caulfield12

PROTESTER PUSHED TO GROUND BY POLICE IS LONGTIME PEACE ACTIVIST FROM AMHERST https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/06/buffalo-police-suspended-for-shoving-protester-to-the-ground.html Video filmed by local radio station WBFO shows the man, identified as Martin Gugino by the group People United for Sustainable Housing Buffalo, stopping to talk to police in riot gear as they begin to clear Niagara Square for the 8 p.m. curfew. As an officer yells “push him back,” one officer extends his arm to shove Gugino, while another pushes a baton into his chest. Can’t wait for this to be labeled fake news since it seems he’s much more sympathetic to liberal causes https://www.gofundme.com/f/210cr0todc?sharetype=teams&member=4556988&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&pc_code=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=dd52e134bae14960bcb8aed91fdedf0c GoFundEm just starting out at a bit over $1000

Well, I thought the whole point was to encourage marriage/families, so interpreted it as $1 million per person and a bonus of $1 extra million per married family? Good thing it’s not the Philippines, the average payout would be $7-11 million. Somehow a system that incentivizes having more children (unless all the money to raise them was held back until 18/21/25, which would make raising them better a bit challenging) seems a bit dubious, at best.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/05/us/cyclist-video-assault-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html Cyclist assaults/accosts kids posting Black Lives Matter flyers

Why? There’s clearly no consensus on this issue...and I can hardly imagine Kamala Harris, the Atlanta mayor or Rep. Val Demings will make that a pre-condition of being the Biden VP choice. Saying it’s going to be part of the Democratic platform any more so than UBI or blanket student loan forgiveness is dubious at best, especially at the numbers you’re bandying about. Btw, the 75 year old in Buffalo was in serious condition overnight in the hospital. Two police officers suspended so far.

Somehow it’s quite doubtful Fox News will be showing THAT lowlight... #SayHerName: Tepid response to Breonna Taylor's killing has many wondering which black lives matter? https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/say-her-name-tepid-response-to-breonna-taylors-killing-has-many-wondering-which-black-lives-matter-183720214.html

The biggest sign of progress...something to actually be hopeful about...is that completely absent government intervention or seeming interest, those in the “middle of the road” are increasingly becoming involved, and staking positions. Corporations are jumping on board, whether it's due to corporate social responsibility or enlightened self-interest. The likes of Joe Burrow are taking a stand before playing a down in the NFL, and “kneeling as protest” is finally being forcefully separated from patriotism/flag/National Anthem/support for our troops. Not for all, but MOST. Enough to find a way together, to move forward with something approaching unity. You even have foreign entities (in this case, Softbank, which is Japanese) leading the way. What’s particularly fascinating is how closed off Japanese culture tends to be about outsiders/diversity/foreigners, but even they see the tremendous market potential of reinvesting their money in America. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/03/softbank-announces-100-million-fund-for-minority-owned-businesses.html https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/ben-jerry-blew-other-brands-153700609.html RFK on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April, 1968 My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black. ... We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we've had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder. But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land. Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

We’ve seen it play out over the last four years in our political system. These are multi-millionaires, and almost universally have been afraid for their political futures...those who have spoken out, or not offered blind loyalty, like Flake, Sessions and Amash, crushed underfoot. If some of the most powerful government officials in the most powerful nation on earth are cowed, imagine the pressure working as part of a public sector union...where the consequences for breaking the code of silence mean likely a lost pension, a career as a private security officer if fortunate or just as likely a struggling gig worker. That same oppressive/intimidating force is what often prevents anyone from speaking out in the military as well. Heck, even whistleblowers and Inspector Generals can’t survive for long in that type of environment.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Attorney-identifies-SF-resident-fatally-shot-by-15315301.php This is a slightly more nuanced view of that situation. He did admittedly have a hammer and was likely involved in the looting...at least according to this story. That said, the second highly controversial killing of a Hispanic in SF.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/will-brazen-cheapness-finally-turn-the-public-against-mlb-team-owners-234748825.html

Well, this is kind of what China does, except your kid basically has no right to a public education or government insurance/subsidy for delivering the baby in the hospital if you’re an unmarried woman. Carrot or stick? Reward or punisment? I imagine doing this while leaving out Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans and certain immigrant groups (like Hmong) from Southeast Asia would go over about as well as the government forgiving all current student loan debt. Raising the taxes on all other ethnic groups by 3-5% would be considered tyranny by those whose ancestors never owned slaves or were involved in the slave trade. Imagine how well “punishing” those living in the former Confederate States 155 years later would go over now. Wouldn’t that just create more animosity and resentment? Or this idea that “racism” can never be brought up again...that money has somehow magically cured the problem and changed peoples’ hearts. Relying on donations (like the checkoffs when you do your taxes) or on foundations/corporations/private individuals would be better. Softbank (Japanese firm) just announced a $100 million venture capital/entrepreneurship/tech-driven investment fund for minority-led enterprises.

