StrangeSox

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 11:05 AM) God forbid I try to remain neutral and see it through Zimmerman's eyes instead of just assuming that he's a dirty, gun-toting racist looking to kill a black kid! Do gated communities have "public" sidewalks? Zimmerman is not responsible for nor has knowledge of every individual within the community and those who may legitimately be there as guests regardless of whether the community is otherwise open to the public. There was no reason to suspect Trayvon Martin of having done anything wrong. His actions were not reasonable.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 10:53 AM) The guy lives in a gated community and has taken over the neighborhood watch program. If anything seemed out of the ordinary, he would know it, and that's what raised his suspicions. Whether or not those were prejudicial or flat out racist is irrelevant. He has every right to see what was going on in his neighborhood and to watch what people are doing if he feels it is out of the ordinary. Merely following someone isn't instigating conflict. Nor is it, as Balta apparently believes, the first step towards inevitable murder. You're simply deferring to Zimmerman's judgement, which is assuming your conclusions that he acted reasonably. I do not see anything reasonable about stopping the teen to question him in the first place to be honest, let alone following him through the neighborhood with a loaded firearm. It's not really Zimmerman's business who's walking around the public sidewalks in the neighborhood.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) why does the gun have anything to do with this? is there evidence that Martin knew that Zimmerman was armed? We're discussing Zimmerman's actions here. Is it reasonable to chase a teen through your neighborhood with a loaded weapon simply because he "doesn't belong" in the area as far as you are aware?

How is it reasonable to chase a teen around the neighborhood with a loaded weapon when you have no knowledge of a crime being committed and no reason to suspect the teen?

There was no reasonable suspicion of Martin having committed a crime unless being young, black and wearing a hoodie is sufficient. Perhaps the whole mindset behind a GATED community is part of the problem. Have you seen the logs of his calls? No s*** they didn't do anything to stop crime, he wasn't actually reporting any criminal activities.

Arrest all black youths as a precaution

I need to stop watching environmental documentaries on netflix

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 11:10 AM) I dunno, they're black, but were they also Islamic? NSA records us all.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 11:06 AM) And I'm sure she has similarly detailed records. Seriously, all we have are a couple "eyewitness" reports, one of whom was on the phone, and one of whom was the actual shooter. The only things really, truly worth believing are the phone call records, the 911 transcript, the fact that Zimmerman was slightly injured, and the autopsy on Martin. Eyewitness statements are always 1/2 true, even if people are trying to remember perfectly. I don't think when he put his hood up is relevant anyway, so I don't see any reason to discount her story. Like I said earlier, I'm sure the NSA has a recording of her call, just release it already!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 10:52 AM) I'm sure that Zimmerman was keeping detailed written records of when all of these things happened so that we can fully trust that statement. Come on, if it's dark and raining, you're actually expecting a guy to remember when during a multi-minute period a kid put his hood up? Or actually be able to tell beforehand? I believe that's what the girl who was on the phone with Trayvon said Trayvon told her he was doing. http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-de...17#.T3cozDGvhi6

There's a really good/depressing documentary on this on Netflix called Vanishing of the Bees.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 07:23 PM) http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012...-abuse-911.html He called about everything. It's pretty dishonest SS to just paint him as a racist guy looking to pick on the black people on his street. It's pretty dishonest to say that's what I said when I said that, starting in 2011, he started calling more and more about black youths.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 07:17 PM) Young black children or just young children? based on the logs, black children.

I hope you call 911 every time you see a black kid on your street. You can never be too safe.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 07:07 PM) You completely ignore the role of the SC. It interprets the constitutionality of law. It doesn't read a statute's text and say "you know, I really think Congress meant this, so, despite the fact it doesn't say this, we'll allow it." That's what you want them to do here. Ignore how the law is written, interpret the whole mandate as a tax and move along. they do this all the time.

He was calling in young children, as young as 7, playing in the neighborhood.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) Thank you. I am using it to finish out the school year and it looks as if I can spark some good debate and discussion, perhaps even an argument Theme (dystopia vs utopia) and character traits Vocabulary, especially since the book focuses on the precision of language. Connotation vs denotation along with that. She's got a couple of things at school she can get on Monday (final project, extended response, anticipatory set). edit: she asked if you taught The Outsiders, she's looking for any info on that!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 05:06 PM) Well that just isnt fun. And the entire race issue glosses over the real issues of c&c, syg. In my opinion the racial issues have been latched onto because they are more sensational and sell more newspapers (or get more web clicks). Once again, this is about money, not about the truth. The racial issues aren't relevant to the legal issues directly but are relevant socially.

Him being charged with something would be a nice first step.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 04:53 PM) If this law is upheld, yes, congress CAN do something it couldn't do before. Because this is something it's NEVER DONE BEFORE. Congress can do all sorts of things its never done. It can tax us at 100%. It can impose a national healthcare system.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 05:03 PM) So that's wasting lots of taxpayer dollars and resources (the Boy Who Cried Wolf), he should have been taken off the Watch. Has one of his hunches ever turned out to have prevented an actual crime in progress, or has it always been simply suspicion a crime might be committed in the future? Who knows. The Neighborhood Watch didn't exist until last fall when he created it. Probably because of all those suspicious youths who happen to be black.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 05:01 PM) I disagree...otherwise we can just get rid of the word few. The words have similar meanings but different connotations. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/several http://www.thefreedictionary.com/few

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) He has a history of calling 911 for just about everything. So no. It's not a history of calling about black youths and only black youths. He calls 911 for just about anything he sees. Starting last fall, more and more of his calls were for black youths being present in his neighborhood.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 04:58 PM) Several -- is SEVEN or more. This is incorrect.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 04:55 PM) Zimmerman's first reaction to the 911 operator asking was, "I think he's black...", he wasn't even sure. Yea, that sounds like profiling to me. It was "he looks black," which can very easily be profiling. He also has a history of calling 911 to report black youths doing things in his neighborhood. http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/03/...ing_things.html