Not even worth celebrating anymore tbh. Not with all of the shit the government is pulling... And the fact that we've already had at least one fatal shooting at a parade today that I'm aware of... *sighs*

i don't know anything about a parade but i heard about another young black man getting shot at least 60 times. talk about excessive...

you know, i used to be all pro police but then Uvalde happened where a whole bunch of heavily armed and armored cops refused to face a teenage school shooter... but a 25 year old black guy vs at least 8 cops? yeah that's manageable

its a fucking disgrace is what it is

Can't argue with you there, country is well on its way to becoming hell on earth.

The shooting thing... https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/6.....a3d2f6db1eef7f

Uvalde was definitely a disgrace that there is no exuse for why the police messed up badly.

But I assume that in the other case you are referring to Jayland Walker. Which is a more complicated situation that could possibly have been prevented in better circumstances, but many that have reported on that case seem to leave out the details leading up to him getting shot about 60 times. And while I personally belive they could possibly have prevented it, here are the facts I have been able to find so far.

After leading the police on a high speed pursuit it is very likely that he fired his weapon once during the car pursuit (Police officer called in shots fired after hearing the gunshot, and his body camera also picked up the sound of one, the muzzle flash is visible on a different camera, and a shell casing matching the caliber of his pistol was later found at the location.) After he abandoned the car and ran away on foot the pursuing officers made at least one attempt to taze him without success before he turned around and was then percieved as a threat, and was shot to death.

And while he was unarmed at the time he was shot, I don't think the police had any idea. All that is on their mind at the moment is "Shots fired." was called in earlier, meaning that in their mind he is most likely not only armed, but also willing to use his weapon.
As for any racial motive to the shooting, not very likely I'd say as he was wearing a ski mask in the dark.

Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62032964
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/.....io/7803081001/

True but in light of the recent fail with Uvalde and the insane excessive nature of getting shot some 60 times... Well, it's not a good look for the boys in blue x.x

I recently watched a documentary movie on Netflix called 13th, which revolved around the criminalization of black people in the USA. Abolishing slavery didnt really do jack all for them since those that were considered criminals could be treated as slaves. That and all the glaring flaws in their criminal justice system really makes the country look like a genuine hypocrite when it comes to the concept of freedom. Living here in Canada, I can definitely affirm that we have greater freedoms here than our neighbors to the south.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day.

Personally I hold holidays as more an ideal to strive for and a source of unity and inspiration, however temporary, than wallowing in self-righteous misery. The world and the people in it can be horrific and ugly, but it gives lessons to learn from and grow out of, instead of something that make you seemingly fall into a self-feeding cycle of jaded cynicism and blindness from the beauty also in the world.

Everything is fought for. To paraphrase Burke, evil in my opinion is not so much some malevolent external enemy stiking out as the lack of good within all of us trying to consume us. Everyone outside has the potential to screw you over, but the question is not what they do, but what you choose to do with that understanding.

I will continue celebrating national holidays, and I shall sing out loud to keep the hounds away.

As an aside, reconciling this dichotomy between the ideal and the reality was kinda why I finally started writing my own story after Trump's 2016 Election and perhaps the central theme of my story honestly.

From all the crazy ass shit I saw during Pride Month over here, it doesn't seem like The Alphabet People are losing any of their freedoms.

Not to long ago, Florida passed a "don't say gay" bill so non-straight sexual orientation can no longer be discussed in the classroom, teachers have been "cautioned" to display photos of same sex partners in their classroom (no such restrictions for straight teachers), there have been several laws passed to try and exclude trans people from receiving health care, surgery or participate in sports (in short laws to segregate trans people) there are countless books from LGBTQ authors or discussing LGBTQ issues that have been banned including a book about 2 male penguins adopting a hatchling which is a real thing that happened and is documented, and the banning of LGBTQ literature is continuing...

I dunno what else to tell you other than :

You quite clearly haven't been paying a lot of attention

I'd like to point out that the Bill you are speaking about from Florida bans any and all talk about sex in the classrooms for until the 3rd grade. Which is around 9 years and under kids.

i didn't know that. i guess that doesn't make it quite as bad but i dunno, i still feel somewhat uneasy about it

I understand feeling uneasy about it. Just wanted to tell you cause I've seen it just being tossed around as an anti-gay bill when it isn't. The don't say gay thing was basically a slogan propaganda

Having lived in Tennessee and with relatives in Georgia will say that this is a very Southern thing (like the "bless their heart" insult) where the law itself is somewhat benign but the implementation will be the issue. There's already stuff like homosexual teachers not being able to place photos of their partners: https://thehill.com/changing-americ.....dy-being-felt/

There are already tons of anti-child abuse legislation, so why was this law implemented by one party so quickly?

