April 21, 2018

...a nonwhite person cannot or will not be a legitimate customer

The inquiry these fictitious people made was simple: They asked for local restaurant recommendations. We tracked whether hotel employees responded and also analyzed the content of the emails from those who did respond.

Across the range of responses, racial discrimination was clear. Overall, hotel employees were significantly more likely to respond to inquiries from people who had typically white names than from those who had typically black and Asian names. But racial bias did not end there. Discrimination also happened in many subtle ways.

Hotel employees provided 20 percent more restaurant recommendations to white than to black or Asian people. Employees’ politeness also varied by race. When responding to white people, employees were more likely to address them by name and to end their emails with a complimentary close (e.g., “Best,” “Sincerely”) than they were when responding to black or Asian people. And employees were more likely to go “above and beyond” in their service: They were three times as likely to provide extra information — even when the initial inquiry was just about restaurants — to white than to black or Asian people.


Our research suggests that this belief — that a nonwhite person cannot or will not be a legitimate customer — can indeed worsen discrimination in service delivery. In a follow-up study, we emailed nearly 2,000 hotels and made a similar inquiry about local restaurants. But this time, in addition to varying the race of the inquirers, we varied whether they made clear their intention to stay at the hotel. Indeed, making customer status explicit helped reduce discrimination against minority people. These results are in line with the recent incident at Starbucks: We see that service workers do not apply the rule that every person is a potential customer deserving the same level of service.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/starbucks-racism-customer-service.html

April 21, 2018

how many working people play golf from 9am to 2pm on a friday morning? just one

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.: The president has returned to Mar-a-Lago after nearly five hours at Trump International Golf Club in suburban West Palm Beach. No word on if he played golf, what he shot or with whom he played.

The president is not expected to leave Mar-a-Lago for the remainder of the day.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/trump-palm-beach-pre-dawn-tweet-from-mar-lago-58th-about-comey/fiBTcs5PwAgeiiYRL8iX5N/

April 21, 2018

another pic Trump doesnt want on the internet

President Donald Trump made a rare appearance wearing his reading glasses as he headed to the golf course Friday morning.

The president left his Mar-a-Lago estate for a game of golf around 9am but hid his face from reporters to avoid showing off his spectacles.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5640683/Camera-shy-President-Trump-makes-rare-appearance-wearing-glasses-hides-face-reporters.html#ixzz5DH8Ul4RH
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April 20, 2018

EPA working to limit agency's use of science "Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment"

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) political staffers have been working to internally replicate through agency action a bill that would restrict the kind of science that the EPA can use when writing regulations, internal emails show.

EPA head Scott Pruitt met with Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, on Jan. 9, according to a copy of Pruitt’s public schedule.

Smith, for years, has been pushing to restrict the type of scientific findings accepted by the EPA. His repeatedly sponsored bill, now called the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment (HONEST) ACT, would mandate all scientific data and findings be made publicly available before they are used to justify agency regulations. Opponents of the idea say that it would exclude a number of public health studies.


Newly released emails show that Pruitt and his staff are working to essentially replicate Smith’s proposal, and spent a majority of February working to finalize the policy.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/384039-internal-emails-show-epa-working-to-limit-agencys-use-of-science

April 20, 2018

EPA Chief Scott Pruitt's aides and security agents spent $45,000 on trip to Australia

EPA Chief Scott Pruitt's aides and security agents spent $45,000 on trip to Australia

Pruitt's team spent about $45,000 to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled.
The EPA chief has been under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses.
The purchase of five business-class tickets costing $9,000 each was not a violation of U.S. government policy, which allows federal employees to travel business class on trips lasting 14 hours or more.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses, spent about $45,000 in government money to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled.

Two of his aides and three security agents flew to Australia last August on business-class tickets costing roughly $9,000 each to set up meetings for the EPA administrator.

The purchase of business-class tickets was not a violation of U.S. government policy, which allows federal employees to travel business class on trips lasting 14 hours or more.

