All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Rosa Luxemburg]

Just because we have one bad President (Trump) doesn't mean we should abolish the Executive Branch and burn down the White House.

Please tell me that you're using Trump as an example of a bad president, and not that you actually think Trump is only bad president in the history of the US.

For a nation this large, there is no viable alternative to a civil Police Force. Only, in some cases, the Police Force has forgotten how to be civil, they have forgotten what they are hired to do.

The police originated from slave patrols. US Policing is inherently anti-black.

Police officers aren't hired to protect people.

Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone

[Rosa Luxemburg]

That’s like saying to eradicate every one of the Christian churches on the basis of quite a number of priests being convicted of committing sexual-related crimes. The police system doesn’t necessarily have to be gotten just more production that will value in holding the departments to more responsibility.

US policing is rooted in anti-blackness. It can never escape it.

The police were created as a tool to oppress black people. It isn't a coincidence that the police have been tormenting black people ever since policing was a thing in the US.

For everything you can criticize Christianity for, churches weren't built for the purpose of molesting children.

[skyvolt2000]

Nope.

My particular situation might not be applicable elsewhere, so it may not be relevant to the problems of a teacher in another state.

In New York City, teachers are reimbursed for up to $250 each year, which mitigates much of these costs.

https://www.uft.org/your-union/uft-p...eachers-choice.

That $250 is pretty much universal everywhere.

Our teachers have that too.

Washington was the state with the median instruction spending per student, at about $6,538 per student per year (with an additional $4,525 on average for support services) so the problem might not be that most states spend too little (unless you want radical changes like classes of 3-10 kids being the norm) but that they're spending it in the wrong ways.

Do a FOI request or visit your local school website and the budget should be online for all to see.

As Former Texas Governor Rick Perry said-too many school district are too TOP heavy.

Our former superintendent HOUSE CLEANED the administration part of our district. He said there were too many folks.

He left and the new one bought a lot of those folks back.

Also when you are dealing with high states testing and trying to deal with low performing schools-that opens the flood gate to new job creations.

Once upon a time a test coordinator in our school district was the counselor. Thanks to high stakes testing-we have an entire department.

A department of 1000 folks. Sharing 4 administrative assistants. $5 million yearly.

[Electricmastro]

Please tell me this is sarcasm. I know the Police aren't popular right now but you believe removing the Police and Prisons, criminals are going to start behaving and the world is going to magically start getting along? All crime will end and there will be no need for Police? Here's a hint, this happened a little over a century ago in Boston. All those cute pictures in your image...the exact opposite happened.



People would be upset, but not nearly the magnitude of whats happening now. No riots, it'd make the news maybe in an article or two, doubtful there will be charges to those officers, and this will be all forgotten (I'll say 48 hours tops) after Trump does something else disturbing where that dominates the headlines

Yep, Rosa’s desire to abolish police on the accusation of the US police having been created to be anti-black and casually releasing criminals from jail, and not even distinguishing the falsely imprisoned from the rest, seems a little too radical and disturbing. You might as well tear down all the branches of government on the basis of most of the earliest US presidents owning slaves at its start and not have any branches of government at all.

[Kirby101]

If Trump were really a fascist, his critics would be afraid to say so publicly for fear of retribution.

He is, he just doesn't have the rest of the Government in tow to follow through.

[Mister Mets]

Uh, why? America has never been afraid to speak her mind. Trump is a lot of things, and those things will be brought up again and again until he is out of office, and maybe for some time afterwards.

Fascists tend to kill people who speak their minds.

Please tell me that you're using Trump as an example of a bad president, and not that you actually think Trump is only bad president in the history of the US.



The police originated from slave patrols. US Policing is inherently anti-black.

Police officers aren't hired to protect people.

Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone

I think you're misinterpreting a court decision on a slightly different question to make a point on police duties.

That $250 is pretty much universal everywhere.

Our teachers have that too.




Do a FOI request or visit your local school website and the budget should be online for all to see.

As Former Texas Governor Rick Perry said-too many school district are too TOP heavy.

Our former superintendent HOUSE CLEANED the administration part of our district. He said there were too many folks.

He left and the new one bought a lot of those folks back.

Also when you are dealing with high states testing and trying to deal with low performing schools-that opens the flood gate to new job creations.

