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demmiblue

demmiblue's Journal
demmiblue's Journal
September 21, 2014

Dream big, live small



September 21, 2014

St. Louis Police Academy Promotes ‘Highly Entertaining’ Course On Michael Brown Shooting

Source: Think Progress



The deadly police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, in Ferguson prompted nationwide outrage and weeks of protests. But police in the area apparently still have a lot to learn.

The St. Louis County And Municipal Police Academy, which encompasses Ferguson, is offering a “Continuing Education” course in October entitled “OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING — YOU CAN WIN WITH THE MEDIA.” The class is billed as “fast-paced class is jam-packed with the essential strategies and tactics, skills and techniques” and includes a “detailed case study of Ferguson.”

Learning about how to manipulate the media after a police officer shoots someone can be a blast, according to a flier produced by the academy promoting the course.”The training is also highly entertaining,” the flier says, “You will learn a lot, and you’ll have fun doing it!”


Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/20/3570116/st-louis-police-academy-promotes-highly-entertaining-course-on-ferguson-and-police-shootings/
September 17, 2014

NFL Running Back Jonathan Dwyer Reportedly Arrested for Domestic Violence

Source: The Wire



Yet another NFL player is dealing with repercussions from a domestic abuse incident, the fourth such case to come to light this week. Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was reportedly arrested for domestic violence on Wednesday, according to a report from 3TV anchor Tyler Baldwin.

According to CBS News, Dwyer was charged with aggravated assault and preventing someone from calling 911.

This comes after Baltimore's Ray Rice was terminated for punching his wife in a February incident, Adrian Peterson was indicted on child abuse charges, and Greg Hardy was deactivated due to a domestic violence conviction from this summer.


http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/09/another-nfl-player-jonathan-dwyer-reported-charged-with-domestic-violence/380394/


What the hell is going on?!
September 15, 2014

Wyoming Lawmakers Advance Bill Allowing Executions By Firing Squad

Source: Think Progress

A legislative committee in Wyoming endorsed a bill that will permit the state to execute inmates by firing squad in the event that it is unable to obtain lethal injection drugs. The bill is a response to a nationwide shortage of the drugs, at least in the nation’s death chambers, as drug companies have grown unwilling to allow their drugs to be used in executions and foreign governments have prevented the drugs from being exported for that purpose.

Currently, Wyoming law provides for execution by “the administration of lethal gas” if the state’s lethal injection process is declared unconstitutional, although the state does not actually own a gas chamber. The firing squad bill, which earned the support of Wyoming’s Joint Judiciary Legislative Committee on Friday, makes two changes to the state’s law — it changes Wyoming’s fallback execution method from the gas chamber to the firing squad, and it permits firing squads to be used “if the sentencing court finds execution by lethal injection cannot be performed within the time prescribed by law,” even if no court has found lethal injections to be unconstitutional.

As lethal injection drugs have grown increasingly scarce on death row, many states have turned to less dramatic alternatives to ensure that they can still move forward with executions. Yet, while these less dramatic options may not back the emotional oomph of learning that your home state just re-legalized firing squads, they could be far more painful for inmates. A number of states, for example, have turned to “compounding pharmacies” which produce drugs of uncertain quality in order to execute inmates. As a result, poor quality drugs may be responsible for several incidents where inmates died after long periods of apparent pain. Additionally, in part because several professional organizations representing doctors and nurses outright forbid their members from assisting executions, executioners can lack the training necessary to prevent inmates from suffering as they die.


Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/15/3567366/wyoming-lawmakers-back-bill-allowing-executions-by-firing-squad/
September 14, 2014

You Want the Palin Brawl? Here it is. (The Mudflats)



<snip>

Most of the details of the drunken rumpus are known at this point, and take but a few minutes of googling and following links, but I did talk to my own source who had a couple things to add to the growing body of first person accounts. Sarah and Todd Palin were invited to a birthday party for Mark and Matt McKenna, twin brothers who own McKenna’s Paving, a successful business in Anchorage. The party was held at an address in the South Anchorage community of Oceanview. I lived in Oceanview once upon a time. It’s nice. There are tree-lined streets, and lilac bushes, and lots of little cul-de-sacs where kids ride bikes in circles and play hopscotch. Nothing much happens there, and that’s why people like it. When people throw parties, they are usually subdued back yard affairs. I never saw the police once in the five years I lived there. And if I lived there still, I might be sitting on some sweet cell phone video right now which I could share with you. Wouldn’t that have been something… But, alas.

