Just so I'm clear... Both partners planned to have the child walk around with a realistic toy gun, then planned to be the responding officers so that they could then murder the child. These are the facts as you know them? Otherwise, there was no murder here... Possibly manslaughter...
That being said, we should not have to expect the police to hold off on shooting someone with a gun. As was mentioned, having a child with a real gun is not out of the realm of possibility. The gun pictured looks very real, especially in the few seconds they could see it.
Yes, the police are there to serve and protect, not die.
They have a right to protect themselves and stopping to analyse whether a gun is real or a toy is not realistic.
If this had been one of the colorful nerf type guns, I would have a different opinion, but that gun looks real.
I guess in your book, you would have the police hold fire until they are shot at? Well, at that point it may be too late.
This was a tragedy, but I do put part of the blame in the parents court as well as the child..
Too be honest, with all the backlash police are getting, what happens if they decide to all be more hands off?
Hello 911, whats your emergency?
Someone is breaking into my house.
OK, let us know when they are done and we will come investigate.

I'm not saying that we should just ignore what the police do in their actions, I'm just saying we shouldn't crucify every action since the outcome doesn't please us.

Your video, Conan's Thoughts on the Charlie Hebdo Tragedy, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Conan's Thoughts on the Charlie Hebdo Tragedy has been added as a related post - related requested by eric3579.

To the religious, we are alone and we are it, and many are quite happy to drive nothing other than a stake through further human accomplishment by putting limits on those who would try. I think the discovery that we're alone would make that worse, but that's nothing to worry about because you can't prove that.... otherwise we'd have proof God doesn't exist. (Merry Christmas!)

There's another alternative that sits so uncomfortably with me, and that's if light speed is the limit and there's no circumventing it. The reason it doesn't sit well with me is that it means effectively intelligent life will always exist in isolation, the only hope being that civilisations pick up ancient transmissions from other civilisations. It is inevitable in my mind that there is life out there of some kind, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be tangible to us. I feel like that would be a tragedy beyond shakespeare.. inevitable cosmic loneliness.

Some people's lives are so unfairly surrounded with so much tragedy

you would lose that bet.

look,i dont see anybody here denying that harassment exists and chaos posted that this woman is receiving rape threats from some serious twisted fuckers.

which just boggles my fucking mind.

maybe i am getting too old and no longer get the plot.
maybe the younger generation are so disconnected from each other that ANY form of interaction in real life is viewed as an invasion.(ironic due to just how much more connected we all are nowadays).which is a serious tragedy in my opinion.all those lost opportunities to connect and interact with another human being.

being polite and respectful should never be stigmatized as harassment.

now,as yogi pointed out,if somebodies body language and demeanor reveal a person in thought or not receptive to any interactions,then of course dont interfere in that persons personal space.

but thats not harassment,thats just annoying and rude.the opposite of polite and respectful.

if we are walking down the street and in passing we make eye contact..im gonna acknowledge you,because to me that is being polite.if you pass with your shoulders hunched and your eyes are fixated on the pavement then we shall pass in silence.

now i will make a bet.
i bet attractive people get far more attention in this manner than lesser attractive people.

but if you still feel any interactions from a human being you do not know personally is harassment,then you are dismissing a HUGE factor in what makes us all human.

what a weird perspective.
it appears everyone else has become the "other" to be cautious and fearful of.
i am feeling incredibly old right now.
and sad...........

Almost put this in the comedy channel (although, it's more like a tragedy for the guy). It's more like a bureaucratic farce, regardless.. And, like all good comedies, a cautionary tale.

No big deal, of course. It's not like many taxpayers don't already pay for other people's kids... (and, likely, WAY more than $30K, because, y'know... "common good.")

In cases like these, they may just have well used a lottery of all registered voters and randomly select one of them to pay. Like a jury duty, but with child-support duty... Maybe even have a woman be the "deadbeat dad." And then the Great Fiction could be enjoyed as though it were a game.. like poker..

or roulette.

It's not so much racism as xenophobia. The Russians might be white, but during the cold war, they may as well have been Martians.

And no, I don't believe Americans support drone strikes because the "get" to kill brown people. It's simply that they don't care as much about them.

