News/Current Events, discussion (Bullets, Ballots & Bombs)

[oldtrailmix]

I know it's been mentioned a few times on here that we should have some sort of thread for this, figured it was high time to finally make one.

Foley gave a presumably scripted statement saying the cause of his death was US intervention in Iraq. ISIS now threatens another journalist, Stephen Sotloff, stating that his life "hangs in the balance" depending on President Obama's future decisions regarding Iraq.



Reactions to this event include calling for war against ISIS, whilst others feel this may be precisely what ISIS is hoping for by making this video.

I hand it over to you guys now, what are your thoughts on this story? Feel free to contribute to this thread with more articles, updates, opinions, etc.

[chilljin]

Saw the video today, whilst it's definitely not the worst nor the most graphic video I've ever seen on the internet, it caused a real awareness shock to my system.

As bad as it sounds I normally like to stay ignorant in the topic of world affairs, not so in a 'pretend it's not there and it isn't happening' way, instead in the selfish manner of just not wanting to further sadden myself that these things occur.

But, hearing the accent on that executioner was insane - as an accent I hear often at uni this video is almost akin to it being one of my mates simply shielding his identity from the camera. I can't even begin to comment on the idea of mock executions and torture.

I honestly have no idea how this can conclude well, for anybody.

[rublev]

This really upset me when i heard about it last night. Horrific. It doesn't change much in that we already knew that IS beheaded captives frequently, as well as crucifying people on highways. I'm not saying this killing is any worse than those that have already been murdered by this group in Iraq / Syria (the special taxes for minorities, forced deportations, forced religious conversions and mass execution etc), but there is an aura about foreign correspondents that for some reason makes the whole thing even more unsettling. Seeing Stephen Sotloff at the end only reinforced this.

What is scary about IS is their quite flagrant willingness to fight what seems almost everyone in the region; the military from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, not to mention the Shia militias in these same countries, the Kurdish army, secular Syrians, and now US air power. Strategically it has behaved quite impressively - taking key towns and cities, oil fields and damns, other important infrastructure etc, all while domestically Iraq seems almost incapable of organising itself into a viable opposition. They were also helped significantly in the first few weeks of the escalation of the conflict when much of the Iraqi army fled, leaving US military equipment behind. The march on Erbil surprised me (and probably more) in that i expected them to go to the south, toward Baghdad (the historic seat of the caliphate, large Sunni populations etc). But when you see it through the lens of gaining more territory quickly, plus controlling vast natural resources (there are rich oil fields in Kurdistan - in Syria they did something similar by taking control of the main oil supply and essentially selling it back to the government), it maybe isn't surprising.

The concentration on the Kurdish area has brought with it more US involvement... not sure whether this was intended (they would know of the historic US Kurd alliance) or a miscalculation. Either way their confidence is pretty worrying. I wonder what the numbers are for those abandoning al Qaeda and other militant groups to join IS. I also wonder whether there is a potential violent split between these groups still to come.

It's clear that US air power in combination with a reinvigorated Kurdish force on the ground should be able to push IS back to the middle of the country, and hopefully decrease its numbers. But with zero similar involvement in Syria (oh the irony now) it's clear that will be a safe haven no matter what happens. Obviously the answer to the much bigger question will involve a combination of Iraqi military power to overcome significant parts of IS, and a political solution which will almost have to 'start again' in regard to the religious and tribal make up of Iraq (and probably Syria too). This will take a long time. Just now, unless the US and the West wants to completely wash its hands of the region, it must continue and in some cases step up the aerial campaign, even only for some immediate relief. Not doing anything would be much worse.

*puts university hat back in box*

[bobo77]

I think it's really important, going forward, to allow the Iraqis to decide their own destiny politically and economically. Obviously the Hussein regime was authoritarian, but our 2003 invasion was terrible, ignoring the ridiculous legal precedent, and the dismantling of that regime (and the poor job the United States did in maintaining infrastructure and order) contributed to a power vacuum that has allowed ISIS to prosper. I enjoyed the 2007 documentary No End In Sight, which details the 2003 invasion and its aftermath, and its clear the United States did a poor job in rebuilding the country and government following the invasion. Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine also details how United States policy led to poor internal development of the country (for example we hired American contractors when native contractors would have been cheaper and more efficient. It seems small, but I believe it really hurt internal development of the Iraqi economy). I think to halt ISIS, further military intervention is needed, unfortunately, but the last thing Iraq needs is United States involvement in the government and economy of Iraq. That should be left up to the Iraqis.

