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mikebike

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Posts posted by mikebike

  1. Please don't post responses inside the quoted text. Even though it is clear by the color difference that it is a response and not a part of the text, it does get confusing and it is technically a violation under forum rules.

    Ok Scott. Thanks for the heads up. I do find it very difficult and confusing to respond to individual points in a long post using the traditional method as one has to either quote the entire post then re-quote each point as you go; or quote small parts of the post multiple times; or the reader must constantly refer back the original long post to relate your thoughts to the original thoughts... I was trying to be pragmatic!!

  2. People still trying to defend this guy when he himself has apologised.

    Understanding a person's motivation for doing something does not equate to defending them. Mr. Martin clearly put himself in danger and escalated the situation with his actions, which most people would not choose to do. Understanding why he 'charged' at the cop adds perspective. His reactions seem consistent with someone who believes a friend is being victimized and I think there are many people who would react the same way and defy authority if they had the same belief. Of course upon reflection one would be sorry for escalating the situation but in the heat of the moment we do not always act in the most rational manner.

  3. For those who think some lean toward hyperbole I submit the latest news from the US regarding the fomenting of a racial war for a very specific agenda:

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DALLAS_POLICE_HEADQUARTERS_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-13-07-11-12

    Sorry arjunadawn, I had to separate this from the rest of your post. I read the linked article and all I'm getting out of it is a story about an individual who, "had strong feelings against law enforcement after he lost custody of his son, now 12 or 13 years old" and "not being able to get a job and the legal system letting him down, (he) finally snapped". Which to me indicates, whether he was black or white, Mr. Boulware was a victim of some crappy life events and made a horrible, mentally unstable, decision to lash out.

    So how does this relate to 'a racial war for a very specific agenda?". What am I missing?

  4. Bring back safer times on U.S. streets.

    Mr. Adrian Martin's interview with Sean Hannity:

    "Martin said he was just trying to tell Becton that they were going to call her mother. Martin said that he was moving downhill and slipped forward toward the officer, then immediately backed up."

    Tell Becton that they are going to call her mother? Remember that he had a cigarette in his mouth just as Cpl Casebolt pulled and Mr. Martin quickly backed away? How is he going to talk with a cigarette in his mouth? Oh, that's right. He's a ventriloquist! You must be a non-smoker! I'm a three pack a day smoker... I could easily talk with a ciggy, joint, or pen hanging out of my yap since I was 14-15 years old...

    Why did Mr. Martin run when Cpl Casebolt pulled his firearm if his intent was so innocent? Because he's human and based on his interpretation of Casebolt's actions was unsure of what would happen next?

    Shouldn't he have, instead, put his hands in the air and yelled "Hands up, don't shoot!"? In his mind I would think 'self-preservation' came before 'surrender'...

    I'm getting the idea that Mr. Martin is not very smart. He is under the mistaken belief that he can outrun a bullet. Why would he think that? It is against police policy to shoot a fleeing suspect in the back... when 'fleeing' you are NOT an imminent threat to anyone. Has it got to the point where non-threatening (i.e. running away/fleeing) suspects should expect to get shot in the back? Or is it that he didn't want to be apprehended? Of course he didn't want to get apprehended... or shot at... Mr. Martin's analysis of the situation was that Cpl. Casebolt was the aggressor and he acted non-aggressively according to his belief - he ran away. Anyway, he's lawyered-up so he'll have some help thinking (perhaps).

    Mr. Martin is obviously a liar at least about the "moving downhill and slipped" The sidewalk area does seem petty darn flat! But it does appear that his left foot did slip as he planted it when he quickly moved from in front of Cpl. Casebolt into his periphery. (not to mention talking with a cigarette between his lips) Again, almost all smokers can and do, do this... which brings anything he says into question - just like Publicus' statements:

    By Mr. Martin's acting on his interpretation of the situation he certainly did put himself in danger but I can't say that I would have acted any differently if I believed my friend was being unfairly manhandled. I can honestly say I see everyone's side in this incident - the locals, the teens, the other officers, but I cannot find a reasonable interpretation of Cpl. Casebolt's actions from the moment he arrived on scene.

