HuskerExpat

agreed, but i don't think a 6 year old throwing a fit warrants arrest and a trip to jail. small children are biologically irrational little creatures. i don't see how arresting a child and prosecuting him/her for a felony solves anything. that won't help a 6 year old learn to behave better. perhaps the parents are horrible, but that is an issue with the parents, not a small child. take the parents to juvenile court for bad parenting, and make them take classes, or put the child in foster care if the parenting is really that bad. but there is nothing accomplished by arresting a 6 year old for having a temper tantrum. at some point responsibility shifts to the child, and i'm not sure when that is, but it is nowhere near the age of 6. where does it stop? i have had plenty of toddlers or babies throw milk or something on me in restaurants or on a plane, but i certainly don't think they should be arrested.

6-Year-Olds Under Arrest New York Times April 9, 2007 Avon Park, Fla. When 6-year-old Desre’e Watson threw a tantrum in her kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago she could not have known that the full force of the law would be brought down on her and that she would be carted off by the police as a felon. But that’s what happened in this small, backward city in central Florida. According to the authorities, there were no other options. “The student became violent,” said Frank Mercurio, the no-nonsense chief of the Avon Park police. “She was yelling, screaming — just being uncontrollable. Defiant.” “But she was 6,” I said. The chief’s reply came faster than a speeding bullet: “Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we’ve arrested?” The child’s tantrum occurred on the morning of March 28 at the Avon Elementary School. According to the police report, “Watson was upset and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let them study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities.” After a few minutes, Desre’e was, in fact, taken to another room. She was “isolated,” the chief said. But she would not calm down. She flailed away at the teachers who tried to control her. She pulled one woman’s hair. She was kicking. I asked the chief if anyone had been hurt. “Yes,” he said. At least one woman reported “some redness.” After 20 minutes of this “uncontrollable” behavior, the police were called in. At the sight of the two officers, Chief Mercurio said, Desre’e “tried to take flight.” She went under a table. One of the police officers went after her. Each time the officer tried to grab her to drag her out, Desre’e would pull her legs away, the chief said. Ultimately the child was no match for Avon Park’s finest. The cops pulled her from under the table and handcuffed her. The officers were not fooling around. In the eyes of the cops the 6-year-old was a criminal, and in Avon Park she would be treated like any other felon. There was a problem, though. The handcuffs were not manufactured with kindergarten kids in mind. The chief explained: “You can’t handcuff them on their wrists because their wrists are too small, so you have to handcuff them up by their biceps.” As I sat listening to Chief Mercurio in a spotless, air-conditioned conference room at the Avon Park police headquarters, I had the feeling that I had somehow stumbled into the middle of a skit on “Saturday Night Live.” The chief seemed like the most reasonable of men, but what was coming out of his mouth was madness. He handed me a copy of the police report: black female. Six years old. Thin build. Dark complexion. Desre’e was put in the back of a patrol car and driven to the police station. “Then,” said Chief Mercurio, “she was transported to central booking, which is the county jail.” The child was fingerprinted and a mug shot was taken. “Those are the normal procedures for anyone who is arrested,” the chief said. Desre’e was charged with battery on a school official, which is a felony, and two misdemeanors: disruption of a school function and resisting a law enforcement officer. After a brief stay at the county jail, she was released to the custody of her mother. The arrest of this child, who should have been placed in the care of competent, comforting professionals rather than being hauled off to jail, is part of an outlandish trend of criminalizing very young children that has spread to many school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country. A highly disproportionate number of those youngsters, like Desre’e, are black. In Baltimore last month, the police arrested, handcuffed and hauled away a 7-year-old black boy for allegedly riding a dirt bike on the sidewalk. The youngster was released and the mayor, Sheila Dixon, apologized for the incident, saying the arrest was inappropriate. Last spring a number of civil rights organizations collaborated on a study of disciplinary practices in Florida schools and concluded that many of them, “like many districts in other states, have turned away from traditional education-based disciplinary methods — such as counseling, after-school detention, or extra homework assignments — and are looking to the legal system to handle even the most minor transgressions.” Once you adopt the mindset that ordinary childhood misbehavior is criminal behavior, it’s easy to start seeing young children as somehow monstrous. “Believe me when I tell you,” said Chief Mercurio, “a 6-year-old can inflict injury to you just as much as any other person.”

