I noted you said usually... just getting that acknowlegement out of the way from the beginning.
Although I should point out that the british cops face a different criminal element than US cops, even the british bobbies arm up when think they are going to face some serious opposition (anti-terrorist units)... and when I say "arm up," they go armed to the teeth... sub guns and all. They also put armed police on the streets in some of their regular units (usually supervisors, and as I recall they keep some pretty heavy artillery in their vehicles... though I must admit I haven't kept up on the current status of british law enforcement)
You are correct, however, that british cops don't usually carry firearms.
Yep... totally agree, except the M$ tax should not apply to a linux loaded laptop (I think you misspoke on that point). Besides, doesn't the latest Zaurus go for roughly that price?
Hmmm... full laptop versus a palmtop with a teensy weensy keyboard (yeah, yeah... I know they're for different applications... just making an inappropriate comparison).
As an ex-instructor in that discipline, I've also been hit with everything you mentioned, but there's no way in HELL I'd let someone put rounds in my direction, vest or not. Heh.. don't let any risk-management folks where you trained know that you did that... unless you want to see a simultaneous stroke/seizure/heart attack.
I'm familiar with the "trust your equipment" philosophy as far as parachutes, gas masks, etc go... but I draw the line at consciously letting someone put a round into my chest, with only a measly 1/2 inch of kevlar/spectra to stop it...
Besides, even that little "pop" as rounds goes by gives me the creepy crawlies, even in situations where I know I can't be hit (eg. down behind the butts on a rifle range).
I have been hit by a stun gun. I even tried one out on myself to see if it would be effective; I wasn't impressed. Please note: I'm not any sort of badass... the stun gun just was not effective (note: I've tried more than one model).
Empirical observation on the street bears this out... stun guns are not a great choice.
However, something else occurred to me after reading some of the responses, particularly the one that preceded yours... these might be useful for corrections officers. They cannot carry guns in jail anyway... and it might keep them from getting swarmed by a bunch of inmates (build in some protection against shivs/shanks and you'd have yourself a truly useful product).
Hmmm... I'd better go patent that...
stun guns are not that effective
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Shocking Clothing
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· Score: 5, Interesting
All this jacket is going to do is make the rapist jerk his hand back for a second... it won't knock anyone out.
Stun guns in general are a poor weapon... people that advocate them instead of more-effective weapons, typically have another agenda. You really need to hold a conventional stun gun on a major muscle group for a prolonged period of time (multiple seconds, sometimes 8-10 seconds) before you can even hope to incapacitate someone. Now, tasers are a very different animal, and slightly more effective, but they are a projectile-firing weapon (darts with wires trailing behind), and are designed to deliver a prolonged shock, at the discretion of the wielder.
Some will even shake off a taser... Rodney King was still game after getting hit twice (not to open up THAT can of worms... just making a statement on the effectiveness of the taser).
Some people push electrical weapons like they are some kind of panacea. Look, folks... there's a reason why cops still carry guns, and it's not because they refuse to use a more-effective alternative... it's because there's NO substitute.
I have to admit though... the jacket is sexy... mmmm....
First, let me thank you for writing all of that... it's rare to actually get involved in a serious discussion in this forum.
Clearly, I mixed up your stories/experience... I apologize. However, I should point out that most of my experiences with the police have been positive, even before I became a cop. That's not to say I haven't had some sphincter-tightening moments... I have... but in retrospect, I can see why the officers did what they did. Particularly after going through the training myself and understanding the legal precedents and experiences that shape their behavior, I have MUCH more empathy (I've been cuffed, held at gunpoint, etc). Now personally, I think there's no excuse for being an asshole, but that's just me; people differ.
Also, let me say I'm glad you're a member of the AMA... involved citizens with reasonable expectations and feedback are always welcome in my book. I put "cop hater" in quotation marks for a reason... I wasn't accusing you, simply remarking on your general negative impression of police officers.
As far as police oversight (which I think you were alluding to... correct me if I'm wrong), I will agree that it might be productive in some situations. HOWEVER, when it comes to lethal force scenarios, I must disagree, and so do the courts. Use of Force is judged from the perspective of a reasonable POLICE OFFICER, not from the citizen perspective... that's an important difference. The reason is simple; most citizens don't know what cops know, and are never in those situations, hence the irrelevance of their opinion to the court. That's not to say people can't grumble about it, but they can't throw a police officer in prison because it was dark, and a felon happened to have a toy gun instead of a real one (just as an example). I always want to know what people think of the police and why... yet so often it comes down to bitterness that they got caught and the other guy got away with it... sorry if I pigeon-holed you in that category undeservedly.
If you get stopped as often as you seem to, you should learn what to do and say... for a cop to take you out of your car and do a field sobriety test, he has to have suspicion that you are drunk... odor of alcohol, slurred speech, etc... this suspicion is separate and distinct from his probable cause for the initial stop (weaving). I'm sure there are books out there about this... if you're faced with bad cops, fight the power, and ALWAYS follow-up. Don't send a letter and let it go at that... meet the chief or city manager... ask to know what the resolution of the incident was... ask for a conference with the officer... but ALWAYS, ALWAYS be professional and reasonable.
BTW, as far as kids going nuts and killing kids... I completely agree with you... their parents are out to lunch.
I'm not here to indulge your adolescent military fantasies. Normally I'd tell you to go live vicariously through somebody else, but you're persistent, which I admire, so I'll bite.
