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Moment of silence for victims of police brutality

Moment of silence on Boston Common

Conqy photographed people gathered on the Common as part of a national vigil at 7 p.m.

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...there was an impromptu, national mass gathering for a moment of silence for police killed in the line of duty?

http://www.odmp.org/search/year?year=2013

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I'll attend. Not sure how that relates to this event though.
Scumbag criminals kill cops and sometimes cops kill unarmed kids instead of criminals.
When either of these events happen the wrongful party should be held accountable.

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You took the time and effort to organize one?

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When was the last time......there was an impromptu, national mass gathering for a moment of silence for an electrician killed in the line of duty?

When was the last time......there was an impromptu, national mass gathering for a moment of silence for a pizza delivery boy killed in the line of duty?

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Police are not often killed in the line of duty yet when an officer is killed the media makes a Big Deal of it. Details of the funeral are broadcast and often hundreds of officers travel to attend. (In contrast, when police kill someone it is rarely big news unless the person was already famous.)

In the weeks after the marathon bombings there was tremendous outpouring of support for the police in Boston which went on for weeks. There was plenty of impromptu gatherings, banners, etc.

Just a few months ago when the two firefighters where tragically killed it was in the media for weeks with a huge public display of support from people all across the city.

We have a national holiday (Veteran's day) to honor those killed in the armed forces. This is marked by a national moment of silence.

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Memorial Day is for those killed in the armed forces. Veterans Day is for those that survived.

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Advocate reduction in police use of automobiles, the number two cause of line of duty deaths. More walking might help with the obesity problem as well, reducing the number three cause of death. More cops die from car crashes plus heart disease than die from gunshots.

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Suicide comes in high on that list, too. So do deaths related to alcohol and drug abuse.

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but thousands of people participate every year in Boston's Run to Remember on Memorial Day weekend. They run to honor policemen killed in the line of duty and to raise thousands of dollars for their families. I've run it every year I've been physically able to since 2007. What have you done?

Some of us can hold more than one idea in our heads at a time. We can be grateful for the service and sacrifice of police while simultaneously deploring when some of them resort to excessive force. To hold police to a very high standard is the greatest respect we can give them.

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Was it followed by a moment of a silence for the thousands of officers killed in the line of duty?

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You could put your eye out with it.

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.... this post reminds me that I still love you ....

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So, by that logic, being an innocent young black man walking down the street makes being shot by a cop a "hazard of the job"?

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Your evidence that this kid (or the cop) were innocent/guilty of anything? How about we withhold judgment until the facts are in. Cops often have to do a very tough job and have to make split second life and death decisions. Before we start declaring guilt and innocence - how about we find out what the facts are. I would hope they would do the same in Ferguson.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen as we painfully know firsthand here in Boston - but "innocent" people of any race getting shot by the cops is an EXTREMELY rare event - which is why it's news.

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Regardless of what Michael Brown was doing, and that I don't know, he was unarmed and leaving the area when shot. That was not denied by the Ferguson PD in the days after the shooting, nor have they backtracked on Brown being unarmed.

The question isn't "Was an innocent man shot?" but "Was an unarmed man shot?"

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Sure, but according to the cop's story he would have armed himself with the cop's gun had he not been shot. And, frankly speaking, a cop is more trustworthy than that "witness" thug who admitted he robbed the store along with Brown.

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So multiple witnesses describing a cold-blooded execution of a teen is not enough evidence to lead you to believe that maybe, just maybe, some injustice happened here? A pervasive, demonstrable pattern of endemic racist policing within Ferguson is not evidence to raise suspicion of how the community is treated? You seem much more eager to protect the status quo than listen to a community that has gone to great lengths to demonstrate the oppressive and dehumanizing conditions in which they live.

And I have very little sympathy for cops' "split second life and death decisions" when they almost uniformly result in extrajudicial shooting of black people rather than white people, frequently unarmed and posing no immediate threat.

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Maybe is the operative word. Stop and read. We have NO idea what happened. (and while it certainly doesn't justify getting shot - Mr. Brown is not exactly looking like a little angel as news comes out).

Get some stats, not anecdotes and press accounts - then we'll converse about police "uniformly result in extrajudicial shooting of black people rather than white people, frequently unarmed and posing no immediate threat."

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if, however, Michael Brown was unarmed, there was definitely no excuse for the cops having shot and killed him.

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Seen the convenience store video? Seeing our innocent gentle giant shoving the clerk aside as if he was swatting a fly, walking out like he was leaving his own house, and casually strolling away from a crime scene in the middle of the street for the whole world to see paints a pretty clear picture of what we're dealing with. I had my doubts about the cop's story at first, but it's pretty damn clear after watching that video - what we have here is a violent sociopath who has no respect for anybody. Had, that is - assaulting a cop who dared to approach and question him turned out to be a bad idea.

