Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

We still have time to mess this up!

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Please don’t feed the bears.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

People are complicated. Love is not.

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / This Week In Blackness / Paris Terror Attack Victims Use Social Media To Check In

Paris Terror Attack Victims Use Social Media To Check In

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While terror and pandemonium hung in the air after the six-pronged attack in Paris on Friday leaving 129 dead and 300 injured, it’s good to know that there were ways to check in with your loved ones. Facebook rolled out a Safety Check feature for Facebook users in the Paris area so they could alert those in their network that they were safe. But the new feature has also been criticized as it was not used in a southern Beirut suburb after twin bombings:

Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended Facebook in a comment on his page Saturday saying, “Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters. We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well.” … Vice President of Growth Alex Schultz … explained that before Friday, the safety check has only ever been used for natural disasters, including earthquakes in Afghanistan, Chile and Nepal, Tropical Cyclone Pam in the South Pacific and Typhoon Ruby in the Philippines. Because of “a lot of activity on Facebook as the events were unfolding,” Schultz said they decided to use it for something other than a natural disaster for the first time.

Team Blackness also discussed a White House summit focusing on women and girls of color and much more.

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38Comments

  3. 3.

    srv

    Law enforcement officers removed four passengers from a flight scheduled to leave Baltimore-Washington International Airport for Chicago O’Hare International Airport this morning, according to a statement from Spirit Airlines.

    Spirit Airlines flight 969 was taxiing to the runway for its 6 a.m. ET departure when a passenger alerted a flight attendant to another passenger’s “suspicious activity” on board the flight, the airline said.

    The flight attendant notified the captain, who decided to return the plane to the gate.

    A Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) Police spokesperson told ABC News that law enforcement escorted three males and one female off the plane. They were then taken into custody at the airport.

    The spokesman said the “suspicious activity” involved one of the male passengers viewing a news report on his smartphone. All four of the passengers were “very cooperative,” according to the MTA spokesperson, and have been released.

    The spokesman said no charges will be filed and the incident has been “resolved.”

    Nothing will change until someone is made an example of.

  5. 5.

    Punchy

    You can now be pulled off a plane for suspicious activity….activity such as looking at your phone. What’s not said, but probably a contributing factor, was excessive melatonin and/or excess facial hair.

    Basically, at this point, anyone on any plane can get anyone thrown off of it by merely “feeling uncomfortable”. And everyone else is wicked tardy for that wedding rehersal or business meeting because Ms Fee Fees concerned trolled the whole fuckin plane.

    ETA: Shoulda read the comments first. SRV got to this already. My bad.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    An old friend, her husband and daughters were in Paris when the attacks happened. I checked Facebook, and she had the little message, ‘ ——— is safe in Paris.’

    That was such a relief. Just that little message tided me over until I could get home and check the internet.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    Cam Newton Doesn’t Owe You Modesty
    Nov 16, 2015

    excerpt:
    In both of these games though, criticisms against Newton arose – same as they always seem to do – and detractors seem to have a lot of trouble saying what they really mean. Sometimes it’s really vague and noncommittal: Newton is annoying, or he just “bothers” them. And other times, they’ll just come right out and say “Cam Newton is a thug.”

    All of this becomes so much more interesting when you consider the relative silence when it comes to outbursts by quarterbacks of lighter shades. Take into account Carson Palmer after the Arizona Cardinals’ 39-32 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, or in Week 4 of 2012 when Matt Ryan famously told the Panthers to ‘get the [expletive] off his field.’

    Hm.

    The word “thug” tends to get tossed around a lot when it comes to non-majority race people doing things that majority race people find distasteful, and I find its use a little problematic. Actually, I’m not a fan of the word “problematic” because it’s way too easy to hide behind. I like my bigots out in the open and easy to identify.

    If your problem is that Cam Newton is too rough around the edges for your genteel sensibilities, then that’s a personal problem. If your problem is that you don’t enjoy watching Cam Newton dance, then keep him out of the end zone. If your problem is that you want Cam Newton to stay in his place, too bad.

    http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/carolina-panthers-quarterback-cam-newton-doesnt-owe-you-modesty-dabbing-titans-panthers-thug-coded-language

  8. 8.

