The WTF? Thread

[Nocturnal Submission]

Really, 15% of the population: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48058863

[Janik]

Also on that - 'Do you suffer from this condition? Well, in this news report giving it some much-needed coverage we have included a bunch of images that will make you feel really ill! Enjoy!!!'

[Wouter D]

Really, 15% of the population: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48058863

From the article's description, it seems like the research boiled down to showing a bunch of people an image of a lotus seed pod, and asking them whether it was uncomfortable to look at. Using such a study but with a picture of Boris Johnson instead, I can draw the conclusion that a significant percentage of the population suffers from a debilitating fear of unkempt blond hair.

[Hot Pepsi]

The same can be said of London.

I was going to the Spurs v Brighton game on Tuesday and walsked from the Tesco/Ikea where I parked my car to the stadium.
Walking past the Meridian Water station currently under construction (in between Northumberland Park and Angel Road) I saw a large number of camping tents near the railway overpass.
Aparently they were where some of the construction workers for the new stadium and the surrounding works have been staying.

I'm reminded of this too. https://local.theonion.com/8-4-milli...ity-1819571723

So many scifi writers told us that cities would turn out like this - super-rich on top, everyone else living underground or in "the sprawl." It always seemed like something in the distant future, but it's here now, isn't it?

We don't have (many) armed checkpoints between the two areas but that's probably coming. But in those books/films, the protagonist could usually live in a secure little box apartment. But those don't really exist, do they? They're all being dozed for "luxury condos" for Russian oligarchs et al to buy and not live in.

My most metrics, I'm "middle class" but I could not afford to live in a major city with my current salary or any salary that I could ever conceivably earn. I'd either have to barely afford to live in one of those shared dorm things (fuck that. I'm 46. I've lived with enough asshole roommates that don't clean-up after themselves) or commute three hours a day (and still live in a shitty apartment, probably). Or I'll have to marry rich, but that won't happen.

I'd rather live off the land in the woods.

I don't know how blue-collar workers or poor people survive in those cities. I suppose a lot of them just don't.

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/bbcworld/status/1122449091965988865?s=21"]https://twitter.com/bbcworld/status/...965988865?s=21[/URL]

[Hot Pepsi]

Imagine if Americans values democracy that much.

[Tactical Genius]

So the US university admissions scandal rumbles on. After failing to find a black scapegoat, the media have had to settle for the Chinese.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-big...na-11556301872

which reminded me of this story from a few years ago.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/chinese...621-2oo6o.html

[Hot Pepsi]

You're trying to a shoehorn in a narrative that doesn't really fit.

[Tactical Genius]

You're trying to a shoehorn in a narrative that doesn't really fit.

I never wrote this articles, I only linked to them.

What is the narrative I am trying to Shoehorn. and more importantly what do you think was the point of the WSJ article?

[Hot Pepsi]

You're shoehorning in the narrative of a minority being scapegoated. That does happen a lot in this country in many contexts, but it's not really happening here. For one, lots of people are going down for this and most of them are white, and the dominant media narrative around this whole story is about white privilege and even the connections to Trumpism. Insofar as some people who aren't white are involved, it's not because they're being scapegoated by racists looking to shift the blame. Some media were telling USC to fire Lynn Swann, not because he's black, but because he hasn't shown much inclination to turn around an athletic department that needs to be turned around. (BTW, Plaschke talked more about that in a podcast. https://www.latimes.com/sports/podca...322-story.html)

Certainly, a lot of WSJ readers would love a "its all those dirty foreigners' fault" story, but that hasn't really caught on. Not yet, anyway. Most of the coverage has been of the Hollywood people involved.

It's not hard to believe that wealthy Chinese people would pay that kind of money. It's clear to anyone who spends any time around a major US university that a lot of Chinese students. And, judging by the cars some of them drive here, that group includes some from wealthy families (though the percentage of Chinese students who are rich tends to be overstated, I think). So it stands to reason that there'd be families who'd feel a lot of pressure, either social or economic, to get their kid into a prestigious US university. Not knowing anything about Chinese universities or what they've been told about US universities, I wouldn't dare to judge their conduct.

[Tactical Genius]

You're shoehorning in the narrative of a minority being scapegoated. That does happen a lot in this country in many contexts, but it's not really happening here. For one, lots of people are going down for this and most of them are white, and the dominant media narrative around this whole story is about white privilege and even the connections to Trumpism. Insofar as some people who aren't white are involved, it's not because they're being scapegoated by racists looking to shift the blame. Some media were telling USC to fire Lynn Swann, not because he's black, but because he hasn't shown much inclination to turn around an athletic department that needs to be turned around. (BTW, Plaschke talked more about that in a podcast. https://www.latimes.com/sports/podca...322-story.html)

A couple of questions, where are the mugshots and perp walks of all these celebrity parents who bribed to get their kids into these universities?
We all know America loves nothing better than the mugshot and the perp walk........ I'll wait.
We all know most of these parents are gonna get a slap on the wrist punishment because lets face it, white privilege is all about unfair advantages so this is seen more as a gossip scandal than a real crime.
And connecting this to Trumpism is more of a shoehorn that anything I have said.
Wasn't it you who was venting about Swann only a couple of pages ago, so please don't put in on the media. Regular folks like you are also in on the act.

Certainly, a lot of WSJ readers would love a "its all those dirty foreigners' fault" story, but that hasn't really caught on. Not yet, anyway. Most of the coverage has been of the Hollywood people involved.

