The white part of the story

https://mic.com/articles/148294/this-white-woman-s-shocking-account-of-police-brutality-has-a-lesson-about-race-in-america#.w7PjMaiQp

When I was 19, I was driving home erratically, crying. I did a rolling stop through a red light. I was a mile away from my house. I got pulled over…

He drug me out of the open car window and onto the ground. He kicked me in the ribs. He fractured my wrist cuffing me and picking me up by the link between the cuffs. He held his boot to the back of my head with my face on loose gravel, leaving what would later become scars. He bounced my head off the side of the car when he was putting me in, all while laughing…

Do you know what I was arrested for and charged with that day? Resisting arrest…

Fast forward to the jail. I’d never been in trouble. Had no idea what to expect. I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t breathe. I told them he’d broken my wrist but they wouldn’t believe me. They strapped me in a chair when I wouldn’t calm down. Strap on your forehead. Strap on your chest. Strap on each arm and each leg. Like a beast. I remember begging for someone to scratch my nose, hysterically sobbing. I remember being in that chair for hours, topless, because I’d gotten “unruly” during the strip, cough, and squat procedure and refused to do it. So they ripped my shirt off and as I fought them, they put me in the chair. I tried to fight back against a female guard when she tried to rip my pants off. I didn’t understand why I was there. I didn’t understand what was happening. I didn’t think I should have been arrested. I was livid. And loud.

Then they parked me. For five hours. In that chair. Strapped down. In front of a men’s holding cell. I was literally losing my mind. It was a black man who, for five hours, while incarcerated himself, talked calmly and softly to me. Sang to me. Said every kind thing you could imagine. I finally stopped screaming and trying to head butt or kick anyone who passed. He said, “Stop, or they’ll kill you. Just stop baby girl. It’s ok. You’ll be ok if you stop.” He was an angel…

A week later police in the same town shot an unarmed and senile very elderly black man in the face because he wouldn’t come with them. There were no videos. There was no social media. You haven’t heard about him. But he’s dead. You won’t hear his story.

This arrest is still on my record. It doesn’t prevent me from anything but I do have to explain felony charges when I get pulled over or apply for a job.

I have never publicly told this story.

I tell it to you, today.

And here’s why:

If I were a black man, I would be dead. Plain and simple. Pretty white girls don’t get shot during wrongful arrests…

Of course they riot. What else are they supposed to do? Watch their brothers, fathers, husbands get gunned down in complacent silence? How many stories have we not heard because there is no tape? How many more deaths are there?

How do we protect our brothers and sisters of color? What can we do? We need to move. We need to make something happen. This is unacceptable.

‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬

Please show your support for this courageous woman by liking her post on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/molly.suzanna

Upgrading to Windows 10?

I don’t know how much longer Windows 10 will be free, but since I don’t have the money to fix my laptop should anything go wrong during the upgrade, I think I’ll just pass. Although I have a sneaky suspicion that Microsoft has already downloaded a bunch of Windows 10 through regular updates. (Updates suck.)

If you read the comment section of this article, you’ll see that many of the problems are about other software programs that haven’t been upgraded to work with Windows 10, including games and photo software. These problems can corrupt your files. So, if you do decide to upgrade, you should save everything on a separate hard drive before you make the attempt.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/microsoft-pays-woman-10-000-auto-upgrading-her-163533913.html

Windows 10 auto-upgrades are like a sick, cruel joke being played on us by this point. Most stories that start with “my Windows 10 PC auto-upgraded” tend to end with “and then all my data was lost,” but this particular version has a happy ending, because it involves Microsoft paying out a lot of money.

A California woman has won $10,000 from Microsoft, after the tech giant gave up challenging a court case. Teri Goldstein alleges that after her computer was upgraded to Windows 10, it became slow and unreliable…

Please stop beating your kids

https://www.yahoo.com/news/louisiana-officials-praise-mother-arrested-whipping-sons-214451920.html

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana mother arrested for whipping her three boys after she found out they had burglarized a neighbor’s house has found herself in the national spotlight and is being held up as a model parent by high-ranking state officials.

Schaquana Spears, 30, was arrested Monday in Baton Rouge and charged with two counts of cruelty to juveniles — felony charges. She allegedly whipped her 13- and 12-year-old boys so badly she left marks on their bodies. Lacerations on the 13-year-old’s arms had bled, an East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office report said.

