Another example of 'I'm a cop, so let me tell you how the world works (from my misguided, self serving, myopic viewpoint) because only cops know...'
From your statement, one could reasonably ask 'why do cops have tasers at all then? You seem to say there's no time it would be reasonable to use one instead of a gun, because you don't know if your suspect is armed, an Olympic sprinter, an MMA fighter, on PCP, or any other made up excuse you might think of for shooting him out of your fear (of what exactly? It's unclear) instead of for a legitimate reason.
Your fear is NOT a reason to shoot citizens. It's amazing that someone needs to tell that to a 30 year officer, just amazingly sad. If you are so fearful of anyone not ensconced in blue, you certainly should not have been an officer. We need better psych screening, and braver officers.

No... This definitely continues the point of "We don't need weapons that are easily concealed and readily available for this exact situation to be available at your local Wal Mart."

In terms of Canadian gun laws, could this still happen? Yes. But only after he's taken not one, but two tests, and a psych exam. Other than that, if he were walking around outside with a gun, it would've been something like a hunting rifle, where she could A) have hid, or B) said "He's carrying a gun!"

Lets go back to the whole "What about if he didn't have a handgun" bit, though. Because, honestly, if he didn't have a handgun, the cops would literally have been there within 2 minutes most likely.

You also make the assumption that even if she had a gun, she wouldn't have gotten shot. That would be true if she had been brandishing it when the guy broke in, but unless it was already in her hands, he already would've had her within the first 10 seconds of being in the house.

There is no doubt that these people are disgusting, but thankfully they are also rare. Every society has their fringe crazies - the US has Westboro Baptist Church, for instance - and they generally get way more attention than they deserve by being controversial.

This isn't to say that there isn't a problem with Israeli society's attitude toward the Palestinians, it's just to say that I think it is a problem that is far more subtle and widespread. Focusing so much attention on a small percentage of religious fanatics can be important because it does represent a movement and ideology that is problematic, but it has very little direct relevance to the current conflict.

The real problem, in my opinion, is a unique mixture of nationalism and a lopsided insulation from the reality of the conflict that is very common in Israeli society.

Israeli society is uniquely coherent in a particular way that stems from the relatively homogenous cultural identity facilitated by Judaism, and this coherence is also strengthened by the fact that Israeli society was built in the face of and as a direct result of considerable adversity. I think that this does allow for a sort of groupthink that inhibits Israel's ability to treat the Palestinians in a humane manner, but the effect manifests itself through society as a sort of cultural blindness and it manifests through the political process as hawkish policy.

(Also, whether or not you think they had the right to build that society in the first place is beside the point right now, I'm only talking about the existence of the unifying influence of adversity, and the effect it has on policy and the national psyche)

The other component of it is the simple fact that Israelis are extremely insulated from the realities of the Palestinian sufferings.

Even in the heat of a conflict like this, Israelis can pretty much go about their lives unimpeded. It is true that the rocket attacks are disruptive and that there is on a whole an unacceptably high level of danger from external attacks, but Israelis have leveraged a security apparatus that minimizes these realities in day to day life to an astounding degree, all things considered, and this fact is a double edge sword that creates a perfect breeding ground for indifference.

One side of the sword is that these measures are extremely effective at improving the lives of Israelis in the short term. However the other side of the sword is that it obviously makes these measures popular and politically successful. Furthermore, with all the calm and prosperity, it is very easy to forget about the abysmal conditions being imposed on 1.8 million people just thirty kilometers or so from your doorstep. The only time they really have to deal with the issue is when there is an inevitable flareup of violence at which point, naturally, people tend to be less empathetic. The rest of the time, during the lulls, the prospect of empathy is just placed on the back burner.

These are the tendencies that need to be addressed.

However calling Israel the 4th Reich and placing so much focus on youtube videos that give Israel's religious fanatics undue prominence is just as useless and destructive as all the Israelis and Israel sympathizers who insist on viewing Palestinian society as an unchanging, violent monolith that is accurately represented by its extremist elements.

The fact of the matter is that there are significant movements within Israeli society that are in fact attempting to change these trends. The same is true of Palestinian society, however it is more difficult for those movements because of the repressions imposed by Hamas, culture and environment.

If there is to be any hope in this situation, Israel's role as the dominant, occupying force means that they have the first move. They will have to shift from focusing on isolation and self-preservation to one of empathy to the average Palestinian, an empathy that is so strong that they must be willing to take considerable personal risks and let up their stranglehold on Palestinian society and allow them to prosper.

Because only then will the environment be in any way conducive for Palestinians to take considerable personal risks and defy the status quo en masse. Only then will the false succor of violent religious extremism loose its appeal.

Until that happens, we'll the cycle seems to return to square one every two or three years and I expect to have this discussion again sometime around 2017.

Unfortunately, it is going to be a hard and unlikely road because it takes a lot of empathy and effort to rise up and take huge risks during the times of quiet when prosperity and security easily distract from the continuing plight of the Palestinians. These aren't common traits. Humans are a very tribal species and we're not good at this kind of stuff when it concerns someone different who you don't have to interact with. This challenge is hardly unique to the Jews.

