Grand jury reaches decision in Ferguson case (Announcement Monday night)

[King]

I'm avoiding this story for multitude of reasons EXCEPT this common point bugs me:

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It is NOT their OWN town, their OWN community. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't own businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

If you want a black community that isn't prone to "destroying their own community in riots" you need to give them opportunity for their own communities first.

[The Free North]

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It's not their own town. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't know businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

Its more than that...they still shop at these places, live around those streets, etc.

The same people destroying the walmart tonight are going to be mad that its not open for 2 weeks after this.

[7,052,770]

I mean are we just ignoring the robbery, the assault, the grabbing the gun, etc, etc? You guys seem to be engaging in the sort of "truthiness" that conservatives are so often mocked for; you built a narrative about what happened and you're just ignoring or rejecting any sort of evidence (i.e. most of it) that goes against it.
 
Is this modern liberalism? Proclaiming violent thuggish criminals to be martyrs and his assaulted victim to be a cold-blooded bigoted murder? If so, as it sadly seems, Rawls was wrong about liberalism, dead wrong. As I said:

I am a person who sees no reason to believe that a literal and indisputable robber and assaulter, perhaps even a committer of hate crimes (he said some nasty things to the South Asian shopkeeper, if I recall correctly), was somehow the innocent victim of a bloodthirsty bigot who just happened to coincidentally be in the area as the aforementioned assailant and robber was fleeing the scene.

Somehow the rest of you are privy to a completely different series of facts, apparently.

Was it ever firmly established that Brown tried to take the officer's gun? I know the far-righters have alleged that, but has that been accepted as something that really happened?

[King]

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It's not their own town. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't know businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

Its more than that...they still shop at these places, live around those streets, etc.

The same people destroying the walmart tonight are going to be mad that its not open for 2 weeks after this.

It's not really more than that. If anything, they are creating economic prosperity for themselves. Wal-Mart will now have to further increase holiday staffing to clean up the mess. Nobody has any reason to care about the cost of the damage.

Until they are given real stable opportunity to own businesses and homes of their own, nobody will ever care about the cost of the damage.

[Person Man]

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It's not their own town. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't know businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

Its more than that...they still shop at these places, live around those streets, etc.

The same people destroying the walmart tonight are going to be mad that its not open for 2 weeks after this.

It's not really more than that. If anything, they are creating economic prosperity for themselves. Wal-Mart will now have to further increase holiday staffing to clean up the mess. Nobody has any reason to care about the cost of the damage.

Until they are given real stable opportunity to own businesses and homes of their own, nobody will ever care about the cost of the damage.

This narrative is actually very common throughout the world for all who are "The White Man's Burden".

[The Free North]

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It's not their own town. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't know businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

Its more than that...they still shop at these places, live around those streets, etc.

The same people destroying the walmart tonight are going to be mad that its not open for 2 weeks after this.

It's not really more than that. If anything, they are creating economic prosperity for themselves. Wal-Mart will now have to further increase holiday staffing to clean up the mess. Nobody has any reason to care about the cost of the damage.

Until they are given real stable opportunity to own businesses and homes of their own, nobody will ever care about the cost of the damage.

At the very least your actions are only going to hurt you....seems counter-intuitive.

Maybe we need to build more squares for people to protest in (See Tehran, Cairo, Kiev). I could go for a good authoritarian style square in St Louis, enough people are leaving the city anyway so I'm sure the space is available.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

When was the last time a cop actually got convicted of murder?

[Eraserhead]

12 shots? What a fraud this is.

This reaction is sad though. I really didn't expect things to get this ugly.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Tomorrow will be worse than today

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

When was the last time a cop actually got convicted of murder?

As I recall, the cop in the Oscar Grant case when to prison for manslaughter, but not murder. Not sure beyond that.

[Eraserhead]

Tomorrow will be worse than today

I doubt that. Why do you think that?

