| -Land of the Free | |
| Daniel Penny receives prestigious Marine Corps award for his bravery on New York subway | |
| 2025-02-20 | |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Marine veteran Daniel Penny,
Penny, 26, received the coveted Semper Fidelis achievement award by the Marine Corps League at Iwo Jima Day in Boston. The two attorneys who represented him in the case, Thomas Keniff and Steve Raiser, also received honors. The League said Penny represented 'the Espirit De Corps defined by selfless service and sacrifice when he risked his life by defending the people of that New York City train,' Raiser told the New York Post. Kenniff and Raiser then 'defended Danny from a prosecution that never should have been sought.' Penny had faced up to 20 years in prison for his actions onboard the subway on May 1, 2023, when Jordan Neely - a black homeless man and Michael Jackson impersonator with more than 40 previous arrests began 'threatening' passengers. The ex-Marine placed Neely, 30, into a chokehold for roughly six minutes, as caught on camera. Neely died shortly afterward. Following a six-week trial at Manhattan Supreme Court, prosecutors made a bombshell decision to drop the manslaughter charge against him as the jury remained deadlocked. Pushing ahead with lesser charges of negligent homicide, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict days later, prompting a small smile from Penny in the courtroom. Ahead of Wednesday's ceremony, John M. MacGillivray, of the Marine Corps League wrote that the award goes to 'worthy and inspirational recipients'. 'We believe that Daniel Penny and attorneys Raiser and Kenniff deserve such recognition and hope that they will consent to accept these awards,' he said. Raiser, in turn, said he, Kenniff and Penny 'were honored to be in the same room being honored alongside many veterans of prior wars, including an Iwo Jima veteran and a retired general who served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen.' Kenniff also noted that outside of the State House, Brig. General Enoch 'Woody' Woodhouse, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, took Penny's hand, looked him in the eye and said, 'I'm proud of you son.' 'That is a moment I don't think any of us will forget,' he said. While the veterans honored Penny for his heroism, others were left outraged by his acquittal. Neely's father, Andre Zachery, for example, blasted the decision outside the courthouse. 'It really, really hurts,' he said. 'I had enough of this. The system is rigged.' Black Lives Matter leader Walter 'Hawk' Newsome, who said he was Neely's uncle, even went as far as threatening Penny in the courtroom with 'black vigilante' action. He shouted, 'it's a small f**king world, buddy', amid the chaos which followed the verdict being announced at Manhattan Supreme Court on December 9. Then, speaking to media and later protesters outside the courthouse, Newsome said it was time for 'black vigilantes.' 'Everybody else has vigilantes. We need some black vigilantes,' he said. 'People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud, how about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us.' Related: Daniel Penny 02/04/2025 Daniel Penny case: Could Trump DOJ investigate possible 'weaponization' in subway trial? Daniel Penny 12/23/2024 A woman was burned alive on an F train in NYC. The suspect then sat to watch Daniel Penny 12/22/2024 Kamala HQ deletes post making false claims about Tim Pool after successful conclusion to lawsuit | |
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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | ||
| The story behind Daniel Penny 'chokehold murder' that divided America as Marine vet goes to trial | ||
| 2024-10-20 | ||
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A Marine veteran accused of fatally choking a homeless man on a train will face a jury this week in an effort to fight charges that could land him in prison for 19 years. And when Daniel Penny's high-powered legal team mounts his defense, the eyes of the nation will be watching: were his actions a selfless act of heroism, or a cruel show of violence that left a relatively harmless man dead? The 24-year-old launched at Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely,
Witnesses testified that Neely was behaving erratically, screaming and threatening people. Penny held a squirming Neely in a chokehold for six minutes until he lost consciousness. Police who were first to the scene performed CPR - but only after several minutes had gone by and they had first administered a shot of Narcan, it emerged in court during a pretrial hearing earlier this month. Neely was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Penny pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, and his legal team attempted to have the charges dismissed back in January. A jury trial kicks off on October 21, and Penny's defense will argue he intervened to protect himself and other passengers from Neely's 'insanely threatening' actions amid a rash of subway assaults and other crimes in the subway system over the past two years. Neely, who was homeless, was a former Michael Jackson impersonator and had been battling mental illness in the years leading up to his death. Well, he really had the MJ thing down, then The case itself has divided the public. Some agree that Penny acted heroically in the best interest of himself and fellow passengers' safety, while others say it was a blatantly excessive show of force toward a mentally ill, homeless black man. KEY FOOTAGE MISSING FROM EVIDENCE A tourist couple who were on the train and witnessed the incident are reportedly unwilling to turn over footage which Penny's lawyers believe would be 'incredibly favorable' for the former marine. Back in September, the judge revealed the couple 'declined to testify in the Grand Jury, having gone back to their home in Europe someplace' and have also 'so far refused to share the video that they took.' 