ScottishFox

If you watch the best video for this (I think the one from the now cinders Wendy's building) as he's running away he turns his upper body back and clearly aims the taser at the police as he's running away. So, without a picture, his legs are moving away; his upper body is turned almost sideways and his taser-hand has reached back to aim the weapon directly at the police officer(s) chasing him. Ok, after some digging I found a picture. This is the instant immediately before Rayshard Brooks gets shot. It's actually reasonably hard to find even though I've seen the video a couple of times.

No, it's an ACTUAL situation for which I've seen the video. It is not "could exist" It is "has happened". And I'm not saying it justifies a blanket anything. I believe I said as much in my response. "Not that I'm a fan of shooting fleeing suspects in the back in almost all cases - better to catch them later. " It's not a straw-man argument. It's a real situation that HAS happened. Just so we're clear. I do think police kill people unnecessarily at times. Sometimes at a level that is straight up murder (such as George Floyd, such as the several clips on the Hodge twins video). Police training can improve and police culture can improve. As I've mentioned previously there are police departments that are killing 10x as many people as other police departments. Clearly - we can do better.

You can't honestly believe that in the process of resisting arrest than any tool use (baton, pepper spray, taser) amounts to a justification to fight back and flee for your safety. Officers generally have a different standard here because they are also carrying firearms. If they get disabled by the taser, it's possible the suspect will go for their firearm. You can also get shot while "unarmed" by trying to take the officers firearm. I've seen some video of that. And none of this is to say that there aren't bad cops and that we can't make improvements in the rules and culture (stop protecting bad cops, ditch no-knock warrants, limit the use of choke holds, etc.).

This is not true in all cases. I'll give you an example that I've seen. A police officer is responding to a reported murder. They arrive and the suspect begins to flee the scene. A chase ensues and the suspect leaps over a fence and is about to lose the officers. The officer - believing that this person is an imminent deadly threat to the public (not himself) - fires a shot and kills the suspect. Turns out the guy had already ditched the murder weapon so he's "unarmed" at the time of the shooting. Not that I'm a fan of shooting fleeing suspects in the back in almost all cases - better to catch them later. But in some circumstances it can make perfect sense. And you're right about civilians, but a CCW holder is not a police officer and vice versa. This is not a higher or lower standard of conduct, but part of the job.

Yeah, in a country of 328 million they killed a whopping 3 unarmed black men last year that were not fleeing. Better run for your life! Running, btw, triples your chances of dying unarmed. Also, this guy had just won a 1v2 fight with the cops, stolen one of their tasers and bolted. Even then they didn't shoot. Then he turns towards them and aims the taser in their direction and THEN he gets shot. Once the guy aims a taser at you - the gunfire is justified. Especially since he just took the best less-than-lethal option. And the crowd that burned down the Wendy's?? What in the actual hell.

Firstly, I feel like most cops are just people willing to do a very difficult, unpleasant and dangerous job. Most of them are trying to make a positive difference. Even the ones breaking some rules are a net positive. It is unreasonable for us to expect perfection from the police force as it is comprised of human beings. Medical errors kill around 250,000 people per year. Excessively aggressive cops killing 55 unarmed people (32 if you remove the ones fleeing) is dramatically lower than this and yet I don't see protests against doctors and nurses or ex-military snipers sitting on roof tops gunning down paramedics. I knew a cop many years ago and he openly admitted to helping himself to a flat screen TV they found when arresting a guy in a van with stack of stolen TV sets. Straight up theft. Wrong through and through. And yet, even this guy, was doing more good than bad. What I liked about the initial protests is it got the dirt bag that killed George Floyd and his police buddies charged. This is a good thing. Accountability is key. One of the key grievances with police is their unwillingness to deal with their own problem members. The number of police killed, fired or suicided because they reported on problem cops in their own department is disgusting. There are also high-level policy changes that need to happen (4th amendment is still law) and the absolutely murderous no-knock plain clothes raids have got to stop - immediately. Improvements in initial screening and self-monitoring and dealing with problem police are things we desperately need, but the idea that all cops are bad is crazy. If Minneapolis succeeds in removing it's police department you are going to see some insane Mad Max level violence.

What was the point of a multi-month shutdown if hospitals weren't going to ramp up ICU capacity to handle cases for when we re-opened? Everyone knew the case load would soar once we re-opened.

