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Philly Answers Youth Flash Mobs With Curfew Enforcement

Not that it's the first city to enforce a youth curfew, and not that kids on a crime-spree is the only variety of moral panic offered as a rationale, but Philadelphia is cracking down through increased enforcement of a youth curfew law after children and teenagers attacked two people in the Center City district — attacks which, according to police, were coordinated via text messaging.

50 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And in this case, it wasn't really a flash mob at all, it was just a gang of hoodlums.

    This story doesn't seem relevant to this site at all to me.

    1. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, a gang of *black* hoodlums, attacking innocent whites in race-hatred motivated motivated attacks.

    2. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by pnewhook · · Score: 2

      I actually agree with that quote. There is no good reason whatsoever for any teenager to be out after midnight, unless they are coming home from work.

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    3. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I was a teenager in Philly and there was a curfew. These curfews make sense, I really don't think you are from there if you don't understand why. Currently, these "flash mobs" are sporadic riots involving violence. Imagine living there. Does some kid being out at 12 at night seem more important than not getting mugged and assaulted out of the blue in what you would think is a nice area because there are literally people around everywhere?

      The curfew is not enforced racially, for the record. Under 18, you go in. My friend was telling me about how a while back (7 years maybe) he was out at 4am in Philly when he was like 15 and the police cited him and called his parents and he got in a lot of trouble. He's white. These curfews are because a lot of kids do cause problems that late. Right now, yes, there is the disenfranchised black youth, but let's not act like we can't be against violence in the streets if it means we have to acknowledge instances of violence that generally center around a specific population. All it means is we should probably figure out what is making Philadelphia's black youth so mad (there are a lot of obvious things that come to mind) and at the same time don't let them act out in the interim as we try and fix it because no matter what the reasoning, innocent people shouldn't be hospitalized and stores and delis shouldn't be destroyed. No one has the right to do these things to people.

    4. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by NeoMorphy · · Score: 2

      This isn't a suburb, it's Philadelphia, it has one of the highest murder rates in the country.If a parent thinks it's okay for their child to be wondering around Philadelphia at night, they obviously don't care if that child makes it back home.

    5. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by damnbunni · · Score: 2

      I used to get up at two or three in the morning and go fishing before school.

      Seems like a perfectly valid reason to be out of the house after midnight to me.

      Just because YOUR teen-hood was so dull you didn't have a reason to be out late doesn't mean there aren't reasons. Hell, I had a couple of friends who would take late-night walks in the cemetery and write angsty bad poetry. Weird? Maybe. Worth arresting them over? No.

    6. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

      In free societies, you don't need a good reason to do something. Instead, you need a good reason to not be able to do something, and there is not a good reason to categorically stop minors from being out late at night.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    7. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 2

      There is no good reason

      According to you. However, "good" is subjective. Some people might find "good" reasons to be out at that time period.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    8. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by ewanm89 · · Score: 2

      I used to go out hiking 'till 5am when I was that age just for fun, me an a group of 4/5 others around the same age all go out hiking in the country in the dark. It was fun. Was good team and character building and it was happening at 4am in the morning when it was pretty dark. Don't even have streetlights in the country.

    9. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by pnewhook · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For an adult, thats fine. For a 14 year old, they dont need to be running around at night for a walk. Get a grip.

      --
      Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
    10. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Which I'm having to wonder if the PC bullshit isn't getting too damned thick. anybody seen any real media coverage of the state fair at WI? How black gangs pretty much took over the fair in a looting spree, that ended up going down the neighboring streets? no? Why am I not surprised.

      This is what happens when an entire culture abandons any sense of morality. I'm not talking Xtian morality, I'm talking about teaching the most basic right from wrong. Where is Jackson and Sharpton when it is blacks doing the mobbing? Nowhere to be seen, but if a white cop would have hurt even a single one of those black gangbangers they'd be there with a hand wanting payment, you bet your ass.

      The good decent black folks moved away from them areas LONG ago, and with good reason. You have a culture that glorifies drug dealing, abuse and objectification of women,brags about abandoning one's children, looks down upon any attempts to better oneself, and screams "I'm a victim!" and "That's Racist!" if anyone dares to say anything.

      But its time to call it like it is folks, and admit there is a reason why even though blacks have only 10% of the population they are more than 30% of the jail pop and it AIN'T racism. it is because you have this huge "thug life baby, thug life 4ever!" culture coupled with ZERO shame for having a half a dozen kids and not even knowing who the father is or having a male even involved in the child's life. I mean when Rev. Jackson even admitted he feels safer when it is white teens that get into an elevator with him than black teens? you got something seriously fucking WRONG here, and no simple curfew is gonna fix that.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    11. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by digsbo · · Score: 2

      You're both right. The middle class is screwed as they are getting terrorized from both sides.