'They refused to share it with the DA, or with anyone else, and they are so far refusing to come back to testify,' Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said. NARCAN OVER CPR During a pre-trial hearing on October 3, one of the officers who was first on the scene revealed that CPR was not performed on Neely right away, despite indications he was still alive. Instead, they administered a dose of Narcan, the medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. Prosecutors have been at pains to argue that Neely's past conduct and substance issues are not relevant to the case, but the admission gave the defense ammunition to argue that drug use played a factor in how he was treated by officials in his dying moments. STATE ACCUSES PENNY OF EXCESSIVE FORCE While prosecutors have previously accepted that Neely's behavior made some passengers fearful, they argue Penny held him down for significantly longer than was necessary. Assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass wrote in an earlier court filing that at least one witness described Neely's ramblings as 'like another typical day in New York.' He argued that the F train they were traveling on arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station and the door opened less than 30 seconds after the chokehold started. 'Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train,' Steinglass said. 'The defendant continued holding Mr Neely around the neck.' Steinglass said second degree manslaughter only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally. LINKS BETWEEN DA AND PENNY'S DEFENSE Penny's defense attorney has personal history with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Thomas Kenniff was the Republican nominee campaigning for the DA job against Bragg back in 2021, following the retirement of Cyrus Vance Jr. Kenniff was always a long shot given the Democrats significantly outnumbered Republicans in Manhattan. He attempted to argue that Bragg was too soft on crime for the office, and was concerned he would implement 'lenient' policies which could ultimately worsen the crime rate.
Related: Daniel Penny 10/04/2024 Veteran in subway vigilante case wasn't told he killed man threatening passengers during interrogation Daniel Penny 02/17/2024 Feds: Illegal Aliens Charged with Attack on NYPD Officers Members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua Gang Daniel Penny 02/04/2024 Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg DEFENDS releasing migrants accused of attacking cops in Times Square - as Supreme Court Judge slams him for prosecuting COVID-19 vaccine card dodgers while letting violent perps walk | ||
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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Many videos of Diddy and Justin Bieber have been circulating, but I find this one particularly disturbing |
| 2024-09-22 |
| [X] This one shows a visibly uncomfortable, 15 year old Bieber being forced to spend 48 hours with Diddy—doing things "we really can’t disclose," Diddy says. The ghost of Michael Jackson Meanwhile, Diddy is showering Bieber with gifts, such as a Lamborghini and a new mansion. It’s so obvious what’s going on here. It’s blatant grøøming of Bieber, and I truly believe whatever Diddy did to him during those 48 hours led to Bieber falling off the deep end soon thereafter.  |
| Link |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| BREAKING: Hunter Biden's Legal Team Just Got Scorched by Judge for Making False Statements in CA Tax Case |
| 2024-07-25 |
 [Red State] Ouch! That's the only thing I could think to say in response to reading the order handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Scarsi on Wednesday requiring Hunter Biden's legal team to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for making false statements in their recently filed motion to dismiss. While Hunter was presumably focused on his father's Oval Office address, his attorneys were getting lit up by a federal judge.Here's what happened: On July 15th, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the Florida criminal case against former President Donald Trump regarding his alleged improper retention of classified documents on the basis that Special Counsel Jack Smith's appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. On July 18th, Biden's legal team filed a motion to dismiss the California tax case against him, attempting to piggyback off Cannon's ruling and asserting that Special Counsel David Weiss, likewise, was improperly appointed and thus didn't have authority to bring the charges against Biden. In the motion, Biden's lawyers argued, "The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason." There's just one problem with that: Weiss was already a sitting U.S. Attorney when he was appointed as Special Counsel. Or, as George Washington Law professor Jonathan Turley noted: However, a key difference between Smith and Weiss is that it could lead these courts to asking "why is a Weiss like a Smith?" The extent that he is not could prove a critical distinction. Weiss is a Senate confirmed U.S. Attorney where Smith was a private citizen plucked by Merrick Garland from the general population for the position. But there's an even bigger problem with the motion than that: Biden's lawyers contended in the motion that Weiss only brought charges against Biden after he was appointed as Special Counsel. Which, as Scarsi very pointedly notes in his order, is false (emphasis mine): The Court orders Mr. Biden’s counsel