What the fuck is wrong w/these people?

[Simulist]

He shot a dog?

Police beat people up all the time, always have done. Nothing about this is even the slightest bit newsworthy, other than the dog. Other than the dog, it's dog bites man. Even beating up pregnant women, not that they ought to get special protection, is long established.

Uh, I think pregnant women should get some special protection.

You might not, but I sure as hell do.

[Stephen Morgan]

He shot a dog?

Police beat people up all the time, always have done. Nothing about this is even the slightest bit newsworthy, other than the dog. Other than the dog, it's dog bites man. Even beating up pregnant women, not that they ought to get special protection, is long established.

Uh, I think pregnant women should get some special protection.

You might not, but I sure as hell do.

On what grounds?

[Belligerent Savant]

On what grounds?

If you were sitting in a subway train and a pregnant woman gets onboard with no seats available, would you offer your seat to her?

[Simulist]

He shot a dog?

Police beat people up all the time, always have done. Nothing about this is even the slightest bit newsworthy, other than the dog. Other than the dog, it's dog bites man. Even beating up pregnant women, not that they ought to get special protection, is long established.

Uh, I think pregnant women should get some special protection.

You might not, but I sure as hell do.

On what grounds?

Um... because they're pregnant?

(Yeah. That's a circular argument. Live with it.)

[Nordic]

He shot a dog that was chained up, so presumably it wasn't in self defense. He just felt like shooting the dog. Then it turns out he wasn't even at the right house. So he shot a dog just for the sheer hell of it.

This is serial killer material, right? Don't they usually start by torturing/killing animals?

Kicking a pregnant woman is pretty heinous, but a lot of cops would do that. I mean, we've seen tons of this in the last year or so, it's always the women they pick out for the harshest physical abuse. Does that make them horrible people? Most certainly. But the dog thing is really troublesome to me, because it seems he's a latent serial killer because of that.

I walked past a cop car yesterday, right by the passenger window, which was rolled down, and the cop was sitting inside, and I felt like doing something I really shouldn't do. I used to give people the benefit of the doubt, you know, treat each person INDIVIDUALLY rather than because of what group they're in, but right now I see a cop and I just want to go for their knees with a weapon.

But I WON'T. Because I'm a good guy. And I'm really not a violent person. So, hey, Agent Mike, see, I'm saying I won't actually DO it, okay?

[beeblebrox]

VB stands for vomit bomb zaphod.

Its true, 2nd worst beer made in this country (after fosters), thank god for boutique breweries.

I missed this. I did not know this, I just remember everyone drinking it when I was in Hobart.

However, if it's so terrible, why the hell do you all drink so much of it?

Victoria Bitter (VB) is Australia's most drunk beer, accounting for almost 25% of domestic beer consumption.

http://australianfood.about.com/od/alcoholic/a/VB.htm

[Joe Hillshoist]

VB stands for vomit bomb zaphod.

Its true, 2nd worst beer made in this country (after fosters), thank god for boutique breweries.

I missed this. I did not know this, I just remember everyone drinking it when I was in Hobart.

However, if it's so terrible, why the hell do you all drink so much of it?

Victoria Bitter (VB) is Australia's most drunk beer, accounting for almost 25% of domestic beer consumption.

http://australianfood.about.com/od/alcoholic/a/VB.htm

Advertising? Availability? Even our worst beer is better than most in the world? (Actually I don't really believe that.)

I used to live in Hobart, till I was about 13. Everyone there drinks VB these days? Thats a bit fucked up. Cascade (from Hobart) and Boags from Launceston make better beers than VB. What about that bloke up Mt Nelson that makes homebrew?

All of it better than VB.

[wintler2]

However, if it's so terrible, why the hell do you all drink so much of it?

I think cos its cheap and is most closely tied to the dominant religion, AFL. The biggest cultural change in recent decades in this country has been the shift to wine, coincidentally even cheaper by alcohol content, bonus pretensions at no extra charge.

[Jerky]

Beer is just a crappy beverage in general. Tastes like bilge. That's just my opinion.