    12. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But its time to call it like it is folks, and admit there is a reason why even though blacks have only 10% of the population they are more than 30% of the jail pop and it AIN'T racism. it is because you have this huge "thug life baby, thug life 4ever!" culture coupled with ZERO shame for having a half a dozen kids and not even knowing who the father is or having a male even involved in the child's life.

      I'm not going to "call it" like any of this.

      For one thing, who are the biggest consumers of rap music? White kids. That is a fact: Whites buy more rap music than anybody else, including the "thug life 4ever" music you describe. It only makes sense, because whites are the majority.

      But white appetite for gangsta rap music is significant, because various black leaders over the years, including (just for example) Chuck D of the rap group Public Enemy, have criticized gangsta rap as a fabrication created by the (white-owned) record labels to pander to white prejudices and bigotry. Gangsta rap music perpetuates the same kind of stereotypes first put forth by the "blacksploitation" movies of the 1970s: Black man as thug, black man as criminal, black man as sexual predator. Those movies were made by whites and white audiences ate them up.

      And those stereotypes didn't come out of nowhere. They are essentially the same stereotypes that were created as a way to reinforce the institution of slavery: Don't trust the Negro. He has no intelligence, only criminality. His only interest is to steal whatever he can (which is hilarious, considering black slaves were systematically deprived every possible material possession, up to and including their own bodies). He covets white women, don't let your women near him. If you see a Negro walking unaccompanied, call the police. And so on.

      To your second point, about black families not having father figures, guess what? This is America. I grew up in the white suburbs in California, and from the 1970s onward, divorce was positively endemic in that community. I barely knew anybody who grew up in a two-parent household. Judges tended to award custody to mothers, and many fathers (mine, for example) were more than happy with that situation. Most white kids tended to see their fathers on weekends, or at least a couple times a month. But that might be true of "fatherless" black kids, too -- that doesn't make their fathers into "father figures." And as for abandoning their kids? My dad was a doctor, making a six-figure salary, and my mom eventually gave up trying to collect child support for her two kids.

      So what's the difference? The difference is that when compared to blacks, whites are disproportionately born into the middle class or higher. They live in communities with better schools and better access to opportunities. They live in communities that don't foster an atmosphere of criminality, hostility, and disrespect -- but that's largely because even the most disadvantaged of their peers is probably doing pretty OK, while kids who grow up in poor neighborhoods are likely to have friends who are literally living on the streets by the time they are teenagers.

      The difference is that, however much you might want to wave your hand and vanish it all into the cornfield, blacks still must contend with the legacy institutionalized racism. They are still born into communities that inherit the poverty that came from discrimination, segregation, intimidation, marginalization, disenfranchisement, and all the inequalities to which blacks were subjected just 50 years ago.

      Seriously, you do realize that there are probably people reading /. who were born in an era where it was actually legal to deny someone a job because they were black, right? Or for that matter, to deny them the use of a public toilet for the same reason? That doesn't just disappear overnight.

      A lot of the change has to come from within the black community, true. But what

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    13. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by EsbenMoseHansen · · Score: 2

      Amateur astronomy?

      --
      Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
    14. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by PCM2 · · Score: 2

      It's one thing to point out the inherent discrimination in the system, and another thing entirely to excuse criminal behavior as a result

      Who's excusing it? Sounds like the GP is the one who is excusing it, because he writes it off as a result of the perpetrators being black. It's not gangs that are behind crimes, it's black gangs. It's not that criminals are in the wrong side of right and wrong it's that blacks consistently choose the wrong side. "They" are all criminals because it's part of "their" culture. It's the same age-old apology for racism that's been floated since this country existed.

      You don't need to be a middle class white kid to know that assaulting someone is wrong, and when you get arrested for doing so you can't blame the fact that your skin is a different color.

      No, but if a vastly higher percentage of black males are incarcerated than any other group, and most of those arrests are not for assaults, you can't claim they're all in jail for "cultural" (or, god forbid, "genetic") reasons. Nobody sells drugs because they are a depraved criminal who loves to see people's lives spiral into addiction. They sell drugs because they need money. You do need to be a middle class white kid to not understand what it's like to be really poor.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    15. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Oh Lord save us from liberals please! it isn't them its "the system' while ignoring there are plenty of black folks that go to school, go to college, get good jobs, open their own businesses, but hey, they are just Uncle Toms right? They ain't "keepin it real" are they? BULLSHIT.

      Hey APK, wanna know how to solve that problem? Its called a MOM...Mean Old Mutt. Go down to the pound, find your ass a big old junkyard dog, and be sure to feed his ass a burger every time he tears a new ass into a trespasser. works damned good, had the same problem when after 30 years of my mother's place, which she built from scratch and has paid for 30+ years on, had some "thug life baby yeah!" move in the apts down the road.

