US Politics

[TheMightyEthan]

From what I'd seen he had also considered bombing a black church, a synagogue, or a mosque, and just settled on the hospital cause he thought he'd kill the most people that way.

 

So dude was cray, it didn't really have anything to do with coronavirus.

[Mal]

You know, I have a feeling that Biden is taking a page from Trump in that he's ignoring and/or downplaying what he said just days or weeks prior. 

[TheMightyEthan]

What did he say?

[Mal]

About the need to vote yesterday. Anywho, Bernie is out. Best wishes to Biden. He'll need it. 

 

And to be perfectly honest, best thing that could happen now is that Trump decides to not go for a second term. Which I'm willing to give him an out for with this COVID-19 mess. Drop out and I'll not relentlessly blame him for 200K dead (at least...). I'll leave all that for after he passes and his children becomes vultures. I'll give him that. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Mal

[Mister Jack]

You have better odds of winning the lottery three times in a row than you have of Trump not seeking a second term. Biden's best hope here is that voters are angry enough about the White House's lackluster response to oust Trump. Or that Trump dies of the coronavirus, anyway.

[Mister Jack]

This doesn't really count as politics but we don't really have a general news thread and this is worth following. AMC and Regal theaters have announced that they're banning Universal films from their theaters after Universal's CEO announced that the digital success of Trolls 2: World Tour has made them decide to release new movies on both platforms from now on. This could be the beginning of the end of the traditional movie theater business model and I couldn't be more happy to see it go.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, banning all Universal films seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face...

[MetalCaveman]

Will other chains join? And what would Universal do? I'm curious about it.

 

Cinepolis offers their own streaming platform so I wonder if they would instead try to land some sort of deal or something.

[CorgiShinobi]

From what I read originally, Universal was going to release their movies digitally weeks ahead of theaters. Then articles were saying it was at the same time, but now there's talk of how Universal will release "smaller" movies online while only their blockbusters would have the chance to be in theaters.

 

I guess this is like the decline of drive-ins; that the movie-going experience is becoming more of a novelty. Still, I've seen movie theaters evolve and can't imagine this will be an easy adaption. While Trolls 2 did financially well, it was also $20 to rent for 48 hours. That's ridiculous pricing for a single person, but a deal for a family. Not to mention the kids could double dip if they enjoyed the movie.

 

At the same time, I've been to some impressive theaters that made the experience worth doing. Not everyone has an amazing audio-video setup at home, not to mention the allure of IMAX or other features you can't easily replicate at home. Still, I've also been to theaters that have let themselves go because they're essentially the only movie-going option for local residents. It will quickly become a "swim-or-sink" path for theaters if the likes of Universal and Disney sees the 80%+ revenue as incentive enough to abandon these spiteful theater chains.

Edited April 29, 2020 by CorgiShinobi

[Mister Jack]

20 dollars is pretty steep for me, a guy who usually watches movies alone these days, but if they bumped that rental up to 72 hours I could maybe swallow that price. This is all pretty experimental right now and there's plenty of time to adjust the model.

[Mal]

So... it has been a month since the last post here. After a rope-less lynching, a no-knock plain-clothed police raid, and another (!) "I can't breath" murder caught on camera... shit's on fire. I suspect we haven't even reached the peak. Lord help us if the three in Georgia, three cops in Louisville and/or the four cops in Minneapolis are let go. It'd be Rodney King/LA Riots level again. In times like these where anti-Chinese sentiment is growing, mainly due to perceived notions of COVID-19 for everyday America, I'm actually concerned that a LA Riots situation where rioters not only turn on police but other minorities they view as causing them grief. While one of the cops  in the George Floyd killing is Hmong, blind hatred see no distinction between Hmong, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or whatever else. 

 

The above is for sure self-interested/selfish. Fact is, the lived reality of Black America is something I can only imagine. Perhaps someday I'll write how it feels to be Asian in America. How I view the Asian American experience. Civil rights and all that.There's a lot to unpack, explore and research on.

What a fucking year this has been...

