As fellow law professor sent me this video of Oakland police shooting a photographer. The video raises serious questions of the unjustified use of force.
In the video, the police appear to be standing without challenge when, around the 33 second mark, an officer suddenly shoot a photographer who is a good distance from the police line.
I cannot imagine the claim of justification in this case when the use of rubber bullets present significant potential harm to citizens, as shown below.
Kudos: Professor Alberto Bernabe (John Marshall Law School)
Source: Lowering Bar
Elaine:
Actually no, I personally like Costco much better than Wal Mart.
I disagree that it is unpatriotic to not buy American. Buy what is the best product based on your criteria.
Choices = freedom.
Which is something most regulars on the Turley blog only think apply to social issues.
Bron,
Are you a protectionist of Wal-mart? I asked my Tabby Abby what she thought about cat food imported from China. She said “no thanks.”
So if more products manufactured in the USA are sold at Wal-mart we’d have a depression? I didn’t know that. It’s a good thing we have you here as a Turley Blawg regular to educate poor benighted souls such as myself.
Elaine:
so you are a protectionist? You do know that is one of the reasons for the great depression?
So I ask why are you in favor of sending us into another great depression?
Elaine:
What does Matt Tabby have to say about that?
shano:
I found this:
http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/VIRTUAL_LIBRARY/ECONOMIST/novdec05.pdf
and this by Emek Baskar of my alma mater who apparently studies Wal Mart:
http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.21.3.177
It answers some of the questions I raised above and brings up others.
rafflaw,
Wal-mart prefers to purchase the products it sells in its stores from a communist country rather than the USA. What a patriotic company!
shano:
I agree, losses should be the responsibility of the company.
I would like to see those statistics. Is it the recession or Wal Mart? How much do mom and pop stores pay? It might be a little more than Wal Mart but not that much more.
How many people does Wal Mart employ? How much do they pay per hour? What is the main industry in the county? How many jobs were eliminated by Wal Mart? How many were created?
They got 6 million in tax breaks but how much will the sales taxes generate over a 20 year period? Are there any other sources of income for the county generated by Wal Mart that will offset the 6 million dollar tax break?
If I spend 6 million (and this really isnt an expense, it is money the county doesnt even have unless Wal Mart comes to town so it is not on their books) and I profit 12 million how is that a bad thing? I give nothing to Wal Mart and get something in return. How is that a bad deal?
One final point, giving a company a tax break is not socializing losses. As stated above the 6 million does not exist and would only exist if Wal Mart came to town. That 6 million was not part of the county budget for the year before Wal Mart came to town. So there is no budget reduction by giving Wal Mart a tax break and no socialization of losses.
It should be pointed out the county is not going to bail Wal Mart out if they fail with tax payer dollars.
Maybe that is why Wal Mart wants to get into the banking business? 🙂
Bron, I live in the reddest county in a red state. My small town gave Wal Mart 6 million dollars in tax breaks, not a very conservative thing to do. Now we have 3 of them in a county of 125,000. It has wrecked small businesses here, and has also raised the amount of people who are working but have to use public assistance, Medicaid and local food banks. Those ‘cheap’ prices end up being very, very expensive for society.
What has to end is the privatization of profits while they socialize the losses. Whether the losses are in living wages or environmental damage that is either cleaned up at public expense or left to cause health problems in local populations. This is usually what the corporate state is after, and these days they get whatever they want.
rafflaw:
you are right about that but how much more money is in the consumers pocket? What is the cost to the economy? As far as being treated better? Probably a toss up, I have been treated lousy by small and big companies alike. I have also been treated well by big and small companies, so I am not sure your statement can be applied universally.
Remember that Wal Mart has bricks and mortar stores and warehouses and they purchase trucks; most of the ones I see are Peterbilt which I think is built here in the states. The facilities are constructed here by American companies. They also purchase food from US producers and many other things.
It would be interesting to see the net gain or loss which Wal Mart contributes to our economy, I imagine it is a net gain.
Bron,
The mom and pop businesses employ people locally and usually treat them better than our “friends” at Wal-Mart. The economy loses more jobs because Walmart is buying almost exclusively from China and other cheap labor markets.
Mike Spindell:
“That government has been bought off by these corporate giants and has delivered preferential treatment to them, does not mean the concept of government is bad, it means the way individuals have run the government has been bad.”
I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.
Mike Spindell:
the concept of government is a good thing, a very good thing. It protects people from other people. I am not libertarian, I just believe in small government that does what it was chartered to do.
If you force large corporations to stay away from government, the market will work. I simply believe free people making informed decisions about what is best for them sans the influence of government is the recipe for human dignity and prosperity. And of course those decisions must take into account the individual rights of others.
