Getting back on topic:
Hey NFL=> Bears Packers Game HALF EMPTY at Soldier Field — This Ain’t Good Folks! <--Well worth the click to see more than one stadium half full.
People are indeed voting with their feet. Roger Goodell wants a contract extension for $49.5M and lifetime use of a jet. I think given the ratings slide and the NFL's media game making people talk more about Colin Kaepernick--or anything else for that matter--than people who are actually playing the game is ruining the whole NFL experience.
Pants-of-dog wrote:No. I am claiming that the reasons for a higher crime rate in black communities include racism as well as poverty. Nor are these the only two reasons.
But the fact that black communities have higher rates of crime for various reasons, including racism, does not magically mean that the justice system and police forces are not targeting blacks with racism.
Non-black neighborhoods also suffer blacks committing crimes, and the police do not always kill the suspects. Yet, we do see media bias. Have a look at this article from NPR--that's National Public Radio:
Did A Bail Reform Algorithm Contribute To This San Francisco Man's Murder?That's when, it is alleged, 19-year-old Lamonte Mims and 20-year-old Fantasy Decuir accosted French, stole his camera, and shot him with a handgun.
Prosecutors have said they have video surveillance evidence that Decuir pulled the trigger while Mims robbed the photographer.
They have video surveillance, but don't show us. We have pictures of the victim--a white gay guy.
French's murder is raising new questions and concerns about the use of a pretrial computer tool used to help determine if defendants should walk or be held until trial. Supporters say the risk assessment algorithm is helping reduce jail crowding and increase public safety by offering judges "validated, evidence-based data" on which defendants should be released before trial.
In this case, Mims was already on felony probation after an arrest last November for breaking into cars at Twin Peaks, a popular tourist spot. He did three months in jail.
Then on July 4, police arrested him again, this time for gun possession and parole violations.
But on July 11, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Sharon Reardon released Mims with "assertive case management" a pretrial program that requires check-ins.
Judge Reardon followed the recommendation of what's called a "public-safety assessment" or PSA score. It's a computer-generated score that's used here to help calculate whether a suspect is a flight risk or likely to return to court.
French's partner calls Reardon's decision "insane."
Before we get into a discussion of which minority should we listen to, let's first establish what NPR decided to omit--that Mims and Decuir were black. Now perhaps we could have gleaned that Lamonte Mims and Fantasy Decuir are typical black names, we should still see some visual evidence that NPR omitted. Here's a picture of them:
"I mean, he's violated two probations. He was a convicted felon. And he had a gun charge just five days before the murder of Ed French! It's absolutely crazy. I think the judge has to be held accountable," he says.
So what do you think Pants-of-dog? A black male 19 years of age, convicted felon with a fresh gun charge--violating his parole--five days before he participates in an armed robbery ending in murder gets to walk out of jail--killing a 71 year old gay guy in order to steal his camera. Who should we feel sorry for in this case? The dead 71-year old gay guy, the 20-year old female murderer, the 19-year old guy who's girlfriend shot the gay guy, the judge, Gascón who introduced this "validated evidence-based tool", or the NPR editor who decided to omit the race of the assailants while showing pictures of the victim? I mean, this is the sort of "evidence-based" approach you seem to extol
ad nauseum. What do you suppose went wrong here, if anything? I mean, we could argue that if the cops had just shot Mims and Decuir to death on previous arrests then this 71-year old gay photographer would still be alive today, but that wouldn't be too charitable. So what are we to do? Given all the actors and the weirdness of left wing politics, who is the victim in this case?
Then, consider another case where the cops didn't shoot a black man:
Punished for Being PoorInstead of starting his third semester at community college this fall, Quinntez Woodson sat in a San Francisco jail cell, held on $35,000 bail that he could not afford. He sat there for more than two months, waiting either for the start of his trial or for his family to collect enough money to get him out. During that time, he lost his apartment, his chance to study this semester, and his job stocking shelves at Walmart.
Now keep in mind, both of these cases are in San Francisco--one of the most liberal cities in the United States, if not the most. Conservatives and Republicans haven't ruled here for many decades. Yet, we have this travesty. Why?
In August, the 19-year-old was riding in the passenger seat of a friend’s car when they were pulled over in a routine traffic stop. According to court records, Woodson fled when officers approached the car. While trying to evade the cops, he threw an object wrapped in a red bandana under a car. The officers later recovered that object: a loaded, illegal firearm.
This is where a number of black people get shot, but that didn't happen in this case. However, a routine traffic stop happens for reasons I've pointed out before--like more than two of my black neighbors have kids with expired car registrations, which is sure to get you pulled over. So we have a routine traffic stop, and it goes South for this kid. Why? It's illegal to be in possession of a gun you didn't make yourself if you didn't purchase it lawfully through a licensed gun dealer, etc. That makes the gun illegal. It's also illegal to travel in a car with it on your person. It's also illegal to travel in a car with the gun while it is loaded.
After a few weeks in jail, held on a bond he couldn’t afford, the prosecutor on the case offered Woodson a deal: If he pleaded guilty to the felony charges against him for carrying a concealed, unregistered, and loaded firearm in a public space, they would let him out with a probation-only sentence. In other words, he could go home if he gave up his right to a fair trial.
You see, all this kid wanted to do was own a gun--if we're to suppose he is pure as the wind-driven snow. However, there are many of you on this board who have clamored for gun control. Who did this guy shoot? Who did he kill? All he did was possess a loaded unregistered handgun. There is no injured party. Yet, this 19-year old kid faces felony charges, and will have his life ruined. By who? By people just like you guys who want to impose exceedingly harsh gun control measures. What's going to become of a poor black 19-year old with a felony record? His life is over. Who is doing that to him? Gun control advocates. Where is he facing these charges? In the most liberal of cities in the United States, where the political class blames conservatives and Republicans for being racist.
Really?
What sets Woodson’s story apart from many others is that he is being tried in a jurisdiction where the top prosecutor is an acclaimed bail reformer. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón has called cash bail “inherently unfair and archaic.” Earlier this year, San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot described him as a “reform-minded activist” and praised him for showing “courage in defying powerful entrenched interests.” Cases like Woodson’s, though, cast doubt on whether Gascón’s rhetoric matches his line attorneys’ day-to-day actions.
In large part, Gascón’s reputation as a reformer hinges on the role he played in bringing a risk-assessment tool to San Francisco courts. The Public Safety Assessment algorithm, developed by the Texas-based Laura and John Arnold Foundation, gauges a defendant’s risk of skipping town or reoffending before trial based on data including the person’s age, pending charge, prior convictions, and previous failures to appear in court. PSA is supposed to help shift the justice system away from cash bail. “The implementation of risk-based tools at key decision points is the next step for San Francisco to reduce disproportionate minority contact and continue to reduce our jail population safely,” wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed last October. California legislators are also considering the implementation of a statewide pretrial risk assessment system as part of a larger campaign to overhaul bail.
And here's my point: even if the police don't shoot the black suspect, he's still fucked by a justice system set up by liberals to mete out brutal sentences for illegal gun possession. Maybe that's a good idea. Maybe it would have saved a 71-year old gay guy's life. Yet, Gascón is the very reformer who's bail system led to Lamonte Mims' making bail, only to commit a felony armed robbery resulting in the murder of a 71-year old at the hands of a 20-year old black woman.
My guess, if it weren't for the video evidence, this Fantasy Decuir could have blamed the shooting on Lamonte Mims and sent him away for life, because everyone knows that women are never cold blooded and brutal...
"We have put together the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics."
-- Joe Biden