Liberal_in_LA
Liberal_in_LA's JournalThe handsome undercover cop smiles. Is he entrapping gay men or cleaning up a park?
In Los Angeles, Long Beach and other areas where undercover lewd conduct stings endure, police defend them as an important tool for catching people who are violating the law and for deterring others from trying to have sex in parks and other public areas used by families and children.
Gay-rights activists do not condone public sex but have long condemned the busts as a form of entrapment, saying they unfairly single out gay men, with sometimes devastating consequences. The issue has been debated for decades. But in recent years, critics of the stings have gained traction as public attitudes about homosexuality and gay rights have shifted.
Undercover officers, critics contend, often exchange flirtatious signals and make arrests of men who think their advances are welcome, when no one else is nearby to be offended. They say that the stings can ensnare men who hadn't otherwise been seeking sex and that they rarely, if ever, target straight people
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-gay-stings-police-20160527-snap-story.html
Many law enforcement agencies have stopped in response to lawsuits or after political backlash. The Times contacted police officials in San Jose, Anaheim, Glendale, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Beverly Hills and Laguna Beach, among other agencies. Representatives for each said their departments had not used such undercover stings in years.
These officials said they came to view the stings as ineffective or unnecessary after noticing a sharp drop-off in complaints about public sex during an age when men can easily find sexual partners through the Internet and dating apps such as Grindr.
Pregnancy Is an 'Inconvenience' to Employers said trump in 2004
Donald Trump has said that pregnancy is "wonderful" - unless you're an employer.
In an October 2004 interview with NBC's Dateline, Trump said pregnancy is "a wonderful thing for the woman, it's a wonderful thing for the husband, it's certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business."
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-2004-pregnancy-inconvenience-employers-n580366
It costs an extra $100k to make a cell phone tower look like trees and other things
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/take-a-look-at-americas-least-convincing-cell-phone-tower-trees
The bizarre endeavor has been going on for years, since 1992, and has even stretched to other parts of the world.
In America there are around 2,000 towers masked as trees.
It costs an extra $100,000 to build the branches and leaves, on top of the $3,000 it takes to build the tower itself.
http://twitter.com/lakebluffjack/status/726811132602675200/photo/1
http://twitter.com/barizona/status/498669674566275072/photo/1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3612114/How-tree-mendous-100-000-cell-towers-America-concealed-blend-forests.html
There are entire websites dedicated to mapping these towers, such as Waymarking and CellTowerPhotos. What do you think of these attempts at concealment? Do you prefer to just see a plain tower or do you support companies’ attempts to blend in with their surroundings as best as possible
http://memolition.com/2014/02/01/examples-of-cell-phone-tower-disguises-24-pictures/
From Haiti to top of class at West point in 7 years.. photo of crying grad goes viral
tears streamed down Alix Idrache's face. In the photograph, the streaks reach almost to the high collar of his gray dress uniform.
The moment, captured by a military photographer Saturday during commencement exercises at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., marked the culmination of a journey that began in 2009, when Idrache came to Maryland from his native Haiti, barely able to speak English.
Now 24, he graduated at the top of his class in physics, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army, and is headed to Alabama to train as a helicopter pilot.
Idrache, who served in the Maryland National Guard before enrolling at West Point, said his past, present and future flashed through his mind on the graduation field.
"I am from Haiti and never did I imagine that such honor would be one day bestowed on me," he wrote on Instagram. "I could not help but be flooded with emotions knowing that I will be leading these men and women who are willing to give their all to preserve what we value as the American way of life."
"To me, that is the greatest honor."
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-west-point-graduation-picture-20160526-snap-story.html
Thug caught on CCTV battering labrador in a lift is banned from keeping animals for four years
NO MORE DOGS for YOU!
RSPCA officers said the dog, called Storm, had not been let out of the flat for 17 hours and had tried to defecate in the lift.
He admitted that he slapped the dog but said he ‘didn’t hit him hard’.
Storm had not been let out of the flat since 11pm the previous night - and was kept inside for 17 hours until the incident which took place around 4.30pm the following day.
The dog can be seen desperately trying to get out of the door as Barratt beats him.
His owner then closes the lift door when it opens to continue his assault.He then drags the dog from the lift and is later filmed beating him further at the entrance to the flats.
A vet’s statement said pets should not be trained with violence and that such a method can cause bad behaviour in a dog and lead toward aggressive tendencies.
Fortunately, the court heard, Storm did not suffer any long lasting injuries from his ordeal.
He sentenced him to a 16-week curfew order from 6apm to 6am and ordered he pay £400 towards RSPCA costs.
