Bubba

Gotta be a fake. Looks like a seriously bad 'Photochop'. If real, however, that'd be motivation enough for me….

NP. Hell, I didn't even notice; I never give any thought to that anyway. Pretty sure the only folks that pay attention to the negs are the moderators. Honestly, I didn't know you could follow who gives out the +'s and -'s. Good to know, tho--I can start my stalking campaign immediately….

Hmmm. Interesting rant. What exactly does it mean? The world is full of pussies and thugs, and the only thing keeping them apart is the cops? I'm conflicted…. I'm with you on the 'fewer cops' idea, tho, especially when I'm hooning the backwoods.

Oh believe me….I get it. If I was the cop, I wouldn't want to face that 'piece' down not knowing it was a toy. More to my earlier post, I'm not blaming the shooter. With the clarity of 20:20 hindsight, I think a less abrupt approach by the officer driving the patrol car could have possibly prevented the tragedy. Still convinced it could have been avoided with a more judicious approach. I've seen the entire video posted previously, and while the kid appeared to be aggressive, he hadn't done anything more than bluster. I don't think a personal video cam worn by the cop would provide any additional information to vindicate the cop.

This seems the most likely path that will be taken after the recent spate on cop shootings, but cameras can be a double-edged sword. There will always be grey areas with every person-to-person interaction, which once captured on digital media can be used both for and against each party. Let's make the premise that everything in life is recorded. A busy mom or dad forgets the kid in the car seat and a child dies in a hot car. Almost certainly a horrible accident, but do we indict? A teenager reaches for something in his car and crosses the center line and kills another driver. Accidental or indictable? A hunter drops his rifle and kills his hunting partner. Accident or negligent homicide? In all these incidents, a camera would show when and where things went terribly wrong, but would it prove innocence or guilt? Show malice of forethought? Record a human lapse of judgement? Who's gonna interpret the data? From which viewpoint will the person behind camera be judged? Can we realistically achieve a sufficient level of training for police to ensure no error will ever be made? Human beings are susceptible to making mistakes, and yet do we hold an officer accountable to a higher standard of 'infallibility' than we do ordinary people?

I'm definitely standing with Magz on this one. zx3vfr is painting with a pretty broad brush…. No evidence the kid was associated with gangs in any way or that his parents were negligent. 12 year old kid is still young enough to be playing in a park with a toy gun.

I see this as a much greater tragedy than the Ferguson incident. Again, the only info I have is the video, but where I see a procedural failure and in my opinion, the direct cause of the shooting, is the actions of the officer DRIVING the cop car. He pulled up within feet of the suspect, with the passenger side door in direct line of fire with the gun. If I was the cop riding shotgun, I'd be freaking out immediately too!!! It seems to me that if the driver had approached at a head-on angle, where the open door could be used as a shield, or at the very least, stopped the car farther away from the suspect so immediate engagement wouldn't be necessary, the cop/shooter wouldn't have felt he was in imminent danger when he exited the car. Disclaimer: I'm not trained in law enforcement, nor have I had active shooter training, so maybe what happened is exactly what cops are trained to do in such a situation, but it doesn't make a lot of sense from my armchair. The reality of a cop's job--where they interact with the lowest common denominator of society (NOT a racial comment, btw) and encounter kids with guns on a daily basis--is that, if they have a desire to survive and to go home to their families at the end of their shift, I can see/understand the the impulse to shoot first before being shot at. That doesn't make it right, but it sure is a fallible human response, and cops are both fallible and human. We gotta stop 'creating' tragedies like this if the US is gonna move forward. Whether it means more guns and cops on the street, better police training, or stricter gun laws, I don't have a clue. My sympathies are with the cop, the kid, and their respective families. Shouldn't have to happen this way…

Magz: That was clearly NOT simple jaywalking. You got quite a penchant for obfuscating the facts and turning other's words into a left-wing jab. I admit that I know little of the details of the incident other than what is shown in the video, but I can assure that if it was me in that car with my wife and kids, I wouldn't have stopped in the first place. If you watch closely at the end of the video after the confrontation, it's evident that the protestors had smashed the windshield, tried to rip off the front and rear wiper arms, and were violently banging on the car. Any harm done to the rioters in the crowd (See, I can play that game, too ) is clearly self-defense in that instance. If that had been a husband--or wife--with CCL, the vehicle prolly wouldn't have been the only deadly force used.

Actually surprised they were still standing around waiting for the cops. Almost zero chance they have insurance. Sorry about the hassle, but even more sorry about the 'Stang! Beautiful machine.

No idea if this warning is in reference to my post, but I made no mention of race whatsoever. As a matter of fact, the news broadcast showed there were as many white protestors playing in traffic as there were black. I believe the term I used used was "fools" and I stand by my assessment.

Bunch of fools are running around downtown Cinti waving signs. At one point, a fair number wandered out onto both the north- and southbound lanes of I-75 near the District 1 police HQs and tried to shut down the interstate. Now mind you, this was during the end of the rush hour surge about 6:30-7ish in the mostly pitch black darkness. Haven't heard if there were any casualties, but you gotta be pretty stupid to put on dark clothes and a weird mask and rush out into 4 lanes of traffic, most of which is commercial truck traffic. I'm guessing a phalanx of 18-wheelers 4 wide at about 45-50 MPH would do a way better job of clearing the freeway obstruction than a whole squad of police….

