Couch Potato Revolution

Jesus would be pissed with your stupidity. If not ...

2009-11-06T06:22:25.048-07:00

Jesus would be pissed with your stupidity. If not Him, then at least your mom should be.

:-)

2009-08-28T10:23:55.442-06:00

:-)

Again I think you're missing the larger problem. C...

2009-07-08T12:33:55.193-06:00

Again I think you're missing the larger problem. Crime is a bi-product of poverty, not police presence. To insist that roving bands of concerned community members would eliminate drug trafficking and prostitution in inner city neighborhoods borders on naiveté.

For starters the vast majority of the people living in impoverished neighborhoods like those in question work entirely too much to parent their children who become future gang members, much less to make time to walk the streets or participate in neighborhood watch programs. In addition to that, without any ties to local law enforcement these volunteer groups would have no more authority than the old men who stand on the corners. Furthermore, the gang members who deal in most of these neighborhoods aren't strangers, they're cousins, brothers, and neighbors. There is a "no snitch" unspoken code you'll find amongst minorities. The sum of all of this renders these theoretical watch groups useless. Plus any group of citizens trying to hamper gangs are likely to become targets of escalated violence.

Police forces were formed for a reason. A populous becomes unwieldy when they reach certain sizes. We're not talking villages or local hamlets. We're talking large metropolitan areas and drug rings with financial interests in keeping their product on the streets.

You act as though these are boys playing on your lawn who are easily shewed away.

If you've been harassed by police, I'm sorry. I'm sure you fell victim to profiling. See a white kid on a bike in the hood is looking to cop. Imagine how bad things are being brown. Being told that you either have to leave the mall or take off your blue shirt because you fit the "gang member" type. Yeah, makes you glad you're a white guy doesn't it. So please, spare me the whole, "the man is keeping us down" bit.

Am I a huge defendant of police? NO. I have had my share of ill-treatment the same as the next Mexican guy. The point I'm trying to make here is we need police to ensure a minimal level of safety. We need economic change to develop our neighborhoods, and we need community investments to keep money in these neighborhoods of color.

There are massive issues with the way our government handles it's affairs and those need to be addressed. I'm just saying lets not try to fix the road when the car we're using to drive on the road is on fire. We can't fix our foreign policies until our domestic policies have been address. You picking up what I'm putting down?

Dear Anon, Thanks for your reply. Having lived fo...

2009-07-08T08:12:24.190-06:00

Dear Anon,

Thanks for your reply. Having lived for years in neighborhoods where both police and gang violence haunt the neighborhood,having my house shot at, cars (when I drove them) busted up), having been unable to ride my bike (yes I do ride a bike--not a fixed gear--not that what type of bike someone rides really matters) without being pulled over by cops, having soil contaminated by polluting factories, drug dealing, tagging, and gang presence abounding, I'm still convinced that a state-armed militia (the police) worsens my neighborhoods' violence.

From my perspective, your idea of increased police controls oversimplifies a response to this kind of violence. I challenge you to consider more community based solutions--volunteer community foot patrols, community members raising their presence in the streets.

At this point, the police on the East Side (Northeast Side...Clayton...where I live), have committed to broken windows policing which does a great job punishing neighbors economically and not providing any of the solutions you champion (strengthening local business, schools, etc...)

Do I have a problem with gang bangers? Yes. Do I prioritize critiquing gang bangers over the state? No.

I see your wider point that the US government does...

2009-07-07T23:57:26.282-06:00

I see your wider point that the US government doesn't adequately address the broader problems responsible for gang violence in our nation, but I think your correlation between this and the law enforcement efforts to quell gang violence and criminal activity in Denver's East and West sides fails to actually acknowledge the fact that there are issues in these neighborhoods that need to be addressed in regard to criminal elements and their degradation effects on our neighborhoods.

I am a Mexican American living in Hyde Park (East Side) and my wife and I are constantly struggling to get police to respond to the drug dealing, tagging, and general gang presences we see daily. Due to budgetary cuts in police spending we generally don’t get a patrol car in time and our alleyway has become a thoroughfare for crack cocaine traffic. Beyond that the local church has had to take efforts to reinforce their outbuildings because of the heavy amounts of used prophylactics discarded by prostitutes on their grounds.

To somehow make an effort to tie this into a "shame on you America" rant is oversimplifying real issues. Is the educational system in our neighborhoods under-funded, yes, but so is everything else in this economy. Has America made several missteps over the years implementing Shock Doctrine capitalistic markets in South American, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Nations, yes, but casting dispersions without presenting real solutions is pissing into the wind.

For people trying to make lives in these neighborhoods we need a multitude of things, starting with increased police patrols to eliminate the existing criminal elements that hamstring our neighborhoods. We need community organizers to capture the imagination of the community and to prevent kids from resorting to crime. We need (re)investments in these communities to provide increased ownership and a steak in our communities. And furthermore we need employment opportunities for the underprivileged members of our neighborhood.

