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Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

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Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#121

Post by thedz »

gdix wrote: post #93
thedz wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This screams "hoax" to me. Healthy skepticism is useful, but if you think that the editor-at-large of a well known U.S. media publication would conduct a public hoax involving her son, well, you do you.

Or it could be her son did not give an accurate account of what happened. You keep doing you as well. We'll see how this shakes out.

Her son being misinformed, assuming that was true, is not a hoax. By definition, a hoax is an intentional deception. You claiming that it is a hoax explicitly means you think there's an intent to mislead on the part of the editor.

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#122

Post by gdix »

thedz wrote: post #121
gdix wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or it could be her son did not give an accurate account of what happened. You keep doing you as well. We'll see how this shakes out.

Her son being misinformed, assuming that was true, is not a hoax. By definition, a hoax is an intentional deception. You claiming that it is a hoax explicitly means you think there's an intent to mislead on the part of the editor.

Nope. If the son lied, then that is intentional deception.

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#123

Post by geierdmtr »

joesmo wrote: post #120
teddyh wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most everything you say is true, that is a terrible attitude. Becoming a negative, hate-filled cynic is the easy way to mentally cope with the situation, but it doesn’t help and actually only makes it worse by accepting it. Acknowledging these things as true but still expecting people to behave like civilized people, and speaking out when they don’t, is much harder, but it needs to be done if anything is to imp…

I expect civilized people to behave in civilized manners, but police are not civilized in this country--they have too much power and no consequences. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and what's more absolute than being able to murder pretty much anyone you want and get away with it? That's not a person, that's a fucking tyrant with a badge and expecting someone like that to behave in a civilized matter is what lead…

sorry it happened to you. i like your writings.. i guess the more of us office gerbils get hit across the face with reality, the more light we shine on these issues and cause some changes.

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#124

Post by joesmo »

geierdmtr wrote: post #123
joesmo wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I expect civilized people to behave in civilized manners, but police are not civilized in this country--they have too much power and no consequences. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and what's more absolute than being able to murder pretty much anyone you want and get away with it? That's not a person, that's a fucking tyrant with a badge and expecting someone like that to behave in a civilized matter is what lead…

sorry it happened to you. i like your writings.. i guess the more of us office gerbils get hit across the face with reality, the more light we shine on these issues and cause some changes.

Yup. I think things have to get bad for non-poor whites before there are any changes. You can see this happening right now with the opiate pandemic. When that negativity outweighs the perceived positivity of our de facto segregationist system to white people, a system mainly enforced by police, we might see changes.

For now, I think a good start toward this goal is to start seeing people--all people--as human. That's not just something the police have to do, but something I have to do vis a vis the police, and everyday people have to do vis a vis both police, convicts, and "criminals". I'm personally willing to let go of my hate for the police and the justice system in this country if and when we start treating all people like humans. That means we don't use the threat and actuality of rape, torture, and murder in jail as a punishment when the actual punishment is going to jail. To me, it means police and government officials are held not only accountable, but to a higher standard than normal citizens (worse penalties and certainly no immunity from liability). It also means not criminalizing everyday activities.

Until then, the only thing we can do is speak up, bring awareness, and hope the police don't target us. And probably one of the most important things, teaching our children the truth about police, not the fairy tale of "serve and protect."

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#125

Post by teddyh »

joesmo wrote: post #120
teddyh wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most everything you say is true, that is a terrible attitude. Becoming a negative, hate-filled cynic is the easy way to mentally cope with the situation, but it doesn’t help and actually only makes it worse by accepting it. Acknowledging these things as true but still expecting people to behave like civilized people, and speaking out when they don’t, is much harder, but it needs to be done if anything is to imp…

I expect civilized people to behave in civilized manners, but police are not civilized in this country--they have too much power and no consequences. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and what's more absolute than being able to murder pretty much anyone you want and get away with it? That's not a person, that's a fucking tyrant with a badge and expecting someone like that to behave in a civilized matter is what lead…

You seem to think that we disagree on the facts. We do not. It is only your attitude that I have a slight reservation against. Certainly, treat police in person in whatever way allows you to survive. But actually hating them en masse (and doing only that), will only make the problem worse, not better. What will happen is that you will transmit your fear of the police to others, thereby cementing the power police holds. The English word “expect” is problematic here; I certainly do not actually assume that the police always will behave civilized, but I do expect them to, if you see what I mean. It is what should be expected of them by society. It is what I, a citizen, should be able to demand. Having this attitude enables me to insist upon proper behavior (in the appropriate venue, at an appropriate time, of course). But simply hating the police only exacerbates fear and resentment.

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#126

Post by geierdmtr »

joesmo wrote: post #124
geierdmtr wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sorry it happened to you. i like your writings.. i guess the more of us office gerbils get hit across the face with reality, the more light we shine on these issues and cause some changes.

Yup. I think things have to get bad for non-poor whites before there are any changes. You can see this happening right now with the opiate pandemic. When that negativity outweighs the perceived positivity of our de facto segregationist system to white people, a system mainly enforced by police, we might see changes. For now, I think a good start toward this goal is to start seeing people--all people--as human. That's…

there is a police conduct complain procedure. but it can only be used within 30 days of the incident, not an option when you are in enthralled in proccedings. also mountain view PD for example hides the complaint forms from you, and only provides them on demand. Also many Califiornia PD use an anti constitutional clause on the complaints forms, which states that any complaint can land You in jail if found unfounded. And almost every complaint will end up unfounded when filed, still worth it cause it stays in the police officers file indefinitely and if those complaints add up the officer will not be trusted by courts. Point is everybody is discouraged to complain about police misconduct. Myself, i can't dedicate my life fighting this one incident.

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#127

Post by masonic »

troisx wrote: post #42

This whole thing seems a little fishy. It supposedly happened on Friday and the only news article I could find about it didn't have any independent verification.

If you've been dumped by MSNBC, can you even claim the title of "journalist" in the first place?

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#128

Post by DrScump »

joesmo wrote: post #90
krapp wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, Japan's justice system has a 99% conviction rate. That doesn't happen without blatant, systemic corruption. I'd rather deal with cops who might shoot me than cops who will definitely get a confession out of me if they want one.

Not very different from the US. "For 2012, the US Department of Justice reported a 93% conviction rate." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate In the US you can have your cake and eat it too: get shot by cops and have to plead guilty to avoid spending a huge chunk of your life in jail in favor of spending a slightly smaller chunk of your life in jail. America's the greatest country in the world (when it co…

   Not very different from the US.
It's extremely different. That 93% figure is limited to federal criminal cases. The vast majority of offenses are state and local. This same wikipedia article says, "In recent years, the conviction rate has averaged approximately 84% in Texas, 82% in California, 72% in New York, 67% in North Carolina, and 59% in Florida."

So, you're talking anywhere from (roughly) seven times as frequent acquittals to over 40 times as many.

"Not very different", you say?

Re: Arrested by Undercover Officers After Trying to Sell His Laptop Online

#129

Post by DrScump »

thomasz wrote: post #69
troisx wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably because like many "reporters" at Daily Beast, she apparently has an agenda to push. Why not just report the story, complete with facts like where exactly it happened, and maybe at least one interview with a witness on this "busy street".

Her son got unlawfully arrested and threatened with a gun, off course she has a goddamn agenda to push.

There is absolutely no evidence of this.
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