Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[entropy]

talent... so her thoughts are the pulling back of police is actually hurting black communities? Is that her main point or is it something else? thanks

[Wild Hoss]

Spicer is a fool, but the time spent handwringing over that given all the other dumbassery the administration has going on is ridiculous.

[iam416]

talent... so her thoughts are the pulling back of police is actually hurting black communities? Is that her main point or is it something else? thanks

She is, I believe, the originator of the "Ferguson Effect" and, certainly, a strong advocate thereof. She argues that (a) the protest response to Ferguson and others is a macro overreaction in view of certain facts and data; and (b) the resulting police response thereto has been less effective policing. Her biggest target is Chicago. Now, her stuff in regard to (a) is fairly well-justified. You can disagree with it, but it's macro-based. Her stuff in regard to (b) -- the actual "Ferguson Effect" -- is more anecdotal. I don't believe she can rely on some sort of published macro study. It's not batshit crazy anecdotal -- there's a certain logic and reason to it. But, I think she's still at the "correlation" stage for (b) as opposed to causation.

You can google her stuff. Most of it is worth a read, IMO.

Her problem -- as it concerns being "shouted down" and needing "police escorts" -- is that she takes dead aim at BLM and defends the Police.

[SeattleLionsFan]

From your description, it sounds like she sets up a stupid straw man and burns it to the ground in an effort to minimize the concerns of black lives matter protesters.

With that said, it didn't sound like there was any violence. Why was she so scared of free speech?

[iam416]

She answered all questions at UCLA despite laughably and predictable stupid shit from BLM. And she was forced to give her talk at Claremont on a live feed because, among other reasons, protesters blocked all doors and wouldn't allow anyone through. Pretty much your type of people, I guess. I wouldn't have thought you'd cast your lot with them, but I guess you're a fascist at heart.

In a laughably stupid move, I'll suggest you google her and read her if you actually care what her opinion is. I know that you do not. BLM has spoken and you've fallen in line. Understood.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I was going to post something about Trump doing a complete 180 on China being a currency manipulator (Hint: this week they're not. Next week: stay tuned)

But then I realized...why bother? We're in a BLM-led dystopian nightmare of a world now, where an endless war is waged against the police, and rights mean nothing. Shit!

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[SeattleLionsFan]

They aren't my people Talent. I think protestors and protests are largely counterproductive and useless. But, I'm also not such a pussy that they scare me. Apparently they scare the shot out of the right wing tough guys. Not much of a surprise.

And I'm laughing at the thought that BLM gave me marching orders. That's laughable. However I'm intellectually able to see the difference between "Cops shouldn't shoot black people needlessly" and this strawman that "Cops can't do their job". Just stop killing people or abusing people and be a decent human being. That's all anyone wants from the police.

[Wild Hoss]

I'd like them to stop giving me speeding tickets.. if we're making a list.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[iam416]

SLF

We'd all prefer that everyone be perfect at their job, including police. I agree with your remarkably astute point (did you really just get talking strawman????). That's obviously impossible. The questions are how close are we to, and at what cost do we chase the asymptote. Those are questions she opines on. Not that you know or care. Her answers apparently anger some people enough to necessitate police protection. I congratulate you on being so tough. You should advise the Middlebury professor who was sent to the hospital by your folks to toughen up.

[Dr. Strangelove]

SLF

We'd all prefer that everyone be perfect at their job, including police. I agree with your remarkably astute point (did you really just get talking strawman????). That's obviously impossible. The questions are how close are we to, and at what cost do we chase the asymptote. Those are questions she opines on. Not that you know or care. Her answers apparently anger some people enough to necessitate police protection. I congratulate you on being so tough. You should advise the Middlebury professor who was sent to the hospital by your folks to toughen up.

Not to get into the entire reply...but are you implying (through sarcasm) with your first sentence that it's unfair to hold the police to a higher standard than anyone else? If so we'd probably never agree.

Perfection, no. Higher standard, absolutely.

[iam416]

You shouldn't jump in. SLF said all anyone ever wants is that police be perfect in their use of force.

The appropriate standard is a necessary part of the questions I posed. IMO, it involves assessing costs and benefits of more or less policing. I'm not sure how you, personally, go about setting your standard. From a policy standpoint, police have considerably more latitude to use force than the rest of us. So, you must wildly disagree with current, well-established centuries old precedent. Fair enough.

I'd suggest that anyone actually interested in the costs of perfection read about Chicago's deal with the ACLU and the year or do that has followed.

I'm happy to discuss at length - but this topic is incidental to the point of campus censors. Of course, to criticize campus censors is somehow bring a pussy. Very bizarre. But, hey, that's the progs.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Literally within the past 24 hours Trump has completely reversed his policies on:

* NATO: Obsolete yesterday, today 'not obsolete'
* The Export/Import Bank: Previously wanted it abolished, now says it's good
* China: Promised to label them a currency manipulator on Day One. Now says they aren't that at all.
* Federal Hiring Freeze: It's over

In the past week and a half Assad has also gone from remaining the leader of Syria to 'he's a monster' and there's no role for him in Syria's future.

For me, most of these are positive signs Trump's stumbling, albeit incoherent at times, to the center and that Bannon's influence may be about over. But I wonder how the base feels...

[SeattleLionsFan]

I don't know that anyone is demanding perfection. Maybe if the police showed a passing interest in not killing the people they are supposed to be protecting. A simple acknowledgment of the problem and real efforts to try to correct it, would be sufficient for 90% of people.

But so long as the strawmen are flying, that won't happen.

I'll take the folks that pulled Ms. Strangers hair, so long as you take the folks that shot a protestor at UW and paint swastikas on campus. But, I'm pretty sure neither of us supports that, so maybe we shouldn't be assholes that try to paint our opponents in falsely bad lights. That way we can have a productive exchange of ideas.

[hack]

This is what we are right now. Cue entropy with the left/right aren't so different thing. In this case, its totally true. People other than Talent aren't up for a free/fair exchange of ideas. Too stressful. This just is what it is.