I hope the spread of ISIS serves as a warning to war hawks who wish to seek the dismantling of authoritarian regimes the United States doesn't like (Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc.), without comprehensive plans to give political and economic power to the people of the country, and to allow the country to develop organic institutions that the public trusts.

[hooplah]

can we talk about ferguson? i mean, what the fuck. so much bullshit swirling around that city right now

even ASIDE from whether michael brown "deserved it,"

- mass media and the 24 hour news cycle ruins it all again. there doesn't need to be a "good" guy and a "bad" guy in every story. painting michael brown as a flawless angel from the get go does two types of harm: it oversimplifies a shades of grey issue to black and white, and it makes it that much easier to shift public opinion to "the cop was right" when even a smidgen of evidence comes out against the kid. actually, three: it makes it seem like only flawless angels deserve not to have a cop empty a clip into them

- it's infuriating how people are again attempting to start the larger conversation of race relations issues in the US, but are being shot down at every turn by [i'm sorry--white] people who want to act like this was a one-off. they're so eager to find anything pro-cop or anti-brown to dismiss this one incident, and by doing so close the cover on this uncomfortable conversation. sorry, that's not how it works. one case does not a systemic pattern make. but eventually they'll sweep this story under the rug and say it was an exception to the "i don't see color" "melting pot" of america, where everything is just fine™

- cops need more fucking accountability. we let them brandish deadly weapons but don't train them adequately or expect any level of physical fitness. they only answer to themselves. they're afraid to report on each other. they protect their own to a ludicrous degree. it's not right. a cop should not be allowed to point his weapon at people and yell "i'll fucking kill you." an ex-cop releases a manifesto detailing the police corruption and misbehavior he witnessed and two hispanic women get shot up in the PD's frantic search to kill the guy. the state of law enforcement here is abysmal. law enforcement officers should answer to a higher standard of conduct, not a lower one.

these are all probably pretty popular opinions amongst you guys/people i know, but it's just frustrating to know that there are many people who would disagree with the (in my opinion, fairly evident) things i just said

[oldtrailmix]

[rublev]

damn ebola is really scary :(((

hearing about teachers trying to spread awareness about the risks being killed by locals because they were thought to be witches etc... :\

heard on radio 4 earlier - eddy interviews a documentary film maker who went out to get footage about the spread of the disease but things turned a little scary.

[bobo77]

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/08/reds ... lackboard/

cool podcast about the history of teacher's unions in New York City.

[bobo77]

[can-]

I don't think the police were wrong to fire. anyone trained with a gun is trained to fire at that range against an armed assailant.

should cops have guns? probably not but this is at least as much an issue with USA gun culture as police function. it's easy to point to civilized eu countries where cops are not armed or never fire their arms. but it's a little harder to accomplish that in a country with a history steeped in gun rights where guns are accessible to everyone for any purpose. as with all social issues, the problem is not with any one specific group of people but with how entire generations and classes are socialized to act towards each other. it's tempting (and easy) to demonize the police force, but it's probably not very helpful. ugly or unethical police behavior is symptomatic of larger issues and not a cause. none of this is to say that anyone is wrong for being angry or upset about or towards police/police culture.

i am glad these issues are getting the attention they deserve. it's tragic that we have to have Mike Brown's to push the conversation but i am pretty optimistic with the way public attitudes towards gun rights and police action are moving.

[bobo77]

But they're supposed to use the least amount of force necessary. There were two cops. If one couldn't subdue by tasing, than perhaps shooting would have been justified. I don't have issues with cops having guns, I have issues with them not using them responsibly.

[RomanEmpire]

[maj]

i thought this was nice in light of depressing news, nice intro to her role and a very inviting speech

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/ ... -issue-too

please leave your arguments in favour or against of the ideals behind it at the door, i just think this is a great effort and a nice high profile figure of some relevance making it which makes it better.

