The Unknown Poster

Hate to bump a thread I posted in last but I just read something ludicrous on CNN. The lawyer for Michael Brown's buddy (he who was in the store when Brown assaulted the woman and robbed the store and also seems to be the only witness to the 'Brown was surrending' story, claiming he was shot in the back which was proved to be a lie) was quoted in a CNN story as saying his client told police about Michael ("Big Mike") and the store but "this wasn't theft. It was shoplifting". The narrative of this story by most of the mainstream media is baffling. This cop, with zero evidence that he is either a racist or acted inappropriately, is automatically, without facts or investigation, a black-hating executioner. But the "victim" who is caught on video assaulting a woman and robbing a store is just a misunderstood kid. Is it bleeding heart liberalism? Or is big media afraid of being portrayed as "racists"? If the cop was wrong, throw the book at him. But the one-sided, over-the-top hyperbole in this case serves no one, especially justice.

Sort of a good news bad news story. Its good in the sense the economics makes sense and will create a cash windfall for the other teams including Winnipeg. But man, it is going to further water down the talent pool. And FOUR expansion drafts in a span of a couple of years? Thats going to hurt a young team like the Jets....

Exactly what I said above Nate. I agree. But I would assume Moore has a contract. Though if that was contract was based on being the Jets PBP until True North went with TSN, then CJOB might be happy to rid themselves of the contract. Wouldnt it make sense for Munz to slide into the Big Show role?

Classy guy. Whenever Garth had bad news to spread he sent Bell. Does make you wonder about the experience level at the top. Oh well. Assume it's a control thing. Wade wants it. Now he's got it.

Is that a dining room above the living room with no guard rail? Odd.

Well that would certainly endear Hall to the Bonbers. Luke warm. WTF.

Is there any scuttlebutt that we are in on Hall? Did he leave Winnipeg on good terms? I saw one local reporter tweeted about how intriguing it would be for the Bombers to sign Dressler this week, but havent seen any mention of Hall.

And apparently Flames fans love the signing. I mean sure it's cheap so no big deal. But he won't do squat there.

Wasnt the "hands up trying to surrender" narrative started by the friend and potential co-robber of Brown? Not very credible. The big argument now is the autopsy. Three have been done. One done at the behest of the family which has been released (which prompted the family lawyer to call the death an execution) and two others (one by the local authority I believe, and one done by the military). Hopefully the other two get released soon. The controversy is that Brown was shot in the top of the head. The family says that proves he was executed. Does it not also fit the cops' story? Yes it surely does. The curious thing is there was no Gun Powder Residue on Brown's skin but they did not get to examine his clothing. Things seem to be cooling off or at least media interest as slowed a bit. I wonder if that has anything to do with the mounting witnesses taking the cops' side.

Im not sure its that insiduous. I think its difficult for a lot of us to understand what some of these people have experienced. Thats no excuse, ofcourse, for their actions. But it might partially explain some of the rhetoric and whatnot. No intelligent person thinks looting a story is a reasonable reaction or "protest" to what happened. Its a few bad apples plus the mob mentality. The problem is some of the leadership and the "elders" make excuses for this behavior. I understand how the family of Brown feels. I dont expect them to admit he was a thug and his actions directly led to his own death. But for the other people around this issue, its not racism to present the facts of what Brown did right before the confrontation with the police officer. The family lawyer made a statement something to the effect that Brown was executed in the street. How is a statement like that supposed to contribute to finding true justice? It maliciously contributes to the emotionally heated situation. As a lawyer, it's dispicable. What struck me in the early going was that a whole lot of people who didnt know the facts had already concluded that a white cop with an impeccable record chose to commit a cold-blooded execution of a sweet innocent black kid in broad daylight in front of witnesses. They rioted demanding justice but didnt want to hear anything that was different than the narrative that Brown was executed by a racist cop. If Brown had wrested the gun away and shot the cop dead, would we even know about it? Would it be leading news on CNN every day since? Would there be riots in the streets demanding justice?

