Society's Child
Officer Vincent D'Andraia turned himself in at the 84th Precinct in Brooklyn on Tuesday. He is charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, harassment and menacing in the incident the city's police commissioner Dermot Shea has described as "troubling" and "disturbing."
He is the first city police officer in New York to face arrest over his conduct during the large protests that have followed since Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 after a white officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes in Minneapolis during an arrest.
"I fully support the long-held American tradition of non-violent protest," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement, adding that he "cannot tolerate the use of excessive force against anyone exercising this Constitutionally guaranteed right. This is especially true of those who are sworn to protect us and uphold the law."
The speed with which the justifiable, righteous anger over the police execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis has turned into yet another culture war against offensive art is staggering. And terrifying, to be frank. One minute people are taking the knee in solidarity with a black man murdered by ruthless cops; the next they're saying: 'Remember when David Walliams dressed up as a fat black woman on Little Britain? Let's get him!' It feels kind of deranged, like censoriousness on steroids.
Little Britain is getting it in the neck largely because of the Walliams-played character Desiree DeVere, a grotesquely obese black woman that Walliams played with extraordinary aplomb in a fat suit and with copious amounts of skin-darkening make-up. No one will admit this now - for fear of being dragged into the stocks - but the character was really funny. Desiree was not a caricature of black people; she was a caricature of a deluded woman who thinks she's hot stuff, and who loves to mix with wealthy men.
Explaining why he had yet to fire the officers seen pushing Martin Gugino, 75, to the ground, where he hit his head and bled onto the pavement, Mayor Byron Brown said, "I don't want to jump ahead of the investigation. It is very important for officers to know they are getting due process," according to WBEN Radio.
Brown referenced violence, vandalism, looting and fires being set during protests in the city, then described a "volatile" situation between protesters and police when Gugino approached the officers.
Minneapolis police chief announces immediate withdrawal from contract negotiations with police union
At a morning press conference, the chief said he plans to bring in outside experts to examine how the contract with the Police Officers Federation can be restructured to provide greater transparency and "flexibility for true reform."
Arradondo says his announcement would be the first of many he hopes will provide a pathway or a plan to provide actionable measures for reform.
"This is not about officers' wages, bonuses or salaries," Arradondo said. "This is about examining those significant matters that touch on things such as critical incident protocol, use of force...and also the discipline process to include both grievances and arbitration."
The commune's apparent list of demands, published on Tuesday after anti-police-brutality protesters took over a six-block area of downtown Seattle, veers from the common-sensical, past the daring and the deep to the absurd with little warning. Posted to Medium, it has been promoted on social media by a slate of Seattle lefties, activist blue-checks, and rubbernecking conservatives. None has yet questioned its authenticity.
Divided into four sections - the justice system, economic demands, "health and human services," and education - the list overshadows its best calls for reform with some silly and downright dangerous suggestions.
In recent weeks, as protesters carrying Black Lives Matter signs filled the streets, I have often heard it said that "racism is a virus." If that is true, then the new streaming service HBO Max just found the cure.
HBO Max's simple and brutally effective treatment to eradicate racism from the world is to pull the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind from its service...for now...at least until it can bring the film back "with a discussion of its historical context." Take that, racism!
Gone With the Wind, which is based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell, won 10 Academy Awards, including, ironically enough, the first ever for an African American, Hattie McDaniel, for Best Supporting Actress. The movie is also the highest grossing film of all time (adjusted for inflation) and is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time.
It took only one email from an otherwise unknown university graduate, Kennedy Mitchum, to embarrass the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to agree to "update" its definition of racism. When called upon, like numerous individuals and organisations, Merriam-Webster unhesitatingly took the knee.
Like numerous other elite institutions, this age-old authoritative dictionary decided that accommodation of a new reality is the better part of valour!
Suddenly every celebrity and institution has decided to atone for the sin of racism by literally getting on one knee and calling for forgiveness. Suddenly, every elite institution has transformed itself into guilt-ridden supplicants.
The move comes in the wake of nationwide -- and worldwide -- protests following the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25.
"'Cops' is not on the Paramount Network and we don't have any current or future plans for it to return," a network spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
"This nation believes in the rule of law, that no one should be judged based upon the color of their skin and nobody should be judged based upon the color of their uniform either," McCarthy said.
Acknowledging demonstrators protesting over the death of Floyd have "the right to be heard," McCarthy blasted "people who are looting,""antifa" and those committing violence against police officers, in his appearance on Wednesday's 'Fox & Friends.'
"There should be consequences for those actions," the California congressman said.
In doing so, it seems that the self-flagellating fancies of the Left have finally colonised the world of science. Predicted almost three decades ago by the science wars - a series of intellectual exchanges between scientific realists and postmodernist critics - the peculiar language of #ShutDownSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) betrays the anti-intellectual leanings of today's science.
The initiative follows the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota a fortnight ago, and involves suspending "all usual academic work for the day, including teaching, research, and service responsibilities," according to the organisers of Strike For Black Lives.
On the #ShutDownSTEM website, its organisers write how "In academia, our thoughts and words turn into new ways of knowing. Our research papers turn into media releases, books and legislation that reinforce anti-Black narratives." The organisers then point the finger at "white and non-Black People of Color," stating that we should take time today to "educate ourselves."