Once upon a time a test coordinator in our school district was the counselor. Thanks to high stakes testing-we have an entire department.

A department of 1000 folks. Sharing 4 administrative assistants. $5 million yearly.

I could certainly agree that we should look at all the education spending that goes to various administration offices.

[numberthirty]

...

And serious question, what is offensive with the phrase "All Lives Matter?" Don't they? All I read are extreme left vs extreme right? Is there anybody in the middle that's colorblind and judges a man based on his actions and not his skin color?

Kind of feels like "Offensive..." winds up being more like something you could be reading into it than something folks actually feel.

As for the issue with "All Lives Matter..."? The start of this video does a pretty solid job of addressing the issue quickly -

[Rosa Luxemburg]

Yep, Rosa’s desire to abolish police on the accusation of the US police having been created to be anti-black and casually releasing criminals from jail, and not even distinguishing the falsely imprisoned from the rest, seems a little too radical and disturbing. You might as well tear down all the branches of government on the basis of most of the earliest US presidents owning slaves at its start and not have any branches of government at all.

The killing of black people requires a radical response.

Policing has already seen many reforms but it will never be enough to stop the police from brutalizing and killing black people, because valuing black lives goes against what policing is. The police have had it in for black people for four hundred years now. How much longer should we wait to see if the police will stop brutalizing black people?

[numberthirty]

As for the police killing folks who are not white...

While this will apply there, it's honestly also going to apply to everyone killed by the police.

If the police were clearing "Everyone Except The Police" murder cases at the rate that folks murdered by the police? Would you just accept that as an acceptable rate of clearance?

Would it be anything like justice being served?

[numberthirty]

The killing of black people requires a radical response.

Policing has already seen many reforms but it will never be enough to stop the police from brutalizing and killing black people, because valuing black lives goes against what policing is. The police have had it in for black people for four hundred years now. How much longer should we wait to see if the police will stop brutalizing black people?

Just to point this out, I'm generally a "Anyone With Position(Elected/Police/You Get It...) Should Have Someone Looking Over Their Shoulder Every Single Day..." sort of a guy.

That said, the police going overboard and ending lives on the street has been out in the open and not being seriously reduced by it being out in the open for years now. If you aren't going to even consider making really serious changes(never mind thinking over if it actually needs to be rebuilt from the ground up...) having seen the last ten years, when are you going to? What will it have to look like before you would?

[Steel Inquisitor]

The killing of black people requires a radical response.

Policing has already seen many reforms but it will never be enough to stop the police from brutalizing and killing black people, because valuing black lives goes against what policing is. The police have had it in for black people for four hundred years now. How much longer should we wait to see if the police will stop brutalizing black people?

The police require immense reform, nobody is arguing about that. But you're deflecting, about what you think should replace it. I'm speculating you want something Communist or anarchist but refuse to say it out loud.

This isnt about "waiting," it's about what you think should replace it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

The police require immense reform, nobody is arguing about that. But you're deflecting, about what you think should replace it. I'm speculating you want something Communist or anarchist but refuse to say it out loud.

This isnt about "waiting," it's about what you think should replace it.

Proposals for alternatives to policing are already out there. If you're actually interested, look them up.

[Electricmastro]

And serious question, what is offensive with the phrase "All Lives Matter?" Don't they? All I read are extreme left vs extreme right? Is there anybody in the middle that's colorblind and judges a man based on his actions and not his skin color?

I’m sure most would come to the basic agreement that it’s not inherently wrong to value life, but I think it really depends on the context such phrases are used in, such as using the phrase to counter “Black Lives Matter” as if not wanting to be left out of some sort of exclusive club, which I think are the sorts of reasons why you see many get sick or show disapproval in the phrase considering how this specific climate we’re currently started specifically because a black was treated wrongly to the point that he got killed, and many suffice to say have responded with concerns, and it’s right that one shows genuine concern for your fellow human beings after all.

At the same time, I don’t doubt that that there are police officers out there that have harassed and killed quite a number of Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Native Americans, and other non-black people, and once again I say that there’s definitely a good time and a good place to talk about all that stuff, but that’s not what the main priority of the majority of police seems to be at the moment. At the moment, their main priority seems to be getting militarized as if they’re going to war with black people, as well as taking anyone else down that disagrees with them like news reporters.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Proposals for alternatives to policing are already out there. If you're actually interested, look them up.