Give it time. Once they find some foreigners, the media focus will shift and the celebrities will be given advantagous plea deals and token fines or community service.

It's not hard to believe that wealthy Chinese people would pay that kind of money. It's clear to anyone who spends any time around a major US university that a lot of Chinese students. And, judging by the cars some of them drive here, that group includes some from wealthy families (though the percentage of Chinese students who are rich tends to be overstated, I think). So it stands to reason that there'd be families who'd feel a lot of pressure, either social or economic, to get their kid into a prestigious US university. Not knowing anything about Chinese universities or what they've been told about US universities, I wouldn't dare to judge their conduct.

I found this articles interesting. Firstly, the WSJ laying the groundwork to blame a cheating other. The second is the apparent attitude to academic cheating by the Chinese. For my entire life, I constantly hear how clever Asians are (there have been similar cheating scandals in Singapore) despite my Academic and work experiences telling me otherwise. Also I constantly hear (usually from the chin-stroking liberals) about the graft and corruption in Africa, so yeah stories like this make me smile.

[ursus arctos]

TG, this is why there are no mugshots.

Their perp walks are here. The absence of handcuffs and guys with shaved heads in logoed jackets is standard for those charged with "white collar crimes" (who are, of course, overwhelmingly white).

[Hot Pepsi]

I don’t know about “perp walks” - good lawyers can usually prevent that for clients who do a plea deal - but there’s been a ton of coverage of this case focusing on the parents who paid the bribes, especially Lori Laughlin. Just google it. She’s the “face” of this story and that’s not likely to change.

The connection to Trumpism is sound. Both Trumpism and this shit come from rich white people believing certain things are owed to them. And a lot of people believe their kid can’t get into the school of their choice because of “diversity.” This was explained in that Atlantic article.

As far as I can tell, there really hasn’t been a ton of outcry for Lynn Swann to lose his job outside the LATimes. USC seems to be once again circling the wagons, at least until they get a new president.

[Gerontophile]

[URL]https://twitter.com/KHOU/status/1122819545863999488[/URL]

[Hot Pepsi]

Aren’t their mandated minimums?

[ursus arctos]

It must somehow have been characterized as a "non violent" Class E felony, which doesn't carry any mandatory minimum sentence in New York.

[Hot Pepsi]

The legislature might want to look at that.

[Tactical Genius]

The legislature might want to look at that.

The law is working as intended. There is a reason the crime was reclassified to an offence that the judge can give him a slap on the wrist for.
However, this is starting to become embarassing hence the call for "prison reform" as it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep white meth/opiod and sexual criminals out of prison

[Jah Womble]

Okay, I've not read about this case - frankly I do not wish to do so - but if 'rape' has been determined and charged, how can it then be 'reclassified'?

And given that the girl was fourteen, how wouldn't it be categorised as statutory rape anyway?

[Tactical Genius]

These type of sentences are more common that you think.
i have linked to many similar ones on my White Supremacy Thread and the advicetvnetwork YouTube channel (one of my sources for all things American) seems to have these on a daily basis.

[ursus arctos]

The Washington Post article provides some context

In February, the mother of Piche’s victim told WWNY the defendant was her daughter’s school bus driver for the public school district in Watertown, about 70 miles north of Syracuse, N.Y. The unnamed mother told the television station Piche “bought her daughter gifts and invited her and other minors to his home where he gave them alcohol.” Piche raped the victim at his house.

Piche was arrested Sept. 5, 2018. He was charged with second-degree rape, first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

As the Daily Times reported, Piche pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to a lesser charge of third-degree rape. Prosecutors had asked the judge to hand Piche a Level 2 sex offender designation, which under New York state law would have meant Piche’s residential information would have been posted online to the state’s sex offender registry.

But on Thursday, McClusky decided to place Piche under the state’s lowest designation, Level 1, a placement for offenders with a “low risk of re-offense,” according to the state. Piche’s future address will not be on the online registry.

In making his ruling, McClusky pointed out that Piche had no prior arrests and that there was only one victim in the case, the Daily Times reported.

The "reclassification" arises from the prosecutors' decision to accept his guilty plea to rape in the third degree rather than try him on the more serious second degree charge and the related child welfare charges.

An explanation of the different degrees is here.

That type of deal is how the vast majority of criminal cases are disposed of in the US system. The reduction in the number and severity of the charges is very common, and the reason such deals are called "plea bargains".

As I noted above, the reduction in degree was crucial to the outcome, as rape in the second degree carries a mandatory minimum sentence, while the charge he pled to does not.

At least in New York, statutory rape is reserved for cases in which the underage victim has consented to the act (though that consent is not legally valid). That doesn't look to have been the case here.

[Hot Pepsi]

I don’t see how it could be considered “non-violent.”

Perhaps the prosecutors weren’t entirely confident they could win at trial so they thought this was a smart hedge.

[ursus arctos]

That is always a risk, though the greater impetus to plea bargaining is the simple fact that neither the prosecution nor the defence have anywhere near enough resources to take every case to trial.

Current funding and staffing levels presume that at least 90 percent of charges will be pled out.

[Ginger Yellow]

Forget knife crime, crossbow bolts are what we should be worrying about

[WOM]

Yup. This is our old neighbor, the bank robber. Who then became the crossbow murderer.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ilty-1.4227608