@KKK
Really? Be real now, classless trash is not a quality strictly reserved for black people. Trash comes in all colors, and takes all different forms. Why only hate trashy blacks? What about Katie trailor trash raising her five kids on welfare and turning her head when her meth addicted boyfriend goes into her 12 year old daughter’s room at night? Is she somehow better? I don’t know where you live, but I’m assuming it’s near Berkeley, take a trip down to the college side of telegraph. There’s black college students quietly flipping through cd’s at Rasputins while dirty white kids take up space on the sidewalk outside rudely insulting anyone who ignores their invasive begging. This is just an example, I’m not saying there’s not crazy rude homeless black people wandering around on Telegraph, or that all beggars are rude. I’m just hoping maybe you’ll take into consideration that racism is somewhat ignorant when you take a gander at the shallow end of your own race’s gene pool.

Well, category 5 riots they were not. I can’t decide if the strong and overly defensive police force in Oakland the day the verdict was read made things worse, or if maybe things would have been worse if they hadn’t been there… I do find it a shame that people were looting. How is that justice? Justice would be finding out what steps need to be taken to ensure that something like this never happens again.. Some idiot having a brand new pair of Nike’s does not vindicate a death. At least I can’t see how it does, maybe someone can enlighten me. I can’t see what point it proves. I thought they were pissed at the police and the lack of justice in the justice system. Shouldn’t they have been at city hall, instead of the mall? (Actually, I think they did start out at the the court house or police station or somewhere of relevance, and then they got moved. But still..) If you realy think this guy’s just a racist prick, who’s getting away with murder, and you really feel violence is the only justice, why not blow up police cars, or set the court house ablaze or something? Something that will actually affect the people you’re mad at. Why destroy a footlocker and steal shoes? Why why why? In one video I watched of the raid on footlocker there are flyers with Oscar Grant’s picture printed on them in the gutter, being stomped all over. Way to respect the dead y’all. I have to wonder how many people participating in that mayhem even knew why they were there. If I had been out there passing out flyers with a picture of Robert Guillaume printed on them, and was screaming “FREE BENSON” I wonder how many people I could’ve gotten to chant with me. I wonder if even one person thought, “Hey, I’m gonna steal some little girl shoes and send ‘em to Oscar’s family for his poor little girl who is now without a dad.” I bet not even one of those idiots for even one split second thought about…. Well, anything at all besides themselves. I bet half of them stole shoes that didn’t even fit them. You don’t have time to really check out what you’re grabbing in that kind of situation. I hope at least one of those thuggy type idiots got stuck walkin’ around Oakland with an armload of, like, size 6 cleats or something… Asshats…

I don’t think anyone could legitimately argue that he is completely innocent, but he is innocent of 1st degree murder, which is what a lot of people have been calling for.

Blacks are scumbags, they should just gas the group right now.

OIC. So when you go loot some local business it’ll be Oscar Grant’s fault. That makes sense.

that was illogical. i’m not sure how you arrived at that from anything i said. i said oscar grant has responsibility for his own death, for participating in a huge public fight and creating a dangerous and nerve-wracking scene in which any nervous police officer is bound to make a mistake. people need to stop QQing over dangerous criminals. he was not some innocent guy in the subway station – if he hadn’t been putting hundreds of people in danger, his death would not have happened. the police officer should get the same punishment as any other person guilty of accidentally killing somebody, and the people wanting to riot over that guy’s death should get a hard kick in the ass for being such crime-loving douchebags.

