kimmy

It's entirely related to post count. If you want to boost your seniority, just boost your post count. Post post post. Post like the wind. Then you can be counted among the elite and admired, such as Oleg Bach or Benny. -k

Being considered "suspicious" is not the same as being deemed "guilty". If the police decide that your refusal to allow them into your house is "suspicious", so f***ing what? You still have all the protections afforded by Canadian law. The police can't charge you with "acting suspicious". All they can do is decide to investigate you further. They have that right regardless, and you have the right to be as cooperative or as uncooperative as you wish. As a Canadian citizen, you're certainly entitled to do just that, and as Canadian law enforcement officers, they can investigate you as long as they follow the rules of Canadian law. -k

Hey, Morris, why don't you tell me what you think might have happened if someone with a video camera had been on hand to film my encounter with the aboriginals in 2006? Do you think I'd have been invited to schools to talk about the experience? Encouraged to run for civic office? Become a celebrity? Let me know what you think about that, Morris. I'd be fascinated to hear how you think things might have turned out. -k

The Jay Phillips incident received ample coverage on CBC, Morris, which is a national outlet, not a western one. -k

You can do it manually. As well, I tend to use the "indent" feature if I know I'm quoting something that somebody else is going to want to refer to in their response. I liked the pre-upgrade implementation of "indent" which provided a quotation-marks graphic around the indented portion. -k

Google for the Courtenay incident, and you can find hundreds of hits from all over the globe. Google for the Buffalo incident, and you can find nothing save for a few reports from Buffalo. -k

I could very easily bully someone to the point where it was inevitable that they try to hit me, but trying to hit me would still be their prerogative. It doesn't mean I've acted intelligently or excuse my role in the violence that ensues. -k

What am I alleged to be dodging here? In the prior thread ("Hate Crime in Courtenay BC!") I called it a "man bites dog" story." But I actually don't think that really explains it. As I mentioned in my response to Michael, I think the media sees benefit in reporting white-on-nonwhite violence, but sees risk in reportin nonwhite-on-white violence. You mention "proportions of population" and "recent history of black folk in America"... how do either of those factors determine the one story as being highly newsworthy and the other as meriting no coverage at all? Is it your position that the media's job is to decide what merits coverage based on its potential to effect social change? My position is that the news media's job is to report the f***ing news. Further, I believe that the news media has the potential to *harm* progressive causes by under-reporting nonwhite-on-white violence and over-reporting white-on-nonwhite violence. Specifically, it becomes very easy for me to ridicule all of the coverage given the Courtenay situation when I know that the same media completely ignored a far more brutal incident in Buffalo. Why should I be concerned about such an incident when I *know* such coverage has been completely slanted to hype white-on-nonwhite violence far out of proportion? Btw, you seem like an articulate person who is willing to make an effort to present an argument. As such, I hope you feel welcome here at MLW. Well no kidding. The media offers descriptions that might help identify attackers who remain at large, as a matter of public safety. Some have contended that even doing this much is racist. -k

I offer one big fat explanation for the discrepancy in coverage given the two incidents for your consideration, Michael. Media were uneasy about covering the Buffalo incident because they were concerned about being branded racist. Media were enthusiastic about covering the Courtenay incident because they wanted to be thought of as enlightened. Mull that over, and get back to me. I certainly say there's a double standard in regard to how such stories are covered by the media. In this thread I've mentioned the absurd disparity in the coverage received by the Heinous Courtenay BC Hate Crime compared to the total non-coverage given to the Buffalo NY incident. In previous threads I've mentioned other incidents as well. I compared the coverage given to the Duke lacrosse "rape" case-- hyping it up as privileged white frat-boys feeling entitled to victimize a poor black exotic dancer-- vs the Toronto highschool rape case, where we know that the attackers were black because the black parents cried that the charges were racially motivated, and yet when the convictions rolled in, the racial aspect of the case was deliberately left out of the coverage, even the prior allegations of racism were not mentioned in the coverage. (the other notable difference between the two cases, of course, is that the Toronto rape case resulted in across the board guilty-pleas and convictions, while the Duke "rape" case was proven to be a false accusation.) If you wish to dispute the idea that there's a double standard in how white-on-nonwhite vs nonwhite-on-white incidents are covered by the media, I'll be more than happy to engage that topic. Have at it, if you wish. Now... while it is generally not considered exactly kosher to mention personal anecdotes in this sort of conversation, I will mention the following by way of shedding some light on why I think the coverage given to the Heinous Courtenay BC Hate Crime is a complete joke: I experienced a similar incident a few years ago. I have waitressed at bars since I was 18. One night in 2006, I had left the establishment where I worked, and was walking along Whyte Ave in Edmonton to the bus stop. I was confronted by a group of young adult aboriginals. I was verbally abused, shoved, taunted, threatened, and challenged to fights by the female members of the group. And they made it clear that it was my appearance and my ancestry that they had issue with. I escaped by bolting; they pursued until I ducked into an establishment where I knew the bouncer. All of this is identical to the Jay Phillips Heinous Hate Crime situation, except that there was nobody with a video camera handy. If somebody with a video camera had been handy, I have to wonder how things might have turned out differently. Would I be invited to schools to talk about the incident? Would I be encouraged to run for city council? Would the incident have become an international news story? Or a youtube sensation? The answer to all of those questions is "fat f****ing chance." -k

