jrober38

What's happening in Florida is incredible. Two weeks ago 1,900 new cases. Today, over 9,000. Without another total lock down, the number of new cases will keep doubling every 4-5 days like NY did in March.

Things getting really bad in Florida for new cases. The last three days have been 1371, 1698 and today 1902. The trend clearly shows it's going to continue going higher.

This is true, but it's mostly been confined to urban centres across the country because that's where the population is most dense. I agree that measures should be different from area to area and not necessary blanket rules for entire states. The stock market crashing today suggests there's real worry about a second wave coming which would be absolutely devastating to the economy. This thing moves like a train and if things break through and it looks like new cases are starting to get out of hand in California, Texas and Florida.

Infection numbers are steadily climbing in California, Texas and Florida. The 7 day moving averages for those three states is a big concern.

In all seriousness the old man might be severely hurt. The brain is a fragile thing and smacking your head on cement can cause major, lasting damage.

He should be fired immediately. I'd consider charges too.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1268716877355810818 This is so messed up.

Drew can say whatever he wants. But he has to live with the consequences.

Left hand?

Esper just went on NBC saying he had no idea Trump was planning the photo op. He thought they were going to observe the damage and talk to some of the troops.

No one is paying attention and I think the reason why is because they're all owned by big corporations who essentially are the freight train. Don't let people know what's going to happen and that millions of them will all be out of a job within 10 years because that's not what your political donor class wants. The sad part is it's going to affect everyone. From the restaurant worker working a cash register at a fast food chain, to the truck driver hauling freight, all of those jobs are going to be gone sooner than people think.

We agree on a lot. I appreciate the time you took to respond. Fiscally I'm also conservative, and I hate waste, however I believe that social programs are essential to maintain a functioning society. I view many of these as being necessary. I think a lot of those programs fall way short of the mark, but I think their intended purpose is the right one. Trying to keep people out of poverty will lead to prosperity for all of society, because there will be less crime. The issue is that so many good ideas get ruined by the bureaucracy. I totally agree on the need for a third, centrist party. I think it would probably win every election in a landslide. I don't understand how a party that wants to allow people to exercise their basic freedoms, while providing an adequate safety net of social programs to the most vulnerable doesn't exist. Take the huge number of things all Americans agree on and just run on those things. Let the fringes run at polar opposite ends of the spectrum and let them disappear into obscurity.

I appreciate you taking the time to read it and respond thoughtfully. I think UI is something that needs to be explored further, otherwise the job market and poverty are going to deteriorate further. I think people fail to realize how many millions of jobs are going to be replaced by computers over the next 10 years. Those people for the most part lack any education, and they're going to be left with nothing to do. It doesn't have to be a lot, but Andrew Yang's idea of $1000 a month per adult is interesting to me. Maybe not yet, but in 2-3 years I think it'll be a necessity to keep millions of low wage earners who have been rendered obsolete out of poverty. Again, I appreciate your response.