      Mom is scared of guns but I saw a big old stray half wolf scrounging in the ditch and said "hell there is your solution! Here buddy, want a burger?". It didn't take that big old wolf dog but about a week to figure out this was home, another week to figure out who belonged and who didn't.

      Sure enough somebody comes to steal gas from my mom's car and she hears a scream and comes running out to see a black teen hauling ass and the dog come up with a big old bloody hunk of jeans. I told her "Did you give him a burger and say good boy?" she said "Hell I gave him a full breakfast with eggs and bacon! That's a good doggie!". It didn't take long for word to get out and Old Jack took care of that place for nearly a decade. Lucky for us we got a pup from him before one day in old age he just wondered off and never came back. mom hunted for days but I told her "It was time, he went out in the woods and laid down. you'll never find him, he's gone". But now Lady, with her big blue eye and brown eye (damned pretty) does her father's job and no "thug life!"ers come round there no more.

      So get your ass down to the pound APK and get yourself a mean old mutt. you'll be saving a damned fine animal, and protecting your property at the same time. Couldn't be cheaper, just some shots and let 'em have some scraps and they'll fight to the death to protect what's yours. Ain't nothing more territorial than a mutt. Trust Da feet APK, I know of which I speak.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    16. Re:Flash Mobs Are Nerd News Now???? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      These curfews are because a lot of kids do cause problems that late.

      No matter what you do like this you're going to see more and more of these problems. The only way to fix it is to eliminate basic inequalities in our society. Since our society is generally designed to create inequality, that's not going to happen until it falls. Our culture is therefore designed to fall.

      The curfew is not enforced racially, for the record.

      As long as the police have the right of selective enforcement, and they very much do, I cannot believe in equality. There WILL always be bias.

      no matter what the reasoning, innocent people shouldn't be hospitalized and stores and delis shouldn't be destroyed.

      ...and innocent people should not be incarcerated, even in their homes.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Re:land of the free. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "There is no excuse for young people to be able to participate in coordinated, violent behavior if parents are doing their job. It is your responsibility, not the government's, to watch your kids."

    There is no excuse for Philly police to be unable to catch coordinated, violent criminals, no matter what size the criminals are.

    What if the parents are responsible and little Johnny has shown enough maturity to stay out late without a helicopter mom hovering nearby?

    In the land of the free, I guess it's a crime to be out after 10 PM.

  3. Uh... by DavidTC · · Score: 2

    ...everyone is aware that's not what a 'flash mob' is, right?

    There are law enforcement issues issues with 'flash mobs', specifically, they work very well as a pre-scheduled distraction for the police, and can even be used for help with escape.

    At some point, I suspect that will happen, that some bank robber wearing a clown outfit will actually escape into a flash mob of clowns, and everyone participating in the flash mob will be charged as an 'attractive nuisance', which is legal speak for 'behaving so stupidly that you make the job of criminals easier', and this whole 'flash mob' thing will die out, or at least the anonymous ones.

    However, thugs that know each other, coordinating an attack via text messages, is not a 'flash mob'.

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
    1. Re:Uh... by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 4, Informative

      In Philadelphia, a flash mob is literally a mob of disenfranchised, angry youth rioting violently for a short amount of time. They run through stores destroying things, they beat people up, they carjack people for a block, hundreds of these kids (if not pushing 1000 sometimes). They are quite literally flash riots.

    2. Re:Uh... by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/171638/20110629/philadelphia-flash-mob-2011.htm As a source (but I'm from there and know this personally to be true as well)

  4. Re:The Man by dietdew7 · · Score: 2

    Not many Republicans running Philly.

  5. Re:The Man by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's all the Tea party's fault? Come on, you've got the wrong narrative here. The "flash mobs" are African-Americans, and this new enforcement is just racism. Philadelphia is a highly liberal area. Of course, the idea that liberals are using the thug police to oppress African-Americans is bound to cause some cognitive dissonance, but it's nothing that reading some Marx won't cure.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  6. Local source by shoehornjob · · Score: 2

    Because the second link was a bit light on information and the NY Times still seems to think that dumbass John Street is still the mayor of Philadelphia I give you the local source. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/126902753.html it really was a shame what they did to one of those guys but this is hardly a flash mob. What somone had a cell phone and all of a sudden it's "News for Nerds"? Please. I don't even live in Philadelphia (anymore) and I know it's not safe to walk around downtown at 10:00PM. Brotherly Love my ass.

    --
    "We are just a war away from Amerikastan. When god vs god the undoing of man." Dave Mustaine
  7. Re:The Man by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

    See folks, as our economy declines into a Third World one - no thanks to the Republicans and the TEA Party - we're going to see more civil unrest.

    Which would, presumably, explain why the Democrat government of Philadelphia decided to impose a curfew and then to enforce it?