Dianna:
I wasn’t taking a dig at the hospital, I was taking a dig at the way the government will say they’re raising taxes to benefit something that people see as a good cause, and then never actually follow through with the funding doing God knows what with it. I guess that doesn’t happen in the bay area. Man, you guys are lucky. Just a couple years ago in L.A. the mayor duped us into voting for an increase in the trash tax to hire X amount of new police officers, and then he hired, like, a quarter of what he said he would, and the rest of the money just *poof* disappeared. And when specialty auditors were sent in to find out what happened he gave them the run around, refused to produce all kinds of paperwork… It was a big mess. At least that’s the info I read, I’d be willing to read articles proving otherwise. That’s not the first time I’d read about things like that, they raise this tax for public education funding, they raise that tax for firefighters wages, and yet somehow firefighters still get their pay cut, and public schools are still turning music rooms into storage closets while the city spends a million dollars *OR HOWEVER MUCH IT WAS I DON”T REMEMBER EXACTLY* on Michael Jackson’s funeral. Maybe that doesn’t ever happen. Maybe I’ve misunderstood everything I’ve read about it. I’ll have to go back, read some articles over again.
And this idiot does volunteer. 40 hours a week at work, and 10 or so hours a week at a kennel. I’m sure you’ll think I should spend my time on more worthwhile things than stupid dogs, but that’s what my cause is. Some people have breast cancer, some people have children’s leukemia, I choose the unwanted pets of my city. *Not to say I exclude pets of other cities, or that L.A. is the only place with a pet population problem. Spay and neuter your pets no matter where you live. It is a nationwide, actually, worldwide problem* There, phew, maybe I avoided another insult about not mentioning places that have nothing to do with what I’m talking about. I do not think I am better or worse than anyone for the cause I choose to spend the most time helping, nor do I think less of anyone who’s cause isn’t for animals but for people, or isn’t for mammals at all but for the environment. I actually don’t think I’m better than anyone, or worse than anyone… Well, that’s not true, I am better than Ken Bianci, I am worse than Ghandi. **Both of those lists do include more people. Those are not the only two people in the world ever that I feel I am better or worse than. They are just two examples**

So, you two lovely lovely creatures, I don’t feel either of you understood what I was saying, and I think it’s sad that you felt the need to lash out so awfully. I try to make it clear that I just have opinions, and that I am not only willing but eager to hear other people’s opinions, or facts they’ve collected. I thought this was the kind of place where people did that, exchanged ideas and what not. Maybe not. I hope your goals were to hurt someone’s feelings, and present yourself as utter donkey sphincter’s, cuz goal accomplished. I’m sure how I feel is at the very bottom of the list of things that matter to either of you, but you both really made me feel like crap. I thought we were all having fun exchanging thoughts. I guess not. Sorry if I offended anyone. I really am, it was not my intention. I guess I really just look like a big jerk, or crackhead apparently.

Oh, and one last thing, DAVE & DIANNE; if you ever decide to not just attack someone’s character completely, but to actually show them a different side, or something they didn’t know or hadn’t thought of, I wouldn’t do it like that. Coming at a person claws out does not make them want to listen let alone take into consideration a single word that comes out of your mouth, or read a word out of your keyboard, or whatever. It actually closes them down completely, and hurts your cause. At least in my experiences, but I could be wrong… And I’m sure you weren’t trying to show me, an idiotic crackhead, anything but how stupid I am, but I just thought I’d mention it, in case you thought it was ever going to be a useful tactic when talking to an intelligent sober person whose opinion differs from your own. Although I’m sure you’d never dream of being so utterly disrespectful to anyone who didn’t deserve to be treated that way.

MissDirection: And the kids in the hospital will still be getting watered down robbitussin, while some political fat cat refurnishes the game room of his million dollar house in Marin.

MissDirection, I strongly suggest you rethink that.

Children’s Hospital Oakland is a very fine organization, doing work that breaks a lot of hearts.

Screw your political point, which is both idiotic and astonishingly cynical at one and the same time. Go volunteer at CHORI, if you’ve anything resembling the courage of your convictions.

“Mehserle was absolutely flabbergasted to see a gun when he looked down at his hand, because he had been instead reaching for his taser, which is also gun-shaped and kept in a belt-level holster.”

If you choose to carry, or your job requires carrying, two gun-shaped objects on your belt, one lethal and one less-lethal, then you damn well train until you know the difference. By his own admission, Mehserle is criminally incompetent and fully responsible for the consequences of his actions. Conceivably the departments training standards are sub-par, but since that just gets you into the circular logic whereby the officer didn’t do anything wrong because he followed protocol and the trainers didn’t do anything wrong because they followed the book, and the training doesn’t need altered because it follows the best practices of law enforcement, and it turns out a certain small amount of innocent civilian breakage is acceptable since police officers say they meant well, do jobs the rest of us wouldn’t and deserve our full support, I am beyond caring. Police officers need to be held accountable legally.

I am tired of hearing, “oh, the poor cop didn’t mean to kill anybody, he’s the real victim here” in negligent shootings. I provide for my own personal protection and I take full responsibility for the consequences of my actions and I expect the same of public employees.