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I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

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Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#201

Post by pmarreck »

turar wrote: post #96
grizzles wrote: post #62

This dude just grassed on all the people who bent the rules to be nice to him. With pictures. For a moment of blog fame. Very uncool.

The guy sounds like an asshole. His bemused depictions of friendly border guards reek of self-superiority and total lack of empathy.

This is crazy because I did not get this impression at all. Being rational and clean-cut and descriptive does not an asshole make. I mean seriously, if THIS is your definition of "asshole..."

But I can't help but now wonder if his mere being just triggers vastly different things in people unfortunately (such as instant hatred of "tech elite" by SFPD cops in the San Francisco piece he wrote).

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#202

Post by nommm-nommm »

jrockway wrote: post #95
kharms wrote: post #90

"I could have called the US embassy, but from past experience I knew their help was often useless, and occasionally even harmful." This was an interesting throw away. I wonder what his experience was.

His other article is about how to never call 911 if you see someone injured because you'll get arrested. Good reading material, but I'm probably going to call the embassy (and 911).

The author was being a total dick in that other story so his conclusion was incorrect.

At the very least its very impolite to hang around and gaggle at a police investigation or someone getting aid from the EMS. At that point you are only getting in the way.

I've never personally gotten assistance from a US Embassy but I know people who have and they were genuinely helpful.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#204

Post by jpreiland »

Viper007Bond wrote: post #83
plaguuuuuu wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that story legit?

It happened, but whether it happened like he said is up for debate. There's reports from others out there that he actually was being drunk, disruptive to rescue operations, and elbowed a cop in the eye. Yet another reason to have body cameras -- no he said, they said.

It seems like body cams keep mysteriously getting disconnected before something goes down though

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#205

Post by jessaustin »

sreeni_ananth wrote: post #118
zensavona wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> spent most of his time down there booty bumping bath salts source? Having lived in Cambodia (nowhere near as dangerous as Belize, but probably just as corrupt), being implicated with a crime you didn't commit isn't the most far fetched thing.

India is exactly the same, for its much hyped democracy, it is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Recently there is a trend for implicating husbands and relatives in criminal cases just because the wife didn't get along. All interested parties including lawyers, judges, police get involved for financial gain.

Recently there is a trend for implicating husbands and relatives in criminal cases just because the wife didn't get along.

It is the same in USA. Every "decent" divorce lawyer's first step is for the wife to whack herself on the face, call the police, and get the husband kicked out of the house. The cops don't like it, but they have to take the report. Sometimes they have enough spine to not arrest the dude.

All interested parties including lawyers, judges, police get involved for financial gain.

Yeah this too. Family court is the biggest racket going now.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#207

Post by jessaustin »

trhway wrote: post #110
umwhat999 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a... selective reading of that police report. The idea that it is right for police to violently enforce their every whim if one does not immediately obey all commands is a serious problem. For one, only a small subset of all possible commands a police officer could make are commands which one is legally obligated to follow. Secondly, I think we want a society where police choose constructive dialog over violen…

>Secondly, I think we want a society where police choose constructive dialog over violence. seeing how deep the police got addicted to violence one can only wonder whether it is possible for them to get sober at all. I mean you can't make that up - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/2... . Just make sure to watch the video. The police tried to shoot the autistic patient even after the therapis…

I thought it was a scapegoating situation: the light-skinned guy didn't do what they wanted, so they shot the black guy.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#208

Post by coldtea »

pessimizer wrote: post #190
coldtea wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of this thread is that what's "legally relevant" is not always what's morally or humanely relevant. That's a millennia old distinction people have made. It's difficult for the puritan mindset to parse, of course. Sodomy (and being gay) was not that far ago persecuted (still is in the books in some states). Blacks where not allowed in the same establishment as whites. Slavery was the law once. I wouldn…

It'd be better if sodomy and slavery were legal for people who could pay the bribe, but prosecuted in the cases of poor people and racial/religious/political minorities (aka people the official doesn't like and can't do anything for them)? It's a legitimate point of view to be an advocate for kleptocracy, but it's honestly rare to see one in the wild. I consider selective enforcement and latitude in sentencing the co…

>It'd be better if sodomy and [flee from] slavery were legal for people who could pay the bribe, but prosecuted in the cases of poor people and racial/religious/political minorities (aka people the official doesn't like and can't do anything for them)?

Compared to it being totally illegal for everybody and 100% enforced, yes, it would be better.

Compared to fully killing anti-sodomy laws and slavery, of course, not.

But in the real world, totally changing a law takes far more time (and influence) that merely being able to leverage some wiggle room/bribe/whatever.

>It's a legitimate point of view to be an advocate for kleptocracy, but it's honestly rare to see one in the wild.

The actual and powerful kleptocracy are people who have influence on government and on MAKING laws -- not those at the bottom taking some bribe or looking the other way for a friend etc.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#209

Post by whack »

jules wrote: post #156
coldtea wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this response, and the suggestions, exemplifying why Kazakhstan justice (as expressed in the story, I don't know how it's in general) is superior to American justice. It's the ability to take the law and regulations lightly, when they're not that serious, and be humane about it. I mean writing: "YOU CHOSE to violate it", with added emphasis, as if having a visa expiring on the same day you leave a place (and l…

All this does is provide random and selective justice for those who can pay the bribe. What about the visum expiring the day before you leave? Two days? The law has to draw a line somewhere. It is the obligation of the person to stay clear of that line. If the visum duration is too short, just make all visa valid for 16 days rather than 15 days, and then enforce that line equally for everybody. Once corruption has ta…

> "All this does is provide random and selective justice for those who can pay the bribe."

That was actually the most heart-warming part of the tale. The guy initially tried to bribe the police and get out of trouble, but the new computer systems prevented him from doing so. The cop who initially tried to collect a bribe from him, then returned the money, befriended him, and went to bat for him, with no financial incentives whatsoever.

Re: I got arrested in Kazakhstan and represented myself in court

#210

Post by caiowilsonb »

grizzles wrote: post #62

This dude just grassed on all the people who bent the rules to be nice to him. With pictures. For a moment of blog fame. Very uncool.

I honestly (as a brazillian native) think that working with the GIVEN rules and CULTURE of a given place is NOT being an asshole; Yet, I really wish he didn't posted pics nor gave real names.

Bribe culture is bad, but it's not something to dismiss in such situations, eg, here, it would get him into way MORE trouble just to put up a firm NO about bribing and social skills.

Being out of your main cultural context is pretty much about "going with the flow" and social engineering rather than enforcing your own beliefs onto an already established and deeply rooted status quo.

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