Is America burning? (Black Lives Matter protests, civil unrest and riots 2020)

[DaveCinzano]

Buffalo cops who pushed protester Martin Gugino to ground cleared of wrongdoing

Arbitrator Jeffrey M. Selchick said he found that Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe did not violate Police Department regulations and did not intend to injure Martin Gugino, 75, during

buffalonews.com

Filth covers filth

 

[hitmouse]

California cities spent huge share of federal Covid relief funds on police

Records reveal that some cities gave more stimulus money to law enforcement than to health, housing and food initiatives

www.theguardian.com

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act (Arpa), the Biden administration’s signature stimulus package, the US government sent funds to cities to help them fight coronavirus and support local recovery efforts. The money, officials said, could be used to fund a range of services, including public health and housing initiatives, healthcare workers’ salaries, infrastructure investments and aid for small businesses.


But most large California cities spent millions of Arpa dollars on law enforcement. Some also gave police money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act, adopted in 2020 under Donald Trump. The records show:

• San Francisco received $312m in Arpa funds for fiscal year 2020 and allocated 49% ($153m) to police, 13% ($41m) to the sheriff’s department, and the remainder to the fire department, according to the city controller. San Francisco also gave roughly 22% ($38.5m) of its Cares funds to law enforcement.
• Los Angeles spent roughly 50% of its first round of Arpa relief funds on the LAPD, according to a public records request by the controller candidate Kenneth Mejia, and first reported in local news site LA Taco.
• Fresno spent $36.6m of its Cares funds on the police, making up 67% of Cares spending on city salaries, and roughly 40% of all of Fresno’s Cares funds.
• San Jose allocated roughly $27.8m of its Cares and Arpa funds to police salaries and the police dispatch department, representing about 12% of its relief money.
• Long Beach allocated the majority of its $135.8 million Arpa funds to police, though a spokesperson said a detailed breakdown of funds was not available.
• Oakland allocated $5m (13.5%) of its Cares funds to police salaries; Sacramento allocated $2.2m (2.5%) of Cares funds to police; and San Diego spent roughly $60.1m (64%) of its Cares funds on police in fiscal year 2020, and $52.6m (33%) in fiscal year 2021.

The budgeting and reporting process varies by city and is often opaque, making it difficult to compare and analyze how governments prioritized police and executed their budgets.

In Fresno, the city allocated more than double of its Cares money to police than it did to Covid testing, contact tracing, small business grants, childcare vouchers and transitional housing combined. Oakland’s police allocation was greater than the amounts spent on a housing initiative, a small business grant program and a workforce initiative. San Jose, meanwhile, spent significantly more on housing services and food programs than on law enforcement. And although Long Beach initially reported that it was allocating 100% of its Arpa funds to police, a spokesperson said $11.8m of those funds were now going to direct relief grants and that a portion was also supporting the city’s parks and marine departments.

 

[bcuster]

 

[kabbes]

Mind you, I always thought it was an odd way to deal with abortion rights, to rely there being something written in an ancient document that rules things apparently forever. Surely, it makes more sense to pass a specific law that enshrines those rights?

 

[two sheds]

Agreed, mind you next time there's a Republican majority (two years away) that would be reversed, too.

 

[a_chap]

 

[Ax^]

Fair play to Takei

i'll raise a beer to the fella

 

[hitmouse]

Dunno where this fits best so may as well go here, the oldest surviving current Black Panther prisoner finally won parole after 49 years:

Former Black Panther Sundiata Acoli to be released from prison after 49 years

The oldest imprisoned Panther was eligible for parole 29 years ago but was repeatedly denied in spite of ‘exemplary’ prison record

www.theguardian.com

 

[Ax^]

liked but it also makes me angry

waited till it had to be compassionate release

feel grateful for a life thats been take away

49 years just to make sure

 

[8ball]

“Life plus 24 to 35 years” is an odd-sounding sentence.

Seems like police union campaigns
are implicated in the length of his incarceration.

 

[NoXion]

With public camping a felony, Tennessee homeless seek refuge

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Miranda Atnip lost her home during the coronavirus pandemic after her boyfriend moved out and she fell behind on bills. Living in a car, the 34-year-old worries every day about getting money for food, finding somewhere to shower, and saving up enough money for an...

apnews.com

A fucking felony?! Loss of voting rights? For camping?!

Tennessee already made it a felony in 2020 to camp on most state-owned property. In pushing the expansion, Sen. Paul Bailey noted that no one has been convicted under that law and said he doesn’t expect this one to be enforced much, either. Neither does Luke Eldridge, a man who has worked with homeless people in the city of Cookeville and supports Bailey’s plan — in part because he hopes it will spur people who care about the homeless to work with him on long-term solutions.

