OT: Name some things that drive you fucking nuts

[pixburgher66]

Hey, I kinda miss the "wall of death" coming up 79 N to get onto 70W

Hey, 79S to 70E is still sort of like that!

 

[forty_three]

That used to be a 7-11 in downtown Baltimore.

I have never wanted to punch a face more than I want to punch the one in the "Black Power" T-shirt.

Some are taking selfies..

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

They smashed the TastyKakes. Those monsters.

 

[forty_three]

They smashed the TastyKakes. Those monsters.

I was also irrationally angered by that.

 

[Puck082]

That used to be a 7-11 in downtown Baltimore.

I have never wanted to punch a face more than I want to punch the one in the "Black Power" T-shirt.

Some are taking selfies..

The people in Baltimore are using the term 'protest' as a rouse to commit crimes, loot and riot. Nice.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Maybe if they stop wasting hours on training police for terror attack response and start training them for riot response? Doubt this is the last time we see this in a majority black city and it doesn't seem like the police, gov't, NG etc. have any idea how to properly prevent rioting from breaking out.

 

[forty_three]

The people in Baltimore are using the term 'protest' as a rouse to commit crimes, loot and riot. Nice.

It's not just Baltimore, and it's not all of Baltimore.

And I am someone who has spent 30 years and thousands of dollars in therapy trying to forget I am from Baltimore. I take every opportunity I can to jab at my former home. But this is not indicative of the place as a whole.

However, the problems that led to this specific incident are very deep and go back decades. And anyone who seems surprised, like every official and government agency, are just stupid. This outburst is a LOOOOONG time coming.

And I actually expect a lot more of them in practically every major city in the US for years to come, unfortunately.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

It's not just Baltimore, and it's not all of Baltimore.

And I am someone who has spent 30 years and thousands of dollars in therapy trying to forget I am from Baltimore. I take every opportunity I can to jab at my former home. But this is not indicative of the place as a whole.

However, the problems that led to this specific incident are very deep and go back decades. And anyone who seems surprised, like every official and government agency, are just stupid. This outburst is a LOOOOONG time coming.

And I actually expect a lot more of them in practically every major city in the US for years to come, unfortunately.

So much this.

Anytime something like this happens people focus on the one specific event that they think triggered it, ignoring the fact that these cities were powder kegs just waiting for the proverbial spark.

For the record, I don't condone this type of behavior under any circumstance. But to act like this (or similar events) is simply an opportunistic response to a single event the way the media and politicians like to do is absurd.

 

[Puck082]

So much this.

Anytime something like this happens people focus on the one specific event that they think triggered it, ignoring the fact that these cities were powder kegs just waiting for the proverbial spark.

For the record, I don't condone this type of behavior under any circumstance. But to act like this (or similar events) is simply an opportunistic response to a single event the way the media and politicians like to do is absurd.

I'm absolutely aware of that and completely agree. My comment may have come off a little more short sighted than I wanted it to. This is definitely an ongoing issue that's been built over time. I think my point was leaning towards saying something that meeting crime with crime doesn't make it go away, it makes it worse. Civil protests are part of this process and I applaud those doing it peacefully. But seeing pictures of people laughing while stealing and destroying property doesn't give me much confidence about the message being relayed from those 'protesters'.

Yahoo headline that just hit my phone while typing this: "Orioles game against the White Sox postponed for 2nd staright day due to concerns with civil unrest" Cripes.

 

[Comeds]

Oriole's COO John Angelos's thoughts:


Brett, speaking only for myself, I agree with your point that the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy, investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible.


That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.


The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance, and other abuses of the Bill of Rights by government pay the true price, and ultimate price, and one that far exceeds the importances of any kids’ game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards. We need to keep in mind people are suffering and dying around the U.S., and while we are thankful no one was injured at Camden Yards, there is a far bigger picture for poor Americans in Baltimore and everywhere who don’t have jobs and are losing economic civil and legal rights, and this makes inconvenience at a ballgame irrelevant in light of the needless suffering government is inflicting upon ordinary Americans.

Orioles COO John Angelos offers eye-opening perspective on Baltimore protests | For The Win

 

[evolver115]

^^Thanks for posting that, Comeds. Glad I got to read it

 

[dare2be]

For the record, I don't condone this type of behavior under any circumstance. But to act like this (or similar events) is simply an opportunistic response to a single event the way the media and politicians like to do is absurd.