I had the same reaction and my thought was that every cop that dies during one of these things deserves it and every civilian who kills a cop during what seems to be a home invasion deserves a medal of valor. How can a no-knock warrant be executed by plains clothes cops be perceived as anything else by civilians? This is straight up evil by police. Surround the structure, knock and announce yourselves as police, bring a warrant and act like actual law enforcement.

John Oliver tilts pretty hard to the left, but I enjoy the show because he presents view points I generally disagree with in a highly entertaining fashion. I can watch one of his shows and actually think through the position presented and do a little digging and enjoy the process.

So I'm one week post-op on the shoulder surgery. Pro's: I've lost 10 lbs. Apparently opiates are an appetite suppressant for me. Shoulder pain is way down. Con's: I've gone from chronically sleepy on the meds (hydrocodone and tramadol) to insomnia (Hello 4:22am). My shoulder still hurts enough to be annoying and I'm week as a kitten. Like STR -5 with left arm. I can manage an energy drink with an EGO check. I've cut the Tramadol to only the worst pain of the day (1x daily vs 3-4x daily) as it is giving me acid-trip like dreams. Sure enough - it's on the "less common" side effect list. My focus is so trashed I'm getting virtually 0 work done. My ability to focus well enough to code is just gone.

Well, the Texas Rt number is back to 1.0 so not good, but not a disaster. The two week trend is flat, but the daily case number is now averaging 1500 instead of 500-600 like it used to. Deaths are not soaring yet, but there's usually a 10 day-ish lag between sick enough to get tested and dead. That being said - the rate of mask usage in public - minus businesses/hospitals is damn near zero. Like 5-7% tops. I guess we're going for herd immunity here. 😐

I almost wrote in Giant Meteor last time but went with Gary Johnson (aka set my vote on fire). Will this time be any different? Here's my favorite, recent, Biden quote. Seriously, as fast as he's fading if you vote for Biden you're voting for his running mate. How can this be the best we can get from a country of 328 million people? I'd seriously vote for Joe Rogan or Daryl Davis over either of these guys.

Body cameras are awesome if for no other reason than it gives a jury and the public a chance to see what's happening. It's also useful for officer training. Not sure how many are familiar with the James King case but that one looks to be headed to the supreme court. Basically it goes like this: Two cops and an FBI agent are looking for a guy. They're plain clothes. They approach James King and ask him his name. He tells them. They ask if he's lying. He says he's not. Then one guy grabs him and another takes his wallet. James King believes he's being mugged and runs for his life. They tackle him and beat him half-to-death. Including choking him to the point where he blacks out. Then because they realize they've screwed up they charge HIM with three felonies related to resisting arrest (nobody said they were arresting him. He should have just known that when 3 plain clothes guys assault you it's arrest.). He beat the original 3 felony charges in court because unlike most people facing decades in jail he wouldn't take a plea deal. It's SIX years later and he's trying to get some basic justice for what happened. As far as I know the two cops and the FBI agent who smashed a man who looked nothing like the suspect picture to pulp have faced no repercussions.

Spend a few hours on a channel like Active Self Protection and you'll quickly realize that violence often is over minutes before the police arrive. The idea of sending a response team that then has to call for an armed response team "if" things turn violent is like sending team A out to die. Just spend a few hours watching martial arts fantasy and self-defense theory melt away in the face of hundreds of real life deadly or violent encounters. Doesn't matter if its citizens or police. You have split seconds to react. Not minutes. If Team A has to call for back up they are in serious trouble or are already wounded/dead. Just - Thank you. So much better than I would have said it.

Realistically, nobody in that picture would be a goner. Except maybe all of their parents, aunties and uncles they see in the near future. Meanwhile in Texas - The opening has spiked the numbers pretty well and we should be seeing a 2nd boost after recent protest activities so... Total death count remains low, but that could change if the number of cases keeps taking off. 2020 officially wins the giant bag of suck award.

I'm sure there are several countries enjoying watching the USA going through its own protests / riots. The relationship between the government and the governed isn't always good.

I can't imagine the massive protests against police brutality going on in several countries are going to do anything but cause a big upward spike in Coronavirus deaths.

We went with 1 copper = $1 for my campaigns and it had the nice benefit of gold not being quite so prolific. A gold piece was like busting out a $100 bill and in certain locales would draw some (possibly unsafe) attention.