In interviews with the media, including one on nationally televised “CBS This Morning,” Spears has said she whipped her children to make sure they do not take to a life of crime. She said the children’s father was in prison and that she didn’t want them to end up there, too…

She whipped the boys June 17 after she found they had stolen a hoverboard and other items from a neighbor’s house, Brenden Craig, her lawyer, said in a telephone interview.

A sheriff’s report said she whipped them with either an electrical cord or a belt. She also whipped her 10-year-old boy, but not as much as the other two, according to the sheriff’s report…

Since her arrest, she’s received an outpouring of support.

On Wednesday, Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy, a Republican running for a U.S. Senate seat, said in a letter to the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services that Spears should not have been arrested for disciplining her children with corporal punishment.

When did abuse and violence become discipline?

“In biblical times, sparing the rod led to a spoiled child,” he wrote. “In modern times, sparing the rod leads to an imprisoned child.”

Actually, in modern times, the color of your skin and/or the lack of money in your pocket can lead to an imprisoned child.

On Friday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry echoed that sentiment and said in a statement that he was grateful his mother used a rod to teach right from wrong.

“To be a peaceful and moral society, it is imperative our children learn right from wrong,” Landry said. “I am grateful for my loving mother who did not spare the rod to teach this valuable lesson.” …

In a statement, Marketa Walters, the head of the Department of Children and Family Services, said discipline “crosses into abuse when it leaves a child cut, burned, bloody or bruised.” She added: “We’re referring to something more than a mere ‘spanking.'”

Craig’s List is unsafe for women

Yes, I troll Craig’s List for posts about cannabis, but they are few and far between. I would even call them very rare. What you will mostly find on Craig’s List is people (and prostitutes) seeking sex. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many dick pics in one place.

Lately, I’ve been posting ads on Craig’s List warning women about the men I’ve had contact with through that site. Although Craig’s List has no problem with all the disgusting ads posted on its website (including posts about rape and underage sex), it has begun to censor my warnings to other women. I think this is wrong and discriminatory, but it’s not like I can do anything about it.

There are dangerous men on Craig’s List, and I’ve heard from numerous women in response to my warnings who agree with me. If you’re seeking anything on Craig’s List, please be very, very careful, especially if you’re a woman.

If the drug war was over, I wouldn’t have to stoop to things like this. Thanks, DEA.

And just when you thought Drumpf was the worst thing in the news

https://mic.com/articles/144393/white-high-school-footballers-allegedly-raped-disabled-black-teammate-in-idaho#.Lz7IoKj7Y

Three white teenage boys at Dietrich High School in Idaho are accused of coaxing a black, mentally disabled teammate into what he thought was a hug in their locker room, before they held him down and raped him in the rectum with a coat hanger on Oct. 23, 2015. Now two of the boys are being charged as adults with “forcible sexual penetration by use of a foreign object.”

The boy accused of holding his teammate down will be charged as a juvenile. However, 17-year-old Tanner Ward is accused of forcibly penetrating the victim with the hanger, while 18-year-old John R. K. Howard allegedly repeatedly kicked the hanger into the victim’s rectum, causing physical harm.

“I screamed,” the victim said during a pretrial hearing in April, according to Magic Valley. “I was pretty upset. I felt really bad. A little bit betrayed and confused at the same time. It was terrible — a pain I’ve never felt.”

The victim’s family is also suing Dietrich High School for $10 million, arguing the rape was the apex of months-long racial bullying and harassment.

The civil complaint alleges he “was taunted and called racist names by other members of the team, which names included ‘Kool-Aid,’ ‘chicken eater,’ ‘watermelon’ and [the N-word],” the Washington Post reports. He was also reportedly forced to sing “Notorious KKK,” a racist, extremist song.

The lawsuit argues that Howard in particular targeted the victim, who, according to the suit, suffers from “mental disorders, including learning disabilities,” and that the school not only failed to thwart the abuse but encouraged it.

I know you don’t want to read about stuff like this. But I can’t help but wonder, WTF? Why would anyone want to hurt another person like that? So physically and intimately. Punishingly. I’ve known fear, but I just can’t see how these actions were caused by fear. I know that most bullies have been bullied themselves, but a hanger in a sexual assault? Why, dudes, why? To feel powerful? To feel sexually powerful? Is it mental illness?

WTF?