of course it's a cash grab, every time they come up with a new jersey it's a cash grab. Did they need to do new jerseys a couple years ago? No but they can sell more if there's a new style. It's kind of hard to sell a retro jersey from a short time ago so they're going with this crap. I am just sick and tired of seeing ugly jerseys. The ones we wear now are gross, these ones seem like they'll be even grosser. Stop giving us crap for a jersey and I bet you grab more cash out of it. If by cash grab you mean they are hoping people buy it, then sure. But the negative connotation of cash grab does not apply here at all. A cash grab is when photo radar is set up North Bound Kenaston at 7pm with no construction happening and no construction impedment to the roadway and yet the speed limit is artificially reduced due to the invisible construction and people are being picked off for doube fine tickets. Thats a cash grab. Thats forcing you to give money in a scenario orchestrated solely with the intent of taking your money in a situation in which you'd otherwise not give it. Designing new jerseys as part of a league wide marketing effort is not a cash grab. Spoken like someone who gets a $400 ticket for going 74 KMH in an 80 zone. I hear you brother. That is a cash grab. Ugly jerseys are just a business propostion that no one has to respond to if they don't like them. Thats exactly what happened. Fortunately, my ticket was quashed due to an admin error. But what really bugs me is driving down Kenaston in the evening and seeing photo radar nailing people. No construction taking place. No safety hazzard on the road from the prior construction. Just a lot people used to going 80 in that zone being nailed for going between 60-80 for no reason. Further, the radar was set up by IKEA so it was a place where traffic was more likely to get up to speed going North than around the major commercial developments where less traffic would have been going 80 due to congestion and lights. In short, they specifically targeted people going the speed limit in an area where more people would be going the speed limit. Theives. But I digress. Wouldnt Wade Miller have approved these jerseys?

Your friend watches too much TV and/or movies. Police are trained to shoot at the torso. In real life, no one has the accuracy to shoot at such a small area in a situation like this - especially if either or both people are moving. That's exactly what I said.

I don't live in the southern US so yes I am sure their experience living there is different then mine. None of which has anything to do with the issue at hand. Unless you're suggesting that if some people are a victim of racism that all people get to react violently even when not being treated with racism? The "animals" remark bad nothing to do with race. I won't argue with you that racism exists. But that's not the topic at hand.

The cops' side of the story is: He had received the call about a robbery but did not have a description. He came upon Brown and friend walking in the middle of the street. He rolled down his window and asked them not to walk in the middle of the street. They disregarded his request. The cop then got the description of the robbery suspects and decided it matched Brown. He tried to get out of the vehicle and Brown shoved the door closed, shoving the officer back in the car. Brown then struck the officer breaking bones in his face. The officer reached for his gun. Brown reached in and tried to grab the gun. I believe the gun went off first at that time. Brown backed away and began running. The cop got out of his vehicle, weapon drawn and ordered Brown to freeze. Brown turned around and became beligerent, taunting the cop. He then bull rushed the cop who fired several times, killing Brown. More than a dozen witnesses have come forward to support the police officer's account. I believe the only witness to support Brown is his cohort who was in on the robbery (gee, whats his motivation in this) who claims Brown raised his hands and said please dont shoot and was then executed. Now, sometimes good people do bad things. But this is a cop with (I believe) six years on the force and nothing on his file. So we are to believe that a cop with zero prior issues who has patrolled areas with large black populations chose this day to let his racism boil to the surface to gun down an innocent man in broad daylight in front of a bunch of witnesses? Who's story rings more likely?

of course it's a cash grab, every time they come up with a new jersey it's a cash grab. Did they need to do new jerseys a couple years ago? No but they can sell more if there's a new style. It's kind of hard to sell a retro jersey from a short time ago so they're going with this crap. I am just sick and tired of seeing ugly jerseys. The ones we wear now are gross, these ones seem like they'll be even grosser. Stop giving us crap for a jersey and I bet you grab more cash out of it. If by cash grab you mean they are hoping people buy it, then sure. But the negative connotation of cash grab does not apply here at all. A cash grab is when photo radar is set up North Bound Kenaston at 7pm with no construction happening and no construction impedment to the roadway and yet the speed limit is artificially reduced due to the invisible construction and people are being picked off for doube fine tickets. Thats a cash grab. Thats forcing you to give money in a scenario orchestrated solely with the intent of taking your money in a situation in which you'd otherwise not give it. Designing new jerseys as part of a league wide marketing effort is not a cash grab.

I dont think anyone would argue that race relations continue to be less than ideal. That will always be the case. But thats a broader discussion. Staying focused on the issue at hand, I dont see how general race relations in Ferguson have a direct bearing on this. By all accounts the trigger for the confrontation is not in dispute, that Brown and his cohort were walking down the middle of the street and the cop who had received word of a robbery asked them to not walk in the road. The differing accounts seem to go off the rails after that point. The tide seems to be changing in favour of the account of the police officer. And I think thats where this will actually get more interesting. Because if the officer's account is true, the discussion will turn to 'okay, the cop feared for his life, the cop was attacked and assaulted, the cop was under a second attack'...and whether his reaction to that was reasonable. I bet if, when all facts are widely known and you polled people on whether they believe the cops' actions were reasonable or not, the results would trend right down racial lines.