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  8. Who just happen to be black by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Informative

    Google black flash mob and you'll see this is becoming a more frequent and frightening phenomenon. The one previous to this was at the Wisconsin State Fair. Here's the link if you think I'm lying http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/126828998.html

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  9. Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by The+O+Rly+Factor · · Score: 5, Informative

    As a Philadelphian, I can vouch that a flash mob in Philly is not the same thing as a flash mob that you see on AT&T advertising campaigns. While a flash mob may make you think of a bunch of people dancing in unison to some obscure pop culture reference in a large public area, a Philadelphia flash mob is a band of nearly feral minority teenagers whose parent wants to get their drink on and expels them for the night from their section 8 houses in North Philadelphia. They then flood down in droves to the Center City business district and Old City/South Street area, where they attack people at random.

    I am sorry if that comes off as bitter and slightly racist. I was involved in one of these on South Street a few months ago...the fear you feel is absolutely indescribable when you realize that kids as young as 10 were raised in a way where they feel assaulting and robbing people at random is an acceptable Saturday night activity.

    1. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by insertwackynamehere · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think it comes off as racist. Only on the internet, where racism has taken a meaning of pointing out problems within a certain community, would it be considered racism. Back in the real world, you pretty much described what a Philly flash mob is and likely what a good part of the reason is that they occur, specifically with poor black youth. It's not racist, it's a depressing reality: the majority of a flash mob (if not the entirety) is poor and black for a reason and not by chance. It's because of these issues that the black community in Philadelphia is dealing with: being raised by no one except some sociopath who was also raised by no one, to bash heads and snatch wallets.

      The school system is falling apart meanwhile, we've got a string of terrible superintendents, teachers laid off, when I was in high school 5-9 years ago, there were schools known to be absolute hell holes (I went magnet, my neighborhood school would have probably led to my death) and even now some of these kids apparently were on their way to college but they decide to just participate in this violence? There is clearly something at work here, but that being said there is also no excuse for violence, none of the "white people deserve to get bashed" internet rage is appropriate, especially when most people posting it are white but super far removed from anything close to this because they live in some rich suburb in their parent's house and then act like white people in an urban environment are spoiled children for complaining about these sorts of things.

    2. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by quickgold192 · · Score: 2

      It wasn't racist until you apologized for being racist - you never actually mentioned race. However the assumption that "nearly feral minority teenagers" and "section 8 housing" refers to a specific race might be racist. (I live in the deep south, where white people are just as poor as minorities, so I imagined these flash mobs as white kids until you said otherwise.)

    3. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is not a Philly problem, this is a global problem. The UK has had feral humans like this for many years, we called them Chavs.

      Society is failing to teach parents to be responsible, which is letting feral kids into the systems which disrupts educating everyone else. Until society steps up and starts taking care of the poor and helping them out of their situations, we're going to see increasing numbers of these type of people. There will always be terrible parents who let their kids run wild, but those kids can be taken care of by law enforcement, the thing society needs to do is encourage the kids around them to see them as the scum they are, not as a pack leader. As a kid everyone (yes, even you who will claim not to) followed some other kid to do something they shouldnt, be it vandalism or just stealing someone's toy for a few minutes, we have to understand this mentality and rescue kids from following the wrong role models.

      We need to move beyond the 80s mentally of ME ME ME and move back to a Noblesse oblige society, where the ultra rich don't spend millions on shit they will never use and instead give back to the people and places they stepped on to get where they did. I'm sure many will cry foul and I'm talking liberal bollocks, but society is failing these people on a fundamental level, either they are living in slums and forming packs with other "dregs of society" or they are being neglected by their parents and need to be rehomed with someone more suitable to raising a child and neither of these things come for free and it's time for the super rich to come to terms with reality and not just their warped care free existance and 15 face lifts a week reality.

    4. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by couchslug · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There is a reason that doesn't happen much in States where it is a reasonable presumption that many potential targets are armed.

      The LA riots happened in LA because there was no serious armed opposition except for a very few armed citizens. The reason they didn't spread to the South (excepting a few minor incidents) is that citizens are ready and eager to waste anyone threatening their safety.

      "when you realize that kids as young as 10 were raised in a way where they feel assaulting and robbing people at random is an acceptable Saturday night activity."

      I wasn't raised to think that gunning them down is an inappropriate response. A child soldier in Africa can kill you as dead as an adult militiaman/woman.

      None of this is new. This guy fought back and survived:

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

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    5. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by LoRdTAW · · Score: 3, Informative

      ...and even now some of these kids apparently were on their way to college but they decide to just participate in this violence?

