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Absolutely! We need to stop arming our police departments for war.
PAL -- Nothing change with lopping off heads. Nothing changed the second time (Les Misrables) also.
FDR did change things. Follow FDR not the French revolutionaires.
PAL -- Thom was saying that Chattanooga has download speeds of 1 Gbps. They, of course, provide fibre optic cables to everyone. Do you have anyway of confirming this information?
Thom:
I believe you are missing the point on this Michael Brown killing. Strong arm robbry is not what the cop in Fergisn was responding to, it was what Michael Brown was! The cop (if it was like a situation my friend in the past had) had to be suprised and in fear for his self by the response of Mr. Brown to his being talked to by the said police officeer. You are doing a Glen Beck- Rush Limbvaugh, by talking with such certainty when you do not have any facts at your disposal !
Great segment! Loved the information about nutritional value.
I'm nearly convinced to have some bugs with dinner, but where would an American even get them?
rflood321 -- What makes you say the following:
I like to blame it on the media entirely.
As a resident of St. Louis I am both appauled and saddened by the events of this week. Still, how everyone should interpret these events is a matter of perspective:
The Perspective of the African Americans in St. Louis: Just another case of an unarmed young man, minding his own business, and assassinated by a white police officer in broad daylight. After what happened in Florida with Trevon Martin, just another case of dehumization of the African Americans in this country, so anger and outrage is not only to be expected but is completely justified. The use of tank like vehicles, tear gas, smoke bombs, rubber bullets, and fully automatic rifles pointed at peaceful marches by the white police force clearly exemplifies the simple fact that their is a continued race problem in this country. The outrage is always there and completely justified.
The Police's Department's Perspective: Just another situation of a cop being assaulted by an African American. The police officer was attacked in his own vehicle, punched multiple times in his face and head by a huge man, requiring the police office to be hospitalized. In response to this immenent threat to his life, the officer fired his weapon and killed the young man. Following the event, Anonymous hacked into the Police Department's data base; personal contact information for all of the police officers in the town were stolen, and threatening phone calls were made to home addresses and cell phones of police officers and their families. Then, the first night of protests resulted in riots, with torching and looting of several local businesses, followed by continued threats to the police officers and their families. Basically, society waged war on the police department. In the following days, the Mayor of this town stated on a radio broadcast that the police chief of the county and the police chief of the town were fired upon while driving near the scenes. Besides, the number one cause of death for an African American male aged 18 to 45 is to be murdered, usually by another African American male. We live in a truly violent society. Everyone has a gun, there is no gun control despite the police department's pleas for tighter gun control laws. The cops are in the middle of a shooting gallery every day they put on the uniform, and all of society is completely terrified. More than 30,000 deaths per year in this country due to gun violence; only countries in active war zones can compare to such statistics. We are at War within the boarders of the US. For these reasons, the police have every right to defend themselves, with armed vehicles, automatic rifles, etc.
A white St. Louis citizen's perspective: Saddness and Outrage at all of it. The real issue is Poverty and Hopelessness in the African American Community, that can boil over with any polorizing event. As an emergency physician who has practiced in multiple cities in the US, this issue is NOT unique to St. Louis. I am completely saddened by the fact that an 18 year old has been killed; still, let the FBI and the Justice Department determine the facts of this shooting with full disclosure to the public. Why did the media automatically assume the complete guilt of a police officer? This was NOT the same situation as Trevon Martin and the facts need to come out to clarify exactly what transpired so that true justice can be served. In the meantime, why does it take the killing of an African American Male by an white police officer to elicit the justifiable outrage? Why is there not outrage every day in the inner cities with number of shootings that occur on a daily basis? Why are the African American leaders not more outraged on a daily basis with fact that the number one cause of death for an African American male is murder by another African American male? The answers are clear to me: these leaders have expressed their outrage for many decades but white, affluent America refuses to listen and instead hides behind their own gated communities and their own guns. Poverty and hopelessness is never seriously addressed, so anger and outrage can boil over at any time. We have to do better as a civilized society with a true social conscience!
