dballance
dballance's JournalSo Why Would Zimmerman Not Necessarily Have Deserved a Swollen Nose and Bruises?
Coverage has seemed to focus on the fact that perhaps Tryavon Martin fought with Zimmerman and caused him some injuries.
Well why should Martin have NOT fought with Zimmerman? Zimmerman obviously disobeyed the instructions of law enforcement by exiting his vehicle and pursuing Martin. Zimmerman had absolutely no authority to detain or question Martin.
So any normal person who is accosted by some cop want-to-be like Zimmerman is perfectly justified in defending themselves. Why Zimmerman seems to be the only person in this situation entitled to "stand your ground" laws and Martin is labeled a criminal if he fought Zimmerman and perhaps inflicted wounds upon him baffles me. Was Martin not entitled to "stand your ground" protection?
Zimmerman may have been neighborhood watch but that does not confer any authority on him other than the right to call 911. He did that and then did exactly the opposite of what he was told to do. The 911 operators obviously know that people like Zimmerman are not trained to handle these situations and certainly have no legal authority to act in these situations.
So if Martin did react to a non-uniformed person who could not identify himself as law enforcement and approached him by getting into a physical altercation then so what? It seems very likely Zimmerman provoked any sort of altercation. I highly doubt the guy on the way home with Skittles and Iced Tea was looking for a fight. I find it much more likely Zimmerman, the guy who flunked tests to become law enforcement and was patrolling his gated community with a gun was looking to feel his penis wasn't too small.
Someone is going to have to explain to me why Martin didn't have a right to defend himself and perhaps inflict some wounds on Zimmerman.
Can I Say Again That I Remember when the NRA was About Safety, etc.
As I have posted before I remember in the early '80s when the NRA was about gun training and safety. It was a great organization.
I grew up on a farm with guns around of course and had a father who was very intent on teaching us gun safety. How to handle a deadly weapon, make sure you never point it at another person or yourself and so on.
It was the early '80s. So the NRA sponsored gun safety courses at our high school that were taught in gym class. For those kids who'd never seen a rifle, let alone touched one, it was a great thing. We had class work we had to pass and then at the end of the course anyone who passed all the tests got to go to the range. Yep, that's right. Our teachers handed high school kids real rifles with live ammo in them so we could shoot at clay pigeons.
There were at least twenty or thirty kids with rifles in their hands with live ammo. All sponsored by the NRA as I recall. But the whole situation was about how do we safely handle these weapons. Especially when there are more than one of us around in close quarters with a weapon. Yes, they did try to teach us to pay attention to what might be other hunters around us and not shoot them (take a lesson Scalia).
That was back when the NRA was still true to what I think it was founded upon. It was a badge of honor to get a certificate of completion from that gun safety course.
After LePew's paranoid, schizo rant I'm not sure who would want to be associated with the NRA now except the most extreme people now.
I'm Sick of All the Talk on TV and in Forums about the Embarrassment to Boehner
Who really cares if Boehner is embarrassed except the inside the beltway assholes and the media? There are millions out there who will lose unemployment benefits, food stamps, and taxes will be going up on everybody including those who make over $250k. People's FICA deduction will go up by 2%. This will hurt millions of US citizens and they're all talking about how embarrassing it is for Boehner to have to pull the bill.
Well too damned bad if his wittle feelings got hurt. How about getting over it and doing something for the people who elected you Boehner - and Congress?
Okay, I'm Sure i'll Get Flamed but
If we were being honest the 2nd Amendment is really not about "gun" rights. It is about preventing the tyranny of a federal government. The founding fathers were quite afraid of a federally supported "standing" army that would be used for the same sort of tyranny as the forces of the King's army.
That's why they empowered the forming of state militias in the Bill of Rights in the 2nd Amendment. It had nothing to do with gun rights really and far more to do with rights of citizens to challenge their government if they found it untenable. Guns were rather incidental to the intention of the 2nd Amendment.
It is quite a shame this original intention has become so twisted.
Apparently Scalia Missed the Whole UNANIMOUS Decision in Loving v. VA
That would be a decision made despite a lot of people had "moral" feelings opposing interracial marriage. Or Lawrence v. TX where a lot of people had "moral" feelings opposing gay sex in the privacy of one's home. You know, where the the GOP generally says it wants to limit government intrusion.
Yes, Scalia. People should be able to have moral objections to homosexuality. That is their right. But when you compare that to moral objections to murder you are wrong and evil.
Can We Just All Accept Reality? Guns Are Not Going Away.
The 2nd Amendment is the law of the land. So I support it just as I support the rest of the Constitution.
