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There have been many Police officer killed in the line of duty GOD BLEES THEM ALL , here in the Tampa /St. Petersberg Florida there have been 5 shootings in the past 6 months with 3 in St Petersberg in the last 30 days all from normal traffic stops or prowler calls. It's a sad day in america when even armed cops are not safe.When did it become open season for cops?? THANKS FOR LETTING ME RANT AND GET THIS OFF MY CHEST---A VERY SAD RICHIE2
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I, for one, agree with you
and my prayers go out to their families and loved ones. But let us not forgot those killed in the line of duty in any manner, from guns or inattentive drivers :( and it does strike home in the LGBT community, as we lost one of a gay couple to a routine traffic stop where the officer was hit and killed where the partner has been denied benefits
( http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/12/engelhard_... ).
Maybe we need to protect the Cops
It was not that long ago when Cops were often accompanied by the local farmers or town citizens. When I was a young man, I remember seeing an odd car or two stop near a traffic stop, and you can bet it was not to make sure the Cops behaved. Don't think we can just build more prisons, but we sure can do something about improving parenting, and determining who is likely to offend and take remedial action before it happens. Some day, video games will finally be identified as one of the causes of trouble
A
Growing young gracefully.
No, many of these problems
No, many of these problems predate video games.
What is the cause of the problems? There are probably lots of them. What are some of them? Parents refusing to take responsibility for their children - and 'society' for letting them get away with it.
It's a lot like sex education. "Don't teach it in our schools!" - and then they don't teach it in the home. Unfortunately, we aren't agricultural enough for our kids to learn the cause and effect of 'insert tab P into slot V" the 'natural' way.
There were school shootings before mass video games - look up U.T. Clock Tower Shooting in your favourite search engine. There were people that went nuts and attacked other people in crowds. All of the problems we see today have existed in the past, just in slightly different forms.
To answer the original poster's question, however, it's two things that did it.
1) Florida is a huge centre for South and Central American gangs and illegals. Tons of nasty folks who have a vested interest in having as few police around as possible. That's the 'local' reason.
2) Too many instances of police being either corrupt, or simply refusing to do their job, then being defended by those who should be hanging them out to dry (the courts and their governments). Even if it's only one in 10 cops who is a problem - that's 9 cops that aren't stopping the 1 - instead, they put up the Blue Wall of Silence. Then the courts said that police aren't obligated to protect anyone. In fact, down here, the cops have been given carte blanche to ignore any and all laws if they're wearing their uniform. I had one do an illegal left turn, almost plowing into me - and he wasn't on duty. He ended up at the same gas station I was, getting coffee. When I told him about the "No left turn sign", he said that the state laws allow it. It used to be they had to obey all the same laws normal people do - unless they were on a call (lights going).
Mind you, that was a stupid thing to do anyway - it was a no left turn in a CONSTRUCTION ZONE. They didn't put up the sign just because they didn't want to put up a turn signal :)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Harry Chapin's song "Sniper"
The mention of the University of Texas Clock Tower shootings reminds me that Harry Chapin wrote a song loosely based on the event, titled "Sniper". The song is chilling, and gives a view into the mind of the killer, Harry's interpretation of what drove him to his madness. It's tough stuff, but brilliant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5_N-D5sv0
Kris
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Video games a cause?
Hasn't the myth about video games leading to violent behaviour been thoroughly debunked? I recall seeing at least a couple of doomsayers claiming video games are the cause of violence to have been shown on population statistics that say that on average, a video gamer is no more likely to be committing violent crime than any other person. In fact a few studies give statistics that say video gamers are responsible for smaller share of violent crime than the overall population.
That makes sense.
Video gamers have an outlet for any aggression they may have.
Lisa
I have not seen a credited study that says ...
that video games don't cause problems. Sure, you get the person who is supposedly an authority who says they don't but what happens when you run down their record and their credentials? Nope, ain't buying it.
The other big problem is that we recycle the criminal types. There should be an offense level where death is the final option, though I am not sure where it is exactly.
K
The point is
where are the studies that prove that video games DO cause a problem? In the absence of those, despite years of people looking for such proof, I think video game designers and players are innocent until proven guilty. Back in the fifties, "everyone" knew that comic books caused juvenile delinquency because pastors and some social workers said so. No one did a study which would have found that comic book readers were too busy reading comic books and anything else they could find to read to get into that much trouble.