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

Tomorrow will be worse than today

I doubt that. Why do you think that?

I'm just speculating, but the Rodney King riots were worse the second day. I could see more people coming out when the sun comes out and it gets warmer.

[Lief 🗽]

Sounds like there's a protest outside my window. I hear a large group of people chanting, but can't really make out what they're saying. Also a bunch of helicopters circling.

Now drums. Probably on eighth avenue.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I'm avoiding this story for multitude of reasons EXCEPT this common point bugs me:

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It is NOT their OWN town, their OWN community. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't own businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

If you want a black community that isn't prone to "destroying their own community in riots" you need to give them opportunity for their own communities first.

Don't most businesses in most non-rural communities rent the property they use?

[The Free North]

Sounds like there's a protest outside my window. I hear a large group of people chanting, but can't really make out what they're saying. Also a bunch of helicopters circling.

Now drums. Probably on eighth avenue.

exorcism

[Person Man]

Tomorrow will be worse than today

I doubt that. Why do you think that?

I'm just speculating, but the Rodney King riots were worse the second day. I could see more people coming out when the sun comes out and it gets warmer.

How did they end then?

[Indy Texas]

I'm avoiding this story for multitude of reasons EXCEPT this common point bugs me:

If you're going to riot and burn things, why would you do it to your own town?

It is NOT their OWN town, their OWN community. They don't actually own it. They don't own homes, they don't own businesses, many of them have to take public transportation. They don't pay property taxes. Ferguson, MO is just a place they happen to be stuck living in, not their own community.

That's why it's not that hard to imagine why people there would be so comfortable in destroying it.

They are destroying rented homes, rented businesses, and rioting on rented streets. No liability to them.

If you want a black community that isn't prone to "destroying their own community in riots" you need to give them opportunity for their own communities first.

Don't most businesses in most non-rural communities rent the property they use?

I think the point is they aren't "locally" owned. You've got corporate chains like Walmart and McDonald's. Probably some convenience stores and check cashing places whose owners are likely Asians or absentee whites. As far as businesses owned by people who are "from the community" I doubt there are many apart from perhaps the local barbershop or car repair place.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I heard there is rioting in Oakland. That can't be true, can it? I can't find anything on TV or the internet, so I assume that is a false alarm.

[Enderman]

Tomorrow will be worse than today

I doubt that. Why do you think that?

I'm just speculating, but the Rodney King riots were worse the second day. I could see more people coming out when the sun comes out and it gets warmer.

How did they end then?

In short, badly.

[Lief 🗽]

I don't know who Lisa Bloom is, but this rant on MSNBC is pretty goddamn righteous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aziWr-IyKJs&feature=youtu.be

[Person Man]

I think there should be a separate thread about long term consequences and solutions of these states of affairs. Apparently there are those who think they are excluded from moral consideration from the community and there are those who feel that those who people who feel excluded are indeed included but have chosen to exclude themselves and yet refused the consequences of that choice. What is the end game? Is there anything that anyone can do about it?

[Lief 🗽]

From the murderer's testimony: he said Mike Brown looked like a "demon" to him.

[Mr. Smith]

@NewYork: I've never heard something more naive.

If all whites were made extinct, some other "race" will take the top and that will just lead to other resentments and other Fergusons.

@Ray: Yes, but Oscar Grant  wasn't running and may or may not have been in a fight. Not by much,just a string, but that case was grayer in terms of who was in the wrong.

@ChairmanSanchez: It's Oakland

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

I honestly think President Barack Obama's speech was great tonight, sad that many aren't listening to Michael Brown's parents. I'm sure this is a tough night for all of us.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

I heard there is rioting in Oakland. That can't be true, can it? I can't find anything on TV or the internet, so I assume that is a false alarm.

Oakland is always a powder keg. The combination of lots of tensions with the local police, and by far the most radicalized branch of Occupy anywhere.

Reportedly just some peaceful protests in NY, and I expect it to stay that way.