First, I'll correct your misconceptions about military medicine. Most surgeons in the miltary are trained in civilian residencies, except for the output of the handful of military residencies (2-3 per service branch). That's undergrad, medical school, and FIVE years of residency. Many programs require a year of research, and end up being SIX years... minimum age 32+. Note that I'm not talking about GMO's (battalion surgeons and "flight surgeons," neither of which are actual surgeons)... who go to the field with ONE year of experience.
You betrayed your age by responding to my tongue-in-cheek CounterStrike comment... I'm glad my attempt to throw readers your age a bone wasn't totally lost on you... though it's too bad you missed the joke. Surprised to find that adults play video games? Shocked that it's not just you and your teenage friends? I've been a gamer my entire life; I was a Pac-Man/Donkey Kong/Galaxians/Gorf master before you were even born. Also, reread my post; we ran our game net on OUR OWN hardware. Misuse of Govt. Systems is a crime, particularly in a combat zone... and none of us were keen on getting that career-ending article 15.
Also, there's NO WAY I can give you ANY information about where I was deployed; I can't even tell you why, since it would amount to the same thing. Sorry, but that's just the way that particular group wanted it (if you're in the military yourself, you'll realize what I'm saying here). So yes, you DO need a security clearance to know where I was... sorry.
"Put down the real work of military personnel serving overseas?" Please... when not working, we played video games to amuse ourselves. We were in an extremely austere location, where the local sensibilities would NOT have meshed with our normal american idea of off-duty entertainment. Hence, fragging one another for hours on end in our tents was better than the alternatives. Local justice in some of those countries is pretty damned harsh, so we behaved, and amused ourselves in other ways. Deploy sometime... you'll learn to improvise, just as we did.
Finally, I've got to stand up for the contractors here... I dearly hope you were not disparaging them. I loved those guys... they freed us up to do other jobs, and kept us supplied with ordinance, food, and other materials we needed... even kept our equipment serviced... They were great, and their knowledge of local politics was a godsend. They exposed themselves to substantial risk, and they were a big help to us, so no potshots at the contractors, got it? They were there, right alongside the rest of us.
You think my post is bullshit? I really don't care what a 14yo AC who hasn't the stones to post under his real account thinks. Besides, unless you've got security clearance and NTK, I can't tell you.
Sorry, but I take the national security agreement I signed very seriously.
like cleaning everything... constantly... endlessly.
Most people who have never deployed to that region of the world don't realize that it's not sandy... it's dusty. The soil (or what passes for soil) is this lightweight, fine, adherent brown dust... that dust got into damned near everything, even closed pelican cases (don't ask me how).
It wreaked havoc on our COMM and Systems guys; they were constantly cleaning their boxen, from the servers, right on down to the Dell laptops we were using.
Even in my field (medical), we were constantly cleaing and mopping out our Operating Room (in a tent, naturally).. you could NEVER get ahead of the dust. This drove my surgeon colleagues nuts... you could pretty much count on a higher complication rate with an environment like that. When the sandstorms would roll in, forget about it.
A bunch of us ran our own private LAN between a bunch of tents; honing our 31337 CounterStrike 5killz (I tell ya, those terrorists were in deep trouble if they tried to take us on... our M4 and AWP skills would have devastated those Al-Queda noobs... ) Fortunately, our hardware was not as mission-essential as the systems/COMM types... we could afford the occasional crash (though it did hurt to lose your sweet kill ratio).
Demanding environment, alright... it's amazing our stuff worked as well as it did.
Years ago, some of the things you are describing were commonplace; thank God law enforcement is evolving. It's like any other large organization... changing attitudes takes time; shifts in the corporate culture are sometimes as slow as molassas.
Thankfully, I don't personally know ANY officers currently employed that get their jollies from beating people. Getting into fights sucks, and it's easy to get hurt. It's like an old cop taught us in my academy: "If you want, and you're enough of a smartass, you can get into a fight every single day of your career. If that's what you want, become a boxer, because you won't make it as a cop."
Let's be honest here, you could probably get a priest to swing if you baited him enough. As a cop, you will run into some real bad-asses who are capable of dealing you the beating of your career. It's only a matter of time, and the more you fight unecessarily, the quicker you'll find those people. People skills help tremendously in avoiding violent confrontations, and treating people like human beings does wonders... your mouth is the most useful tool you carry, and the most dangerous.
It's unfortunate that you got your nose broken... Personally, I've only been involved in one fight with a handcuffed suspect. The suspect apparently knew some ground-fighting, and even after he was handcuffed, almost knocked my partner out with a kick to the chin. We did not kick/beat him, but neither were we gentle in restraining him when he continued to fight us. (Until you've got the bruises we had, you cop haters can keep your "bastard cop roughing up a helpless suspect" flames to yourselves)
Anyway, wanted to offer my condolences about your nose... that kind of thing should never happen.
Nobody in this discussion has quoted a study yet... so I'm going to throw down the gauntlet here and present a website devoted to this very topic. This link is to the "publications" page, which may yield some references to digest. Start here.
I believe most people are not killers, and will never be. However, by your argument, propaganda and brainwashing are myths, fallacy, can't happen. The diet that your mind digests DOES affect you, I firmly believe that.... the question becomes "how much?"
Heheheh... I'm really laughing at the next part of your post. I'm not laughing at you, or minimizing your beef, but it's so stereotypical; tell someone you're a cop, and they always want to tell you about the last traffic tickets they got, and why they didn't deserve them. I'm sorry, but it happens so often... it's just funny.