Rather than demonizing guns because of the relatively small number of people who use them in a completely horrible way perhaps we should start to think differently. Just like we think the GOP should start to think differently after their losses in the last election.
Maybe we should be really pushing for more education on how to safely use firearms when one purchases a firearm so I can stop reading the stories about idiots who shoot themselves or someone else because they forgot there was a round in the chamber or they didn't get the meaning of the word "safety" when it applies to that little switch on a gun.
Maybe we should encourage people to do a better job of keeping loaded weapons out of children's hands so I can stop reading the stories about toddlers who got their parent's weapons and accidentally fired them killing themselves.
Maybe we can do what my dad did teaching us gun safety and almost getting apoplectic when I let the barrel of a rifle point at another person. I got appropriately scolded for that. Even though pointing the rifle at another person was not intentional dad wanted to teach me to be responsible and pay attention to what I was doing with something that could maim or kill. Much like he tried to teach me to be responsible when I was learning to drive.
If we did these sorts of things I believe it would remove a lot of the arguments people use to complain about guns. That would be a good thing.
I grew up on a farm. We had guns, I hunted, I killed animals that we later ate. We did target practice with clay pigeons. There is not a thing in the world wrong with any of that.
We just need responsible gun ownership. That's all.
I Just Don't Understand Papa John, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, etc.
Lots of CEOs have said they'll be doing their best to integrate the Affordable Care Act into their business. They haven't whined about how it's going to put them out of business.
They've obviously looked at the current situation and realized in light of stupidity like Papa John's, Applebees, Red Lobster, etc. being dumb enough to come out and admit they'd rather cut the working hours of people making minimum wage rather than offer them health care for a mere 14 cents more per cardboard-like pizza is not a wise business decision. Especially since so many of their customers are people making minimum wage now and a trip to one of their restaurants is probably a treat.
People probably also realize that if those workers don't have health care or sick days then they're coming to work and serving them food they may have infected with whatever illness they have when they work while they're sick because they need the money. Well, DUH!
I have quarters floating around in my car's console that have been there for months. I bet most of the people who order from Pappa John's or go to Red Lobster do too. So 14 cents is not going to stop me from going to an establishment. Of course now, Papa John's is off my list.
When someone goes to an establishment like Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse or Applebees they know they're not going to McDonalds and they know they're going to pay more for their dinner. It's highly likely they're also going to have an alcoholic drink or two which are marked up so ridiculously I could buy a whole bottle of vodka or two for what I'd pay for a couple of drinks. So we know it costs more and still make the decision to patronize these places.
You're damned stupid to not just raise your prices to cover the cost of health care and keep your mouth shut otherwise. It's unlikely most of your customers would notice and you wouldn't have to lower your earnings forecasts because people think you're an asshole and stop patronizing your establishments.
Isn't it Interesting Some of the Most Progressive Legislation was Enacted under Repubs?
We got the interstate system and the Environmental Protection Agency under Republican administrations. We also got national parks and wetlands preserved for the people.
Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon and even Saint Reagan would be run out of their party now. They'd be called Socialists and Marxists.
It was nice when Republicans still felt the need to govern and represent the people. It's okay to have differences with the Dems. But it's not okay to bring the world to a screeching halt just because you don't get your way Boner, McConnel, Cantor, etc.
Can We Please Get Over the End of the Mayan Calendar?
Okay, so the last Mayan Long Count calendar to have been been created ends on 12/21/12. This portends the apocalypse how?
You might want to take a small reality check and realize our current calendar ends every 12 months. We generally don't worry about that welcoming in the apocalypse. Usually we just plan a drunken party, watch some stupid ball of lights descend in Times Square and buy a new calendar for the next year.
Since there are really no Mayan clergy or scientists to speak of any longer it's probably a little difficult for them to set up new Long Count calendar as they would most likely do just at we distribute all those disgusting calendars with pictures of puppies, kittens, small children and such to mark time for the next 12 months.
Stop Alerting on a Post Just Because You Disagree With It
I've served on several juries lately where it seems the person who alerted just had a disagreement with the original poster in opinion. There were no TOS violations, no insulting of other DUers or using the C-word or N-word. Just opinions by people the person who alerted disagreed with.
Get over yourselves people. Disagreeing with an opinion is not a reason to alert. It's a reason for you to make a valid rebuttal in response to their argument. If you can't do that then don't waste my time alerting as if they did something wrong.
Profile Information
Name: DaveGender: Male
Hometown: Gallatin, TN
Home country: USA
Current location: Portland, OR
Member since: Mon Nov 6, 2006, 03:59 PM
Number of posts: 5,756