What complete and utter fucking bullshit. You don't need to pass laws that disenfranchise people in order to properly deal with homelessness. Also, why the fuck are you passing a law you don't intend to enforce? That is such an obvious giveaway that this law is intended to be enforced selectively, most likely against the homeless and protestors.

TN Republicans are evil fucking idiots.

 

[David Clapson]

George Takei's thread seems a good intro to this: "Is America heading for civil war?" Subscribe to read | Financial Times Paywall free version archive.ph

 

[yield]

George Takei's thread seems a good intro to this: "Is America heading for civil war?" Subscribe to read | Financial Times Paywall free version archive.ph

Sobering reading that in the FT

How would a 21st century US civil war actually happen? Nothing like the first time. Unlike the 1860s, when America was neatly split between the slave-owning confederates and the north, today’s separatist geography is marbled. Unlike then, America’s armed forces today cannot be outgunned. Even in a country that, uniquely, has more privately owned guns than people (at more than 400mn), many of which are military-grade, it would be no contest. Yet America, of all countries, knows that asymmetric warfare is unwinnable. Think of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Think, also, of how America was born — its revolutionary army lost almost every encounter with Britain’s vastly better equipped redcoats. Yet, with the help of the French, America’s guerrilla forces prevailed. Now substitute today’s federal army for the redcoats. Armies have a terrible record of pacifying restive populations. Every casualty breeds 10 more rebels.

 

[8ball]

This civil war stuff sounds like total fiction.

What are the sides even meant to be?

 

[two sheds]

If (when) republicans get back in they'll have the police and army on their side. Do you not think they'll take advantage to make sure they don't lose again?

 

[PTK]

If (when) republicans get back in they'll have the police and army on their side. Do you not think they'll take advantage to make sure they don't lose again?

There is no essential difference between the Democratic "party" ad the Republican "party".

 

[yield]

This civil war stuff sounds like total fiction.

What are the sides even meant to be?

You might like this American Civil War

Robert Evans' It Could Happen Here podcast from 2019 is good

Though with for-profit healthcare amid a global pandemic, the opiate epidemic, police violence, suicide and other deaths of despair, and as the bodycount rises, the civil war actually started some time ago.

 

[8ball]

So, what are the sides again?

 

[NoXion]

So, what are the sides again?

One side wants to turn the US into an actual theocratic hellhole. The other side is everyone who doesn't want that to happen.

You sound like you're in denial.

 

[Ax^]

So, what are the sides again?

might be roe vs wade

 

[spring-peeper]

might be roe vs wade

might be religion

 

[petee]

This civil war stuff sounds like total fiction.

it isn't.

What are the sides even meant to be?

"us" and "them".
"them" = "liberal"/democratic party members=communist=socialist=gay=ukranian=librarians=public school teachers=lifetime government employees looking to a pension/i could go on.

 

[8ball]

One side wants to turn the US into an actual theocratic hellhole. The other side is everyone who doesn't want that to happen.

You sound like you're in denial.

Ok. Sounds like a nice short war, then.

 

[NoXion]

Ok. Sounds like a nice short war, then.

I don't understand why you're so fucking flippant about this shit. You've got people who actually live in the US saying that there's a genuine threat going on, but of course you know better for some fucking reason. Again, it just comes across as fucking denial.

 

[8ball]

I don't understand why you're so fucking flippant about this shit. You've got people who actually live in the US saying that there's a genuine threat going on, but of course you know better for some fucking reason. Again, it just comes across as fucking denial.

Yeah, and people from the US are equally quickly dismissed on here when saying things that people don’t want to hear, so that doesn’t mean shit.

Last time I was told I was in denial was by a QAnon-er. At least they gave their fantasies some detail, batshit as it was.

Ok, which side does the military side with? Or is there a military faction for each side?

Let’s get some worldbuilding going.

 

[NoXion]

Yeah, and people from the US are equally quickly dismissed on here when saying things that people don’t want to hear, so that doesn’t mean shit.

You've been given resources that elucidate on this. Your responses indicate that you've completely fucking ignored them. If you can't see the polarisation in that's happening in the US, then that means you're a complete fucking idiot. Or you simply refuse to see it for some fucking stupid reason. Drop the gadfly nonsense and actually fucking engage for once, why don't you?

Last time I was told I was in denial was by a QAnon-er. At least they gave their fantasies some detail, batshit as it was.

So if if two different people say vaguely similar things to you, that means they carry the exact same weight? What fucking Golden Mean fallacy bullshit is that?

Ok, which side does the military side with? Or is there a military faction for each side?

Let’s get some worldbuilding going.

Worldbuilding? Is this shit like a video game for you? Fuck off already.

 

[krtek a houby]

So, what are the sides again?

It's a bit more nuanced than that. As well you know.

