Maybe I need a stronger cup of Joe this am but I actually had to laugh when the “cop” was bitching about having to breath the lingering gas that he had no trouble shooting at others.

For some reason it made me think of the old joke:

Doc, it hurts when I do this.
Well, don’t do it.

Lol

 

Oh, you’re right. It was from the reporters view not the officers. I mis-read that. I still would think it’s ironic if the officers were suffering effects from the gas they use on others.

 

Correct. The person complaining wasn't a cop. I'd find that hard to believe that a cop would complain about breathing in gas after shooting it. They typically wear gas masks to prevent that from happening.

 

I’m surprised some of the more hard core protesters haven’t already donned gas masks and flak jackets themselves. Maybe some have.

 

I don't know how close either of you have monitored what's going on here in Portland, but I've seen it with my own eyes and it's pretty eye-popping. I'll tell you what.... if someone else was telling me about what I've seen, I'd think that they were lying. It's that crazy.

Some of the rioters do wear gas masks and it seems to be something that's catching on. Some masks look like they came from the local army surplus store, others are clearly DIY hacks or handmade.... to put it nicely. lol. Some even appear to be wearing forms of "body armor". Motorcycle helmets and football or hockey gear.... Not something that would be effective against bullets, but it would be effective if getting hit with thrown objects or a beating.

They're even carrying leaf blowers to disperse the gas. They are also donning umbrellas and attaching sharpened objects to the pointed end of the umbrellas. They use the umbrellas to hide themselves, for protection and to prevent bystanders from broadcasting videos of their activity.

Bats. Rocks, bricks and frozen water bottles for projectiles. Mortar style fireworks are being deployed. These are very dangerous. Some are even using those CO2 powered t-shirt cannons and pouring gravel into them and firing them off. It's insane.

Many of these people are paid activists from Seattle or other locations. They are well funded and given stipends for food and put up in hotels.

 

I don't either. And it's not just this situation either. Our cities are turning into dumps in general. I've been all over this nation, been in just about every major city in America. Despite higher crime rates in the cities, they were very beautiful places in most spots. But even Portland stood out as being one of the more beautiful cities in America. I'd say at least in the top 10, maybe even top 5.

But now.... nope. Homeless tents are everywhere. Trash is everywhere. Graffiti all over the place, and no not the cool artsy type either. Downtown is a mess. Not safe. Lots of problems. I try to avoid actually going to downtown as much as possible now. Whereas 5, 10, 20 years ago, it was an amazing place to hang out in.

Hell, when I was in high school almost 30 years ago, my friends and I would drive to DT and go rollerblading along Waterfront Park for hours without any worries. I put emphasis on that because sometimes trouble finds dumb, young teenagers even when they are behaving themselves. lol. But not back then. Now, no way.

 

It's all very heartbreaking. I don't know what to think about it anymore. I support peaceful protesting, but the so-called peaceful protests inevitably wind up turning ugly. A lot of opinions out there about how safe Portland is, the protests are good, etc. etc. Then you dig deeper into those opinions and those people are all like... "Calm down people! Portland is not a war zone! I was there from 8 pm to 10 pm and it was like a festival and people were singing Kumbaya!"

Of course it was like THAT during that time. But go there it midnight or in the early morning and sweet little Portland starts to sing a different song. And it goes on all throughout the night btw. All of the responsible protesters and people fighting for a good cause are home in their beds at that point. And these protests escalate into riots by those with bad intentions.

I've actually been in DT about 4 times since these riots started. I wanted to know the truth about what was going on instead of hearing it from other people. TBH there's good things happening, the "Mom protest was kind of silly and pointless, but they didn't do anything wrong (except for enable their brat kids, lol).

There's also plenty of bad things happening in the midst of the good things. And those bad things are definitely being dismissed or we're being told by the MSM or certain politicians and even regular folks who have certain ideological leanings, that it's not really happening. But it is happening and that's even more saddening.