It sounds to me like you've had some bad experiences with your local police... sorry about that. However, we have only your account of these incidents. Also, were you present with your mother each time she was stopped? Were you hanging your head out the window the entire drive, to make SURE she didn't cross over the white line, even once? On what do you base your profiling charge that your mom was mistaken for "some teenage kid" based on her car? You're making lots of accusations, with little to back them up. It's obvious you're angry... you should consider whether that angst is coloring your perception of these incidents.
Think about what you wrote... do you REALLY want cops that are NOT working hard for that next big bust? Cops that are lazy and don't give a shit? What would you rather have them do instead, traffic enforcement? You attacked cops for doing too much minor traffic enforcement... which is it? Sheesh, guy... what do you want? Looks like the police can do no right in your world.
By the way, you can spend your money on the cameras, but it's legal for cops to lie during investigation... but it's very ILLEGAL for them to do so under oath, and you may not be able to submit your tape for evidence, based on local laws regarding consent for taping; better check it out before you spend the money. Also, smugly advising them that you are "taping them" is going to get you tagged as a troublemaker.
Your attitude about this is all wrong. WHY would you attempt to confront a "bad cop" when you're at his mercy (ie. at the traffic stop)? Why would you confront your enemy where he is strong, and you are weak (to paraphrase Sun-Tzu)? If you think you're being faced with a bad cop, be polite... do whatever he asks... cooperate... don't be a ass. If you get smart, you are giving him an excuse to do what he wants to do anyway... Why oh why would you play into his hands? You've gotta be smarter about it than that.
I have been in that position, and I did exactly as I'm advising you; I got my pound of flesh later after I talked to his sergeant and chief (he pulled me over and took my license for an expired tag that wasn't). Greater satisfaction can be had by filing a citizen complaint, and embarassing the officer in front of his peers later. It frames you as a responsible, reasonable citizen, and builds cred if you happen to run into problems later. NOTHING will get you written off faster than being a disgruntled "cop hater."
The last paragraphs of your post worry me though... are you really advocating a violent uprising against the police because of a few "unjustified" traffic stops?
*snip* oversight board composed of senior representatives from DoD and the Intelligence Community, and chaired by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics). */snip*
How about some civilians or "average joe" types to be appointed to that oversight board? The composition of this "oversight" board seems to be all intel and DoD guys... a bit too much agency inbreeding there. How about a joe citizen to give some civilian "little guy" perspective?
I respect your disagreement, but I think simulated violence DOES have an effect on the susceptible mind. Some people are not born killers and others are frank sociopaths... but that vast continuum inbetween holds people who can be drawn to one extreme or the other by their environment and/or experiences.
How does the military train soldiers to kill? By having them simulate the act hundreds of times. Most people have great difficulty killing others; most cops that are forced to take a life in the line of duty leave the profession shortly thereafter... it's truly a life-changing experience, and not for the better. For most people, killing another human being is tough, and it requires practice. I've known police officers who couldn't pull the trigger... I know one who lost their life because of it.
I think you are blaming the victim when you excuse a cop killer's behavior as being due to their "bad experiences" with police officers. If you break the law, the police are required to gift you with some bad experiences. It's people who refuse to obey the law that are the problem, not the cop who is oath and duty-bound to intercede.
Most cops I've known try very hard to catch the bad guys; it can be a real thrill to lay hands on a serious felon... it makes you feel good, like you're making a difference. I think, however, that you're kicking the little guy when you blame the urban cop who's running from call to call for the department's poor response time. Most urban police officers are as busy on their shifts as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest; they are not Barney Fife hanging out at the station all day, waiting for something to happen. In big cities, the hanging-out-at-the-doughnut-shop cop myth is exactly that. Generally speaking, those departments tend to be understaffed, underfunded, and have to deal with a lot of crap, including things like 911 abuse (people who call the police to discipline their child, for instance).
I agree that video game violence is a probably a small factor, but it does encourage a certain sociopathic bent. I would equate it to mullahs in Saudi Arabia and Iran exhorting their flocks to kill americans and jews... not everybody will listen, but a significant few will...
All that said, I still disagree with the law... this should really be left to the parents.
*Sigh* as someone who has engaged in the law enforcement profession in the past, I find this offensive.
The reason there are tougher legal sanctions on people who assault/kill a law enforcement officer is because those persons are felt to be a greater threat to society.
Just as a person who coldly plans the death of another (ie. malice aforethought) is guilty of first degree murder and garners a stiffer sentence than a second-degree murderer, so a person who is willing to assault/kill a police officer is considered a great danger to society. The greater the threat to society, the harsher the sentence. It has nothing to do with cops being first or second class citizens.
Cops come third all the time... their lives rank just above that of a bad guy's, and below everyone else. The order goes like this... victims (or hostages), then bystanders, then cops, and finally, perpetrators.
That's not to say I agree with this law; I don't. I disagree with this law from a civil liberties standpoint. This is a parenting issue... If a parent wants their child to listen to Ice-T and play cop-killer video games all day long, then fine. But I expect them to STFU and hang their head in shame if some police officer has to kill their gang-banger-wannabe kid in self-defense some day, simply because he's conditioned himself to the idea that it's OK to kill a cop.
Actions. Consequences. Bad parenting has its own rewards... and punishments. While I wouldn't wish it on anyone, can you conceive a worse punishment than outliving your own children and knowing it was because of your own parental neglect? Talk about crushing guilt... As a parent, I can't imagine much worse.
