Month: May 2016

Drafts… So Many Drafts…

Posted on by loudspeakerandlemonjuice

There are always a lot of topics that I want to write about… That I want to broach… I started a half dozen responses on my way home (a few of which about yesterday’s CBS morning segment)… And that’s not even touching on Paris, Yemen, the tens of messages I’ve received from friends and family concerning Depp (as I was quite in love with him as a child), the public backlash against Amber, the fall line up, and the lengthy Allen conversation a friend and I had last week. There are more things happening right now than I can jump on. I’d really like for the world to just stop being dramatic for a minute. Seeing how unlikely that is, I’ll settle for a little procrastination – watching some Harry Potter and sipping some lemon juice.

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I Almost Forgot!

Posted on by loudspeakerandlemonjuice

Bill Cosby to stand trial for assault charges, judge rules

More than a decade after he was first accused of sexual misconduct, Bill Cosby will go to trial.

A Pennsylvania judge found enough evidence during a hearing Tuesday to proceed with a criminal trial. It’s not clear when his trial will start.

Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault from a 2004 case involving Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University. She was the first of more than 50 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.

Bill Cosby arrives at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but the judge has the option to have him serve the sentences concurrently, which means he could serve 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Cosby’s defense attorney slammed the decision to move forward with a trial.

“The evidence presented today was evidence of nothing. They had 12 years to bring an accuser to confront Mr. Cosby. They chose not to,” defense attorney Brian McMonagle said.

“There was no evidence of a crime here. And the inconsistencies that plagued this investigation from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately.”

But Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the prosecution only had to “prove that a crime was committed and the defendant’s connected to the crime.”

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cackles

Is The Sense of Self So Fragile That It Could Be So Intrinsically Tied To The Opinions Others Have Of You?

Posted on by loudspeakerandlemonjuice

“Fear is the mother of mortality.”

– Nietzsche


How disheartening it is that a certain amount of complacency seems necessary to remain favorable in the eyes of others. Only so much self-improvement is permissible. There is a clear limit on the number of objections one should have to the conditions and treatment of other human beings, unethical policy, and nonsensical/all cultural norms. One’s standards should only be so high as to not discomfort and isolate others. The general message is to not exceed expectations so much as to inspire, nor enough to produce reactions of shock and awe. Tempering one’s dissatisfaction to an inaudible grumble is what is generally seen as best when striving to be considered tolerable to others. I’ve often been told I have an iron stomach, but I’ve never been able to endure that much. 

Regardless Of Financial Situation, Brown People No Longer Qualify For Free Lunches

Posted on by loudspeakerandlemonjuice

Virginia authorities handcuffed a middle school student and charged him with larceny for “stealing” a milk carton from the school cafeteria earlier this year. The child has also been suspended from school.

 

In Prince William County, Virginia, the boy’s mother Shamise Turk says police handcuffed and charged her son Ryan with stealing a carton of milk from the school cafeteria.

 

The school normally charges students 65 cents per carton for milk. Ms. Turk says Ryan is allowed to drink it for free, because he is registered on the school’s lunch program.

 

Ms. Turk says one day Ryan went back to the lunch line to get his milk, and a Prince William County police officer approached him and accused him of stealing it.

 

Police say officers then handcuffed Ryan because the student “broke the rules and became disorderly,” according to local news reports.

 

Ryan Turk told a local television news reporter that yes, he did pull back when the officer grabbed him.

 

“I yanked away from him I told him to get off of me because he’s not my dad,” Ryan said.

 

Shamise Turk says her son was then taken to the principal’s office, where officials searched the student for drugs. The school principal says “he was acting inappropriately.”

 

“Because he was fidgety, kept pulling on the strings of his pants, and laughing when we were trying to talk to him and just wouldn’t talk,” Shamise Turk said.

 

The school suspended her son for “theft, being disrespectful and using his cell phone.”

 

The Prince William County Schools spokesman says, “the need for disciplinary action is determined by how a student behaves throughout any given incident…an appeals process is in place to ensure the fairness of any disciplinary action.”

 

His mother says they’re nuts. [Spoiler alert: This isn’t nuts at all. It’s just a very transparent way to discriminate against regular, law abiding students (AKA good kids).] 

 

Police told her the larceny charge is because he tried to “conceal” the milk, which Ryan denies.

 

He cannot go to school, and if the charges are upheld, he has a juvenile record and will have trouble getting into college or finding employment, among a host of other damaging things this does to young black men in America. “I’m angry, I’m frustrated, I’m mad. It just went too far. They are charging him with larceny, which I don’t have no understanding as to why he is being charged with larceny when he was entitled to that milk from the beginning,” said Ms. Turk.

 

Say what? The school to prison pipeline isn’t a complete fabrication? Go figure. If only more were discomforted enough that they actually spoke up about these policies…Â