Not following this at all sorry but hopefully the verdict whatever it is will not lead to inflamed passions on both sides... black and white. I am more interested in the Snowden/NSA saga and how the government appears to be amassing all the info they could get on their own citizens. I suspect they mine the data to detect trends of unrest... like Occupy or Tea Party stuff and try and nip those in the bud before it gets out of control. I doubt its sole purpose is to deter terrorism. IMHO it is more an instrument of control. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of agents already interacting on, influencing social media sites based on data they collect.
I agree that monitoring phone calls is a way to find people that our government agencies are interested in watching. I don't like that the government has been doing it since Bush without telling us. It makes me defend Obama less. I don't like drones, Guantanamo, and the whole Wikileaks saga. I think whistle blowers are a necessary part of checks and balances in our government.
I haven't watched the Trayvon affair. I admit I listened to the media when it all happened and made a quick decision that Zimmerman was a racist or just an idiot with a gun looking for something to occupy himself with. I still think the truth will come out eventually. Unfortunately, Trayvon won't be there. I'm not sure why Zimmerman was carrying the gun and needed to defend himself from unarmed Trayvon. I think the laws about stand your ground and all that gives the gun carriers an opportunity to use them in many situations where guns aren't necessary. But, that's only my opinion. I'm aware of the 2nd amendment FOX news point of view. The NRA seems to have a strong lobby and they help get laws that sell a lot of guns.
Putin is also looking for something to do. He's been out of the picture for a while.
Yeah, MOG, you're right. I've known about the monitoring of the phone for years, too. But, it was all kind of not that important to me because what do I have to hide. The Bourne movies did show how the tech was available. I guess I just deny that there's anything really wrong if the FBI or the CIA must use technology to go after some terrorist.
On Zimmerman, I guess I can't help forming an opinion when the media tells me something. I know that generally there will be a more accurate story as the other facts become known. It's difficult to just stay so neutral until all the parts of the story come out. I understand the Zimmerman side about his broken nose and the wounds on the back of his head. It was kind of unclear how he had gotten those wounds in the beginning. Now it explains that Trayvon was on top, pounding him into the cement. He must of been pretty strong and fast enough to decide what to do with Zimmerman. The original story was that Trayvon was just walking back from the food store. Apparently the neighborhood was being burglarized regularly and Zimmerman was protecting it. There is still a question of why he went after Trayvon. Was it because he knew that the burglaries were being perpetrated by young black guys? There still is a question about racism. But, again, you're right, I wasn't there. I'm only processing what I hear on the news.
Well, nothing to me really suggests that it was racism. If anything, the trial has shown Trayvon and his friends to be the racists (referring to Zimmerman as a "cracker", even though he's actually Hispanic, etc.) In fact I saw on Anderson Cooper the other night Trayvon's step mom -- who I had no idea existed but apparently was with him 90% of the time during his life -- admitted she'd be lying if she said she thought Zimmerman targeted him due to race.
Well, I have to say, I was pretty worried that being an all-female jury they would make a decision based on emotion/sympathy rather than logic and the facts, but evidently they did not (that, or they sympathized with Zimmerman, but the juror who spoke out said many at the very least wanted a compromise and to convict him of "something" at first).
Objectively speaking, I think it was the right decision. The evidence just wasn't there.
*Sigh* Racism was not involved in this case although some wanted it to be so. That said, I think racism should be dealt with on an individual basis, not corporately. Also, dealing with racism should be color blind because, it can happen no matter what a person looks like.
I figger we hashed this out back when it happened. I posted then that he was not guilty. Seems like the judicial system agreed with me. Now the Afro Centric's want to riot in the street. My suggestion to any city who has to deal with this is to tell your police to shoot to kill.
Comments
I haven't watched the Trayvon affair. I admit I listened to the media when it all happened and made a quick decision that Zimmerman was a racist or just an idiot with a gun looking for something to occupy himself with. I still think the truth will come out eventually. Unfortunately, Trayvon won't be there. I'm not sure why Zimmerman was carrying the gun and needed to defend himself from unarmed Trayvon. I think the laws about stand your ground and all that gives the gun carriers an opportunity to use them in many situations where guns aren't necessary. But, that's only my opinion. I'm aware of the 2nd amendment FOX news point of view. The NRA seems to have a strong lobby and they help get laws that sell a lot of guns.
Putin is also looking for something to do. He's been out of the picture for a while.
On Zimmerman,
I guess I can't help forming an opinion when the media tells me something. I know that generally there will be a more accurate story as the other facts become known. It's difficult to just stay so neutral until all the parts of the story come out. I understand the Zimmerman side about his broken nose and the wounds on the back of his head. It was kind of unclear how he had gotten those wounds in the beginning. Now it explains that Trayvon was on top, pounding him into the cement. He must of been pretty strong and fast enough to decide what to do with Zimmerman. The original story was that Trayvon was just walking back from the food store. Apparently the neighborhood was being burglarized regularly and Zimmerman was protecting it. There is still a question of why he went after Trayvon. Was it because he knew that the burglaries were being perpetrated by young black guys? There still is a question about racism. But, again, you're right, I wasn't there. I'm only processing what I hear on the news.
Objectively speaking, I think it was the right decision. The evidence just wasn't there.