Or like our impeached, perjuring, unfaithful, whitehouse-bedroom-selling, beer-goggle-wearing, etc, etc, Ex-president... It seems a bit unfair to single Bush out for your wrath; he's clearly not the worst that's ever inhabited that office.
All in all, I'd say Bush at least is making an effort to rehabilitate himself, unlike some other unnamed Presidents, who went nowhere but down.
As for politicians in general, your cynicism may not be misplaced. Money does talk, as the saying goes...
I believe you would be referring to a penetrator round, in the black or green tip.
Incendiary rounds (sometimes referred to as explosive rounds) are generally used to detonate/set fire to something, and contain a core of some energentic, explosive substance (eg. fulminated mercury). The US military issues such rounds, in the.50 BMG caliber, to Explosive Ordinance Disposal folks to clear mines and other ordinance from a distance (by inducing deflagration of the explosive contents of said ordinance). Incendiary rounds are distinctly different from armor-piercing (AP) rounds, and are likely to be less effective on hardened targets, at least as compared to AP.
To penetrate any substantial thickness of steel, a higher velocity round is typically required... preferably with a hardened steel penetrator at the core of the projectile. Note, however, that an AP round is not always required... a standard jacketed round of sufficient velocity will sometimes cause failure of the barrier steel through a phenomenon known as "plugging," but a hardened steel core greatly increases penetration. As a side note, armor piercing "teflon" bullets are not aided in their armor-piercing ability by their teflon coating... they are AP because of the hardened steel projectile, NOT because of the teflon. The teflon coating on such rounds acts as a barrel lubricant, and is designed to prevent the hardened steel projectile from damaging the rifling (land and grooves) inside the barrel. A standard steel-core AP round has a soft lead jacket around the steel core, obviating the need for a teflon coating.
Depending on the composition of the steel, 3/8" may well resist an incendiary 5.56 NATO round.
I've looked into those very jacks with an existing home installation I have... problem is, I want to future-proof the place as much as possible by having a clear upgrade path to gigabit ethernet (over copper... no way I'm crawling around in all the fiberglass to rewire the house with fiber).
PoE uses the unused pairs (in regular 10/100Mb ethernet) to provide the juice... gigabit over copper requires those pairs to carry data.
Sooo.. you can have PoE and use it to power those jacks (a very sexy idea, I must admit), or you can ditch PoE for the sake of future upgrade to gigabit.
I don't see a way they can coexist... anyone care to correct/enlighten me?
seems like a great idea, and a superb way to survey more of the mars surface.
Let's face it, satellites only get you so much resolution (look at the recent US military campaign)... drones and gliders have the potential to give us better pictures.
I just hope they do some rarefied atmosphere wind-tunnel testing; would be embarassing to have this thing plunge to the surface because someone was expecting an earthlike atmosphere...
Yeah, yeah, I know they'll test for it... but after that supposed metric/english conversion error... really makes you want to micromanage.
Nowhere did I claim to have a mathematical proof of anything... I simply pointed out a situation, based on personal experience, where a free benefit is derived by the copyright holder.
I DO think this practice is stupid and shortsighted, but I also pointed out that they are free to do exactly what they are doing. By the same token, however, I am free to point out the extremely obvious deficiencies in their plan, in whatever terms I choose.
I like your idea of the searchable index of lyrics... In the current situation, it might just what they need... but what DRM will they require to prevent enterprising people from grabbing that screenshot?
I can't count the number of times I've gone to a lyrics site to find a song name/title/artist based soley on a line of lyrics.
C'mon... everyone's had an old song running through their head from time to time, where they can remember only a line or two. Enter that line into any lyric site (or google with quotation marks around it), find the song, and mark it down on your "future purchases" list.
What the hell is the matter with these people? I suppose if they want to cut their own throats they're free to do so, but sheesh...
This has to be a hoax; no organization dedicated to making money can survive long with this level of stupidity.
I think I should cross that company off my list of potential providers for Defibrillators and AEDs.
He might be reformed, or he might not... but he clearly has not paid ANY of his debt to society, and his ethics are in question.
People tend to surround themselves with people of a similar stripe and philosophy (the old birds-of-a-feather argument). Just the presence of that questionable past makes me not want to do business with the company.
Who can argue that having an anti-ballistic missile system isn't a good thing? For pity sake, all you have to do is have a quick gander at the Korean Peninsula... makes me long for the Reagan SDI spending days. An insular, isolated, brainwashed and despotic regime like North Korea's (with nukes, BTW... and the ballistic missiles to deliver them) is all the reason I need to throw some tax dollars at the problem; bring it on. Deterrence only works if you are dealing with a reasonable adversary; north korea has proven to be anything but.
Will SDI have software problems? Undoubtedly... but that's what testing and retesting and retesting and retesting are for... Even if it's not perfect, it's a hell of a lot better than nothing. Let's choose; NO defense... or a semi-effective missile defense... hmmm... We live in an ugly, jealous, uneducated, demagogue-driven world, and unless some incredible global philosophical/religious epiphany occurs, peace will be achieved as it always has been; through diplomatic maneuvering backed up by superior firepower.
SDI... spend the money. Nuclear technology gets easier every year, and the US has plenty of enemies. Without some kind of missile defense, sooner or later, we're gonna need some pretty thick sunglasses.
They may get some of us, but personally, I'd like to survive long enough to deliver the counterpunch.
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my mistake... thanks for clarifying that.
I noted you said usually... just getting that acknowlegement out of the way from the beginning.