to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed for making false statements in the motion. The order notes that Weiss brought charges against Biden as U.S. Attorney in Delaware prior to his appointment as special counsel and further notes that Biden's attorneys acknowledged that very fact in a prior pleading filed with the court before adding: The misstatements in the current motion are not trivial. Mr. Weiss’s institution of charges against Mr. Biden in his capacity as U.S. Attorney offers a meaningful distinction between this case and the nonbinding district court decision on which Mr.Biden bases his motion. But Mr. Biden’s motion does not engage with this distinction; instead, counsel avoids the issue by misrepresenting the history of the proceedings. The order notes that Biden's counsel may withdraw or amend their pleading, but they still must show cause as to why they included the false statements in the first place. Here's my prediction as to how Biden's legal team will play this: Attorney Mark Geragos (also known for representing such notables as former President Bill Clinton's business partner Susan McDougal, Roger Clinton Jr., former Congressman Gary Condit, Scott Petersen, Michael Jackson, Jussie Smollett — oh, and being implicated but not charged in Michael Avenatti's attempted extortion of Nike) recently (on July 3rd) entered his appearance for Biden, joining his legal team. Abbe Lowell is still co-counsel, but Geragos is the one who signed and filed the motion. My best guess is the legal team will plead miscommunication and confusion between the original legal team and the new one and issue multiple effusive mea culpas for their "inadvertent oversight." Will Scarsi have mercy on them? We'll soon find out. |
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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Suspect charged with murder, home invasion in slaying of Detroit synagogue leader |
| 2023-12-14 |
Now we know we needn’t worry about it. [IsraelTimes] Prosecutor says no ‘shred of evidence’ Samantha Woll was killed in antisemitic hate crime, attacker murdered victim after breaking into her homeAuthorities filed a murder charge Wednesday in the October 21 slaying of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll alleging that she was killed by a stranger who broke into her home. Wayne County Prosecutor Kim L. Worthy identified the suspect as Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, who was taken into custody on Sunday, according to NBC News. Worthy said there are “no facts to suggest” that the suspect knew Woll personally. Worthy also said that there was not a “shred of evidence” that Woll was killed as a result of antisemitism or any hate crime. Speculation had swirled in the hours and days after Woll’s killing that it was an antisemitic act connected to the Israel-Hamas war, which has been accompanied by a sharp rise in antisemitism in the United States. But police have said since the early stages of the investigation that the murder did not appear to be a hate crime. Woll, 40, was found stabbed to death outside her home, east of downtown Detroit, on October 21, hours after returning from a wedding. Investigators believe she was attacked inside the residence. Police said a person of interest was in custody over the weekend. A different person who was in custody was released in November. “This was an extraordinarily sad and tragic case,” Worthy said. She added, “This takes time. We never want to rush to judgment.” Police Chief James White said the suspect “came on our radar a few weeks ago” when investigators were trying to solve larcenies in the area. “This is not a case you can solve like on television,” White said. “Hours and hours of evidence, hours and hours of video, of phone work, seven days a week.” Woll was president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. Besides her work for the synagogue, Woll had worked for Democratic US Rep. Elissa Slotkin and on the political campaign of state Attorney General Dana Nessel. The fatal stabbing of Woll came just two weeks after the October 7 shock attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, and amid an immediate rise in antisemitic incidents in the US, setting an unprecedented record in the past two months. |
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| Science & Technology |
| Inside the brain of the billionaire visionary: narcissism, risk, and disordered personality traits |
| 2023-08-01 |
| [Fortune via Yahoo] F. Scott Fitzgerald famously noted that the rich are "different from you and me." And indeed, some of the recent antics of the super-rich have been... sure, let’s call it "different." There’s the extreme risk-taking: billionaires jettisoning themselves into space, careening around in race cars, or plunging themselves into the darkest depths of the sea on questionable sightseeing tours. Then there’s the seeming immaturity: Elon Musk, for example, the wealthiest man on earth, could be doing untold good in the world—or simply basking in the sun sipping piña coladas—but instead he spends his days arguing online about wild conspiracy theories, or challenging a fellow plutocrat to a cage fight. What makes a person with the savvy to amass such a spectacular fortune so erratic? Is there something about that pile of millions or billions that drives a person to distraction? Or is anyone with the guts and creativity to make billions just more likely to be a little strange in the first place? These are questions that have stumped scientists from various disciplines for many years—after all, today’s crop of very rich guys (and they are mostly guys) are hardly the first to exhibit puzzling behavior, sometimes appearing to tip into mental illness. Howard