Police Behaving Badly 11.27.15

From the use of excessive force to stealing drugs from suspects…from racial profiling to abusing the power of their badges…from sexually assaulting suspects to planting evidence…there is a never-ending stream of stories of law enforcement officials behaving irresponsibly, unethically, immorally, and/or criminally. Examples of such offenses occur almost every day. Many are likely not even heard of by the media. Moreover, law enforcement officials so often aren’t charged with crimes, and if they are, they’re found ‘not guilty’. While we can’t be sure cops will face punishment for their actions, we can be sure they’ll receive support from the community and politicians-no matter how heinous their actions are. It has become increasingly clear that we are living in something of a police state. Here are five recent examples that help paint an image of the United States as a police state:

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Police Behaving Badly 11.27.15
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How will disoriented parents in the UK cope?

I don’t remember the exact age when I first walked into a Toys R Us. I think I was older than 8 and younger than 15 (really narrows it down, huh). I vaguely recall thinking it was so cool. All the toys, stuffed animals, games and more. It was like heaven for kids (except here, you could see the toys and touch them to know they actually existed). My first few times going, my interests were straight up Transformers. Not those knock off GoBots. I wanted the ‘robots in disguise’. I’d walk up and down the aisles of the boys section at Toys R Us looking for them. And when I finally did, I never wanted to leave. I wanted to sit there on the floor and play with them all (for some reason the store frowned upon opening the boxes and having an Autobot/Decepticon war in the middle of the aisle). I remember having several Transformers as a kid: Metroplex, the Combaticons, Hot Rod, Springer, the Constructicons, Blue Streak, Scorponok, several of the triple changers (can’t remember their names), Astrotrain, one or two of the Headmasters toys. Man, what fun.  Ah, the memories. The days of cool toys for boys. But now it looks like those days may be numbered, as Toys R Us-in a bid to combat gender stereotypes-has ::gasp:: dropped gender filters from its UK website!!!

Continue reading “How will disoriented parents in the UK cope?”

How will disoriented parents in the UK cope?

Hey Spirit Airlines! Here’s another group you ought to watch out for.

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad by the Islamic extremist group Daesh*, conservatives in the United States have been tripping over themselves to profess their opposition to allowing Syrian refugees to emigrate to the United States. In their eyes, the terrorists who killed more than 100 people in France were Syrian refugees, and so the U.S. government must prevent “those people” from entering our country. Ted Cruz has proposed a religious test for Syrian refugees. Raging misogynist, homophobe, transphobe, and all ’round bigot Mike Huckabee (seriously, I think he checks off every form of bigotry I can think of) thinks that only Muslims are terrorists. Indiana governor Mike Pence turned away a refugee family who were supposed to be resettled in Indiana (but curiously, he couldn’t offer a reason why-it’s almost like he didn’t want to openly admit that he’s a bigot; thankfully Connecticut‘s  governor decided to do what decent human beings do and accepted the family into his state). Not to be outdone by such antipathy, former neurosurgeon and GOP presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson recently compared Syrian refugees to rabid dogs (and may I just point out how surreal it is that a black man in the United States would dehumanize another group of people at all, let alone by comparing them to animals). Carson’s closest competition in the presidential race (and I cannot believe I just typed that), Donald Trump, cranked up the anti-Muslim hysteria to a new level by trying out for ‘Who wants to emulate the Nazis‘ (he’s also proposed shutting down mosques). Despite all the available evidence showing the Parisian terrorists to be European nationals rather than refugees, conservative rhetoric in the U.S. continues to focus on ‘how can we shit on refugees’. However, politicians and presidential candidates are not the only ones who have thrown their arms open and welcomed bigotry and discrimination into their hearts (nor are they the only ones seemingly incapable of performing a Google search). There are plenty of regressive assholes in the general population. Among them, a passenger on a recent Spirit Airlines flight who thought four of her fellow passengers were engaged in suspicious behavior.

Continue reading “Hey Spirit Airlines! Here’s another group you ought to watch out for.”

Hey Spirit Airlines! Here’s another group you ought to watch out for.

Hey Spirit Airlines! Here's another group you ought to watch out for.