Yes, the Boomers have paid far more into SS than any other generation; when the Boomer generation matures--and that'll be happening imminently--it'll also collect more than any other previous generation. However, if you really feel the need to blame SS problems on the disparity of how much was paid in vs how much was collected, look no further than your parents and blame them. The amount they've collected and are collecting still vs what they paid in is FAR GREATER than any gen to come after. But if you have a smidgen of common sense and can do the math, turns out it isn't your parents that are the problem; it isn't the Boomers that are the problem, either--Boomers are the folks that are SOLELY responsible for the decades of SS fund surplus (if you believe we have one). It's our damn representatives than have ignored the obvious problem of underfunding for several decades, kicking the can down the road, and using the SS revenue for general fund items. Sure, there's a US government bond guarantee on the borrowed funds, but it's backed by the same government that is trillions of dollars in debt and have been running deficit budgets for years to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. These are the folks we voted for….and voted for again….and blindly reelected again and again. We the voters have been paying them huge salaries to sit in Washington and accomplish NOTHING for years!!! Look in the mirror, folks. There's the problem.

Very true. Can you imagine how bad the end zone touchdown dances would suck if it was a white guy doing the celebrating?

Wish I had a tight boarder….preferably in her early 20s….wouldn't charge her much rent….

Not sure what this is worth or whether it's what you were thinking of paying, but it's been on the AFJ forum for over a week. Hit 'em up and make an offer. http://www.assfaultjunkies.com/showthread.php?27543-GoPro-Hero-3-screen-and-remote-350

SW: Once again…crossed paths. I was at the Comet the night that Yamaha/Star had their road crew there. For a guy who likes to take pictures, how'd you end up with a pic of the custom fabbed tall-boy bicycles and NONE of the Star girls? Yer gettin' old, dude….

SW: You did see me and almost caught me!!! Me without a head….small world.

It's an old guy thing. Kind'a like '23 skidoo'….we said 'neat-o'….you said 'cool beans' or 'rad' or 'gnarly'….if you were born after about '55-'60, you prolly didn't use the term. And to your point, you can use any of those terms to describe the same bike. Frame of reference.

As an old guy, I think the term is a hold-over from the early era of the UJM--circa early to mid-60s--when displacements jumped quickly from the 250-300 cc to +500 cc, starting with the venerable CB750 and the Kaw Z1 and morphing into such modern monsters as the Yamaha V-Max, Triumph Rocket III, Ducati Diavel, and the like. In the early 70s, the Honda was king, but as the years have gone by, it seems that a liter and up has become the norm. If it makes you feel any better, I think all of the bikes in your sig would qualify…but call 'em what you want. Oh wait….if your Suzuki 'Widowmaker' still has all it's body work, you have to call that one a 'crotchrocket' because that term is so….so….unambiguous.

SW: I get there every so often. Made it several times in the last few months. Usually conflicts with my 'old guy' soccer league that plays Tuesday eves. Defintiely WON'T be there tonight….

MP: Thx…not a scratch on me. Full size buck, but I didn't go down somehow. I was lucky--the deer, not so much. Found him dead laying in a power line cut about 200 yds from where I hit him. Small consolation….

SW: Looks like our paths crossed once more without getting to say "Hi" to each other. Nice shots from the Alley Meet at Fuel. I was there on my '91 CBR600F2, one of the nicest of it's kind in the region. Never wrecked, never tracked, all the original tupperware without cracks, and I had just gotten it running a couple of weeks prior after doing a total refresh (minus engine). Here: About two weeks ago, I was out for a late afternoon ride on one of our last warm sunny days of the fall and wasn't 1/4 mile from home when I hit a deer. Took out the front fairing, headlight, and bent the cowl stay. Needless to say, I've spent hours on Ebay and haven't come up with anything to replace the parts. Anyhoo, just a shout out from one old guy to another. C'ya in the spring?

SSDI maybe? I thought that SS payments for minor children with deceased parents (presumably the custodial grandparents here) ended at 18, but maybe the payments continue until 24 as long you remain enrolled as a full-time student. Hell, between the worthless SS/SSD cheats, the Medicare fraud, defense waste and burgeoning government employee pension costs, you might as well just say "Why not take all of me?"

Sure. Why not? After all, ObamaCare is free, right? I mean….the government is paying for it, not me.

I'm a bit intrigued by the Lit concept. On one hand, the vehicle is self-stabilizing--using a gyroscope to hold it upright when stopped and at low speed--and yet they state it tilts in a turn just like motorcycle, which implies there's a method to 'uncouple' the gyro stabilizer from the frame when the speed increases. I presume it would have to be a magnetic lock of some sort, but the company has not been very forthcoming with engineering details as of yet. Based on the few short videos they've released, I'd hazard a guess that they are encountering a myriad of technical hurdles that will ultimately make the product a no-go. As for Elio, here is a recent analysis (Sept 2013) of the company's latest marketing strategy….not very promising: http://cleantechnica.com/2013/08/19/paul-elio-motors-releases-financials/ http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1086583_elio-3-wheeler-is-small-and-clever-but-do-its-financials-work-out