I tried to watch this. It was awful. I assume it was done shortly after the shooting. The problem is, its biased outrage over an event without facts and actually wrong on certain levels. Firstly, I find the effort to get laughs a little uncomfortable. He talks about "tone deaf". Well, getting laughs about this is as tone deaf as you can be. The Chief's response to how many shots were fired isnt tone deaf, its not having all the facts. So I guess you can criticise him for being unprepared or unwilling to provide a definitive response so he tried to be vague. He should have said we are not prepared to release those details. But then instead of being called tone deaf, he'd be called out for "hiding". The release of the video is NOT irrelevent. This was actually one of the more shocking things to happen that began to influence my position. The outrage from people over the fact Brown committed a strong arm robbery and how dare the police release that information. Why wouldn't they? It absolutely goes to the motive for Brown to attack the police officer if he thinks the reason the cop is questioning him is over the robbery. Thats the only reasonable reason for Brown to over-react like he did, aside from just being an a$$hole in general (which i have no idea if he was or wasnt). Thats about as far as I could get in the video. It wasnt a "good take" on it at all. It was emotional without facts. It was very biased. Even the description of the "unarmed teenager" over and over. If the people on the other side kept describing him as "the hulking 6'3", 300 lbs violent robbery suspect" what would the reaction be? Technically he is a teenager but the context in which certain people refer to him as such is to imply he was a kid. He was not. He was a grown man. And to this I would also say, how is it relevent that he was 18 as opposed to 20? What difference does that make? Now as I said, I didnt get all the way through the video. But I didnt hear mention of Brown attacking the police officer. I didnt hear mention of the injuries suffered by the police officer. I wonder, had Brown got a hold of the cops' gun and shot him dead would the reaction be the same or would it be "well, when cops harrass unarmed teenagers, thats what happens". And this is what I mean by setting back race relations. Because this kind of emotional hyperbole entrenches people and it elicits reactions they might otherwise not have. Another example of that is when the L.A. Four attacked Reginald Denny. Now maybe the L.A. Four *were* just a bunch of racists. But lets assume they didnt have an irrational hatred of all white people. They reacted in a way outside the norm (presumably) because of emotion and anger fuelled by the racially explosive Rodney King trial. Look at the Steeves' situation locally. Emotions make situations worse than they seem. I was discussing this with a friend this weekend and his initial response was "okay, the cop probably had a right to shoot him, but why couldnt he just shoot him in the leg?" I have no idea if the cop initiated communication with Brown because he was black or because he was walking in the middle of the street. I have no idea if the cop could have done something other than empty his weapon into Brown. I do know both men made choices that day. But only one man's choices are being put on public trial. And instead of justice, we're likely going to get a circus. If the cop was wrong, throw him in jail and pay the family. Im all on board for that. But its important for the facts to be known, not just emotions from people with an agenda.

Please explain because Im not really getting your point. Do you mean racism as in whites being inherently racists towards blacks or the other way around?

I prefer the 90's jersey/logo. Maybe Im in the minority.

There are some very intelligent people on here and Im curious to hear some "local" discussion. What a sad and terrible situation down in MO. These are my thoughts. When I first heard of the shooting, I didnt pay much attention but I thought "wow, a cop went off on a kid, obviously very excessively". Im no blanket supporter of the police and have had my fair share of interactions with cops, both good and bad, due to my past work. Then as I learned more, what struck me was the overwhelming outrage by people who very likely knew little about what actually happened. It immediately became about race rather than justice. Reading more today, I feel sorry for the legitimate protestors, though Im not sure I support the protestors. A sad development was the signs some store owners have put up saying please dont loot my store, black owner. Regardless of details surrounding this event, these things always set racial relations back, no matter what. Emotions always come to the fore and facts get left behind. CNN had a recent poll about the OJ Simpson trial. I dont recall the exact details and numbers but it showed a huge majority of black people thought OJ was innocent at the time of the trial and now a majority believe he is guilty, in 2014. When emotion gives way to facts, then justice can take hold. Of the facts I have read, the story of the cop involved in Ferguson seems to be supported. Its very delicate down there. Two people were shot yesterday (I think) during protests (not by cops). Its a powder keg.

TSN 3 wont be available in Alberta? I believe all the TSN channels are national channels. But the regional hockey games will be blacked out in out of market areas. So my understanding is, you will get TSN3 in Alberta but during a Jets game, you will see something else. Great development for Manitobans. Funny thing is, I saw one of the local providers asking people to sign up for the pay channel about a week or so ago.

Yes thats true. I think in hindsight, Chevy wishes he didnt make that move obviously. At the time, though? Not a terrible option. I would have done just about anything to move him at the deadline though. The proposed Sharks trade sounded way batter than losing him for nothing.

So wait a second. The cost of one of these jerseys is being added to my property tax bill? No? Oh. Wait. The cost of one of these jerseys is going to be passed on to me in the form of an enforcement ticket? No? Oh. It's not a cash grab. It's options. No one forces it on you. No one makes you buy it. The people that do buy it obviously like it. If it puts an extra buck in the leagues pocket so what

And there are at least a couple of GM's who think signing Gooch this season will be a good move too.

Too bad. I had the fever for the flavour of leFevour. Not really.