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You didn't say "thug".

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In your dreams.

BTW -- "Innocent" meaning utterly blameless in any and all respects, no matter how trivial? Weird standard. How about "people not doing anything that could remotely justify summary execution"...

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The best stats I could find are that about 1500 people a year are shot by police and 600-1100 killed. I think those stats are about 30 years old - which puts us in a far more violent time.

My guess is I could count on one hand the number of times an INNOCENT person is deliberately shot and killed by a cop each year in this country. Not rare enough to be certain - but still extremely rare - even using your definition of innocent.

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... and my definition of rare are significantly different. I see you as exceedingly over-eager to defend police violence -- and I'm saying this as the son of a retired policeman.

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There is no defense for unjustifiable police violence. However, we live in a country where the standard is innocent until proven guilty - and in defense of your dad and ever other cop out there - that goes double for them.

How many cops are convicted of murder (on the job) each year. There's your number.

I know - it's really all just a big cover up, thin blue line, etc. etc.

How many murders did your dad let his colleagues get away with? My guess would be zero. Was your dad a supercop - or just a good guy doing a tough job like most of the rest of them?

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By your logic, because the 6-700 people shot by police every year were not tried and convicted to death (perhaps only on account of being dead and thus unable to stand trial), they were to a man innocent.

There's your number.

Now, I personally believe that a lot of those folks (although per our justice system they were innocent, as they had not been proven guilty) were probably prevented from doing something terrible by being killed by the police. But not all of them. Probably most of the cops who killed these folks were doing the right thing at the time. But not all of them. So I disagree with you about your standard of not being found guilty in a court of law = didn't do anything wrong.

Our high level of police killing in this country follows on our high level of non-police killing. Ranking countries worldwide by murder rate, we are head and shoulders above any other developed country at 4.8 murders per 100K (winner is Honduras, with 90.4 per 100K - ask the kids at the border about that). Our murder rate is five times the rate of a typical developed country.

I think it's fair to call the problem of police killing of unarmed civilians (and yes, it's a problem - it happens on average a couple of times a week) part of our country's larger violence problem. More than 14 thousand murders per year is a problem unique in the developed world. If we had a more peaceful country, our police would surely be more peaceful too.

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The odds of you getting killed by a police officer in your lifetime (if you don't commit any crimes, or hang around with criminals, or accost an actual police officer) is probably what, a million to 1 odds? 10 million to 1 odds? Id say that is pretty rare.

One death like this one is one to many, and I think that is the point you might be trying to make. Or racial profiling maybe common, but innocent people getting killed by police is very rare in this country.

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The only reason it's rare is because they don't have the weaponry to kill them all at once easily enough. I'm sure if we gave them a drone with some hellfire missiles they would have been able to clean up those "protestors" right quick.

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innocent people getting killed by police is very rare in this country.

Unfortunately, it does happen, and, since many police departments here in the United State have become very militarized, and out of control, it's been happening more often than it should. The sad fact is that, all too often, police departments nation-wide don't weed out their bad apples and bring them to justice for abusing their power, and/or dismissing them permanently from their departments as need be, which really does fuel already-existing problems with police misconduct, making things worse.

This is not to say, however, that all cops are vicious thugs. There are also cops who are decent, law-abiding people, who do care about others. Cops are needed, whether people like them or not, but many police departments are seriously in need of root-and-branch overhauls, and if it means getting rid of their bad apples in order to create change for the better, then so be it.

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But this guy seems to be both, and offers the anti-Sharpton view of the whole thing. Worth a listen:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=af2_1407944916

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... were there some actual evidence of rioting, looting, etc.

Unfortunately, all the news crews were arrested, gassed, and had their equipment destroyed before they could document any of that. Convenient, eh?

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I'm glad it wasn't a local talk show host who made that comparison.

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Actually, I heard it on the HC show driving home tonight. And that was about the only part of it that I found offensive, But i think his "moreover" points are well made, and refreshingly un-PC. I just like a guy who steps out of the orthodoxy and tells us what he thinks, and why. Plus busting Sharpton is as much a plus as busting Dennis and Callahan.

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... Claiming that "all they know how to do is burn and loot" is sickeningly false. Yes, a segment of the crowd did descend to violent acts, but the majority of the people were protesting peacefully.

You don't have to search far to find plenty of examples of individual police officers who turn their positions of responsibility and power into instruments of crime and corruption. Yet, it would be erroneous and ignorant to paint all law enforcement officers with the same brush. It's just as wrong and ignorant for Mr. Gentry to paint the civilian community with a brush sullied by a minority of troublemakers.

Arresting members of the press for reporting on the scene, gassing citizens who are exercising their right to peaceful assembly and free speech, employing military equipment and tactics to; in effect; wage war on our own country! It's shocking, and incredibly sad to see this happening in the United States of America.