Hughes hoarded his urine; Michael Jackson spent millions to bring giraffes, alligators, a bear, elephants, and apes to live at his ranch and private zoo; and Steve Jobs munched on nothing but carrots and apples for weeks, despite his skin turning orange. Filthy rich monarchs from England’s George III to the Roman emperor Caligula were widely considered "mad." Probing the origins of these impulses has been the purview of psychology and neurology. There are wealth psychologists to analyze the super rich and help them deal with their guilt and angst. Neuroeconomics, meanwhile, attempts to take Freud and Jung a step further by combining neuroscience, cognitive science, behavioral science, and social psychology to lay bare the inner workings of the billionaire’s mind. But when it comes to explaining the strange behavior of some of these ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the best that all this shrinkage has been able to come up with is a rather un-startling set of observations. Did we really need a professional to tell us that those worth more than $25 million are "focused more on themselves than on others"? Does it come as a surprise that the super-rich may struggle to feel empathy toward groups outside their inner circle—such as the legions of workers that create their wealth? It should not, perhaps, shock anyone that the self-made billionaire may possess an extra shot of narcissism, that they like to be in control, or that they are extremely competitive. The field’s conclusions could be summed up by the famous non-scientist Bernie Sanders, when he observed that billionaires have "psychiatric issues." |
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| -Land of the Free | ||
| DA Cites Wrong Standard In New York Subway Death Case | ||
| 2023-05-08 | ||
The Washington Post is reporting that the legal standard the New York DA is planning to apply in determining whether to charge a former marine for his role in the death of a convicted criminal threatening passengers on the subway is: “whether the 24-year-old’s actions against Neely
But this is wrong for several reasons, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has analyzed and corrected predicted the outcome in many such cases, including the subway shooter case which also occurred on the subway. The good samaritan probably would not argue that he feared for his own life - especially given his physical size and conditioning, as well as his self defense training. Instead, he would almost certainly rely upon a legal privilege which goes back hundreds of years, and is now codified in New York State [§ 35.15 ] - the right to use reasonable force to defend or protect another from “unlawful physical force.” This term could include many forms of unwanted touching, including groping, of the other passengers. This is not “self defense," but rather “defense of others” - e.g. the other passengers less able to defend themselves - the law professor would remind the DA. THE USE OF FORCE Any good samaritan may generally not use “deadly physical force” to defend himself or others. This term is defined in New York as “physical force which, under the circumstances in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury." [§10.00(11)] But while a neck hold can cause death, so also can the use of a Taser, tear gas, a blow from a police baton, or even a punch to the body or face, so the use of a neck hold by a civilian is not necessarily “deadly force” since the determination requires consideration of the “circumstances.” While so-called "choke holds" have been banned for some (but by no means not all) police, different considerations apply since police carry other weapons and well as restraints, and can generally call for backup. Here the samaritan had no other readily available ways to restrain the criminal - who was still struggling despite the efforts of three men to protect other passengers by holding him down - and holding him by the neck is generally more effective, and less dangerous to the restrainer, than trying to hold him down by holding hands and/or feet. The fact that at least two other men assisted the good samaritan in using force to restrain the criminal - and therefore could probably be charged as accessories if the samaritan were to be charged with murder or other homicide - suggests that they all believed it was both necessary and justified to use such force to restrain him. The verbal approval by other passengers not involved, and the fact that apparently no one complained and/or called for the neck hold to be removed, is further evidence that the use of such force was reasonably necessary under the circumstances. WRONGFUL CRIMINAL INTENT To win any criminal prosecution, the DA must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with a wrongful criminal intent (scienter). But here the facts that the samaritan asked other passengers to summon police by calling 911, made no effort to flea the scene to avoid possible prosecution, and apparently did - unlike a recent infamous case - ignore claims by the criminal that he could not breathe or cries by any of the witnesses to release the hold. So premature demands that the samaritan should be prosecuted for murder are not well founded, and it can only be hoped that the DA will carefully consider the legal privilege to defend others, and not simply an argument of self defense, in deciding how to proceed, says Banzhaf. Related: Neely: 2023-05-07 Chokehold protest turns violent: Angry activists block subway trains in Manhattan, and start brawls with police in protest over death of Jordan Neely by ex-Marine Neely: 2023-05-07 New York failed Jordan Neely, homeless advocates say Neely: 2023-05-05 Marine veteran in NYC subway chokehold death faces tough legal road, experts say Related: Alvin Bragg: 2023-05-05 Marine veteran in NYC subway chokehold death faces tough legal road, experts say Alvin Bragg: 2023-04-22 Beyond Cuomo's deceptions: New York's true COVID death toll Alvin Bragg: 2023-04-20 Federal judge shoots down Alvin Bragg's bid to stop Rep. Jim Jordan's subpoena: 'No one is above the law' | ||
