smccrory

Put another 50 miles on the Strom today. 60-65 degrees. Cloudy. But the roads are still in great condition.

Sorry again man, that really does suck.

Either way, I'd chalk it up to a freak thing that just resulted in property damage. Thankfully, right?

I'm with IP on this, and glad as a consequence you're not sitting in a cell today. I would have been tempted too..

+1, This. Magz, would you as a cop like to be known for the rest of your life as the bumbling hesitant who let X innocents die because you were afraid to do what you were supposedly prepared to do - to protect society from imminent harm? Keep second guessing like you're doing, and we'll all have to get used to the absence of qualified police officers and even more ubiquity of self-defense firearms. Personally, I'm almost there myself this week - I'll actively talk anyone I know out of police work because the personal liabilities are just too great, either from suffering direct physical harm or living like a pariah the rest of your life after an event like this.

Zx3vfr I gotta give you credit, you could troll with the best of 'em.

We're back to talking about motorcycles, right? Though I for one am Happy Todd is doing his best to bring seasonal joy to the lonely. I just hope it comes with salve. There's a '72 CL350 Scrambler I can't stop looking at, and a '74 BMW R75 with an R90 cowling - both with decent starting prices. But I'm already waist-deep in a '66 CB77 rehab and won't be able to get my car in the garage if I buy any more bikes... Damn motorcyclist problems...

It is the season of giving after all.

Especially now that it's winter, I find myself irrelevantly visiting Craigslists' motorcycle for-sale section every couple days. I don't need any more bikes, and some of it is just to keep up with bike values and to spot for a couple friends, but I'll secretly admit that I'm also keeping my eyes out for that special vintage scrambler or BMW R series project, ideally being sold by a distressed seller at a deep discount, or someone who doesn't know what they have... Am I sick?

I think so. I put heated grips on the DL650, so with my insulated gear, I'll ride down to 40 comfortably. Maybe lower if I'm really jonseing.

A rep point from me to you sir!

True. But we "thinking types" should probably read that stuff in detail.

Multiple building fires. CVS looted (I bet the pharmacy too, or at least attempted). I've seen dozens of hoodlums with masks, bats and such.

I don't think electrical - not enough current to spark like that. Maybe flash-bangs? Or bean bag rounds?

Anyone else see several small explosions in the burning cop car earlier?

Sure hope the cops have cameras on and/or review public video to charge what looters they can. I've seen several license plates on the getaway cars.

I bet they still would have found a way to drone on about aisiana flight theories though.

Which should be THANKED for its calming effect! [emoji16]

And some jackass on CNN is already heatedly ranting about the proceeding being a sham and so on. Would love to hold the media accountable for flame fanning...

Anyone got a big tv, beer and chips for the post-decision riot watch?

Two hour ride for me on the V-Strom. Got up to 65 degrees, and was great to see EVERY motorcyclist wave at each other too.

Look guys, you're both right - it's not a mutually exclusive thing, and if you can see both sides you'll grasp that this, like everything, is multidimensional. Tigerpaw, the Tea was just a symbol of one of many taxes imposed by a government upon people who felt disconnected (even oppressed) from their government. Had they not felt so disconnected, they would not have percolated to the point of needing to take some sort of action. It could have just as easily been a clothing item (The (Ugly) Sweater Party) or other spices (what about the Pepper Pot, or the Corriander Consortium?). You also need to remember that violence from the Brits against colonist was widespread and exacerbated the disconnect. They may not have had armored APCs at the time, but they certainly outgunned and out-legislated the colonists, similar to the sense given in Ferguson by the local cops with little sensitivity to the optics of their response. At the same time, magz, this isn't exactly the same as the tea incident. Back then, that wasn't connected to widespread rioting - it was targeted, and it was politically organized. I know of no political organization of the attacks against storefronts. That was action perpetrated by a bunch of hoodlums, separate from the goals and actions of community members who are trying to take the legal route of civil protest.

Its all of that, and about military-grade police hardware which angers crowds because it signals a disconnect between police and citizens. You can't explain the Ferguson situation with just any one factor.

My brief understanding is that it's not amnesty, it's deferral of deportation for parents of Dreamers and people who have been on US soil for year without committing serious crimes. I do need to read the full detail still though.

I sure wish we didn't have to pay congress during a shutdown. They don't produce much while the lights are on to begin with.