General News Thread

[Kamera]

2020 is a gift that keeps on giving. love it.

at this point i give up on predicting things to come and just enjoy the happenings

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as certain outsideness said, it's not even breaking news anymore, the news is literally breaking

[Twelveseal]

Basically.
So much shit has decided to hit the fan this year that the media can't cope and the population can't consume it all. We're reaching full saturation. Sure, some of it (or hell, a lot of it) is blown out of proportion by the media themselves and then just snowballs once it's gotten to huge, but, there's so much legitimately going on right now that even without that we'd still be up to our eyeballs in bad news.

[RacingeR]

I'm considering the riots to be the June Event.

Any bets for what July will bring to the ring?

[rxrx]

I'm considering the riots to be the June Event.

Any bets for what July will bring to the ring?

Second wave of COVID-19 and Trump starting AHO and ATO

[Twelveseal]

Nah, it's apparently just second peak within the first wave. The actual second wave is expected in the fall...

[Imperial]

All Cops Are Bad.

Treyvon wasn't completely blameless himself considering he intentionally went for round 2 against Zimmerman of his own volition. Yes, Zimmerman started the thing in the first place, but if it had been left at that, Treyvon would be alive with Zimmerman jailed.

Ah, yes, the classic "he was no angel" approach.

[AsGryffynn]

Let's see, China India border conflict, Trump withdraws from WHO, second wave of Covid starting in Europe and protests in the US, parts of Europe and Latam too!

We need a Necroporra here. Or at least to start placing bets on WWIII...

[rxrx]

In the end, the ruling class and police are the same everywhere. The difference is if anyone cared about it.

[Trubo]

Ah, yes, the classic "he was no angel" approach.

Ah, yes, the classic "let's take what was said completely out of context" approach.

We have evidence of how bad Trayvon whooped Zimmerman's ass in their initial confrontation, and it's enough that people reasonably believed Zimmerman' stupid self-defense argument after the charges against him got unreasonably bumped up to 2nd degree murder. That the same standards weren't held for Trayvon's case is ridiculous, because the altercation would never have occurred if Zimmerman wasn't trying to be a hero-wannabe.

[asterism42]

y'all seen the anonymous stuff?

shit's wild

[AsGryffynn]

In the end, the ruling class and police are the same everywhere. The difference is if anyone cared about it.

The difference is living in a place where there are only like... two policemen and a local sheriff and everyone has a gun. Also, low population density.

The ultimate irony: protesting hurts the left far more because they are urban and the right is on their farm.

Also, Thomas Astruc blocked me for saying that ANTIFA and MAGA are "Dumb and Dumber". Like he decided the former were the good guys, even though they are left wing extremists who set stuff on fire during otherwise normal protests.

So much for getting Miraculous info on time. I have another account, but I won't even bother at this point. Twitter is turning into a tidal wave and I don't want to find myself tossed around when the guys over there lose their heads over something else.

[SpoonyViking]

Oh yes, antifa - as in, antiFASCISTS - are just as bad as white supremacists, obviously. Won't someone think of the children banks?!

[AsGryffynn]

Oh yes, antifa - as in, antiFASCISTS - are just as bad as white supremacists, obviously. Won't someone think of the children banks?!

You're talking about north of 63 million people as if they were all white supremacists? Seriously? Also, ANTIFA has been known for turning protests violent.

Like, I'm a left winger (honest), but you all act as if not being on your side meant I was against yours!

[asterism42]

the thing is, tho

There have been peaceful protests. For YEARS. And NOTHING changed. If anything, they got worse. And now, people are fed up with it. And if peaceful protests don't have enough impact, well...

[Mattias]

Riots don't help a cause though. It only makes the rest of the populace write you off as no-good troublemakers, and you lose any sympathy you could have gathered by essentially throwing a violent temper tantrum. The only way to get around it is to start off peaceful and then be physically attacked, so you don't look like the aggressor.

[Imperial]

Peaceful protests count on the idea of the oppressor suddenly having enough of a heart to stop being the oppressor. But if that was the case, the oppression wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Colin Kaepernick was shouted down and driven out of the NFL for trying to do things the nice and clean way. Kaepernick and peaceful protesters like him are branded "whiners" and "losers" who "don't know how good they have it in America."

But we keep seeing the George Floyd murder play out again and again and again and again. How long are people supposed to take that lying down? How many people have to lose their children before something changes?

Like, I'm a left winger (honest)

Thanks for giving me a giggle

[AsGryffynn]

the thing is, tho

There have been peaceful protests. For YEARS. And NOTHING changed. If anything, they got worse. And now, people are fed up with it. And if peaceful protests don't have enough impact, well...

At that point you should start asking if what you want is a protest or a Revolution. Revolutions can be violent, but a violent protest just kills the point of a protest.