The Taylor case is definitely wrongful death/police incompetence....but would be extremely difficult to prove murder in a court of law. Shot eight times, though...it’s a horrific example of overkill that was buried in the news cycle for weeks, partially because of gender. With the Floyd charges, I’m betting Keith Ellison has something more definitive on their previous interactions that allows for malice/premeditation to enter into the prosecutorial approach. And then there are those 17-18 previous complaints, and how many of them were filed by African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Somalian-Americans, etc., to establish a discernible pattern...of directed targeting, versus generalized brutality towards everyone.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/03/trump-responds-photo-op-dale-fact-check-keilar-vpx-crn.cnn Apparently, the WH sees a momentous difference between “tear gas” and the use of “exploding pepper balls” and concussive flash bang grenades being used in tandem. And acting like the whole situation with forcibly moving that crowd back wasn’t anticipated by Trump when AG Barr had been standing out there surveying the entire scene for 2-3 minutes, all this around 6:20-6:25, then they started clearing people at 6:35, the 7 minute announced started at 6:45. No way they didn’t know exactly what they were doing and how it would play on t.v. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/mattis-statement-trump/index.html Former Defense Secretary Mattis tears into Trump: 'We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership' We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate,'" Mattis said. "At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society." "It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them." “Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside." Still, Mattis made clear that his blistering assessment of the President extends beyond any one issue. "Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad."

https://eand.co/its-the-twenty-first-century-why-is-everything-still-so-goddamned-racist-5ea49ed03ed5 Why Racism Still Defines Our Lives and Poisons Our Societies — And Why It’s So Hard to Unravel If you really want to be challenged/irritated on the issue of white privilege and white guilt...and find yourself incapable of listening to grievances put forth by people of color...here is a perfect 12 minute read that will definitely provoke some sort of emotional reaction. When I read it, I was actually thinking “how would Balta respond to THIS dude???”

In many ways, this is the Sweden/Finland/Norway/Denmark model, mixed with a Michael Moore best practices documentary. Definitely higher taxes, more equitable overall societies (1950’s and 60’s individual and corporate rates)...by investing in better teachers and systems, creating more opportunity, decriminalizing some or many drugs, cutting down on the prison/industrial/military complex, you’re on your way...to what the beneficiaries of our current system will argue is socialism. Otoh, if we wipe out 70-80% of the American people continuing along on our current downward trajectory of debt service and worker displacement/redundancy, there will be an increasingly diminishing domestic consumption market for the producers of any particular good or service.

Ah, yes, the Legalized looting of our government. Billionaires taking a massive tax loss to avoid paying any taxes over a decade. Mortgage companies and banks not being held responsible for creating more systemic risk...moral hazards leading to bailout after bailout for flawed corporate/capitalistic structures with no end in sight. Everyday Americans being held prisoner by those meant to represent their best interests, but watching them invariably corrupted by power and/or lobbying. Nearly 82% of the benefits from the tax law change will go to people making $1m or more annually in 2020, according to an analysis by the joint committee on taxation (JCT). Overall, 95% of individuals who benefit from the change make $200,000 or more. Taxpayers will lose nearly $90bn from the change, which suspends a restriction introduced in the 2017 tax bill. The change allows owners of businesses known as pass-through entities to lower their taxes by deducting as much as they want against income unrelated to the business. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/tax-change-coronavirus-stimulus-act-millionaires-billionaires

The tricky part of all this is unions, which are slowly being destroyed in this country. It’s another of the many reasons so many corporations have outsourced manufacturing abroad, let’s be honest. Lower costs, no complaints. Robots, soon. Obedient workers (like here in China) who can’t question the system, where suicide is the most common firm of redress. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Nobody really wants to know the conditions for those workers assembling our Iphone or the latest pair of Nikes. More typically, having seen both sides of a public sector teacher’s union...are those who have never been a police officer or teacher, who can’t understand why, for example, a student would deliberately make false allegations in order to get a really good teacher that’s challenging and attempting to discipline them strictly out of the classroom. As, a society, it means we need to pay more, but also provide incentives for excellent performance in ways that are not so easily measured or quantified...and that’s where it gets challenging. In order for unionized workers to give up some of their security/immunity/tenure...what is society willing to give back in exchange? All I hear is complaints about vacation time and pensions, but there are two sides to every coin. So how do we as a society create incentives to go into a law enforcement or teaching career if we are stripping away a lot of the protections? Just wait for RoboCop and RoboTeacher to become realities? Is that really going to be better...because we can code and create an algorithm for an AI-driven entity to follow, but there’s going to be a cost which we as a society definitely won’t like. It can even be programmed to follow Balta’s Eight Directives, but do so in a way we disagree vehemently with...as southsideirish has explained.