1. How long a member of Husker Nation? 36 years 2. What/Who led you to Husker Nation? Birth right 3. Where are you from originally? Nebraska City 4. Where do you live now? Chicago, IL 5. Favorite Husker memory? 95 Season 6. Worst Husker memory? 84 Orange Bowl 7. Number of home games attended? 30 or so 8. Number of away games attended? 0 9. Favorite Husker gear/apparel ? standard grey hoodie 10. Favorite place to watch a Husker game? In front of my high def tv at home, where it is quiet enough to hear the play by play, and i can tivo replays, etc., during commercial breaks 11. Favorite all time player ? tommie frazier. most exciting college qb, ever. 12. WCO or Option ? either, doesn't matter. 13. Steve Pederson or Bill Byrne ? pederson. byrne was stuck in the past. 14. Lil Red or Herbie ? lil red. herbie reinforces the hick stereotype. 15. Favorite Husker Play ? husker defense sacking the opposing QB. 16. Favorite Game Day Beverage? coke/diet coke/coke zero. drinking and concentrating on sports do not mix. sports first, then drinking.

That is exactly what I am talking about. While I definitely agree that everyone should be respectful of others, including police, I know that someone "running their mouth" or "bad mouthing" someone is not a crime. It is usually people arrested for "running their mouth" that end up with bogus disturbing the peace charges. In short, being disrespectful to cops is stupid and a bad idea, but not a crime, and not worthy of arrest. Actually in Iowa we have a charge for disturbing the peace and another charge called disorderly conduct whether you like it or not being disrespectful to an officer calling him or her names and generally being an a$$hole is against the law in most places and you will get arrested for it. If someone says to me "your an a$$hole!!!" that's it you've crossed the line I didn't curse at you so guess what you go to jail. Prosecutors and judges will enforce the charges most of the time and people generally learn their lesson after a night in jail. People outside of law enforcement will never understand the job and I can't explain it to anyone you just have to do it. It's kinda like when you talk about Husker football and being a fan "From the outside looking in you can't understand it and from the inside looking out you can't explain it." Ah yes, disorderly conduct, the twin brother of disturbing the peace. Here is your Iowa statute for disorderly conduct: 723.4 Disorderly conduct. A person commits a simple misdemeanor when the person does any of the following: 1. Engages in fighting or violent behavior in any public place or in or near any lawful assembly of persons, provided, that participants in athletic contests may engage in such conduct which is reasonably related to that sport. 2. Makes loud and raucous noise in the vicinity of any residence or public building which causes unreasonable distress to the occupants thereof. 3. Directs abusive epithets or makes any threatening gesture which the person knows or reasonably should know is likely to provoke a violent reaction by another. 4. Without lawful authority or color of authority, the person disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons by conduct intended to disrupt the meeting or assembly. 5. By words or action, initiates or circulates a report or warning of fire, epidemic, or other catastrophe, knowing such report to be false or such warning to be baseless. 6. Knowingly and publicly uses the flag of the United States in such a manner as to show disrespect for the flag as a symbol of the United States, with the intent or reasonable expectation that such use will provoke or encourage another to commit a public offense. 7. Without authority or justification, the person obstructs any street, sidewalk, highway, or other public way, with the intent to prevent or hinder its lawful use by others. I would sure like to know how "running your mouth" or being disrespectful falls into the category of disorderly conduct in Iowa. And it doesn't surprise me that prosecutors and judges usually go along with those charges. Most judge and prosecutors think they are all on the cops team, which is a big problem with the criminal justice system. It is that kind of thinking that results in innocent people being sent to jail for crimes they didn't commit. In Illinois, we are quite familiar with that problem.

