glassgowkiss

Basically some loonies here think preventing people with history of violence, mental illness or with criminal record from obtaining a firearm, somehow is infringing on your right to firearms? If you are none of that- nothing have changed for you, you can still purchase one. But on a side note, if it's your position, then please check your fucking head, because in your blind lunacy you completely lost logic and reason. Back to the topic, firearms will not help you while captured and tortured by CIA in a middle of the ocean.

And in a nutshell this is the crux of the issue. Before we as a nation start pointing fingers at others, we ought to have a good look at this country first. And the issue is simple: people here have way too casual approach to killing others. Weather it's a cop killing unarmed civilian, or CIA operative killing through torture, or a drone pilot killing someone on the other side of the world. We are slowly turning into savages.

There is no moral justification to drone attacks on foreign soil, period- unless they attack first. There is no moral justification to torture either. These methods create enemies faster then they kill them.

FW has good point. The same can be said about drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. Wonder how would US react to Canada bombing inside US, because there was some anti- Canadian terrorist group? Pakistan and Yemen are sovereign countries, on the top Pakistan is way more pro american then saudis were or ever will be. Torture discredited US in the eyes of civilized world. We stooped down to the level of North Korea. Most likely several thousands of people were killed in the process, which essentially makes us responsible for killing war prisoners. A lot of them had nothing to do with anything. As it turns out a lot of prisoners from Guantanamo had no ties to any terrorist activity, and simply were a classic case of wrong place at the wrong time.

There you have it. ISIS by doing beheadings is getting a job done. They need to send a message. At least they are open about it. Torture produced zero usable intel.

Don't get me even started on drones, it's as barbarous as the torture and ineffective. Actually, very effective way to turn more people against us. I am with you on that one 100%. However these guys act with impunity, because they know perfectly well nobody will ever prosecute these crimes. And why are Saudis considered such an ally? While we are condoning ISIS for beheading 3 people, Saudis beheaded 18 people, and it's supposed to be OK?

Hero?-not The question is what now? Why isn't the Justice Department investigating? This is one of the dark chapters in US history. We have former public officials going live on TV, and there is no judicial action to prosecute these assholes. No doubt people died on 9/11. However how does it justify torture? And what is the future of CIA? After all, they did not prevent 9/11, now this! Is this what really this country stands for? US signed in 1988 a Convention and senate ratified it in 1994. It clearly states that we agree to: “international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of tortures (by) relying on so-called ‘universal jurisdiction,”’ requiring each nation signing the Convention “to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.” This includes officials who authorized torture.

BTW, Ferguson goes much deeper then just the shooting.

I am unable to post eBay links here on this site. Tried several ways, nothing works http://www.ebay.com/sch/muscletx/m.htmlitem=161517453710&hash=item259b30c18e&pt=US_Men_s_Athletic_Footwear&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Yes, Josh- they would have flown you back to the US, as long as you were stable. Steve House was flown from Calgary, back to Oregon (Redmond to be exact) and ACC insurance paid for it. It's great benefit and totally worth the cost of the membership. I don't want to cut into your story, but I just wanted to make sure people realized the benefit of joining AAC.

Also they could have flown you from Calgary, to avoid paying cash in Canada, if you have good health insurance in the US. If you don't it's still much cheaper in Canada. I predict same stay and treatment would have cost you in access of 100K.

Glad you are alive and recovering. Just reminding everyone AAC membership also covers cost of medical flight back to the US.

Here is an interesting link Pete. You know about shooting in N Carolina. Now listen to what the cop was saying afterwards, and watch the real situation. Two different stories. Now you tell me: in case of shooting Brown, how can we trust the story told by the cop? Cop's story It's very simple- they will lie, just to save their ass, and the prosecutors do nothing to curb it.

Yes, Portugal is a very good example of what a working policy looks like. Yet again, they approached it as medical problem first, hence the results. And the fundamental shift has to be towards "how do we get people off drugs" and away, how do we punish and make money off people who use them". Stopping privatization of prisons, drug courts and stopping mandatory sentencing would be a good start. And police has to stop acting like a paramilitary enforcers, they also have to undergo a fundamental change in their approach. However it will never happen, unless judicial system starts charging cops committing crimes.

