May 1, 2021

Would you actually live in a city or town that defunded or abolished the police.

Congressional Democrats want to make it easier to identify and prosecute police misconduct; Joe Biden wants to give police departments $300 million. But efforts to solve police violence through liberal reforms like these have failed for nearly a century.

Enough. We can’t reform the police. The only way to diminish police violence is to reduce contact between the public and the police.

I’ve been advocating the abolition of the police for years. Regardless of your view on police power — whether you want to get rid of the police or simply to make them less violent — here’s an immediate demand we can all make: Cut the number of police in half and cut their budget in half. Fewer police officers equals fewer opportunities for them to brutalize and kill people. The idea is gaining traction in Minneapolis, Dallas, Los Angeles and other cities.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html


I get the feeling that many people who want to abolish the police would not actually be willing to live in the areas where this would take place. It seems like an easy thing to espouse when living in your low crime diverse suburb.

Less an obvious choice if you already live in a place scarred by criminal elements.

May 1, 2021

The Complicated Reality of Thrift Store 'Gentrification'

Once again young rich and often white people steal from the poor by going into thier areas and taking all their nice things.

https://jezebel.com/the-complicated-reality-of-thrift-store-gentrification-1846113458


“When you yuppie scalpers fill up your shopping carts you fuck over the lower class, designer students, and both,” TikTok user @pheusthefetus says in a video with over 90,000 views checking out a local “gentrified thrift store,” where he points to two pairs of sneakers priced $69.99 and $79.99, not much lower than what he finds later at a local store for brand new. Someone writes “depop sellers 🤝 landlords,” in the comments, referring to the London-based resale app that brands itself as “peer-to-peer shopping.” “This is fcking gentrification,” reads the caption of another TikTok with over 290,000 complaining about a Depop seller advertising a $50 vest they “probably thrifted for two dollars,” among other wares.

Shopping secondhand in an era of fast fashion might seem like an ethical no-brainer, but enthusiastic thrifters and TikTok influencers often debate the ethics of what many have called “thrift store gentrification.” Thrift store gentrification describes the phenomenon of affluent shoppers who voluntarily buy merchandise from second-hand clothing stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army. When those same shoppers resell that merchandise on Depop or Poshmark at significantly higher prices, the prices at thrift stores then rise to meet the demand, or so popular TikTok videos claim. A store then becomes “gentrified” in the same way a neighborhood might, pushing out low-income buyers to make way for those with a surplus of cash. The discourse around this gentrification also broaches the topic of trendy or particularly good merchandise being bought up by such resellers, thereby denying the low-income communities stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army serve access to this merchandise. The resellers accused of contributing to thrift store gentrification are often called out for mislabeling thrifted children’s clothing as “vintage” to drive seller traffic, Vox reported.


In college student newspapers across the country, young essayists and reporters have tackled the knotty issue of thrift store gentrification in dozens of similar articles. “Resellers surging thrift stores for cool, trendy finds and buying in bulk are ultimately taking away from low-income communities in bulk,” writes Vanessa Delgado for the North Texas Daily. “Thrifting is not wrong but profiting off something that people need in order to maintain their standard of living is.” The debacle of where to buy clothes then is best summed up by a TikTok video from the user @curlie_fries, who rattles off her options in a breathless monologue. “What I’ve learned on TikTok is that I can’t shop at thrift stores because I contribute to the gentrification of thrift store prices,” she says. “But I also shouldn’t shop at fast places like Forever 21 because they use child labor sweat shops.” She can’t afford high fashion either, and can’t shop from Amazon because of Jeff Bezos, so what’s a girl to do?

April 26, 2021

Val Demings: officer who shot Ma'Khia Bryant 'responded as he was trained'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/25/val-demings-makhia-bryant-killing


Val Demings, a Democratic congresswoman and former police chief, said on Sunday the officer who fatally shot teenager Ma’Khia Bryant in Ohio this week “responded as he was trained to do”.

On CBS, the host John Dickerson asked Demings about Reardon’s conduct, which would still be protected under a police reform bill, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which has passed the US House.


“Everybody has the benefit of slowing the video down and seizing the perfect moment,” Demings said. “The officer on the street does not have that ability. He or she has to make those split-second decisions and they’re tough.


“But the limited information that I know in viewing the video, it appears that the officer responded as he was trained to do with the main thought of preventing a tragedy and a loss of life of the person who was about to be assaulted.”


It is important to remember that police reform will not prevent good policing decisions, but instead it will prevent the abuses. There are people out there looking to commit harm to others. We do need a civil authority to deal with such issues as they arise.

April 26, 2021

Turkmenistan dedicates holiday to enormous national dog breed

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/26/turkmenistan-dedicates-holiday-to-enormous-national-dog-breed


Turkmenistan marked a new holiday on Sunday dedicated to its national – and very large – Alabai dog breed, to which its longtime leader has already erected a gilded monument and written an ode.

I am sure Turkmenistan is a horrible country in some way I am ignorant, but I can't hate a country that like its puppies.

April 20, 2021

Lululemon is testing a resale program where shoppers can sell and buy used items

The leggings and sports bra maker announced Tuesday it is piloting a trade-in program in California and Texas next month, which it plans to expand to an online resale program in June.