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IMAGE(https://elmercatdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/thomasferguson.jpg)

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Moxie found some random black guy saying racist things on the internet!

Yay? Got my get out of racism free card! Tour black friend must be thrilled with you!

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Are you thinking about Al Sharpton?

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The real question is, why doesn't the community respond the same way when a black male shoots a black male. Because i can unfortunately guarantee this scenario will play out in the next 24 hrs within our city limits.

Why aren't we condemning whats happening in Detroit, Dot, Matt & other parts of our country? As a VET i would rather spend another week Helmand Province where i was shot than certain parts of this country.

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You're wondering why the reaction is different when a criminal shoots someone, than it is when someone to whom we've given a gun, a badge, and our trust betrays that trust?

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If you really cared, you would know there ARE active and ongoing efforts in the black community in Boston over violence. But you don't really care, do you?

You would also know that Boston Police tend to be far more respectful towards the people they are paid to protect than the over-armored goons we've seen aiming sniper rifles and shooting rubber bullets at people attempting to exercise their First Amendment rights in Missouri.

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I grew up here, in the city. What white pickit fence neighborhood are you from? The only person who ever pulled a gun on me in the US, was some POS from dot. And the only reason it happened was because I was white in bps. Can't wait for your kid to hit HS.

I'm assuming you won't post this, white guilt is a hellava drug!

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So you just got REKD.

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You think you're so tough? I grew up in New York when it was a graffiti covered hellhole that made even Boston back in 1974 look like a little paradise island. In high school, a friend's father was killed by looters as he defended his store during one of the city's more infamous blackouts. So don't talk to me about how tough you had it because you got beat up once in school, wah (hey, I did, too, for the crime of being Jewish - in one of our brief periods in the suburbs - and yet amazingly, the incident didn't scar me for life and I didn't grow up with a seething hatred of every member of the group the two kids belonged to).

As for our kid, she's in a BPS HS. They do a better job these days.

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You're a trust fund bitch with a Jewish father who I'm assuming was either a lawyer or doc. Don't act like you've ever had it tough.

Id kick your fucking teeth in you fucking yuppie.

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Oh dearie me!

HEY ADAM - DO YOU LIFT??? YOU BETTAH!

IMAGE(http://www.bossthug.com/images/50360dfb1d41c87697000037.jpg?mw=555)

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Swirly figured out how to turn on your webcam. Next she'll make the washing machine flood your mom's basement and get your bed even wetter.

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You don't know my life, but since you asked, yeah, you pissant little keyboard shmuck who couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag, I do know how tough life can get firsthand - getting shuffled from motel to motel while your parents are getting divorced and your mother's on welfare will do that to you.

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REKD AGAIN.

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Your victim complex is showing. :X
You are not tough by association. Not how street cred works. LOL

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yawn

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Funny how daddy gaffin shields his uhub chosen ones

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snore

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This site is my #1 source for local news and events and while I almost always agree with your POV, your ranting responses often make me uncomfortable and sometimes come off as a bit bullying in tone, especially when your fanboys & girls start thumbs upping you in droves. It's like the coach dressing down the dorky loser while all the cool kids watch and laugh. Like it or not, Adam, UHub's become an important local news source for many Bostonians so a bit of journalistic integrity on your part is in order lest you become nothing more than a bitchy blog with a predictable political slant and the same tired cast of characters.

With that said, I love your site and appreciate all you do for the community. I just wish you had an editorial section instead of lecturing your readers. Leave that to your minions and remain above the fray, is my advice. Your post, in spite of all the thumbs up from your psychophants, is unseemly for a man in your position.

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Although I've never claimed to be reaching for 100% objectivity.

There's a difference between the original posts and the comment sections for those posts. Not sure if I should give up on my right to jump in there when I feel strongly about something. Still, when I grow up, I'd love to hire somebody to deal with comment maintenance, although I fear the job would have rather high turnover, because the person would have to deal with a lot more stuff than what I allow through.

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They will only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

And keep up the good work!

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These professional surface advocates just want sterility.

The anonamid shitstream must be a regular Augean flow and no Herakles to divert a river.

I come over here and it is all about swatting douche nozzles who swarm like flies.

The right wing growlers are like the black flies of early spring and the corporate agenda peddlers are like the the greenheads at the beach.. fat fuckers.. all abuzz to sell.

But through it all are the charming redeeming humans sorta being themselves and elements well described by Elmer.

But then I just head out or jump back to G Plus where today's little victory involved introducing this Japanese expatriate in NYC to my Nihon posse in the homeland and all was right with the world.

Here she is eulogizing Tuli Kupferberg.. http://youtu.be/Xjpixd6XeIQ

Enjoy and be well.