      Its part of growing up in the hood. You either fit in with the wolf pack or become prey. Many of those kids do want to get the fuck out of their situation but they have choice but to live with the rest of the dreck. So when a kid trying to be good is asked by his thug friend to go out, he goes and does whatever he can to fit in. Otherwise he will be called a pussy and get his ass beaten (or even killed) on a daily basis.

        I remember a mini spurt of wilding one day after school while walking to the bus station. I was walking down when one kid comes running across the street with a big chunk of concrete. I thought I was a goner but it turns out he hurled it through the back window of a parked mini van right in front of me. The group of youths he was with proceeded to cheer and smash a few other car windows on the block. Then they all took off running. This was in broad daylight in front of dozens of other school kids.

      I always find that the first whites to call someone a racist are (as you said) far removed from inner city life. They never went to a high school (that was in a bad neighborhood) where they were the only white person in class. They never walked through a bad neighborhood to a friends house and get mugged at gun point by four black youths. They never witnessed a gang of eight youths beating one helpless kid to the point that he had to go to the hospital. Fuck those people.

      I am white and I went through this kind of crap. I was mugged a few times on my way to school during my freshman year (all of the muggers were black teens). After that year, the muggings stopped only because I think the police presence was jacked up in that area. I reported every incident to the school, they work with the police on the report.

      Growing up with no money and considered a boat anchor sized nuisance by your own parents (usually a single mother with 3+ kids) who turns you loose to get their fuck/crack/drink/whatever on does not produce well behaved members of society. They are literally wild animals. Never loved or taught right from wrong and never learned about consequences. They fear nothing. Some make it through that mess but they are few and far between.

      If you want an idea of how bad it gets for poor minority youths, watch the TV show called "The First 48" (Its on A&E). Its a reality cop show based on a few homicide units in various cities. Most of the cases involve black youths and adults senselessly murdering one another over NOTHING. You see the shit conditions they live in and how their parents or lack thereof shaped their short and hellish lives. Its terrible.

    6. Re:Philly Flash Mob != Flash Mob by Simon80 · · Score: 2

      Haven't you heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment? Most of us are pretty wild by nature, so this is most definitely a nurture problem.

  10. One fine summer day... by Joe+U · · Score: 2

    I remember back when I was 17. I would think to myself, "If only there was a time of year where there was no school and I could get a job to earn some extra cash."

    I hope one day future generations could have some kind of vacation in the summer where they could work to earn extra money, even if it involves the occasional late shift.

  11. Problems... by MaWeiTao · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We can talk about rights all we want, but the fact here is that what we're experiencing here is the criminal element stripping our rights away. Being unable to safely walk somewhere late at night constitutes a loss of freedom. The problem is that Americans are so used to this sort of garbage that they don't even see the problem. But I lived overseas where I could walk the streets at 3am without a care in the world. It wasn't that crime was non-existent but it didn't factor into normal routine. Sketchy neighborhoods were rare.

    But the problem here is that American law enforcement is reactive, not proactive. The approach taken to crime is similar to how oppressive regimes keep sectarian conflict in check: oppression. I don't mean that Americans practice anything nearly that severe. What I mean is that they address problems with aggressive tactics; increased police presence, more arrests, etc. That only addresses the symptoms and once they're gone the problems return. And making matters worse is that this approach dehumanizes police offices, it turns them into this faceless force. They don't interact nearly enough with communities. They should patrol on foot, not in police cars.

    However, the real problem are parents. Too many parents have abrogated their responsibilities. They don't care what their kids are doing, because if they did that kid wouldn't be out on the streets in the middle of the night. So, the responsibility ends up being foisted on the government. And what the government decides isn't always in the best interests of the citizens, especially when they're looking for quick results. Those quick results are effective over the current election cycle, but they never address the long term problems.

    But the fact is the United States is suffering from serious cultural issues that perpetuates things like crime. Those need to be addressed properly, but honestly, I don't know see who could disagree with the benefits of enjoying safer streets, less vandalism, etc. But I suppose it's the tendency for Americans to want to stick it to the man, to the point of being irrational about it.

    1. Re:Problems... by brit74 · · Score: 4, Informative

      > But I lived overseas where I could walk the streets at 3am without a care in the world... But the fact is the United States is suffering from serious cultural issues that perpetuates things like crime.
      I think it depends on where you are. As a tourist, you're probably travelling in safe places - in part because dangerous places aren't the places that get a lot of tourist traffic. (I know, for example, that the tourist areas of Mexico are generally safe, but Mexico has a lot more problems with crime, drug cartels, and 3-4x the homicide rate than the US.) Also, you might be perceiving the US as very dangerous thanks to news reports, while you're judging other countries based on personal experience.

