…Fair to Say? [DOT 30/5/20]

30/5/20 myopicprophet 19

…it’s Saturday morning & you know what that means…more ellipses & ampersands…

Just kidding! Apparently my tireless evening banter left those with the keys to the DOT to do the unthinkable by leaving them with me attached to a very short leash…results pending.

I have been known to drop this on a frequent basis, even if it seems a bit dated at this point, because as infuriating as some of the things going on in the USA are, I like to remind people that

Scary Movie We Are Not So Different GIF - ScaryMovie WeAreNotSoDifferent Movies GIFs

…even if we pretend to ride the high horse from time to time.

Between 2013 and 2017, a Black person in Toronto was nearly 20 times more likely than a White person to be involved in a fatal shooting by the Toronto Police Service (TPS). Despite making up only 8.8% of Toronto’s population, data obtained by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) shows that Black people were over-represented in use of force cases (28.8%), shootings (36%), deadly encounters (61.5%) and fatal shootings (70%). Black men make up 4.1% of Toronto’s population, yet were complainants in a quarter of SIU cases alleging sexual assault by TPS officers.

SIU Director’s Reports reveal a lack of legal basis for police stopping or detaining Black civilians in the first place; inappropriate or unjustified searches during encounters; and unnecessary charges or arrests. The information analyzed by the OHRC also raises broader concerns about officer misconduct, transparency and accountability. Courts and arms-length oversight bodies have found that TPS officers have sometimes provided biased and untrustworthy testimony, have inappropriately tried to stop the recording of incidents and/or have failed to cooperate with the SIU.

Fair to say that we are not here for presumptions, but if there ever was a flimsy fence to balance oneself atop of…

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/regis-korchinski-paquet-toronto-police-1.5590296

“Unfounded allegations that police officers pushed a woman to her death from a balcony, in the absence of evidence or fact, perpetuate a false narrative that the police are the enemy,” the Toronto Police Association said in a statement signed by its president, Mike McCormack, and its board of directors.

“We are aware that this narrative, speculating on the events leading to Ms. Regis Korchinski-Paquet’s death is circulating on mainstream and social media. We are deeply disturbed by this and disappointed that some of Toronto’s elected city councillors choose to participate in the discussion during an active SIU investigation.”

The statement goes on to call for citizens to “refrain from a rush to judgment,” saying “unfounded rhetoric is damaging to the community and the police.”

I promised not to share my opinions or lack-there-of based on the short leash thing, but regarding that one little quote there, “a false narrative that the police are the enemy”

Tina Fey Zips It GIF - 30Rock TinaFey LizLemon GIFs

…let’s move on to the USA, shall we?

Here is something about “a black Minnesota man” courtesy of the New York Times:

In the Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the chairman of that chamber’s Judiciary Committee, said he would seek testimony on proposals to improve policing, combat “racial discrimination regarding the use of force” and improve relations between police departments and the communities they serve.

I can’t speak for others but it’s safe to assume that if I were a US senator, I would strive to combat racial discrimination in ALL its regards…just a thought.

Understandably, people across the nation are protesting and some are protesting in ways that are less than peaceful. Whether or not the violence is incited by the “president” is up to your interpretation of the following tweet:

Welp! Turns out it has been censored due to its violence-inciting. Anywho…

…if only those “sons of bitches” would just BeBest and protest peacefully by gingerly strolling into the state capitol building with assault rifles or, I don’t know, kneeling during a song once a week, all the systemic racism built into the foundation of the country FLOTUS is in illegally as an immigrant with the “Einstein Visa” would just miraculously disappear much like the global pandemic.

As someone who would never brow beat America solely based on its hypocrisies I will say that I was once told to worry about my own house and let others worry about theirs to which I replied, “when the biggest house on the street is a fucking disgrace, it affects all of the other houses on the street so perhaps you should listen to the people in the other houses.” So, in saying that, let’s move on to more important things…

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-plans-to-return-with-24-team-stanley-cup-playoffs/c-317031010

Woopsie! Turns out that the NHL’s plan to finish the 2019/20 season might not be good news considering that NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE THE SHUTDOWN mid-March other than the fact that people are bored and corporations want money so it’s kinda like a game of pretend that things are different enough to re-open. Even if it wasn’t pretend, only half the people would actually give a shit.

So much for that brow-beating bit. I suppose I was only pretending anyway. To be honest, I’m more concerned by the fact that the fucking Habs got in the playoffs undeservedly!

Speaking of “woopsie,” here is a fact check for those who insist on adding letters to an abbreviation everyone in the LGBTQ community was already ok with as far as I knew:

LGBT News told Reuters via email: “A poor Photoshop attempt […] this image is all over the internet with different names attached to it, various age groups etc. We are against any and all forms of Pedophilia obviously. Whoever is spreading these images are trolls and haters trying to give the LGBT community a bad name. We meet them often in our inbox and in the comments.” 

