Open Thread - Response to JustP edition

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Open Thread - Response to JustP edition

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 3:46pm.

This thread is 100% open for all topics, including those whose mere mention causes me to experience deep emotional trauma and which makes me fear for my life.

I wanted to respond to JustP in the Port Lawsuit thread but didn't want to hijack it.

The current college-aged generation, and in fact the generations of the past few years, have an annoying sense of entitlement. They feel that they deserve to have something merely because they want it. They want to lord their ideals over everyone else yet have plenty of excuses for when they wish to violate their own supposed values.

That's why they sue teachers who've given them failing grades, sue employers for firing them, sue tobacco companies after they smoke themselves into cancer or emphysema...soon enough they'll sue Olyblog for contributing to Macular Degeneration (and even alienation of affection)

They want to break the law, they'll do it. And then they'll complain when it's time to face the consequences. And in the spirit of wanting something for nothing they come up with 2.6 Million apiece.

Merwyn Haskett's blog
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Thanks for starting this thread

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:01pm.

Perhaps those wanting to vent can find satisfaction here. Please pop in and contribute to the Port Lawsuit thread if you run across any relevant info.

Well, that's the deal. I can

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:15pm.

Well, that's the deal. I can only contribute "here's my opinion" posts on that subject. Everyone already knows where I stand on it, and I didn't want to turn your post into a battlefield.

It should be noted that all

Submitted by Ehver Green on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:04pm.

It should be noted that all but one of those arrested refrained from taking part in the lawsuit. I thank them. I'd also like to thank the other ESC professor for standing fast.

If It's A Class Action Lawsuit

Submitted by JstPlnOnry on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:06pm.

can they still join it at a later time?

I agree with you though! It shows they might be making better choices now.

I am a wobbly at heart. Always have been. Think I always will be. - Olyblogger "Mike"

I was momentarily bummed

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:18pm.

I was momentarily bummed when I found out I missed the deadline for taking part in the BCTI lawsuit. But then, after someone else told me their class action story, I got out the calculator and found out that, before the lawyers took their lion's share of the settlement, each individuals portion was less than $300.

I disagree with Merwyn's characterization

Submitted by OlyDowntowner on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:26pm.

First of all, most Evergreen students didn't bother sitting on the wet sidewalk in the cold, protesting the war. I don't think we can hold up those who did as being somehow emblematic of a generation of spoiled children who expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter.

One of the plaintiffs is a Viet Nam Veteran who is now a member of Veterans For Peace. He is probably older than almost everyone posting on Olyblog, even Guglielmo. This man was assaulted by the police on Veterans Day, and his injuries were visible for quite a while. I can't speak for him, but I do assume that he has a certain sense of entitlement: entitlement to be arrested for nonviolent misdemeanor civil disobedience, rather than assaulted.

I don't believe the plaintiffs are doing this for money. But that's the way the system works. What should they be suing for, letters of apology? Unfortunately, we live in a society where justice is measured in dollars.

Why Sue

Submitted by JstPlnOnry on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:31pm.

for anything?

I am a wobbly at heart. Always have been. Think I always will be. - Olyblogger "Mike"

If a 100 pound woman who

Submitted by OlyDowntowner on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:01pm.

If a 100 pound woman who earnestly believes the war is wrong is sitting in the street, peacefully breaking the law, it would be appropriate for OPD to arrest her. It is inappropriate for the OPD to beat her and spray her with pepper spray or gas. Many people believe the police assaulted protesters rather than arresting them, in violation of OPD's own guidelines, because it was CHEAPER. This lawsuit makes assaulting citizens a little bit more expensive.

As Merwyn Pointed Out

Submitted by JstPlnOnry on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:05pm.

and you could easily read for yourself if you weren't so busy complaining about not being able to click on a link, this woman who's part of this lawsuit stated she was never pepper sprayed or pelted with rubber bullets. If she was never brutalized, (her own statement on her blog is proof enough and hopefully will be used in court), why is she suing for police brutality?

Breaking the law is breaking the law and they broke the Pedestrian Ordinance law and do not deserve compensation for it.

I am a wobbly at heart. Always have been. Think I always will be. - Olyblogger "Mike"

As I pointed out on the other thread

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:16pm.

perhaps the "brutality" claim is based on an event other than the one described in the link. I witnessed the women's blockade and the police acted admirably.

I think my reading

Submitted by OlyDowntowner on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:14pm.

