The Baltimore Riots

[Replay]

It's getting ugly out there.

[ManaMan]

Every time people riot like this is makes me think of the song "Riot" by the Dead Kennedy's.

[ManaMan]

Good article on Vox about riots. Riots are usually caused by genuine grievances that go unaddressed for long periods of time. Usually they are effective in that it forces the government to address the root causes of the riots but they can lead to backlash and crackdowns in pursuit of "restoring law and order". Good read (as per usual on Vox).

[ManaMan]

David Simon, creator of "The Wire" gave a speech on the riots. It was pretty good. Read the transcript.

[Replay]

I agree Mana - I liked what the Orioles' COO had to say:

...my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.

The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance, and other abuses of the Bill of Rights by government pay the true price, and ultimate price, and one that far exceeds the importances of any kids’ game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards. We need to keep in mind people are suffering and dying around the U.S., and while we are thankful no one was injured at Camden Yards, there is a far bigger picture for poor Americans in Baltimore and everywhere who don’t have jobs and are losing economic civil and legal rights, and this makes inconvenience at a ballgame irrelevant in light of the needless suffering government is inflicting upon ordinary Americans.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/04/orioles ... otests-mlb

[ManaMan]

Update: Charges will be filed against all 6 police officers who arrested Freddy Gray.

[Replay]

That's a good thing.

[Zeus]

David Simon, creator of "The Wire" gave a speech on the riots. It was pretty good. Read the transcript.

That's all I could think of when I saw the news, the fact that The Wire was basically talking about all these underlying issues a decade ago

[kali o.]

I have no opinion on this - but I just noticed the Flex Your Rights guy is the lawyer for the gray family...and that made me chuckle.

[Replay]

What part is making you laugh?

The human misery and suffering, or the concept that people should know their Constitutional rights when dealing with police?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flex_Your_Rights