My God, you are an idiot.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

You act as if the presence of anarchist and related groups at these types of events (e.g., G8 meetings) is just a coincidence.

I would posit the presence of insider traders at investment banks is not a coincidence. It's where the money is.

What's your point?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

The cops didn't really have much of a choice. They were trying to deal with the situation, but those guys are FAST.

Hmmm. I see. Cops can't catch up, so they arrest someone else first.

One of the good things Bratton did in Boston was put cops on bikes. It's worth a try.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

You are being ridiculous.

I can't say this any clearer than I have. When large groups of people get together for a period of time, there is an escalated risk of bad shit happening.

You are being ridiculous. You throw around pretexts like public health for suppressing political speech, when there is not a single documented case of disease down there that I've seen. If the First Amendment means anything, it's that the government cannot suppress people who are assembling peacefully to engage in political speech on trumped, bogus pretexts like notional "public health" and "public safety" concerns. As you point out, tens of thousands of people regularly get together to watch football games (e.g.) without problem, and with a police presence designed to apprehend real troublemakers but not end the gathering.

If there are public health problems, authorities can solve them by addressing the public health problems. Bring in Porta Potties. If there are public safety issues, authorities can solve them by arresting the people who are acting out.

It is just astonishing to me that someone who calls himself a conservative would be so willing to piss away the First Amendment, but I guess the cultural resentments you have for the sorts of people who are protesting down there are pretty strong.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

The reports and interviews I saw were from local mom/pop merchants in SF (on Market).

I have great sympathy for those merchants in SF, but of course they have those problems with homeless people in SF *all* the time. This is like saying that we should ban cars because some people are bad drivers.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

Some of them are not, apparently, which is why they are shitting/urinating in the street.

Originally Posted by sgtclub

Of course it wasn't a preponderance. But it was a significant enough of a number to be concerning from a safety standpoint. They were generally running through the streets breaking shit.

Originally Posted by sgtclub

I can't say this any clearer than I have. When large groups of people get together for a period of time, there is an escalated risk of bad shit happening.

I don't really want to join this debate, I just want to congratulate you for using "shit" three different ways in three near-consecutive posts.

One wonders, how long can this discussion of shit go on before Atticus is compelled to return to this board?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

Large groups of people aggregated together for whatever purpose are inherently more of a risk.

Do you feel this way about megachurches?

[sgtclub]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

You are being ridiculous. You throw around pretexts like public health for suppressing political speech, when there is not a single documented case of disease down there that I've seen. If the First Amendment means anything, it's that the government cannot suppress people who are assembling peacefully to engage in political speech on trumped, bogus pretexts like notional "public health" and "public safety" concerns. As you point out, tens of thousands of people regularly get together to watch football games (e.g.) without problem, and with a police presence designed to apprehend real troublemakers but not end the gathering.

It's not a pretext at all, but whatever.

People do not regularly get together in large groups without incident. Have you ever been to a Raider game? I've never been to one without incident.

I have no problem whatsoever with requiring the protestors to get a permit and to abide by the permit. If the permits are not issued or are issued on unreasonable terms, that would be a problem for me.

It is just astonishing to me that someone who calls himself a conservative would be so willing to piss away the First Amendment, but I guess the cultural resentments you have for the sorts of people who are protesting down there are pretty strong.

I'm not a conservative, but I am an ardent supporter of free speech. Say whatever the fuck you want, wherever you want, to whomever you want. Assembly is different to me (and to 250 years of jurists in this country).

I have no issue with the protestors, other than I think they are generally stupid. "We want jobs, so lets fuck with commerce. That'll show em."

[sgtclub]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Do you feel this way about megachurches?

Yes, but in a different way. There is nothing more abhorrent to me than religion, other than religion in large doses.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

The caricature you have of me in your mind is very amusing.

You get what I'm mocking, right? So far you've reported that one (or more?) person in LA shat on a wall, and concluded a public safety issue from that. And one (or more?) business person in SF, from which you seems to have concluded that small businesses in three cities are being killed.

Tell me that people in LA were getting sick if you want to make the case for public health issue. Tell me that businesses in LA are suffering if you want to use that as a reason for police action there.

People shit outside in cities all th time, inidividual small business bitch about anything and everything, and what happens in one city can't necessarily be generalized to others.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

Now I know why Sebby gets so frustrated with you. This isn't a law school exam or the LSAT and we aren't talking about nuns. I would posit that it is very rare for large groups of people to get together and there NOT to be an issue of some sort. We are animals.

It's clear that you either have a bleaker view of humanity than I, or a bleaker view of this set of humanity.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

You act as if the presence of anarchist and related groups at these types of events (e.g., G8 meetings) is just a coincidence.

For the vast majority of the participants, it is.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

The cops didn't really have much of a choice. They were trying to deal with the situation, but those guys are FAST.

Again, what are the cops trying to achieve? Are they trying to arrest the troublemakers or protect property?

Because I think they can do the latter without arresting everyone else. But that might require not accomplishing the former.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by sgtclub

Yes, but in a different way. There is nothing more abhorrent to me than religion, other than religion in large doses.

Do you like anybody?

[sgtclub]

Originally Posted by Adder

You get what I'm mocking, right? So far you've reported that one (or more?) person in LA shat on a wall, and concluded a public safety issue from that. And one (or more?) business person in SF, from which you seems to have concluded that small businesses in three cities are being killed.

Tell me that people in LA were getting sick if you want to make the case for public health issue. Tell me that businesses in LA are suffering if you want to use that as a reason for police action there.

People shit outside in cities all th time, inidividual small business bitch about anything and everything, and what happens in one city can't necessarily be generalized to others.

No. You have this need to condense everything down to facts in a hypo. I'm giving you examples, I'm not listing the universe of facts for you to analyze and write an answer.

There have been several rapes at these events across the country. There has been other violence. There were reports of child abuse. Look it up. Although I'm sure a majority of the protestors are peacefully assembling, there are others that are not.

And I don't want to wait for a public health problem to happen in order to for there to be action. Seriously, that is retarded.

You act as though there is a mass censorship campaign going on. The protestors in LA have been there for 2 months. They were asked to leave so the space could be cleaned (much like in Zucotti park). If they want to assemble again, get a permit and knock yourself out.

[sgtclub]

Originally Posted by Adder

It's clear that you either have a bleaker view of humanity than I, or a bleaker view of this set of humanity.

humanity in general.