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| Government Corruption |
| Democrat County Commissioner Indicted On Voter Fraud Charges In Alabama |
| 2023-01-17 |
| [Federalist] The son of a notable Alabama civil rights According to Advance Local, an Alabama news outlet, Perry County Commission Chairman Albert Turner Jr. has been charged by Fourth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Michael Jackson and Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill "with voting more than once, which is a misdemeanor, and harvesting ballots, a felony." The alleged incidents occurred during two separate elections in May and November of last year. As noted in the report, Jackson revealed how several witnesses claimed they saw Turner "stuffing filled out ballots in favor of the candidates he was supporting" into a voting machine during the county’s May 2022 Democrat primary election. Regarding the November contest, Jackson said Turner has been, as Advance Local described, "accused of mailing an undisclosed number of absentee ballots." "Since January 19, 2015, we have worked extraordinarily hard to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Alabama," Merrill said. "While the accused is innocent until proven guilty, it is important to know that this incident ... will receive the full attention of this office as we confirm for the people for the State of Alabama that we are the gold standard for election administration in the United States." Merrill and Jackson did not indicate which particular races Turner has been accused of meddling in nor whether those alleged actions could have affected any election’s outcome. While Turner’s alleged crimes present a striking example of problems with the integrity of U.S. elections, the story will almost assuredly be ignored by Democrat-friendly nonprofits and corporate media. For years, such entities have worked overtime to dismiss concerns related to fraud and ballot harvesting. In 2018, for instance, The Washington Post ran a lengthy article lamenting Republican-backed voter ID laws as a form of voter suppression and castigating voter fraud as "extremely rare in recent elections." "The real problem with American elections is not voter fraud but abysmally low turnout that ranks the United States near the bottom of peer democracies," the diatribe reads. "The many forms of voter suppression now in place could have an effect on the outcome of the [2018] midterm elections, with many House, Senate and gubernatorial races decided by a handful of votes." Left-wing nonprofits such as The Center for American Progress  ...George Soros-funded think tank headed by John Podesta, White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of the word is... , supplied progressivetalking points and policy positions for the Obamaregime. There was a revolving door between the White House and its nerve center, with B.O. staffing his administration with many of its operatives... have also gone to war against Americans concerned about election integrity issues. In 2016, the group published an article titled, "Voter Fraud Isn’t Real—But Voter Suppression Is a Grave Danger," in which the authors bemoan how the "toxic myth of voter fraud is used to justify real voter suppression that costs citizens their voices in democracy." While there’s been ample evidence of fraud, irregularities, and other rigging in recent elections, there’s also been historic numbers of people voting, putting to bed false narratives that so-called rampant voter suppression is killing democracy. |
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| -Great Cultural Revolution | |
| Five things I am begging white people not to do this Halloween season | |
| 2022-10-29 | |
| [TheGrio] You would think white people would have figured these things out already, yet year after year, we see pictures of them committing the same costume violations. by Monique Judge It’s October, which means it’s both fall and Halloween time, or Spooky Season as some folks call it. I personally never really used to go up for fall or Halloween like that; I am a summer baby, after all, but in recent years, I’ve gotten more into the spirit of both fall and Halloween by coming up with costume ideas, buying those cute sugar skull succulents from Trader Joe’s, enjoying the fall drink collection from Starbucks and wearing my cute-ass Ugg boots with a pair of shorts and a long sweater (I live in Los Angeles, y’all). The one part of Halloween that I don’t enjoy, however, is the predictable parade of white people doing inappropriate things and wearing inappropriate costumes. It seems like no matter how much we call them out for it and explain why it is inappropriate, they keep doing it anyway, year after year. So I came up with a list of five things I want them not to do, and I will explain why, and I hope this helps somebody. Good white people who are reading this: Please grab your goofy white friends and make them understand this stuff. 