The republican news just upgraded the unproven claim against Michael Brown's of shoplifting 'a box of cigars' to 'robbery'. And what is 'a strong arm robbery'? Are they just trying to get the word 'armed' and 'robbery' into the same sentence, without saying 'armed robbery'?
Was he old enough to buy tobacco? Is that what the dispute was about?
Did they find a box of cigars in his possession? If it was 'a robbery', why didn't they interview the witnesses?
It sounds to me that their line of attack is smearing their victim.
My guess is that a lot of people may be coming forward who have had 'contact' with 'Officer' Darren Wilson - it just never went to trial. You don't just end up shooting someone in the street (or strangling them with your bare hands in the course of your job) without some kind of background of violence.
What we are witnessing is the inevitable next phase of Fascism In America. My dear comrades, you guys are all spot-on. WOW what a freak show!
Tonight on Democracy Now, I saw a couple of photos that chilled me right to the bone. They showed a slender young black man with long hair down his back, unarmed, dressed in a blue teeshirt and jeans, standing with arms raised before a cluster of heavily armed police in camoflage military garb. They had their weapons drawn, aimed right at the young fellow. He looked small and vulnerable standing there. It creeped me out. One of those photos gave a side view of this ugly spectacle; the other showed the young man from behind, with those fascists in front of him. They were the most haunting images I’ve seen in quite awhile.
It must’ve taken superhuman courage for the photographer to have captured them, since it entailed putting himself (herself?) in harm’s way. People have died, or been hauled off to prison, for similarly selfless acts.
No wonder the police are trying to seize people's camcorders and cameras! These little devices are weapons more powerful than their guns.
So this is what we’ve come to. I hardly recognize my country anymore. Not that it was ever that great to begin with. But how much worse will it get?
It happens to be the anniversary of that massacre in Egypt, August of last year, when more than 800 peaceful protestors got slaughtered in the streets. Is this where we’re headed? I have to wonder…
You’re right, Mr. Brannon; it’s not just a race issue. It’s calculated, all right. And if we keep sliding down this slippery slope, young black men won’t be the only targets anymore. Remember that famous quote by Pastor Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist… Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist… Then they came for the Jews…” And now my friends, they’re coming after young black men. Who’s next? Are we gonna wait until they come after us?
It looked like that long-haired guy was facing a fucking firing squad. With all my heart, I pray he survived his encounter with those ugly gestapo pigs. - Aliceinwonderland
People should not have guns. In our country, it is the duty of government to feel us secure. So, it is better to leave it on the government.
Done Assignment | doneassignment.co.uk
guns, guns, guns,...nothing but more and more fucking guns
I wonder if perhaps some of the protesting we are seeing in Ferguson isn't fueled, in part, by some protesters also expressing their frustration with the economy, the lack of a representative government, the unemployment lies, wealthh concentration, etc.? In other words the greater system that permitted the conditions necessary for a Ferguson like shooting to occur?
What a waste. A young man stupidly gunned down in the prime of his life. It shows you just how much value the powers to be put on their fellow Americans. Disgusting.
I reflected today on the recent militia grandstanding in Nevada, coming with their high powered weapons positioned to murder law enforcement officers under the pretense of freedom - I guess the freedom to not pay user fees and taxes. The cool heads of law enforcement prevailed.
The supremacists alleged the Boston Marathon bombers were part of a government plot.
Seveal officers were murdered late last year by a supremacist lying in wait.
Just last month, Stockton CA police found themselves in a long lasting gun battle with heavilty armed bank robbers who took hostages. Three or four people were killed.
Perhaps we are sitting on a hair pin trigger not seen since the Watts Riots or worse. The guns have been drawn in the most heavily armed nation on earth with cultural role models like Rocky, The Terminator, and all the while bombarded by genocide in Iraq, the forever war in Palenstein, the fear of the collapse of the dollar, and these are the end days.
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Got a match?
I would add one other truth: Those that start the wars are the ones who benefit from them, but are never the ones who actually fight or die in them.
