US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1253

On August 26 2014 14:50 Souma wrote:
Never thought I'd actually be inclined to agree with an xDaunt simplification of an issue.

To understand some of the distrust of police that has fueled protests in Ferguson, Mo., consider this: In 2013, the municipal court in Ferguson — a city of 21,135 people — issued 32,975 arrest warrants for nonviolent offenses, mostly driving violations.

A new report released the week after 18-year old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson helps explain why. ArchCity Defenders, a St. Louis-area public defender group, says in its report that more than half the courts in St. Louis County engage in the "illegal and harmful practices" of charging high court fines and fees on nonviolent offenses like traffic violations — and then arresting people when they don't pay. The report singles out courts in three communities, including Ferguson.

Thomas Harvey, who started the organization to provide legal services to the poor in the St. Louis region and is the lead author of the report, says residents, especially in Ferguson, have come to see the use of fines and fees as a way for courts to collect money from residents who are often the least able to pay.

"Folks have the impression that this is a form of low-level harassment that isn't about public safety. It's about money," he says.

The ArchCity Defenders report argues that this resentment is justified. Last year, Ferguson collected $2.6 million in court fines and fees. It was the city's second-biggest source of income of the $20 million it collected in revenues.

On August 26 2014 12:14 Introvert wrote:


DACA is an excellent example of the fact that Obama really doesn't want to send anyone home.

I've gone over the numbers on deportations and the like before with GreenHorizons, but the gist is that fun spins of language make things more difficult to discern.

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/general/383301-us-politics-megathread?page=1142#22833

Additionally:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/21/lies-damned-lies-and-obamas-deportation-statistics/

http://cis.org/ICE-Illegal-Immigrant-Deportations

I have to admit, Obama's played quite the game. Immigrant groups whine he deports too much, conservatives complain it's too little.

States that have legalized marijuana for medical use have lower rates of prescription painkiller overdose deaths than states that have not, new research suggests.

In a study published Monday in the latest issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that although overdose deaths from opioid painkillers -- like OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin -- have increased in the U.S. over the course of the last decade, they were 25 percent lower in states that implemented medical marijuana laws than other states. The reason for the association was unclear. The study was led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"Prescription drug abuse and deaths due to overdose have emerged as national public health crises," Colleen L. Barry, senior author of the study and associate professor in the health policy and management department at the Bloomberg School, said in a statement. "As our awareness of the addiction and overdose risks associated with use of opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin grows, individuals with chronic pain and their medical providers may be opting to treat pain entirely or in part with medical marijuana, in states where this is legal."

The researchers used death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the rate of opioid overdose deaths between 1999 and 2010 in all 50 states. They then took a close look at the states that had implemented medical marijuana laws during that same period.

By 1999, only three states had enacted medical marijuana laws -- California in 1996, and Oregon and Washington in 1998. By 2010, 10 more states had also passed medical cannabis laws. Nine additional states have legalized medical marijuana since 2010, but those states were not examined, as they were beyond the scope of the study date range.

The study reveals that states with legal medical marijuana had a 24.8 percent lower annual average painkiller overdose death rate than states without those laws. It also shows that in the years following the legalization of medical cannabis, the association was stronger over time -- in the first year of legalizing medical cannabis, painkiller overdose deaths were nearly 20 percent lower in states with the laws than without, and nearly 34 percent lower five years later, on average.

In the recording, a quick series of shots can be heard, followed by a pause and then another quick succession of shots.
Forensic audio expert Paul Ginsberg analyzed the recording and said he detected at least 10 gunshots -- a cluster of six, followed by four.
"I was very concerned about that pause ... because it's not just the number of gunshots, it's how they're fired," the man's attorney, Lopa Blumenthal, told CNN's Don Lemon. "And that has a huge relevance on how this case might finally end up."

On August 27 2014 05:58 zlefin wrote:
That can happen in US too; in small towns typically. Maybe in quiet neighborhoods too; but mostly in small towns.
Canadian just has so much land and so few people it's all small towns.

On August 27 2014 05:58 zlefin wrote:
That can happen in US too; in small towns typically. Maybe in quiet neighborhoods too; but mostly in small towns.
Canadian just has so much land and so few people it's all small towns.

On August 27 2014 05:36 Wolfstan wrote:
Context as to why the tensions in Ferguson and police militarization is such a foreign concept to me.

On the Canadian side of things:

Political leader leaves doors unlocked.
Drunk teen wanders in at night.
Nothing get taken, note left advising to lock doors.
Police investigate.
Teen goes "sorry bro I was drunk."
Victim goes "np bro"
Police go "it's all good"

Source

On August 27 2014 07:07 Wolfstan wrote:
That can be paraphrased as:
Black community: "you shot 8 blacks in 4 years, you are worse than LA"
Police: "officers were acquitted, a little sensationalist no?"
Black community: "it's OK bros, just jumping on the Rodney King thing, reforms might be a good idea though"
Police: "We can be accountable to all citizens of all colours, seems reasonable."
........
22 years later
........
Sub40APM: "Black bros get brutalized all the time"
Wolfstan: "That was 22 years ago homie, we are chill up here.

On August 27 2014 05:58 zlefin wrote:
That can happen in US too; in small towns typically. Maybe in quiet neighborhoods too; but mostly in small towns.
Canadian just has so much land and so few people it's all small towns.

On August 27 2014 07:27 ElMeanYo wrote:
Remember all those 'missing' IRS Lerner emails? Looks like it was a lies:

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/backups-for-missing-lois-lerner-irs-emails/

I guess they stalled enough to remove all the offending emails.

On August 27 2014 08:03 KwarK wrote:

Most small town Americans I've spoken to say that if they hear anyone near their house at night it's gun time.

On August 27 2014 08:59 aksfjh wrote:

Sensationalist news organization with a blatant right lean bend is claiming the IRS emails DO exist?! SHOCKING!

I'll wait until they actually appear.