[deanb]

Yeah, large amount of deaths in the country, riots in Minneapolis, and your president has decided the most important thing is that Twitter are actually starting to enforce their rules on his tweets.

 

Unfortunately can't see it improving anytime soon in the US for minorities.

[Mal]

Yeah, apparently all this is far easier than arresting and charging all four cops in George Floyd murder, the three in the fucked up raid that killed Breonna Taylor and many MANY past others. 

 

There are cases where the police have stand with protesters and for that I'm hopeful but all else is fucked. 

 

All this during a pandemic too. 

[Mister Jack]

Hope you guys have been enjoying covid-19 because all of this is definitely going to ensure that it's with us for a long, long time.

[Mal]

It was bound to be with us during the summer but, yeah, I'm dreading seeing the numbers starting in about a week or two. Sadly, it will hit the marginalized communities the hardest. Should the protesters be protesting? Coming from a place of safety... I argue, absolutely, if they are able and willing. Be safe as best you can. All others (like myself) got their own ways of helping. Though to be fair, I'm tempted to round up and zip tie the taggers and more serious vandals, if asked to. Seems obvious that some are there for their own selfish reasons. 

[MetalCaveman]

 

As a Mexican, I don't trust the army to do the right thing and not fight/kill civilians (2 de Octubre among others), I know in the US it's been a thing, that people are sure they would never do that, I just hope this isn't put to the test.

[CorgiShinobi]

This would be the National Guard mobilized by the state governors which has been done in the past. Frankly I'm glad not to be living in the capital right now because this seems to be bringing out the unrest in people from being hold up in their homes. And then the idiots not wearing their masks are just going to potentially spread the virus when it has been on the downturn. And so much for small businesses reopening when they've had their stock raided.

[Mal]

But the way he worded it seem to imply the federal armed forces. The national guard in each state is the states to command. In order for Trump to deploy the national guard, it'd need to be federalized, as according to a NPR commentator. So the ones in DC is the army (or other branch) and any one he sends to an uncompliant state or city will be as well. 

 

Anyway, he is really pushing it. 

[CorgiShinobi]

If he actually sends any active federal military personnel to enforce local law, he would be breaking Posse Comitatus.

 

That's a big deal and he'd have to do a lot more than talk to get it suspended. It comes off as Trump saying shit like he knows what the hell he's saying when all it amounts to is getting state governors more involved by deploying the National Guard. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks a serious act involving the military.

 

EDIT: And as I type that, I see there's discussion of the Insurrection Act and Trump's possible usage of it. Now that's a possibility because if someone convinced Trump into earnestly making the proclamation, then there's one for the history textbooks. Last time it was invoked were 1992 LA riots.

Edited June 2, 2020 by CorgiShinobi

[deanb]

The dude is insane at this point. Seeing the actions implemented to get a fucking photo op with a bible (which he clearly doesn't read). You've got police shooting at and attacking the press.

From an outside perspective it looks like an actual warzone. The level of police brutality is immense, and insane when it's a response to protests against police brutality. Seeing photos of rubber bullet wounds has made me realise I'd assumed it was like a step up from being shot with paintballs; some bruising but that's about it. Nope, it's closer to a slight step down from actual bullets. Especially when police are aiming head shots which can maim, blind and kill.

 

I don't know where it goes from here. Like either Trump does get his wish of waging armed war against America and protests are basically put down with "shock and awe", or it hopefully escalates to the point the police are fucked over and there's major reform on police tactics, training, and response. Unfortunately of the two I feel the former might be the more likely.  

[Mister Jack]

I doubt Trump has even heard of Posse Comitatus until today, and even if he has I bet he cares even less about adhering to it. I expect nothing to change unless Trump gets voted out in November. I'm not really a Biden guy—although he's certainly better than the alternative—but at least he's pledged to establish a police oversight board if he's elected. Whether that would work or not is anyone's guess but at least it's an attempt to fix this situation.