Looting in every case is opportunistic thuggery, no matter the other reasons behind it. I may be wrong, but from what I've gathered (damn media), much of it was high school kids doing it after they got out of school.

Did anyone see the clip of the mother beating her son for being involved?

EDIT: Comeds excellent post aside, the blatant and gratuitous looting, property damage and violence is just as condemn-able.

 

[forty_three]

Everyone needs to remember that the guy who presided over this powderkeg for 8 years and was the genius who thought it was a great idea to get his police to underreport crime and make the worst neighborhoods worse is currently in the running for a nomination to be president.

And he's still a better choice than a lot of the ones who have thrown their hat in.

Sleep tight.

 

[forty_three]

Looting in every case is opportunistic thuggery, no matter the other reasons behind it. I may be wrong, but from what I've gathered (damn media), much of it was high school kids doing it after they got out of school.

Did anyone see the clip of the mother beating her son for being involved?

EDIT: Comeds excellent post aside, the blatant and gratuitous looting, property damage and violence is just as condemn-able.

The city worker in the vest with armfuls of Kool Menthols in the photos above would seem to contradict that. In fact, most of what happened in that 7-11 appears to not be high school kids. But the "youngness" of the rioters is clearly the narrative they are trying to push.

 

[dare2be]

Yeah, that's why I put the media caveat in there. Doesn't take away from my point about looting opportunism.

 

[pixburgher66]

Good friend of mine is a young black woman from the region, works in Baltimore, and I wish we were still living near each other so we can have good dialogue on this issue. She was really mad last night, and she along with many others seem to attribute it to a generational issue, saying young people don't know how to appropriately protest because they didn't grow up with the examples set in the civil rights movement. I agree with that point to a degree, although it's not like Selma was peaceful...it's just where the violence was coming from. Yet again we're here discussing how to force people to go home and shut up (colloquial we) instead of looking toward the root of the problem: poverty, lack of education, poor job market.

 

[forty_three]

Yeah, that's why I put the media caveat in there. Doesn't take away from my point about looting opportunism.

Agreed

Good friend of mine is a young black woman from the region, works in Baltimore, and I wish we were still living near each other so we can have good dialogue on this issue. She was really mad last night, and she along with many others seem to attribute it to a generational issue, saying young people don't know how to appropriately protest because they didn't grow up with the examples set in the civil rights movement. I agree with that point to a degree, although it's not like Selma was peaceful...it's just where the violence was coming from. Yet again we're here discussing how to force people to go home and shut up (colloquial we) instead of looking toward the root of the problem: poverty, lack of education, poor job market.

I hesitate to use "generational" in singularity. In Baltimore (a lot of cities, I bet - like Detroit or LA) they are on the fourth or fifth generation of inner city residents who have known nothing but this lack of care and respect from their leaders. It's really a miracle that this hasn't happened before. And by that I mean both the riots and the death of a man in the custody of police.




"they say I got to learn, but nobody's here to teach me
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can't. I guess they won't. I guess they frontin'
That's why I know my life is out of luck, fool"

- Coolio "Gangsta's Paradise"

 

[pixburgher66]

Agreed



I hesitate to use "generational" in singularity. In Baltimore (a lot of cities, I bet - like Detroit or LA) they are on the fourth or fifth generation of inner city residents who have known nothing but this lack of care and respect from their leaders. It's really a miracle that this hasn't happened before. And by that I mean both the riots and the death of a man in the custody of police.




"they say I got to learn, but nobody's here to teach me
If they can't understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can't. I guess they won't. I guess they frontin'
That's why I know my life is out of luck, fool"

- Coolio "Gangsta's Paradise"

I'm pretty confident this has probably happened before.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Looting in every case is opportunistic thuggery, no matter the other reasons behind it. I may be wrong, but from what I've gathered (damn media), much of it was high school kids doing it after they got out of school.

Did anyone see the clip of the mother beating her son for being involved?

EDIT: Comeds excellent post aside, the blatant and gratuitous looting, property damage and violence is just as condemn-able.

You're right. The point I was trying to make - which was not clearly articulated - is that focusing on the looting is losing the big picture of what's going on.

There's no question that there are some people who will use anything as an excuse to steal from other people and that's wrong on all levels.

But we (collectively as a society, not you and I or anyone else specifically) focus on that rather than what led to these situations in the first place.

 

[Cobiemonster]