Well as far as I know the Florida Bill was made in response to an incident where a therapist got almost child into a state where the child almost commited suicide and it was hidden away from the parents until the second attempt. As well as a teacher apparently taking young kids to a field trip to a gay bar. Although that second one that may have happened after the bill. I can't recall.

i don't think there's anything wrong with picking a gay bar for some kids field trip. its just a bar, people go there to drink, eat and socialize. what makes gay bars different from regular bars is that its much more frequented by the LGBTQ because its usually a place where they can hang out without being persecuted and discriminated against. something that is unfortunately very common in southern states like Florida.

Oh you are not wrong. Apparently the bar in question in this situation is just a bar that happens to become an adult gay bar at nights, which obviously the kids would't be at that hour during a field trip. The problem with the situation is thar it happened without the parents knowledge or permission. The main thing with this law was mainly because of things schools where doing without contacting parents.

i don't understand why that is an issue. admittedly, the field trips my school did back in the day didn't ventured towards gay bars, but whenever i ended up being on a field trip, my parents didn't know about it. there wasn't a need to either since we had our teacher as the person responsible with us.

as a matter of fact, i am rather uncomfortable with parents getting that highly involved in public school education on account of so much bigotry and religious fundamentalism going around. if parents don't want their kids to be educated about things like the LGBTQ and that its okay to be LGBTQ or that Evolution is a thing, well... parents always have the option to send their kids to a private school or homeschool them.

I am super uncomfortable giving parents that level of control to decide what children should and shouldn't learn in public schools. that's none of the parent's business. especially since they have alternative routes to pursue in regards to education if there are things that the parents are opposed to for religious or other reasons.

Well if you don't see it as an issue that's your perpective Sek. Apparently the Florida legislation sees it as an issue. If its not the parents who are involved in a childs education then is just the teachers and the school board. Why should the teachers and the school be the abirters of that while the parents are cut off? The parents are ultimately the people who are resposible for their children first and foremost

the parents are only responsible in that their children receive an education. not what that education entails. the reason why the parents should be cut off and left out of the education plan: bias. parents are always biased in one direction or another and their bias is always going to influence their children. thus, children and teenager have more chances to receive a relatively unbiased education when it is presented by a third party that is not personally involved in the family.
best example for that would be sex education.
there's a lot of parents, millions of them, who'd prefer their children to not receive any form of sex education at all, usually for religious reasons. usually, that leads to rises in unwanted pregnancies, the spreading of STD's and many other things.
Evolution is also a big thing, usually the same parents who prefer that Sex Ed isn't taught to their kids would also like if Evolution is not taught to their kids... or they receive information about the LGBTQ... hell, i believe there are some states or at least school districts who are trying to avoid teaching about the US long, dark history of racism and genocide...

*shrugs*

i just don't think that parents should be involved with the public school system at all. period. especially since there are alternatives with various kinds of private school or home schooling that allow parents greater control over the education their child receives, if the parents so choose.

It all comes down to bigotted parents to you doesn't it? I'm just going to have to disagree with you there, because i don't think parents should be cut off from what's being taught to their children.

It does. Why else would parents get so involved with the education of their kids?

Most other parents aren't super deeply involved in school education and it works.

And like I said several times before: there are alternatives like private and home schooling for parents who want greater control.

The way I see it, public education at public schools should be standardized so that everyone gets the same education and is taught the same materials and topics.

Involving parents to a large degree will create conflicts and cause disturbances.

Some parents want evolution to be taught in science class, others want intelligent design to be taught in science class.

Some parents want Sex Ed to be taught, others don't.

Some parents want the LGBTQ to be taught, others don't.

Some parents want ugly history like slavery or the genocide of native Americans to be taught, others would prefer not to.

Some parents want the confederacy to be glorified in history class, others would prefer to stick to facts.

And a lot of other conflicting things... How do you decide which parents gets to have their wishes being followed?

You're likely going to end with some public schools teaching widely different things and topics than other public schools.

I really don't think that this is a good idea. At all.

Oh you are not wrong. Public school education should and has to be stardarazed in some manner. The whole argument wasn't just what's being taugh to the children. It's more that the school should't keep information from the parents in general. As in lying or keeping secrets to them.

Ah I see. That is an argument I can definitely agree with.

Looking back, I think I misunderstood you initially as well.

In any case, I do apologize for being rude earlier