There is strength in numbers and it wouldn't take many to overwhelm the bastards..they did it in Revolutionary France and they managed to lop off about 13,000 Aristocrat's heads. Nothing changes unless the people revolt, en masse. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
The white Bundy Ranch Teabaggers point weapons at law enforcement and walk away free. The Ferguson protestors, as well as Occupy protestors, simply by exercising their First Amendment, end up under domestic military attack. One group votes for rule by the billionaires , the other for rule by "We the People." I still think, based on history, things are about to explode. This country is finished.
What we are looking at to a great degree is the result of Nixon's drug war. A law that was created by a criminal and a law that is propagated and supported by criminals that couldn't care less about our constitutional protections against such tyranny. With any drug prohibition comes police corruption. All a cop has to do is say, "I smell Marijuana," and the cop can do anything he wants to you that is of course unconstitutional. All prohibitions do is give the police and the government too much power over citizens. The cops have to piss in a cup and the resent anyone that has the freedom to not have to piss in a cup. They don't have any freedom, so they sure don't want anyone else to. The greedy corporations love war, any kind of war that they can profit form, including the drug war. They buy off politicians as if they are buying pets and that's why our government is in shambles. If we don't get rid of these unconstitutional laws, then we will continue to live in a country that resembles Germany, 1939. One of the first steps we need to make is impeaching the five crooks that are occupying our Supreme Court of the United States. They are bought and paid for and this is no way to run a country.
Wow, OU812, I agree with you! :-)
We could think of it as "in the interest of National Security". If an atomic bomb is ever detonated over the central part of the US, at a certain altitude, it would create a Electo Magnetic Pulse (EMP) that would wipe out most of our communications and power stations. Fiber optics would be immune to such a disaster. Obviously though, we need power stations to keep our communications going, too. But I guess that's another thing they need to work on.
And then there are solar flares that may, one day, do the same thing as an atomic bomb..only it could be far worse.
Part of the reason why AT&T, among others, can't give us truly high speeds is because, although they say they are upgrading to fiber optics, they are only upgrading part of the system to fiber optics. They won't get rid of the old, weathered, worn out and noisy copper wire pairs that they run between the box on the sidewalk--the SAI (which may be several blocks away or several miles away) to our houses. Seems that AT&T will only put fiber all the way to the house is if it is a housing project being built.
If we had fiber optics all the way to our houses then we could very easily get truly high speeds...like 100Mbps. But, AT&T would rather use deceptive marketing practices to convince us that their less than optimal speeds is very attractive and will solve all of our problems, that we will have super fast internet speeds along with multiple HDTV sets in the house all running simultaneously (but that is very rarely true) and that we should all bow down before them and pay their high prices.
Copper wires were never meant to carry really high speeds. And when the insulation starts to crack and water seeps in as will happen over time by the weather and constant swaying to and fro in the event they are suspended by telephone poles, the copper lines become noisy. When that happens, in the typical POTs (Plain Old Telephone) setup you start to hear crackling, popping, or poor audio when you are listening to a conversation on the telephone. You don't even have to have audio noise to have inaudible noise that adversely affects higher frequencies that internet speeds uses. It might just be intermittent. But it is evidence of a problem with the telephone system..especially the copper lines. When you try to use higher frequencies* to modulate digital data over those lines...like DSL or ADSL or VDSL, or , a noisy line attenuates the signals and data loss occurs. When this happens, the TCP/IP packets carrying internet data gets lost and retransmission of those packets have to be done (they have to be resent). UDP/IP, which is used for things like audio or video doesn't have to retransmit lost packets as in TCP/IP...you'll just see it as a slight (or great) loss in video or audio...it's not as important as losing text information sent via TCP. You may have bought a certain advertized "up to" speed(Mega bits per second) package from your ISP but it is almost an impossibility that anyone can actually get the advertized "up to" speed. The speed they actually get may be half or three forth of that speed...it all depends upon a number of factors including how far away from the SAI (Serving Area Interface--the metal cabinet on the sidewalk) and the Central Office, and the condition of your copper wire pairs that run between that metal grey box (the SAI) and your house. If you have noisy copper wire pairs then you may have intermittent speeds as lost packets means it has to retransmit what was lost.
The solution is to have fiber optics run all the way to peoples houses. Get rid of all of that old flaky copper wire.
