Boston is by far the most segregated city i've been in (and I've lived in the South), so there is something to it.
I've got to agree. I just moved from Boston to North Carolina, the differences amazed me. Although, I lived in Detroit before that, and nobody does racial segregation quite like southeast Michigan.
My TV and radio both have an "off" knob. Who can force me not to use it? I use it on a regular basis when there are programs that I find offensive, for example. I was able to use it quite well when Air America still had a local station. Right next to it was the tuning knob which allowed me to avoid using the 'off' knob.
You're right, I can just turn off my T.V. and my radio, and stop reading miscellaneous websites, and not be informed. I'm not sure that ignorance is a good solution to this problem.
Why should some members or sections of our society have the ability to drown out the voices of others? That comes as part and parcel of your "people don't have the right to be heard" argument.
You're confusing the right of free speech with the right to be heard. The former is protected, the latter is not. E.g., you have the right to say something. You don't have the right to force me to hear you.
But someone a large enough organization (or someone with enough money; remember, the Supreme Court says that money is speech) can force you to listen to them, by drowning out all the other voices. Thus, under your interpretation, organizations (and the rich) have the right to have their voices heard, to the exclusion of others.
Another obvious thing would be that any insults by the arrestee recorded automatically results in a fine for each if brought to court. People need to respect the police if they expect the police to respect them, and step one is to talk politely and avoid profanity. A fine of $50 for each insult recorded would be reasonable and the fine must be paid in full within 14 days. No extension and no payment plan. This ensures that it will be felt and thus hopefully make people think before they insult.
I'm completely fine with that as long as there's an identical fine for each insult/profanity the police officer(s) do, payable to the person being insulted. If I need to respect the police, they need to respect me as well.
First: small claims court is not the same as regular court.
Second: How many times have you been to court? I worked in a law office for nearly a decade. You know what lawyers call "court costs"? They call it "The Judges' Retirement Fund", mostly due to the fact that they're a revenue source for the district they're located in. Now, does that sound fair?
The fact is, traffic tickets don't have anything to do with public safety, and have everything to do with bringing in money. The last traffic ticket I got was for going 36MPH in a 35MPH zone. My speedometer said I was going 35MPH (a little under, actually), as did my GPS. Did the judge or cop care? Nope, all they cared about was the fact that tax revenue for the city was down 35% that year and that they wanted my money to help make up the difference. The judge even offered me a "deal": pay $300 (the ticket was $50) in "court costs" and they wouldn't put the ticket on my record. I declined the offer, and ended up paying $350 ($300 in court costs + $50 ticket). Does that sound legitimate to you?
My point still stands. It might be a pain in the ass, but a ticket issued under such circumstances is invalid and you can have it dismissed in court. My wording was less verbose than necessary to handle all the edge cases.
<sarcasm>Yeah, and judges don't count the opinion of a police officer higher than that of a defendant. Nope, that NEVER happens. </sarcasm>
I've gone to court over a traffic ticket, fought it and won, and STILL ended up paying court costs and fines that ended up being more than the original fine.
"Ninety percent of baseball is half mental." -- Yogi Berra