      Assaults (per capita) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_ass_percap-crime-assaults-per-capita
      # 1 South Africa: 12.0752 per 1,000 people
      # 6 United States: 7.56923 per 1,000 people
      # 7 New Zealand: 7.47881 per 1,000 people
      # 8 United Kingdom: 7.45959 per 1,000 people
      # 9 Canada: 7.11834 per 1,000 people
      # 10 Australia: 7.02459 per 1,000 people
      So, you're only 1%-8% more likely to be assaulted in the US than you are in New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and Australia.

      Burglaries (per capita) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_bur_percap-crime-burglaries-per-capita
      # 1 Australia: 21.7454 per 1,000 people
      # 3 Denmark: 18.3299 per 1,000 people
      # 4 Estonia: 17.4576 per 1,000 people
      # 5 Finland: 16.7697 per 1,000 people
      # 6 New Zealand: 16.2763 per 1,000 people
      # 7 United Kingdom: 13.8321 per 1,000 people
      # 8 Poland: 9.46071 per 1,000 people
      # 9 Canada: 8.94425 per 1,000 people
      # 17 United States: 7.09996 per 1,000 people
      You're quite a bit less likely to have a burglary in the US than you are in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, the UK, Poland, or Canada.

      Total crimes (per capita) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita
      # 2 New Zealand: 105.881 per 1,000 people
      # 3 Finland: 101.526 per 1,000 people
      # 4 Denmark: 92.8277 per 1,000 people
      # 6 United Kingdom: 85.5517 per 1,000 people
      # 8 United States: 80.0645 per 1,000 people
      # 9 Netherlands: 79.5779 per 1,000 people
      # 11 Germany: 75.9996 per 1,000 people
      # 12 Canada: 75.4921 per 1,000 people
      # 13 Norway: 71.8639 per 1,000 people
      The US ranks in the same ballpark as these other countries when it comes to total crimes per capita.

      Car thefts (per capita) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_car_the_percap-crime-car-thefts-per-capita
      # 1 Australia: 6.92354 per 1,000 people
      # 2 Denmark: 5.92839 per 1,000 people
      # 3 United Kingdom: 5.6054 per 1,000 people
      # 4 New Zealand: 5.45031 per 1,000 people
      # 5 Norway: 5.08143 per 1,000 people
      # 6 France: 4.9713 per 1,000 people
      # 7 Canada: 4.88547 per 1,000 people
      # 8 Italy: 4.19755 per 1,000 people
      # 9 United States: 3.8795 per 1,000 people
      Car theft is quite a bit less common in the US than these other developed countries.

      Rapes (per capita) http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_rap_percap-crime-rapes-per-capita
      # 3 Australia: 0.777999 per 1,000 people
      # 5 Canada: 0.733089 per 1,000 people
      # 9 United States: 0.301318 per 1,000 people
      # 10 Iceland: 0.246009 per 1,000 people
      # 12 New

    2. Re:Problems... by StupidKatz · · Score: 2

      I've some problems with details in your post:

      1. The "criminal element" isn't stripping any rights away. (Rights can't be taken away, either, only infringed upon; if they can be taken away, they're called privileges.) If anyone, it's law enforcement that is infringing upon rights. Now, if you were referring to law enforcement agents as criminals, then I stand corrected. :)

      2. The crime problem in America is not due to a flaw in law enforcement, but due to the ignorance and laxness of the population in general. Through court cases such as Warren vs DC and Gonzales vs Castle Rock, the government has explicitly disavowed any responsibility for any particular person's wellbeing. Whose responsibility is it then? The individual's. After decades of work, laws are finally starting to reflect reality, particularly in places like Alaska, Arizona, and Wyoming.

      3. Yes, the parents have shirked responsibility. However, the enabler here is often government, in that through "free" housing, schooling, food, such irresponsible behavior is encouraged. All else being equal, whatever is taxed is discouraged, while whatever is subsidized becomes more commonplace. Aside from welfare in Section 8, another example of "bad parenting" that was only possible due to government subsidation was the Yearning for Zion Ranch, where many of the young mothers were receiving government money to make up for the shortfall the of the polygamous husbands. Take away the subsidation and the situation would largely go away all by itself.

      Lastly, as pertains to the article, collective punishment is a slap in the face at best to any free person. If someone is found to have committed a crime, after due process is followed, PUNISH THAT PERSON.

  12. Re:land of the free. by Luckyo · · Score: 2

    So, on one hand you want to be free, complain about the curfew as well as police having ability to enforce it.

    On the other hand, you want police to take care of child criminals, absolving parents from responsibility.

    Have you ever heard a saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too"?

