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How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

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Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#411

Post by jrs99 »

thotpoizn wrote: post #375
pessimizer wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a black programmer, I remember the cliche about problems and regular expressions in my head as "regular expressions are like calling the cops." That's unfair to regular expressions, though, because I actually have seen them solve a problem before. Cops improving a situation? Never seen it.

> "...Cops improving a situation? Never seen it." I suspect that's really just an emotional lashing-out at a pervasive problem. But if it's not, I assure you - I have seen cops improve a situation, and I'm certain that others have too. I might be biased from watching cops running into the chaos of 9/11, while I was running away from it. Or from having my family protected from crazy, violent people while I was busy an…

are you black?

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#412

Post by debt »

devin wrote: post #403
debt wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole idea that bicyclists somehow are above the law in terms of traffic signals needs to end. We need to start stopping at red lights and stop signs if we're ever to be taken seriously. Time and again I've had conversations with bicyclists friends of mine who are adamant about how helmets are as optional as obeying traffic signals; it's totally hypocritical and asinine. They knowingly break the laws then bitch a…

Shamefully public lack of empathy and holier than thou attitude, "bro".

I'm empathetic towards how shitty the process he went through, that sucks. But there's no need to make a bad situation worse which is what he "stupidly" did; so says him.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#414

Post by baddox »

awj wrote: post #370
baddox wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would have greatly reduced the likelihood of this guy getting assaulted and imprisoned, so I would consider it good advice.

"Don't leave your house, ever!" and "Don't try to stop and help anyone with anything" would also have prevented this. That doesn't make either of them good advice.

There's a difference between simply leaving your house, and actively requesting that a group of armed thugs come to your location.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#415

Post by FD3SA »

swombat wrote: post #339
FD3SA wrote: post #309

This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped by its ideals, but the real world is so far removed that time spent here becomes more of a therapeutic escape than anything else. I strongly recommend people study history, and understand human nature at both scientific and societal levels. There is too much…

This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped by its ideals, but the real world is so far removed that time spent here becomes more of a therapeutic escape than anything else. You say that, but this ideal world is the world I live in, and have lived in all my life. You should consider moving to Europe (U…

As a realist, I wholeheartedly believe this to be the rational choice (and I've made it). As an idealist, I stubbornly have hope that like-minded intellectuals will affect change, not just for the US but globally. Moreover, fixing US domestic and foreign policies will have massive benefits worldwide (end of wars, arms exports, military occupations, arms races, etc.), such that I believe it to be a worthwhile cause.

I honestly wonder what a society would look like if we got a group of experienced system engineers with a deep understanding of human society to construct it from the ground up. Working incentives, set goals (science and technological progress), and, above all, a rational understanding of poor incentives and abuse of power.

Unfortunately, Startfleet has yet to be founded.

Edit: For those who want more information on the nature of power in the US, I would just like to honor Aaron Swartz's memory by referring to this excellent piece [1].

1. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/epiphany

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#416

Post by baddox »

sitkack wrote: post #353
baddox wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't call the paramedics either. Desperately try to find your own way (or help the injured person find a way) to the hospital if something is wrong. There is no shortage of stories where people call the police, even for relatively serious issues, only to have the police show up and promptly murder the injured person or another nearby innocent.

I recently had an encounter that was a little surreal. At the art studio a forlorn man walked upstairs into the lunch room. Someone asked him how he was doing, he just looked like he was having a bad day, not super shitty, but bad. Lots of people come in and out of that studio space, it is common to see people you don't recognize. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just want to die." The art studio is mostly wome…

The scenario you were afraid of happens. It's not too rare to read a story where someone calls the police because their friend is in medical distress, only to have the police show up and murder the person right there in their own home.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#417

Post by Zancarius »

jrs235 wrote: post #386
Zancarius wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We don't have a police state! We have one of the shittiest justice systems in the world that protects bad actors and gives our police unlimited power to abuse their office without fear of repurcussion [sic]. Struck a nerve? You're absolutely right. We're not a police state--yet. But if left unchecked, the powers in control of the democratic process inevitably degrade into totalitarian rule. We're seeing a glimpse o…

How do you kill a frog? You put it in a pot of water and in very slight increments you slowly and systematically turn up the heat so the frog doesn't feel or perceive the change even as it boils to death.

I suspect that means we're in agreement.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#418

Post by benched »

gameshot911 wrote: post #354
herbig wrote: post #240

Back in November, I was arrested in Brooklyn for running a red light on my bike while on my way to work in Manhattan. Normally you're given a ticket and let go, but in this instance, the officers took issue with the fact that I was not carrying ID. Both officers told me that I "could be arrested for not having ID." For clarification, I asked if it was a city, state, or national law, and the officers adamantly maintai…

I actually see a silver lining in this story. The worst thing an officer of the was able to do was inconvenience you for a day. Compare that to pretty much another other time in recorded history, and indeed still many places today, and you could have been locked up for far longer for pissing off someone in an authority position. Now obviously this is a ridiculous situation and the officer was on a powertrip, but you…

That things are worse in other times or places isn't much of a silver lining. More of a description of yet further human on human bullshit.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#419

Post by damian2000 »

maratd wrote: post #409
gameshot911 wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually see a silver lining in this story. The worst thing an officer of the was able to do was inconvenience you for a day. Compare that to pretty much another other time in recorded history, and indeed still many places today, and you could have been locked up for far longer for pissing off someone in an authority position. Now obviously this is a ridiculous situation and the officer was on a powertrip, but you…

> The worst thing an officer of the was able to do was inconvenience you for a day. Wrong. Job application. Have you ever been arrested? No job. Mortgage application. Have you ever been arrested? No mortgage. No house. Rental application. Have you ever been arrested? No apartment. These are just a few places you will have the door slammed in your face. Now, the OP was lucky, because the matter was dismissed, the arre…

Isn't the wording 'convicted of a crime' rather than 'arrested'... you could be arrested, and then let go without being charged or convicted of anything.

Re: How I Ended Up In Solitary After Calling 911 For Help

#420

Post by hmsimha »

dctoedt wrote: post #105
pacaro wrote: post #39

FWIW I'm not going to offer an opinion on whether 20+% is a good tip, but tipping with a credit card has a lower value to the server. All tips are notionally taxable income, whether a server chooses to declare all their cash tips is their choice, when you tip with a credit card it stops being their choice - and there's no way of telling how much of the tip is diverted by the establishment.

Downvoted for encouraging tax fraud.

One of the restaurants I worked at would take a percentage out of my tips for credit card processing fees.
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