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Police Officer Shootings
NachoDaddy: that "Ch. 6" like was pretty funny too! And hey, who's your baby? lol... (just couldn't resist :). Appreciate your thoughtful and balanced comments. Always centering to have a voice of reason about.— April 21, 2009 9:59 p.m.
Police Officer Shootings
C'mon Melbamoose, what more do you want from Joshb? Good of you to appreciate his thoughtful recant. (And kinda gusty of him don't you think with all the vitriol that's has been leveled against him?) But somewhat of a backhanded thank you from him. Obviously, you are close to this situation and my God I cannot imagine the pain, anger, all out bitterness that I would feel if I were close to this situation as you are. But without Joshb "spouting" off, there would have been no real discussion of the matter..no true airing of facts that apparently a lot of people did not know about. His blog ended up doing a good deed, and maybe opened up some other minds on the matter who were not willing to post. Without this type of discussion very little change is made in society. It used to be that people discussed such things at the well, or in the coffee house, or at a community church gathering. But now we are more isolated from each other. The only way we connect and work through the things that trouble us is through this medium. Through blogs like Josh Board's. We can't trust 100% what we hear on the news, but because he not only had the guts to post his opinion but also the temerity to respond to each and every critic and then, hell, say he had changed his mind on the Faust case there's been some healing. I think that is a good thing. And who knows, maybe some change will come out of it too because people clearly are NOT happy with cops who shoot first and ask questions later. Be glad he "spouted off" and give him some credit for starting and finishing a debate with thought, reason, and dignity. It is a blog, not a news article...so a little leeway should be given, including misspelling a word. Please give my best to the Faust family.— April 21, 2009 9:52 p.m.
Police Officer Shootings
Melbamoose: You're right. The Plaintiffs did the right thing by settling in terms of how horrifically painful trials in these types of case are for the litigating families. I think both sides were wise to resolve the matter between themselves, and my condolences go out to the Faust family. They will never get over what happened no matter what the "true" version of all the facts are - they lost their son. How does one recover from that? But I will say that if the Faust's lawyer thought they had no exposure, no chance of losing and a million dollar case... no way that lawyer would let them settle for $300,000. And they wouldn't want to either. They would demand their day in court no matter how miserable an experience it sure would be. Because it would have validated them. But it is a very very rare case where one side is all right and did nothing wrong. Usually, fault lies around the 60/40 line. I suspect there was something that the Faust's attorney recognized could lead the jury to come back with a "not guilty." Plaintiff's in these cases don't usually pay attorneys fees up front...so unless they did (or costs)...they had some exposure too.— April 21, 2009 7:47 p.m.
Police Officer Shootings
Hey Joshb: It's been my experience that municipal entities do not pay unless they feel they have some exposure. Legal costs don't really bother them because they usually have in-house counsel on the payroll. For a Plaintiff's lawyer they are the most difficult to sue successfully as they generally do not settle and costs for them are negligible ... the cost of doing business. Not saying this is always the case, but unless they hired outside counsel in my experience they litigate if there's no liability. Settlement rarely has much to do with justice, however. I would guess the Plaintiff wanted more and the Defense wanted to pay less. Settlement is about making a cost-effective resolution of a disputed matter. If the Plaintiff's had no case, judges are real quick to get rid of these types of claims on a summary judgment motion - basically saying there are no trialable issues of material fact for a jury to decide. In other words, sorry no case or no cause of action the law provides for. A $300,000 settlement is a pretty good chunk for a municipality to pay out...not the biggest settlement...but 9.5 times out of 10 if a defendant pays a six figure settlement, their lawyers counseled them to do so because they did something wrong or violated procedure, etc., which means they could get tagged for more by a jury. Not sure how liberal San Diego County juries are, but federal juries are generally pretty conservative and they like policemen, and doctors, and business people and hate "whiney plaintiffs." Just my 2 cents. :)— April 21, 2009 7:21 p.m.
What is the matter with people?
What a horrible experience. So sorry that happened to you. Hopefully your blog will educate a few...you should print out a copy and mail it to that store on Nantucket. :) I've always wanted to go there, but now I may think twice. Thanks for writing and keep fighting the good fight!— April 21, 2009 6:10 p.m.
La Mesa's Magical Oasis...
SD you write the most intelligent posts! I'm a big fan. :) And I am remiss at responding to your many kind comments ...but I will, I am trying to do so deliberately without smattering my name all over the site...lol. You are welcome to come and walk with me anytime. Consider that an open invitation. Just email me and we will set it up...magicsfive is certainly welcome to join us too if she'd like!— April 21, 2009 5:16 p.m.
Police Officer Shootings
And btw, one negative comment does not a racist make. "Racist" is a pretty strong, negative, nasty epitaph in and of it self and should not just be chucked at someone like a rock-laden snowball because they make a statement that's not pc. Racism is a way of life, a belief that one race is superior to another and therefore that justifies the mistreatment of the supposed "inferior" race. No where, in anything Josh Board has written, is there support for any of the above. I think people should be very careful when they sling that word around to both ensure it lands at the feet of someone who actually does fit the definition, and not diminish its meaning by making it the social equivalent of "have a nice day."— April 21, 2009 5:12 p.m.
Celebrity Idiots -- The Jamie Fox and Hulk Hogan Edition
Ovod: Thank you for putting Lermontov into Russian for me. So beautiful! I understand what you mean about having this "strange love" for your "fatherland." Russia is easy to love, indeed worthy of being loved in part because of it's natural beauty and in part because of how much and how long it has suffered unfairly. I love what you said about needing to have a sense of humor to live there...lol. Yes, the government has never been a good friend to the people of Russia, yet the Russian people are good people despite what their leaders do. As for Hogan, I always like the guy and I still do. My young sons idolized him and the WWF. (yes Josh he DOES look cool in the headband...not easy to pull off either :) I think frankly he made the WWF the money-maker it is today. And of course you are right, it is nearly impossible to live your life in the public eye and always say and do the right thing. Good point. Hey Josh you never fail to crack me up...Russian dressing...lololol...— April 21, 2009 4:33 p.m.
Celebrity Idiots -- The Jamie Fox and Hulk Hogan Edition
Suzette! Mais oui! You don't appear to need to practice, but the ONLY place to practice is France. :) To answer your question: et le de langue italienne aussi! Tandis que la langue française est belle, le de langue italienne est mon favori, naturellement. :) Okay, I'm done now. lol....— April 21, 2009 4:25 p.m.
Celebrity Idiots -- The Jamie Fox and Hulk Hogan Edition
Suzette! Mai oui! You don't appear to need to practice, but the ONLY place to practice is France. :) To answer your question: et le de langue italienne aussi! Tandis que la langue française est belle, le de langue italienne est mon favori, naturellement. :) Okay, I'm done now. lol....— April 21, 2009 4:24 p.m.