Ferguson murder

[I am lizard]

http://imgur.com/gallery/fpYzl

A veteran weighs in on the police response in Ferguson vs. the response of the National Guard deployed there.

Ah good, because when I think "safety" I think "poorly trained nut jobs waving guns in body amour."

[mellenORL]

That vet's picture album and analysis are just excellent. Simultaneous to all the protests going on about the victims, we need protests to also demand de-militarizing all PD's. They need to have their unnecessary toys taken away. Dumping all that military surplus gear and vehicles, etc. on PD's is as lethally stupid as giving race cars to first time drivers.

[I am lizard]

That vet's picture album and analysis are just excellent. Simultaneous to all the protests going on about the victims, we need protests to also demand de-militarizing all PD's. They need to have their unnecessary toys taken away. Dumping all that military surplus gear and vehicles, etc. on PD's is as lethally stupid as giving race cars to first time drivers.

Yes.
Why the fuck does every small town PD need high caliber sniper rifles, 100s of assault rifles, and an APC?

[RavynousHunter]

That vet's picture album and analysis are just excellent. Simultaneous to all the protests going on about the victims, we need protests to also demand de-militarizing all PD's. They need to have their unnecessary toys taken away. Dumping all that military surplus gear and vehicles, etc. on PD's is as lethally stupid as giving race cars to first time drivers.

Yes.
Why the fuck does every small town PD need high caliber sniper rifles, 100s of assault rifles, and an APC?

How else are you gonna keep those uppity minorities in line?

[Dakota Bob]

That vet's picture album and analysis are just excellent. Simultaneous to all the protests going on about the victims, we need protests to also demand de-militarizing all PD's. They need to have their unnecessary toys taken away. Dumping all that military surplus gear and vehicles, etc. on PD's is as lethally stupid as giving race cars to first time drivers.

Yes.
Why the fuck does every small town PD need high caliber sniper rifles, 100s of assault rifles, and an APC?

B-but what about AL-QAIDA?!?!

[ironbite]

That's pretty much what the mindset is.  Al-Qaida, the big bad boogieman, somehow getting on US soil and doing something.  And the cops only have 9 mms and shotguns to deal with them.

Ironbite-hence why a lot of small town police departments have tanks on the equipment list.

[I am lizard]

"I don't think we should be using chemical weapons on the Kurds."

"Oh, would you prefer the rebels to win?"

[Lt. Fred]

That's pretty much what the mindset is.  Al-Qaida, the big bad boogieman, somehow getting on US soil and doing something.  And the cops only have 9 mms and shotguns to deal with them.

Ironbite-hence why a lot of small town police departments have tanks on the equipment list.

Part of the reason is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

[ironbite]

Ok yeah there's that.  Forgot utterly about that.  But the point is 9/11 pushed a lot of PDs to ask for and get surplus military gear.

Ironbite-it just wasn't that big a push after North Hollywood

[mellenORL]

That stuff is dirt cheap and aggressively marketed to PD's - over a decade's worth of surplus from the withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.

[I am lizard]

That stuff is dirt cheap and aggressively marketed to PD's

Is it, I'd figure that shit must cost a pretty penny to taxpayers.

[Ironchew]

That stuff is dirt cheap and aggressively marketed to PD's

Is it, I'd figure that shit must cost a pretty penny to taxpayers.

Just because it's paid for by the public doesn't mean there's no aggressive marketing involved.

See: every war profiteering corporation

[I am lizard]

That stuff is dirt cheap and aggressively marketed to PD's

Is it, I'd figure that shit must cost a pretty penny to taxpayers.

Just because it's paid for by the public doesn't mean there's no aggressive marketing involved.

See: every war profiteering corporation

I was talking about the "cheap" part.

[R. U. Sirius]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/ferguson-eric-garner-why-death-should-outrage-us/?wa_user1=2&wa_user2=News&wa_user3=blog&wa_user4=feature_module

An excellent article about why people are reacting to Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other recent deaths the way they are.

[Askold]

I immediately found something I disagree with. Being angry at this injustice and being angry at rioters causing damages at the same time is more likely than the writer thinks.