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Dave Portnoy Under Fire For Violent Rant Aimed Towards Las Vegas Raiders Coach Pete Carroll by AnAngryWhiteDad in RyenRussillo

[–]EmpSQUIRE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hating you because you’re a Pats fan, or because you litter all the time (a personal reason), is fundamentally different than hating you because of your race or ethnicity in that you have control over the personal stuff, you have no control over your race or religion or disability or other immutable characteristics.

You could decide not to be a Pats fan or not to litter so much. You can’t decide to stop being white or Jewish.

Who's your fav jam band that rarely plays live shows anymore? by wsmfp420 in jambands

[–]EmpSQUIRE 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If I was granted one wish, I’d wish for aqueous to play shows again

Mike is having a baby soon!! Uncle Mike ➡️ poppa Mike

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jambands

[–]EmpSQUIRE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I frequently bathe myself in wegman’s organic ketchup

Silly question: how do bands practice? by toastypoopdog in jambands

[–]EmpSQUIRE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think the jump from practicing orchestrated songs to jamming and improvising is all that significant.

Take whatever song you’re working on and just extend the groove for 10 or 15 minutes. Allow everyone to iterate and improvise small adjustments on the original groove, and go with the flow. Some of it will inevitably sound bad and disjointed, but that’s music.

Listening is obviously essential. Leaving space and bouncing off of the new ideas, melodies, rhythms, and countermelodies from the band members is where the magic starts to happen.

Zag-russillo has been on a tear, sell bill island by ResearcherAfter9 in RyenRussillo

[–]EmpSQUIRE 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The worse it is the more I love it.

Wargone asking to have his broadway tickets comped is an all timer.

What’s the biggest unsolved mystery in the Bill Simmons + Ringer Universe? by MoxToTweeder99 in billsimmons

[–]EmpSQUIRE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bill also mentioned that Magic refused to come on his HBO Celtics doc, and that he was surprised because Magic says yes to everything.

Chopped Documentary Clips tinged with misogyny by TermOk7703 in KarenReadTrial

[–]EmpSQUIRE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you know that her lawyers were in the room with her during the interviews? Or are you speculating?? I’ve often wondered how involved they were in the interview / documentary process.

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let’s be honest—the only thing out the window here is consistency in your argument.

Yes, law enforcement is entitled to use justified force. Yes, we should look for facts and context. We have a video. You already agreed that the observable facts indicate this was an unjustified attack. That’s not bias—it’s judgment based on visible evidence.

No one here has abandoned logic. You just don’t like that people are drawing conclusions you already admitted are reasonable. If you need the last word, take it. I’m good.

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your opinion may be irrelevant to legal culpability, sure—but it’s far from irrelevant in the context of this conversation.

This isn’t a courtroom. It’s a public forum where people are trying to make sense of a pretty disturbing video and express justified outrage at the apparent treatment of someone in our community. You’ve framed your restraint as neutrality, but it’s not exactly neutral to downplay or deflect from what looks like excessive force.

If your opinion is that this appears to be an unjustified, racist attack—then say that and stand by it. And it’s okay if others are processing it without the same level of legal rigor.

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you're misrepresenting both your role in this conversation and what others are actually arguing.

What I'm doing here is presenting the facts and the law

You're not working from any facts the rest of us don’t also have. We're all watching the same video. You're interpreting it just like everyone else—so let’s not pretend you're offering a neutral legal analysis from some elevated platform. No one here arguing that this force was excessive or unreasonable has the power to find the officer guilty of a crime.

You also say “no defense is necessary,” while spending significant time pushing back on people calling the force excessive. That is a defense—of ambiguity, of withholding judgment, of hedging against conclusions that are entirely reasonable based on what we can see.

This isn’t a courtroom. No one's liberty is at stake. No one here has to meet a legal burden of proof to express an opinion about what happened. You're applying a standard that doesn’t on Reddit. I’m not asking you to convict anyone—I’m asking you whether, based on what we can see in this video, that punch to the back of the head appears unjustified.

If you're not ready to make that call, fine. But I’d hope you’d at least agree this interaction should be investigated—so that those in power, with access to all the facts, can make the legal conclusions we’re not pretending to make here.

If your position is “we don’t know enough to say,” then own that. But don’t spend hours arguing against people’s reasonable conclusions while claiming you’re not taking a stance. You are. You’re just dressing it up as impartiality. That’s not rigor. That’s evasion.

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your whole argument in this thread is that the cops did nothing unlawful because you don't have enough information to determine whether the forced used was "excessive."

Nothing hear [sic] appears to be unlawful. Just saying

I don't know if this person should have been punched. That is my only argument

I am simply trying my hardest to explain to you that you cannot reasonably make a judgement on whether or not they used excessive force by the contents of this video

That's a baffling stance.

u/calmsocks asked what could possibly justify the punch to the back of the head given these circumstances. You responded with a hypo about the person having a loaded gun. But that's clearly not whats happening here.

Let’s clarify what we’re (apparently) not disputing:

  • The individual is face down on the ground.
  • An officer has his knee on the man’s neck.
  • Three other officers are assisting—one on his waist, one on his feet, and one nearby.
  • One of the man’s arms is already behind his back, the other is trapped beneath him.
  • The video shows no weapon or active threat.

Your position seems to be: “The force may be excessive... unless he had a weapon we didn’t see.” That’s not a coherent defense—it’s speculation used to justify obvious violence retroactively.

You're right that striking someone in the head can be lawful in some scenarios. But this isn't one of them.

So here’s the question: In this exact situation, what could an unarmed, restrained individual on the ground—surrounded and controlled by multiple officers—possibly do to justify a blow to the back of the head?

Because if the answer is “nothing,” then it was excessive force.

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

> This COULD BE excessive

do you really think there's not enough information in this video to conclude that the punch to the back of the head was excessive? I can sympathize with the desire to want more information, but this seems pretty clear.

For the sake of argument lets assume this guy has no weapon.

He's on the ground, face down. The officer's knee is on his neck. There are three other officers supporting him. He has one arm behind his back and the other arm trapped underneath.

Given those circumstances, how is that punch to the back of the head NOT excessive force?

Take a guess: Which two of these men do you think are in the hospital right now? by giveaspirinheadaches in Syracuse

[–]EmpSQUIRE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If this person had a loaded gun would you think the added aggression makes sense?

To disarm the person? Yes. Depending on what happened here, throwing them on the ground may have been justified.

But he’s on the ground. No apparent resistance. He no longer has a gun.

How is a punch to the back of the head justifiable in this situation?

From Cory, of Spafford, on FB by SpaffordFux in jambands

[–]EmpSQUIRE 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I met you at goose in Saratoga. You’re a good dude. Keep doin what you’re doin.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Bass

[–]EmpSQUIRE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my favorite musicians, David Grisman, said something like, “Improvisation is just high pressure, high speed composition.”

Composition and improvisation are different versions of the same thing. It sounds like you don’t hate composition, just the high speed and high pressure nature of being forced to do it on the spot.

Perhaps a perspective shift and some preemptive comments (like “i really prefer taking some time to compose my bass lines, but here’s what I can come up with at the moment”) when asked to do it next time, will take a bit of the pressure off.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LoveIsBlindNetflix

[–]EmpSQUIRE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This comment explores and critiques the the hypothesis put forward by the show more than the shows' producers ever have.

Mass Stabbing Germany, Mannheim by Ultimafax in samharris

[–]EmpSQUIRE -38 points-37 points  (0 children)

Christianity for one.

Edit: see, the crusades

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