Are You Showing Support for Black Lives Matter in Second Life?

[Beth Macbain]

1 hour ago, Pixieplumb Flanagan said:

I remember doing a similar exercise during foster carer training.  To see one's unearned privilege lain out clearly should be (it was for me) a very sobering moment. 

We did one at work about a year ago for all our management team (about 120 people). It was no surprise to anyone that our very privileged white CEO was several steps ahead of anyone. Well, no surprise to anyone but him. I think he was truly shocked. 

The one we did was probably 50 or so questions. It was pretty stunning to see some of the people who stepped forwards and back on different things. I know we all took something away from it, but then we didn't do anything else. I need to bring that up to my supervisor since she's heading up our diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

[Luna Bliss]

43 minutes ago, Mollymews said:

i am a supporter of minimum wage. It helps turn workers into contributing taxpayers rather than tax reciepients

i also have no sympathy for commercial enterprises that do business under the table to thwart the norms of civilised society.

Well I think you know I love NZ & your economic system with its far greater attention to public services. I even posted a photo of your Prime Minister the other day.
You probably wouldn't like living in the US too much, where we think it's okay to have a bottom class without adequate wages, health insurance, an affordable college education, and on and on. What's right according to this type of unregulated Capitalism is to squeeze as much as one can out of those at the bottom. YAY America.

If a system is so corrupt that it's really not quite civilized, is it always wrong to try and thwart the norms to survive though?  I imagine it depends on the situation.  We need a major overhaul here, but I can't see it coming.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[FairreLilette]

29 minutes ago, Mollymews said:

the USA federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. For non-tipped workers the federal min. wage is $2.13 per hour for tipped workers who receive not less than $30 per month in tips, which is a pittance. In California the tipped worker minimum is $12, the same as for non-tipped workers

i am a supporter of minimum wage. It helps turn workers into contributing taxpayers rather than tax reciepients

i also have no sympathy for commercial enterprises that do business under the table to thwart the norms of civilised society. Is a practice that corrupts our societies as a whole and corrupts the employers, and those they hire under the table, on a individual basis. I get that people need jobs,  but not on the terms of corruption that erodes us as a body and individually

My ex-husband was making $25-28 dollars an hour at the time, Molly when we first met though that pay stayed relatively flat for 20 years.  My ex told me fairly recently this is still happening to him.  He was even told, "Look, we can get a Mexican to work off the streets for $300 dollars a week".  His employers took everything.  Everything.  The last thing to go was paid vacation.  Now, if he wants a vacation he has to take no pay for the vacation week, because as always the same old song and dance "we can get someone to work for less than you".  So, they took everything and every benefit.  Once his health care benefits were taken from him we were nearly paying $700 a month for health insurance.  I have no idea what he is paying now, but I'm going to guess at least $1000 a month.  

My ex told me recently the only way he was able to keep his pay, even though he lost every benefit available to the workers, was that he could have buried them (the bosses) by turning them into the IRS.  My ex had been gathering information about their illegal dealings and fake IRS reporting along with the manger of the business and the bosses knew it.  When I saw him last, they were ready to bury the bosses by going to the IRS.  We haven't been in contact for awhile, so I don't know if he found another job or what.  

With my having four family members who were suicidal for over two years, I couldn't deal with his bosses anymore and I had to leave the marriage because of it.  I thought they were going to make us live in a car and that my cats would die living in a car because the cats would try to escape and be run over if the cats jumped into the street.  I did not want to live in a car with my cats in danger.  I left the marriage because that is where we were heading, homelessness with a total *screwU, you're expendable, a nothing.  I got myself an apartment.  

We're not the only ones with stories like this.  There aren't any jobs with health care now whereas almost all had health care, dental care, vision care once you passed your probation period of 6-9 months or so although some jobs may have had a probation period of 12 months before benefits kicked in.  As far as illegal immigrants today, I'm not sure what is happening in that regard.  I do know Governor Newsom set up a $1,000 per illegal immigrant relief fund since they received no benefits from the Cares Act Stimulus, but Govenor Newsom is also cutting the Medi-Cal program to include only those illegal immigrants who are 65 and over as an emergency COVID-19 fund.  Medi-Cal for immigrants may soon be a thing of the past though.  The systems in California are depleted.  We can't take in any more.  

