It's not even about police being bad or anything. They're being trained like soldiers, but they're not. They are supposed to be local police officers, part of a community, watching out for people and using their best judgment. Instead, cops are being trained as snipers and buying tanks and local governments are using their police forces as tax collectors. That's not what cops are supposed to be.

Let's not forget that at peaceful protests, you can have a million peaceful people, but the news will glorify the two that went batshit and started rampaging and make it seem like everyone did that at the protest :|

Exactly.

I think one of the upsides of having a country as divided as ours is it motivates more people to stop being so apathetic and get involved.

Wow that is truly messed up with the law. Didn't realize it was like that.
Sad that we have laws like that, that let people get away with murder
and never have to suffer consequences. And I remember the Rice thing.
I was speechless. Sad that they couldn't just disable the boy instead
of having to kill him and saying it was his fault for having a toy gun...
Ya not something they should be saying at all. It's not his fault.
If they are going like that, then just get rid of the damn toys and be
done with it. Hell Texas has a stand your ground like law but you
don't hear things like that coming from there. I heard one story
about a woman getting away with shooting a man. But see he
tried to rob her as she was standing at the bus stop waiting
to go home from work and he tried ripping her purse off her
shoulder. So she was protecting herself. That is stuff that I think
is ok.

She was protecting herself not just going out willy nilly attacking
kids just because she didn't like how they looked like Zimmerman
just did. I really think the laws need to be fixed but that will never
happen. It doesn't suit anyone but the people of the country instead
of the government and their workers.

There are too many bad police and dumb asses that shouldn't
be working but we can't get rid of them because how the hell
do you do that when they have gotten away with so much crap.
And heaven forbid the media shows the good ones so people
know there are good ones out there. Ones that do the job they
signed up. The ones who do protect and serve like they were
always meant to do. Just wished more people heard those
stories instead of all the bad ones and the morons who just
snap and think later after the massive fact that they should of
thought before they even moved a milometer.

The way things change is when ordinary people MAKE things change....

Take the AIDS crisis. During the crisis, the government did nothing. Dying people were being turned away from hospitals and as other countries began to approve medications to help with AIDS and HIV, the FDA dragged its feet on each and every drug--taking years and years before finally approving one single pill that was so toxic it might kill someone faster than the actual disease.
So everything fell on the activists, and I mean everything. They didn't just protest and organize, they also became their own scientists, researchers, and doctors. They studied and wrote papers and became foremost experts on biology and immunology and any other subject that might help save their lives. When the government refused to write any legislation or policy responding to the AIDS crisis, the activists took it upon themselves to write a policy which was then embraced around the world.
And it took years and years, and a lot of good people died in the meantime, but we are so much better off today because of their hard work.

And it bears remembering that if you want things to change, you kind of have to do it yourself. Or at least, don't give up hope.

And here's another example!

So I just found the site and I'm still reading the actual details, but the home page is incredibly promising.

It's a series of actionable proposals for criminal justice reform and policing.

http://www.joincampaignzero.org/

Thanks. I'll go and check out the link.
I hope this is promising.

I think we also have a responsibility as consumers of news and media.

After all, the media makes their decisions on what to broadcast based on what viewers prefer to consume. So part of the problem is that the people who run the media view "news" as a commodity to be bought and sold, instead of a public service which is what it is supposed to be. And part of the problem is that people are more interested in consuming media that is sensational instead of informative.

I completey feel you Moi. I am close to things like that. My
cousin was being raped by her father, my grandparents worked hard to get
her out, the new girlfriend knew he was raping his daughter and their newborn girl but did nothing at all. He got like 5 or so years in prison finally and now he is out
and able to do whatever he wants, including contact my damn cousin. She, the girlfriend got nothing at all. Got away with him being allowed to commint rape on two innocent children. Btw my cousin's step sister was not even a year old before he raped her.

My grandparents next door neighbor would call the cops and CPS every day for a few years complaining about children being abused in the house right behind him on his property, of course they do nothing. Because you know parents who are BAD get away with it but when parents are trying their damnest, doing whatever they can they are always the ones fucked over.

Sad how this crap ass world works at times. And so many bad people get away with their crap that no one does a damn thing about it, but someone does something small, throw away the key. I swear you can rape kids and murder people and get out but fuck NO throw the damn key away if you got pot on you or you are smoking it.... Ya because we all know pot smokers are soooooo bad.
>.>

I hate how the media turned out. They are not some damn important special thing that needs to worry about ratings or being this big wig company. They are to inform us on things occuring in our country, around the world. But as time goes by I think they are turning into another big wig company only concerned about money. Sad how too many things are turning into to that and too many people get butt hurt over small words that are not used to be cruel to them or people like them. Sorry about that last statement. How PC we are turning is kinda a issue for me.