    D58826

    Over on huffington there is an article by David Stockman of Reagan era fame entitled ‘ Blowback — the Washington War Party’s Folly Comes Home to Roost’. Since links aren’t working I would recommend going over and taking a reads. Warning – use an asbestos mouse. The article is a blistering denunciation of American foreign policy, esp since the Reagan era.

  10. 10.

    Cacti

    Chuck Schumer suggests the GOP is right about restricting Syrian refugees.

    Why is this man the presumptive replacement for Reid again?

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    BECAUSE nothing says REAL MAN that beating up on a defenseless woman.

    Once again…none of these muthaphuckas will take themselves to the local mosque at prayer time.

    …………………..

    HATE CRIME ALERT: “Muslim Mother Attacked Outside School in Toronto”

    Toronto police say they are treating a brazen assault on a Muslim woman near an elementary school in the Flemingdon Park area as a hate crime.

    The woman was picking up her children from Grenoble Public School on Monday when she was attacked by two men, police told 680 NEWS and CityNews.

    Police said the incident occurred around 3 p.m. near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East.

    The two men approached the woman and started hurling anti-Islamic and racist profanities at her.

    Attackers yelled obscenities at Muslim women as they beat her. “You terrorist, you don’t belong here. You piece of Sh*!@, go back home”

    Victims brother says she was attacked from behind, grabbed by her hijab, thrown to the ground, & punched several times in the stomach & face.

    http://www.themuslimguy.com/hate-crime-alert-muslim-mother-attacked-outside-school-in-toronto/

  14. 14.

    sharl

    @D58826: I wonder if the linking issue folks are having is dependent on user device? I haven’t been having any problems with that issue (laptop and desktop PC, Win7, Firefox_v42); the server hiccups, on the other hand…

    Here is a link to David Stockman’s HuffPo piece, Blowback — the Washington War Party’s Folly Comes Home to Roost. I’m still going through it, but I already like it for this alone:

    Indeed, shortly thereafter according to Gorbachev, President George H.W. Bush and Secretary Baker promised that NATO would not be expanded by “as much as a thumb’s width further to the East” in return for acquiescing to the reunification of Germany.

    So with its “mission accomplished” there was no logical reason why NATO should not have been disbanded in parallel with the Warsaw Pact’s demise, and for an obvious and overpowering reason: On November 9, 1989 there were no material military threats to US security anywhere on the planet outside of the suddenly vanishing front line of the Cold War.

    As it turned out, however, there was a virulent threat to peace still lurking on the Potomac. The great general and president, Dwight Eisenhower, had called it the “military-industrial complex” in his farewell address, but that memorable phrase had been abbreviated by his speechwriters, who deleted the word “congressional” in a gesture of comity to the legislative branch.

    So restore Ike’s deleted reference to the pork barrels and Sunday afternoon warriors of Capitol Hill and toss in the legions of beltway busybodies that constituted the civilian branches of the cold war armada (CIA, State, AID etc.) and the circle would have been complete. It constituted the most awesome machine of warfare and imperial hegemony since the Roman legions bestrode most of the civilized world.

    In a word, the real threat to peace circa 1990 was that Pax Americana would not go away quietly in the night.

    So THAT’s what happened to “the Peace Dividend“!

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    UNDER.THE.JAIL.

    WHAT.DA.PHUQ?!?!?!?!?

    ………………

    Mentally handicapped black worker rescued after 4 years of torture and enslavement by SC restaurant owners
    David Ferguson DAVID FERGUSON
    17 NOV 2015 AT 11:30 E

    Two brothers in Horry County, South Carolina are facing charges that they treated a mentally handicapped black employee like a slave for years, beating and overworking the man, who lived in squalor on property owned by their restaurant.

    According to the Charleston Post and Courier, two Charleston attorneys filed a civil suit on behalf of Christopher Smith, who worked at the J&J Cafeteria in Conway for 23 years, but was hideously abused and exploited from 2010 to 2014.