Respectfully, you have completely misjudged my intent. So I'll try to restate more clearly. 1- Killing George Floyd was straight up murder. That cop and his 3 fellow cops who let it happen are scum and should go to jail for decades to life. 2- George Floyd was also felon and his autopsy showed fentanyl and other drugs currently in his system. He had also just passed off a fake $20 bill and when asked by the store to return it - fled. Then he resisted arrest and THEN he was murdered by negligent, evil cops. You and I would agree on the disgusting rate of recidivism in America and how we can't adapt something akin to the Norwegian model - which if I recall correctly has a rate of about 25% compared to our 80-85% rate. I am disgusted by criminal record laws that send people back out into the world with such a stigma that they can't find work again and become productive members of society. I could go on at great lengths about how much I hate our current criminal justice system and how mounting a proper criminal defense can cost so much money that many, many people take plea deals - and ruin their lives - to avoid going to jail for decades based on spammed up charges by aggressive DAs. I was trying to point out that BLM keeps picking felons who are resisting arrest as their role models / martyrs. I am not in any way suggesting that thuggish cops should get a green light on killing people who are already in custody and no longer a deadly threat. We are 100% in agreement in this regard. But does Black Lives Matter only concern itself with police issues? And why does everyone ignore the math in these things. I keep seeing black men are 2.5x more likely to be killed by cops. FBI only has the finished report up to 2018 but it's a pretty relevant sample. The numbers are similar to the NYPD data to date and another site I looked at. Blacks are 13.4% of the population and yet have a total homicide rate of 3,175 vs. 3,006 for whites (who make up 72% of the population). So when you crunch those out you have a homicide rate that is weighted at 23,694/4,175 or 5.67x higher. Maybe that level of crime relates to more frequent deadly police interactions. I'll also mention that I'm concerned with the para-militarization of the police and how constitutional rights are completely ignored all of the time. Those racist assholes arresting that black FBI agent in the video above are exactly why a lot of people, and I imagine black people in particular, are angry with cops. And in fairness America has treated black people like sh*t until the last couple of decades. I was engaged to a black girl in the 90s (way before it was cool) and her family had horror stories to spare of racist encounters with police and otherwise.

On a per capita basis is an ineffective way to compare this type of thing. Otherwise you have to ask why police in 2019 killed 961 men, but only 43 women while women make up slightly more than half of the population. Is it some super androgynist hatred of men among police? Most certainly not. Also, if you find some of the crunchier statistics sites you'll see that the death risk peaks for nearly all men in the 20-25 range right when their testosterone levels are peaking. Unless police are only racist against young black men, but like old black men just as much as they do white people. And Asian women, man, the police love them their risk is so low on the chart you can't hardly see it. Couple Links I used: https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../police-shootings-2019/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6708348/ Asian women - on a per capita basis - are about 65x less likely to be killed by police than white men. Does this seem like a good candidate for pillorying the police over their sexist, racist favoritism of Asian women? If you look up police shootings per capita by city you can see differences of up to nearly 10x. There is definitely a wide variety of policing practices and cultures and definitely room for improvement. New York clocks in at 1.3 per million while Phoenix comes in at 11. That seems like a massive difference and one worth investigating. Minneapolis where this whole thing kicked off actually has a pretty good record at 3.0. It's a serious issue, but it's also a complex one and there are many factors. It's not as simple as white cops like to murder black people. One thing is for certain - burning our businesses to the ground, beating elderly people trying to protect their stores and shooting police officers is NOT going to make it better. And why does George Floyd's murder (and I feel it was - that cop deserves major jail time) draw so much more sympathy and martyrdom than David Dorn. A black police captain with 38 years of service who died to "protestors" so they could steal some TVs. Why does the black life of the convicted felon and long time drug abuser matter so much more than the black life of a man who was a great role model and at damn near 80 was doing what he could to protect a local business? One of these men robbed a pregnant woman by shoving a gun into her belly and the other guy was an absolute role model for any man. Anyone going to take a knee for David Dorn or even know who he is? https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/06/04/will_anyone_take_a_knee_for_david_dorn_143373.html

Well so far they've killed 11-12 people - many of whom were black. David Dorn being a real standout. Even George Floyd's brother is asking for the rioting and looting to stop. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/david-dorn-st-louis-police-shot-trnd/index.html https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/at-least-11-killed-during-u-s-protests-seeking-justice-for-george-floyd-many-of-them-african-americans/ And I want to be clear. The dirt bag that kneeled on Geoge Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and his 3 police buddies that didn't intervene deserve harsh justice. They are currently all charged and they need to be convicted. If I kneeled on that cops neck for 9 minutes he wouldn't need trial. Total scumbag. Still, I can't help but think that killing back civilians and role models like David Dorn and thrashing local businesses isn't going to help. And whoever is piling up bricks, pipes and bottles full of gasoline for the protesters deserves his own level in hell. It's a serious issue that desperately needs addressing, but it needs social buy in and support. The more innocents that die and the more buildings that burn the more support for military action goes up in the polls. I don't want to find out if the man in front of the church will pull that lever if pushed hard enough - because I'm afraid he will.