Although I should point out that the british cops face a different criminal element than US cops, even the british bobbies arm up when think they are going to face some serious opposition (anti-terrorist units)... and when I say "arm up," they go armed to the teeth... sub guns and all. They also put armed police on the streets in some of their regular units (usually supervisors, and as I recall they keep some pretty heavy artillery in their vehicles... though I must admit I haven't kept up on the current status of british law enforcement)
You are correct, however, that british cops don't usually carry firearms.
Yep... totally agree, except the M$ tax should not apply to a linux loaded laptop (I think you misspoke on that point). Besides, doesn't the latest Zaurus go for roughly that price?
Hmmm... full laptop versus a palmtop with a teensy weensy keyboard (yeah, yeah... I know they're for different applications... just making an inappropriate comparison).
You let someone shoot you while wearing a vest?
As an ex-instructor in that discipline, I've also been hit with everything you mentioned, but there's no way in HELL I'd let someone put rounds in my direction, vest or not. Heh.. don't let any risk-management folks where you trained know that you did that... unless you want to see a simultaneous stroke/seizure/heart attack.
I'm familiar with the "trust your equipment" philosophy as far as parachutes, gas masks, etc go... but I draw the line at consciously letting someone put a round into my chest, with only a measly 1/2 inch of kevlar/spectra to stop it...
Besides, even that little "pop" as rounds goes by gives me the creepy crawlies, even in situations where I know I can't be hit (eg. down behind the butts on a rifle range).
You, sir, are hardcore.
I have been hit by a stun gun. I even tried one out on myself to see if it would be effective; I wasn't impressed. Please note: I'm not any sort of badass... the stun gun just was not effective (note: I've tried more than one model).
Empirical observation on the street bears this out... stun guns are not a great choice.
However, something else occurred to me after reading some of the responses, particularly the one that preceded yours... these might be useful for corrections officers. They cannot carry guns in jail anyway... and it might keep them from getting swarmed by a bunch of inmates (build in some protection against shivs/shanks and you'd have yourself a truly useful product).
Hmmm... I'd better go patent that...
All this jacket is going to do is make the rapist jerk his hand back for a second... it won't knock anyone out.
Stun guns in general are a poor weapon... people that advocate them instead of more-effective weapons, typically have another agenda. You really need to hold a conventional stun gun on a major muscle group for a prolonged period of time (multiple seconds, sometimes 8-10 seconds) before you can even hope to incapacitate someone. Now, tasers are a very different animal, and slightly more effective, but they are a projectile-firing weapon (darts with wires trailing behind), and are designed to deliver a prolonged shock, at the discretion of the wielder.
Some will even shake off a taser... Rodney King was still game after getting hit twice (not to open up THAT can of worms... just making a statement on the effectiveness of the taser).
Some people push electrical weapons like they are some kind of panacea. Look, folks... there's a reason why cops still carry guns, and it's not because they refuse to use a more-effective alternative... it's because there's NO substitute.
I have to admit though... the jacket is sexy... mmmm....
First, let me thank you for writing all of that... it's rare to actually get involved in a serious discussion in this forum.
Clearly, I mixed up your stories/experience... I apologize. However, I should point out that most of my experiences with the police have been positive, even before I became a cop. That's not to say I haven't had some sphincter-tightening moments... I have... but in retrospect, I can see why the officers did what they did. Particularly after going through the training myself and understanding the legal precedents and experiences that shape their behavior, I have MUCH more empathy (I've been cuffed, held at gunpoint, etc). Now personally, I think there's no excuse for being an asshole, but that's just me; people differ.
Also, let me say I'm glad you're a member of the AMA... involved citizens with reasonable expectations and feedback are always welcome in my book. I put "cop hater" in quotation marks for a reason... I wasn't accusing you, simply remarking on your general negative impression of police officers.
As far as police oversight (which I think you were alluding to... correct me if I'm wrong), I will agree that it might be productive in some situations. HOWEVER, when it comes to lethal force scenarios, I must disagree, and so do the courts. Use of Force is judged from the perspective of a reasonable POLICE OFFICER, not from the citizen perspective... that's an important difference. The reason is simple; most citizens don't know what cops know, and are never in those situations, hence the irrelevance of their opinion to the court. That's not to say people can't grumble about it, but they can't throw a police officer in prison because it was dark, and a felon happened to have a toy gun instead of a real one (just as an example). I always want to know what people think of the police and why... yet so often it comes down to bitterness that they got caught and the other guy got away with it... sorry if I pigeon-holed you in that category undeservedly.
If you get stopped as often as you seem to, you should learn what to do and say... for a cop to take you out of your car and do a field sobriety test, he has to have suspicion that you are drunk... odor of alcohol, slurred speech, etc... this suspicion is separate and distinct from his probable cause for the initial stop (weaving). I'm sure there are books out there about this... if you're faced with bad cops, fight the power, and ALWAYS follow-up. Don't send a letter and let it go at that... meet the chief or city manager... ask to know what the resolution of the incident was... ask for a conference with the officer... but ALWAYS, ALWAYS be professional and reasonable.
BTW, as far as kids going nuts and killing kids... I completely agree with you... their parents are out to lunch.
Sorry, kid... but you've got a lot to learn.
I'm not here to indulge your adolescent military fantasies. Normally I'd tell you to go live vicariously through somebody else, but you're persistent, which I admire, so I'll bite.