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad by the Islamic extremist group Daesh*, conservatives in the United States have been tripping over themselves to profess their opposition to allowing Syrian refugees to emigrate to the United States. In their eyes, the terrorists who killed more than 100 people in France were Syrian refugees, and so the U.S. government must prevent “those people” from entering our country. Ted Cruz has proposed a religious test for Syrian refugees. Raging misogynist, homophobe, transphobe, and all ’round bigot Mike Huckabee (seriously, I think he checks off every form of bigotry I can think of) thinks that only Muslims are terrorists. Indiana governor Mike Pence turned away a refugee family who were supposed to be resettled in Indiana (but curiously, he couldn’t offer a reason why-it’s almost like he didn’t want to openly admit that he’s a bigot; thankfully Connecticut‘s  governor decided to do what decent human beings do and accepted the family into his state). Not to be outdone by such antipathy, former neurosurgeon and GOP presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson recently compared Syrian refugees to rabid dogs (and may I just point out how surreal it is that a black man in the United States would dehumanize another group of people at all, let alone by comparing them to animals). Carson’s closest competition in the presidential race (and I cannot believe I just typed that), Donald Trump, cranked up the anti-Muslim hysteria to a new level by trying out for ‘Who wants to emulate the Nazis‘ (he’s also proposed shutting down mosques). Despite all the available evidence showing the Parisian terrorists to be European nationals rather than refugees, conservative rhetoric in the U.S. continues to focus on ‘how can we shit on refugees’. However, politicians and presidential candidates are not the only ones who have thrown their arms open and welcomed bigotry and discrimination into their hearts (nor are they the only ones seemingly incapable of performing a Google search). There are plenty of regressive assholes in the general population. Among them, a passenger on a recent Spirit Airlines flight who thought four of her fellow passengers were engaged in suspicious behavior.

Continue reading “Hey Spirit Airlines! Here's another group you ought to watch out for.”

Hey Spirit Airlines! Here's another group you ought to watch out for.

Eclectic Eats 11.19.15

I’m here to share with readers some of the unique dishes I’ve encountered during my online wanderings. The theme of this edition fits this time of the year: soup. In the last few years, I’ve come to really like eating a variety of soups, especially in the fall and winter months. There’s something very comforting about soup, and I love the fact that you can make use of leftovers to come up with a quick and easy soup. As usual, I’ll add my thoughts on each entry and then I’ll give my verdict on whether or not I’d try the dish. In addition to my final verdict, I’m adding a numerical score (based on a 10-point scale) which reflects my excitement over each dish.

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Eclectic Eats 11.19.15

The Roost will be down for the next 24 hours or so

Just like the title says. These ridiculous wait times for loading a page on my blog are, well, ridiculous. The Wizard is going to spend the next day tinkering with stuff behind the scenes, so the blog won’t be available, nor will commenting. As soon as this problem is fixed, things will be back up and running, which I need, bc I have an Eclectic Eats waiting to be posted and a new Police Behaving Badly and a few other things.

The Roost will be down for the next 24 hours or so

Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad

Terrorism
Fucking terrorists. By now, most people who keep track of news to any significant degree are aware of the terrorist attacks in Paris. I’ve read several articles relating to the attacks from US sources, but wanted to get news from sources closer to Paris, so I’ve been reading France24. The attacks, which apparently took place at six different locations in and around Paris, occurred around 10 pm (local time). Last time I took a look at fatalities, more than 127 people had died, with 180 injured (and 80 of those were serious injuries). You can take a wild guess who is claiming responsibility. Once again it’s those assholes in ISIS:

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Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad

I’m all aboard the ‘no more tipping’ train

ShoopsRoostTipping
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about restaurant owners doing away with tipping. Most recently, I read about Toronto restaurant owner Hemant Bhagwani owner of Indian Street Food Company who has chosen to eliminate tips bc he feels doing so will allow him to retain the best talent:

Continue reading “I’m all aboard the ‘no more tipping’ train”

I’m all aboard the ‘no more tipping’ train

I'm all aboard the 'no more tipping' train

ShoopsRoostTipping
Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about restaurant owners doing away with tipping. Most recently, I read about Toronto restaurant owner Hemant Bhagwani owner of Indian Street Food Company who has chosen to eliminate tips bc he feels doing so will allow him to retain the best talent:

Continue reading “I'm all aboard the 'no more tipping' train”

I'm all aboard the 'no more tipping' train