To gloss over these real strategies toward improving inner city living and to slap a pseudo-anarchist slant on real issues effecting the barrio underlines your ignorance and makes you look like a Suburban Che Guevara T-Shirt wearing coffee shop ersatz-intellectual incapable of comprehending the full scope of the problems affecting inner city neighborhoods.

My guess is you're a college kid who hasn't yet grown up and still hold tight to these "damn the man" ideals without knowing the first damn thing about the inner city beyond riding around on your fixed gear bike with your ironic facial hair and your skinny jeans.

Do me a favor before you try to wax revolutionary and start invoking the name of the hood, come on down to the hood for a minute. Maybe tell daddy that the trust fund money can stop for a few months so you can see how real shit is in the hood. Then write up a blog post about gang banging and it's effect on inner city Denver.

again an 18 y/o black man is serving 75 years for ...

2009-07-05T21:31:25.015-06:00

again an 18 y/o black man is serving 75 years for robbery while a white man is serving 35 years for double murder this is a discrace and i am a white woman ashamed of what this country has become.

Well I don't find fat n hairy men attractive, but ...

2009-06-22T03:05:01.714-06:00

Well I don't find fat n hairy men attractive, but thats my taste. But if a southern man is drunk he will let you lick his penis and forget about it the next day, just keep your mouth shut about it and he will keep pretending to be drunk and get his dick worked over by you!

Kate:)

Pelosi is a brainless turd, and so are you for bel...

2009-06-03T08:52:53.728-06:00

Pelosi is a brainless turd, and so are you for believing her misrepresented data,

Are you a stupid ass or what? There is a differenc...

2009-06-03T08:49:59.971-06:00

Are you a stupid ass or what? There is a difference between graphing data as a percentage vs. absolute. For example, if there were 100 people working in 1980 and 10% were laid off, you would graph the data point at 10 (people). If there were 200 people working in 2009 and 10% were laid off, you would graph the data point at 20 (people). This would be an absolute plot and it would make 2009 look much worse (twice as bad) as 1980, even though they are exactly the same percentage loss. Get it?

Hi, We have just added your latest post "Couch Po...

2009-05-25T08:30:33.538-06:00

Hi,

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This article is disturbing. The LRA in Uganda is t...

2009-04-10T07:25:00.000-06:00

This article is disturbing. The LRA in Uganda is training CHILD ARMIES! Children stolen from their families and trained as insurgents. War is ugly. But to put these men in the same plain as the American government, REALLY? This is bad journalism. Last time I checked the US government wasn't kidnapping children in the middle of the night, forcing them to kill their families, selling the into prostitution, or training them as insurgents. THAT is what is more inhumane.

I recently came accross your blog and have been re...

2009-04-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Joannah

http://easypowerpaint.com

how about this you write the US govt sends people ...

2009-04-07T03:41:00.000-06:00

how about this you write the US govt sends people of color to kill other colored people. Hey numb nuts check out the fact that over 72% of the US military is white. Or the fact that none of that matters because all (colors) races are being killed in it and sent off to fight in Iraq. I cant believe you have the right to spread bullshit like that!

Mr. Obvious says: Wow, that made an impression. T...

2009-03-31T23:14:00.000-06:00

Mr. Obvious says: Wow, that made an impression. To be tactful in your words would help you in reaching a wider range more or less. Sensitivity isn't for everyone. But sometimes a 'boot to the head' is necessary. Make it big or get lost, you have made a point. Jesus was a Revolutionist or an Alien.

I recently came accross your blog and have been re...

2009-03-31T22:59:00.000-06:00

Give me some CPR!

2009-03-26T19:38:00.000-06:00

Give me some CPR!

Thanks for the comment. There are many people usin...

2009-03-15T18:06:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the comment. There are many people using people, but there is also so much love. Down in Florida people are breaking into foreclosed houses and moving whole families in. In Detroit there is a growing community agricultural movement. Here in Denver folks are organizing to stop police brutality. This work comes from a profound place of love. k

There's no love in this world, only people using p...

2009-03-15T17:41:00.000-06:00

There's no love in this world, only people using people..

http://www.thesixtyone.com/paintingtasters/song/Federal+Reserve/39611/

Lovely Kyle, exactly my sentiments, but you say it...

2009-03-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Lovely Kyle, exactly my sentiments, but you say it much better. revolution is not your day job.

Just when I thought my day could not get any bette...

2009-02-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought my day could not get any better now that the Rocky has folded, you go and make me blush.

What a wonderful world...

Redtube

2009-02-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Redtube

thats kind of offensive..i dont use the word dyke....

2009-02-25T06:55:00.000-07:00

thats kind of offensive..i dont use the word dyke.

I miss you too!

2009-02-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

I miss you too!

Great Blog! Check out this new Christian band that...

2009-02-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Great Blog! Check out this new Christian band that just released their first album. From what I heard on the samples site, they sound really good.

Introducing the new Christian National Anthem: Guns & Jesus.

Please pass on this info to all.

Thanks for the feedback. These are certainly the p...

2009-02-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the feedback. These are certainly the problems with the answers available!