That is exactly what I am talking about. While I definitely agree that everyone should be respectful of others, including police, I know that someone "running their mouth" or "bad mouthing" someone is not a crime. It is usually people arrested for "running their mouth" that end up with bogus disturbing the peace charges. In short, being disrespectful to cops is stupid and a bad idea, but not a crime, and not worthy of arrest.

i didn't intend to imply that all cops were bad. you seem like a pretty good guy to me, but there are certainly a fair percentage who occasionally get on a bit of a power trip, and abuse their power. and arresting people on bogus disturbing the peace charges is a perfect example of that. and a lot of prosecutors are overzealous, or cover up bad arrests with disturbing the peace charges. i'm sorry if it offends you that i pointed this out, but i know it to be true. i don't think complaining about bad cops or prosecutors deprives me of the right to call the police in the event of an emergency. just like i don't believe that cops charged with crimes aren't entitled to criminal defense lawyers, even though cops bitch about criminal defense lawyers all the time.

(Edit: this thread was split from the thread about the disturbing the peace charges being dropped against keller. my response is in response to a lot of people saying that the charges sounded bogus to begin with.) disturbing the peace is one of the criminal charges most subject to abuse by police and prosectuors. whenever someone does something the cops or prosecutors think is mildly wrong, they bring out the old disturbing the peace charge. it is truly a "one size fits all" type of crime. for that matter, cops have "disturbed my peace" plenty of times, but they didn't ever get charged with a crime.

somewhere this thread took a turn to something out of the area of "husker football"...

i'm thinking of finally picking up one of the current generation's game consoles. most likely the xbox 360. any advice on the best games that are out? generally i like sports games, driving games, and war games (strategy or first person shooter) in that order. i'm not a huge fan of what i'll call kung fu games, first person shooters with a science fiction edge, etc. i don't have a lot of time to play games, and will usually only be able to devote an hour or for each session. so i'll never master a lot of complicated sports games (madden, etc) or finish most adventure games. any advice for good games that fit this profile? thanks.

to play in the nfl, a QB generally needs the arm, raw talent AND mindset to lead an offense.

i understand the need to be diplomatic, but seriously, he had to be biting his tongue when he said that...

You don't get it. That is not what he was saying at all. There was a time in this war when the strategy was dropping a lot of bombs which led to the inevitable result of a lot of innocent civilians were being killed. If you know your actions are going to kill thousands of civilians, then your actions are no better than the scumbag insurgents and suicide bombers who kill civilians. My guess is that the average Iraqi citizen would not tell you that he is ok with his mom being killed by a bomb from the sky but against his dad being killed by a suicide bomber. Furthermore, the ends do not justify the means; not in theory, and certainly not in this specific case. That argument is morally bankrupt -- the insurgents/terrorists also argue that the ends justify the means. Finally, do not confuse this argument as an attack on the members of our armed forces. It is not. The vast majority of us anti-war types understand that the soldiers, marines, airman and sailors are honorably doing their duties. We admire and respect that they are willing to put their lives on the line for us, even though we don't think they should be asked to risk their lives in this war. It is the Pentagon and civilian leadership that are acting dishonorably by risking the lives of our troops and ordering (primarilly in the past) bombings, etc., that inevitably resulted in thousands of innocents being killed.

amen, brother.

misleading title alert! seriously, i only consider one or two of those to be a "big" city.

Yes, I am an investor. I manage all of my own money, and buy stocks or bonds, without buying mutual funds (partly because I don't like paying management fees to mutual funds [or brokers for that matter] and partly because I like to control my own investments as much as possible). I am also a lawyer who worked for a discout broker, and I had my general broker's license (series 7) and various other licenses as well. If you call Ameritrade, or any other discount broker, they will not offer any advice whatsoever. A broker at a discount broker like Ameritrade is little more than an order taker (seriously, they sit in a massive cubicle farm with head sets and take phone orders or review computer orders all day long). As for what to buy, the possibilities are nearly infinite. I suggested the vanguard mutual fund, because it is probably the simplest way to invest for your retirement. There are a lot of other similar investment products too. My suggestion is that you read a few basic investment articles on the internet, at reputable web sites (money, forbes, yahoo finance, etc) and they will give you an idea of what you want to do. If you still do not feel comfortable after doing an investigation of your own, then maybe a discount broker isn't for you and you might decide to keep your account at Edward Jones. One idea might be to keep your main account at Edward Jones for a while, but also open a smaller account at a discount broker so you can get an idea of what it is all about. After trying both for a while, you could transfer your account to whichever place your prefer.