    The suit lists 14 counts against J&J owner Ernest J. Edwards and manager Bobby Paul Edwards, including false imprisonment, discrimination and exploitive labor practices. Bobby Edwards, 50, was arrested a year ago in connection with the case. Those charges are still pending.

    Last October, Smith was rescued when social workers received a tip from an anonymous source who expressed concern for the man’s safety. Attorneys Mullins McLeod and David Aylor said that while the civil suit cannot change the past or rectify the harm done to Smith, hopefully it will “bring about positive change in the future.”

    The Post and Courier explained that Smith worked at the Edwards brothers’ business for more than two decades, but it was when Bobby took over as manager in 2010 that Smith’s situation turned ugly.

    Smith was routinely called the N-word, according to the suit. He was savagely beaten with a frying pan, hot tongs, butcher knives, belt buckles and fists. He worked 18-hour shifts Monday through Saturday and 11-hour shifts on Sundays with no breaks, receiving little pay. His total wages for each year added up to less than $3,000.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/mentally-handicapped-black-worker-rescued-after-4-years-of-torture-and-enslavement-by-sc-restaurant-owners/

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing Strategy Group Planning a “30 Front War”
    Ginni Thomas, Allen West, and a crew of conservative activists and journalists have formed a hush-hush coalition to battle progressives—and Karl Rove.
    —By David Corn | Thu Jul. 25, 2013 11:53 AM EDT

    Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for “a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation,” according to documents obtained by Mother Jones.

    Dubbed Groundswell, this coalition convenes weekly in the offices of Judicial Watch, the conservative legal watchdog group. During these hush-hush sessions and through a Google group, the members of Groundswell—including aides to congressional Republicans—cook up battle plans for their ongoing fights against the Obama administration, congressional Democrats, progressive outfits, and the Republican establishment and “clueless” GOP congressional leaders. They devise strategies for killing immigration reform, hyping the Benghazi controversy, and countering the impression that the GOP exploits racism. And the Groundswell gang is mounting a behind-the-scenes organized effort to eradicate the outsize influence of GOP über-strategist/pundit Karl Rove within Republican and conservative ranks. (For more on Groundswell’s “two front war” against Rove—a major clash on the right—click here.)

    One of the influential conservatives guiding the group is Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a columnist for the Daily Caller and a tea party consultant and lobbyist. Other Groundswell members include John Bolton, the former UN ambassador; Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy; Ken Blackwell and Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council; Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch; Gayle Trotter, a fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum; Catherine Engelbrecht and Anita MonCrief of True the Vote; Allen West, the former GOP House member; Sue Myrick, also a former House GOPer; Diana Banister of the influential Shirley and Banister PR firm; and Max Pappas, a top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/07/groundswell-rightwing-group-ginni-thomas

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    uh huh, Unca Ben.

    uh huh

    ……………………

    Ben Carson Won’t Explain His Mysterious Palm Beach Real Estate Deal
    Does he own this $10 million horse estate? His campaign won’t say.
    —By Russ Choma | Tue Nov. 17, 2015 6:00 AM EST

    Last week, Mother Jones and the Associated Press reported that GOP front-runner Ben Carson had a business relationship with a felonious ex-dentist in Pittsburgh named Alfonso Costa, who had once been convicted of healthcare fraud. Carson made between $200,000 to $2 million last year on a real estate investment linked to Costa, whom Carson has often described as his best friend. When these stories appeared, Carson said he stood by Costa, but he declined to say much else. A further examination of Carson’s financial disclosure form and public records indicates that the retired neurosurgeon has another lucrative real estate investment that may be associated with Costa. But the disclosure statement doesn’t provide all the required information about this asset, and the Carson campaign refused to answer questions about this property.

    On the disclosure form, Carson lists a plot of land in West Palm Beach worth $1 to $5 million. He describes the property as “CPC Grand Prix South Lot.” Yet there are no Palm Beach County real estate records that show Carson’s ownership of this lot.

