Randall Flagg wrote:

mitchejw wrote:

See you come here for one week and presume to know everything about the city based on news reports?

I'm going to enjoy this again.

I have lived in this city for 10 years. You presume to know everything out about it by glossing over things based on a news report or two?

You presume to know everything about the problems here in Chicago based on a quick glance at a few cherry picked statistics.

Here's a couple things to think about, is it possible the black criminals are prosecuted more than white? Is it possible if they're also convicted at a higher rate because they're black?

There's outrage here all the time. So you're one day sampling of what goes on here in the city is purely asinine and  typical of Trump supporter.

Second, you also say you were informed by media reports but then asked the question why media doesn't report on the stuff? Hypocrisy right in your own words. Inconsistencies written in  your words.

I am emplore the rest of you to stop listening to this guy. He makes up things and talks about them as though they are already fact.

He cites statistics that are skewed based on obvious biases.

He cites opinion pieces and blogs as proof that his arguments are correct.

He comes to the city of Chicago for a week and presumes to know everything about it based on a couple of news reports. It's Jack-assery at its finest. You are  not to be listened to for any reason.  It's nothing but spin doctored messages and propaganda machine content.

I don't know what has inspired you to follow me the past few days, but let me apologize and offer an olive branch.  If you'd like to refute my ideas and offer your own, I'll be glad to listen.

I don't think I know everything about Chicago.  I'm in the city for a week about once a month.  I was simply pointing these tragedies as two events that in my opinion, are much more horrific than the the tragedy of police officers using lethal force.  Neither got national attention which is why I mentioned them.  I'm aware there's many factors unique to Chicago.  For example, I know that several years ago the police force made a concerted effort to arrest the leaders of several prominent gangs, creating a power vacuum. 

I don't think I've linked a single blog in any of my posting and no opinion pieces jump to mind either.  I don't know how repeating crime statistics in the US is biased, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume there is something to these FBI crime statistics you're aware of that I'm not.

Again, I apologize if I've inadvertently offended you.  Eager to participate in any fruitful discussion.  But if your posts are going to continue to be in the manner you've been following the past few days, please don't bother.  I'm not going to read them and no one else seems to be impressed with the quality of the arguments you're making when you come at me with this tone.  Apologies and hope to have meaningful discussion moving forward.

I accept your olive branch and in turn will tone it down in appreciation of you olive branch....

If I may....Id like to share a bit about who I am....

I had a white male father who spent a decade in prison during my childhood in Wisconsin.

I had a younger brother what the age of 10 needed a liver transplant and the only way that happened  in my family circumstance is through  government assistance.

I own a small business of a few dozen employees so I am no Safetyneter or standard liberal just waiting for a government handout.

When I graduated from undergraduate school in 2006, I left my rinky-dink town of Eau Claire Wisconsin in abeat up car into to Chicago and lived there ever since.

For those of you who know the Chicagoland area, you might be interested to know my first apartment was at the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Roosevelt. In Axls words, the jungle.

I went to graduate school here in Chicago and to make a long story short, I was sexually assaulted by a white male professor. And when I confessed this to two lawyers, neither of them cared.  You can currently see a billboard for this professor'S business facing eastbound on I 290 in Chicago just outside of the city limits.

In 2012 I met the love of my life.  She's a beautiful girl from Naperville.  She already had a child. My perspective on the world has changed ever since.

Except she's not really from Naperville, she's from the south side, or at least  thats where she was when she was born.

See she's a black woman.

And her brother? He's a black police officer.

Can you imagine?

mitchejw wrote:

This needs to be repeated in this thread...everyone needs to know where your ideas come from. The final two paragraphs from above are from Randall Flagg. This man has an agenda and this is the proof!

Not like that it doesn't. We don't do witch hunts here. He is allowed his opinions like everybody else.