The other thing to remember is that a discount broker offers you no advice whatsoever. If you call and ask them advice about an investment, they will say they can't help you. So if you feel like you need any advice at all, then a discount broker might not be for you. Personally, with the wide range of investment products availabe (like the Vanguard targeted retirement mutual funds I mentioned in another post) I think full service brokers like Edward Jones are a waste of money for most people, but if you are willing to pay for advice that you can get with a minimum amount of internet research, that is certainly your right.

Ameritrade is a discount broker. If you call their new accounts department (go to the website and get the number), they will help you open an account, and they should be able to send you the necessary paperwork needed for them to initiate an account transfer from edward jones so that you will not need to talk to the edward jones guy yourself. I suppose he might try and call you to convince you otherwise, and then it is up to you on whether to take the call or not. Ameritrade won't charge you anything to transfer an account into them, but i don't know if Edward Jones would charge you to transfer the account out. Assuming Edward Jones has some fee to transfer your account out to Ameritrade, I'm sure it would not be much compared to how much you would save having your account at a discount broker for 30 years.

if you are under 50, a roth ira is far better than a conventional ira, because of the tax benefits. your best bet is to transfer your roth ira from edward jones to a discount broker (for instance Ameritrade, if you want to keep it in nebraska). i suggest a discount broker, because a full service broker like edward jones will charge you hundreds, and eventually thousands of dollars per year to maintain the account. by contrast, a discount broker like ameritrade will charge you next to nothing. given the very easy investment choices available to you (see below), almost no one needs a full service broker anymore. as for what to buy, if you would like to keep it extremely simple, then you can simply buy one of the vanguard mutual funds that target a retirement date. for instance, if you plan to retire in 2035, vanguard has a mutual fund for you (i think its called Vanguard Target Retirement 2035, or something like that). they will shift the investments around as time goes by to invest in the appropriate stuff, even through retirement. theoretically, you would never have to buy any other investment product in your entire life.

no, its not too late. we learn from history so that we make better decisions in the future, that is the point. unfortunately, far too few people understand that.

I completely agree with what ETR had to say about supporting the troops. Whether one agrees with invading Iraq or not, the troops have just done their job honorably. I find it very sad that good men and women are dying for a reason that keeps changing. First it was a 9/11 reference, but then the 9/11 report and other facts debunked that myth (Bin Laden and Hussein didn't get along), so the administration stopped using that as a justification. Then it was all about WMD, but no significant WMDs were reported found, and the administration stopped using that as a justification. Then it was all about bringing democracy to Iraq, but there are plenty of our "friends" who don't believe in democracy, and now Iraq is in a civil war. If you have to keep changing the justification for the war long after it has started, then I'm pretty suspicious of why we are putting our troops in harms way. On a side note, just because the press/media is skeptical of the administration does not make it "liberal." The press is supposed to be skeptical and search for what might be hidden. That is their job. The press was all over Clinton for getting some "personal favors" from an intern, and I don't remember anyone complaining the press was conservative, etc.

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why all the hostility towards the guy who owns the company? he didn't send the email, his employee did, and he fired the guy as soon as this happened. what more do you want this guy to do? or is it just because the guy who owns the place has an arab/muslim name?

i'd have to stab myself in the eye's if bill cowher ever came to nebraska. i can't stand to look at the whiny cry-baby faces he makes.

Yeah, I was watching a Bulls game the other night and was surprised he was still in the league. Seems like he is playing very well. Good for him.