  13. it's about class, not race by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the same things happen in other parts to the world, and it's not black kids doing it, it's poor kids doing it

    the POVERTY is the issue, not the race

    it's just revealing to me to see the right constantly falling into race based thinking, rather than class based thinking

    it reveals the right doesn't understand the problems you create when you push social policies that create a large poor under class, rather than policies that support the growth of the middle class

    the right pushes policies that makes people poor, and then they see poor people doing things because of their lame policies

    and yet, they don't think "poor kids did this and that", they think "black kids did this and that"

    very revealing

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:it's about class, not race by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Interesting

      if i recall correctly, african americans were brought here as slaves, and have been excluded from fair economic participation, on a horrible scale, just up to 50 years ago, not to mention lingering prejudice, like yours. and i think you want to deny that history leaves lasting effects

      you want to see race as the cause, when history, economics and class are clearly the cause. if you were intelligent, you would see this

      it is always the dumbest losers who are racists. so, in one regard, i kind of agree with racist eugenics principles: improve the gene pool, but not by killing people based on skin color or religion, but instead kill people based on their support for racist policies. because there is no better way to identify a low iq person than to hear someone say something racist

      in other words: if you kill all the racists, in any society in the world, the iq of society jumps massively

      so what do you think about that modest proposal to improve the gene pool, scumbag?

      (snicker)

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    2. Re:it's about class, not race by circletimessquare · · Score: 2

      the fact is that what you see is because of class. the lie is that it is because of race

      proof: you can see the same phenomenon in any other city in the world. and it's always the poor people doing this. the constant is poverty, not race

      of course, race and class often overlap. mainly because of the prejudiced policies of racists, and the historical lingering effects of the overt racist policies of the grandfathers of the racists

      people on the right push social policies that mean a larger underclass of poor people. and when they see the inevitable effects of their policies, they, amazingly, see race as the cause

      typical, and stupid

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  14. it's not an american problem by circletimessquare · · Score: 2

    it's a problem with poverty

    the overseas places you are talking about are rich places. there are also rich places you can walk around at 3 am in the usa

    go to the favelas in rio, the slums outside mumbai or manila or cairo or nairobi, and you tell me again criminals running roughshod over your rights is some sort of american phenomenon

    ridiculous

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  15. Re:land of the free. by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Except that those are two different scenarios. On one hand, they don't want police enforcing a curfew. On the other hand, they want police to take care of the few people that actually commit crimes. The latter has little to do with the former.

    --
    Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
  16. The forgotten generation. by mosb1000 · · Score: 2

    It bugs me the way older generations seem to expect young people to stay at home all day, and then think it strange when the go out and do these sort of things. This is a time when people are trying to make a name for themselves and decide who whey will become, people who want to be spineless, worthless stackers will sit at home and watch TV, but there are a lot of people who want more than that for themselves, and when this is the only real option they have, it's what they turn to.

  17. Re:Unnecessary cost by copb.phoenix · · Score: 2

    Junior, West Virginia, a city so small it gets missed on a lot of maps, has a curfew law for everyone under the age of 21. Though not part of the curfew, usually suspicious vehicles or individuals are checked out quickly at night. Efforts to strike it down (all one of them that I've been told) failed.

    The reason is that Junior has a problem with backwoods drug manufacturing and dealing. Like, massive, to the point that regular night time trafficking and drug use were becoming a safety issue for the entirety of the small town. Most people not on the main drag there are actually in the lower bracket of what we consider middle-class ~ around $17000 a year salary gross, but large when it only takes a steady $6000 to live in a rented home in the entire county, and often less.

    The people being criminals were the richest people in town. They were not black. (other arguments on this story)

    Worse still that the county seat recently had some of the cops outed, for what I'm told is complicity with the local drug market. Basically everyone and their brother has their hands up in that crap, and it's pretty harsh if you ever get tied up with it. These big cities should at least be grateful it's out in the open where it can be addressed.

  18. Re:The problem isn't poverty by mosb1000 · · Score: 2

    You're wrong about one thing. It isn't their fault people have been giving them shit for free their whole lives. And when someone gets something for free, they naturally learn to expect it. Their expectations are completely rational and warranted as a result. The social programs are at fault, and the recipients of the social services are as much victims of system as anybody. We never should have expected a different result form the individuals involved.

  19. Re:Curfew? Don't be daft. by Vegeta99 · · Score: 2

    If you're under 18 in the US, that's illegal in pretty much every state, unless you're in some exception, like working for your parents or yourself...

  20. I am forced to agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I live in a neighborhood that's going through that kind of thing & I am also in process evicting some blacks from properties I own for being late on payments and destroying my property piece by piece, as well as trespassing & attempted robberies of my neighbors' homes too in this particular property.

    They called me a "cracker m'f'er" when I told them to move their things from that home's basement (not in rental agreement, was just a nicety I offered), & EVEN threatened me while I was on the phone with "911" saying:

    "I am going to f up your shit" and "I am going to f you up"

    (How STUPID can you be? This occurred while I am on the phone with 911 & this is being recorded by the police while it happened... I could not believe it! My neighbors to that property also heard & witnessed to the same thing, calling 911 as well. Nothing was done because it's a "civil matter").

