The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Valmy]

I thought this was interesting.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/18/6031197/obama-ferguson-race-speech

I guess that explains it.  The Republicans hate him so therefore he cannot do anything for fear it may be counter-productive?  Man obstruction really is a winning strategy.  However it is not like he is taking strong stands on none racially charged issues either.

[garbon]

I thought this was interesting.

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/18/6031197/obama-ferguson-race-speech

I guess that explains it.  The Republicans hate him so therefore he cannot do anything for fear it may be counter-productive?  Man obstruction really is a winning strategy.

I don't think that is what the article was saying. I think it was suggesting that Obama has a tendency to amp up racial situations rather than defusing them. Why should he take actions that'll do more harm than good?

[Valmy]

I don't think that is what the article was saying. I think it was suggesting that Obama has a tendency to amp up racial situations rather than defusing them. Why should he take actions that'll do more harm than good?

I thought that is what I meant by 'counter-productive'.  And anyway the graph only showed 'Republicans versus Democrats' so that is why I went with the party angle there.  Most whites are not Republicans, though the opposite is true.

[Martinus]

Not from the Onion:

Egypt urges U.S. restraint over Missouri unrest

(Reuters) - Egypt on Tuesday urged U.S. authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with racially charged demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri - echoing language Washington used to caution Egypt as it cracked down on Islamist protesters last year.

U.S. foes Iran and Syria also lambasted the United States, but while they are frequent critics of Washington, it is unusual for Egypt to criticize such a major donor. It was not immediately clear why Egypt would issue such a statement.

Ties between Washington and Cairo were strained after Egyptian security forces killed hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters following the army's ousting of freely elected President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's statement on the unrest in Ferguson read similarly to one issued by U.S. President Barack Obama's administration in July 2013, when the White House "urged security forces to exercise maximum restraint and caution" in dealing with demonstrations by Mursi supporters.

The ministry added it was "closely following the escalation of protests" in Ferguson, unleashed by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman on Aug. 9.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last week Egyptian security forces systematically used excessive force against Islamist protesters after Mursi was ousted. Egypt said the report was "characterized by negativity and bias".

In a second day of Twitter messages about the disturbances in Ferguson, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized the United States as "egotistical and unreliable".

He also sought to link the unrest to Washington's support of Israel, sworn foe of Tehran.

"Brutal treatment of black people isn't indeed the only anti-human rights act by U.S. govt; look at US's green light to #Israel's crimes," he wrote on Monday, adding Washington was the world's "biggest violator" of human rights.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Takht Ravanchi on Monday accused Washington of "racist behavior and oppression", the Fars News Agency said.

In Syria, another U.S. adversary, a bulletin from state news agency SANA accused police in Ferguson of "racist and oppressive practices".

Pro-government media in Turkey, where the authorities came under U.S. criticism for a heavy-handed clampdown on weeks of protests around Istanbul's Gezi Park last year, also took a swipe.

"You were sounding off when Gezi was happening ... You crook with double standards," wrote Ahmet Sagirli, a columnist in the Turkiye newspaper.


(Reporting by Maggie Fick in Cairo, Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Michelle Moghtader in Dubai, Selin Bucak in Istanbul; Editing by Alison Williams)

[Valmy]

As I said now this gets live streamed around the world.  So here we go.

[garbon]

As I said now this gets live streamed around the world.  So here we go.

Who cares?

[Valmy]

As I said now this gets live streamed around the world.  So here we go.

Who cares?

People on message boards who talk to foreigners a lot?  I have already come into contact with Euros who seem to think that in Texas we shoot all foreigners on sight so probably just more of that.  Oh and smug Egyptians.

[garbon]

Do you think that you can cure people of ignorance on message boards?

[alfred russel]

Do you think that you can cure people of ignorance on message boards?

I used to. Then I discovered that infecting them with ignorance was easier, and more fun. 

[Valmy]

Do you think that you can cure people of ignorance on message boards?

Hey you asked who might care.

[Ed Anger]

fuck all foreigners.

[merithyn]

fuck all foreigners.

Funny. That's what the French say!

[frunk]

fuck all foreigners.

I don't have the time. 

[Ed Anger]

fuck all foreigners.

I don't have the time. 

I quit at one.

[citizen k]

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Ferguson, MO and Police Militarization (HBO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUdHIatS36A