St. Louis Riots

[Swatter]

Those "f%ck CNN" f&cktards were apologized for by the reporters, so it's okay. Nevermind the city burning in the background, the looters running rampant and hitting reporters in heads with rocks or busting up 10,000-50,000-dollar remote news cameras, or the stores being torn to pieces by savage bare hands.

::)

Today I was witness to a rather startling event that nearly got me into a fight. I only mention it here because it reminded me of the sense of entitlement some people have (not necessarily black people, just assholes in general). The wife and I were at Target and two people ahead of me in line were buying some sweatpants and a couple of shirts. They were black, a young man and a kid. (The whole 'black' vs. 'African-American' thing, don't get me started on that bullsh!t.) I have no problem with the guy's race at all. I only point it out because the guy was a complete entitled dickhead to the cashier. He was short a little less than a dollar and was searching and searching and holding up the line, so the cashier nicely put her hand into her OWN pocket and pulled out change to cover it. The guy just stood there and didn't say a word - not a 'thank you,' 'that's very nice, I appreciate it,' just an entitled, smug look on his face. And, the worst part is, the cashier had to give him back change - she wasn't allowed to put money in her pocket. And he took it, again, with no thank you, nothing.

That REALLY pissed me off, so very loudly I said something to the effect of, "Wow, that was REALLY nice of you, ma'am! I bet he's really, really, REALLY appreciative of that! Even though he didn't actually SAY anything." I was rather sarcastic and laying it on. He gave me an eat shit look and looked like he was going to turn on me, but as his skinny butt was half the size of mine and I had almost a foot and a half on him he just bristled and walked out the door. I think it was that last line that pissed him off, but f&ck that guy. Asshole.

My wife hit me and said she'd be hiding behind me as we walked out the door.

The look on the guy's face, the lack of a simple thanks...RRRRR...granted, he wasn't burning the place down, but he was all looking like 'damn right you're covering MY purchase.' Oh man I see red when I think about it. Nothing to do with black or white, just good f*cking manners for christssakes.

I echo Swatter's sentiments. I love my country, but for f&ck's sakes, why do so many people have to go out of their way to make it a worse place to live - and beyond that, why is it so f&cking hard to see that and do something about it? To the point that it's an embarrassment?

What can you say about a story like that? My sister is a manager at a grocery market and was handling a complaint of some black people. It was some very minor thing which she politely handled to the best of her ability. As they were leaving she apologized again for the trouble and they turned around and threw up their hands and yelled "Don't Shoot!" Kind of ironic, considering the neighborhood, but I digress. My brother is an ambulance driver and his company services the poor areas of north city and north county. They just don't hate police, they hate firemen and other first responders too. Often times when he responds to calls, the relatives of the person in distress are not helpful and sometimes actually hinder what they are doing. There is no restraint to the hostility, from what I hear.

Needless to say, such things are hard to believe (especially the hostility to first responders). The media would never, ever touch such issues. Only on Fox News did you hear that fire trucks couldn't respond to some fires due to being shot at. Believe it or not, those are not incidents exclusive to the last couple of nights. I know its hard to frickin believe, but fire trucks get shot at in north city and county.

Look, I don't think these are racial issue either. The family unit in these areas is non-existent for an awful lot of people. The youth revel in a culture that hates police, whites, and authority. The destruction of these communities is near total, both spiritual  and physical. This is why they burn and riot, but very few dare utter such truths.

One final thing about the riots, media, myth, and false narratives. Years ago I worked at three different Dominos Pizza stores (one which was burned down in the riots) and these stores cover the core of the area experiencing the riots. The media would have you believe that these large groups of people at the protests are drawn out there by injustice. The truth, something which only a first-hand witness could see, is that large roving bands of unsupervised youth roam the streets of the area in the evening into the morning hours, going years back when I worked up there (20+ years ago).  My drivers would come back from deliveries after dark scared shitless (drivers were black and lived in the area no less). I honestly thought they were BSing me in order to avoid delivering to areas where they know tips will be poor. One evening a driver directly told me she wasn't going to make another delivery along St. Louis Avenue until I saw for myself. I called her bluff and went on a delivery with her- I was dead wrong. These were at least 100 unsupervised kids walking in the middle of the street extending down a couple of blocks (school night around 10). Needless to say we got funny looks, but nobody bothered us. Bear in mind, no matter what neighborhood you are in, a delivery driver always has to have eyes in the back of their head. So, delivery to neighborhoods with roving band of kids is no pleasant experience.

Next time you hear about the noble protestors gathering in Ferguson, you have to realize that these unsupervised youths already wander the street and needed only to walk several blocks over. This was especially true in August when this behavior is most prevalent, that is why the crowds took so long to die down. In addition, in between the protests (and during), black people are still killing each other in drive by shootings. Kids are still being shot in the head and put in dumpsters. The murder rate in St. Louis is actually very high this year, among the highest in years. On the local news every night, sandwiched in between the protest stories, are the normal, expected shootings and murders. The murders that don't matter to the protestors.

[GDS_Starfury]

I'm so glad obama ended racism in America.

