- Might you be a bigger bigot than you think? According to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, the answer might just be yes. The study found that many people unconsciously harbor racist attitudes, even though they believe themselves to be fair and tolerant. "This study, and a lot of research in social psychology, suggests that there are still really a lot of negative associations with blacks," said Kerry Kawakami, a professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and lead author of the study. "People are willing to tolerate racism and not stand up against it." Basically, the authors divided 120 non-black participants into the roles of "experiencers" and "forecasters." The "experiencers" took part in scenarios where two actors, one black and one white, acted out situations wherein the black role-player bumped the white role-player's knee when leaving the room. “Typical, I hate it when black people do that," after the black person left the room. For the third and most extreme case, the white person remarked, "Clumsy n****r." (So clearly the third person was John Rocker.) Prior to experiencing this little performances, the "forecasters," predicted how they would feel in these situations. Those predictions, as you might expect, were mostly in the vein of beign offended and upset at such blatant racism. However, when it actually went down, experiencers reported little distress in all three scenarios, much less than the forecasters did in the moderate and severe situations. "Even using that most extreme comment didn't lead people to be particularly upset," said co-author Elizabeth Dunn, assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. For the second part of the study, immediately after the first portion, participants were asked to choose either the black person or the white person as a partner for an anagram test. (I love me some anagram test action!) After seeing varying degrees of racism in the reactions of the white participants, more than half of experiencers chose the white partner -- regardless of the severity of the comment that person made earlier. The bottom line is that our beliefs about how we would react to racist behavior and how opposed we are to such actions don’t play out that way when we are actually faced with these situations. So next time you say that you’re a tolerant, non-racist person, realize that your words don’t tell the entire story…….
- Most of the time, Riot Watch! ™ is an international affair, spinning us around the globe as people of various nationalities and cultures take it to the streets for some good social dissidence. But every now and then, some good ol’ fashioned domestic rioting is called for, and this would be one such case. Out in Oakland, Calif., violent protests and riots broke out shortly after a young man killed by a subway police officer was laid to rest in Oakland on Wednesday night. Just to give you an idea of the scope and instensity of these protests, the Oakland Police Department made 105 arrests, including a mass arrest of about 80 people at 11 p.m the charges stemming from the mayhem include inciting a riot, vandalism, assault on a police officer and unlawful assembly. In other words, a solid-all around effort by the angry rioters of Oakland. Hitting on all four of those charges is basically hitting for the cycle in the world of rioting. There’s just nothing better than seeing hundreds of angry demonstrators rampaging through the streets of Oakland. They were there to protest the death of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old father who was killed on New Year's Day in a crowded train station. If you know the details of Grant’s death, then you understand why these people are so upset. Grant was shot in the back as he was face-down on the floor at a train station, with several witnesses catching the incident on camera. In a symbolic gesture, some protesters in Saturday’s demonstrations lay on their stomachs, saying they were showing solidarity with Grant. The melee on Wednesday night was the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gone on throughout the past week, but things turned violent Wednesday night after Grant's funeral and following an announcement by authorities that Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is implicated in the shooting, had turned in his resignation. That isn’t going to be enough to avert the oncoming sh*t storm after videos from witnesses clearly show Mehserle shooting Grant in the back as another Bay Area Rapid Transit officer kneels on Grant. That precipitated a scene of protesters smashing car windshields and storefront windows, jumping up and down on a police car hood, and pushing a flaming dumpster up against said police car. I repeat, a FLAMING DUMPSTER. That is…..AWESOME! Flaming dumpsters are so rare in protests in any corner of the world, so seeing one used here in the U.S. of A makes your heart swell with pride. See what can grow out of what starts as innocently as a mid-afternoon demonstration with about 500 people gathering at the Fruitvale subway station? An entire city can literally break out in a full-scale riot, with flaming dumpsters, looted storefronts and destroyed police cars, good times………
- The Portland Trail Blazers have some set of kahones. The Blazers released forward Darius Miles before the season, back when his knee injury was deemed career threatening. He was supposedly done playing, but after Portland cut him, Miles was amazingly able to get healthy enough to play and signed with Memphis. The Grizzlies played him in eight games but also cut him after the injured players whose spots Miles had been helping to fill returned. Those eight games became key because under the terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, if Miles plays in 10 games this season, then the $18 million Portland still owes him under the terms of his contract would go back on their total towards the league’s salary cap. This week, the Blazers went full on a-hole, sending out an e-mail to the other 29 NBA teams warning of legal action if a team were to take Miles simply to adversely impact Portland's salary cap. That email went out hours before Miles cleared waivers Friday, sent Portland team president Larry Miller. It went out as Miles was in the midst of his comeback, which he has every right to make. Yet there’s Portland, declaring that, “Persons or entities involved in such conduct (signing Miles) may be individually liable to the Portland Trail Blazers for tortuously interfering with the Portland Trail Blazers contract rights and perspective economic opportunities." No, not really ass hats. The NBA doesn’t see it that way, nor does the players’ association. The league office sent out a memo to its 30 teams Friday that announced that once Miles had cleared waivers, it would support any club wishing to sign him. Additionally, the NBA players' association plans to file a grievance against the Blazers for threatening litigation against any NBA club considering signing Miles. "We are shocked at the brazen attempt by the Portland Trail Blazers to try to prevent Darius Miles from continuing his NBA career," players' association director Billy Hunter said in a statement. "Their attempt to intimidate the other 29 NBA teams by threatening frivolous litigation merely for signing this capable NBA veteran is a clear violation of the anti-collusion and other provisions of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We will vigorously defend Darius' rights." One owner who didn’t seem pleased with the move by Portland was Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, a noted pompous ass with a Napoleon complex who doesn’t take crap from anyone. Gilbert responded to Miller in an e-mail circulated to all 30 teams questioning whether "legal threats through a mass e-mail" are the best way for the Blazers to handle to the problems they would face if Miles signed with another team. Gilbert wrote: "I fully understand the frustration you and your team's ownership must be feeling in regards to this situation, but a preemptive threat of 'litigation' directed at all of your partners through a group e-mail does not sit well with me and seems to be incongruent with the spirit of keeping a 'fiduciary duty' and good 'partner-like duty' to your 'NBA joint venturers.'" Oh, and big ups to Memphis, which has in fact re-signed Miles and given a nice, symbolic middle finger to Portland in the process…….