  5. I've used one and the same barometer on the northern hemisphere and here in Bangkok. In Bangkok I find it completely useless. I believe it is because the weather patterns between the north tropic of Cancer or south tropic of Capricorn of the equator is completely different from the weather pattern outside the same.

    As pitchag explained, your issue is probably with elevation not geographic location. BKK is at sea-level (or below!!!). Your barometer needs to be recalibrated. Ships at sea can use a barometer globally because they are always at sea-level.

  6. China has a large army but it can't project it. It lacks the equipment to move it. It doesn't have the large cargo planes or ships and hospital ships and carriers and so on to fight very much off its own turf. It could do a heck of a boots on the ground defense of its own turf, but its military is grounded.

    The US has the equipment and experience to move a lot of pure force great distances. The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has a range of 7,000 miles/11,000 kms. It can operate out of Diego Garcia. It can operate out of India.

    Chinese foreign policy doesn't seem to need to 'project' its army to obtain and secure its goals. It seems to be doing fine in this regard without having to be biggest, baddest and most mobile. Its vast, relatively immobile, army seems to be more than adequate at the key US talking point of 'homeland security'... It would be a <deleted>-show for any foreign power attempting to invade its turf. The USA's vast, high-tech, military support infrastructure would be about as helpful in attacking China as it has been in the middle east, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. Being able to forcibly maintain their geopolitical goals seems to be far less of a priority to China than being able economically and politically maintain them.

  7. The US is now the world's #1 oil producer, achieving that in half the time that was predicted just five years ago. While it is true that the USA is currently the world's largest producer of liquid fuels that is not the entire picture. The US, Russia, and Saudi Arabia are all very close in production numbers. But Russia and the US's production pales in contrast to that of the entire OPEC block. Much of the USA's rapid increase in production has come from natural gas fracking which has many of its own issues much like Canada's oil sands. Ultimately the USA is still a net liquid fuel importer, estimated at 20-25% in 2015 over domestically produced supply. (Sourced from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and money.cnn.com). The US has more oil reserves than all of the rest of the world combined. Where did you get that from? In all the literature I found the most recent proven oil reserve figures have the USA at 10-12th in reserves... (again, a good source is the EIA). China has the world's largest population which amounts to 1.3 billion mouths for a communist country to feed, and China isn't tropical except in the extreme South and they need energy aka oil. Much of China's climate is Alpine and even sub-Arctic. Actually, 'much of the country lies in in a temperate belt', the subtract portion is tiny and the alpine regions are mostly limited to the Tibetan plateau (wiki). Yes they need liquid fuels for heating and manufacturing etc.., but China is not Siberia.

    China is a net importer of food, unable to grow enough food for its people. A lack of money from a trade embargo and an unwillingness to sell would set China on it's heels. When China's Food Runs Out - Forbes Although China is a net importer of food as the Forbes article states, the conclusions of that Forbes article seem to be much different than yours. They believe that China is actively solving this issue. By switching to domestic meat production rather than grain production, given its limited arable land, importing grains is way less expensive than importing meat and makes sense. It is also actively acquiring farm land/production facilities in easter europe and africa as it has done in the minerals and oil sectors. Owning the corporations that produce grains globally will be an effective insulator to embargoes. A more recent Forbes article goes even further at states' "Every cloud has a silver lining, and companies and investors clearly see the silver lining in helping China to solve its food problems".

    A little scratching below the surface shows just how vulnerable China is to economic, energy and food disruption. Close analysis seems to show that China is no more or less vulnerable to economic, energy or food disruptions than Russia or the USA. In fact Russia and China may well be in a far better position than the USA to this form of attack. The bulk of their populations are very used to living at subsistence levels, or below, and their gov't have proven their ability to discard vast numbers of people to obtain their political goals. They would weather a storm, the US... not so much. There's no need for a lot of military action atm but a few quick kicks to the groin just to show seriousness might not be a bad idea either. Maybe drop a few bunker busters on those new artificial islands from stealth bombers and simply deny it. Yeah, there's a great idea. Reflect on how the USA would react to China or Russia secretly dropping a few bunker busters on one of the USA's bases of operation in the Caribbean? Why would or should China's reaction be any different in their sphere of influence? As in a street fight, a few kicks to the groin does little but infuriate your adversary and increase animosity. You either go all-in and see who is bloodiest at the end or work out some form of co-existance. All but the most hardcore escallationists would agree that some form of co-operation and co-existance is best for all parties.

