portrayed

Anonymous said...

Yeah! After watching video ...
Good riddance !!!
Obama jumped the gun adopting this one as well.

How about a little sympathy for the hard working store clerk who was robbed and assaulted. Anyone???

Even cops should have a presumption of innocence. Unless there is a damning video of him too, I don't trust the mobs biased account.

Thank goodness for videos. The truth will set him free.

Anonymous said...

The Professor says:

The statements made by Lawrence O'Donnell on his broadcast on MSNBC Thursday night, that based on his interview with one witness justified the police officer in the Michael Brown case being indicted for First Degree Premeditated Murder, were nothing short of irresponsible. They were designed to inflame the situation instead of just reporting the facts.
Evidence has now surfaced, and needs to be investigated, as to why the officer stopped Brown, why he confronted him, what Brown did in response to the confrontation and whether the shooting was justifiable under Tennessee v. Gardner. There are many questions to be answered before a charging decision can be made.
Specifically, did Brown commit the strong armed robbery in the convenience store shortly before the shooting? What was contained in the dispatch to the officer when he responded to the call? If Brown did not commit the robbery, did he fit the description given to the officer? Was the officer attempting to detain Brown in awaiting backup? Did Brown attempt to get away? Did the officer fire in attempting to apprehend a fleeing felon? Or was this an excessive use of force which requires criminal sanctions against the officer?
These are all questions which must be answered before this matter is concluded. We have seen too many high profile matters rushed by public opinion to criminal charges that could not be sustained. Most recently the Nancy Grace incited hysteria over Casey Anthony and the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case.
A Grand Jury will investigate. It will determine whether charges should be filed, not the media. It is time to let the justice system do its job and the press to do theirs: report, not make, the news.

Anonymous said...

3:51 pm so a robbery now deserves the death penalty?? What's your point? Police shot an unarmed man.

Anonymous said...

No as to death, but it sure as shit gives more credibility to the story that he fought with the cop and went for the cops gun....may be true, may not be, but sure as shit makes it much more likely.

Anonymous said...

Professor

Master of the obvious. And casey anthony deserved to be charged. Props to baez. The last time I saw that dude he was selling bon bon's from a cardboard box. He made good.

Cysco Kid.

Anonymous said...

Everyone please read Roy Black's FB post today. Right on the money.......

Anonymous said...

Even if the cop did not know about the strong arm robbery at 7-11, Brown may have believed in his mind that the cop knew and was stopping him for it instead of for walking down the middle of the road. That could explain the confrontation.

Anonymous said...

The NRA comment is idiotic. Strong Armed Robbery does not carry the death penalty. But it does show someone who has been characterized as an innocent victim to be anything but. He was sort of acting like a violent criminal a few minutes before he was shot. That's very telling.

The militarization of police is a major problem. The excesses in the policing of minority communities is a very real threat and problem. But the kid in the tape snatching merchandise, shoving store clerks, and intimidating them during a robbery, shouldn't the kid on which we stake these claims.

Anonymous said...

The Professor says:

8:25 - Whether Anthony deserved to be charged is one thing, whether she should have been in light of the inability to prove cause of death is another. The cops wanted to wait for the parents or someone else to make a mistake, so they had independent proof of cause of death. The arrest made that impossible. Rush to charge with insufficient proof is not justice. And Baez did not win that case. Cheney Mason did! Not so obvious. Try being the master of the not so obvious.

david said...

i had the same thought when i saw the pictures on CNN..imagine how the population there feels if we get it and we do not live there

Anonymous said...

Prejudice and bias, like fairness and justice are subjective, depending on ones position. There is no divorcing preferences, perception, and, oftentimes, affinity or empathy, from the human interaction. Humans are wired with emotion, and emotion drives prejudice and bias. See a guy in a Brioni suit walking toward you and you are unfazed. See a grungy looking guy in a crumpled sports coat, you cringe and may even cross the street. The reaction is driven by our prejudices and perception. The grungy looking guy is probably an honest, hardworking, straight shooter, whereas the guy in the Brioni suit is probably a fraudster and scoundrel, who trades on his appearance and sliver tongue. You can take issue with the proposition, but before you do so consider the criminal defendants who get the deal, who get the pass, as opposed to those who get slammed. If you really want a treat, visit the civil division, sit in when John Q, Esq., a solo or small firm practitioner, comes up against “the firm” comprised of fifty or more lawyers, and see how the scales are weighed and tipped. Add a jurist seeking ascension, and see the scales really tipped. While not as bad as in the past, there is no denying that prejudice is still alive and well today, although it is more subtle and sub-rosa.

Anonymous said...

Liberals have manufactured a violent and predominantly black permanent underclass, subjected to our malignant paranoia about crime, living slow-motion death sentences in ghettos from which no amount of presidential hope, change, or lecturing can release them.

H.P.N said...

Friday, August 15, 2014 5:51:00 PM

To point out not so subtle differences in the cases that make a huge difference Rabbi tragically killed by civilians; teen killed by government; (our constitution makes a distinction bw the two entities if I'm not mistaken) Rabbi held out as victim by media (which he is); teen held out as violent "thug" who needed to be killed (which he is not) by police and media before they even began investigation into officers actions of using deadly force. God forbid it happen but if the police start gunning down Rabbis's (or non-black teenage girls who shoplift in department stores) like black people then you/everyone will see how it really works.
Everyday the media portrays blacks as violent, ferile, criminals that "the rest of us" need to fear. Meanwhile non-blacks can shoot up a school of elementary students, college students, movie patrons, and mall goers, but be labeled as "gifted but tortured" or "good kid who faced demons" or some other bs and still be taken into custody w/o incident. Meanwhile allegedly selling a "loosie" or walking on the wrong side of the street gets blacks killed. But if you're privileged enough to live in the Gables you can break into a famous NBA champion's house and not get arrested or charged because its just a prank. If you do get arrested its only for trespass, not the burglary. Meanwhile Tyrone is still scratching his head and trying to figure out why he's looking at 21 years for trying to recycle and get some money for the trash you placed at the curtilage of your domicile until trash day as the prosecutor declares before the Court "Judge my victim wants prison time and we're not going below guidelines."

In no way am I condoning riots and the damaging of people's property who had nothing to do with the government action. It should not have started and should stop immediately. But even the most adorable and loveable dog will bite after being kicked enough.

Bill said...

Looks very familiar ;)

I wish I'd thought of this

http://randompixels.blogspot.com/2014/08/four-photographs.html