Obviously, just about everything Lictor writes is ridiculous hyperbole... the opening post of this thread being Exhibit A. But as far as the double standard regarding reportage of violence by whites vs violence by non-whites, he's right on the money. Had the Buffalo NY incident involved a mob of whites beating a black boy near to death for dating a white girl, it would be a news story of monster proportions. You know and I know (and Morris and JB Globe know too but won't admit it). "Media conspiracy" might not be an accurate description, but media outlets make conscious decisions about what stories to carry, and when all the media outlets make the same choices, what would be a better word for it? -k

So, final tally has Conservatives 2, BQ 1, NDP 1... the Liberals appear to have finished 3rd in each riding. British Columbia, we need to talk. Kiss my ass, east-coast crybaby. -k

This is very well said. -k

Regarding the Montreal school fight, Morris found the following articles the last time this was argued over: http://www.cjad.com/news/565/607842 http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e973ca01-4451-4af2-9eb4-6b065ee61251 Regarding the attack on the white 18 year old by 10-15 blacks, which Lictor mentioned earlier: http://www.examiner.com/x-5919-Norfolk-Crime-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Why-has-the-press-ignored-hate-crime-against-a-white-teenager The Montreal school incident is hard to argue as a hate crime when the victim herself concedes that she used the "n-word" as a racial epithet (she probably should have read "10 things never to say to a black coworker.") The incident in Buffalo, on the other hand, does illustrate the point Lictor hopes to make: a horrifically vicious hate attack with a white victim, and completely ignored outside of local Buffalo news outlets. *have* the police up front declared this a hate crime? Seems a little odd to me to attribute the attack to racial hatred, when the same 3 guys apparently beat up a white teenager just a couple of hours later. -k

I heard that deciding Whowhere makes a lot of sense is one of the most reliable signs that you're suffering from a concussion. -k

Cool story, bro. -k

"Control and Plus" and "Control and Minus" work, too. -k

I agree that the "vote" function was not a particularly worthwhile addition to the board... hadn't tried it, hadn't planned on using it, hadn't noticed whether I got any votes for or against, didn't even notice that it's been disabled... ...but I'm pretty amazed that Dobbins is leaving because of it. From the sheer volume Dobbins posts, I can't imagine him possibly being worried that some people might not like what he has to say. I'm puzzled that he is worried that people might use the "vote" function to tell him they didn't like his post, when most people here have no problem using actual words to tell you what they think. I'm also perplexed at the concern over the "Top 20 posters" feature. Who could possibly care? Previously I had found it annoying that one had to use the advanced search function to find their own posts. I notice that a "Find Posts" feature has been added to the left hand side of the profile page to do this automatically. (the "Posts" and "Topics" tabs on the profile page have always been beyond useless.) Overall I think the upgrade is very nice. The default font does seem a little large to me as well, but I can get over it. -k

I'm not advocating that classical media be abandoned. I'm just disappointed that new mediums for art are being left as the exclusive domain of nerds. -k

That's brilliant! -k

I recall August was offended by and refused to watch Borat, because he'd heard that Cohen did not make an effort to bait any Muslims during his conversations with Americans. Clearly, if you're not confronting Islam, you're just not making art. -k