But the spending on a five-person "advance" team for the Australia trip, revealed by U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters, comes as Pruitt faces scrutiny over his own frequent first-class travel and spending on such items as a 24-hour security detail.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/epa-chief-scott-pruitts-aides-and-security-agents-spent-45000-on-trip-to-australia.html

April 20, 2018

Theta Tau, Professional Engineering Fraternity - Tau Chapter explain the video

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/04/20/fraternity-says-oath-pledging-to-hate-blacks-hispanics-and-jews-was-satire-of-a-republican/?utm_term=.a45bee7f6984

Theta Tau, Professional Engineering Fraternity - Tau Chapter
Dear Syracuse University Community:

First and foremost, every single member of Theta Tau would like to apologize to everyone affected by the racist video that was recorded as a part of our new member process. Theta Tau is made up of a diverse group of engineering students from a variety of nationalities, beliefs, and backgrounds, and we strongly believe that racism has no place on a university campus. College is supposed to be about the ideals of the future – a new generation to replace the old one – and it’s with profound embarrassment and disappointment in ourselves that we find our fraternity in this situation. Anyone of color or of any marginalized group who has seen this video has every right to be angry and upset with the despicable contents of that video.

For those of you who do not know Theta Tau, we are ashamed that this is the first time you’re hearing of us. Our house is not and has never been a place for hate. We have a no tolerance policy for troubling and offensive behavior. We welcome members of all backgrounds. We support the shared community that we all live in with events, fundraisers, and any way that we can. Of course, none of this can possibly excuse the words that came from our fraternity house last month, no matter the context the words were used in.

However, we do believe that it is important to understand that context. Not to make excuses for the content of the video, but hopefully to make those who have been hurt by this video understand that Theta Tau is not a hate group in their midst—that we are not a house full of bigots or those willing to tolerate bigotry. Hopefully, understanding the circumstances of the video – as well as our initial response – will help ease some of the pain caused by the horrible words that this video contains.

Each semester our new members are given the opportunity to write and act out a skit, in order to roast the active brothers. This event was never intended to be centered around racism or hate. This year, one of these brothers is a conservative Republican, and the new members roasted him by playing the part of a racist conservative character. It was a satirical sketch of an uneducated, racist, homophobic, misogynist, sexist, ableist and intolerant person. The young man playing the part of this character nor the young man being roasted do not hold any of the horrible views espoused as a part of that sketch. We would like to believe that the new members seen in the video laughing at the horrible things being said were not laughing in concurrence with these beliefs, but in fact the opposite—that racism, sexism and homophobia are so wrong that they are laughable. None of the satire was said or done in malice.

That said, many bright lines were obviously crossed. The language used in this sketch is disgraceful, and it made the active brothers very uncomfortable. Our organization would never demand, or even ask our new members to recite any of this. We spoke to the new members about their actual beliefs shortly after their parody and we all agreed that those words should never be spoken—in our house, or anywhere.

Engineers join our organization with the intent of entering a diverse group of people, so that we can all grow into better individuals. We are open-minded, scholarly leaders, both in our profession and in the community. We want to let everyone on our campus know that we are truly sorry, and that nothing like this will ever again be tolerated. Not in private, not as part of a joke—not ever. We cannot apologize enough for the pain, sadness and fear that this has caused. Our heart breaks when we see the protests and Hendricks Chapel congregations when we see the pain that our brothers have caused. As the diverse organization that we are, many of us have shared the same emotions regarding the toxic social and political environment in our country. We understand that we have thrown a lot of fuel into an intolerant fire burning throughout our community, and we know that this issue is much larger than just an isolated incident in our basement.

We hear you all, and we also want to take action, to make the world a better, safer, more inclusive place for everyone. We promise to maintain a dialogue with our peers about bettering our community. It is everyone’s responsibility to help marginalized groups have power and a voice, and we want to create a platform to support doing so. We feel that it is crucial that the dialogue of intolerance at Syracuse does not end here, and we are calling for all other aligning organizations to contact us at tauthetatau@gmail.com so that we may realize change.

Sincerely, Tau of Theta Tau
http://www.tauthetatau.com/

April 19, 2018

Syracuse University suspends fraternity after 'extremely racist' video surfaces

Kent Syverud, Syracuse's chancellor, said of the video purportedly showing members of Theta Tau: "I am appalled and shaken by this."


The videos, Syverud said, includes "words and behaviors that are extremely racist, anti-semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities. I am appalled and shaken by this and deeply concerned for all members of our community."

Earlier Wednesday, Syracuse students demonstrated in front of the chancellor's building and the Theta Tau fraternity to demand the release of the videos after they were removed from Facebook. Later, The Daily Orange, an independently run school newspaper, shared a copy of a six-minute video from an initiation ceremony.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/syracuse-university-suspends-fraternity-after-extremely-racist-video-surfaces-n867401

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=rwi4gnJSSZg

April 19, 2018

YouTube star faces jail time after feeding toothpaste-filled Oreo to homeless man

The prank is common enough. Scrape the frosting off an Oreo cookie, fill it with white toothpaste and serve it to an unsuspecting person. Then you watch them cringe.