Mike S:
I am not sure you are right in regards to little fish being eaten by the big fish.
I do know Wal Mart put a lot of mom and pop stores out of business but the upside is that people who used to pay say 20 dollars for a pair of jeans are now paying 10 or 12 dollars. I dont know how that hurts the local economy?
It does put a pinch in the local general stores pocket book but overall it helps the town by increasing jobs. Mom and pop shops are good but they only employ 1 or 2 people and so the jobs lost to mom and pop shops move to Wal Mart.
I am not sure I see the impact on working people, I see the impact on mom and pop. But life is all about change and some day some smart guy, maybe your grandson or grand daughter will say “Wal Mart is old and tired and I can do better, I am going to start Big Mike’s Bargain Mart.” Sam Walton did it, my grandfather tried to do it in the mid to late 60’s and couldnt. But Sam Walton didnt put him out of business, he just wasnt a good businessman.
The fear of your grandchildren is what makes Wal Mart stay competitive, they know or should know fame is temporary only the pyramids are forever [and that is doubtful].
Mike Spindell:
I dont think you are right about turning into a feudal system if you free the economy.
There is great evidence to the contrary, if you free the economy people will prosper. You might be right but I would bet 1000:1 you are not.
“small business creates a large number of jobs in this country. I dont think you can call them corporatists. They are just small operators making products and providing services.”
Bron,
Small businesses are the economic backbone of this country. When I talk of corporatists I’m talking about GE, Wal-Mart, MS, Goldman-Sachs, etc. I would include many of the major investment banks in this mix and the large insurance companies. I’m not talking even about small chain operations that are mainly regional. It is these major entities that avoid paying taxes, lobby for special favors and corrupt government. They must be made to pay they fair share, but instead they’re taking the lion’s share. As we’ve seen with Wal-Mart devastating
small town businesses, we need to protect small business from major corporate greed. I know you talk about entrepreneurship and the real entrepreneurs start as small businesses, so they need to be nurtured. Your version of a free market would actually stifle entrepreneurship because the big fish would eat the little ones as soon as they made an impact. That government has been bought off by these corporate giants and has delivered preferential treatment to them, does not mean the concept of government is bad, it means the way individuals have run the government has been bad. Glass-steagall was a good law and kept things honest (depending on the enforcing administration) its elimination to free the banks from their “chains” has been a disaster.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-favor-fading.html Right wing smear campaign against OWS appears to be working.
Mike Spindell:
small business creates a large number of jobs in this country. I dont think you can call them corporatists. They are just small operators making products and providing services.
Maybe business owners should pay people a little more, but then Washington should burden them a little less.
Lottakatz,
I agree. If you read any account of what is happening in various cities, “citizen safety” does not come to mind.
Our local occupy group had a speaker from the ACLU come in. He said that political speech holds the highest level of protection of any speech in the US. The standard for judging violation of political free speech is “strict scrutiny”. Not seeing that here!
Indeed, the best govt. money can buy.
Jill, The “national Agencies doing the advising have little regard for the Fist Amendment hence the advice to seek a pretext and with the advice to demonstrate a massive show of force it’s pretty obvious they have little regard for the safety of the citizens protesting. Best government the 1% can buy, u’betcha.
Mayors, DHS Coordinated Occupy Attacks
By Allison Kilkenny
“according to journalist Rick Ellis at the Examiner. Ellis spoke with a Justice official, who claims each of the Occupy raid actions were coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI, and other federal police agencies.”
[Kilkenny quoteing from Elis article:]
“The official, who spoke on background to me late Monday evening, said that while local police agencies had received tactical and planning advice from national agencies, the ultimate decision on how each jurisdiction handles the Occupy protests ultimately rests with local law enforcement.
According to this official, in several recent conference calls and briefings, local police agencies were advised to seek a legal reason to evict residents of tent cities, focusing on zoning laws and existing curfew rules. Agencies were also advised to demonstrate a massive show of police force, including large numbers in riot gear. In particular, the FBI reportedly advised on press relations, with one presentation suggesting that any moves to evict protesters be coordinated for a time when the press was the least likely to be present.”
http://inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12303/mayors_dhs_coordinated_occupy_attacks/
Karl Rove Flips Out At Protesters: ‘Who Gave You The Right To Occupy America?’
By Zaid Jilani on Nov 16, 2011
http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/11/16/369694/occupy-baltimore-karl-rove/
Excerpt:
Last night, former Bush official Karl Rove appeared at Johns Hopkins University to speak as a part of the annual Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Rove soon discovered that he wasn’t going to deliver his right-wing rhetoric unopposed, as a cry of “Mic Check!” rang out among the audience.