Zimmerman trial - Prosecution finished

Oh, and my conclusion? Zimmerman stalked that kid because he was black and murdered him when he (Zimmerman) was getting his butt kicked.

 

I think this is a good point. While I am a liberal I try not to be a "knee-jerk liberal," a term that exists for a good reason because we know there are a lot of them around.

 

Feelings and hunches and anecdotes are fine. Here's a page that not only summarizes the actual research in this area, but actually provides the peer-reviewed academic research: Differences in Conservative and Liberal Brains - 2012 Presidential Election - ProCon.org

 

I'm sure there was no bias in putting together that list of peer reviewed articles.

 

I have family there. They are very fond the the area so far. Why do you say Geelong isn't nice? Is that specific to Geelong or the Melbourne metro area in general?

And Zimmerman is middle-class, possibly upper middle class (his father is a federal judge, which makes me assume his family has some means), not poor by any stretch, I assume TM's family is of similar financial standing as his father (or father's fiance) was/is living in the same gated community as Zimmerman.

As far as our gun laws go, most gun crime isn't committed by people who legally own guns so stricter laws here would not reduce gun violence. Convicted felons cannot legally own firearms. Background checks are required, though one can get around this via gun shows. At any rate, numerous studies here have shown greater levels of gun violence in cities where gun measures are heavily regulated. When you restrict gun ownership you're only affecting people who own them legally. People who possess illegal firearms aren't going to quit using them simply because the government says they have to.

 

What happened to this? You made it two whole days before you were back on this thread attacking people for daring to disagree with you.

 

Doesn't change the research.

 

It's convenient to dismiss research you don't agree with by simply not agreeing with it.

Not my research, nor my conclusions. I'm just referencing them.

 

You're referencing studies that were conducted by, and then peer reviewed by, people with a clear bias towards conservatives. I am at least tolerant of other's views, even if I don't agree with them, and can listen to them without resorting to name calling. You should try it sometime.

 

Makes me think of this (please take it as the joke it is intended as)-
Are You a Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican

Here is a little test that will help you decide.

Question: How do you tell the difference between Democrats, Republicans And Southern Republicans?

The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock cal .40, and you are an expert shot? You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Democrat's Answer:

Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!

Does the man look poor or oppressed?

Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?

Could we run away?

What does my wife think?

What about the kids?

Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?

What does the law say about this situation?

Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?

Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?

Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?

Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?

If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?

Should I call 9-1-1?

Why is this street so deserted?

We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.

This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Republican's Answer:

BANG!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Southern Republican's Answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click.....(sounds of reloading).

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click

Daughter: "Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?

 

Response to AUTiger
As an Australian from the north, I don't like cold weather and Geelong is cold. The beaches down there are only fit for seals and great whites. I am a Queenslander by birth, and we tend to be biased about the north. I have a brother in Tasmania who told me that the weather was minus 10 the other day. A lovely place to visit but not for me. They probably don't miss cyclones, massive fires/floods,sea-stingers, and crocodiles (they still have snakes)

I am sure that Geelong people frequently regret the closeness of Melbourne. I am unfortunately now close to Brisbane which I spent most of my life avoiding. As you may have guessed, I am a country boy at heart.

In respect of the firearms thing, the most used weapon here in murders was the .22 rifle. Every household had one. Most murders were arguments gone wrong. Somebody would have a brain snap and then get the rifle and dispatch the other party. This spontaneous killing has receded due to the absence of every family having a weapon. Robberies now tend not to be by firearm and the principal weapon of choice is the knife or screwdriver. The death rate associated with robberies is low. suicide by firearm has now dropped off dramatically. As a former police officer who used to knock on doors for domestic violence disputes, I cannot say that I lament the absence of the .22

You are right in that professional criminals can still get weapons. Bikie gangs tend to shoot at each other, but much of this violence does not spill over into the killing of non bikies. The bikies need a lot time on the range because of their incompetence in actually killing. Again some dead, but very few. They may also be conscious that the public backlash will be considerable. Bikies are also fighting the legislation that declares them to be an illegal association and they do not to give more political will to that argument.

The main hazard with firearms are incidents where things get out of control or mentally ill people get hold of them. Criminals will get them, but here public intolerance of gun crime has limited that impact. Would this work in the US, I doubt it. It appears that guns have had a greater imprint on the US psyche over a very long time than here. Our worldview on this is very different.

 

GZ is BLACK according to the census (half Caucasian, 1/4 Peruvian, 1/4 black). His high school girlfriend in his prom photos are black, he grew up in a multi-racial, multi-cultural family in a mixed race neighborhood. His gated community is mixed-race. He volunteers with a group that serves disadvantaged youth (which are disproportionately black, in this case). This isn't about race. The only people making it so have an agenda to push. This whole thing is about Bloomberg and his cronies paying TM's mother to push for more gun control, about using a tragedy to advance an agenda (Sandy Hook, anyone?). It reeks big time.

We can read about the kid's drug use, thievery, racist rants (did you read his FB and Twitter? Don't ever put anything in writing you wouldn't want the whole world to see), etc. but the bottom line is that a jury that was privy to the facts, and contained NO MEN at mostly the prosecution's judgement, found him not guilty. Everything else is speculation, and doesn't really matter any more.

 

Priceless. I'm stealing it and forwarding...

 

Ahhh...I've missed this forum.

To Rich, your “empirically” based researched linked above reminds me of something Mark Twain once wrote, there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics”. When we cannot get data to support our hypothesis, change the data…right? Anyhow, I do not totally disagree with what the article writes about. By nature I find conservatives to be more pragmatic, efficient, socially graceful, risk adverse, thrifty, organized, and devout (faithful to some deity). That’s just my American South and Southwestern, limited observations…but I’m sure I could get a half dozen or so friends to agree with me.

Also Randell1234… Winchester Silver Tips are “hollow points” (the nickel plated variety). I have some 124gr. ones loaded in a couple of my 9mms right now.

 

Yeah, well. . . While I'm convinced Zimmerman unwisely put himself in a bad situation, I'm not sure murder is the correct term. I'm somewhat surprised he didn't get a manslaughter charge successfully brought against him. It may have been self-defense, but he provoked the situation.

I'm disappointed that the liberal media is milking the situation. I agree that they have the right to discuss it, but they should have the responsibility to realize that they could exacerbate the situation's cultural repercussions and have the good sense to not stoke the fires any worse.

 

You're surprised he didn't get manslaughter becuase you are still under the mistaken impression that GZ did anything wrong. It is not illegal to get out of your car. It is not illegal to call the police on suspicious people. It is not illegal to "follow" someone (which he was not doing at the time the attack happened). It is, however, illegal to sucker punch someone and break their nose. It's also illegal to bounce someones head on the sidewalk. The number of times TM or anyone is allowed to bounce my head on the sidewalk? Zero.

During the trial (I apologize in keep referencing the trial-I know of no other way to get information about this case) the witness testimony and evidence all showed that TM assaulted GZ. Even RJ has stated that TM threw the first punch. Clearly it was self-defense on GZ's part. Does John Good reasonate with anyone else? I heard his testimony, was that a figment of my imagination?

Of course the media stirs this shit up. It's how they make their living.

 

I think that some people here are missing the point about what the current discussion is about. At this point the discussion is generally no longer about the details of this specific case. It has moved on to tangents spinning off of the case. For example one thread is, why do black men and boys have to get harassed significantly more than white men and boys? Another example of a spin off thread is the stand your ground laws.