 

I do find it disheartening that there seem to be some hard core agitators whose purpose is to undermine the legitimacy of the protests through violence and vandalism. It seems to me that the whackos have come out of their hidey holes to sow more discord between the right and left. Some are even found in the highest levels of government who assist in fanning the flames.
Nevertheless, the original message needs to be kept front and center and shouldn’t be overshadowed by these other issues that keep springing up.

What big city in the US is completely safe? Don’t they all have their tourist areas and no doubt other areas that wouldn’t be tops on your list to wander through late at night? I’ve taken in evening shows with my husband or with friends that got out late and we’ve walked somewhere to get something to eat afterwards with no problems in large cities. Would I wander off into unknown areas by myself? Of course not. Would we be out in the wee morning hours? Probably not. If there was something going on, like a big protest, if I wasn't going to be a part of it I’d probably stay clear.

If damage is being done, it can be repaired. Hopefully most people can be too, but I would never want to find myself in a position of causing serious injury to another human being over a building, and that goes for both sides.

 

I've traveled a lot and the only places I felt uneasy were Detroit and El Paso. In Detroit it was because it was so empty, and eerie. It felt like a scene from TWD. It's been a few years now so perhaps things have changed there. One problem is that you have sensationalism around crime that makes people think it's more unsafe than it is. The graph below shows how greatly it's dropped. This is not to say that we can't improve and with tough economic times, and issues with law enforcement etc, these numbers could increase. But people shouldn't be cowering in fear either.

I've been watching the documentary on HBO about the Golden State Killer, who began as the East Bay Rapist. What really stood out to me is how during that period when he was active, particularly the 70s, there were 4 other serial rapists just in that area. The crime rate was insane, and it was probably one factor that contributed to them not catching the guy. So, yeah, as is often the case, "the good old days" weren't always good.

 

We can all agree there’s always been crime. Increases from the 1960’s can probably be attributed to numerous factors, like the cocaine/crack epidemic you mentioned. I propose increased population mobility also played a part. With people moving all over the country, traditional neighborhoods were disrupted to the point that today, in many areas, you don’t even know your neighbors all that well or at all. No one is looking out for people they don’t know. Christ, in the 50’s we didn’t even lock our doors except at night, lol. Everybody knew everybody and if something was amiss there were eyes everywhere.

Those days are gone never to return. However, If the graphs show that crime is going down in the US, that’s a good thing. It’s not going to disappear and probably will ebb and flow. I imagine it’s also going to be uneven, depending on what area of the country you live in or if you're urban, suburban or rural, or what’s going on in the country in general at any given time.

Personal experience also plays a part in people’s perceptions. I’ve never experienced any problems so I’ve never felt unsafe within reason. I like to think I use common sense when I’m in big cities which helps. Now, if someone stole my purse, or assaulted me I might have a different perception. My feeling of safety would definitely spiral downwards but to date I’ve never had the sense I was in a “war zone”.... but then again I’ve never been to Detroit or Portland for that matter, lol, but if there was something I wanted to do in either city, statistics or sensational articles wouldn’t deter me.

 

A very big contributor to the drop in crime from the earlier 90s to now, was that 1994 crime bill that was passed. Because crime rates of all types were climbing fast in the 70s, 80s and into the 90s. That crime bill worked, and now it is being scrutinized and ridiculed. I understand that it wasn't perfect. That bill had it's flaws and obviously there were some unexpected outcomes. But it did what it was intended to do. Reduce crime.

 

And here’s the BLM response to that reported in The Hill.....

Phelix Crittenden, an activist who works with Black Lives Matter Louisville, told the newspaper the list was not intended as a threat. Rather, Crittenden said, it was intended to draw attention to the displacement of Black residents after a housing project was demolished in the early 2000s. The project was replaced with mixed-income housing, with only 41 of the 635 displaced families returning.

“NuLu is flourishing," Crittenden said. "To see that literal line in the sand, as soon as you cross the street, it's very disturbing. NuLu doesn't reflect the community they sit in and claim to incorporate and serve."

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brie...t-owner-accuses-black-lives-matter-protesters

I’m not convinced that’s an effective means to achieve your goals but I did get a chuckle out of “mafia tactics”, like they’d be so sloppy, lol. Maybe I should be offended, is that a slur against Italian Americans? LOL