Check this out (Tyranny in the Heartland)

[MarcH]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufKv-5t0t4E

Crazy shit! I hope there is some repercussions for their actions.

[tertius]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufKv-5t0t4E

Crazy shit! I hope their is some repercussions for their actions.

Aren't you aware that college students aren't citizens?
Things like this have been happening since the late 60s.
I'll grant you it's a bit odd this time because there wasn't really anything political going down.

Also, for the record, if you throw shit at cops, usually they don't take it so well.

[MarcH]

Just watched another vid with a kid stating "They're throwing beer bottles at the swat team". Wasn't aware of that was what started it. What kind of idiot throws beer bottles at SWAT team in full riot gear? Maybe merge this with the "when do you give up on society" thread.

Link to that vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y43Uk...h_response_rev

[Mark E. Hurling]

Boy is this evocative! Macomb, IL located in an even sleepier part of IL than Little Egypt in the South. I estimate about 50 in that skirmish line clearing the crowd and a lot of repeated footage. Relatively few students in any college town pay taxes other than sales tax. They don't have jobs (as that "reporter" said), they don't own homes, and as such they don't get hot for property or income tax. There was very little footage of hand to hand by the cops and what there was didn't involve anything more than a tackle and subduing to cuff the bozos. As for the sound projectors, let me tell what the alternative to those are, some really serious use of blunt force trauma with the 3 foot riot batons those guys in the skirmish line were carrying. I've done that to people clearing a street and it isn't pretty. The frontal skirmish line is followed by a second line of EMT's and cops to collect the unconscious and treat them or haul them off to the clink, unless they require hospitalization. As bad as Bull Connor was in the misuse of fire hoses during the civil rights struggles of the 60's, they in my opinion are far better alternatives than beating on someone. There's just something about getting wet when your legs get knocked out from under you that is discouraging and takes a lot of the steam off the aggression.

I doubt the contributor had journalistic credentials, and in this day and age of ubiquitous videophones how does anyone tell who is one without some ID to verify it?

I've been on both sides of that skirmish line as a student at Southern Illinois University in the 60's and 70's and later as a cop, and this was in fact very mild stuff to what I've seen and done. MarcH, take a tip from MarkH, when you see that many cops equipped the way they were and they tell you disperse, they mean 10 minutes ago.

[MarcH]

Heh I'm with ya man. I tend to clear out of any place when shit starts getting dicey. As soon as I saw that first bottle thrown at the SWAT line I'd been getting the hell out of there, not prancing around shouting about the constitution.

I was disgusted at first, but then after watching all the other vids the students got what they asked for. Although not everyone deserved that.

[tertius]

Boy is this evocative! Macomb, IL located in an even sleepier part of IL than Little Egypt in the South. I estimate about 50 in that skirmish line clearing the crowd and a lot of repeated footage. Relatively few students in any college town pay taxes other than sales tax. They don't have jobs (as that "reporter" said), they don't own homes, and as such they don't get hot for property or income tax. There was very little footage of hand to hand by the cops and what there was didn't involve anything more than a tackle and subduing to cuff the bozos. As for the sound projectors, let me tell what the alternative to those are, some really serious use of blunt force trauma with the 3 foot riot batons those guys in the skirmish line were carrying. I've done that to people clearing a street and it isn't pretty. The frontal skirmish line is followed by a second line of EMT's and cops to collect the unconscious and treat them or haul them off to the clink, unless they require hospitalization. As bad as Bull Connor was in the misuse of fire hoses during the civil rights struggles of the 60's, they in my opinion are far better alternatives than beating on someone. There's just something about getting wet when your legs get knocked out from under you that is discouraging and takes a lot of the steam off the aggression.

I doubt the contributor had journalistic credentials, and in this day and age of ubiquitous videophones how does anyone tell who is one without some ID to verify it?

I've been on both sides of that skirmish line as a student at Southern Illinois University in the 60's and 70's and later as a cop, and this was in fact very mild stuff to what I've seen and done. MarcH, take a tip from MarkH, when you see that many cops equipped the way they were and they tell you disperse, they mean 10 minutes ago.

Eh, in my experience most students can be a bunch of entitled jerks, but many do work, pay taxes, vote, pay rent to landlords (who in turn pay property taxes) and otherwise dump lots of money into communities. Many of the towns that get pissed off about college students depend on them.

Also, I think Marc, your u-turn is a bit humorous. "Tyranny!!" to "Oh, well, they had it coming."

[Mark E. Hurling]

That's the trouble, when the mob does what it does it seems like the least deserving are always the ones who get hurt. It's the reverse of what happens when a drunk driver gets in an accident. They stagger away largely uninjured when everyone else in the driver's vehicle and any other vehicle involved are hospitalized or dead. Stay away from crowds of any kind at every opportunity. The only good things that come from people en masse on a routine basis happen in a religious setting. Sometimes not even then with the wrong cleric talking to them.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Eh, in my experience most students can be a bunch of entitled jerks, but many do work, pay taxes, vote, pay rent to landlords (who in turn pay property taxes) and otherwise dump lots of money into communities. Many of the towns that get pissed off about college students depend on them.

Some do yes. But very are few undergrads who comprise the vast majority of the student population. Most are a much smaller subset of grad students. Oh I understand the local town's sentiment, it was the same way in Carbondale. The money they dump in the local economy is significant and boost the local economy considerably. But I was responding to the"reporter's" assertion that WIU students are all taxpayers. Nonesense. They don't really have to write that damn check to the state for property tax or income tax by and large. When you have to do that, you really feel it.

[MarcH]

Also, I think Marc, your u-turn is a bit humorous. "Tyranny!!" to "Oh, well, they had it coming."

The "tyranny in the heartland" was the headline that first video used. I don't think my u-turn is humorous though, I posted the first vid after only watching it and it was obviously biased. Now that I see the whole picture I think differently. Maybe I just jumped the gun making this thread without all the facts, but its the internet so thats allowed right?

[Mark E. Hurling]

The "tyranny in the heartland" was the headline that first video used. I don't think my u-turn is humorous though, I posted the first vid after only watching it and it was obviously biased. Now that I see the whole picture I think differently. Maybe I just jumped the gun making this thread without all the facts, but its the internet so thats allowed right?

Hell, if I had a nickel for everything I made a hair trigger response to I'd be able to retire now instead of 6 years from now.