Anyway, as for the police brutality ramp-up... I don't know if it really is ramping up. It's just that it gets reported more. The only thing you can do is breathe deeply, count ten, and swear that if you ever see something like that happening before your own two eyes, you do the right thing as you know it to be right then and there.

In most parts of the world, you are legally allowed to kill in self-defense. If there was some juiced-up lunatic walking around my neighborhood shooting chained dogs, I would be fearful for my life, and react accordingly.

[beeblebrox]

I used to live in Hobart, till I was about 13. Everyone there drinks VB these days?

I don't know, this was more than ten years ago that I was there. It seemed fairly popular then if I remember correctly, though this is hardly a scientific testimony, I drank pretty heavily for the four days I was there.

The biggest cultural change in recent decades in this country has been the shift to wine, coincidentally even cheaper by alcohol content, bonus pretensions at no extra charge.

Ha ha, I lived in California a few years back, I don't know if this is still the case, but they use to sell bottles of wine at the dollar store. The people who drank it were not pretentious.

Anyway, as for the police brutality ramp-up... I don't know if it really is ramping up. It's just that it gets reported more.

Probably a lot of truth to this. Not trying to downplay the seriousness of this incident, but is seems as though the MSM goes out of their way sometimes to keep the hatefest going. It's pretty fucked up really, the assholes at the top literally get away with mass murder, while the rest of us live under the microscope, one momentary lapse of reason away from making national news.

[Stephen Morgan]

On what grounds?

If you were sitting in a subway train and a pregnant woman gets onboard with no seats available, would you offer your seat to her?

Certainly not. What a horribly patronising thing to do. "You sparrow legs and tremendous girth are mismatched! Quickly, take my seat before you collapse under your own weight!" Why, would you give up your seat for a fat person who got on the train? IF you don't like the physical effects of getting pregnant try wearing a cap. If you want a seat on the train, do what I did and get on at an earlier stop, or get to the station early enough to form the head of the queue.

I don't believe in pandering to the disabled. Unless you're in need of immediate hospitalisation, get thee hence. Maybe if it's someone with a walking stick and they asked politely, because I'm a push over, but I will certainly never offer. Bone sticking out through the skin of your arm? Don't need your arm to stand up, do you?

This why Rosa Parks was so successful, not because she was making a point against racism, which was still quite popular back then, no, she struck a chord with the public consciousness because everyone has had the experience of getting on and sitting down to rest ones weary feet after a long day and footing and found themselves expected to give up their seat for some lazy motherfucker, and every single one of them wanted to say "fuck you, my man, first come first served". So, if you're disabled or pregnant, which isn't even properly disabled and therefore has no claim whatsoever on sympathy, I've had it with being chased around by Rascals and having the pavement blocked by formations of prams in line abreast. Find your own fucking chair.

[Stephen Morgan]

In most parts of the world, you are legally allowed to kill in self-defense. If there was some juiced-up lunatic walking around my neighborhood shooting chained dogs, I would be fearful for my life, and react accordingly.

In most parts of the world you can kill if you're in immediate danger of death. Not if a weirdo has killed a local dog, and especially not if he's a copper.

[Inkwhyring]

I knew that cops can,and often do,anything they see fit(gotta clean up these streets,take down these scumbags,etc.(But this just takes the effing cake!What kind of perceived threat could a woman that far along pregnant possibly have posed,assuming we don't believe the it was dark,big t-shirt b.s.?Even if momma was giving them a hard time,resisting arrest by smarting off,or God forbid asserting her right to remain silent,whatever REALLY happened,the action taken by the officers wasn't in any way 'warranted'!

[AlicetheKurious]

On what grounds?

If you were sitting in a subway train and a pregnant woman gets onboard with no seats available, would you offer your seat to her?

Certainly not. What a horribly patronising thing to do. "You sparrow legs and tremendous girth are mismatched! Quickly, take my seat before you collapse under your own weight!" Why, would you give up your seat for a fat person who got on the train? IF you don't like the physical effects of getting pregnant try wearing a cap. If you want a seat on the train, do what I did and get on at an earlier stop, or get to the station early enough to form the head of the queue.