Looking up what? There are numerous proposals, except I don't know the ones you want. That's the large gap in your arguments. ??? isn't an answer. This is your argument, you're the one responsible for convincing us its the right path. I'm not going on a snipe hunt for you.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ANNOUNCE INTENT TO DISBAND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, INVEST IN PROVEN COMMUNITY-LED PUBLIC SAFETY

The move follows the police killing of George Floyd and more than a week of uprisings, where hundreds of thousands of people around the world have protested against police violence, and abusive police responses to the protests.
On Sunday afternoon, a veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members will announce their commitment to disbanding the city’s embattled police department, which has endured relentless criticism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.

“We’re here because we hear you. We are here today because George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police. We are here because here in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States it is clear that our existing system of policing and public safety is not keeping our communities safe,” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender said Sunday. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.”

The City Council’s decision follows those of several other high-profile partners, including Minneapolis Public Schools, and the University of Minnesota, and Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, to sever longstanding ties with the MPD.

The announcement today also arrives after several members of the Council have expressed a complete loss of confidence in the Minneapolis Police Department.

“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,” tweeted Council Member Jeremiah Ellison on June 4, pledging to “dramatically rethink” the city’s approach to emergency response. In a TIME op-ed published the next day, Council Member Steve Fletcher cited the MPD’s lengthy track record of misconduct and “decades-long history of violence and discrimination”—all of which are subjects of an ongoing Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigation—as compelling justifications for the department’s disbandment. “We can resolve confusion over a $20 grocery transaction without drawing a weapon or pulling out handcuffs,” Fletcher wrote.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said last night that he opposed disbanding the police department at a protest organized and led by Black Visions Collective against police violence in the city. That answer earned him a thundering chorus of boos and chants of “Shame!” and “Go home, Jacob, go home!” The New York Times called the scene a “humiliation on a scale almost unimaginable outside of cinema or nightmare.”

“The last Democratic mayor, Betsy Hodges, handled the murder of Jamar [Clark] poorly. We told her she was going to lose her job. And she did,” Miski Noor, a Black Visions Collective organizer, said on Frey’s refusal to disband the Minneapolis Police Department.

Since taking office in January 2018, Frey has overseen reforms to the MPD’s body camera policy that impose harsher discipline on officers who fail to comply, and barred officers from participating in so-called “Bulletproof Warrior” training, which encourages law enforcement to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in jeopardy. The officer who shot and killed Philando Castile during a 2016 traffic stop had attended a seminar two years earlier.

More recently, however, Frey has faced criticism from community groups for supporting increases to the MPD’s budget, and for the city’s failure to invest significantly in community-based public safety programs during his tenure.

For years, activists have argued that MPD has failed to actually keep the city safe, and City Councilmembers echoed that sentiment today during their announcement. MPD’s record for solving serious crimes in the city is consistently low. For example, in 2019, Minneapolis police only cleared 56 percent of cases in which a person was killed. For rapes, the police department’s solve rate is abysmally low. In 2018, their clearance rate for rape was just 22 percent. In other words, four out of every five rapes go unsolved in Minneapolis. Further casting doubt on the department’s commitment to solving sexual assaults, MPD announced last year the discovery of 1,700 untested rape kits spanning 30 years, which officials said had been misplaced.

The Council’s move is consistent with rapidly-shifting public opinion regarding the urgency of overhauling the American model of law enforcement. Since Floyd’s killing and the protests that ensued, officials in Los Angeles and New York City have called for making deep cuts to swollen police budgets and reallocating those funds for education, affordable housing, and other social services. Law enforcement officers are not equipped to be experts in responding to mental health crises, often leading to tragic results—nationally, about half of police killings involve someone living with mental illness or disability. As a result, public health experts have long advocated for dispatching medical professionals and/or social workers, not armed police, to respond to calls related to substance use and mental health. Polling from Data for Progress indicates that more than two-thirds of voters—68 percent—support the creation of such programs, versions of which are already in place in other cities such as, Eugene, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Denver, Colorado.

“Our commitment is to do what is necessary to keep every single member of our community safe and to tell the truth that the Minneapolis Police are not doing that,” Bender said Sunday. “Our commitment is to end our city’s toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it, and to recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe.”