Ease up on the personal focus. If you want to challenge him there are constructive ways of doing that.

bigbri wrote:

Just explain how the Muslim bomber is alive and the guy in Charlotte isn't? That's all I'm asking.

And, yes, more white people may be shot, but as a proportion of the population, blacks are shot at a higher rate.

Blacks commit a higher amount of crime based on their population. Again, more than half of all murders are committed by blacks despite only being 12% of the population. So not only do you have more police involvement with blacks, they're still shooting more whites. No outrage. No movement.

I'm in Chicago for the week so I've been watching local news. A 12 year old black child was found burned beyond recognition in a recycling bin Saturday. Did that make national news?  A 6 month pregnant black woman was shot and murdered Sunday and her baby was delivered afterward. Did that make national news?

Why are there no riots for the 12 year old who was burned and tossed in a dumpster or the pregnant woman who was murdered?  Why isn't the media broadcasting these events?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/more-800-imm … itics.html

Proving the point I made above.  Right now the leadership of the US is more concerned with appeasing liberal, feel good desires than security.  Trump will at least make sure we're certain someone isn't going to walk into a shopping mall with C4 as soon as they pass through customs.

3 attacks within 24 hours.  Obama has yet to comment, and DeBlassio refuses to acknowledge its terrorism.  God forbid we upset a few sensitive people.  I take no happiness in this, but I expect to see Trump's numbers rise.  Latest polls have him winning the electoral, so let's pray no more incidents occur.

mitchejw wrote:

Randall Flagg wrote:

I didn't say holocaust. And to suggest slavery is comparable to the complete genocide of a people is not only inaccurate, it cheapens the intentional actions taken against Jews and other "undesirables".

But why shouldn't someone acknowledge the positives of tragedies in the moment?  Those who suffered the tragedy of Hiroshima suffered greatly. But the American and Japanese who didn't perish in the forthcoming land battle were happy to be alive. The millions who suffered and perished in WW2 certainly didn't enjoy their pain. But can anyone deny that the West is much safer and happier as a result of the conclusion of that war?  All parties engaged in that war are better off now than before. They have 21st century technology and food at their disposal.

Blacks aren't due reparations because they haven't suffered. Not only are people not owed anything for what occurred legally at the time, they're not owed anything for something that never was inflicted on them. If any American Black was owed anything, it'd be those who suffered under Jim Crow and they alone.  And only for the grievances they directly received. Jim Crow was declared unconstitutional, ergo it never was legally enforced. Slavery was never ruled unconstitutional, and only is so because of the 13th amendment. I'm not making a moral argument for slavery, but pointing out you can't retroactively and selectively try to apply modern customs and law to events that ended centuries ago. Should Egypt provide reparations to every Jew?  Should England pay reparations to every American because they illegally exerted their control over us? 

Reparations are de facto given to blacks in this country just as they are to you and me. Whatever hardships our ancestors suffered to build the word we live in, is paid to their descendants by being able to live in this great country. Poverty in America is luxury in many of the countries most Blacks' cousins in Africa presently reside.

So to acknowledge that something horrific had positive outcomes isn't politically incorrect or factually wrong. It's pointing out that bad, horrible shit has happened to every race or creed since the dawn of man, and all of us are better off because humanity is driven to improve its situation in life.

What the fuck are you blathering about?

Did you copy and paste this from some where?

You're as self righteous as Trump, you're a match made in heaven.

I wish to remind you that you, personally, have done nothing. You have contributed nothing to this country. I think you need more reminders.

Haha. You're a real intellectual heavyweight. I served 9 years in the Army. I fought in Iraq. I paid more in federal taxes than the poverty line for a family of 4 last year. So tell me again what you've done for this country. Just another fucking loser.

And thanks for the compliment. When you hold a masters degree in political science, have traveled all over the world and have a job that pays 6 figures, you're forced to be able to articulate ideas the masses struggle with. Don't worry, I'm sure you can find something from Salon that will do your thinking for you.