First, I'll correct your misconceptions about military medicine. Most surgeons in the miltary are trained in civilian residencies, except for the output of the handful of military residencies (2-3 per service branch). That's undergrad, medical school, and FIVE years of residency. Many programs require a year of research, and end up being SIX years... minimum age 32+. Note that I'm not talking about GMO's (battalion surgeons and "flight surgeons," neither of which are actual surgeons)... who go to the field with ONE year of experience.
You betrayed your age by responding to my tongue-in-cheek CounterStrike comment... I'm glad my attempt to throw readers your age a bone wasn't totally lost on you... though it's too bad you missed the joke. Surprised to find that adults play video games? Shocked that it's not just you and your teenage friends? I've been a gamer my entire life; I was a Pac-Man/Donkey Kong/Galaxians/Gorf master before you were even born. Also, reread my post; we ran our game net on OUR OWN hardware. Misuse of Govt. Systems is a crime, particularly in a combat zone... and none of us were keen on getting that career-ending article 15.
Also, there's NO WAY I can give you ANY information about where I was deployed; I can't even tell you why, since it would amount to the same thing. Sorry, but that's just the way that particular group wanted it (if you're in the military yourself, you'll realize what I'm saying here). So yes, you DO need a security clearance to know where I was... sorry.
"Put down the real work of military personnel serving overseas?" Please... when not working, we played video games to amuse ourselves. We were in an extremely austere location, where the local sensibilities would NOT have meshed with our normal american idea of off-duty entertainment. Hence, fragging one another for hours on end in our tents was better than the alternatives. Local justice in some of those countries is pretty damned harsh, so we behaved, and amused ourselves in other ways. Deploy sometime... you'll learn to improvise, just as we did.
Finally, I've got to stand up for the contractors here... I dearly hope you were not disparaging them. I loved those guys... they freed us up to do other jobs, and kept us supplied with ordinance, food, and other materials we needed... even kept our equipment serviced... They were great, and their knowledge of local politics was a godsend. They exposed themselves to substantial risk, and they were a big help to us, so no potshots at the contractors, got it? They were there, right alongside the rest of us.
You think my post is bullshit? I really don't care what a 14yo AC who hasn't the stones to post under his real account thinks. Besides, unless you've got security clearance and NTK, I can't tell you.
Sorry, but I take the national security agreement I signed very seriously.
like cleaning everything... constantly... endlessly.
Most people who have never deployed to that region of the world don't realize that it's not sandy... it's dusty. The soil (or what passes for soil) is this lightweight, fine, adherent brown dust... that dust got into damned near everything, even closed pelican cases (don't ask me how).
It wreaked havoc on our COMM and Systems guys; they were constantly cleaning their boxen, from the servers, right on down to the Dell laptops we were using.
Even in my field (medical), we were constantly cleaing and mopping out our Operating Room (in a tent, naturally).. you could NEVER get ahead of the dust. This drove my surgeon colleagues nuts... you could pretty much count on a higher complication rate with an environment like that. When the sandstorms would roll in, forget about it.
A bunch of us ran our own private LAN between a bunch of tents; honing our 31337 CounterStrike 5killz (I tell ya, those terrorists were in deep trouble if they tried to take us on... our M4 and AWP skills would have devastated those Al-Queda noobs... ) Fortunately, our hardware was not as mission-essential as the systems/COMM types... we could afford the occasional crash (though it did hurt to lose your sweet kill ratio).
Demanding environment, alright... it's amazing our stuff worked as well as it did.
Yes indeed.
Years ago, some of the things you are describing were commonplace; thank God law enforcement is evolving. It's like any other large organization... changing attitudes takes time; shifts in the corporate culture are sometimes as slow as molassas.
Thankfully, I don't personally know ANY officers currently employed that get their jollies from beating people. Getting into fights sucks, and it's easy to get hurt. It's like an old cop taught us in my academy: "If you want, and you're enough of a smartass, you can get into a fight every single day of your career. If that's what you want, become a boxer, because you won't make it as a cop."
Let's be honest here, you could probably get a priest to swing if you baited him enough. As a cop, you will run into some real bad-asses who are capable of dealing you the beating of your career. It's only a matter of time, and the more you fight unecessarily, the quicker you'll find those people. People skills help tremendously in avoiding violent confrontations, and treating people like human beings does wonders... your mouth is the most useful tool you carry, and the most dangerous.
It's unfortunate that you got your nose broken... Personally, I've only been involved in one fight with a handcuffed suspect. The suspect apparently knew some ground-fighting, and even after he was handcuffed, almost knocked my partner out with a kick to the chin. We did not kick/beat him, but neither were we gentle in restraining him when he continued to fight us. (Until you've got the bruises we had, you cop haters can keep your "bastard cop roughing up a helpless suspect" flames to yourselves)
Anyway, wanted to offer my condolences about your nose... that kind of thing should never happen.
BTW, I liked your website.
Interesting... thank you for those links.
Nobody in this discussion has quoted a study yet... so I'm going to throw down the gauntlet here and present a website devoted to this very topic. This link is to the "publications" page, which may yield some references to digest. Start here.
I believe most people are not killers, and will never be. However, by your argument, propaganda and brainwashing are myths, fallacy, can't happen. The diet that your mind digests DOES affect you, I firmly believe that.... the question becomes "how much?"
Heheheh... I'm really laughing at the next part of your post. I'm not laughing at you, or minimizing your beef, but it's so stereotypical; tell someone you're a cop, and they always want to tell you about the last traffic tickets they got, and why they didn't deserve them. I'm sorry, but it happens so often... it's just funny.
