George Floyd copper

This is where you're straying into conspiracy theory nonsense territory. The policing system in america is so fundamentally broken on so many levels to a degree we in the UK can't really comprehend, and more pertinently is so adamantly resistant to any kind of change, that it is impossibly to simply just reform it. There are more extreme reactions like the CHAZ over there because they are in an extreme situation at this point. The movement to defund the police isn't just lets all sack the police off and have nothing. Have a bit more respect for people's intelligence than that. What it means is instead giving the police multibillion dollar budgets and top end military gear, divert that money into things like mental health crisis support and social workers and let these people deal with issues the police shouldn't be anywhere near with a ten foot pole. That to me is a perfectly reasonable suggestion, they've just chosen a pointlessly provocative term to frame it all with.

 

The police thing in America is weird. There's all sorts of different departments like Sheriffs departments, city police, highway patrol, all with their own set ups. Seem to be run by the unions where a lot of the trouble seems to stem from with rogue cops getting away with things because of union support. I watched a hing on netflix about the American prison system where the amount of prisoners incarcerated has gone from less than a million to over two million, most of those because of reform brought in under the Clinton administration. One company made well over a hundred million dollars just from phone calls from inmates to their family. Its one weird country.

 

I may have imagined it, but I’m sure I remember reading that they also have inmates over there working on manufacturing certain goods(can’t remember what) but prisons are now a billion dollar industry. Nice little earner for Uncle Sam by the sound of it.

 

Yeah it shows that in the show, i'll have to ask my lad what it is. Only watched it the other night. Sahme we've imported their shite over here, still the best country in the world to live is here. Just keep out of the fetid shithole that is London.

 

Yeah it's so fragmented it's impossible to give them any kind of oversight. Hence why you still get loads of corruption and cops doing whatever. Cops fired for misconduct or anything bad are frequently re hired by other counties because they can pay them less, so there's no real incentive to change. Bob Kroll that runs the police union is also a dyed in the wool trumper with everything that entails. He is a proper full on loony tune that guy.

The Prison Industrial Complex is also incredibly messed up and is a big reason why so many people of colour end up in jail. There's whole towns now that rely on prisons for jobs so its almost imperative they keep those prisons busy. The thing that scares me the most is the tories we have in now are really wanting us to go that way over here. The only reason the probation service has come back under public control is because Chris Grayling is possibly the most incompetent minister to ever exist and has almost destroyed it. When you start involving the profit motive in public services, its always the service that suffers.

 

Even on blu-ray

 

so they're all anarchists?

 

still not willing to denounce those in london today that were chanting '10 german bombers', fighting with the police, making right-wing fascist signs? according to your theory, you must agree with them.

 

watch 'the 13th' on netflix if you have access.

 

That might be what i watched the other night. Excellent viewing if it is.

 

out of interest, how many countries have you lived in? from first hand experience, Scandinavia (Finland / Sweden) wins hands down.

 

Just this one, wish it had been more but i'm not that lucky. Happy to live where i am though, although if a rich Swiss widow just happens to need a new boyfriend...

 

Will do, thanks.

 

also an eye-opener and very thought provoking into relevant recent matters. have you watched 'when they see us'?

 

Is that the one with the attack on the jogger in the park? If it is then then yes, a vey thought provoking and emotional series.

 

yeh, the central park five.. harrowing story for the boys and their family. sadly, not the only case like that.

 

I'm afraid I'd be one of the people you'd have to unfriend, seeing as I agree with the A.L.M. sentiment and don't like the B.L.M. slogan. But consider it from this angle (applicable to any protest):

1) You need a short and snappy slogan for people to rally around;
2) It has to be easily chantable/shoutable and printable on handheld signs;
3) For obvious reasons you don't have the opportunity to provide footnotes explaining your slogan;
4) You don't want ambiguity which gives people an easy way in to attack you or dismiss you.

It is on this last point that I believe the B.L.M. slogan fails -- it really does beg the question "What about other lives?" It divides -- witness you and your now unfriends -- and might put off people who otherwise might be more sympathetic. Think back to all the relevant statistics Faithful Bantam has posted earlier in this thread; deaths justifiable and unjustifiable at the hands of US police happen to all races.

How about "Lives Matter" or even "Our Lives Matter"? The message remains clear, and the slogan is a lot more "bulletproof." Too late now, of course; we have the slogan we have. It is a pity though that something that could help to unify people might instead bring about greater division.

RCB

 

Yeah it's so fragmented it's impossible to give them any kind of oversight. Hence why you still get loads of corruption and cops doing whatever. Cops fired for misconduct or anything bad are frequently re hired by other counties because they can pay them less, so there's no real incentive to change. Bob Kroll that runs the police union is also a dyed in the wool trumper with everything that entails. He is a proper full on loony tune that guy.

The Prison Industrial Complex is also incredibly messed up and is a big reason why so many people of colour end up in jail. There's whole towns now that rely on prisons for jobs so its almost imperative they keep those prisons busy. The thing that scares me the most is the tories we have in now are really wanting us to go that way over here. The only reason the probation service has come back under public control is because Chris Grayling is possibly the most incompetent minister to ever exist and has almost destroyed it. When you start involving the profit motive in public services, its always the service that suffers.

 

Some of their public services like police and fire brigade in certain areas are on terrible wages. I watched Flint Town on netflix a while back and that was an eye opener as to how the townsfolk and public services are treat. Its not like over here at all.