YouTube star Kanghua Ren, who broadcasts under the name ReSet, faces up to two years in prison after serving a homeless man one such perverted Oreo, multiple international media outlets report.

----

In one encounter, Kanghua hands €20 ($25) and a cookie to a man on the street, which authorities identified as 52-year-old Gheorge L., according to the Independent. While the man eats the Oreo, Kanghua starts to question himself: "Maybe I've gone a bit far," he says, per video obtained by the British news outlet.

"But look at the positive side," he continues, "This will help him clean his teeth. I think he hasn't cleaned them since he became poor."

--

Controversy followed immediately after Kanghua posted the video, which he later deleted. The YouTuber also attempted to make amends with Gheorge L. by visiting him, camera in-tow, with the intention of spending the night with him, upon which a witness called authorities. Prosecutors said Kangua offered the homeless man €300 ($371) to keep quiet, the Telegraph reported.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/youtube-oreo-toothpaste-reset-kanghua-jail-spain-12846035.php

April 19, 2018

GOP going for another massive tax cut in the summer to improve chances at the polls

Heading into a contentious campaign for control of Congress, Republicans are increasingly divided over how to bolster their signature legislative achievement — a $1.5 trillion tax cut — amid signs it is not the political gift they had expected it to be last year.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) aims to pass another massive tax cut this summer, which Republicans hope will rev up the GOP base and improve the standing of Republicans at the polls.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is under pressure to block a vote, which Republican campaign strategists worry could allow red-state Democrats to vote for additional tax cuts and undermine one of the GOP’s most effective lines of attack in conservative-leaning states: that Democrats voted against a big tax cut last December.

“That’s a very serious concern, and Senator McConnell is going to have to decide what happens in the Senate,” said Ryan Ellis, senior tax adviser with the conservative Family Business Coalition.


***

Republicans had bet that increasing the take-home pay of Americans would help them defeat Democrats come November. But months after the tax cut started to affect paychecks, polling shows the legislation remains unpopular. A Wall Street Journal and NBC News poll published this week found that 27 percent of respondents thought the tax law was a good idea, while 36 percent said it was a bad idea.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/republicans-fear-political-risk-in-senate-races-as-house-moves-to-extend-tax-cuts/2018/04/18/5eb250a4-4313-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html?utm_term=.ff4dd690cce6

April 18, 2018

TOO MANY MEN: Nothing like this has happened in human history.

Nothing like this has happened in human history. A combination of cultural preferences, government decree and modern medical technology in the world’s two largest countries has created a gender imbalance on a continental scale. Men outnumber women by 70 million in China and India.

The consequences of having too many men, now coming of age, are far-reaching: Beyond an epidemic of loneliness, the imbalance distorts labor markets, drives up savings rates in China and drives down consumption, artificially inflates certain property values, and parallels increases in violent crime, trafficking or prostitution in a growing number of locations.

Those consequences are not confined to China and India, but reach deep into their Asian neighbors and distort the economies of Europe and the Americas, as well. Barely recognized, the ramifications of too many men are only starting to come into sight.


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“There are very few girls here, and many girls from outside won’t want to marry into this village because it’s poor,” said 25-year-old Zhou Haijiang, as he laid the tiles in one of the house’s many bathrooms. Only a show of prosperity can attract, and hold, a bride.

“In our village, if you want to find a wife, you have to build a house.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/world/too-many-men/?utm_term=.da7d6d34b817


‘There’s too many men’

First the girls refused to go to class. Then they launched a sit-in in the center of town. Then they stopped eating.

A group of 11-graders in the Indian village of Gothra Tappa Dahina sparked a public revolt because they were tired of being harassed by men as they walked to school in a neighboring town. Nearly every day on the road, they said, they would be circled by young men buzzing them on motorbikes, grabbing their scarves, their bodies, and calling them sexually provocative names.

Street harassment — called “eve teasing” here — has long been a problem in Indian society, which remains deeply patriarchal despite years of economic growth and superficial signs of change. Now, the widening imbalance between numbers of men and women in the country is exacerbating the problem, public safety officials believe.