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/may/15/california-budget-cuts-target-healthcare-immigrant/

[Mollymews]

16 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

NZ ... [vs] ... living in the US

just so is no misunderstanding.  New Zealand is not a perfect society. We have our own sets of enormous problems

for example, in NZ we have one of the highest rates in the world, per capita, of youth suicide. It happens fairly equally across all socio-economic groups and ethnic groups. And we don't why

another is that maori patients of forensics psychiatric institutions (the criminally insane who have committed horrific crimes) are way way over-represented in the numbers. And we don't exactly know why.  Is lots of compounding factors on a case by case basis, and little that can be objectively measured to say definitively, is because of this or this

and then there are other things like trashing our waterways by over-converting rural lands to milk production. And chasing tourism dollars to make profit without also spending on infrastructure. Resulting in hiking trails, roads and rural sewage systems breaking down. etc etc

and on and on

while the USA has problems also, I think from my outside perspective there is lots of good in the USA and its people.  The USA overall ends up getting more things right than it gets wrong

a good thing about people in the USA is that they do change their minds a lot quicker than in countries like New Zealand.  French people are similar in this way to USA people. You are both quick to change your minds, and when you do then you do it really really loudly. I think is because you are both republics born of revolution.  Countries like NZ and Canada and Australia just toddle along more quietly at a slower pace. Probably because staid constitutional monarchies

so to you all in the USA then I would encourage you to just keep on. Be yourselves, be noisy, be loud. and keep on agitating for change. Take heart from the fact that prior to the recent events, only about 30% of US people thought systemic racism was a problem in the USA. Today, a few weeks later, that number is about 70%.  Just like that, virtually overnight, 40% of US people changed their minds on this. So take heart and keep on

[Aethelwine]

Draxtor sent me this link earlier

 

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by Aethelwine
add a second link

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/donations-to-black-lives-matter-group-dont-go-to-dnc/

[Luna Bliss]

9 minutes ago, Gage Wirefly said:

See this article: https://thenationalpulse.com/politics/biden-black-lives-matter-defund-the-police/

You use as proof a blog edited by this far-right guy, former editor in chief of Breitbart News!  lol

Raheem Kassam

Political Activist

Raheem Kassam is a far-right British political activist, former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News London, and former chief adviser to former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

Trump just announced that the rally in Tulsa, formerly scheduled for Juneteenth (June 19th), is being moved to June 20th. Stephen Miller's not going to be happy!

Edited June 13, 2020 by Sylvia Tamalyn
to add screenshot

[Janet Voxel]

15 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

Trump just announced that the rally in Tulsa, formerly scheduled for Juneteenth (June 19th), is being moved to June 20th. Stephen Miller's not going to be happy!

 

[Ceka Cianci]

If you guys haven't seen Dave Chappelle's 8:46 video..

Here you go

I'm just going to link it just because of language..

8:46 - Dave Chappelle

He's always just been real, in my opinion..

Edited June 13, 2020 by Ceka Cianci

[Lyssa Greymoon]

54 minutes ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

Trump just announced that the rally in Tulsa, formerly scheduled for Juneteenth (June 19th), is being moved to June 20th. Stephen Miller's not going to be happy!

He already got his message out.

[Aethelwine]

Not seen this story mentioned before, "San Jose PD shoot own bias trainer in the nuts because whats even the point anymore"

https://www.wonkette.com/san-jose-pd-shoot-own-bias-trainer-in-the-nuts-because-whats-even-the-point-anymore

Community activist Derrick Sanderlin trained the San Jose Police Department on implicit bias, and then they shot him in the nuts. It's more complicated than this but no less painful. During recent protests against police brutality, the police have usually shown up and delivered brutality in 30 minutes or less. On May 29, Sanderlin tried to ease tensions between demonstrators and the police. He'd reportedly seen officers shooting rubber bullets at citizens, including women, at close range.

SANDERLIN: I really just couldn't watch it anymore. And just kind of made like a parallel walkover, put my hands up, and just stood in the line of the fire and asked them to please not do this.

Sanderlin is black and was making demands of police officers. This wasn't going to end well. Did he think he was a white woman offering them a Pepsi?

The police trained their riot guns at Sanderlin, who was unarmed and a reasonable distance from them. They still fired multiple times -- fortunately, with just rubber bullets, but unfortunately, those still hurt like a mother*****er. Sanderlin said one officer directly aimed at his groin. This is when he might've considered “implicit bias" too general a concept for the police to grasp and that he should've specifically trained them not to shoot people in the nuts.

Sanderlin received emergency surgery for a rupture, and a doctor informed him and his wife, Cayla, that he might never biologically father children. Yeah, the police were already killing our kids, but now they're just shooting black men in the nuts to get a jump on things.

"And I just started weeping at the thought of that. You know, we, we do want kids and we're very close to having kids," Cayla Sanderlin said.

Implicit bias or sensitivity training sounds like a reasonable response to police violence, but how useful is it in a system that actively trains people to become sociopaths (if they aren't already)? This is not an anti-police statement. It's a pro-human statement. We need to confront police training that turns people into killers who can disconnect entirely from brutal actions. Human instinct is to help an old man who's been pushed to the ground. Human instinct is to respond to the pleas of a human being begging for his life.

Cops have thrown women half their size to the ground and put them in choke holds. The police insist this is all in “compliance with departmental policy." This “policy" views every move a (black) civilian might make as a potential threat to an officer's life. And it doesn't matter if you're deaf, mentally ill, or just plain nervous.

San Jose cops also delivered rubber bullets to the stomach of man who'd moments earlier helped carry an injured officer to safety. Tim Harper had dared to ask why the cops hit a teenage boy in the head with projectiles. The officer who shot Harper -- without provocation -- was Jared Yuen, who was caught on video taunting protesters and otherwise looking like the “crazy one" from a war movie. Yuen is on desk duty now, pending an internal affairs investigation into his "aggressive behavior." I suppose he'll also receive “sensitivity" training and learn how not to kill people.

It seems like these protests escalate out of control because the police arrive as if they're on a tour of duty. The protests personally offend most cops, and no one's arguing that they should applaud people who think they suck. But it's hard to have peaceful mediations between opposing factions when one side is heavily armed.

President of the San Jose Police Officer Association Tom Saggau released a statement apologizing to Sanderlin, who rightly believes his work with the department has been in vain.

We are profoundly sorry for what happened to Derrick Sanderlin, a member of our community who has worked to help us become better police officers. As a father I am heartbroken at reports that Mr. Sanderlin and his wife are worried they may not be able to have children.

This week, San Jose police announced a cease fire against US citizens, so that's something.

[P]rojectile impact weapons will only be used in situations where a person is actively attacking an officer or another person or when an armed agitator poses a threat to officers or other peaceful protesters.

Gee, I kinda wish that had always been the rule. I know Sanderlin and his potential offspring do.

The Sanderlins have hired a lawyer and will likely sue the city and the police department. Let's hope whoever aimed for Sanderlin's groin, which was already prohibited, is identified, fired, and charged with assault.

[Mollymews]

a 4th Amendment qualified immunity case

a person got shot to death by 5 police officers when after tackling the person to the ground found he had knife up his sleeve. Which cut an officer while attempting to restrain the person. On which the officers stood up, surrounded the person who was lying face down on the ground and motionless. They yelled at the person for 2 seconds to drop the knife. After yelling for a whole 2 seconds the 5 police officers fired their weapons 22 times killing the person

in the previous hearing the court judge dismissed the case when the officers lawyer argued qualified immunity.  The appeals court  has overturned this judgment saying that the hearing judge erred in ruling that the actions of the officers was not clearly established by the legal doctrine and therefore had no case to answer. The appeals court said that it was clearly established under the 4th amendment doctrine and the officers must go to trial

the appeals court also said that should the officers not go to trial then it would confer absolute immunity on these government officials.  Absolute immunity only applies in civil damages cases to the US President when making discretionary decisions. Nixon v Fitzgerald  1982

a link (among others) is here: https://theintercept.com/2020/06/12/qualified-immunity-police-wayne-jones/

 

[Gage Wirefly]

 

[Dano Seale]

6 hours ago, Aethelwine said:

It seems like these protests escalate out of control because the police arrive as if they're on a tour of duty.

Aren't many US cops ex-military? If those guys are used to dealing in certain ways with the "*****'s, towel heads, sand n*****s" etc, it stands to reason that putting them in similar situations to the ones where they rarely had to worry about any consequences, is just destined for trouble!
It seems to me that often, when people leave the military, two things are in abundance - they join the police....or they suffer PTSD!  How do those that join the police avoid having PTSD?.....or do they just supress it maybe?

Molly's tale/link above is horrific and to someone used to their own cops (UK) who, in a similar situation would have just taken the knife and probably joked with the guy as they put the cuffs on, it's totally incomprehensible! Worse, is just how many "lawmaker's" decided that "yeah, that's fine. Nothing wrong with what you did lads, off ya go!" before a judge (ironic name btw) said "whoa! hold on a minute! This is SO wrong!"...and it takes SEVEN years to get to that point!
I'm probably upsetting Beth again because I have no dog in this fight, but it doesn't take a bona fide US citizen/resident to see that something is rotten to the core, from top to bottom, with the US justice system!
Is there a "fix"? I can't see one, anymore than I can see one for "racism" or the "gun problem" or any other "problem" you care to throw in. Can you?
 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

On 6/2/2020 at 2:27 AM, kiramanell said:

 

Funny way of trying to twist my words, LOL. It's merely a matter of deciding to right the most egregious wrongs first. Like with COVID-19: worst cases first (the triage Scylla mentioned).

P.S. And speaking of which, how many white ppl did die exactly, say, last year, by other white policemen? Just name one. Or just try and recall even one occurrence.... I thought so.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/lawyer-man-asleep-police-fired-house-killing-69587748

 

[RavynHunter]

On 6/12/2020 at 3:16 AM, kiramanell said:

 

You lost me at "I". Denial much?!

So you cannot answer my question? But then again, apparently everything past me saying "I" confused you, so I'm not sure you can explain how it was a racist murder. Understand this, this officer was/is a murderer. There is no justification for what he did. I want to know why you, any of you, think it's race related. Educate me instead of being condescending.

Look past your own hatred toward anyone who sees this as a murder and not a race crime, so it can be properly addressed. The issue is the types of people being hired and being retained. The issue is failed policy. Until this is addressed, it will continue.It will happen again, regardless of the race of the killer or the victim. This was a horrible crime, we owe it to the victim, all victims, to root out the cause and stop it dead in its tracks. Open you mind, mom. I hope this didn't confuse you as well.

[Selene Gregoire]

8 hours ago, Aethelwine said:

This week, San Jose police announced a cease fire against US citizens, so that's something.

[P]rojectile impact weapons will only be used in situations where a person is actively attacking an officer or another person or when an armed agitator poses a threat to officers or other peaceful protesters.

Gee, I kinda wish that had always been the rule. I know Sanderlin and his potential offspring do.

The Sanderlins have hired a lawyer and will likely sue the city and the police department. Let's hope whoever aimed for Sanderlin's groin, which was already prohibited, is identified, fired, and charged with assault.

This new "rule" is a wasted effort. The very ones the rule is supposed to apply to will just lie and claim they were being attacked when the video shows the opposite. Just as they do now and have been for decades. Nothing will change. Not permanently.

Everyone of them that fired their weapon should be charge at minimum with assault and bodily harm. They should all be charged with attempted murder and convicted.

[RavynHunter]

On 6/12/2020 at 9:06 AM, Luna Bliss said:

You seem totally unaware that we have an unconscious mind created through socialization which affects how we perceive and treat others.

What, do you need to see the cop shout the N-word at him before suspecting race could play a part in it? Or hear valid testimony from others proving the 4 cops involved hated Blacks?  Never going to happen.
And there never will be a test demonstrating the same scenario would have unfolded had the neck under Derek Chauvin's knee been white.

But what we can do is evaluate experiments in the Social Sciences which demonstrate prejudice against POC (People Of Color), and study statistics which compare rates of murder by cops among various demographics. The evidence is clear -- Blacks are treated unfairly by the judicial system and law enforcement compared to Whites.
So it is highly likely racial factors played a part in the specific case of George Floyd.

  * PROOF THAT COPS MURDER PEOPLE OF COLOR MORE OFTEN THAN WHITES 
Rate of fatal police shootings by ethnicity U.S. 2015-2020
Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 11, 2020
The rate of fatal police shootings in the United States shows large differences based on ethnicity. Among Black Americans, the rate of fatal police shootings between 2015 and June 2020 stood at 30 per million of the population, while for White Americans, the rate stood at 12 fatal police shootings per million of the population. 
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1123070/police-shootings-rate-ethnicity-us/

  * PROOF OF PREJUDICE IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
The criminal justice system is terribly biased against Blacks, leading to more wrongful convictions and harsher sentences compared to Whites. Statistics in outcomes prove this, along with tests conducted in the Social Sciences.  Biased attitudes develop through socialization, and the stereotypes held are frequently not even conscious, but tests can demonstrate the bias. These unconscious attitudes affects how law enforcement treats Blacks in the criminal justice system and on the streets.

I was shocked in college when I studied tests and learned about the lack of objectivity in perception people hold when evaluating Blacks vs Whites. Extensive experiments in the Social Sciences were designed to allow participants to express their feelings regarding various imaginary scenarios depicted by test facilitators. They demonstrate that Blacks are more often viewed as guilty of a crime, and they are assigned greater punishment for a crime when compared to white counterparts. This held true (though to a lesser extent) even among test subjects who were actually trained in objectivity (scientists, judges).
In tests with young children even the babies reject the darker-skinned doll more often. And saddest of all, even the darker-skinned children reject the darker-skinned doll more often.

Thanks Luna for replying with a more intelligent and thoughtful response than I have seen others reply with. To be clear, what happened to Floyd should not have happened. He was flat out murdered. I am not disputing facts you present, though they are too generalized for my thinking. What I am saying is we all need to look further into this issue, aside from race issues, real or imagined.

It is very difficult for people to set aside their politics and personal feelings when it comes to these issues, social issues in particular. I am an independent and I do not agree with everything any party subscribes to. I am not beholden to them, so I can think on my own without undue influence. Having said that, we need to look at hiring and retention policies of law enforcement. This includes police recruits and corrections. We need to look at operating policies and procedures and correlate cause and affect. But that is only starting in the middle. It needs to be addressed from the top down, from those we elect to the recruit on the street. They all need to be held accountable.

Regardless if Floyd's killer is racists or not, and I have yet to see proof beyond speculation, he should not have been a cop in the first place, much less for 18 years. So how did that happen, how did he stay on the force that long? The fact that this city has been democratically controlled for 40 years does matter, because if you dig deeper into officer involved shooting deaths, the large majority occur in these types of cities. Its a fact, and no amount of hatred toward others or condescending speeches aimed at anyone who has differing views will change it. It is what it is, and it needs to be addressed.

In my time, I have seen first hand the change in law enforcement. I am not a mom sitting at home playing social warrior on the computer. I saw what happened during and after Rodney King. I know what correct policy and procedures are, because I have written them. I know the affects of bad and good policies. I have been part of civil law suits because someone was washed out of the department because of troubling signs in their performance (suits I never lost). This problem is not recent, it's not worse than or better than the past, because if one person is killed because someone like this Minneapolis office somehow stayed on the force for that long, then that is one death to many. He is responsible for killing Floyd, but others should be held accountable too.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

On 6/2/2020 at 2:43 PM, LittleMe Jewell said:

This comment is unfair.  White deaths by police don't make headlines, hence the only ones that can likely name them are the people directly impacted by the deaths - family & friends & such.  As he said, there were more white deaths than black, but as Scylla said, 'not per capita'.  

(source https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/)

 

I am not attempting to agree with his general comments about what we should be focusing on -- just pointing out that the fact that nobody most people couldn't name a white death by a police officer doesn't mean it doesn't happen or isn't a problem.

 

its even higher today, just 11 days later  and more than 4 times the numbers of whites dead, vs 2.5 times Blacks dead.. 

The situation is going to hell quickly. The riots need to stop, the killings need to stop. Itts not white on black anymore. Its cops vs citizens now. Newsflash, they have more firepower than we do. The will win this fight unless WE de-escalate things. Put yourself in the rookies shoes. 500 people who may or may not be armed vs 30 cops. Yeah, the shoot first mindset is very prevalent. With reason. Wake up, people. 

[Luna Bliss]

4 hours ago, RavynHunter said:

Thanks Luna for replying with a more intelligent and thoughtful response than I have seen others reply with. To be clear, what happened to Floyd should not have happened. He was flat out murdered. I am not disputing facts you present, though they are too generalized for my thinking. What I am saying is we all need to look further into this issue, aside from race issues, real or imagined.

Regardless if Floyd's killer is racists or not, and I have yet to see proof beyond speculation, he should not have been a cop in the first place, much less for 18 years. So how did that happen, how did he stay on the force that long?

In my time, I have seen first hand the change in law enforcement. I am not a mom sitting at home playing social warrior on the computer. 

Well look at it this way. If you get a cop who gets off on power too much, who likes to make sure people knows he's boss, then just by having this attitude demonstrates he believes in a kind of hierarchy where he is king and lords it over others, right?  He would be the one who views society in 'levels of worth' where the top people are better than the bottom ones. He would be the one to take on the societal brainwashing that says Blacks are less than Whites and more likely to be criminals.
In other words, you can't really separate one of the power-hungry, corrupt cops from an overtly racist one.

Signed,
Mom (with 3 cats sleeping on my lap vying for attention)

[Beth Macbain]

Spending my Saturday afternoon watching   the statue of Jefferson Davis get ripped out of our state capital with our governor and his kids overseeing it, so for once I get to proud super proud of being a Kentuckian for a minute.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

 

[Ceka Cianci]

7 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

Spending my Saturday afternoon watching   the statue of Jefferson Davis get ripped out of our state capital with our governor and his kids overseeing it, so for once I get to proud super proud of being a Kentuckian for a minute.

Honestly, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if they took down every presidents and politicians monuments.. Not a wink..

 

[Selene Gregoire]

21 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Honestly, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if they took down every presidents and politicians monuments.. Not a wink..

 

Take them all down but leave the ones honoring veterans. First Nations should have the honor of removing the faces from Mount Rushmore, a sacred mountain.