[Martok]

Banzai_Cat, I'm so glad you put that jerkass in his place.  (Maybe wasn't the smartest thing to do, but man I'm proud of ya.)  O0 


Swatter...I am at a loss for words.  To say that I am "sad" doesn't even begin to describe it. 

[Staggerwing]

Banzai_Cat, I'm so glad you put that jerkass in his place.  (Maybe wasn't the smartest thing to do, but man I'm proud of ya.)  O0 


Swatter...I am at a loss for words.  To say that I am "sad" doesn't even begin to describe it. 

Swatter's observations would be good to remember next time we hear some story about villagers attacking Ebola workers and tell ourselves it's because they are ignorant and superstitious third-worlders. Here at home the Third World could be just a few blocks from Picket-Fence Lane.

[BanzaiCat]

My brother is an ambulance driver and his company services the poor areas of north city and north county. They just don't hate police, they hate firemen and other first responders too. Often times when he responds to calls, the relatives of the person in distress are not helpful and sometimes actually hinder what they are doing. There is no restraint to the hostility, from what I hear.

I totally understand. I was a paramedic for four years in Houston and if you cross one street you can go from $500,000+ homes to ghettos, literally. Houston has no zoning, so there's no rhyme nor reason to their set-up. We were stared down plenty of times by thug jackasses and met all kinds of resistance in doing our jobs on some nights. The funny thing is, gangs react along racial lines to us. The Hispanic gangs were always decent to us, never caused trouble or blocked us or anything, especially when we had to work on one of their own. We'd do that and if the kid pulled through, these guys would go out of their way to try to pay us back. We got flagged down a few times with "Heeyyy, man, you guys want some fresh tortillas? My grams just baked a ton, bato!" We were officially told not to accept that kind of thing, but we did, only after a bit of hemming and hawing because we had to work in the streets with these guys and not accepting it would have been an insult ultimately. (And when they call you 'bato' you know you're good.) Black gangs, though...oh hell, forget about it. Those were the ones that stared us down, made noise and screamed and cried and bumped us/shoved us around. More often than not we'd have to load them instead of stabilizing on scene just to get the f&ck outta there. It got to the point that we wouldn't respond to calls in certain areas without Sheriff, Constable, or Houston Police presence there first. Others, like the barrio areas, we'd respond without hesitation.

And community activists (black community activists) often lament that services are impossible to come by in their neighborhoods.

Well, f&cking duh, you goddamn dumbasses.

[LongBlade]

^Is it relatively small and easy to handle, like me?

Looking at that vid, I would say, "yes."

They are small and easy to handle.

What you seem to be afraid of is the recoil. That's going to happen with any 12 gauge, Gus. The only way to mitigate that is to go to a smaller bore. A smaller bore will be a bigger number - 20. *Don't* get a 10 gauge if you want a shotgun with less recoil.

If you don't like the idea of getting a 20 gauge then you might want to consider either a pistol or a rifle.

Probably the best thing for you to do is to offer to buy Jarhead a cup of coffee and let him walk you through the ins and outs of what's best for you. The best solution for you may not necessarily be "buy a shotgun."

[Airborne Rifles]

You have ammunition choices with a shotgun that affect the recoil too, like bird shot (less powder) vs buck shot (more powder).

[MikeGER]

Gus, how about the civilian variant of the UMP the USC in .45 ? (Americans love that caliber)
http://www.heckler-koch.com/en/products/sport/rifles/usc/usc/technical-data.html
it is only semi auto so should be legal to own  (it even is in Germany, so a HK represent told me at a HK booth at the "Jagd und Hund"-tradefair some time ago ...malus: only 10 rounds mag, here)

i dunno if civilian variant of MP5s are available, then i would go for those !
there is no recoil to speak off

in addition to the shotgun of course, not instead  >:D

[Staggerwing]

You have ammunition choices with a shotgun that affect the recoil too, like bird shot (less powder) vs buck shot (more powder).

What's the skinny on flechette rounds? Are they worth considering for defensive purposes?

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/product_info.php/pName/5rds-12-gauge-flechette-ammo

In the comments a poster says they have low recoil.

[GDS_Starfury]

[Staggerwing]

That comes with more range time.

[MikeGER]

ok
recoil is a good thing

when the CNN reporter ask you what did you felt when you shot that black 27 year old kid 250 pounds home intruder that raped your dog and beat your wife
Answer: Recoil  ;)   

[BanzaiCat]

I'm wondering if the gun laws in MO are anywhere near what they are in, say, Texas.

If someone enters your property here with malicious intent, you're justified with blowing them away. (Better be ready to prove it, but most home invasions aren't Welcome Wagons to begin with.)

I wondered why there were not more business owners camping out in their stores with enough firepower to level a battalion or two, unless the law is not on their side in those matters.

[OJsDad]

The more this crap happens the more I think of these people as the PRH Dolist in David Webers Honor Harrington series. 

[Staggerwing]

If you are a business you would have to be able to prove beyond a doubt that the looters intending you harm, not just your merchandise or building. You can't (legally) shoot someone for shoplifting, no matter how much you want to. One day, though, some old shopkeep with nothing to lose will blow away a bunch of wilding punks and then we will have another media circus. I really really hope that when it happens the shopkeep will be of the same ethnicity as the looters so we can focus on the crime itself (as well as the crimes that lead up to it).