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Riots don't help a cause though. It only makes the rest of the populace write you off as no-good troublemakers, and you lose any sympathy you could have gathered by essentially throwing a violent temper tantrum. The only way to get around it is to start off peaceful and then be physically attacked, so you don't look like the aggressor.

Bingo. If you want to use force, don't protest. Protests are peaceful by design. Violence turns protests into revolutions, but these are not turning into OR version Americas, but into sacking.

Peaceful protests count on the idea of the oppressor suddenly having enough of a heart to stop being the oppressor. But if that was the case, the oppression wouldn't have happened in the first place.

Colin Kaepernick was shouted down and driven out of the NFL for trying to do things the nice and clean way. Kaepernick and peaceful protesters like him are branded "whiners" and "losers" who "don't know how good they have it in America."

But we keep seeing the George Floyd murder play out again and again and again and again. How long are people supposed to take that lying down? How many people have to lose their children before something changes?



Thanks for giving me a giggle

Please don't tell me you think I'm being a liar. I was on ad nauseum about how the US is essentially extracting wealth from the poor everywhere and feeding the rich and wealthy with it.

But I don't believe in violence unless we are talking actual revolution, then it's fair game since it means the exchange of views was unsuccessful and we now have to use force to make them happen.

Were you serious about not taking that seriously?

[Kamera]

Mass nonviolent protests, a social invention of Negroes, were effective in Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma in forcing national legislation which served to change Negro life sufficiently to curb explosions. But when changes were confined to the South alone, the North, in the absence of change, began to seethe.

The freedom movement did not adapt its tactics to the different and unique northern urban conditions. It failed to see that nonviolent marches in the South were forms of rebellion. When Negroes took over the streets and shops, southern society shook to its roots. Negroes could contain their rage when they found the means to force relatively radical changes in their environment.


In the North, on the other hand, street demonstrations were not even a mild expression of militancy. The turmoil of cities absorbs demonstrations as merely transitory drama which is ordinary in city life. Without a more effective tactic for upsetting the status quo, the power structure could maintain its intransigence and hostility. Into the vacuum of inaction, violence and riots flowed and a new period opened.

...

Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood. Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community. They are a distorted form of social protest. The looting which is their principal feature serves many functions. It enables the most enraged and deprived Negro to take hold of consumer goods with the ease the white man does by using his purse. Often the Negro does not even want what he takes; he wants the experience of taking. But most of all, alienated from society and knowing that this society cherishes property above people, he is shocking it by abusing property rights. There are thus elements of emotional catharsis in the violent act. This may explain why most cities in which riots have occurred have not had a repetition, even though the causative conditions remain. It is also noteworthy that the amount of physical harm done to white people other than police is infinitesimal and in Detroit whites and Negroes looted in unity.


A profound judgment of today's riots was expressed by Victor Hugo a century ago. He said, 'If a soul is left in the darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.'


The policymakers of the white society have caused the darkness; they create discrimination; they structured slums; and they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance and poverty. It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society. When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also demand that the white man abide by law in the ghettos. Day-in and day-out he violates welfare laws to deprive the poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; and he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provisions for civic services. The slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society; Negroes live in them but do not make them any more than a prisoner makes a prison. Let us say boldly that if the violations of law by the white man in the slums over the years were calculated and compared with the law-breaking of a few days of riots, the hardened criminal would be the white man. These are often difficult things to say but I have come to see more and more that it is necessary to utter the truth in order to deal with the great problems that we face in our society.

.

[Toulou]

At that point you should start asking if what you want is a protest or a Revolution. Revolutions can be violent, but a violent protest just kills the point of a protest.

Violent protests are a good reminder that people being civil its what keeps a community peaceful, not police. It should serve as a lesson to the police that they are group that only has power over people because society decided that they can be useful, and they should stop acting like thugs.

[Twelveseal]

Ahahahaha... no.
I've worked with cops. Twice with them as my immediate superiors, once with one as my trainer, and I've had encounters with them in the capacity of bystander, suspect, victim, and witness. Most of my interactions with them have been relatively benign. Especially the shorter ones. Many of these would have gotten nice reviews, if that was a thing I do. However, at least two of my three work experiences with them were unpleasant and showed me a toxic subculture that is not conducive to their official purpose. One of the shittiest people I've ever worked with was a retired cop. Likewise, I had a now-deceased friend, and another friend who was a coworker, who were actively robbed by police at different points.

ACaB doesn't fit with my experience, but there's definitely a vein of pure scum in the institution that infects those within. And it's important to note that I'm white. I'm a non-threatening, unremarkable person in appearance. My experiences don't reflect those of other ethnicities, and they're still checkered.

I don't see these guys changing, honestly. Riots or not.