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like an uninformed jerk make you lacking in "journalistic integrity"?

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While I'd protest being labeled a psychophant (or even a sycophant), I'm not ashamed to admit being a fan of Adam's journalism.

For you to suggest a lack of integrity here, shows that you must not be exposed to many other sources. I read a plethora of news sites and blogs; both good and bad. There's nothing that compares to Adam's responsible and responsive coverage.

But something more useful and much more significant happens at Universal Hub. Adam initiates a flow of information by presenting breaking details of local stories, usually before they're reported elsewhere. Then, the community responds with first-hand accounts, backstories, and other supporting information. Opinions too, but not the mindless drivel that infests other sites.

If Adam ever gets something wrong; be it facts, or merely a spelling error; he's called on the carpet by his readers and corrects the problem immediately. What other site has more integrity than that? Universal Hub has no paywall, and the few ads that appear are never intrusive. So what if he wants to share his opinions in the discussion threads along with everyone else?

Unseemly, indeed!

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The world would be a much kinder place if it were full of Adams. I'm sorry if I came across as a detractor of his work for I can assure you that wasn't my intent and I shall thank him for his invaluable community service with a donation as soon as I finish this post. With the rise in prominence of news/info blogs and the slow death of the old print media, is there any harm in discussing where the journalistic line is drawn? That's all I asked.

Adam, you rock!

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Adam has to go through every anon (not verified) post to decide whether to post it or not.

I'm going to give him a pass on this one to allow the overflow vent to maintain function and not rust until it just explodes and he deletes UHub.

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I could never do Adam's job without losing my cool a dozen times a day. But yes, as someone who rants frequently here (such a good outlet!) I'd caution Adam against wasting any mental energy dueling with Anon a-holes. Deep breath, move on.

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Boohoo he knew willingly what he was getting into. No accolades from me especially when his biases arent so subtle anymore. You are a grown man with thick skin right?

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amazingly, you can be both ignorant and grow up here. They are not, as you prove, mutually exclusive.

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... ane then there's invincible ignorance -- which is what I suspect we have a case of, in this instance.

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You'd know that WAS brought up. By numerous speakers. Calls to action were made for unity.

But ignorance is bliss, right?

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Actually, if you'd attended the gathering on the commons (I was there with my daughter), you'd have heard this point raised many times, by many speakers.

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"Don't tase me, bro!!"

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I can understand being put off by rioting and looting, but are people actually upset that a moment of silence was held?

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The 101st Keyboard Brigade stands ready at all times to defend their sacred right to complain about the Other.

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..352nd Tablet Tapper Regiment with the shock and awe of its all whether capabilities.

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It's more that the looting and rioting accompanies these things , kind of hypercritical .

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Is there something wrong with your keyboard? Every time you post there is a space before any punctuation mark.

It drives me up the wall

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Dude , are you kidding me, whinnying about that.

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Ensuring that your posts are grammatically correct, properly punctuated and formatted, with all words spelled correctly, is a mark of basic respect for your readers. Conversely, failure to do so is a mark of disrespect.

A small thing to be sure, just as, when walking through a door, letting it close in the face of the person behind you rather than holding it is also a small thing.

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Imagine people also pouring into the streets to protest women who are killed and beaten everyday in domestic disputes all across this nation?

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55+ million killed since Roe v. Wade but the media hides the massive turnout each year for the March for Life. Just like they virtually ignored the anti-illegal immigration rally at the State House this summer. In my many years working alongside the Boston Police, in tense, sometimes life-threatening situations, BPD officers displayed the patience of the biblical Job. Brutality? Show me. Don't tell me.

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Fishy volunteers every day to walk a beat.

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55+ million women getting healthcare? Having control of their own bodies? GASP! HOW TERRIBLE! We must march against this horror!

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Nice reference to the anti-immigration rally, BTW. You and your like-minded cons care more about potential people than actual people. Douche.

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So if 55 million is a big number, what's the number nature brings from naturally aborted? Are we to get up in arms at all the single celled humans flushed out because of a random flip of the die?

If you're going to use that woefully inaccurate number, you're really going to have to reconcile nature and natural process in relation to it, and why one is some absolute evil, And the other is just god willing (sphagetti god in my case)

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BOYCOTT NATURE

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Boycott God.

BTW -- The notion that _human_ life begins at conception is NOT the traditional Catholic doctrine, it is a relatively recent invention (late 1800s) which was intended to serve political purposes more than genuinely religious ones.

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I'm going to ignore your purposefully off-topic rant there at the beginning.

Anyway.. so cops should be congratulated for not beating and murdering people while in the stressful line of work they chose to go into?

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If all those minority babies had been born over the past 40 years, you're preferred political party wouldn't have any political power in this country at all.

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