Its because he is black.

[Dallane]

magicman is a bill maher worshipping liberal, he is just significantly less stupid than claeyt but the "debate" tactics remain the same.

LOL

[saffgee]

Let's put it this way: out of 1.3mil people in Munich, 300k are non-citizens, ie fairly recent immigrants, and majority of those are in the bottom quintile wealth-wise.

I'm gonna go ahead and call that - no way that statistic is right. This could be the number of "foreigners" (ie Western Euro peeps as well) currently in Munich, but they are definitely not all dirt poor immigrants as you called them. They are also all registered, Bavaria is the poster boy police state and there is no way they allow 300k unregistered persons to run around. Not even convinced the population statistic is correct, but maybe that discounts "greater Munich" area.

Coming back to gun laws, I would be interested in knowing how many of the 600+ people shot in the US were actually proven criminals and how many incidents were classified as "accidents" involving innocents - unnecessary shootings should be the relevant statistic when comparing the countries relative performance in terms of gun safety. Hate to say it, but I'm just not missing any of the criminals. Sorry.
Europe could actually do with shooting more criminals, as criminals have become way to complacent about repercussions - pretty soon in the UK we will be passing legislation that penalises people for having things worth stealing (well I made that up, but it certainly feels that way now). I suspect there is an argument for better control in the US to avoid the frequent school slaughters, but beyond that I'll say only this: If one man is a rapist, the solution is not to sterilise all men.

We have had our fair share of racially motivated rioting in the UK as well and the only two things that stood out very clearly were:
A) It was never about race, just greed, chaos and criminal endeavour.
B) The police were woefully inept because they no longer understand what is expected of them. They are simply scared of public opinion.

We have to stop undermining our bravest and best and begin to apportion blame where its due - People should be rioting about the thousands of policemen and women that are shot at each year. They should riot against gangs taking over their neighbourhoods, about their neighbours cheating on benefits, or their co-workers stealing from the company storerooms. The problem is we don't. This world has a seriously ***** up moral compass !

[MagicManICT]

Let's put it this way: out of 1.3mil people in Munich, 300k are non-citizens, ie fairly recent immigrants, and majority of those are in the bottom quintile wealth-wise.

I'm gonna go ahead and call that - no way that statistic is right. This could be the number of "foreigners" (ie Western Euro peeps as well) currently in Munich, but they are definitely not all dirt poor immigrants as you called them.

That's not what he said. He said "majority," which means greater than 50%. That could probably hold as an altruism for any migrant population. One of the biggest reasons for immigration is to find work, and the lion's share of those are poor people with no hopes (lost hopes, at least) of finding work where they came from.

They are also all registered, Bavaria is the poster boy police state and there is no way they allow 300k unregistered persons to run around. Not even convinced the population statistic is correct, but maybe that discounts "greater Munich" area.

I'll take you're guys' word on these things, as I don't even know where to begin to dispute either one. That number wouldn't surprise me in a city/metro area like Los Angeles, though, but the population is much, much higher.

We have to stop undermining our bravest and best and begin to apportion blame where its due - People should be rioting about the thousands of policemen and women that are shot at each year. They should riot against gangs taking over their neighbourhoods, about their neighbours cheating on benefits, or their co-workers stealing from the company storerooms. The problem is we don't. This world has a seriously ***** up moral compass !

Because more rioting is going to solve the problem, right? More like we should be after our governmental representatives to make laws all can stand beside. If only we could gather even 100 people and get them to all agree on something, though....

And who's moral compass is all ***** up? Those wanting to control what others think and do or the person that wants to do what they will? The Wiccans have a philosophy, "Do what you will, but bring no harm to others." (I think I got that right. Someone please correct me if I'm misquoting it.) It's pretty much the same as "The Golden Rule," but has a bit more panache.

[Potjeh]

Those 300k are actually the registered ones. Registration != citizenship. The real number of immigrants must be higher.

Anyway, so you think that death penalty is an appropriate punishment for a kid playing with a BB gun, or for a guy selling cigarettes illegally? How about jaywalkers, should they be executed?

[Champie]

If I were a 350 lb unemployed, diabetic, heart diseased, asthmatic hanging out on the streets of New York City (Staten Island) with a record of 30+ arrests and 6 kids at home....

My dying words would be "I ***** things up a long time ago."

Just an observation: Black and Gay are the "political" topics most discussed in this forum. It seems a few people in the Salem community have a serious fetish.

[Potjeh]

How much exactly of ***** up in life does it take to deserve death penalty?

[Champie]

How much exactly of ***** up in life does it take to deserve death penalty?

I think the Death Penalty is just one of many continuing human failures.

Sometimes you take a wrong turn, or many wrong turns and end up in a fatal collision. We are constantly on a crash course with others. Some are better drivers and avoid the crash, some are better navigators and avoid the wrong turns, and yet we are all always at risk. In my opinion the Garner tragedy is just a confluence of travelers.

[HolyLight]

How much exactly of ***** up in life does it take to deserve death penalty?

I think the Death Penalty is just one of many continuing human failures.

Sometimes you take a wrong turn, or many wrong turns and end up in a fatal collision. We are constantly on a crash course with others. Some are better drivers and avoid the crash, some are better navigators and avoid the wrong turns, and yet we are all always at risk. In my opinion the Garner tragedy is just a confluence of travelers.

A life for a life imho.

If you are capable of killing someone in cold blood, i feel that the family of said victim should be able choose the fate of the criminal. Be it death or life in prison.

An eye for an eye.

Things like rape should get mens penis's chopped off etc.

[Inotdead]

An eye for an eye.

Ooh, ethics! Me likey!

What if a said man, a murderer, is a prominent scientist capable of advancing the humanity alone by himself, but he simply had this 'urge' he couldn't control?
Personally, I would **** on victims family and feed him babies if that's what he needs to do his work But ofc. this case is too extreme.

Robert Stroud is a good example though, a murderer who became a somewhat famous ornithologist in prison.
What I mean is, that some people shouldn't be executed on spot. There is more value to extract from them being alive.

[Champie]

What I mean is, that some people shouldn't be executed on spot. There is more value to extract from them being alive.

I am a bit of a Buckminster Fuller acolyte, so I like to consider his thoughts on big issues.
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/buckminster-fuller-gives-a-lecture-about-semantics-at-san-quentin-state-prison-1959.html
An excerpt from the article:

Fuller’s address, which you can hear above, starting around the 20:30 minute mark, takes on an even more general breadth of subjects than that, including his own biography and the experiences that originated the ideas that drove him to live his life as “an experiment to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.” Through that concern with humanity, he could relate to prisoners just as well as he could to anyone else. “There are no throw-away resources,” he says at one point, “and no throw-away people.” At over three hours long, the lecture gets into some detail, but if you want a still more thorough look into Fuller’s mind, consider following it up with the 42-hour Everything I Know.

full disclosure, I am now listening to this lecture for the first time. it can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai4IRYvc_qg