You're deluding yourself if you think otherwise. It goes way beyond terrorism. And it's not even a US issue either.

Look at other tragedies, natural disasters, etc.

Katrina killed 1800 people. Undoubtedly a significant event. The 2004 tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a million people, but which one got more media coverage in the developed world?

So, once again, answer the question. Would you have been ok with the British government drone striking Ireland in the 80s?

I know it's supposed to be funny and they're a bunch of little football players in uniform so it's not like they're being badly hurt...

but watching this makes me feel sad.

I think it's not just seeing what's happening to them, but that it's being played for the world in slow motion to mock and laugh at those innocent tiny kids whose fun little celebration was spoiled.

One of the worst things in the world for me is even the very thought of an innocent child's fun being suddenly turned into sadness, or, worse, pain or, worst, tragedy. So seeing it actually happen hurts my heart a little.

In what way was i wrong? I said that you made a bias speculation, and you reply with "Wrong again! I actually made a speculation." - Well, that confirms what i said, sans the word bias, obviously because from your point of view you aren't biased. But your ...colourful language betrays you.

The stand-your-ground nonsense doesn't fly in what i consider (that's MY bias, my opinion) more civilised areas. Zimmerman wanted a fight, chased and got the fight he wanted, got out of his depth and killed a man all in the name of self defence. That is absolutely insane to me, but i respect any people's right to self determination; it's why i don't live somewhere that has laws which allow someone to pursue and kill without repercussions. I think you'll find that the law is contentious at best, and is only seen as a shining beacon of justice by racists. Those of us with less bias on those particular matters see it as a tragedy that could have been avoided if a certain person hadn't willingly pursued someone out of a desperate desire to be some kind of rentacop.

Such a tragedy...SUCH A TRAGEDY!?!

If you're entire family got raped by wild dogs, that would be a fucking tragedy. Not anything to do with this cunty little fuck.

Brazil and FIFA should be burnt to the fucking ground by it's people who are so exploited and destroyed by this World Cup. Way to support the destruction of the Brazilian people for a few games you selfish fuck.

not much 'avoiding' going on....Better title for yas, oh princess of human tragedy...

Near Miss: Faces of Death Ruskie-Style

@bareboards2 I am utterly stupefied by your ability to dismiss my argument whilst at the same time not addressing any single part of it. Without so much as questioning my reasoning, you've labelled me, stuck me in a box and judged me, calling on others to hear of your sadness at.....what? Detailed, thoughtful and politely delivered criticism?

The worst thing here is that if i were to suggest that your reply, or the content of this video, was "femscaping" or something similarly derogatory then you would have lynched me up on the nearest tree for sexism - the thing you want to stop. Yet when you dismiss a comment i make as something equally sexist and based entirely on my gender (because you sure as shit never once mentioned any part of my argument), that's absolutely fine.

Is it really beneficial to your cause to attempt to censor people who question the content of the message; label them, dismiss them and profess your sadness for the human tragedy of ignorance like a scientologist? A good conclusion with good evidence would not need your protection from my scrutiny.

If you think i'm on some sort of misogynist bandwagon, then you're dead wrong about me. I've criticised a couple of videos recently because i considered them to be supplying dodgy data or trickery. Whenever a video wants to make evidence based claims, i reserve the right to question their methodology and that is fundamental to any kind of evidence. The topic is entirely coincidental.

If you have a problem with my argument then by all means i welcome your criticism, but criticise the argument rather than calling me sexist names. What you did to me is no different to if i had simply commented "militant-feminist bullshit" without addressing any of the video, at which point you would have highlighted your plight and appealed to sympathy. But no, i offered a thorough explanation of my feelings, and i'm still the horrible mansplainer. No - i'm analytical, and i make no apologies for the damage that does to your cause.

Of all the people who offered detailed criticism of this video, one of them sided with you and the other didn't. Guess which one you engaged in discussion? I even offered you examples and reasoning, but no, i get just sexism.

The real tragedy here is that she got put in the low priority pool for being afk too long. I've been down there...its...not pretty.

Ohhhhh, Looky! MORE human error and human tragedy, the world just keeps getting better and better (he remarked sardonically) !!