I think my reading comprehension is OKAY... how's yours? She wasn't brutalized THAT NIGHT. The brutalization of protesters, THAT NIGHT, as a matter of fact, happened AFTER the arrests, when Daisy was "safely" in police custody. However, the protests occurred for TWO WEEKS. Hmmmm....

Brutalized

Submitted by Norm on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:38pm.

is an interesting word choice.

Notice I didn't say

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:37pm.

Notice I didn't say Greeners. If there's one thing I hate it's when people speak of Greeners derisively, blanketing all the students, faculty, staff and volunteers with the same stereotypes (negative or otherwise) of the percentage that it applies to.

I see this same sense of entitlement from people who never went to school. A lot of it comes from our parents being in the Me Generation. It doesn't appear to have been as prevalent in my Grandparents' generation.

You're lucky I can't

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:52pm.

reach you with my cane!

Rob has a very sad post

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:48pm.

Rob has a very sad post about a friend of his who recently passed away. She had a hard time in life and was even the victim of violent crimes including rape.

Immediately a thought popped in my mind, it would have been horribly inappropriate to bring it up in her obituary. However the sentiment is very valid.

She was the victim of violence and rape in Olympia. Yet in certain threads people who wish to be proactive in their safety are told that Olympia's safe and their choice of protection is offensive.

Maybe that taboo subject would have been the wrong choice in this particular case, but either crime happens in Olympia or it doesn't. Crime doesn't "kind of happen"

Really bad timing Mer.

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:52pm.

I disagree. I kept it out of

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 4:55pm.

I disagree. I kept it out of RR's post. I've said nothing to denigrate her memory.

Just seems exploitive to me

Submitted by Guglielmo on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:49pm.

to try to use her death as ammunition in one of our petty ongoing arguments. Besides, no one has ever said that Olympia is free of violence, just that it is a relatively safe town for the average Joe.

At first

Submitted by a.future.with.n... on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:36pm.

I thought I was going to have words with you Merwyn, but upon a second reading of your post, I agree. I've long been an advocate of arming the homeless and low income populations.

wait. i read your post again. are you honestly suggesting that if a mentally ill homeless women had a gun that she wouldn't have been raped?

I'm all for class war.

I knew Terrie for the last 2 + years. There is no preparation for when someone dies like this. i don't know exactly how to respond to you. i agree with gug that your analysis is just awfully timed.

I wasn't saying anything

Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 9:15pm.

I wasn't saying anything about arming the homeless or low income. I didn't mention class at all. All I did was point out that there was proof positive that violent crime happens in "relatively safe" Olympia. Proof enough that gun carriers aren't necessarily the paranoid cowboys some would make them out to be.

I'm sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry my timing made you, Gug and anyone else uncomfortable.

It's OK Merwyn, I'm not offended

Submitted by Rob Richards on Fri, 02/01/2008 - 9:35pm.

I think it's a piss-poor example, but it doesn't offend me. I do thank you for not bringing it up on the other thread.

Terrie was repeatedly taken advantage of, beaten up, and raped because she was a mentally ill homeless woman, not because she didn't have a gun. Mentally ill and homeless is an unsafe lifestyle no matter where you live, you have no idea the shit that I get to be a part of. Look at statistics for violent crimes among the street population of any town or city, and you'll see a huge disparity between those of housed people.

All in all, Olympia is indeed one of the safest cities in the nation, many studies and reports have stated it. Me saying Olympia is safe is not my opinion, it is based on data.

Mentally Ill and Homeless

Submitted by security_six on Fri, 02/01/2008 - 9:50pm.

Is a combination that should never be tolerated by society. Even more so if this person is a woman, often a very vulnerabe combination on the street. I'm pissed just thinking about it....

One loves to posess arms, though they hope to never have occassion for them.

Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1796

I think (gun pic)

Submitted by security_six on Fri, 02/01/2008 - 9:47pm.

You and I are going to get along famously :-) You are correct, the poor, and homeless have as much need if not more than any other groups of people to be lawfully armed, and yet they are often unable to do it. Bans on "junk guns" or "saturday night specials" and lawsuits against those who produce such affordable products serve only to put lawful protection out of reach.

Arming does not have to be guns either, all though for some percentage of the population they would be an ideal choice. A lawfully armed citizen is on an equal footing with all...

Anyway PM if you want to continue this conversation, I don't think Olyblog can handle another conversation along these lines so soon, and I really don't want to hear "get your own blog" again.... :-)

One loves to posess arms, though they hope to never have occassion for them.

Thomas Jefferson to George Washington 1796

Good call

Submitted by Norm on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 5:38pm.

I'm glad you didn't post it on that thread, but you make an incredibly valid point.

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