In related news I surved my 45 min, no 90 min, no 3 hour surgical procedure after they found a lot of collateral damage in my shoulder. Apparently sports & martial arts are bad for your joints. Don't tell the high schools and colleges. Propofol is awesome - Nice clean drop off to sleep and I woke up battling space pirates (not joking). Also, my blood pressure dropped 30 points while I was doped up so apparently it's really good for me. My anesthesiologist is so good he was able to paralyze the three nerves in my arm with a slow release medicine that leaves my fingers functional. I can't move my arm at all, but I can type. I literally didn't believe this was possible until today. it's strangely specific. I can move my fingers, but I can't rotate my hand. My shoulder hurts, but so it's so much less than when my nerve was being crushed I give it exactly 0 sh*ts. My nurses were both sweet as can be. Except the older one who was so comfortable poking my belly after I mentioned liposuction it was like she was playing with one of her grand kids. Like it would have gotten a male nurse fired. I will be drugged out of my gourd for a week and won't be allowed to lift anything with my left arm for 4 weeks. This is going to require a restraint in bed as I roll over in bed - in place - by bridge up on my neck and one hand wrestler style and rotating my hips. I do that on my newly attached bicep tendon and I will be back in surgery. Also, I had to fill out like 72 forms (exaggeration) related to Coronavirus. Including one that said you might catch it by having surgery here. I was all, "Don't you clean sh*t after surgery?". Texas Orthopedic Association was fine (hand sanitizer, fever check, mandatory use of their masks - not your own). Texas Back Institute was dumb - the doctor was amazing, but the Coronavirus rules were stupid. fever check - hand sanitizer - their mask - and then GLOVES. I asked the lady as nicely as possible, "Ma'am, what was the hand sanitizer for if I'm going to wear gloves?". She gave my least favorite answer in the universe - "Those are the rules." Thinking should be a rule. Good bosses like thinking employees and bosses who don't - shouldn't have employees. So, hopefully, 10 days from now I don't bust out a lethal fever after getting 15 years of damage scraped off my shoulder.

So the month of May has wrapped up for Texas and ... the numbers are moving in a bad way after the re-opening. Cases are way up and our Rt number creeped over 1.1 which is a bad thing. I'll say from my recent trips to the ER and hospital for my shoulder issue (old athletic injury caused a cyst which is now crushing one my nerves which both hurts constantly and partially paralyzes my left arm) that the hospital is not anywhere near overwhelmed. The ER was all but empty both times I was there and wait times for diagnostics and my surgical scheduling were minimal. So I'm going under the knife on Wednesday - wish me luck.

My comment was in the context of Texas where we're currently sitting at 1,546 deaths which is substantially lower than a bad flu season for us. The area of DFW where I live is currently at 3.3 deaths per 100,000. Compared to the original 2.2 million number that was originally estimated for America Texas would have seen about 200,000 dead. I feel a tremendous sense of relief that we're at less than 1% of that original estimate. That in now way means that I don't have tremendous sympathy for the areas that got hit much harder (New York, Italy, Spain, etc.).

I woke up this morning, took the last of my ER prescribed pain pills for my shoulder and called the doctor's office. He's not available until 2pm tomorrow. I pointed out I would die from pain before then so they sent me to his medical assistant's # which went directly to voicemail. As I type this I have nothing to put in my throat for my 3pm pain pill session unless I start mainlining vodka. No bueno. On this morning's scrum call I pointed out that I was in the midst of setting human pain tolerance records with my nerve-crushing Cyst and would most likely be in surgery later this week. My friend from Canada chimes in, "This week? You'd be on a waiting list for month's here.". Honestly, unless I was massively drugged up I would be suicidal if I had to put up with this much pain for months. Time for me to start blowing that lady's phone up.