Some people will always be hobos on the inside, no matter how much money they make. He does raise a point, however. There are immense opportunities for artists right now, but these opportunities are for artists who can work on a computer, not brushes and pencils. I doubt that many art students have the opportunity to learn these kind of software and computer skills in the classroom, and I doubt many art teachers have the skills to teach them. Regardless, it's a good project that has obviously caused the students to reflect on the soldiers' lives and deaths and choices. -k

You revived a thread after 23 months to post *that* nugget? -k

I can relate to a degree... I used to feel a lot of pressure to get a tan, and I'm simply not capable of it. There's a widespread belief that pale skin is an indicator of poor health or of being a nerd who spends all day indoors. If I wore shorts I would hear jokes along the lines of "...blinded by the sun reflecting off Kim's thighs" repeatedly. And while nobody actually means any harm, it weighs on you. You begin to notice that people in tv and magazines don't look like you, they've changed that aspect of their appearance. If you're black and female... it can't have escaped your attention that of all the well-known black women in our culture, and there are a lot of them, ...all of them have straightened their hair. When all of the people who're suppose to be your role-models have straightened their hair, doesn't that kind of tell you something? For black men, it's different. Their hair is completely compatible with the short or almost bald hairstyles that most black men prefer. And, with the recent popularity of '70s retro culture, a gigantic 'fro is quite an attention grabber. And as you can see on Dick's profile portrait, it's quite dashing! I don't feel any pressure to attempt to tan anymore. Probably mostly because I'm not in highschool anymore... but I also think that the attitude that a tan is a sign of health has diminished considerably. I would think that's just a result of ongoing trends. Perhaps at some point some pale model turned enough heads that other people thought "why should I tan when my own skin already looks that nice?" I anticipate that at some point before too long, some popular black woman will come up with a look that makes "nappy hair" popular. Maybe Chris Rock has provided that woman, whoever she is, with the moment of reflection to take that first step. -k

The official trailer for the film. ...it does indeed look very interesting. Chris Rock is a smart guy and a funny guy and always has something interesting to say on the subject of being black in America. About a month ago, I was very near to starting a thread on the same subject as Rock's movie. At the time, with all the Lictor-related unpleasantness the board had seen, I decided not to. This was what piqued my interest... Mattel Toys, longtime makers of the famous Barbie, have recently come up with new friends for Barbie to hang out with. They're African-American dolls, but unlike prior attempts, they're not just new paint on the regular dolls. These ones have visibly African facial features and come with a number of different skin tones. Mattel went all-out to try to make realistic representations of black women: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/10/25/the_line_the_new_black_barbies_wont_cross/ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091008/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fea_lifestyles_black_barbies Commendable, right? Good job, Mattel? Well, only kind of. It seems that a lot of people are upset with the dolls' hair, which comes in straight or wavy, but apparently no 'fro: Wait a minute... why is Mattel being criticized for not taking the lead on this? What about actual black women who are supposedly role-models? What about Michelle Obama or Oprah Winfrey or any of a large number of singers and actresses who all have opted to straighten their hair? It seems to me somewhat hypocritical to on the one hand hold up Michelle Obama as the new role-model for black girls and applaud her as being the embodiment of sophisticated style for black women, yet on the other hand criticize Mattel Toys for producing dolls whose hair-style seems to be patterned after Mrs Obama and every other black woman of note. -k

For the most part, they actually do. The Braidwood inquiry is an exception, of course, but even in that incident the goons responsible had already been cleared of wrongdoing and put back on active duty by the RCMP's own internal whitewash rubber-stamp thingy. I do agree with the basics of what you're saying. This prosecutor pursued a case that appears to have had no merit, and people suffered as a result. There ought to be consequences for that sort of incompetence, and compensation to those whose lives were harmed as a result of it. However, I think that prosecutors must have a certain amount of leeway to pursue cases, and some amount of protection if a prosecution is unsuccessful. If prosecutors didn't have some amount of protection and could be sued each time somebody got acquitted, the result would be that they would only pursue cases they knew were slam-dunks. I do not think it would be in society's best interest to have crown prosecutors who were afraid to pursue convictions in anything but the easiest of cases. I think that would be terrible. There has to be some sort of balance. In this instance, I can't help thinking that the prosecutor's motivation for pursuing these ludicrous allegations is that he thought the sensationalistic nature of the case would advance his career... which is one of the examples of reasons why malicious prosecution charges could still be made to stick. -k