Open Thread - 21 August 2014

pl

Comments

[shepherd]

Would any law enforcement SSTers want to break down the recently released video of the St. Louis police shooting Kajieme Powell?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ta2-7QJM78

My guess is it's within procedure, but I'm not expert.

[nick b]

To Any and All,

Does anyone have any first hand experience with Wiley X eye wear? I see they are issued to the military. A couple of guys in my fishing club swear by them, but I was looking for more opinions. Specifically does the face seal work well and does it cause fogging? Thanks for any responses.

[toto]

Does anybody have any solid information about what is going on in Pakistan right now?

From here, it looks like Imran Khan has seriously overreached, but I have Pakistani friends who are ga-ga about him and who keep telling me that it's a bona-fide revolution.

[The beaver]

@ toto

Lat year, Brig. FB Ali wrote a post on Pakistan:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2013/01/interesting-times-in-pakistan-fb-ali.html#more
In it, Allama Quadri was mentioned and from the news he is back in Pakistan ( from what I read a couple of weeks ago and since have not been following too much since the ME is on top these days). Have just researched him again and I saw this article:
http://thefrontierpost.com/article/192245/SC-seeks-response-from-Imran-Qadri-today/
"Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt while appearing before the court contended that Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were addressing and passing resolutions and were demanding removal of legitimate government."

[hans]

from Tomgram, Patrick Cockburn, How to Ensure a Thriving Caliphate ... I think certainly worth a little study... http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175884/tomgram%3A_patrick_cockburn%2C_how_to_ensure_a_thriving_caliphate/

[William R. Cumming]

Heavy infighting among Republican US Senators as to Committee assignments post expected takeover in January! IMO I think it is possible that the Republicans might gain 10 seats. I also think a surprise upset could well be Gillespie over Warner in Virginia.

As always could well be wrong!

[William R. Cumming]

Again IMO two stars, one for each party are now US Senators.

Rob Portman for the Republicans and Mike Blumenthal for the DEMS! Both get it whatever "it" is!

One from Ohio and one from Connecticut.

[Tyler]

Its within procedure.

[SteveG]

WRC

How many of Dick "Khe Sanh" Blumenthal
Stolen Valor misspokes does he get. Was
that the only one or a precursor to future
minor memory lapses. A little embellishment
on occasion is acceptable but was this more
of Freudian personality proportions. Of course
he is a pol. Firster?

[oofda]

All,
Here is a site that provided the maps with English translations as well as commentary on recent military action in Eastern Ukriane.

http://slavyangrad.org

[nick b]

WRC,

It's Dick Blumenthal from CT. And I agree, he's one of the good ones. But you may recall he got caught being less than truthful about his military service, and that will be a difficult burden to overcome for any future goals.

[Lord Curzon]

And the person who gets it about Iraq on our side is Rory Stewart MP, currently in Erbil...http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/08/19/rory-stewart-iraq

TTG,

I got called a useful idiot for advocating a strategic rapprochement with Iran, by an associate fellow of Chatham House, no less, who then belatedly agreed with me!

[Kunuri]

Is so called procedure God's Law, or can a human being have a little compassion and independent judgment as not to kill another human being even at the cost of backing off a little, at the cost of seeming a little ridiculous, doing all that is possible to buy time for other teams to arrive.

I saw the original video, it was ridiculous-if cops have no way to diffuse a situation, other than shoot to kill, even a half crazed bum, than I wonder if they actually like to use their guns outside of the shooting range. I could have stopped that guy without a gun, or even talk to him, or just keep my distance until a situation developed where he would have nowhere to go, nothing to do but give up. Same goes with Michael Brown, so he gets away with a box a cigars, so he touches a cop, so he talks back and a little surly, so he rushes him once outside the car. Just step out of the way and let him run away. Fire in the air, yell and scream, and get in the car and drive away. Cop than can go to the store, get the footage we now see, and go to his house and have his father spank him. This is all very wrong, but I bet these tough Missouri cops would not like it at all where odds are a little more even.

What I wonder the most is, if the race of the two dead unfortunate blacks were white, and their demeanor suggested that they were upper middle class white, the procedure mentioned would be applied with the same cold indifference.

[Fred]

All,

Any reccomendation for a good canoe? I'd prefer a single seater about 13' or less. I had one years ago but sold it before moving to Texas.

[Chas]

Any chance there's an adult or group of adults have pushed the neocons, r2ps, and witches out from US Syrian policy making? I certainly hope this is the case. Meddling with Syria toward some vague "democratic" uprising egged on by Lebanon's March 14th and Israel seemed like lunacy from the get go.

http://www.angryarab.blogspot.de/2014/08/is-us-providiing-intelligence-help-to.html

[The beaver]

What happened in Al-Akershi:
"What exactly occurred on July 3rd at the military camp in al-Akershi, also known as Sheikh Osama bin Laden camp — and whether there was any connection to the failed rescue attempt — remains unclear. Syrian activist @YallaSouriya confirmed to BuzzFeed that they had translated the text, but declined to say whether they were currently based in Syria or not."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamberger/a-syrian-activist-might-have-witnessed-the-failed-us-attack?utm_term=2nz9hjy#3e6l90e

[FB Ali]

I fully agree with you. Unfortunately, what these cops did appears to be SOP in North America.