Actually it's a very simple issue in a way. Substance abuse is a medical issue. If you approach it from this perspective, you eliminate everything down the chain. So in order to eliminate the demand, you have to treat drug use as an illness, exact the same way as heart disease or cancer. Except that a cancer patient is unlikely to steal your car stereo. So,if we just decriminalize hard drugs it solves some of the problems such as not incarcerating the end user. However, there would still be a black market,drug gangs, and all of the violence and social ills that come along with it. Do we want to have a completely laissez faire approach with like the Phillip Morris of hard drugs producing meth? Or is the government going to make and supply drugs to eliminate the black market? How do they do it in Holland? Theft is a fallout of a drug addiction, isn't it. And criminal justice system is set on punishment only, without rehabilitation. If you toss addicts in prison without drug rehabilitation (which has to start with controlled detox), what do you think is going to happen, when they leave and are on streets again? Also remember that a big part of people with substance abuse have untreated psychological and psychiatric issues. Add a healthcare system, which creates a fair amount of addicts, far more then you think (particularly a large percentage of heroine addicts are former chronic pain patients). Also add alcohol to the list, which I think is far more dangerous then most of other drugs combined. If you ever visit medical units in any given hospital, you will see equal amount of misery caused by alcohol as all other drugs combined. I am not advocating letting people off the hook, when they do commit crimes, even if they are addicted, but treatment has to be first, and the punishment second. I also know that in probably more then 50% of cases, the attempt of treatment will be unsuccessful. Drug courts have somewhere 30-40% success rate, but normal judicial system has pretty much 0% success if only applying incarceration, so treatment first, punishment second is the best tool we have at the moment.

Actually it's a very simple issue in a way. Substance abuse is a medical issue. If you approach it from this perspective, you eliminate everything down the chain. So in order to eliminate the demand, you have to treat drug use as an illness, exact the same way as heart disease or cancer.

try a stranger…..

Do you speak from experience or just inference from what you've seen in the media? I work with cops every day in the municipality where I work and in my experience they are reasonable, normal guys and gals trying to do the right thing in a very difficult profession. Sure some of them are assholes, but isn't that to be expected in every profession? Maybe the jurisdiction where I work is different than every other one in the country, but I kind of doubt it. Don't like the drug war or other policy? Talk to your legislator. Cops don't make law, they just do their best to enforce it. Another example: you know who hates traffic stop quotas more than you? Cops. Again, they are told by the powers that be to issue a certain number of fines. You think they like being the assholes who have to do it? Well, the powers tell them to issue a ticket, and they obey. WTF? worked out great for the Jews in WWII. The problem with your line of reasoning is your head is so deep in the ass of the system, you don't even see it. You asked if I have personal experience- yes I do. I was stopped four times for no fucking reason whatsoever. First time was in Bend, when I decided to go a couple of blocks after my knee surgery. Of course I was limping with a knee size of a water melon, and a cruiser drove onto a sidewalk, blocked my path, and a cop asked me for an ID. WTF! Second, about 9 years ago here in Bellingham. I saw I had a message on my phone, so I pulled on the shoulder, completely off the pavement, parked my car, listened to the message, made some notes. I look up, and there are lights behind my car. My car was not even running. He asks me for an ID and asks me what was I doing? WTF. I wanted to tell him that this is none of his fucking business. Third, I was driving through Leavenworth at 11 at night a few years back. I was within speed limit, got pulled over for no reason whatsoever and asked if I had anything to drink. Again- wtf? Saved the best for last-Reno 1991. I was in handcuffs in the back of a cruiser charged with grand theft auto. Finally after muppets sorted it out did not even say sorry. Neither make, color, or license plate matched the stolen car. After wasting almost 2 hours of my life, they did not even say sorry for mistake. When I called the station and asked for a supervisor, after being on hold for a while, I was told that probably they had reasons. I am sure they had. Incompetence and stupidity would be probably on the top of the list. Here is good read for you, yes I agree with the writer 100% system is not broken