https://www.startribune.com/minn-officials-push-for-systems-change-at-minneapolis-police-dept/570958652/ “We are going to establish peace on the streets when we address the systemic issues,” Walz said. The move is the first time the Human Rights Department has launched a systemic investigation into the largest police department in the state. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said an agreement with the state could be a needed catalyst for change that he considers to have been hindered over the years by the Minneapolis Police Federation, the department’s powerful police union. “For years in Minneapolis, police chiefs and elected officials committed to change have been thwarted by police union protections and laws that severely limit accountability among police departments,” Frey said. “Breaking through those persistent barriers, shifting the culture of policing, and addressing systemic racism will require all of us working hand in hand.” Minneapolis police union president Lt. Bob Kroll did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Kroll has been an outspoken critic of the city’s liberal leadership, which he faults for being anti-police and holding back on needed resources and manpower. In a letter to the rank-and-file, he blasted the city’s handling of the riots following Floyd’s death, saying officers had been made “scapegoats” for the continued violence. Kroll was under fire from two of the state’s largest labor organizations. Education Minnesota and the state AFL-CIO called for his resignation.

The other side of this is the lack of/fear of prosecution on the Hennepin County side of things. Without the initial press conference from Freeman that provided zero information or clarification, this whole situation might not have blown up the way it did... It ended up costing Klobuchar her VP shot, as her record of not bringing charges and (at best, questionable) treatment of high profile cases was further examined. If Ellison hadn’t been there at the Federal level to intervene, where would things stand now...if this was a typical “law and order” southern state?

Sure, if we’re willing to increase the salary by 50% or create a national curriculum around conflict mediation, mixed with equal parts justice philosophy and sociology...a little bit like seminary, but for officers of the law. Would be worth the investment to try a different approach.

Portland had 10-11,000 young and quite peaceful protestors simply lying down flat across an entire bridge. LA was out of control but that has been cleaned up the last couple of nights. Meanwhile, DJIA at 26,200 and NASDAQ at record highs. Bizarre times.

Very fine people on both sides.

Terminology like “dominating the battlespace” is exactly why we don’t need the military acting as policemen...it’s exactly NOT what they are trained for. A month or so ago, protestors in Michigan, Ohio and PA were cast as American patriots/martyrs/heroes struggling for our sacred freedoms and liberty against the forces of tyranny arrayed against them. Btw, one of the officers shot in St. Louis protecting a friend’s pawn shop died overnight.

Again? I think that embarrassing situation with Mark Esper, JCS Milley now backtracking....religious leaders from the St. John’s church and Pope John Paul II shrine piling on, it will end up as the turning point in all of this instead of an iconic “Law and Order 1968/2020” rerun. Tear gas (which they’re still denying, incredibly), smoke, pepper spray, flash bangs, rubber bullets, mounted cavalry...it was just WAY too much. Too calculated on the part of Barr (who accused the crowd of throwing water bottles when there’s zero evidence.) Young and diverse crowds are realizing the power in keeping the issues at the forefront by disassociating from the looting/lawless elements out to profit from the confusion. St. Louis and NYC were pretty embarrassing, for sure. The treatment of that Australian film crew hemmed in along the fenceline, equally so. One vicious cheap shot with a shield, another attempted punch...baton strike at the female reporter running away (they were incredibly able to laugh it off when being interviewed by their anchors back home), both hit by rubber bullets as well. Another broadcast had a police chief involved in a Sydney take down of an aboriginal teen stating directly, ”Well, we’re not like America...the police here have positive relationships with their community.” Hard to accept how far we have fallen in terms of international perception, more the butt of jokes and a laughingstock. Not even the Hong Kong protestors know what to make of America right now.

Apparently you’ve never been to Breitbart, Alex Jones, InfoWars or Q-Anon...at best, they would have a tweet red-flagged.

Lessons learned since 1619 in America? Well, pretty much none. And there are no organized groups. Antifa is neither organized, nor can you classify it as domestic terrorism when there have been at least ten times as many “right wing” acts of violence ending in loss of life than from the left. And it hasn’t even been substantiated that Antifa is involved at all. Lots of bogus twitter accounts pretending to be Antifa, inciting readers to violence...reports of agitators (white and black) coming in from the outside and pretending to be part of the protests before looting, hoping to create a war between the police and protestors. Could be Russian or Chinese bots online, but there’s definitely no proof and no domestic terrorism group has ever been labeled as such because during the next administration the Tea Party Patriots and Michigan Militia would be on the list and it would just go back and forth. Until we honestly deal with the problems as a country and have an open/frank discussion about race, this cycle will just keep repeating. African-Americans are the likeliest to be classified as essential workers and be forced to continue working in hazardous conditions, the likeliest to die from Covid, the likeliest to lose a low-paying job, the likeliest to be victims of police brutality. You can follow a straight line from 1967-68 to 1992 to 2014 to today...things still haven’t changed all that much. Quelling the violence/looting is just 1/4th of the problem here. How would Pope John Paul II deal with this issue, in your opinion?