[eufemism]

man shot by cops as he tries to get his licence

http://www.wltx.com/story/news/local/20 ... /16187305/

i get that cops have to worry about their own safety but c'mon. people are probably gonna start saying that the driver should have moved slowly to reach for his license, but if you consciously have to think 'i better move slow or else the cop is gonna think i'm pulling a gun and shoot me,' there are serious problems.

[smiles]

jesus

http://occupycentral.appledaily.com/

[smiles]

can't update my older post. Many of my friends are protesting right now and they have started shutting down some subway stations/possibly will be shutting down internet in the protest area. A student was injured by a rubber bullet.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29398962

[blanket]

this picture gives me the chills because the composition reminds me of


never really thought things could go this far in hong kong

[hmwut]

[nevergreen]

if you haven't been keeping up with ferguson a white off duty cop after failing to tase him. cop was doing a secondary job as security and claimed he shot at him 3 times but all he was holding was a sandwich. cop's name hasn't been released yet and probably won't. video was later released that showed the young man in the store with no gun (black shirt)




oh yeah, and the

[nevergreen]

[rublev]

ottawa right now

pretty scary

[Syeknom]

Brussels today















My metro was well delayed

[harmsalmon]

[nevergreen]

no indictment for darren wilson. i'm disgusted

[harmsalmon]

StL here and also disgusted but frankly not surprised in the least. absolutely expected it to end up this way, and that's the problem. The fact that we can come to expect such institutionalized injustice (sounds extreme but I mean.... that's what it is) is really representative of this whole issue I think.

in related news, people are setting stuff i.e. buildings on fire out here. thankfully not near where I am but just a block or two from my dad's house. Regardless of how awful I believe the decision to be, I think it's important to make a distinction b/w people with an opinion/protestors and the violent rioters and looters.

very glad that this won't be forgotten any time soon, at least. I do hate that Bob McCullough (StL county prosecutor) made it sound like this is a step toward "justice and peace..." He knows damn well it's not. Indicting the police officer that shot and killed a young man would be a step toward justice and peace. Not to mention the way he kept saying "issues that lead to incidents like these" was making me sick. "Issues?" You mean young black men's very existence? Or maybe the institutionalized racism in the police force, in which case maybe something should have been done about it?

[JewTurk]

Social media is so fucking hard to be on during times like this. Everyone feels the need to take a side and argue for it regardless of how much they know.

ie:
Jokes about racism for social attention, facebook and twitter mainly.

[diniro]

Indict Wilson, on what evidence? The Grand Jury was presented with ALL the evidence, a lot more than a normal case, and couldn't find any probably cause to charge Wilson with a crime, which takes a much lower standard of proof than needed for a conviction from a trial jury. So if there are no evidence to indict, how on earth are they gonna find evidence to convict?

Did you guys watch McCulloch's announcement? Not sure how much of the evidence is going to be publicly released, but he summarized it up quite succinctly. The witnesses who originally perpetuated the "hands up" narrative either recanted, admitted they were just parroting what they heard, or their testimony conflicted with physical evidence. SEVERAL witnesses, all black, testified Brown was charging Wilson when he got shot.

Vonderrit Meyer was shooting at the police when he got shot, according to forensic evidence.

People are picking the wrong cases as their cause celebre, and, ironically, greatly diminishes true hate crimes.

[harmsalmon]

how about the evidence of negligence confessed by Darren Wilson himself that he wasn't carrying a taser just because it was uncomfortable and he didn't feel like it? or the fact that the only reason he didn't use mace/etc was because he was worried about turning his back to Michael Brown and being.... what, hit? at that point it should have been exceedingly obvious to Wilson that Brown was unarmed. so he's just supposed to shoot and kill him? because of that, it's reasonable for him to just go ahead and use his gun to shoot him six times?

that's what police officers are for. to keep people safe. to keep themselves safe, yes, but you would think they would be capable of defending themselves against an unarmed young man, even if they are being "attacked," considering their years of training.... adult-ness... etc.

yes of course I watched McCullough's announcement. I live here. I'm not talking about the evidence being released. even if Brown was "charging" Wilson, I don't believe there was any reason for him to be shot. none. at all. that's what it comes down to. even a manslaughter indictment would result in more justice than this. This is an issue of race and police brutality, police gross incompetence if you want to put it nicely. if you think anything otherwise you are wrong, plain and simple.

[nevergreen]

[diniro]