It sounds to me like you've had some bad experiences with your local police... sorry about that. However, we have only your account of these incidents. Also, were you present with your mother each time she was stopped? Were you hanging your head out the window the entire drive, to make SURE she didn't cross over the white line, even once? On what do you base your profiling charge that your mom was mistaken for "some teenage kid" based on her car? You're making lots of accusations, with little to back them up. It's obvious you're angry... you should consider whether that angst is coloring your perception of these incidents.
Think about what you wrote... do you REALLY want cops that are NOT working hard for that next big bust? Cops that are lazy and don't give a shit? What would you rather have them do instead, traffic enforcement? You attacked cops for doing too much minor traffic enforcement... which is it? Sheesh, guy... what do you want? Looks like the police can do no right in your world.
By the way, you can spend your money on the cameras, but it's legal for cops to lie during investigation... but it's very ILLEGAL for them to do so under oath, and you may not be able to submit your tape for evidence, based on local laws regarding consent for taping; better check it out before you spend the money. Also, smugly advising them that you are "taping them" is going to get you tagged as a troublemaker.
Your attitude about this is all wrong. WHY would you attempt to confront a "bad cop" when you're at his mercy (ie. at the traffic stop)? Why would you confront your enemy where he is strong, and you are weak (to paraphrase Sun-Tzu)? If you think you're being faced with a bad cop, be polite... do whatever he asks... cooperate... don't be a ass. If you get smart, you are giving him an excuse to do what he wants to do anyway... Why oh why would you play into his hands? You've gotta be smarter about it than that.
I have been in that position, and I did exactly as I'm advising you; I got my pound of flesh later after I talked to his sergeant and chief (he pulled me over and took my license for an expired tag that wasn't). Greater satisfaction can be had by filing a citizen complaint, and embarassing the officer in front of his peers later. It frames you as a responsible, reasonable citizen, and builds cred if you happen to run into problems later. NOTHING will get you written off faster than being a disgruntled "cop hater."
The last paragraphs of your post worry me though... are you really advocating a violent uprising against the police because of a few "unjustified" traffic stops?
Personally, the following bugs me a little bit:
*snip*
oversight board composed of senior representatives from DoD and the Intelligence Community, and chaired by the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics).
*/snip*
How about some civilians or "average joe" types to be appointed to that oversight board? The composition of this "oversight" board seems to be all intel and DoD guys... a bit too much agency inbreeding there. How about a joe citizen to give some civilian "little guy" perspective?
I respect your disagreement, but I think simulated violence DOES have an effect on the susceptible mind. Some people are not born killers and others are frank sociopaths... but that vast continuum inbetween holds people who can be drawn to one extreme or the other by their environment and/or experiences.
How does the military train soldiers to kill? By having them simulate the act hundreds of times. Most people have great difficulty killing others; most cops that are forced to take a life in the line of duty leave the profession shortly thereafter... it's truly a life-changing experience, and not for the better. For most people, killing another human being is tough, and it requires practice. I've known police officers who couldn't pull the trigger... I know one who lost their life because of it.
I think you are blaming the victim when you excuse a cop killer's behavior as being due to their "bad experiences" with police officers. If you break the law, the police are required to gift you with some bad experiences. It's people who refuse to obey the law that are the problem, not the cop who is oath and duty-bound to intercede.
Most cops I've known try very hard to catch the bad guys; it can be a real thrill to lay hands on a serious felon... it makes you feel good, like you're making a difference. I think, however, that you're kicking the little guy when you blame the urban cop who's running from call to call for the department's poor response time. Most urban police officers are as busy on their shifts as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest; they are not Barney Fife hanging out at the station all day, waiting for something to happen. In big cities, the hanging-out-at-the-doughnut-shop cop myth is exactly that. Generally speaking, those departments tend to be understaffed, underfunded, and have to deal with a lot of crap, including things like 911 abuse (people who call the police to discipline their child, for instance).
I agree that video game violence is a probably a small factor, but it does encourage a certain sociopathic bent. I would equate it to mullahs in Saudi Arabia and Iran exhorting their flocks to kill americans and jews... not everybody will listen, but a significant few will...
All that said, I still disagree with the law... this should really be left to the parents.
*Sigh* as someone who has engaged in the law enforcement profession in the past, I find this offensive.
The reason there are tougher legal sanctions on people who assault/kill a law enforcement officer is because those persons are felt to be a greater threat to society.
Just as a person who coldly plans the death of another (ie. malice aforethought) is guilty of first degree murder and garners a stiffer sentence than a second-degree murderer, so a person who is willing to assault/kill a police officer is considered a great danger to society. The greater the threat to society, the harsher the sentence. It has nothing to do with cops being first or second class citizens.
Cops come third all the time... their lives rank just above that of a bad guy's, and below everyone else. The order goes like this... victims (or hostages), then bystanders, then cops, and finally, perpetrators.
That's not to say I agree with this law; I don't. I disagree with this law from a civil liberties standpoint. This is a parenting issue... If a parent wants their child to listen to Ice-T and play cop-killer video games all day long, then fine. But I expect them to STFU and hang their head in shame if some police officer has to kill their gang-banger-wannabe kid in self-defense some day, simply because he's conditioned himself to the idea that it's OK to kill a cop.
Actions. Consequences. Bad parenting has its own rewards... and punishments. While I wouldn't wish it on anyone, can you conceive a worse punishment than outliving your own children and knowing it was because of your own parental neglect? Talk about crushing guilt... As a parent, I can't imagine much worse.
