RandySF
RandySF's JournalSean Eversley Bradwell: Do the Math on #AllLivesMatter and It Equals White Supremacy
The unfortunate truth is that the hashtag #AllLivesMatter is a reaffirmation of white supremacy.
Let me be clear here. Yes, all language is contextual, and at face value, this particular hashtag, #AllLivesMatter, seems to be an affirmation of humanity. However, let us not be fooled into reading the word “all” as in “everyone.” We are reminded that the Founding Fathers used the same language of humanity. We do, indeed, “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” In the language of U.S. politics, “all” has never meant everyone. #SomeLivesMatter.
More important, #AllLivesMatter does not have an organic origin. If the hashtag began on its own—organically—it might be possible to rally around its humanist potential. But this is not the case here. Contextually speaking, #AllLivesMatter is a rejoinder. It is a retort. It originates in direct response to the creation of the hashtag and movement #BlackLivesMatter. And it is here that we find its promotion of white supremacy.
For the past couple of years, I have given talks and presentations with a general title of “Diversity Kills.” This “diversity kills” theory is a three-part argument. No. 1, “diversity” has become a shortened pseudonym for “racial diversity,” and the way that institutions and universities practice “diversity” has become a new form of racism (i.e., organizations may want a face for the poster but have few plans to become more inclusive of nondominant cultures). Diversity becomes tokenized. Diversity equals racism.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/do-the-math-on-supernumberalllivesmatter-and-it-equals-white-supremacy/ar-AAdYaQd?li=BBgzzfc
Burning Man founder on diversity: “Black folks don’t like to camp as much as white folks”
Burning Man founder Larry Harvey told The Guardian, “I don’t think black folks like to camp as much as white folks” when asked in an interview why there is a lack of racial diversity at the festival.
Harvey also said he would investigate the ultra-rich camps highlighted in a recent New York Times article about the increasingly affluent crowd at the Black Rock City desert fest that began in 1986 on a San Francisco beach.
A recent census found that 87% of “burners” identified as white; 6% identified as Hispanic, 6% as Asian, and 2% as Native Americans, according to The Guardian.
Harvey said he would not set a “racial quota” and added, “I think it’s a little much to expect the organization to solve the problem of racial parity. We do see a fast-increasing influx of Asians, black folks. I actually see black folks out here, unlike some of our liberal critics.”
Here are some of the other many highlights:
On why black people don’t like to camp:
“Remember a group that was enslaved and made to work. Slavishly, you know in the fields. This goes all the way back to the Caribbean scene, when the average life of a slave in the fields was very short. And, so, there’s that background, that agrarian poverty associated with things. Maybe your first move isn’t to go camping. Seriously.”
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/04/burning_man_founders_bizarre_explanation_for_diversity_problem_black_folks_dont_like_to_camp_as_much_as_white_folks/
King cobra is on the loose in Orlando, Florida
(CNN)A word of advice to the people of Orlando: Before you step outside Thursday or send your pet out into the backyard, take a little extra time to look around first.
Especially if you live near the 4800 block of North Apopka Vineland Road.
There's a king cobra on the loose.
The snake's owner, Mike Kennedy, describes him as 8 feet long -- not very big as king cobras go -- but still a very venomous visitor to Central Florida.
The snake escaped from his cage because of weather-related events, Kennedy said.
After a series of storms, a limb fell on the house, where the snake's cage is located. The ensuing flooding allowed the snake to escape its cage.
Currently 10 people are searching the 10-acre property where the king cobra went missing, including a Kennedy team and one from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). They're all experienced snake handlers, according to the FWC.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/us/king-cobra-missing-orlando-florida/index.html
WTF? Police investigate reported sexual battery at UC Berkeley library
BERKELEY, Calif. (KTVU) -- The fall semester at UC Berkeley is just two weeks old, and students have already been receiving a warning about a sexual battery that took place at a campus library early Tuesday morning.
The incident is especially unnerving because it happened in a school library. Two female exchange students told KTVU they have been learning about a scary attitude that has reared its ugly head at Cal.
"We're exchange students and we don't have this kind of rape culture in our home universities," said Sophie Mulhall.
The latest incident happened just after 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday at one of the school's libraries. Police said off camera that the victim didn't say exactly what happened, who did it, give any description of the attacker or even say which library she was in when it happened.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/15077995-story
Davis facing official misconduct charge
Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has not been issuing marriage licenses for two months since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal and because of that she now faces a charge of official misconduct.
On Thursday the Rowan County Attorney's Office referred a charge against Davis to the Kentucky Attorney General's Office.
Today, County Attorney Cecil Watkins said that the Rowan County government and his office had no other action against Davis.
“No authority exists for her removal or suspension from the office by Rowan County government,” said Watkins. “Kentucky State Government is the only entity that can move to have Kim Davis removed as Rowan County Clerk.”
KRS 522.020 and KRS 522.030 deal with official misconduct in the first and second degree, respectively. “A public servant is guilty of official misconduct in the first degree when, with intent to obtain or confer a benefit or to injure another person or to deprive another person of a benefit, knowingly commits an act relating to his office which constitutes an unauthorized exercise of his official functions or refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office or violates any statute or lawfully adopted rule or regulation relating to his office,” according to KRS 522.020.
Official misconduct in the first degree is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable with imprisonment not to exceed 12 months and fines of $500.
Official misconduct in the second degree is a Class B misdemeanor and carries a potential punishment of up to 90 days imprisonment and fines of $250.
http://www.themoreheadnews.com/davis-facing-official-misconduct-charges/article_d60fbc98-4dc7-11e5-8151-9304eda149f7.html
Dr. Jane Goodall flamed online after shaking hands with Hillary.