Starting in May, Lululemon customers in California and Texas will be able to trade in gently used Lululemon items in a store or by mail in exchange for a Lululemon gift card.

The following month, those gently used items will start to be sold online to people who want to pay less and don’t mind a bit of wear on their tops and bottoms. The company is calling the pilot “Like New.” Lululemon is partnering with Trove, a business that already helps brands like Levi’s and Patagonia build out resale marketplaces, to make it happen.

Lululemon says that all traded-in items will be cleaned, and the items that don’t meet its quality standards will be recycled. The retailer says it will rely on shoppers’ feedback in the pilot program before it scales it to other states and more stores.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/lululemon-to-launch-resale-pilot-for-shoppers-to-sell-buy-used-items.html


I draw the line at used sports bras and leggings... They actually shouldn;t wash the used items and just open a store in Japan.

April 20, 2021

9 Children Shot at Louisiana Birthday Party

2 Still Hospitalized with Wounds to Head and Stomach

The shooting occurred on Saturday night after "verbal confrontations" broke out during a 12-year-old's birthday party at a home in LaPlace, Louisiana, according to authorities

Despite the large number of attendees at the party, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said on Monday that no witnesses have come forward with information regarding the shooting.

https://people.com/crime/9-children-shot-at-louisiana-birthday-party-2-still-hospitalized/


Ugh.... I understand not wanting to corporate with the police but seriously a shootout at a child's birthday party over a verbal beef. Some people no longer need to be on the street. By not arresting anyone all you are doing is encouraging more violence and death.

April 19, 2021

Amy Klobuchar takes aim at 12 vaccine misinformation influencers

https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/4/19/22388231/amy-klobuchar-vaccine-misinformation-facebook-twitter-superspreaders?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Senators have written to Facebook and Twitter to ask about vaccine misinformation superspreaders.

As the Covid-19 vaccine rollout continues across the US, some lawmakers are concerned that ongoing misinformation and disinformation campaigns are exacerbating vaccine hesitancy. Now, two senators are turning their attention to the vaccine misinformation superspreaders that push the bulk of conspiracy theories and lies on social media — and asking the social media giants to take more aggressive action.

“For too long, social media platforms have failed to adequately protect Americans by not taking sufficient action to prevent the spread of vaccine disinformation online,” wrote Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) in a Friday letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, which was viewed by Recode. “Despite your policies intended to prevent vaccine disinformation, many of these accounts continue to post content that reach millions of users, repeatedly violating your policies with impunity.”

In particular, the senators urged the companies to take action against 12 anti-vaccine influencers — 11 individuals and one couple — who spread anti-vaccine content on the internet. These accounts include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has pushed distrust in vaccines, and Joseph Mercola, an online alternative medicine proponent who was recently flagged by the Food and Drug Administration for promoting fake Covid-19 cures, including through his still-active Twitter account.

April 18, 2021

Police use Taser twice on Marine veteran in Colorado Springs hospital room

Officers like this need to be arrested. Perhaps a proper arrest record would prevent them from getting work where they violate laws and hurt innocents. Note as of right now they have not even been disciplined.



https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/police-use-taser-twice-on-marine-veteran-in-colorado-springs-hospital-room

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Body camera video from Colorado Springs police officers shows the moments officers used a Taser on a Marine veteran in his daughter’s hospital room after refusing to hand over personal property to officers who failed to present a warrant, according to court documents.

In April of 2019, Carl Anderson Jr.’s daughter was flown to UC Health Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Andersen says his fiancée accidentally hit his daughter with a vehicle while pulling out of the driveway.

“They were not arresting C.J. [Andersen] — they were not arresting anyone — so police have absolutely no right to demand personal property from anyone absent a warrant,” Lane said.

On July 13, 2020, Andersen filed a complaint against the City of Colorado Springs, Teller County and the officers involved in the interaction. The lawsuit claims the officers used violent force and unlawfully arrested Andersen without probable cause or suspicion that he had committed any crime while unarmed.

April 17, 2021

What is going on with Canada?

First, they are handling this virus like they were in Europe or something and then this




If this doesn't cause Japan to postpone the Olympics, nothing will.

April 17, 2021

Minnesota Deploys National Guard Ahead Of Next Week's Police Shooting

ST. PAUL—Activating nearly 3,000 personnel, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz deployed the National Guard to Minneapolis Friday ahead of next week’s police shooting. “We understand that tempers are flared right now, and we urge you to remain calm and demonstrate lawfully following next Wednesday’s tragedy,” said Walz, who explained that local officials would be imposing curfews throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area within the next two weeks in response to the impending officer-involved shooting. “We have reason to believe the next shooting of an unarmed resident will be exceptionally egregious, so we’re giving the National Guard a bit of a head start. Know that I will share the same sentiment as the many of you who will pour into the streets in only a few days’ time, but peaceful protesting will be the answer.” At press time, Walz added that he was prepared to deploy another 1,000 troops to stem protests that would arise in response to the massive bloodshed resulting from police clashes with the original group of protesters.





https://www.theonion.com/minnesota-deploys-national-guard-ahead-of-next-week-s-p-1846699850