I think there are some misconceptions about the protests going on right now. First of all, if you guys aren’t familiar with St Louis, it’s barely one step above Detroit. The town of Ferguson is very small (about 20,000). These protesters are coming from St Louis to take advantage of the situation there.
The tear gas and rubber bullets have been used in response to cops getting fired at, getting rocks thrown at them, and even having molotov cocktails tossed at them. These aren’t some hippy peace loving sit-in protesters.
Now, that’s only a small fraction of the protests but obviously the most reported. There are several peaceful protests going on being carried out by the folks actually from Ferguson.
tl;dr - police are militarized because they have to be to stay safe from East St Louis thugs that will use any excuse to firebomb something. Peaceful protests are being carried on without incident.
This sideline bantering is nothing more than intellectual masturbation. It may feel good, but in the end nothing gets accomplished.
I stay away from this fingerpointing ‘if I was the cop’ type of discussion. It reminds me of a monologue I once heard a power hitter give who’s name escapes me. He went on to say in so many words, “It’s easy to criticize and boo from the comfort of your lower deck seats, try stepping up to the plate and locking eyes with a 90mph fastball coming at your face; then offer your unsolicited criticism.”
I know nothing of this situation, but I find it damn hard to believe a cop was just bent on killing a black guy during his shift. Again, where there is smoke, there is fire. It’s not like Bgayasschad gets arrested randomly while out on a stroll through Central Park simply because he’s black while the policeman is white.
An 18 year old is considered a kid in many states when in a relationship with a teacher. The teacher can be convicted of stat rpe even if the 18 year old is of age of majority. Tx and Wa has this law i believe. I dont believe an 18 yo is a kid but the law can contradict itself.
^In Texas, it’s illegal for a teacher to sleep with his/her students, regardless of how old they are.
WRT CvM’s post: Once, in HS, we turned the heat up on the pitching machine to 90 mph, and took turns trying to hit the ball. At that speed, you can barely see the ball, much less actually hit it. It’s a good thing I was wearing my brown pants.
It’s because teachers are in a position of power over their students and can easily (or more easily) manipulate them. It’s much like a psychiatrist losing their license for having relations with their patients.
HS English Teacher - “Yo girl, you 18 and lookin’ good. I know you need to graduate, but your grades are borderline. Tell you what. You come to my place tonight, and I can make sure you pass. If you don’t, you won’t. It’s simple as that.”
Girl - “Ummmm…well, it’s either go down on you or not graduate. I really need a diploma if I ever plan to get a job at Starbucks.”
Teacher - “Atta girl. That’s how to use your head. Speaking of…”
Kind of weird that it’s a legal definition though. Sure, maybe the school can fire the teacher for inappropriate conduct, but it’s strange if the definition of “adult” depends on your job. People in other jobs arguably have even more power over people below them, like politicians, police, army superiors, John Rogers.
I drive by Ferguson on Interstate 270 twice a day, 5x week… My wife grew up in Ferguson, my mother in law still lives in Ferguson… It’s a disturbing place to be right now. The first night all the looting took place, cops were being shot at on live TV, their helicopter was being shot at. In the instnace the police are being shot at, I’m ok with the force they’ve applied. It’s when they apply the same type of force to protestors for yelling/ranting, etc. that I have a problem with it. However, these protestors have already shown that they will shoot at cops…
All i know is, I’m glad I’m not an officer, nor am I down there being active in the protesting.
I don’t think they go together, per se… the looters just took advantage of the situation. Some of them may have came from the protest, I don’t know. And they both just happened to occur on the same night, on the same city block…
Big difference in comparing the law I was speaking of. If the whole position of power justification were true then cops should never be allowed to have sexual reations with any civilian because they are always in a position of power. And that goes right to my point you treat someone like they are incapable of making decisions they will live up to your expectations. And its a huge difference between losing a license and doing prison time, registering as a sex offender for life, all on the dime of tax payers. Just because something may offend my moral senses doesnt mean for a second I want to be paying for this persons monitoring for the rest of my life. The laws in our states change when you cross a magic line in both type of crime and severity of punishment it is unbelievable. Another fun stat, if you go to CO and smoke pot then drive across the border to UT, you can be given a Dui from a piss test determining if pot was in your system at any time in the last week regardless of whether you are under the influence at the time.
Big difference in comparing the law I was speaking of. If the whole position of power justification were true then cops should never be allowed to have sexual reations with any civilian because they are always in a position of power. And that goes right to my point you treat someone like they are incapable of making decisions they will live up to your expectations. And its a huge difference between losing a license and doing prison time, registering as a sex offender for life, all on the dime of tax payers. Just because something may offend my moral senses doesnt mean for a second I want to be paying for this persons monitoring for the rest of my life. The laws in our states change when you cross a magic line in both type of crime and severity of punishment it is unbelievable. Another fun stat, if you go to CO and smoke pot then drive across the border to UT, you can be given a Dui from a piss test determining if pot was in your system at any time in the last week regardless of whether you are under the influence at the time.