DHL scam

From: ONLINE EXPRESS peterrate@btinternet.com
Re: YOUR DHL PARCEL IS HERE

YOU HAVE A PARCEL THROUGH DHL WAITING FOR YOU TODAY. 5/11/2016
We will kindly need to verify you and confirm Parcel Destination below,

VIEW YOUR PARCEL ONLINE

NOTE : This DHL link expires after 4 hours of invalid verification for security purpose.
We are ready to receive your comments and to serve you better every day.

Thanks for choosing DHL Express.
Warm Regards,
DHL Express Team

Excellence. Simply Delivered: International express deliveries; global freight forwarding by air, sea, road and rail; warehousing solutions from packaging, to repairs, to storage; mail deliveries worldwide; and other customized logistic services – DHL does with everything, we help connect people and improve Reviews their lives.
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

One day, DHL will deliver my preferred medicine to my front door, and I’ll never have to look for bud again.

Notice of Appearance in Court scam

Sun, Apr 17, 2016 4:46 pm
Re: Notice of appearance in Court #000957561
From: (District Court) brandon.cohen@seebuy.co.il

Notice to Appear,

You have to appear in the Court on the April 23.
Please, do not forget to bring all the documents related to the case.
Note: The case may be heard by the judge in your absence if you do not come.

The Court Notice is attached to this email.

Sincerely,
Brandon Cohen,
District Clerk.

The email address is an obvious red flag. And the email was sent on a Sunday, when the courts are closed. Brandon Cohen has a LinkedIn page, indicating that he used to work at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. (Of course, I’ve never lived in Philadelphia.) The email has an attachment, which undoubtedly contains a virus. Still, I imagine this scam catches quite a few people, scared that they’ve missed some important court date.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/courtnotice.asp

http://www.wafb.com/story/24410179/notice-of-appearance-in-court-email-is-a-scam-do-not-open

Use your power wisely

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/survey-bloggers-now-have-a-bigger-influence-than-celebrities-040116.html

According to a new survey by marketing firm Collective Bias, the reigns of influence may be in the hands of non-celebrity bloggers. A survey of 14,000 people revealed that a mere 3% of participants said they would consider buying a celebrity-endorsed item. Sixty percent, however, said they have been influenced by a blog or social media post when shopping…

#WWJD?

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/2/trump-might-be-fine-with-torture-but-most-americans-arent.html

Support for torture is particularly strong among Republicans: In the 2015 poll, for example, a hefty 73 percent came out in favor, compared with 46 percent of Democrats. Moreover, after the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino late last year, Americans are particularly concerned about national security…

But there is more to these polls than meets the eye. Those who do back torture tend to support its use in exceptional circumstances, such as the “ticking time-bomb” scenario, when a bomb is about to go off and torture is required to find it. When politicians say they will reauthorize the rough stuff, it is usually for such restricted situations. While this might amount to occasional support for harsh methods, it is hardly the same as unqualified enthusiasm. So, a CBS poll from 2014 found that 49 percent of Americans thought enhanced interrogation techniques were “sometimes justified,” versus 36 percent who did not…

I don’t know why so many Americans still believe that torture works. I know what torture feels like, even if I’ve never been waterboarded.

Keep in mind, when you support torture — in any circumstance — our enemies then have the right to do the same. And eye for an eye, right? Anyway, we don’t need to understand our enemies when we can bomb the shit out of them from the sky. Or when we can lock them away in prison.

At the New Hampshire debate, for example, Cruz said he wouldn’t bring back enhanced interrogation in any sort of “widespread use” because “bad things happen” when it spreads…

Too late, dude.

So, torture supporters, I’m just wondering:  What would Jesus do?

John Void
I wouldn’t have tortured him, but if Trump insists on volunteering to be tortured, I won’t stand in the way. I mean, if that’s what he really wants. As long as he’s not hurting anybody else, I’ll try to be open-minded about his lifestyle.

It’s Getting Harder to Pay the Rent in America

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-24/it-s-getting-harder-to-pay-the-rent-in-america

It’s been more than 15 years since Congress increased funding for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the government’s primary method for encouraging construction of affordable housing…

There are 3.9 million low-income households that lack access to affordable housing, according to Cantwell’s office. Just as troubling, the number of U.S. households spending 50 percent of their income on rent could increase to 15 million by 2025…

Rental housing often gets short shrift from politicians, at least compared with proposals to promote home ownership…

So many tax breaks revolve around home ownership (and marriage), something tens of millions of renters (and singles) will never be able to take advantage of (we always get screwed).

