as for claiming that these people put their kids in harms way just goes to show how far off your moral compasses you are: you blame the parents for the actions of these scum

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by XPLodER

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I'm not sure of your point here?

The parents put their kids up to some political protest. It got shot down, the kids were heartbroken and disappointed, and it is the fault of the parents.

I didn't say anything about abject poverty or sleeping in cars. That is a totally different thing, and for the kids in that predicament, I'm sure it wasn't intentional by their parents. This protest was intentional. For the protest, they intentionally used their own children to make a political statement, and that is wrong.

yes you conveinently forgot that alot of childeren are sleeping in cars and eating scaps,
you forgot that bank bonuses and forclosure has sent many millions onto the street to live,
many whom have childeren.

Originally posted by DerepentLEstranger
reply to post by DrumsRfun

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using kids as pawns ...

but when politicians kiss babies or justify policies
claiming "it's for your kids good"
you have no problem with that.

who could look at the hearts and be offended? who can tell parents how to teach their childeren life lessons?

Originally posted by MikeNice81
reply to post by XPLodER

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who could look at the hearts and be offended? who can tell parents how to teach their childeren life lessons?

Probably the family of a cop that died in the line of duty trying to get some violent criminal off of the streets. That isn't the point though. The thing is, if they left the hearts up, they have to leave the next display up. Some group decides to post sexually suggestive or pictures in support of gay rights, tough you have to leave them up. Other wise you get sued for discrimination. Some body wants to hang graphic pictures of abused prisoners in China on the fence to protest trade policy, leave it up or get sued.

As far as, "this effects the kids," you're right. The disappearing middle class and wealth disparity does effect our children and their children.

There was a girl in the video that appeared to be middle school age. If she came to her parents and asked to participate that is fine. Taking your two year old kid out on a freezing December morning to use as a political pawn is a parenting failure.

i hope there was no threatning or assault, as any group who wish to join occupy must swear "non violent civic action"

if it is painted paper hearts, it is still free speach, even from a child.

it was to show that the police no longer know how to interact on a human level with people that are suffereing.

mabey a tour through the tent cities would have made the point clearer,

What the banks did with the real estate derivitaves and junk bonds was morally corrupt. The fall out from what they did destroyed the economy. The bailout probably put the final nail in our coffin. I know first hand. The failed economy wiped out my small business and many of the businesses I worked with. I am pissed at them and believe that we need some serious change. That doesn't start by occupying Wall Street and making demands of people that act with impunity.

They need to head to DC. Occupy the Capital building if you want change. Work on a local level to build the foundation of strong opposition parties. The Green Party was moving along nicely and then it disappeared. You must work tirelessly from the ground up if you want to make a culture of change. That doesn't start by protesting cops. It starts by making changes in your life and your community.

I have seen a couple of "brutality" videos where protesters had rushed barricades or thrown cups and bottles of liquid at cops before things turned south. I even remember one video where you could actually see one protester walk up and grab the cops motorcycle as he cruised the yellow line trying to clear traffic. The OWS people have been better than most that protest the G20 and such. They have not been angels. Neither side has.

The question is, who's speech is it? If it is the speech of a teenage child trying to find her way, fine. If it is the scribling of a toddler who's hand was guided, is it the same? Does it cross the line in to indoctrination? The free speech aspect doesn't bother me as much as the possibilty that the children are being programmed to dislike certain people without getting a fair chance to make a balanced decision.

I'll let the cops I work with know they have lost their humanity. The next time we remove a child being forced in to prostitution from the situation, I'll try to remember to act with humanity. The next time one of my coworkers gives a teenage runaway a ride to a place like Boys Town, I'll remind them to do so humanely.

There have been inhumane acts towards some protesters. However, we must remember that any act of violence will be met with the same. When protesters are violating the right of a business owner to open or operate his business they will be required to stop. When protesters block the rights of others to exercise the right of free travel, they will be told to stop. When they refuse to leave private property at the request of the owner they will be treated as tresspassers. Cops must maintain the rights of all persons. A lot of people that protest these days seem to forget that and try to paint any arrest or action by officers as unjust.

Which tent cities? The ones OWS set up? A lot of foreclosures were made on people's second or third home. These were vacation homes and investment homes. Not every foreclosure was some poor pitiful kid being tossed in the streets. Times are tough but cities, communities, and families have rallied together.

Either way, that has nothing to do with this situation. This is about people calling cops bullys and forcing their kids to do the same. The cops didn't cause the problem and they didn't vote for the bailout. Most of them are just trying to make sure that the protests occur with minimal disruption to the rights of non protesters. Unfortunately this some times requires people to be arrested. When people refuse to comply a cop is not going to stand around and beg. He is even less likely to stand around twidling his thumbs if people are shoving barricades and throwing bottles.

I will freely admit somebody does need to look in to how things have been handled in California. From what I've read in the news and heard from residents those cops have been pretty out of hand in several cases. Somebody needs to march on the Attorney General out there and demand he investigate what seems to be a state wide issue of corruption and abuse.

public order is kept by both people and police,
both can be and often are at fault.
i urge both sides to respect the other is in the exact same situation without knowing it.

i would like to see the actions you suggested,
who would the sombody in this senario?
could a citizen approach the AG or would it be better coming from another officer?

The following are 16 shocking statistics about child poverty in America that will break your heart….

#1 Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007.

#2 According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 1.6 millionAmerican children “were living on the street, in homeless shelters or motels, or doubled up with other families last year”.

#3 The percentage of children living in poverty in the United States increased from 16.9 percent in 2006 to nearly 22 percent in 2010. In the UK and in France the child poverty rate is well under 10 percent.

#4 A higher percentage of American children is living in poverty today than was living in poverty back in 1975.

#5 The number of children living in poverty in the U.S. has risen for four years in a row.

#6 There are 10 different U.S. states where at least one out of every four babies is born to a family living in poverty.

#7 Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.

#8 According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.

#9 In the United States today, more than 35 percent of all African-American children are living in poverty and more than 33 percent of all Hispanic children are living in poverty.

#10 There are seven million children in the United States today that are not covered by health insurance at all.

#11 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#12 It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

#13 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.

#14 There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

#15 In Washington D.C., the “child food insecurity rate” is 32.3%.

#16 More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

source

these figuars are unaceptable.

xploder

I think overall we are both very close to the same position on many things. Thank you for pointing out a bit about OWS that should have been obvious. I sometimes like a more direct approach and forget to appreciate the subtle ways of doing things.

I do agree that all police officers should realize that what happened on Wall Street effected everyone equally. There were a lot of state pension funds that were destroyed in 2008. A lot of cops retirements were effected. Cost of living raises were effected and thousands of officers were laid off as the economy sank.

Since wroking in a police department pretty much means we can can not participate in many forms of protest, we must remember these people can speak for us. We have to actively engage our community in a positive manner and work together to foster understanding. We must work together to create an atmosphere of respect and to speak out for each other where possible.