I don't believe in pandering to the disabled. Unless you're in need of immediate hospitalisation, get thee hence. Maybe if it's someone with a walking stick and they asked politely, because I'm a push over, but I will certainly never offer. Bone sticking out through the skin of your arm? Don't need your arm to stand up, do you?

This why Rosa Parks was so successful, not because she was making a point against racism, which was still quite popular back then, no, she struck a chord with the public consciousness because everyone has had the experience of getting on and sitting down to rest ones weary feet after a long day and footing and found themselves expected to give up their seat for some lazy motherfucker, and every single one of them wanted to say "fuck you, my man, first come first served". So, if you're disabled or pregnant, which isn't even properly disabled and therefore has no claim whatsoever on sympathy, I've had it with being chased around by Rascals and having the pavement blocked by formations of prams in line abreast. Find your own fucking chair.

No, the impact of Rosa Parks' resistance would have been a lot less if she'd been young and strong. Giving something up to someone who needs it more than we do satisfies a primordial human need; it instantly increases our capacity to feel real joy, and hope, and therefore it makes us feel more alive.

It gives you a boost of energy to be able to do something like that, and self-confidence, by affirming your solidarity with other humans. Such a gesture paradoxically makes you feel safer, because giving empowers the giver, and it's also an indirect way to spit in the eye of those who want to divide and thus conquer us.

That being said, it did give me a little jolt the first time someone did it for me, especially that I was still only in my thirties and perfectly able-bodied. But then, I said to myself: it's a generous, life-affirming thing to do, and it probably makes them feel as good as I've felt doing it for others. I understood that basic human need to feel that one has something to give, no matter how small or symbolic. Acts of generosity paradoxically make us feel wealthy. Meanness and narrow selfishness make us feel poor, and weak, as though we have too little to risk giving anything away, no matter how small.

When I was ponderously pregnant, I didn't get on any buses, but I was amazed at how kind strangers were, everywhere I went. I don't recall any being patronizing, but some did invade my space, even putting their hands on my belly without permission! People seemed thrilled and oddly hopeful at the idea of new life, just as others become contemplative when they see a funeral procession. I realized it had little or nothing to do with me personally, but a sense of connection that seems hard-wired into us as human beings, probably as deeply as our survival instinct.

That's why the cop's assault on a pregnant woman is so shocking and frightening -- it is evidence that he lacks something vital to our human ability to thrive, even to survive, without which we are all diminished and even endangered.

[Belligerent Savant]

On what grounds?

If you were sitting in a subway train and a pregnant woman gets onboard with no seats available, would you offer your seat to her?

Certainly not. What a horribly patronising thing to do. "You sparrow legs and tremendous girth are mismatched! Quickly, take my seat before you collapse under your own weight!" Why, would you give up your seat for a fat person who got on the train? IF you don't like the physical effects of getting pregnant try wearing a cap. If you want a seat on the train, do what I did and get on at an earlier stop, or get to the station early enough to form the head of the queue.

I don't believe in pandering to the disabled. Unless you're in need of immediate hospitalisation, get thee hence. Maybe if it's someone with a walking stick and they asked politely, because I'm a push over, but I will certainly never offer. Bone sticking out through the skin of your arm? Don't need your arm to stand up, do you?

This why Rosa Parks was so successful, not because she was making a point against racism, which was still quite popular back then, no, she struck a chord with the public consciousness because everyone has had the experience of getting on and sitting down to rest ones weary feet after a long day and footing and found themselves expected to give up their seat for some lazy motherfucker, and every single one of them wanted to say "fuck you, my man, first come first served". So, if you're disabled or pregnant, which isn't even properly disabled and therefore has no claim whatsoever on sympathy, I've had it with being chased around by Rascals and having the pavement blocked by formations of prams in line abreast. Find your own fucking chair.

Love that you equate being pregnant with being fat or disabled. Great mindset.

Quite a philosophy you got there... you and Anton LaVey would've made fast friends. But wait -- you're the cat that dubs himself 'christian', is that right? Must be some customized interpretation, I would think. The Chruch of Morgan and latter-day Saints that Service the Self.

Unless, of course, this is all some form of satire on your part. In which case: good show, chap.