I have AT&T POTS (Plain old telephone system)...the old system... and I am paying my ISP for 5Mbps. And I pay about $39.95/month. I have had it for many years and I don't think my rates have ever gone up....that's my ISP but, of course, I also have to pay AT&T for the POTS connection...my telephone service. I usually get about 4.25 Mbps internet speed as measured with a number of different on-line speed checkers. Occasionally, I have intermittent problems that I've monitored with Wireshark which shows the dropped packets and retransmissions. This speed is really fine with me as I don't watch on-line movies. I do watch Youtube videos and I rarely have problems with that. I can also download youtube videos and watch them later.
Although, I would sure love to have something like 100Mbps to be able to watch on-line hi-def movies...it's just not worth paying the exorbitant rates they want for even a 10Mbps service and that would not be reality because you can never get the advertized "up to" speed. It is not really being dishonest..but kind of deceptive...if you are very lucky, you can get "up to" that speed but most people will not.
Another thing they are doing, at least Comcast (cable) is currently, is allowing your neighbors to use your access point (like a DSL router/modem with wireless networking only it has proprietary firmware that you have to have in order to connect with Comcast). Some of the data (but not your data) that flows into your access point can be radiated, using your wireless network, to your neighbors. Your neighbors are supposed to be subscribed to Comcast to be able to do this and then they can connect to the internet through your wireless access point. Comcast claims that it doesn't adversely affect your speed but I sure don't believe it. When I see the leds flashing on my ADSL2+ modem/router I know that data is being passed either into or out of my modem/router. If I am not doing anything on my computer, I'm either getting a scheduled update or something fishy is going on. And I can check to see if it was the former. When your neighbors are running data over your access point, you see those leds flashing you cannot tell if it is them or us. What would be even scarier is if the firmware in the access points were made to not flicker the LEDS when neighbors data is flowing through the access point.
Bottlenecking is another problem...especially with Comcast. The more people that are on the shared Comcast lines, the more apt that bottlenecking will occur. Your effective speed and bandwidth will suffer.
With the POTS system and when using a ADSL router/modem, most people get a new IP address every time they power on their ADSL router/modem. When you sign up for AT&T Uverse or Comcast you get a permanent IP number and most people just don't power off their access point because their telephone system is now going through it. And even if you did power off/on the access point, you'd still get the same assigned permanent IP number. This can have some security connotations...as I believe it would be a lot easier to trace someone with a permanently assigned IP number rather than a temporarily assigned one. The temporarily assigned ones are automatically assigned for a limited period of time (say maybe a couple of days) then a new one may be assigned. If you power off your ADSL router/modem for any length of time, then turn it back on you usually get an entirely new IP number. Of course, if you are very concerned about being tracked by IP number (records are kept for a certain amount of time that the authorities can access or maybe some hackers as well) then you should be using TOR (The Onion Router) which obfuscates and encrypts messages and uses a number of bogus IP numbers along the route of the many hops between participating TOR nodes.
*
carrier freqency (Khz or Mhz)-----download speed----upload speed----range
(POTS) voice: (3KHz) 56Kbps analog modems
(POTS) ADSL: (up to 1104 KHz)----8Mbps down----1Mbps up
(POTS) ADSL2: ---------------------------12Mbps down---3Mbps up------- 3km
(POTS) ADSL2+: (2.2Mhz) ---------- 24 Mbps down---1.2Mbps up ---1.8km
VDSL: -------------- (12 Mhz) ---------- 52Mbps down---1.5-2.3Mbps up---1.0km
VDSL2: (future) (30 Mhz) ----------- 100Mbps down
For ADSL(Asynchronous DSL), the copper goes right back to the exchange; the cabinet on the sidewalk (the SAI) is just effectively acting as a junction box.
For VDSL (Very High Bit-Rate DSL), the copper runs from the home to the cabinet (SAI): (FTTC - Fiber to the curb), and then fiber goes to the exchange. The SAI box is modified with modules that speak VDSL. The light signal data from the fiber optics has to be converted to electrical data for the copper lines to the house. The length of the copper line from the house to the SAI has to be less than 1km (.62 miles) for the maximum transmission rates of 52Mbps. You can go up to 2.5 miles but you will only get ADSL speeds. And that assumes that your copper is not weathered and/or exhibiting problems.