Similarly, it seems obvious to me that if a kid is playing video games he is not out shooting people for drug money. And most of the ardent video gamers I know are quintessentially nerds, socially inept, bright beyond their years and not interested in real violence. Sure there are gangstas who play video games, there are also gangstas who eat strawberry ice cream. One thing is connected to the other by cause only when it can be proven so, otherwise it's just statistical noise.
Does television cause violence? Years ago when the US crime rate was rising as our population got younger, people believed that it did. Now our population is getting older, our crime rate is going down and people think what? Geritol causes crime? No, they go after the usual suspects, anything that someone of a younger generation prefers that their parents or grandparents don't is obviously what makes them damn kids so obnoxious. It's the Law of Geezerhood.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
It's trouble, right here in
It's trouble, right here in River City, and that starts with T, which rhymes with P, which stands for _POOL_!
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
It Is Sad
It is sad that so many officers have given their lives in the line of duty. Criminals have absolutely no regard for human life and they just don't care. They also have more firepower than the police do too. Those two Bank robbers that held up the Bank Of America in L.A, a few years ago had machine guns and full body armor. I was in the Police Explorer program in High School and it always made me wonder how I would defend myself during ride a longs if my partner pulled over a suspicious vehicle and they started shooting. We weren't allowed to carry a weapon,even after we had firearms training.
It's all about respect
Parents are not teaching their children to respect any authority anymore: teachers, preachers, police, firefighters, you name it. Much like the man sitting in the White House, I was taught that it didn't matter how you felt about the particular person doing the job, you paid respect to the job itself. Doesn't happen anymore.
A week ago an off-duty Oklahoma City police officer was sitting in a sports bar watching the local pro basketball team on TV (not drinking any alcoholic beverages either) when three men started causing a disturbance and refused to leave. The staff knew he was a police officer and asked him to help. He went over and identified himself and informed the men they would have to leave the premises. He escorted them to the door, but when they all got outside the men jumped the officer. One grabbed him from behind in a choke hold with the others beating on him.
The result? The police officer suffered a broken neck and may be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life, and the three men are facing serious felony charges. From all accounts the officer is one of the good guys, married and has a couple of kids, considered a stand-up guy by everybody who knows him.
Was the fight that important? I doubt it.
Karen J.
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Blind faith is worse than
Blind faith is worse than suspicion. We've spent the last fifty years being inundated with the "Do as you're told, obey anyone in authority, especially in a uniform." "Let the government take care of you, they know best". phrases.
It's amazing how right after getting OUT of a war caused by a batch of people that used that same sort of behaviour, our own government started in on it with us.
The biggest problem with it, in an odd way? Our government/people in authority _didn't_ step up and 'take care of it'. It became the biggest SEP (Somebody Else's Problem) field in the world. Everyone found an excuse that it wasn't their fault/problem/responsibility.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I'm sorry, but . . .
I didn't say a single thing about blind faith, I said respect. I respect police officers, if I am told to do something by one, I'm not going to argue with them. There is a time and a place for that, where I can ask for the officer's actions to be either validated or repudiated. If as a kid I was told by a teacher to do something (within reason, my parents expected us to display and use common sense), I did it. I might go home and take it up with my parents, who could (and on several occasions did) take it up with the school administration.
The same goes for the current president. I didn't vote for the man, I don't like the man, and I think he is a dismal failure; but until the next presidential election is held he is the President of the United States, he is my President. And while I don't like the man, and I do not blindly endorse his acts as President, I do respect the office he holds.
We in the U.S. have the right to challenge laws and rules we believe are wrong, we have the right to determine who our leaders are, or even remove the ones we don't like, by peaceful means. We do NOT have the right, under law, to decide which rules or laws we are going to obey, or to decide which authority figures we are going to obey. Law says we must obey police and firefighters when they issue orders in the performance of their duties. Don't like it, you have legal avenues to challenge them.
Otherwise, we end up with something approaching anarchy. Want a car? Go carjack somebody. Police want to stop you? Shoot 'em. Don't like the military? Throw a firebomb in a recruiting office. Don't like the President? Assassinate him. I mean, it's not like you have any respect for him, right?
Karen J.
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin