i take back my apology, you ARE a sad gross little man.

My first reaction was surprise that the Republicans have not yet managed to kill the National Endowment for the Humanities. Maybe they are too busy killing Social Security, Medicare, Meals on Wheels, or anything else likely to help the poor, the elderly, or any other group unlike them which they despise.

right, well if we were not being bankrupted by open and fully dem supported illegal immigration, we might have some money for nice things.

i guess i should post some stats for the what is spent per year on that one. i know that make me a racist nazi, posting facts. i also know you will not respond to facts or have any for of discussion, besides name calling.
i love the blinders you guys wear for obama and hillary and what they did while in charge.

i think the military should secure our borders. i think we should not be bombing syria. i dont think anyone should be signing new laws and contracts that effect everyone, but no one has read. i dont think companies, especially foreign ones, should be allowed to write those.
too big to jail, and all that as well. trump got elected because the corruption was so obvious and so bad and so open right in our faces, and he spoke against it.
americans children having their scholorships taken and given to someone just because they illegally snuck in here.
it's like ok, so if i go into your starbucks and cut the line, and instead of being kicked out, or sent back to the end of the line, they just give me your latte. and then if you dare say anything, you are a racist nazi. as long as i vote for the manager that allows me to do this.
thats a pretty good metaphor for it.

quote:

Originally posted by infowars?kekfrog:
trump got elected because the corruption was so obvious and so bad and so open right in our faces, and he spoke against it.

And yet he is and has been one of the most corrupt of all. Funny.

quote:

Originally posted by infowars?kekfrog:
it's like ok, so if i go into your starbucks and cut the line, and instead of being kicked out, or sent back to the end of the line, they just give me your latte. and then if you dare say anything, you are a racist nazi. as long as i vote for the manager that allows me to do this.
thats a pretty good metaphor for it.

More like the real life case that if you go into a Starbucks, and are black, and your family have likely been citizens longer than many white residents, and you do anything suspicious like say wait for a friend, you are handcuffed and thrown in prison, because that's the way the racist Nazi overlords want it. The outrage over Obama was due to his being black and having some Muslim relatives, where a white male president can get away with any crime, and is...so far.

you really are hysterical children. you didnt get your way, so break it all. racism is pretty much non existent in this country. Obama made a point of stirring it up everywhere he could. so now you have blatant racism in schools and colleges and allover social media, but it's anti white racism so it's ok.
as for the corruption of Trump, why dont you say what corruption. instead of pretending any of the cnn bull they spout everyday has any truth to it.
and also why do you not care at all about open slave trade in other countries, obama giving billions to iran, or allowing coke to be sold in this country, by a terrorist organization?
whats up with the AWAN brothers? how about anthony weiners laptop.
loreta lynch and bill clinton tarmac meeting.
so much shady stuff. so much obvious collusion with obamas doj and fbi. but the left say, if we dont get our way we will break everything.
you are like normal liberals from years ago that got dipped in toxic waste, and are now some mutant deranged communist nutjobs.

mutant deranged communist nutjobs, mutant deranged communist nutjobs, mutant deranged communist nutjobs, liberals in a nutshell, commie power!

Ha, i made myself laugh a little at least.

quote:

Originally posted by infowars?kekfrog:
racism is pretty much non existent in this country.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! As the kids say.

Someone please help me to understand why so many people sem to think that two men were arrested at Starbucks for "being black".

In a statement issued via Facebook Live, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross defended the actions of officers in the video, saying that they “did absolutely nothing wrong”:

Ross said that Starbucks employees called 911 to report a trespassing complaint.

The employees told officers the two men wanted to use the restroom but were told the facilities are only for paying customers. The Starbucks employees then asked the men to leave, but they refused, Ross said.

Officers responded and asked the men three times “politely to leave the location because they were being asked to leave by employees because they were trespassing.” When the men again refused to leave, they were arrested “without incident,” Ross said.

“They did a service that they were called to do,” Ross said of the officers. “And if you think about it logically, that if a business calls and they say that someone is here that I no longer wish to be in my business, (officers) now have a legal obligation to carry out their duties. And they did just that.”

Ross, who is black, referenced his own experiences while making his case, saying, “As an African-American male, I am very aware of implicit bias.”

“We are committed to fair and unbiased policing and anything less than that will not be tolerated in this department.”

============================================

Is it possible to have a frank and honest discussion about things like this here? If not, I'll just walk away shaking my head again, I guess.

It would seem they were arrested under the old policy and a new policy is now in place. Starbucks also took a day off to train employees. I would be very interested to know whether anyone white was arrested for wanting to use the restroom or for occupying a table waiting for anyone. If so, 100% assurance it was someone with the appearance of a disheveled homeless bum. Remember our own dear Ray was questioned by police for walking after dusk.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...m_term=.a940e2fc7b26

But why not just buy something?

I would never go into a fast food place / coffee shop to wait for someone without buying something. I have seen that some black people, in the wake of this event, have come out and said something to the effect of, "Oh, I never go in an establishment and just hang out without buying something -- because I am black something will happen." ... Well, I wouldn't do that either! It's not because you are black, it is because there is limited space and they need that space for paying customers.

Now in a restaurant, with wait staff, it is sometimes acceptable to be seated at a table and await companions for lunch or dinner. Many places (I was just in one last week) will ask you to wait outside or in the lobby until your entire party arrives and then you will be seated.

To me, this seems like a complete overreaction by everyone:

1. The manager of the Starbucks should have been better prepared to defuse the situation without involving the police. In her defense, I have an acquaintance who is a franchise owner, and loitering is a huge issue. It happens all the time ... maybe she was just fed up with it (not an excuse, but people are people). In some locations, Starbucks has a big problem with drug users going into the restroom and shooting up -- my friend has found blood spray on the wall in his location on more occasions he can count from a junkie who was shooting up in the bathroom.

2. If it didn't occur to the two guys to buy a coffee when they first arrived, then it should have occurred to them when the manager suggested that the bathroom was for paying customers only. Were they ever going to buy a coffee? Were they waiting for the business meeting to start? Were they afraid the coffee would be gone before the meeting started? If they were not going to buy coffee, they could have waited outside when the manager asked them to leave. They had another chance to defuse the situation when the cops arrived and asked them 3 times to leave the establishment. For what its worth, if a cop asks me to do something, I do it (unless what they are asking is illegal or unsafe, but I doubt that situation arises very often) -- why is that so hard?

3. The cops probably could have done a better job of defusing the situation as well, but they had a business owner claiming that the two men were trespassing and would not leave, along with validation from the two men that they would not leave when asked 3 times. Why is this hard?

4. The media has hammered this event over and over -- but who was in the wrong? Was the Starbucks manager wrong for enforcing rules against letting non-customers use the bathroom? Were the men in the wrong for not leaving when asked 4 times to do so? But it was pile on evil Starbucks" time for the media.

5. Many citizens have said over and over, "That was racism ... no one would do that if they were white." Not true. I have had it happen to me when I was younger -- the difference is, when I was asked to leave I left. Then I told my friends, and we no longer visited that place.

I will close this unintentionally long post by saying the following: When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. Similarly, when the only tool you have is racial identity, every problem starts to look like racism.

That's my take anyway. And thanks for the reasoned response -- it is nice being able to have an agreeable conversation with someone you disagree with. :-)

Starbucks Opens Its Bathrooms. Now It Needs to Keep Them Clean and Drug Free

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
I would be very interested to know whether anyone white was arrested for wanting to use the restroom or for occupying a table waiting for anyone.

Of course not. Because they're white. And as for CM's question 'why didn't they just buy something?' - they were going to! The account I read said that they were waiting for someone and once that someone arrived they planned to purchase mediocre coffee-like beverages and carry on the meeting. They were clearly targeted because of their skin pigmentation. And why does it not surprise me that CM sides with the shop on this?

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
I would be very interested to know whether anyone white was arrested for wanting to use the restroom or for occupying a table waiting for anyone.

Of course not. Because they're white. And as for CM's question 'why didn't they just buy something?' - they were going to! The account I read said that they were waiting for someone and once that someone arrived they planned to purchase mediocre coffee-like beverages and carry on the meeting. They were clearly targeted because of their skin pigmentation. And why does it not surprise me that CM sides with the shop on this?

As far as the question of why not just buy something--I wouldn't. Just a few reasons: 1. If I'm waiting for someone I don't want to be halfway through or finished with something while they're only just arriving--that is, assuming service is reasonably fast. 2. You don't know who was paying, possibly the person for whom they were waiting, so why should they buy anything? 3. If I explained I was waiting for someone I would resent not being believed.

quote:

Originally posted by C. M. Christopher:

1. The manager of the Starbucks should have been better prepared to defuse the situation without involving the police. In her defense, I have an acquaintance who is a franchise owner, and loitering is a huge issue. It happens all the time ... maybe she was just fed up with it (not an excuse, but people are people). In some locations, Starbucks has a big problem with drug users going into the restroom and shooting up -- my friend has found blood spray on the wall in his location on more occasions he can count from a junkie who was shooting up in the bathroom.

Speaking of which, #49 of Reasons I'm Going to Hell is for laughing at this charming video. (Explanation: they wouldn't let her use the restroom as she was a junkie caught using before.)
https://theconcourse.deadspin....-throws-i-1826082960