Impact exercise and RA is a big no-no. Sounds like you are having issues with your auto-immune system over all. RA, Fibromyalgia and Raynaud's are all part of auto-immune conditions. Probably I would start with a nutritionist, but someone with more "athletic" frame of mind. In many instances, a big contributing factor to auto immune disorders are food allergies. We tend to think about them in terms of anaphylactic shock, but in a lot of cases the response is more tame. However it doesn't mean that over a longer period of time, things will not start going down hill. Designing a sustainable exercise program is another step. What you do not want is to cause massive tissue inflammation- your body has already hard enough time with dispensing what you are already producing. Hence getting massive soreness after the workout will be counterproductive. Have you thought about moving to warmer and drier climate? Usually sun exposure and increased vitamin D levels help as well. Also do not use any NSIDS, which includes ibuprofen and generally what is called anti-inflammatory drugs.

"Officer Pantaleo's Statement New York's Pix 11 passes along this statement from Officer Pantaleo: "I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can't protect themselves. It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss." Fuck your prayers, fuck your statement and fuck you. Protect and serve by crushing somebody's chest and neck! Hey asshole, you are nothing but a murderer and a thug with a badge.

Acknowledging it's existence is a prerequisite to solving a problem. Let's dispense with bullshit theory about a "few bad apples" in police force across the country. To "protect and serve" should no longer be a motto, and actually so called "good cops" are the minority. Vast majority of cops are abusive assholes, seeking power trips, and control freaks. It goes across the board starting with cops lurking while catching speeders. Public safety my ass, there is no real evidence of co-relation between number of fatalities with speeds below 75mph or less (or 120km/h). So this whole nonsense of lurking around the corners in urban areas is nothing but revenue scam (yeah, because police departments have direct financial benefits from the fines). This continues on, mandatory sentencing, whole "war on drugs" are the following steps of the total escalation of the problem. It goes to use of torture and physical force during interrogations (sleep deprivation, food and drink deprivation are 100% torture methods). Next stop: murder: not Florida only. Looks on what happened in NYC: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-grand-jury-return-no-indictment-police-choke-193254083.html "Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, was illegally selling cigarettes on July 17 when police officers tackled him and put him in a chokehold. Police said he had been resisting arrest. The city's medical examiner ruled the death a homicide."

Fair enough. But I think it's counterproductive and naive to fail to acknowledge Michael Brown's culpability in his own killing. I think Ivan hit the nail on the head when he said there is entrenched racism in the country, this just wasn't an example of it here. I understand your reasoning to a certain point during the event. First of all, it started as oral argument and it escalated into a struggle. We will never find out what was said, hence body camera would be a good start to actually document such events, instead on relying on verbal accounts hours or days later. Once wounded in the hand, Brown did not present the same level of threat, hence the decision to single handedly pursue on foot was also probably not the best course of action. Most likely police would be able to apprehend him later, without much fuss. Also let's do the maths. 3 shots were fired from within the car, one hitting actual target. In all 12 shots were fired, six striking Brown. So after the initial car struggle 9 additional shots were fired, 5 hitting the target, but 4 flying somewhere is a middle of a populated area. I can understand if there was a two sided fire fight, and Brown posed a threat to general public, but looks to me that the officer was completely unnecessary endangering people in the area, by firing a gun in a middle of densely populated part of town. There are numerous questions regarding incidents like this one. Like I said, cops act with impunity, because they hardly get reprimanded, and never get prosecuted.

the answer depends on the nature of your medical problems.

I am sure you have spent a ton of time in a ghetto. You are speaking like a true expert. Newsflash- white kill whites as well. Wonder how the white america would react if a black cop shot an unarmed 18 y/o white guy?

Regardless of what side of the issue you're on, it's laughable to call Michael Brown "innocent." He was essentially killed for jaywalking- big fucking crime!