I'm going to try and not write you an essay so I'll keep it as short as I can. I think many of the issues afflicting the black community are also faced by people of other backgrounds, including whites. I think the US is set up to hold down the poor and protect the interests of the wealthy. Overtime, these issues appear to have become worse and worse as the rich have had their tax burden reduced for the past 40 years, the poor and middle class have had to pick up the slack. The wealthy and corporations hold way too much power over politicians because of the money they contribute to their campaigns. People in this situation lack education, and ultimately opportunities that are provided to people from higher income brackets and a cycle of poverty takes hold that many people cannot escape. This has been caused by both conservative and liberal ideals. I think conservative tax policies, and trickle down economics are a complete failure, and I think liberal social policies have often wound up being overkill, doing more harm than good to promote the poor's opportunities. More power needs to be given back to the people. I think the two party system is a joke for 330 million people. Two parties cannot accurately represent the interests of such a large population. Regarding poverty, I don't care where you come from. If you lack hope an opportunity, it doesn't matter if you're from urban Chicago, rural Mississippi, Mexico or Iraq. You're going to be drawn towards bad things because you have nothing better to do. Whether it's a gang, a white supremacist group, someone crossing the border illegally or an Islamic terrorist organization like ISIS, if you're in horrendous poverty with no way out because you have no job prospects to better yourself, you're going to look for people to blame and break laws because you're desperate, and I think that's what winds up happening all over the US and across much of the world. For blacks, all of the data is true. Crime is higher, murder rates are higher, etc. As a result they get profiled by police and civilians, and have way more run ins with law enforcement than other demographic groups. I think creating more accountability among cops is a great place to start right now. Make body cams a requirement, and refer all deaths and major injuries while in police custody to an independent 3rd party to review. No more cops policing cops. I also think the militarization of the police needs to end. Cops don't look like cops anymore. They look like they're patrolling the streets of Baghdad. Tone down the uniforms, and make them more approachable. Change policing policies so that police have to carry an active role in the communities they serve, possibly through mandatory community service initiatives. Cops need to know community leaders and establish relationships with the people they're policing. If they can't do that then they can't be cops in this environment. Ultimately I think poverty is the biggest thing that needs to be fixed in America. Richest country in the history of the world and millions of people still go to bed hungry every night. Do more to pick up the low and middle class at the expense of the super rich and I think you'll see less crime all over the country. Give people more opportunities by putting more money in their pockets. Let them live better lives. The world economy is rapidly changing. Artificial intelligence will make millions of jobs obsolete over the coming decade. If you drive a truck, a taxi, serve food, drive a bus, etc, your job will eventually be replaced by a machine. I think guaranteed universal basic income is an interesting concept, otherwise more and more people are going to slip into poverty due to a lack of training and education, which will just make everything worse. The least educated will continue to lose opportunities as technology progresses which will lead to more crime and poverty. Those are my ideas off the top of my head. Maybe they're right or maybe they're wrong. I don't really know. I'm off to take my daughter for a walk. Will return later to see how you don't agree with anything I've said.

You're ignoring 250 years of US History and how major reform and change is accomplished in the country.

I dunno, most people are going to these protests with a cardboard sign. The bad apples are going with hammers, knives and bricks. You might be right. I don't know for sure and I can admit that. I just think that if the majority of the crowds had those type of blunt weapons, there would probably be a lot more bloodshed than there has been because they'd be openly clashing with the cops. Most of what I've seen is a couple people throw rocks, cops move in with shields and batons, protesters run away to a safe distance, and then they do it all over again. If a big portion of the crowd had weapons, I think you'd see way more open combat in the streets. Again, this is based off what I've seen online. Things may very well be different.

If I need to explain it, there's no reason to because you're obviously living under a rock. There are some open minded people on here who disagree with me on a lot of things but I can still have a good conversation with. You're not one of them if you can't see the obvious issues that affect the black community across the US.

There are tens of thousands of people protesting around the country. If 5% of them are violent, that's a lot of people looting, hiding among the crowds, throwing bricks and rocks from a distance, and lighting things on fire when there are no cops around. These are professional protesters. A few people hiding in a massive crowd doing whatever they want without getting caught.

Without video evidence it takes time to actually build a case. And it took 7 months to convene a grand jury.

No. As I've said numerous times throughout this post, the people destroying the property represent a tiny portion of the people out in the streets. I think the rest are there protesting and trying to enact change. Their message has been completely lost though. The US has a history of violence. It was founded by a rebellion, fought an extremely bloody civil war, and endured similar riots and protesting in the 1960s in the lead up to the civil rights act. Maybe this is the only way to enact real change? I don't know. The current system doesn't work for people of color. They're trying to make positive changes, but unfortunately a small percentage of the people hiding in their ranks are out to cause trouble, and that's all the media is focusing on anymore. Instead of focusing on and giving the peaceful activists a platform, the news reel is filled with anarchists toting hammers, bricks and knives out trying to light anything they can find on fire. I was trying to say that the issue at this point seems to either be let these people protest, and accept the damage that comes with it from the bad apples, or squash this entirely to save property, silencing the protests as a result. I was trying to say there doesn't seem to be a solution where both sides can win.

Just so it's clear, that cop is currently serving 12.5 years in prison. Perhaps that's why no one cared. He was actually tried and convicted.

This is the hard part to evaluate. The value of property vs the value of everyone being able to live freely.

This is all this guy does. He just puts words in everyone's mouth and twists people's arguments into whatever he wants them to be.

Are we just going to ignore that the person in charge of the Church was also more upset about the photo than the attempted arson?

I disagree. Open warfare suggest the military can be allowed to shoot on site. That's completely insane considering how few people in these crowds are actually breaking the law. And in all seriousness, does insurance not cover this damage? I completely agree with you about the media though. As I just said, they're only focusing on the spots where the cops are clashing with protesters because they want to make it seem as though that's what is happening everywhere.