Desperation and religion

http://www.king5.com/story/money/consumer/2016/03/16/seattle-man-return-millions-people-online-prayers/81885390/

Ferguson says Rogovy operated the Christian Prayer Center, creating fake religious leaders and posting false testimonials on its website to entice people to pay from $9 to $35 for prayers. The attorney general says Rogovy collected over $7 million from consumers between 2011 and 2015…

Consumers nationwide who purchased prayer services from Christian Prayer Service or Oracion Cristiana between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2015 can receive a full refund…

The Eviction Epidemic

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/eviction-matthew-desmond-book_us_56e996e3e4b065e2e3d82403

Throughout Evicted, Desmond underscores how eviction destabilizes both his white and black subjects, calling attention to this nationwide epidemic. But the book makes it clear that the problem is especially pervasive for low-income black women struggling to stay in their homes…

“If incarceration had come to define the lives of men from impoverished black neighborhoods, eviction was shaping the lives of women,” Desmond writes. “Poor black men were locked up. Poor black women were locked out.” …

Surveying tenants at court in 2011, Desmond found that people with children at home were almost three times more likely to receive an eviction judgement.

“Children didn’t shield families from eviction; they exposed them to it,” he writes…

The book describes how families with eviction records are forced to find rentals with looser requirements, and end up in homes in poor condition or in more dangerous areas. Landlords make serious profits on the worst housing by exploiting desperate tenants…

Internet down

I’m at a public WiFi right now, trying to find out why my internet connection isn’t working. Getting help from Century Link is not something you want to do when you’re in a lot of pain — or even if you’re not. Dolores from Century Link says there’s an outage that could last for 24 hours (probably more), and when I asked for more information, she disconnected me. So, I don’t know when I’ll be back… Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Thinking of you, Daniel Haslam

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/24/health/medical-marijuana-legal-australia-irpt/index.html?eref=rss_health

(CNN) The Australian Parliament passed a measure Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana…

The decision came exactly a year after 25-year-old Daniel Haslam lost his life to terminal bowel cancer. Haslam used medical marijuana to ease his pain and nausea before he died last February.

His mother, Lucy, started a medical cannabis advocacy group called United in Compassion and petitioned for the government to make it legal.

Australian Sen. Richard Di Natale brought up Haslam’s story before Parliament on Wednesday. “It is incredibly fitting that today we are passing this bill which is one step towards making medicinal cannabis accessible to people like Dan,” Di Natale said.

“Thank you to Lucy for everything you have done. Please know that your family’s grief, pain and suffering has not been in vain and this is a legacy that Dan will leave here in Parliament.”

http://in.reuters.com/article/us-canada-marijuana-medical-idINKCN0VX2FH

A federal court judge in Vancouver on Wednesday ruled that medical marijuana patients have the Constitutional right to grow their own cannabis, striking down a ban introduced by Canada’s previous Conservative government…

How Making Eviction Easier Became a Hot New Industry

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-23/how-making-eviction-easier-became-a-hot-new-industry

In November, Bay Management Group tried to evict Dinickyo Brown over $336 in unpaid rent. Brown, who pays $650 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in Northeast Baltimore, fought back, arguing the charges arose after she complained of mold. The landlord dropped the case, only to file a fresh eviction action—this time for $290.

“They drag you back and forth to rent court, and even if you win, it goes onto your record,” says Brown, who explains that mold triggers her epilepsy. “If you try to rent other properties or buy a home, they look at your records and say: You’ve been to rent court.”

The story, as Brown tells it, may become the new normal. In Baltimore, landlords initiated 150,000 eviction proceedings last year, according to one estimate. In 2014, landlords nationwide started 3.4 million evictions. That kind of volume has created a fertile market for companies that offer to assist with such cases. Click Notices Inc., an Annapolis, Md.-based startup, is one of them, and it’s the one that filed both actions against Brown…

“I think you have to ask, when you make it so easy to file, are you creating a system where it’s very easy to get people into court and bully them?” says Zafar Shah, an attorney at Public Justice Center, a civil legal aid organization based in Baltimore…

Click Notices encourages its clients to start eviction proceedings as early as possible because removing problem tenants opens up apartments for people who need affordable housing and are willing to pay on time.

It could have unexpected benefits for cities starved for apartments that renters can afford, he explains. “How do you build more affordable housing? You could start by making the sector more efficient,” says Sigler. “Capital won’t flow into the sector when 40 percent of tenants won’t pay on time.”

Won’t pay on time? Willing to pay on time? Do you think the corporate world might consider that rents are too damn high?