Come on, Kara, you know you missed this mug!

Oh it’s awful. I’ve been addicted to podcasts lately and there’s a really good one on Invisibilia on how Americans view mental illness- The Problem with the Solution- and Alan Pean’s story on This American Life called My Damn Mind, which details how he showed up at the hospital while he was having a psychiatric…

I think he’s just saying that this victim is beyond reproach. In most of the previous incidents, the victims had a criminal record. I’m not saying that excuses anything. It absolutely does not. But, in this instance there are NONE of the other factors that people bring up as to why it is really the victim’s fault and…

I kinda figured someone would call this out. My words are my words, I’ll own them, and all I can do is explain my meaning behind them. My praise of him was not a denouncement of any other victim. To interpret it this way is putting words in my mouth. But I agree, there was no reason to shoot him regardless of who he…

Yeah that stupid excuse is tiring, isn’t it?

He was one of the good ones? Even if he had a record as long as my arm he STILL shouldn’t have been shot!

Will the board allow them to bring crisis/grief counselors into the school for these kids? Because Jesus Christ they’re going to need them.

I’m so sorry for your loss and your friend’s loss. Philando sounds like a great person and for everyone who knew him, their hearts must be aching.

I was holding it together until this. Fuck.

Comment from my bestie on my outraged FB post this morning:

No record, no mugshot, no criminal past, legally permitted weapon, complete cooperation, all on video.

I don’t think its about the weapons, its about the approach and the needless escalation. Police unions and select media outlets have police convinced that there is a war being waged against them. It’s simply false. While being a police officer is more dangerous than the average office job, salespeople suffer more…

Since Sterling wasn’t named when the police went to the call (he was merely described by the original caller who made the complaint about him), it’s entirely likely - and even probable - they had no idea who he was and what his record was like...

So bringing up a past rap sheet/propensity for aggression is sort of…

“If they did that and Sterling shot and killed someone...”

“it’s most likely that he realized he was in trouble and started getting into fight or flight mode”

I want to believe you’re right, and I hope that I’m just having a day of desperation. Sometimes I fear that much of social media becomes a thought vacuum, ending with people sharing their feelings with like-minded friends but not moving beyond that to learn or consider something new.

I believe that social media can make a difference. These are powerful mechanisms that do in fact affect the ways in which people think.

Yep. There’s a reason Internal Affairs officers are considered and treated as “scum” or “rats” vm (by and large) simply those trying to do a job and weed out-deal with “bad apples” (despicable euphemism btw).

Agreed. There are good people who are cops, but there are no cops that are good.

My mother taught me to respect cops, but to NEVER consider them my friend. Treat them as you would a wild animal:

Give them room,
Give them respect,
Move out of thier sensory range as soon as safely possible.

I understand the thin blue line. I understand that cops think, “That coulda been me. Mistake made. Gotta support my brother.” But I’m a public school teacher. If I found out that a teacher was fucking a student, there’d be no way that my knee-jerk response would be, “Well...you have to understand that...” Give me a…