  8. So choosing a simple bike that can repaired by any mechanic, smart.

    Trying to ride it 1000km in 14hrs?

    ...papa dubitable.

    I've done 500km in 7 hours on a scooter...

    And...after that you felt capable of doing another 500km??

    I've done 1200 km within 12 hours, but that was in Europe mainly on German Autobahns.

    In Thailand's heat /roads on a DR 200 not a sensible choice, Riding a KLX 250 in Thailand I 've never done more than 600 Km a day, more like 300/400 km's to enjoy the trip and scenery.

    On such a long trip it's not clever to be on a time schedule just take it from day to day.

    Good luck to miss Vaune hope she will make it I'm following her!

    No I didn't feel like it... I felt like having a beer... but I could have gone on!! The point being it is easier on the 200 than the scoot AND do-able! 1000km days are what we call 'Sundays in the summer' in Canada!!

  9. vaunephanNuthingg's gonna stop meeee!

    After spending close to 8 hours last night at the bike workshop with the mechanic working on my bike till the wee hours, my bike is UP & RUNNING again!! I'm so so thankful.

    No spare parts needed, luckily piston is fine but I've got to monitor my engine oil real closely now as I run at high rpm all the way.

    From watching my bike getting fixed, to seeing the bike mechanic's wife and children all come home in the evening, they were all so nice and told me not to worry as he will do his best to help me. At the end of the repair, the fee he charged was unreasonably low. No amount of words can describe how thankful I am.

    Today, I have to catch up on my schedule and will be riding about 1,000KM straight... We're looking at 14 hours.

    Iron butt in place, HERE WE GO!

  10. vaunephanShit happens. We don't hope for it, but we've got to be prepared for it.

    The bad news is, my bike has broken down in the middle of nowhere.

    The good news is, out of that nowhere which it broke down, stands a shop. And of all shops, it's a bike workshop.

    I was hoping it wasn't something serious where perhaps I could fix it.. but no. My cam shaft has been scratched, we are checking the piston. It's a simple old school workshop and the mechanic has indicated he doesn't carry any spare parts for my bike. He's trying to see what he can do.

    I am expected to reach Laos in 2 days, but I am stuck in Kanchanburi, close to 1,000km away from the border.

    How long will I be delayed? How will I continue my journey from here?

  11. I doubt that Mr. Benet Embry, a supposed resident and eyewitness, would lie about the incident on national TV (but that's been known to happen):

    Thank you for the anecdote. Were your pool party experiences in a mixed-ethnic situation in McKinney, Texas in mid-2015 by any chance? (if you get my drift)

    I hadn't seen that before, thanks.

    So they DID jump the fence... en masse it seems!

    What I took from Mr Embry was that he lives in a nice neighbourhood where a pool party went way out of control and he was disturbed by Casebolt's actions with respect to the one girl. His was a very reasonable take. I'd wager that if he was chaperoning the event none of it would have escalated beyond the pool!

    My daughters' pool parties were about as mixed as you can get - asians, africans, jamaicans... the neighbourhood was very similar to Mr. Embry's but no private security.

    I don't think 'McKinney, Texas in mid-2015' has much bearing on my analogy after watching Mr. Embry describe his neighbourhood.

  12. What we should be discussing is why 3 other police haven't been suspended.

    The ones that were standing around failing to protect the teen girl from a deranged and armed madman.

    No excuse, I want 3 more police to answer for their failings.

    This sort of rhetoric is about as helpful as those on the opposite end of the discussion saying that the incident was 100% justified.

    You have Caseboilt's head served up promptly on a platter and you are advocating destroying three more families?They may share some culpability in not diffusing the situation but the most that should be required would be a departmental review of what to do if one of your colleagues loses it!! LOL!!

  13. So, kids did not jump over the fence to crash the pool party and there was no reason to place the 911 call in the first place?