The Palins arrived at the party, but not just Sarah and Todd who were the only actual invitees from the clan – the whole fan-damnily and some other tagalong friends from Wasilla turned up in a stretch Hummer limo. Because, of course they did. The party was an adult and relaxed event, with most guests at least in their 30s. Reports have come in that Track got into a fight with an ex-boyfriend of Willow’s. But according to my source, the initial fight started when Track and his buddy were aggressively pursuing… how shall I put this… “romantic relations” with some female guests. They were allegedly explicit and crude in their depictions of what they’d like to do with and to the ladies, expressing a desire to “bend them over on the lawn,” according to my source. Apparently the lawn was large enough to include places one could be “bent over.”

Hey. You guys wanted this… don’t look at me.

As Track and his companion were wooing the ladies with honeyed words, certain individuals took exception to it – namely the husbands of the women in question, whose presence right there with their wives the whole time was no deterrant to our confident and ambitious Casanovas from the Mat-Su.

Track did not fare well in the ensuing confrontation with the spouse. The irate husband punched Track with the full force of his annoyance, and the young Palin ended up “spread eagle lying on the grass.” You could say someone did end up bent over on the lawn, but not in the way he first envisioned.

Read more: http://www.themudflats.net/archives/44433

September 13, 2014

Supervenus, Frédéric Doazan - The canon of Western beauty (potentially NSFW)




About: Supervenus es el corto de Frédéric Doazan ganador del 17º Festival de Cortos de Bruselas.

Con este cortometraje el autor denuncia la sociedad occidental que impone unos cánones de belleza incompatibles con la salud física y psicológica.

Se promueven trastornos como la anorexia y la adicción a la cirugía estética y la dismorfofobia tanto en hombres como mujeres.

Se trata de imponer las exigencias de la imagen y el cuidado físico buscando la eterna juventud.


Google translation (not perfect, but it provides the gist of the commentary): Supervenus is short Doazan winner Frédéric 17th Brussels Short Film Festival.

With this film the author claims that Western society imposes standards of beauty inconsistent with the physical and psychological health.

Disorders such as anorexia and addiction to cosmetic surgery and body dysmorphic disorder in both men and women are encouraged.

It is imposing its image and physical care seeking eternal youth.

September 3, 2014

Prostate foundation rejects cash from Reddit users feeling guilty over Jennifer Lawrence pics

Source: Raw Story

A philanthropic group has rejected donations from a fundraising campaign taken up by Reddit users in the wake of their sharing hacked nude photos of celebrities, the Daily Dot reported.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation had reportedly received more than $6,000 from Redditors, as site users are known, who subscribed to a thread connected to the distribution of pictures of actresses like Jennifer Lawrence (pictured above), Mary Elizabeth Winstead and others. “Reddit The Fappening,” as the thread is called, was listed as the foundation’s top fundraiser before the donation was rebuffed.

“We would never condone raising funds for cancer research in this manner,” the foundation said in a statement on its website. “Out of respect for everyone involved and in keeping with our own standards, we are returning all donations that resulted from this post.”

Lawrence contacted authorities after the photos, allegedly hacked from iCloud accounts, began proliferating online. Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday that Apple attributed the thefts to “targeted attacks” and not a breach of iCloud security measures.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/02/prostate-foundation-rejects-cash-from-reddit-users-feeling-guilty-over-jennifer-lawrence-pics/
September 3, 2014

Kinda Racist? Try Diet Racism!

September 3, 2014

First 4D rollercoaster to open in Texas in 2015




BATMAN: The Ride features a massive, imposing, floating and twisting track frame, in which ride vehicles begin their journey by traveling up a 120-foot elevator-type lift before being released for their highly unusual sensory journey…including two beyond-vertical free falls, in addition to the six head-over-heels spins. Not only is BATMAN: The Ride the most exciting thrill ride in Six Flags Fiesta Texas history, it is currently not available anywhere else on the planet. This attraction, based on the comic, will offer a total immersion into the Batman storyline with numerous special effects including the world-famous Batmobile and Bat-Signal.


http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2014/08/29/first-4d-rollercoaster-to-open-in-texas-in-2015/14798027/

September 3, 2014

After Poll Finds GOP Failing With Women, RNC Claims To Support Equal Pay

Source: TPM

From the War is Peace files:

Following a conservative report that found that the GOP is struggling to appeal to women voters, the Republican National Committee on Monday published a tweet expressing support for pay equality.


RNC ✔ @GOP
Follow

This #LaborDay, the White House & Democrats believe paying women less than men is an acceptable practice.
3:30 PM - 1 Sep 2014


Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-equal-pay-tweet

Un-fucking-believable




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