Penny Arcade comic on the subject http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/07/08
This may seem like exaggeration, but you exist in a shared open space with 7 billion talking wild animals. You really can get anything, for anything.
The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
311–320 of 356 posts
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the first time I've ever read the words "Shut up" on HN. I am disappointed.
Sigh. Read the comment, it's totally justified.
The "too bad it's inhabited" line is an old joke that gets applied to every country.
Either way, I find "shut up" to be inhibitive of civil discourse in all but the rarest of situations.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So I'll start by playing Devil's Advocate very briefly. It's interesting how facts can be shaped with different language ("his only brush with the law"): it appears the restraining order from two years prior related to similar threats to those alleged in the Facebook comments (although in a remarkably different context). IANAL but I'm reasonably confident that a restraining order he received as a minor would not be…
> IANAL but I'm reasonably confident that a restraining order he received as a minor would not be admissible as evidence in this case, and thus should be irrelevant to the prosecution. And yet it might be relevant to the reason he was arrested, if the quotation in the message above yours (which is unsourced) is true. Kid gets arrested for Facebook talk: "INJUSTICE!" ...but he had a previous restraining order for simi…
No, not actually enough for me to hedge that they might have a point...
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#314> Until that point, his only brush with the law was a temporary restraining order two years earlier. > "He started threatening me, saying that he would kill me. ... I told the school officers, [and] they started watching him really closely. He would say that he would shoot up the school." So I'll start by playing Devil's Advocate very briefly. It's interesting how facts can be shaped with different language ("his onl…
Another interesting point is when the system acts irrationally, this is not lost on psychopaths and those with evil and malicious intents. Knowing that a snapshot of a Facebook post taken out of context can land that person in jail for months is a goldmine opportunity for some people. This just adds to the list the other things could include: plant child porn on their machine, call the terrorist hotline with a tip, l…
A Facebook post out of context, heck... you could doctor the HTML using browser dev tools to make anyone appear to say anything at all on Facebook.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia - fear these places.
Oh fuck off, you obviously haven't been to half of these states, especially considering you dumped New Mexico into a list with Mississippi. How that would ever make sense is beyond me. What would you even be fearing? Burritos and Barbeque?
I'm from New Mexico, and it's a grand place.
However he might be thinking of the backwards and corrupt policing of the state. For instance,
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-new-mexico-... http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_25024804/new-lawsui...
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#316I think I get it.
The city was worried about a real possibility of shooting. So they searched his house and found nothing. They realized he wasn't a real threat. Just a jerk.
But they also wanted to send a message, loud and clear, to society: if you make jokes like this, you will suffer the consequences.
So they left him in jail. They set an illegally high bond. They manipulated this gullible boy into giving them a reason to move him to a worse jail, where they knew he would be raped. When it happened, they feigned surprise.
Sure, there were good intentions. They wanted to discourage the kind of joking that puts people into a state of panic.
But they went about it extremely unethically, immorally, and most likely illegally. I've gone to jail, I've been through the US court system, they're very manipulative and this is how they work. It's not right.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh fuck off, you obviously haven't been to half of these states, especially considering you dumped New Mexico into a list with Mississippi. How that would ever make sense is beyond me. What would you even be fearing? Burritos and Barbeque?
I'm from New Mexico, and it's a grand place. However he might be thinking of the backwards and corrupt policing of the state. For instance, http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-new-mexico-... http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_25024804/new-lawsui...
yeah, I'm from New Mexico too. Grew up in Farmington, lived in Las Cruces a year, Albuquerque has always sort of been home base. Still, I lived in SLC for a decade too and I've been in SF for 4 years now, and I've spent a lot of time in West Oakland. I also have a good chunk of family in Louisiana. Guess what? Cops are retarded everywhere. In NYC they stop and frisk you for being a minority on a Friday night, and in the Bay Area they just kill you on BART. Of course, these things happen occasionally but pretending like New Mexico (especially from that list) is some sort of place where minorities aren't welcome and overflowing of racism (notice Oklahoma wasn't even on the list? Trail of tears anyone?) is probably the silliest thing I've ever heard.
Granted, the Deep South still has a ways to go.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So I'll start by playing Devil's Advocate very briefly. It's interesting how facts can be shaped with different language ("his only brush with the law"): it appears the restraining order from two years prior related to similar threats to those alleged in the Facebook comments (although in a remarkably different context). IANAL but I'm reasonably confident that a restraining order he received as a minor would not be…
> IANAL but I'm reasonably confident that a restraining order he received as a minor would not be admissible as evidence in this case, and thus should be irrelevant to the prosecution. And yet it might be relevant to the reason he was arrested, if the quotation in the message above yours (which is unsourced) is true. Kid gets arrested for Facebook talk: "INJUSTICE!" ...but he had a previous restraining order for simi…
The problem is, in most states its stupidly easy to get a TRO - you dont need proof, just fill out a form, indicate you feel threatened by someone, pay the fee, boom, TRO.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#319> Until that point, his only brush with the law was a temporary restraining order two years earlier. > "He started threatening me, saying that he would kill me. ... I told the school officers, [and] they started watching him really closely. He would say that he would shoot up the school." So I'll start by playing Devil's Advocate very briefly. It's interesting how facts can be shaped with different language ("his onl…
I'm gonna point out, getting a TRO in many states is as easy as filling out a form, and paying a fee. All you need to do is state you feel threatened by someone.
Re: The Facebook Comment That Ruined a Life
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
Prison in the US isn't about rehabilitation it's about punishment. No one goes to prison thinking they're going to come out as a better person with a new outlook on life. They're going to come out war-torn and barely above functional with little to no prospects.
And why are we paying tax dollars for this? Especially when some of these prisons are run by for-profit corporations? If there's a single way to spur the economy it would be to close down many of these prisons, and reprogram the law enforcement goal of populating them.
Because that would hurt the interests of powerful lobbyists, and therefore congressmen and senators.
The government of the US does not even remotely work for her people. They serve themselves.