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Is this the same sheriff who suggested people get guns in order to defend themselves? Somehow I suspect so. "Why are we surprised at this sub-human behavior on display in American ghettos?" He asks on Twitter. "Lib policies created the conditions."
The situation in Baltimore bothers me in a way Ferguson did not. It looks as if Freddy Gray's neck got broken after he was in custody, not while he was being arrested--and he was arrested because he ran away when a cop made eye contact with him. Which is to say, he wasn't committing any crimes which led to police running him down and tackling him; he just bolted when he saw police. That may not be smart but it's not a crime.
No one really knows how or when Freddy Gray's neck got broken, which is a very serious problem with this case. "We don't know how it happened" is not an appropriate answer.
Of course, then there is this, which does not help matters one whit. I am concerned about Freddy Gray (and the Walter Scott case) because of what they represent in terms of excessive use of force by the police, not because of the racial element. Part of the problem here is that much of the black subculture glorifies violence and crime, particularly in the inner city, and people who subscribe to the "thug life" philosophy are not blameless. You cannot expect people to treat you like an upstanding citizen when you insist on acting like a criminal. Posing for a picture with a handgun accompanying the semi-literate legend "DRAYQUAN IS GOIN OUT TO POP SUM PIGS" is all well and good, but don't expect people to think you're a good candidate for employment when a cursory Google search on your name turns that up.
As one commetor at that link begins, "I could support black americans against police brutality, but man they go out of their way to make themselves unappealing."
Furthermore, rioting and looting is not an appropriate response to police violence, either. This is another example of "mostly peaceful protests" but that's a bunch of horseshit spewed by SJW asshats in the media.
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Incidentally, at that last link, BOOGER HOOK OFF THE BANG SWITCH YOU FUCKING MORON!! He's pointing a handgun at the photographer which is a HUGE NO-NO and furthermore has his finger on the trigger.
On the plus side, the gun appears not to be loaded. He's still a fuckin' retard.
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Time to change gears! Gotham last night was great, and it's all leading up to the season finale. I'm going to have to get the season on DVD or BD and re-watch it.
Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot, is one of the high spots of this series. This version of Penguin is a hell of a long--and good--distance from the old Burgess Meredith and Danny DiVito versions of Penguin.
The events of last night's episode--the culmination of a few weeks' worth of scheming by Penguin--took me by surprise, but after I got over my shock I almost immediately realized that what had happened had gone down exactly as Penguin had planned...and it turned out I was right. (No spoilers here.)
All too soon this series is going to be over for the summer, and then I'll have to wait. *sigh*
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It's almost May, and we're still getting frost on the grass. Where's all that global warming I keep hearing about?