Some time ago a troubled young man in Toronto lost it on a streetcar and started waving a small knife around and uttering weird stuff. The tram stopped and all the passengers got out. The cops arrived and one of them got on the car and pumped nine bullets into the poor kid. The considerable outcry resulted in the cop being charged with second-degree murder (doubt if he'll be convicted; that's a bridge too far!).

But this is Canada; it still hasn't become a police state.

[FB Ali]

Imran Khan, leader of a political party, and Dr Qadri, leader of a religious movement, have separately launched protest movements against the present government. With thousands of their followers they have arrived in the capital, Islamabad, and 'besieged' Parliament House.

The Nawaz Sharif government had initially planned to stop them, by force if necessary, outside a 'Red Zone' in the capital. But the Army chief nixed that and 'advised' that the matter be settled by negotiations.

Currently, the two groups are separately talking to the government, but since their demands include the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, it is unlikely the talks will succeed.

The potential for violence is still there. It is not clear what the Army will do in that case. The situation remains very much open-ended.

[jerseycityjoan]

All,

Are we expecting too much of our police? And if so, what we can do about it?

We have lots more people than we've ever had before; they have bigger problems -- personal, social, financial, mental illness. We have gone from being a 88%/11% white/black country in 1970, to where we are today. We have gone from a nation in which good paying jobs were easy to find for most people, to where we are today.

There are tremendous stressors on our population that weren't there in the 1970s. There are tremendous stressors on our police that weren't there in 1970.

We are expecting our police to face daily challenges that for some of them are like facing a battlefield every day. We expect them to play multiple roles for which they have not equipped, either by education, personality and or training. It seems to me we also do too little to help or ease out of police work those who have burned out.

What can we do, what should we do for our cops and for the public in this situation? Things are only going to get worse. We should be thinking about a response. The cops should not have to carry this burden alone, like they do so many others.

[Tyler]

Lol yeah tell that last line to anyone who has gotten on the wrong side of your "human rights commission".

Youre throwing people in prison because of hurt feelings. Dont ride in on a high horse because people waving knives and charging the police are being shot.

[Tyler]

jCJ,

No you see the police should be monday morning quarterbacked by people who think looking someone in the eye is assault. Im sure that will make us all safe.

Some of you here are delusional. Let me run at you with a knife and lets see how steely nerved you are then ffs.

[jerseycityjoan]

jerseycityjoan - Correction to my initial post

The 88% whites figure in the second paragraph is impossibly high, because it includes Hispanics when it should have been non-Hispanic whites. The correction figure is 83.5% for non-Hispanic whites in 1970.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_racial_and_ethnic_demographics_of_the_United_States

[lally]

All

This report confirms the reality-based determination that undergirds the Obama administration's refusal to up-arm our so-called allies among the "opposition":

"According to Syrian sources who have worked previously to locate and
rescue kidnapped journalists in Syria, American journalist James Foley,
who was beheaded by Islamic State in a video the militant group made
public on Tuesday, was most likely used by another guerrilla group as a
token of allegiance to ISIS.

According to those sources, Foley was in the hands of the Dawood
Bridgade, a group that was originally aligned with relatively moderate
opposition groups such as the Free Syrian Army, but recently pledged
allegiance to ISIS.

The International Business Times *reported last month that activists on
the ground near Al Bab, Syria, said that the Dawood Brigade, which now
consists of about 1,000 people, defected from the Free Syrian Army and
moved on to Raqqa to join ISIS. The group arrived in Raqqa, an ISIS
stronghold, in a convoy of more than 100 vehicles."
http://www.ibtimes.com/james-foley-allegedly-used-token-allegiance-group-joined-isis-1664272#.U_Y1MxPPHWA.twitter

* The above article contains a live link to the earlier IBT report that describes the Dawood convey as making a sudden change of direction:

"Lattif said Sunday [July 6] the Dawood Brigade based in Idlib dispatched about 120 cars and tanks to Aleppo to support FSA battalions, but suddenly diverted them east toward Raqqa. Lattif said he thought the tanks went to support ISIS instead."

[Fred]

TTG,

One more reason to try that Everglades challenge next year, the fishing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37HI_AX9nY

[The Twisted Genius]

Fred,

Ah, I like this question. If you just want something to just mess about in, check out Craig's list and Ebay for something in your area. You may get lucky. Mohawk Canoes makes a nice 13 footer out of royalex for under $1,000. Mad River Canoe has a beauty in its fiberglass Serenade 13 with wood gunwales and trim for under $2,000. A Grumman aluminum 13 footer goes for around $1,000. I personally don't like the metallic sounds of aluminum, but they are tough.

I'm sure how you feel about building something, but Chesapeake Light Craft has a beautiful 12 foot lapstrake canoe called the Sassafras 12. It comes as a kit designed to be built by first time builders in little more than a weekend. They have a great builders forum and excellent customer service. You might find someone in your area to give you a hand or, at least, advice. The satisfaction in paddling something you built yourself is something I wish everyone could experience. There would be a lot less problems in this world if this was so.

http://www.clcboats.com/shop/boats/canoes/traditional-lapstrake-canoes/sassafras-12-double-paddle-pack-canoe-kit.html