    Then, they destroyed a garden of mine in "retaliation" (to which I followed my attorney's instructions to the letter, called the police & filed a report for felony criminal mischief). This was expected by my attorney in fact, I did not think it would happen. It did. He has experience here. He has the report filed & is filing/pressing criminal mischief felony charges.

    They took off for days now, & have not been back in fact.

    (I.E.-> Once they were spotted wrecking my gardens, they yanked their air conditioners & ran it seems thusfar!)

    The city marshall came by today and posted the eviction notices on the property, etc./ et al, & told me:

    "Get them out as fast as you can, you have a nice place here".

    He was a nice man. All the police have been thusfar and told me pretty much the same. They also tell me that landlord-tenant laws ties their hands and they would have removed them if not for that.

    See, the same officers showed up as before who filed the report when one of the "children" of the tenants was caught by myself breaking into another place I own, as well as my finding out he had done the same to a neighboring home also, and attempted to do so to yet another neighbors' home as well.

    This prompted child protective services calls on the advisement of the police for a "lack of supervision" (as well as child abuse because I hear them getting beaten quite regularly as well). I don't mean little spankings either, I mean full blown BEATINGS (I can hear them screaming from another residence in fact).

    Still, what bothers ME the MOST?

    Well - My hands are tied, and I cannot use "other means" to stop them, until the eviction court date, as they destroy things in retaliation and I am not allowed to do anything DIRECTLY about it.

    That, is bullshit.

    I told the police if anything were to happen here, in them attempting to attack my person (with others they know also most likely), then, I would have to 'defend myself to the fullest extent' & they said "Feel free to do so" (clearly meaning they know what I am dealing with and what I would like to do in response).

    My entire neighborhood wants them gone in fact, and are heading into court with me on the date of it soon... I am also pressing felony criminal mischief charges, but it's a shame I cannot do to they what they are doing to my properties & getting away with it (destroying things). I am not kidding. They do it, get away with it, & until that court date? My hands ARE TIED.

    It's total bullshit.

    APK

    P.S.=> So, as you can see? Well - I am with you, 100%, from REAL EXPERIENCE, right now, hairyfeet... it's happening around me right now as I write this to you. I am fully insured thank goodness at least and all the property & taxes are paid up in full, so, the police are more than willing to help & park their vehicles here now not even a few feet away from the properties in fact @ night... it's insane!

    Now, I know what I'd LIKE to do, to stop this, but the law ties my hands, the police's hands, & even child protective services' hands (

  21. Re:Answer these questions for me please by PCM2 · · Score: 2

    1.) How come neighborhoods blacks live in become run down, crime ridden, & drug infested hell holes most every time (from what I have seen around here that is certain)?

    They become run down because black neighborhoods are marginalized by the political process (think gerrymandering). They also become run down because they are poor (think property taxes). They become crime ridden and drug infested because the people who live there are poor, have few opportunities, and can find no way to escape (think Detroit).

    2.) How come whites came to this nation & fluorished by comparison largely (creating the nation of the USA in all its greatness, yes, even now)??

    Are you out of your mind? Whites "fluorished" because they built this nation on free slave labor. Blacks came to this nation in chains. You see the difference, yes?

    3.) Explain what is here then:

    Really? You expect me to explain what's on a site called "Niggermania.net"? Explain your racism and ignorance yourself, because I have no excuses for you.

    Now - You complain of slavery, but the africans themselves also sold their own people as slaves

    You are an ignorant racist. Learn your history.

    Well, they tried to rob my & my neighbors' home, destroyed properties of mine when I notified I am evicting them (going on now in fact), & more (calling me "cracker m'fer" & more etc.) as well as threatening my life & properties... apk

    And if it was a white guy who tried to rob you, what "them" would you be talking about? Your life is a tragic case, all right ... seek counseling for your rage issues, then educate yourself.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  22. Re:You're trying to blame others (poor tactic) by PCM2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Dude, you're arguing with the most trollingest troll ever. This guy is a dyed in the wool moron who will respond to your ever post with an incoherent mixture of words and meaningless punctuation. Sorry man but YHBT.

    I know it, and I'm pretty much stopping now, but you know... there's just certain things that I don't feel you should let slide. I'm not trying to convince this guy of anything. I'm trying to let him make a fool of himself. Whether he's a troll or not, his bullshit stays on /. forever. I'd rather his legacy be looking like a clown than helping make /. the kind of place where racists can come to get their rocks off. There are plenty of sites for that.

    (And troll-dude, FWIW, I've posted a couple GNAA trolls myself in my time -- funny ones, too -- but this kind of racist horseshit crosses a line. It's not funny, it's just dumb.)

    --
    Breakfast served all day!