- Bad news America, but you are FAT! Worse still, the number of you who are really, really fat (or what scientists like to call obese) is growing as quickly and uncontrollably as your expanding waistlines. According to figures posted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of obese American adults outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight. The stats show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese. Allow me to tally those all up for you and determine that a whopping 72.7 percent of adults in this country weigh more than they should for their height. These scary numbers are based on a formula called body mass index. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Why we’re using metric measurements for this, I don’t know. Most Americans don’t know or give a damn about what metric measurements mean, but maybe we’re using them here because of that fact, i.e. that the figures in the study won't be so disturbing if no one knows what they actually mean in meters and kilograms. When you put the numbers into context, the reality becomes even more jarring. According to the NCHS, the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 1980. On the BMI scale, someone with a BMI of 25 to 29 is classified as overweight, 30 to 40 counts as obese and people with BMIs of 40 or more are morbidly obese. Having these fatties among us puts a strain on the country, and not just because of the stronger chairs and benches needed to support their excess girth when they sit down. No, being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, arthritis and other conditions. Think that doesn’t put a strain on our health care system? Think again. Ah, what would you give for a return to the sunny days of 1988-1994, when a mere 22.9 percent of Americans were obese and 2.9 percent were morbidly obese. Sadly, when the world calls us a bunch of chubby, fast food-loving fat asses, they are right on the money…..
- I can see where Morgan County, Alabama, Sheriff Greg Bartlett might think that he would get away with a massive scam designed to steal more than $200,000. After all, his scheme was based on screwing over prison inmates by serving them what a U.S. District Judge in Birmingham deemed to be "woefully insufficient" meals. Who’s going to notice if you shave a few dollars here and there cutting back on meals, substituting subpar ingredients and smallish portions? If the prisoners complain, you can just ignore the complaints and tell them to f’off - after all, they’re prisoners and you’re in charge. However, Bartlett’s scam didn’t fly under the radar enough, with Judge U.W. Clemon finding Bartlett in contempt of court after a Wednesday hearing, saying he had failed to comply with a consent decree in the 2001 lawsuit regarding conditions at the Morgan County Jail. The Judge found that Bartlett intentionally served jail inmates those subpar meals in order to pocket the extra cash. At the heart of the case is an Alabama law that attorneys for the inmates claim provides sheriffs with an incentive to skimp on feeding inmates. The law allows sheriffs to keep -- as personal income -- money left over after purchasing food for inmates. Sheriffs are given $1.75 per day per inmate for food, and Alabama Attorney General's Office declared in a March 2008 opinion that sheriffs may legally keep what is left over. "There is no minimum amount of money that the Sheriff must spend on food," said court documents filed by Melanie Velez, an attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, representing the inmates. "Statutory permission to pocket the state's food subsidy does not, however, make it acceptable for the Sheriff to provide less than an adequate amount of food to detainees at the jail." Bartlett seems to be building his case on the fact that very few formal complaints were filed by inmates over the quality of meals served at the jail. "The Morgan County Jail served over 328,000 meals in 2008 and only received 15 complaints on the issue of food," he said. "I have never or would not ever have tolerated an inmate being fed inadequate portions or meals for any reason. That never happened, to my knowledge." That would seem to be contradicted by the fact that in 2001, the court made a decree which required Bartlett to serve "a nutritionally adequate diet" to inmates. I’m going to assume that such a declaration wouldn’t be made just for the heck of it; there had to be some evidence that Bartlett wasn’t living up to the standards of his job. In fact, Judge Clemon wrote in court documents that a typical breakfast for county inmates was a serving of grits or unsweetened oatmeal; half an egg or less, sometimes cold; a slice of white bread; and unsweetened tea or a beverage such as Kool-Aid. That was followed by a lunch consisting of either two peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, "with a small amount of peanut butter or an exceedingly thin" slice of bologna between two slices of white bread; a small bag of corn chips; and flavored water or unsweetened tea. To cap it off, dinner typically consisted of two hot dogs or meat patties; a slice of bread; and mixed vegetables or baked beans, the judge wrote. Before you start to think that this doesn’t sound so bad, know that according to the judge, the chicken was often pink and undercooked when served, and salt, pepper, sugar or other condiments were not provided; they must be purchased by inmates at the jail store. Additionally, inmates never receive milk and receive fruit only three or four times a year. In the opinion of the court, the portions are "woefully insufficient to satisfy the normal appetites of adult males. After eating each meal served by the Jail staff, the inmates remain hungry. Some inmates complain of recurring hunger pains." That seems to be backed up by the fact that many inmates have lost weight, some of them as much as 50 pounds. All of that while Bartlett has deposited in excess of $200,000 the past five-plus years to his personal account from the funds allocated to him by the State of Alabama for feeding inmates. Not hard to figure where that money is coming from when the good sheriff made $95,000 last year. Look, I get that these guys are convicted criminals and don’t deserve the best food imaginable, but I also know that the sheriff shouldn’t be dicking around with acceptable and suitably nutritional meals just to pad his bank account. Guilty as charged, Sheriff Bartlett……
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