For fiber going directly to the home from the SAI: (FTTH- Fiber to the Home) aka (FTTP-Fiber to the Premises), this would be the fastest (way faster than VDSL using copper to the home) and least troublesome.
ADSL has a range of approx. 6 km (3.73 miles) to the DSLAM (DSL
Access Multiplexer) of the ISP, the Internet Service Provider
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serving_area_interface
http://www.blackbox.com.mx/_AppData/cms/Default%20pages/Information/Whit...
And another reason why I won't go AT&T or Comcast is that they don't provide the channels I like to watch: RT, FSTV, LinkTV and a few others. I think I'll just stay with Dish Satellite Network where they do provide those channels.
I am shocked at the weapons afforded these departments there is NO need for that kind of weaponry. Reminds me of our protests movement against the Veitnam War I am saddened this could happen again. We need to investigate all of these police get rid of those that are trigger happy and not trained to handle the weapons they are carrying.. The police in Ferguson emflamed the situation This needs to stop
I agree with your sentiments and do believe we are rapidly becoming a "police state" financed by oligarchs to protect them from the "masses". What's happening now in Furguson, Missouri should be a wake up call to all Americans to this move toward fascism. What I hope for is not a race or class war, but an unified movement of all Americans to do what is necessary to retake our governments from those plutocrats who have stolen our Constitutional Republic. I would prefer to wage this war through the ballot box, but I believe in the right granted to us by our founding fathers to overthrow any government that does not serve the needs of the people, by any means necessary.
I am a 70 year old white male who grew up in the segregated South. Although I was exposed and taught to hate blacks, I was able to escape racism at the age of twelve due to a "negro" friend I made. I ate in his home, which was full of love and understanding. I met "Daddy Grace" and attended one of his services with my "friend". Too many of my peers did not escape racism and even today they remain closeted racist. The Supreme Court recently declared that the voting rights act, that protected minorities from discrimination in voting, was no longer necessary because “racism” no longer exist. What a bold face lie! While the killing of this young black boy is tragic and heartbreaking, it is just one of thousands we never know about. We have lost our Constitutional Republic to money and corruption and are rapidly becoming a ”police state”, which will be used to protect the interest of “greed”, when all Americans of all colors rise up to retake our country from the oligarchs. This is not just a race issue, but a calculated plan leading us toward fascism. Wake up America and take to the streets in peaceful protest of all the crimes of our leaders over the past thirty-five years.
WWBW?
(What Would Billionaires Want?)
In the best tradition of 'Divide and Conquer' they'd probably prefer a violent race war as opposed to a violent class war.
Since the feds, state and most of the local governments ultimately do the bidding of the super rich, what we are seeing is happening with the blessings of the billionaires.
If, for instance, there is a great deal of property insurance that will be paid out in that area there will probably be no more violence in Ferguson. That violence will be generated somewhere else in that case. Police can shoot unarmed black young people anywhere.
But widespread racially motivated violence removes a great deal of pressure for billionaires from:
the climate change political and technological issues
the fossil fuel industries
and generally from any changes to the 'status quo' way of American Business.
Any casualty of a race war will probably not be a participant in a class war.
WWBW?
(What Would Billionaires Want?)
In the best tradition of 'Divide and Conquer' they'd probably prefer a violent race war as opposed to a violent class war.
Since the feds, state and most of the local governments ultimately do the bidding of the super rich, what we are seeing is happening with the blessings of the billionaires.
If, for instance, there is a great deal of property insurance that will be paid out in that area there will probably be no more violence in Ferguson. That violence will be generated somewhere else in that case. Police can shoot unarmed black young people anywhere.
But widespread racially motivated violence removes a great deal of pressure for billionaires from:
the climate change political and technological issues
the fossil fuel industries
and generally from any changes to the 'status quo' way of American Business.
Any casualty of a race war will probably not be a participant in a class war.