# Ferguson, MO **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 12, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354 "2014-08-12T04:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/141 "2014-08-13T23:26:47Z")
I believe friend **Vinny** is suggesting that you have a unique perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/142 "2014-08-13T23:30:02Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > To make money if you take the bet. …why on earth are we talking about betting? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/143 "2014-08-13T23:35:56Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …why on earth are we talking about betting? That’s the way the thread turned. OTOH, I’m still trying to figure out who friend **Vinny** is. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/144 "2014-08-13T23:56:25Z")
He prefers to remain anonymous. But he’s the guy who wrote “Greensleeves”. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/145 "2014-08-14T00:18:43Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …why would you want to do that? Ask Brown’s friend, it was his story. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/146 "2014-08-14T00:58:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He prefers to remain anonymous. But he’s the guy who wrote “Greensleeves”. King Henry VIII’s nom de plume was **Vinny**? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/147 "2014-08-14T01:40:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Ask Brown’s friend, it was his story. …Brown’s story was that he was betting money that Vinnie wrote Greensleeves? What the hell is everyone talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/148 "2014-08-14T01:43:10Z")
Personally, I’d be more inclined to believe the cops (on a relative scale, of course) if it weren’t for all the stuff I’ve read about them doing in reaction to the outcry and to the media. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/149 "2014-08-14T01:59:21Z")
> **[Huffington Post Reporter Arrested In Ferguson](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/huffington-post-reporter-arrested-ferguson_n_5676829?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067)** > > Huffington Post Reporter Arrested In Ferguson …there is something seriously going wrong in Ferguson. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/150 "2014-08-14T02:14:01Z")
I’m guessing that the police are seeing the media as “outsiders” trying to “stir up trouble” and “make a big thing out of nothing.” ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/151 "2014-08-14T02:47:51Z")
I’m watching breaking news on MSNBC. The police are trying to institute a curfew that they probably have no legal right to do, and they’re firing multiple canisters of tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds. There are CLOUDS of gas all over the place. One of the reporters just reported that his backpack (battery for the camera?) had been hit twice in rapid succession, although he didn’t know if it was a tear gas canister or a rubber bullet. The police seem to have gone batshit insane. Why have they ratcheted the violence up to this level? \ ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/152 "2014-08-14T03:04:19Z")
My guess is that they believe that they’re reacting reasonably and prudently to quell the “unnecessary violence” perpetrated by “_those_ people” over a “good shoot.” The capacity for self-delusion and rationalization is pretty astounding sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/153 "2014-08-14T03:07:51Z")
Why didn’t they bring in the National Guard? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/154 "2014-08-14T03:08:48Z")
Why hasn’t the city council done something? Or the mayor? Or the governor? ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/155 "2014-08-14T03:13:17Z")
I know what the problem is… Why do they have to walk down the middle of the street all the time? :rolleyes: That’s all I got to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/156 "2014-08-14T03:13:51Z")
Well, according to Google, the governor’s already asked the DOJ to investigate the shooting, but I know you were talking about immediate response to current events, which I’m not seeing much about online. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/157 "2014-08-14T03:15:45Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I was surprised to learn that the Ferguson PD cars aren’t equipped with dash cameras. Judging from the video of the number of officers and the amount of riot gear and armament which they are sporting, I’m fairly sure they could afford dash cameras. The rumor mill here in Kansas City just a couple hours to the west of Ferguson is incredibly stupid. About 2-3 times a day someone local posts something like “OMG THERES RIOTING GONNA HAPPEN IN POWER AND LIGHT” or “MAJOR POLICE ALL OVER TROOST THINK RIOT IS COMING SOON!” When the riot doesn’t materialize, the post is deleted and the person keeps right on being stupid, but in different ways. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/158 "2014-08-14T03:16:01Z")
They’ve officially gone off the rails. Arresting reporters, firing tear gas into peaceful crowds. One person (a reporter?) writes: > [@](#): > > Officers slammed me into a fountain soda machine because I was confused about which door they were asking me to walk out of They need to get the National Guard in there to round up the police. The area seems to be a tinderbox and the police are pouring gasoline into it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/159 "2014-08-14T03:17:08Z")
Who’s in charge of this? Why isn’t the Govt or Army stepping in to curtail the Police? This doesn’t make any sense to me, there isn’t even anything going on anymore except the Police acting like lunatics. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354/160 "2014-08-14T03:37:15Z")
The _police_ are the ones acting like lunatics by maintaining law and order in the face of a lawless horde and idle gawkers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferguson-mo/695354.md?page=9)