Space is far-reaching and that is what I love about it the most. Normally, I’d jump at the opportunity to talk about something ’round these parts that I actually know about, but there is so much far-reaching going on in all kinds of directions here than I know what to say about. So I think it, technically, falls within range of the short-leash/no opinion thing?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/spending-on-space-pandemic-1.5589067

This week’s reports by the Canadian military of appalling conditions in long-term care homes during the pandemic illustrates a perennial challenge for those who insist that governments need to spend more on space research.

When people around the world are starving and many in the United States can’t afford health care, how can governments possibly justify the necessary billions of dollars for rocketing a couple of human beings into orbit as Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon is preparing to do on Saturday?

Appalling conditions in long-term care homes (which, to me, is a synonym for, “I don’t wanna take care of my parents while I bitch about people who aren’t white having their whole families in one home”), people around the world are starving (including the US), and the “my dad died for that flag, but I’m too fucking stupid to know that he died so you could have the freedom to burn the fucking thing” Americans still don’t want to join the actual free world (in their defense, how would they pay for it?) with the universal healthcare thing, Space Force, and Elon Musk in the first two paragraphs?

I believe I’ve passed out and woke up on Twitter. I certainly hope you wake up in a better place this morning!

…& for the lack of links & ampersands…&…ellipses…& the role-reversal thing…I’ll at least leave you with this for you nostalgic types:

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About myopicprophet 133 Articles
Kinja refugee. Rants often. Right sometimes.

19 Comments

  1. im wondering why the protesters decided to go for cnn headquarters… heat of the moment i spose :p
    also…after about 3 days of protest and riots finally this thought popped into me head this morning
    hey….thats an awfull lot of people not social distancing
    welp…at least most of them are wearing masks
    and it sure is for a better reason than herpaderp lets get drunk in a pool
    hope it doesnt bite em in the ass tho

    • Why not CNN? I’m not advocating violence but all white owned/run/majority businesses, organizations, institutions are legitimate targets of anger. Regardless of their professed political bias. Because if liberal and progressive white people were as against racism and racial injustice as they say they are I don’t believe we’d be in this position.
      My local Reddit is full of bullshit white allies like this

      “I roll my eyes usually when someone says they wrote something for me as a white person (I grew up poor in southern Texas where I was more accepted by minorities than snotty rich white kids), but I know I need to just hold my nose and read the information so I can see what’s really going on. I let a defensive mindset and a distaste for being talked down to keep me from listening, but I want things to to be better now. No person should have to worry about being treated less than human.”

      Boo hoo- poor white person wasn’t accepted by snotty rich white kids. And thinks it’s the same as having a target on your back due to the color of your skin. And they want a cookie for holding their nose and reading something a black person wrote telling them how white people can help!

        • I get it, as white people we trust white media who seem to share are values. But we need to hold them to a higher standard. Out of 66 anchors/ hosts only 8 are POC.And Only 13 out of 120 reporters and correspondents. I haven’t included Latinos because there are disagreements about whether or not they are white. And I think it depends on country of origin, color of skin. Anyway, my point is, CNN is a white corporation , with white interests .Don’t assume that they are the good guys.
          And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. CNN has allowed a lot of trump mouthpieces to spew misinformation and out right lies. It would take a whole series of posts to explain my distrust.

          • i wouldnt really know…i barely use cnn
            i mostly rely on the nos and the bbc…and whatever i hear on the radio and then google
            but i assume the nos is also a white corporation…80 some % of this country is white

          • I’m with you, CNN had a huge hand in putting Trump in office, choosing to show Trump’s empty podium over Bernie’s speeches. Corporate media is about selling advertising not journalism. The Trump shitshow is a big media hit no matter what side of the aisle you are and it brings in viewers. They put attractive white people in front of the camera because that is what sells to the largest demographic of consumers. They could really careless about who could do the job better, only ratings matter. This also explains exactly why Fox News is all old guys that look like the target audience and young blondes that attract this demographic and they can sell more boner pills. This all started with Reagan and the end of the fairness doctrine being enforced. I wish Obama had brought it back but I’m pretty sure he would have lost that fight in the Senate or Supreme Court.

            So Long, Fairness Doctrine

    • I messed up, THIS was the tweet I’d meant to link!😖🙃

  3. The NHL thing really burns my ass. As a hockey fan, even I am resigned to the fact that the season is over. I could go on a very long rant as to why this is a horrible idea, but it all ends with this thought: People will remember, when players get sick and die.

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