Or like our impeached, perjuring, unfaithful, whitehouse-bedroom-selling, beer-goggle-wearing, etc, etc, Ex-president... It seems a bit unfair to single Bush out for your wrath; he's clearly not the worst that's ever inhabited that office.
All in all, I'd say Bush at least is making an effort to rehabilitate himself, unlike some other unnamed Presidents, who went nowhere but down.
As for politicians in general, your cynicism may not be misplaced. Money does talk, as the saying goes...
I believe you would be referring to a penetrator round, in the black or green tip.
.50 BMG caliber, to Explosive Ordinance Disposal folks to clear mines and other ordinance from a distance (by inducing deflagration of the explosive contents of said ordinance). Incendiary rounds are distinctly different from armor-piercing (AP) rounds, and are likely to be less effective on hardened targets, at least as compared to AP.
Incendiary rounds (sometimes referred to as explosive rounds) are generally used to detonate/set fire to something, and contain a core of some energentic, explosive substance (eg. fulminated mercury). The US military issues such rounds, in the
To penetrate any substantial thickness of steel, a higher velocity round is typically required... preferably with a hardened steel penetrator at the core of the projectile. Note, however, that an AP round is not always required... a standard jacketed round of sufficient velocity will sometimes cause failure of the barrier steel through a phenomenon known as "plugging," but a hardened steel core greatly increases penetration. As a side note, armor piercing "teflon" bullets are not aided in their armor-piercing ability by their teflon coating... they are AP because of the hardened steel projectile, NOT because of the teflon. The teflon coating on such rounds acts as a barrel lubricant, and is designed to prevent the hardened steel projectile from damaging the rifling (land and grooves) inside the barrel. A standard steel-core AP round has a soft lead jacket around the steel core, obviating the need for a teflon coating.
Depending on the composition of the steel, 3/8" may well resist an incendiary 5.56 NATO round.
Just my ballistic $.02
I've looked into those very jacks with an existing home installation I have... problem is, I want to future-proof the place as much as possible by having a clear upgrade path to gigabit ethernet (over copper... no way I'm crawling around in all the fiberglass to rewire the house with fiber).
PoE uses the unused pairs (in regular 10/100Mb ethernet) to provide the juice... gigabit over copper requires those pairs to carry data.
Sooo.. you can have PoE and use it to power those jacks (a very sexy idea, I must admit), or you can ditch PoE for the sake of future upgrade to gigabit.
I don't see a way they can coexist... anyone care to correct/enlighten me?
seems like a great idea, and a superb way to survey more of the mars surface.
Let's face it, satellites only get you so much resolution (look at the recent US military campaign)... drones and gliders have the potential to give us better pictures.
I just hope they do some rarefied atmosphere wind-tunnel testing; would be embarassing to have this thing plunge to the surface because someone was expecting an earthlike atmosphere...
Yeah, yeah, I know they'll test for it... but after that supposed metric/english conversion error... really makes you want to micromanage.
I think you misunderstood.
Nowhere did I claim to have a mathematical proof of anything... I simply pointed out a situation, based on personal experience, where a free benefit is derived by the copyright holder.
I DO think this practice is stupid and shortsighted, but I also pointed out that they are free to do exactly what they are doing. By the same token, however, I am free to point out the extremely obvious deficiencies in their plan, in whatever terms I choose.
I like your idea of the searchable index of lyrics... In the current situation, it might just what they need... but what DRM will they require to prevent enterprising people from grabbing that screenshot?
I can't count the number of times I've gone to a lyrics site to find a song name/title/artist based soley on a line of lyrics.
C'mon... everyone's had an old song running through their head from time to time, where they can remember only a line or two. Enter that line into any lyric site (or google with quotation marks around it), find the song, and mark it down on your "future purchases" list.
What the hell is the matter with these people? I suppose if they want to cut their own throats they're free to do so, but sheesh...
This has to be a hoax; no organization dedicated to making money can survive long with this level of stupidity.
I think I should cross that company off my list of potential providers for Defibrillators and AEDs.
He might be reformed, or he might not... but he clearly has not paid ANY of his debt to society, and his ethics are in question.
People tend to surround themselves with people of a similar stripe and philosophy (the old birds-of-a-feather argument). Just the presence of that questionable past makes me not want to do business with the company.
It's just incompletely developed.
Who can argue that having an anti-ballistic missile system isn't a good thing? For pity sake, all you have to do is have a quick gander at the Korean Peninsula... makes me long for the Reagan SDI spending days. An insular, isolated, brainwashed and despotic regime like North Korea's (with nukes, BTW... and the ballistic missiles to deliver them) is all the reason I need to throw some tax dollars at the problem; bring it on. Deterrence only works if you are dealing with a reasonable adversary; north korea has proven to be anything but.
Will SDI have software problems? Undoubtedly... but that's what testing and retesting and retesting and retesting are for... Even if it's not perfect, it's a hell of a lot better than nothing. Let's choose; NO defense... or a semi-effective missile defense... hmmm... We live in an ugly, jealous, uneducated, demagogue-driven world, and unless some incredible global philosophical/religious epiphany occurs, peace will be achieved as it always has been; through diplomatic maneuvering backed up by superior firepower.
SDI... spend the money. Nuclear technology gets easier every year, and the US has plenty of enemies. Without some kind of missile defense, sooner or later, we're gonna need some pretty thick sunglasses.
They may get some of us, but personally, I'd like to survive long enough to deliver the counterpunch.
it shook it off just fine.