But today I observed this unfortunate trend extend to another woman I deeply admire, Dr. Jane Goodall. Dr. Goodall's public Facebook page, which is curated by a proxy, posted the above photograph of Dr. Goodall and Hillary Clinton with the following caption:
What followed, then, with no acknowledgement from almost anyone about the actual subject matter of the picture, was a long thread of snarky, hateful comments about Hillary, one more hysterical than the other, calling out the good doctor for her clearly misguided connection to Ms. Clinton. The very first, left by a woman who posted and reposted various iterations of her initial comment, said (and I'm leaving off the poster's name, despite the public status of Goodall's Facebook page):
Civil enough, despite it having zero to do with the photograph, but after that first-to-the-dance-floor comment, and despite Goodall's representative assuring everyone that "Dr. Goodall does not support any US presidential candidate since she is a British citizen and does not have the right to vote in the USA," the thread metastasized into an ugly rant amongst generalized Hillary haters and specific Bernie supporters, with little attention paid to the woman whose page it was, a person who certainly deserved a level of decorum and respect she did not get from those using her thread to politically pontificate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorraine-devon-wilke/bernie-bullying-and-other_b_7908216.html
National pride at stake as giant robots prepare for combat
(CNN)America's first giant combat robot needs your help.
In late June, the U.S.-based robotics company MegaBots challenged Suidobashi Heavy Industry, a Japanese company, to pit their robots in battle against each other.
Suidobashi responded with the one-upsmanship fitting such a surreal challenge: Let's fight hand to hand.
Now the U.S. team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to upgrade their current robot, so that it can evolve from firing paintballs (as it does now) to throwing punches.
A video posted to Kickstarter on Tuesday explains the updated version of MegaBots' Mk.II has to upgrade its propulsion system so it can move faster, needs better armor to fend off opposing attacks and, of course, could use a Hollywood-esque paint job worthy of such an audacious project.
The team announced partnerships with Grant Imahara (best known from his time on the Discovery show "Mythbusters"
, the creators of Battlebots, the CEO of Autodesk, heads of robotics and defense companies and an expert from NASA who worked on robotics systems currently on Mars.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/tech/giant-robot-duel/?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&iref=obnetwork
Missouri man released from prison after serving 22 years for non-violent pot bust
A Missouri man who has spent the last 22 years in prison on a marijuana conviction finally walked free on Tuesday.
Jeff Mizanskey, now 62, was arrested in 1993 for selling 6 pounds of marijuana to a dealer. He was sentenced to life without parole, a provision in state law that was repealed in 2014. According to local KRCG, Mizanskey’s case was the subject of intense lobbying, and Governor Jay Nixon commuted his sentence to life with the possibility of parole. Mizanskey went to the parole board last month and was easily granted release.
Video shows a tearful Mizanskey embracing his family as he walks free.
“It’s been kind of like a dream. Everybody in there is been asking me and asking me. Even my family asked if I’m nervous. I told them I’ve been trying to keep my feet on the ground,” Mizanskey told KCTV5.
According to NBC News, Nixon cited the non-violent nature of Mizanskey’s record and offenses.
Mizanskey, a grandfather, plans to be an advocate for prison reform and says state prisons need to better prepare inmates to transition to life outside, KRCG reports. He hopes to continue his career in home remodeling. But first, he went out to a meal of steak and eggs with his family and supporters.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/watch-missouri-man-released-from-prison-after-serving-22-years-for-non-violent-pot-bust/
California To End Solitary Confinement For Thousands Of Inmates
Thousands of California inmates who have spent years in solitary confinement will move back into the general prison population as part of a lawsuit settlement with the state.
The settlement, announced Tuesday, ends the class-action suit brought on behalf of thousands of inmates who had filled the Pelican Bay State Prison isolation wing for alleged gang affiliation. Confinement in windowless, soundproof cells remains a possible punishment for prisoners who commit crimes behind bars, but it's no longer a tool for indefinitely segregating rival gang members.
More than 500 prisoners had spent more than a decade locked in solitary at the time the lawsuit was filed in 2012, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the groups suing the state. Seventy-eight had been in the Security Housing Unit, or SHU, for more than 20 years.
“This settlement represents a monumental victory for prisoners and an important step toward our goal of ending solitary confinement in California, and across the country,” said a statement from the plaintiffs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-solitary-confinement_55e5df4fe4b0aec9f354a7c9
Republicans cited for misconduct, misuse of taxpayer resources in Michigan House probe
LANSING, MI — Michigan Reps. Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat engaged in misconduct and misused taxpayer resources, according to preliminary findings from a House Business Office probe prompted by a sex scandal that has rocked the state Capitol.
"After completing the investigation, we have preliminary findings of both misconduct and the misuse of taxpayer resources by both representatives," Director Tim Bowlin said in a Monday afternoon statement.
The House Business Office is not releasing its full findings at this time. Instead, it has sent its preliminary report to outside attorneys for an independent review.
"Asking an outside counsel to review the report is a normal process to protect the privacy and confidentiality of affected individuals and ensure compliance with Human Resources regulations," Bowlin said. " The findings will be made public once the legal review has been completed."
Gamrat and Courser, tea party favorites and avowed social conservatives, have resisted calls to resign since news of their extra-marital affair and a subsequent cover-up broke earlier this month.
http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/08/courser_gamrat_cited_for_misco.html
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