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Share In The Wake Of #Ferguson - Initial Reactions [Explicit]
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In The Wake Of #Ferguson - Initial Reactions [Explicit]
...Dammit, past me, stop breathing on the mic.
"For the benefit of anyone listening to this long after the fact, or anybody actively avoiding news sources because they like having a positive outlook on life and wish to preserve it, I will now go over all the facts of the shooting of Michael Brown. On August 9, 2014, an 18-year-old man Michael Brown was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a Ferguson Police Department officer. As far as I can tell, these are the only facts anybody agrees on.
There has been a great deal of outrage, not only in media but in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri where this took place, from people who feel the shooting was a complete travesty and the height of injustice. Others argue that based on the evidence, the officer was justified in shooting his assailant, and that the outrage stems from people trying to make the whole case about race. The unarmed suspect in this case was black, and the officer was white. Thus, the powder keg was lit.
Months later, and now over a week removed from the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Wilson, I’m still not in possession of all the facts of this case. I don’t care to go searching for them either. Rather than hoping in vain to piece together a clearer picture of the reality of that night, and rather than spouting any more uninformed nonsense about this case, I want to try to shed some light on the underlying complex social issues at play here. That said, I did see fit to spout uninformed nonsense about this case way back in August when the events were still pretty recent and genuine facts were lacking, and the only news source I saw fit to trust on the matter was one mister John Oliver.
Recently, I’ve written a mostly serious commentary that I think cuts to the heart of the matter, but before I share that here, I thought this old rant would be worth sharing again for the added context it provides, both in terms of the case itself and my personal feelings on it, which have continued to evolve since this rant was recorded. This isn’t going to be nearly as serious as the subject matter likely calls for, but in cases like this I kind of need to laugh sometimes to keep from crying. So, if you’ll forgive my awful sense of humor and poor timing, here is my original rant about the terrible events this past summer in Ferguson, Missouri."
(Backing music for this episode was created by the wonderfully luminescent, splendidly fragrant, and superbly coniferous Danny Baranowsky, originally part of the soundtrack to The Binding of Isaac. For more of Danny Baranowsky’s work, go to his website or check him out on BandCamp)
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...Dammit, past me, stop breathing on the mic.
"For the benefit of anyone listening to this long after the fact, or anybody actively avoiding news sources because they like having a positive outlook on life and wish to preserve it, I will now go over all the facts of the shooting of Michael Brown. On August 9, 2014, an 18-year-old man Michael Brown was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a Ferguson Police Department officer. As far as I can tell, these are the only facts anybody agrees on.
There has been a great deal of outrage, not only in media but in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri where this took place, from people who feel the shooting was a complete travesty and the height of injustice. Others argue that based on the evidence, the officer was justified in shooting his assailant, and that the outrage stems from people trying to make the whole case about race. The unarmed suspect in this case was black, and the officer was white. Thus, the powder keg was lit.
Months later, and now over a week removed from the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Wilson, I’m still not in possession of all the facts of this case. I don’t care to go searching for them either. Rather than hoping in vain to piece together a clearer picture of the reality of that night, and rather than spouting any more uninformed nonsense about this case, I want to try to shed some light on the underlying complex social issues at play here. That said, I did see fit to spout uninformed nonsense about this case way back in August when the events were still pretty recent and genuine facts were lacking, and the only news source I saw fit to trust on the matter was one mister John Oliver.
Recently, I’ve written a mostly serious commentary that I think cuts to the heart of the matter, but before I share that here, I thought this old rant would be worth sharing again for the added context it provides, both in terms of the case itself and my personal feelings on it, which have continued to evolve since this rant was recorded. This isn’t going to be nearly as serious as the subject matter likely calls for, but in cases like this I kind of need to laugh sometimes to keep from crying. So, if you’ll forgive my awful sense of humor and poor timing, here is my original rant about the terrible events this past summer in Ferguson, Missouri."
(Backing music for this episode was created by the wonderfully luminescent, splendidly fragrant, and superbly coniferous Danny Baranowsky, originally part of the soundtrack to The Binding of Isaac. For more of Danny Baranowsky’s work, go to his website or check him out on BandCamp)