[TheMightyEthan]

Yeah, using the Insurrection Act to suppress riots wouldn't be completely without precedent, although in 1992 it was at the request of the California governor. The last time it was used without the consent of the state government was in 1957 when the courts ordered the Little Rock, Arkansas schools to desegregate, and the governor deployed the national guard to prevent desegregation, then the president deployed the army to move the national guard units out of the way and enforce the desegregation order.

 

*Edit - And I see there was another page I missed...

[CorgiShinobi]

So I've got to vent somewhere about this because I can't fathom the insanity I've read online today.

 

So I keep a wide variety of friends on Facebook, though if it weren't for family I would have deleted my Facebook quite some time ago. It is my personal philosophy to view and listen to multiple viewpoints so as to avoid entrapping yourself in an echo chamber. With recent events, I'm not shocked that I don't have racist friends and family. However, there are a select few who have gone off the deep end when it comes to the police.

 

They've adopted the idea that we should no longer have any police because "they're all dangerous." I guess there's a movement on Twitter now for this exact train of thought. No police, no jails, removing laws that prevent survival, and "community-driven government enforcement." So basically a post-apocalyptic world where people are in tribes/villages and gangs are back in fashion. Or perhaps we go Wild West style where shit happens and the nearest Marshal ain't aware said shit is going down.

 

Basically lazy bullshit dreaming that doesn't make an honest effort to consider reality and address the nature of man. Maybe that's the realist in me, but I'm of the thought reform and structure over radical upheaval is the preferred method of positive change in both the nation and local community.

[Mal]

You've probably seen something like the following: I'm supportive of firing everyone of them then hiring back a reduced group. Perhaps as sheriff departments, all municipal police departments are axed. I want a greater community involvement in at least who leads the law enforcement agency (which sheriff kind of do though they can easily be worse than city cops [e.g., SFPD versus SF Sheriff Dept). The reduced (defunded) police force will then have a reduced but focused purpose. Basically where deadly force can be warranted which would be few. Gone are police in traffic stops, wellness checks, domestic violence cases among other things. Those activities are taken up by newer, purposed built, unarmed (I'm thinking more mostly unarmed, no firearms) agencies, funded by the funds from the defunded police. Not saying the police cannot be there but they are for sure not the first people that comes knocking and if they do come, they are for sure not the lead agency.

 

In effect, it will rip out the foundations of law enforcement as we know it. In essence, they are abolished. In its place is some form of the above. 

 

In many ways I can see why some are clamoring for a total abolition of the police. Its current form is nothing more than a militant gang. They are rarely every held accountable which is only half the problem. Their racial bias is clear. Sure not all cops and not all agencies are bad but the foundations' rotten. Time to abandon it all... then make something better in its place. It is madness to not have anything to fill the void. 

 

Edit: Should also mention that the prison system will get nuked. Perhaps even more severely than the police. There might be a few more systems and industries too. 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Mal

[Mister Jack]

This whole "defund the police" movement is not going to pick up steam the way BLM did simply because it's so ill-defined. Everyone seems to have their own idea of what defunding the police actually means and both presidential candidates have already come out against the idea, which makes the whole thing moot. Abolishing the police system entirely and leaving law enforcement to some kind of wild west community system—which some people are absolutely supporting—is a ludicrous fantasy that shouldn't even be acknowledged. "Defund the police" is also a terrible slogan that is red meat for conservatives to tear apart during an election year specifically because it sounds so extreme to the average layman. They really should have gone with something else to put on their signs. If you always have to explain and clarify that it doesn't actually mean what it sounds like it means then it's a bad slogan.

 

On a side note, domestic violence calls are one of the deadliest and most volatile emergency calls in the country. Like it or not, you need to keep police on those. Maybe if we didn't have a second amendment it would be different but it is what it is. In fact, our gun culture in general is gonna be a pretty big obstacle to any movement to scale back the police system in the US. I think at best we'll be able to dismantle especially problematic departments and hire new ones and maybe establish some kind of federal police oversight bureau. I sure would love it if the for-profit prison system could also go fuck itself but that seems even less likely to happen from where I'm standing.