Wrong. The US gov needs shrills like FOX to keep the public 'on-board'. Classic example being the whole WMD charade. The US public needs to think they are 'spreading freedom'. If they were ever aware of the terrorism it's own government dishes out, the American psyche would collapse and there might be actual protests (and more). Which is why I like Brand's debunking of said propaganda and war mongering.
Do you think it's a coincidence the bitch is brown ? I even think they darkened her a bit.
CNN also did it with some other war mongering Lebanese cunt recently.
Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZKqxxoUoYs

I must concur. Indie-pop, try-psyche, wannabe poser-rocker college drop-out masturbation....

You would'nt know a clinical diagnosis chicco, if it were up a familiar ass next to your recent comments littering your own profile-Check the manual then please, check the bullshit-The needle on the gauge is constantly in the red.

Just as your assessment is full of shit regarding myself, so is your recent spamdity self-excursion into your own psyche...Retention my ass, the problems' in a mirror.

Awww man, if they were going into the back catalog for a series, why not Lebowski, I'd be psyched for that!

really though, can't upvote this. can't give these guys what they want. if you were the conductor and that guy did die, how well do you think you would deal with that, even knowing that there was nothing you could do? it's sickening to impose such a risk on someone else's psyche.

Roommate called 3 days ago what will most-likely be ultimately be determined:
Pilot (zealot for his jailed psyche-ward buddy Anwar Ibrahim and the injustices suffered under some dick government's court system) took the plane up to 45K ft and depressurized the cabin, killed everyone on-board before disappearing the plane and himself.

> I've always wondered why they don't put countdowns
> to green lights and red lights.

all our lights up here have them, i rather like them. I dont think they are seconds, some faster unit. It is possible though that my psyche is on slow-mo though. They are visible from far enough away that they help with braking decisions -- when the roads are good. They are small enough that on very icy days you cant read the numbers until you are too close to stop.

Indeed, a horrible jurist, but it's by reason of this very confession that you'd ACTUALLY make an excellent police officer...errrr cop. Oh, sorry...Enforcement Representative.

Almost certain you'd score above-average in the psyche tests at any police academy.

Be sure you wash your hands thoroughly before putting them in your mouth, the poison can stay on them for a while, and does effect mammals. It would probably just make you sick, but why take chances.
I've raised Newts and Salamanders since I was little. I was really psyched when I moved to the Bay area from Texas and found them everywhere.

Some people are never satisfied. Personally, I'm so tired of the extremists views on both sides (and believe me, Pat Robertson is often the source of pretty nasty extreme views) that this was actually refreshing. Some people are just so cynical, they can't appreciate anything less than Pat Robertson and Jesus himself coming forward as atheists.

Here's my view on it for those who may care:

Religion is pretty worthless. Sure it's been the cause of lots of horrible (and good) things through history, but it's also an attempt to combine what some deem as fact with something that's so beyond fact that we can't even comprehend it. It's man made. Full of errors and contradictions, blah, blah, blah. We all know that. Basically it all just falls apart whenever you try to throw science in there. It's like judging an apple by the standards of screwdriver.

So let's look at just the spiritual side of things. This is where I hang out. I see it as something beyond science (though uses science as it's tool) and factual understanding. It goes beyond nitpicking this fact and that falsehood. It's just a thing in the air that you can either be in touch with or not. If you are (and I am) then it fills a gap. Gives you hope. Comfort. Peace. Lots of things that are indescribable. But you feel better when you have it and you can't choose to believe in it or not. You just do. If you don't buy into it, then there is no gap to begin with. Doesn't make you smarter or better. You just have different needs.

Now maybe that means that in some dark recess of your psyche that if you're in touch with this spiritual side of things, then you die believing you'll be in an amazing place for eternity. And so you are. Or you don't believe, and so you aren't. Neither is better or worse compared to the other because they have no business being compared to the other. They don't coexist. They just both exist.

I think whatever it is that you believe in sets a standard for your life. Following those things, being true to those things, is what it's all about. This completes you. You can't force them on others or yourself for that matter. You can't punish others for not playing by your rules. You just have to play by your own (as long as you don't harm others).

And I'm tired of spiritualism HAVING to mean pure magic. Science is magic. Science is the most amazing magic. Does things you'd never believe. It's not an insult. It's just makes the whole damn system that much more incredible. If you choose to call that magic, go right ahead. It's just a word. Before long we'll realize that science can do things magic only dreamed of and that's pretty damn magical.

By the way, I'm not typing this trying to change anyone's mind or act like it's some kind of original thought. I'm just typing some thoughts. I like this kind of shit. Debates are great and healthy. I'm just sick of people hating on or insulting folks for believing in their heart something that's different.

You'll have to get over the annoyance. It's crazy to think that religion - which thrives on such an entrenched part of the human psyche and is so deeply intertwined with history - will just admit defeat and lay down all of its claims to relevance in the face of any adversity. The best we can hope for is a long and gradual retreat.

I'll take what I can get. Relegating God to merely an abstract influence as the cause of the Big Bang has very little relevance to anyone's day to day life, whereas denying evolution, climate change, etc... is significantly more detrimental to scientific progress.

Jesus people, its a creative woman who slipped and fell and you all want to make it an analysis of an entire generation's psyche? Well, whatever generation you're in, you're in the over analyze everything generation because sometimes a fall it just a freakin' fall.