Barratt was found guilty of two charges of failing to meet the needs of an animal.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/thug-caught-cctv-battering-labrador-11362646
This completely racist ad for washing detergent just aired on Chinese TV and at cinemas
http://shanghaiist.com/2016/05/26/racist_laundry_detergent_ad.php
In the video, a paint-splattered black man confidently approaches a young Chinese woman, only to have detergent placed in his mouth and his body shoved into a washing machine for a thorough rinsing. Once the wash cycle is done, out pops a pristine young Chinese man, as clean as can be.
Thanks to traditional beauty standards valuing white skin, many Chinese people have a well-established phobia of dark skin which unfortunately also breeds racist attitudes towards people of African descent, who are viewed by some as "dirty" simply because of their skin tone.
This guy isn't the first victim of China's efforts at Hollywood-level whitewashing. Last year, a Chinese promotional poster for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was widely criticized by fans as being "racist" with the character played by black actor John Boyega inexplicably being shrunken in size.
http://shanghaiist.com/2015/12/08/racist_chinese_star_wars_poster.php
kids imagine what it's like to be old (40)
https://twitter.com/dan_thom/status/731776908661301248
New bunk bed-lined 'Sleepbus' drives riders from SF to LA overnight for less than $50
Source: sfgate
The drive to Los Angeles from San Francisco is one of the most boring a person from the Bay Area can take. Hours upon hours of bleak landscapes and expensive gas stations, followed by traffic as you get into Southern California — no, thanks.
However, for some of us it's a necessity, and sometimes flying is just not an option.
That's the market Sleepbus is aiming to disrupt. The new auto service has been shuttling passengers through the night from San Francisco to Los Angeles through the night, with bunk beds, all for $48 one way. On each trip, 11-12 passengers depart San Francisco around 11 p.m. in a large commercial truck trailer, and arrive in L.A. six to seven hours later. Guests are even allowed to sleep in a little bit after the bus lands in Southern California.
And for those night owls with too much to do, the ticket also includes Wi-Fi, coffee, power outlets, workstation tables, and a reading light.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/New-bunk-bed-lined-Sleepbus-drives-you-from-SF-7945921.php
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton criticizes ‘epidemic’ of citizens recording arrests
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton criticizes ‘epidemic’ of citizens recording arrests amid backlash over Harlem cop caught punching man who filmed him
It's often the “epidemic” of amateur photographers armed with cell phones — and not the aggressive actions of city cops — that escalates clashes between police and the public, the NYPD’s top cop said Wednesday.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was asked about the investigation into a disturbing video of a Harlem cop pointing a gun at a group of onlookers when he went on a rant about “mobs” armed with cell phones.
“There is a phenomenon in this country that we need to examine and it’s just not in New York,” Bratton said following a conference of police chiefs and law enforcement executives at the Times Square Marriott Marquis.
“This has become very serious,” he added. “I would almost describe it as an epidemic in this country.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-bratton-decries-epidemic-citizens-recording-arrests-article-1.2650057
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A month earlier, Bronx Police Officer Ruben Cuesta was in hot water after a surveillance video showed him shooting and killing a pit bull trotting up to him, its tail wagging.
Yet Bratton said that more and more people are recording cops in the hopes of catching police misconduct — even if they have to stage the crisis.
“There is increasing efforts on the part of individuals — sometimes in a crowd and often times mobs — to attempt to record, intimidate and create fear and physically free a prisoner, ” Bratton said.
Detectives called Trayvon Martin a 'n****r' and a 'thug' in secret recording
Detectives called Trayvon Martin a 'n****r' and a 'thug' in secret recording but were let off by sheriff who ordered them to take a cultural sensitivity class
Downs, 41, and Allison, 55, were unaware they were being recorded when they made the racially charged comments about Martin while they were on duty, the Logan Daily News reported.
Allison said: 'That n****r is a good n****r, Lord.
'Wasn’t that n****r wearing a hoodie in Florida? It was like 90 degrees,' he also said.
He added: 'We could make a little money if they all pay us to burn crosses in n****r yards. We could sell portable crosses like a wood cross with a base so you could just stand it in the yard instead of like having to dig a hole for it. it could have the fire starter chunks built in it.'
The Ku Klux Klan has previously burned crosses to intimidate black people.
When asked if Zimmerman was right to shoot Martin and if gun control played a part in the shooting, Downs said: 'It did, but a lot of it was because he was a n****r – a n****r thug.'
During the conversation, he was also heard to say 'maybe you shouldn’t be black' and 'I’d say, a dead one, you know it'.
Describing a black person, he said: 'All you can see are two white things - eyeballs and teeth.'
Downs remains with the sheriff's office and has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years.
Allison left the force in 2014 after 26 years working there. He returned last year but resigned again after the recording was revealed.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3609093/Detectives-called-Trayvon-Martin-n-r-thug-secret-recording-let-sheriff-ordered-cultural-sensitivity-class.html#ixzz49joqGLeD
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http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/05/22/lawsuit-uncovers-hocking-county-deputies-racists-remarks.html
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