    Local real estate records note that Carson does own property in the area, but only his personal residence, which is on a golf course in West Palm Beach and was purchased for $775,000 in 2013. If Carson owns any other real estate in Palm Beach County—such as this CPC Grand Prix South Lot—he must hold it via an investment vehicle. Yet neither of the shell corporations that Carson and his wife list on his disclosure—corporations through which they invested in a Pittsburgh real estate deal connected to Costa—own property in Palm Beach County. So how does Carson own the Palm Beach property he lists on the disclosure form?

    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/ben-carson-alfonso-costa-palm-beach-real-estate

  20. 20.

    Keith G

    @Mike J:
    @Roger Moore:
    I read this above and a few other times on this blog. It seemed incredible, so I checked
    From Time:

    Uber service appeared to be briefly disrupted in Paris amid a series of deadly attacks Friday night that wreaked havoc on transportation systems across the city and kept many bus and train stations closed into Saturday morning. Uber service was fully available again by Saturday morning.
    …
    Parisian Uber users saw an “Emergency Situation” message when opening the app that said: “Attacks are underway in Paris and its surroundings. The Prefecture of Police of Paris has asked that you stay safely inside. Do not travel unless absolutely necessary. Nearly all the drivers are busy. Uber France.” An Uber spokesman said service was not suspended but that there was a “huge demand” and no cars available because all drivers are busy. “You can’t realize what is happening, it’s a nightmare,” the spokesman said.

    Tech Insider:

    Despite reports to the contrary, Uber’s service has not been suspended in Paris, a rep tells us, but the status of Uber’s service in Paris isn’t known right now. Parisian Uber users were alerted with an “Emergency Situation” message when they opened the app. Below is the translated message:

    Attacks are underway in Paris and its surroundings. The Prefecture of Police of Paris has asked that you stay safely inside. Do not travel unless absolutely necessary. Uber France.

  21. 21.

    Mandalay

    @D58826:

    He does blister just about everyone, esp. those named Bush and Chaney

    Errr…not a word about Israel, nor the Israel lobby.

    His article may have been blistering, but there was a hole in it the size of a barn door. It’s a bit like writing about WW2 without mentioning Japan.

  25. 25.

    BR

    OT: Is it just me or is the front page only updating the latest posts / comments number once per day? To see the latest blog post I have to open one and then use the right-arrow on the right side of the screen to get over to the latest post.

  26. 26.

    sharl

    @BR: I’ve seen some people on mobile devices say they have the same problem. Haven’t seen it myself on desktop or laptop (both PCs). Still some bugs to be worked out, apparently.

  27. 27.

    Mandalay

    @p.a.:

    Football match cancelled in Hanover, stadium cleared, truckbomb found outside.

    France are playing England in a soccer international right now. It’s sad to see that the English crowd are making more of an effort to sing La Marseillaise than the French team. They’ve got glassy stares, and seem to be wondering why they are even there. I can’t blame them.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    OT: I think this is when the young people say “I can’t even…”

    ‏@ chucktodd
    Kasich would create a new gov’t agency to promote Judeo-Christian values around the world.

    Come back to this nickel and dime republic, Jemmy Madion, Jemmy Madion.

  36. 36.

    PurpleGirl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m sorry but that is just so wrong. Judaism and Christianity do not have many values in common. It’s a made-up concept to cover for Christian anti-Judaism. It’s wrong, wrong, wrong.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @PurpleGirl:

    The term has a pretty weird history — according to Wikipedia it originally referred to Jewish converts to Christianity in the early 1800s, and then Nietzche and other anti-Semites used it to try and convince people they should be atheists because Christianity was hopelessly tainted by Judaism. It wasn’t used in the current sense until the 1950s and, yes, most Jewish people seem to understandably hear it as meaning “Christian, but pretending to throw Judaism a bone.”

  38. 38.

    Momus

    @rikyrah: A “30 front war”? Well, to quote (or paraphrase) the wise words of one Londo Mollari, Centari ambassador to Babylon 5, “Only a fool fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of a kingdom of fools fights a war on twelve.” Wonder how this crew can be characterized?

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