You've got mainstream politicians touting conspiracy theories, several of which lead into anti-semitism. You've got the gerrymandering likes of Republicans - making sure black demographics have no representation. You have voting rights being impinged upon, where voters have to stand in line for hours without even a free drink of water. You've got a far right mainstream media that openly promotes theories of replacement and ignores inherent racism within the forces. You have black people being shot dead by said forces. You have people who stand up (or merely correct) against the bigotry of DeSantis and his anti-LGBT laws, who are vilified and called paedophiles. You have books being removed from libraries and curriculum. You have history being distorted before your very eyes, where the black and indigenous experience is being played down or dismissed. You have science being rejected in favour of fundamentalism and aforementioned conspiracies.

That's merely the tip of the iceberg.

You've got women being denied ownership of their own bodies and migrants being sexually abused. Women being abused for being politicians, activists, people of colour, or merely for having an opinion.

That book recently recommended is a great eye-opener, in regards of the black/indigenous/etc communities and their experiences.

You've got many millions who try to change the inherent racist structures, if only even by turning out to vote, but the system is stacked against them.

All of this has been going on forever - Trump and his followers are symptoms of a far greater malaise at the heart of the USA.

Can the Democrats deliver? Probably not. Their hierarchies dither and maintain a status quo, despite attempts from the progressives within the party to make serious changes. But can America wait until the old order has died out?

Don't think it can.

 

[8ball]

It's a bit more nuanced than that. As well you know.

You've got mainstream politicians touting conspiracy theories, several of which lead into anti-semitism. You've got the gerrymandering likes of Republicans - making sure black demographics have no representation. You have voting rights being impinged upon, where voters have to stand in line for hours without even a free drink of water. You've got a far right mainstream media that openly promotes theories of replacement and ignores inherent racism within the forces. You have black people being shot dead by said forces. You have people who stand up (or merely correct) against the bigotry of DeSantis and his anti-LGBT laws, who are vilified and called paedophiles. You have books being removed from libraries and curriculum. You have history being distorted before your very eyes, where the black and indigenous experience is being played down or dismissed. You have science being rejected in favour of fundamentalism and aforementioned conspiracies.

That's merely the tip of the iceberg.

You've got women being denied ownership of their own bodies and migrants being sexually abused. Women being abused for being politicians, activists, people of colour, or merely for having an opinion.

That book recently recommended is a great eye-opener, in regards of the black/indigenous/etc communities and their experiences.

You've got many millions who try to change the inherent racist structures, if only even by turning out to vote, but the system is stacked against them.

All of this has been going on forever - Trump and his followers are symptoms of a far greater malaise at the heart of the USA.

Can the Democrats deliver? Probably not. Their hierarchies dither and maintain a status quo, despite attempts from the progressives within the party to make serious changes. But can America wait until the old order has died out?

Don't think it can.

Yes, not denying any of this is happening (well, not the bulk of it).

However “civil war” is a term with a specific meaning. Getting from a serious social malaise and a polarisation in society to
a civil war requires certain things to happen.

I’m asking how the dots are being joined up here.

 

[krtek a houby]

Yes, not denying any of this is happening (well, not the bulk of it).

However “civil war” is a term with a specific meaning. Getting from a serious social malaise and a polarisation in society to
a civil war requires certain things to happen.

I’m asking how the dots are being joined up here.

Let's call it a "cold civil war", then. One that, thankfully, hasn't exploded into something that is too horrific to take on board. If you listen to the never ending scream of the internet (brought to you by the up mentioned angry far right, incels, uber patriots, gun freaks, etc) outside of urban, you'll get a taste of it.

It's been brewing for years. The internet has amplified the divide, it has propelled the "battle" to the foreground, assisted by the relevant media (Carlson, etc) and the politicians have not been slow in wrapping themselves in old glory and using it for their agenda. There's open talk about defeating/crushing the leftists/socialists and their wokeness. The idea that people other than white hetero males might want to have a say about the future/equality/shared spaces/capitalism and so on... it fills them with terror.

Used to dismiss the far right drivel until the last few years. It's getting so loud now, it's impossible to filter it out.

Wish it was just a few cranks, loons and bigots but with regular reports on the rise and threat of domestic (right wing terror) in the US, can't dismiss the prospect of something terrible as easy as before.

The Escalating Terrorism Problem in the United States

Far-right terror poses bigger threat to US than Islamist extremism post-9/11

There's also the murky connections with cops and the far right

The right is preparing for a breakdown of law and order, but they are also overtaking the forces of law and order. Hard right organization have now infiltrated so many police forces – the connections number in the hundreds – that they have become unreliable allies in the struggle against domestic terrorism.

The next US civil war is already here – we just refuse to see it

The January 2021 insurection was a (shambolic and bumbling) dry run. Hoping that they will not become more organized and disciplined. But it's seriously worrying.

 

[maomao]

However “civil war” is a term with a specific meaning.

Armed conflict between organised groups within the same nation. There are events in the last year or two that meet that definition already. What are the 'sides' in Syria?