    Maybe kids jumped the fence, maybe not. We do not have that info definitively.

    What I do know for a fact is that every party I went to in high school, and every pool party my daughters (2) hosted for their HS friends was WAY over-attended (I think if you have a party in HS and its NOT crashed it is not considered a 'success' - like you were not cool enough to draw the crashers!! LOL!!). Sometimes a party of ten friends became a writhing teen mob of 50 high and drunk kids (not all but 50-75%)... Never had a serious issue (yeah, broken furniture, spills and barfs for sure!) and never had cops come. Why?

    Because my wife, my neighbours and I were reasonable people and could handle a group of teens without freaking out! On the following day parents were contacted, reparations were made and life went on. No need for 911.

  14. This is not a particularly astute observation. This is a great stretch as their is further context regarding this man in the video. You narrowly extrapolate one moment, one act, and suggest that this sets up a contrast on his bias. The man already established a degree of screening on part of the cop, who are taught to evaluate situations and areas immediately for threats to self, then others, before proceeding. yes, the man could have been a threat, but was likely checked off his mental to do list earlier in the scenario. I think the cop may have finessed bias, on another point, but this point you make does not achieve that goal.

    "Menacing[ly]" has a legal weight under law and this man hardly rose to any semblance of that threshold. However, in rhetoric, your use of it here shows exactly how language can be used to indict absent facts. Perhaps you note something I just miss; I just dont see i

    Apropos to nothing... but maybe some perspective: I have read the the larger, middle aged man to which you guys are referring, (I did hear his name but its gone now...) was the original 911 caller. He sure seemed to have an intense interest in watching Casebolt subdue the teens close up and personal...

  15. In this particular simulation the officers being trained engage in a virtual reality scenario of responding to a home break-in call. At one point what appears to be the perp (african american) bursts out of the home right in front of one of the officers. They make eye contact, then the perp throws something at the officer and charges directly towards him. The simulation stops there and the class then discusses appropriate force options.

    I think this scenario is closely analogous to what happened in McKinney - at its basic level both officers are confronted with a potential perp charging directly at them.

    Was the 'perp' a nearly naked teenage girl in broad daylight.

    If not your post is apologist rubbish.

    You are aware that we are talking about the bigger male kid with a ciggy who charged the cop just prior to him drawing his weapon and not his actions with the young girl, right?

  16. I have actually trained LA county Sheriff's department and LEA around the world in use of force continuum, escalation, weapons retention, etc, out of JTF6, EPIC, DOD, DOS, other, and direct National advisory roles. I have some years actually doing this.These similar standards are actually also employed in dignitary protection- low, mid, and high threat.

    The kinder, "new" LAPD may be trying to revise the means by which officers stumble down the path of bad decisions following this above nexus that we are discussing, but the point remains valid, I think, that the officer seemed unaware he was actually fomenting the very situation he was responding to, and that the proximity, and likely intent seemed established when someone entered his personal AO. There is just no indication of any capability. The officer drew his gun, which in retrospect seems excessive, and immediately scanned his area to reassess the environment around him, that was previously obscured while he was doing some dumb ass shit on the ground with that kid. If that officer had not done this I would have failed him. It is only regrettable that this action, in context with his stupidity and unprofessionalism overall, winds up reinforcing his overall behavior. No, this action was the only thing he did correctly.

    IMO, the Force Review Board sounds like a Board to Force a Review of generally recognized SOP. If anyone muses that deadly threat is only and always apparent immediately is a fool. Deadly intent or not should always be determined before firing a weapon, but this is not the same threshold as drawing a weapon. This man noted a peripheral force quickly approaching, drew his weapon, thereby repulsing the approach, noting it posed no threat, he scanned his area. Perfect. The problem is he is otherwise a jackass. I could actually see using this as a teaching example of how delicate and 'iffy' a decision could be in the field, under duress.

    Excellent post and thank-you for the insights. The video I watched was from well before the incident in Texas so it was in no way a knee-jerk reaction to the present nexus. Also, obviously SOP is not static and changes over time and place. Wouldn't a Use of Force Review Board be an integral part of a feedback-loop designed to improve SOP over time and not something to ridicule?

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