Bunch of miners killed in South Africa

[earmuffs]

So the other day 34 miners (who were striking, it's an entire platinum mine striking or something) were shot dead by police.
Don't have a link, Google is your friend.

So anyway, I'm watching the news and they got some South African women on and she's talking about how shocking it is and how appalled everyone is blah blah. And the whole news article just reaks of "these police are so evil, how could they just slaughter 34 innocent protestors". And I'm thinking that this is a horrible thing and what not, and then they actually show the footage of the miners getting shot.
Suddenly, I went from "ohhh that's horrible" to "WELL WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU EXPECT!".
The miners were charging, not slowly approaching, not walking, not running, but full out charging the police line with fucking machetes. MACHETES! The police were ready to just fucking run for it, they look terrified and so would I if I was with maybe 20police being charged by a huge angry mob of machete wielding cunts.
What the fuck did they expect!! Hello!!! Open your fucking eyes! Of course you're gonna get fucking shot if you're charging a cop with a fucking machete. Jesus fucking Christ people, a little common sense!

So yea.

[fstratzero]

(19-08-2012 11:17 PM)earmuffs Wrote:  So the other day 34 miners (who were striking, it's an entire platinum mine striking or something) were shot dead by police.
Don't have a link, Google is your friend.

So anyway, I'm watching the news and they got some South African women on and she's talking about how shocking it is and how appalled everyone is blah blah. And the whole news article just reaks of "these police are so evil, how could they just slaughter 34 innocent protestors". And I'm thinking that this is a horrible thing and what not, and then they actually show the footage of the miners getting shot.
Suddenly, I went from "ohhh that's horrible" to "WELL WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU EXPECT!".
The miners were charging, not slowly approaching, not walking, not running, but full out charging the police line with fucking machetes. MACHETES! The police were ready to just fucking run for it, they look terrified and so would I if I was with maybe 20police being charged by a huge angry mob of machete wielding cunts.
What the fuck did they expect!! Hello!!! Open your fucking eyes! Of course you're gonna get fucking shot if you're charging a cop with a fucking machete. Jesus fucking Christ people, a little common sense!

So yea.

Yup it's good ol fashioned media bias. Usually investigating something thoroughly allows one to see past agendas to look directly at the evidence.

[earmuffs]

(19-08-2012 11:22 PM)fstratzero Wrote:  

(19-08-2012 11:17 PM)earmuffs Wrote:  So the other day 34 miners (who were striking, it's an entire platinum mine striking or something) were shot dead by police.
Don't have a link, Google is your friend.

So anyway, I'm watching the news and they got some South African women on and she's talking about how shocking it is and how appalled everyone is blah blah. And the whole news article just reaks of "these police are so evil, how could they just slaughter 34 innocent protestors". And I'm thinking that this is a horrible thing and what not, and then they actually show the footage of the miners getting shot.
Suddenly, I went from "ohhh that's horrible" to "WELL WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU EXPECT!".
The miners were charging, not slowly approaching, not walking, not running, but full out charging the police line with fucking machetes. MACHETES! The police were ready to just fucking run for it, they look terrified and so would I if I was with maybe 20police being charged by a huge angry mob of machete wielding cunts.
What the fuck did they expect!! Hello!!! Open your fucking eyes! Of course you're gonna get fucking shot if you're charging a cop with a fucking machete. Jesus fucking Christ people, a little common sense!

So yea.

Yup it's good ol fashioned media bias. Usually investigating something thoroughly allows one to see past agendas to look directly at the evidence.

No further investigation needed. All you gotta do is look at the video of the protestors getting shot to know that they were in the wrong and anyone else in those police's position would have done the same thing.

[fstratzero]

(20-08-2012 12:59 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  

(19-08-2012 11:22 PM)fstratzero Wrote:  Yup it's good ol fashioned media bias. Usually investigating something thoroughly allows one to see past agendas to look directly at the evidence.

No further investigation needed. All you gotta do is look at the video of the protestors getting shot to know that they were in the wrong and anyone else in those police's position would have done the same thing.

I had an argument with animal rights activists over some news story they were blowing out of proportion. After reading the actual story from the citation, the situation was getting misrepresented.

In other words the news story was a bunch of woo, and they fell for it hook line and sinker. After showing them it was a bunch of woo, I was blocked. I figure at least I did my part.

[DLJ]

(20-08-2012 12:59 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  

(19-08-2012 11:22 PM)fstratzero Wrote:  Yup it's good ol fashioned media bias. Usually investigating something thoroughly allows one to see past agendas to look directly at the evidence.

No further investigation needed. All you gotta do is look at the video of the protestors getting shot to know that they were in the wrong and anyone else in those police's position would have done the same thing.

Maybe we were watching different reports but who was in the right / wrong could not be ascertained from what I saw.

I saw nervous police and a crowd running.

Were they running from something happening behind them?

[fstratzero]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/30...-1.1138379

[earmuffs]

(20-08-2012 01:29 AM)DLJ Wrote:  

(20-08-2012 12:59 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  No further investigation needed. All you gotta do is look at the video of the protestors getting shot to know that they were in the wrong and anyone else in those police's position would have done the same thing.

Maybe we were watching different reports but who was in the right / wrong could not be ascertained from what I saw.

I saw nervous police and a crowd running.

Were they running from something happening behind them?

They were running the other way when the cops starting shooting.
But before that they were running towards the cops with machetes and shit.

And yeah the media is blowing this way out of proportion. But news is never news today, it's a 'story', and evil police open fire on protestors sells a hell of a lot better then 'angry unruly mob get shot after charging police lines with deadly weapons'

[Red Celt]

(20-08-2012 04:55 AM)earmuffs Wrote:  And yeah the media is blowing this way out of proportion. But news is never news today, it's a 'story', and evil police open fire on protestors sells a hell of a lot better then 'angry unruly mob get shot after charging police lines with deadly weapons'

You should perhaps change your news vendors. I don't remember the initial BBC reports doing anything other than reporting a tragedy - and it was a tragedy, that a group of miners got that worked up that they were stupid enough to charge at the police.

And, despite what you think, there is a lesson to be learned by the police. They opened up in unison... with a vengeance.

Shooting those at the front (or over their heads) would have stopped them charging very quickly. Instead, they over-reacted. The police are meant to have more self-control than an average untrained group of men with guns. 34 dead men was a high price to pay.

[DLJ]

Muffsy,
I take your point about the reporting but I was challenging your "No further investigation needed" comment, to see who was in the wrong.
Sure, if I had been in the same position as the police, I might have panicked and fired but as Red says, police should be trained not to panic.
Didn't that moment of panic trigger the events that led to the Boston Tea Party.

[bemore]

Ive seen the "unedited" version...... even that doesnt really show much and doesnt show you the events leading up to what kicked it all off.

They wouldnt of charged for no reason. (im guessing )