1. First of all, no one is giving your children their cannabis products for free, so stop worrying about it. When I was a child, our parents got warned about razor blades being stuck inside apples and acid tabs being passed off as stickers to kids going trick-or-treating. I don’t know if anyone ever really found a razor in an apple. The acid thing sounds plausible, and I totally believed that some kid’s stomach exploded after they ate Pop Rocks and drank a Coke at the same time, but apparently that’s not true either. In the 21st century, the lie has become one that is so egregious and so annoying, every time I see it pop up, I want to grab people by the collar and shake them until their teeth rattle. Do you know that in the year of our lord Beyoncé 2022, there are people who believe those who enjoy cannabis, and especially cannabis edibles, are plotting to secretly sneak them into your children’s Halloween bags? Girl. As a consumer of vast quantities of cannabis edibles, I can assure you without any proof or data that absolutely no one is giving away their weed gummies for free and especially not to your children. As consumer of a lot of food as well, obviously The average price I pay for a package of edibles is about $20. There are usually 10 gummies in the package if they are 10 mg (California law only allows edibles to be up to 100 mg per package), so that means those gummies are $2 each. Two whole American dollars for one tiny gummy. It’s not a lot of money, but then again it is, and it is entirely too much money to be wasting on some little kids who wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. So this season, I beg y’all to please stop spreading this lie. Just admit you feed into reefer madness and go. 2. Don’t wear blackface. Whether you decide you want to be Michael Jackson or Megan Thee Stallion or Snoop Dogg or T’Challa or any other Black icon, please know that you can wear this costume and have people know who you are without putting Black paint on your face or otherwise wearing Blackface. It’s so unnecessary, after all. Have you noticed Black people are able to pull off costumes in which they are playing famous white people or white characters without painting their faces white? What part of that is so hard for y’all? You’d think you would stop doing it since when those pictures surface, you will get your time on the Summer Jam screen and potentially lose your job or business or things you hold dear because now everyone knows you are a raging idiot and a racist. Yes, it’s racist for you to wear blackface. If I have to explain to you why, you are absolutely a racist. Just stop this practice. It’s gone on for far too long, and y’all are not funny anyway. 3. Under no circumstances should you dress as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. I shouldn’t even have to say this, but apparently there is a contingent of white people who think dressing up as Klan members is cute, clever or funny. It’s not, OK? I don't work for the government, so... Why you would want to put on a costume that is symbolic of everything this country was built on, including racism, white supremacy, racial terror, and straight up barbarism is beyond me. Well, aside from it meaning you are likely a huge, gaping racist, that is. In any case, if you are a white person who dons a Klan costume this Halloween, I really hope no one violently beats you. 4. People’s cultures are not Halloween costumes. This one is fairly straightforward and simple. If you are not a native Indigenous person, I better not see you wearing any type of costume that resembles the cultural garb that is significant to them and their traditions, and that includes feathered headdresses and the like. Seriously, don’t do this. It’s highly disrespectful and ignorant as hell. I know; it’s hard for some of y’all to not be ignorant when faced with that choice, but please, do your best. 5. Do not dress up as the police. Black people and other people of color experience enough terror from the police in our daily lives. We don’t need it on what is supposed to be a fun night. Enough said. Barring all that, please remember that Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. That is one of my favorite “Mean Girls” quotes, and I plan to follow it this year.  Have fun. Be safe. Be spooky. Happy Halloween, y’all! Monique Judge is a storyteller, content creator and writer living in Los Angeles. She is a word nerd who is a fan of the Oxford comma, spends way too much time on Twitter,
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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Elton John Says Michael Jackson Was 'A Disturbing Person To Be Around' |
| 2022-08-02 |
"I’d known Michael since he was 13 or 14," John writes. "He was just the most adorable kid you could imagine. But at some point in the intervening years, he started sequestering himself away from the world and away from reality, the way Elvis Presley did." John also speculates about Jackson’s tortured relationship with prescription drugs, alluding to his addiction to painkillers: "God knows what was going on in his head, and God knows what prescription drugs he was being pumped full of, but every time I saw him in his later years I came away thinking that the poor guy had totally lost his marbles. I don’t mean that in the lighthearted way. He was genuinely mentally ill, a disturbing person to be around." |
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| Notes on 9-11 |
| 2021-09-11 |
Thoughts at random, worth every cent you paid for them.
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It's hard to get worked up about all the military equipment left in Afghanistan. All that materiel was left to equip the Mighty Afghan Army, and there should have been more in the pipeline. Remember they were supposed to be able to pick up the fight on their own, with U.S. air and intel support. The Ghani government was in "peace negotiations" with he Talibs in Qatar. The Talibs were supposed to have 5,000 prisoners released, after which there was supposed to be a ceasefire, and the two sides were supposed to work out a structure for a transitional government. The U.S. was supposed to be the guarantor of the deal.