June 14, 2022

3rd richest author of all times, James Patterson, laments the racism against white male writers

James Patterson laments white male writers are facing racism, and then receives immediate backlash

Bestselling author James Patterson, who currently ranks third on the list of richest — and most successful — authors of all time, caught heat after suggesting that white, male writers are struggling to find work during these trying times.


Patterson voiced his concerns during a Sunday interview with The Times, in which he asserted that white men are facing racism within the film, theater, TV and publishing industries.

″[It's] just another form of racism," Patterson said. "What's that all about? Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It's even harder for older writers. You don't meet many 52-year-old white males."

It didn't take long for the "Alex Cross" author to garner backlash on social media, with critics highlighting his astounding wealth and sheer privilege as a white, male author in the publishing world.

"James Patterson, one of the richest authors in the world, thinks its hard for 52 year old white men to succeed," one commenter tweeted. "Because, as we all know, old white men are so poorly represented as writers in film, tv, theatre, and publishing."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/james-patterson-laments-white-male-writers-are-facing-racism-and-then-receives-immediate-backlash/ar-AAYq16A

June 14, 2022

Stray dog enters san diego zoo gorilla enclosure. Rescued safely

June 13, 2022

Flame thrower guy is from AZ

June 13, 2022

Juneteenth is a public holiday in calif..banks closed & all

Combined with pride month..rightwingers are going to

I love California

June 13, 2022

Female (driver and passenger) participants in street takeover die in crash..compton

June 13, 2022

Seattle suburb paid asst police chief $1.5 million to resign for posting nazi signs

Seattle suburb paid a former assistant police chief $1.5 million to resign after he was disciplined for posting Nazi insignia and joking about the Holocaust


A former police chief was granted a $1.52 million settlement to resign.

Former Kent Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell was initially reprimanded in September 2020.
Kammerzell was suspended for putting up Nazi insignia on his office door, The Seattle Times reported.
A Seattle suburb has reached a $1.5 million agreement with a former assistant police chief who was suspended for posting Nazi insignia on his office door, The Seattle Times reported on Friday.

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Kammerzell was placed on administrative leave in December 2021. Since he was already disciplined, Arthur Fitzpatrick, who is the interim city chief administrative officer and also the city's attorney, said the discipline would come at a high cost to the city, per The Times.

Kammerzell initially had demanded $3.1 million for his resignation but after months of negotiations, he and the city reached an agreement of $1.52 million.

"While this is a substantial sum, we strongly believe that settling this matter will be a substantial step towards meeting our commitment to the community and continuing with the excellent work the police department is doing," the city said, according to KIRO7

The Seattle Times reported that even if Kammerzell was initially fired, he would have been able to win his job back and get back pay.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-seattle-suburb-paid-a-former-assistant-police-chief-1-5-million-to-resign-after-he-was-disciplined-for-posting-nazi-insignia-and-joking-about-the-holocaust/ar-AAYnz26

June 13, 2022

California animal shelter owner requires people to support gun control -- and not be an NRA member --

California animal shelter owner requires people to support gun control — and not be an NRA member — to adopt a pet

A California animal shelter will turn away adoptees who don't stand for gun restrictions.
Kim Sill said The Shelter Hope Pet Shop added, "Where do you stand on gun control?" to their interview process.
"If your beliefs are not in line with ours, we will not adopt a pet to you," Sill said.

A California animal shelter reportedly announced that they will refuse people who oppose gun control to adopt a pet.
Kim Sill, the founder of The Shelter Hope Pet Shop located in Thousand Oaks, California, said that the shelter would require those who are interviewed to adopt a pet to align with its beliefs, The Hill reported.

Sill announced in a newsletter in May that the shelter was adding a question on a person's stance on gun control to the screening process.

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Sill mentioned how Thousand Oaks — a city about 40 miles away from Los Angeles —experienced a mass shooting a few years ago in 2018 when a 28-year-old Marine Corps vet killed at least 12 people at the Borderline Bar & Grill. In the newsletter, the founder said the gunman "came to our shop for community service hours" and believed it was a cover to scout the place.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/a-california-animal-shelter-owner-requires-people-to-support-gun-control-and-not-be-an-nra-member-to-adopt-a-pet/ar-AAYnOkY

June 13, 2022

Evangelical Christian Adoption Movement Hit by "Tsunami" of Mentally Ill Children

for years, evangelical Christians were enthusiastic supporters of adoption by sponsoring conferences, targeting adoption-friendly Sundays and staging adoption fairs in parish halls.

Thousands of overseas children got new homes. Leading the way were evangelical luminaries such as recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman (three daughters from China) and then-Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore (two sons from Russia). Enthusiastic parents took up the challenge, traveling overseas for one or more children, even adopting special needs kids whose home countries were not interested in their care.

More than a decade after this movement peaked, many families who went overseas are in crisis mode: respite weekends are booked through 2023, there is an annual Christian conference devoted to burned-out parents, and a new documentary has been released on desperate families who have extremely ill children. Parents now say that the churches that encouraged them to adopt in the first place aren't there for them now.

Few statistics exist on the number of adoptions gone wrong, other than a 10-year-old study by the US Department of Health and Human Services reporting "adoption disruptions" ranging from 10-25 percent. This little-known statistic points to a meltdown in the industry and a sign that adoption and foster care have become a landmine for many families who believed God had called them to help these children.


No one told them there could be an aftermath. Here are some of their stories.

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The divorced mother of two was prepared for challenging behavior, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental delays and PTSD from the child's six years with mentally ill biological parents. What stunned her was that by age 15, her son was a registered sex offender. Bad relationships, drug abuse and a child out of wedlock followed. Now 30, he cannot hold down a job.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/evangelical-christian-adoption-movement-hit-by-tsunami-of-mentally-ill-children/ar-AAYniUa

June 13, 2022

Georgia woman's efforts portend what Trump movement is becoming

ROME, Ga. -- The dumpster was at the end of a parking lot alongside the county election office. It was stained, rusted and dented, and Angela Rubino suspected that it contained evidence of the corruption and moral decay she had come to believe was gripping the country. She'd been to the election office and heard the shredder going. She'd never been in a dumpster before, but this is what the times required. Extreme measures

It was a Monday night with nobody around. She gripped the side of the metal container and pulled herself up, and as she leaned over the edge and looked inside, she felt a rush of vindication.

"Jesus," she said to herself, spotting two clear bags full of shredded paper.


She leaned further, balancing herself to keep from pitching in, grabbed the bags and jumped down. She checked her clothes for flecks of rust and bits of trash, and then she drove the bags back to her house, a neat, whitewashed Colonial in a part of America where it had become normal to believe elections were stolen, that evidence of this could be in a dumpster and that retrieving it was a daring act of patriotism.

And that was how Rubino thought of herself as she pulled into her gravel driveway, as a patriot. It was late. There were rips in the bags, so she transferred the shreds to two other bags and stored them in her garage, dreading what she might find inside. "Who knows?" she said, believing anything was possible. "Who knows?" A few days later, she braced herself, opened one of the bags and pulled out a fragment of paper.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Georgia-woman-s-efforts-portend-what-Trump-17235754.php

Six years into the grass-roots movement unleashed by Donald Trump in his first presidential campaign, Angela Rubino is a case study in what that movement is becoming. Suspicious of almost everything, trusting of almost nothing, believing in almost no one other than those who share her unease, she has in many ways become a citizen of a parallel America -- not just red America, but another America entirely, one she believes to be awash in domestic enemies, stolen elections, immigrant invaders, sexual predators, the machinations of a global elite and other fresh nightmares revealed by the minute on her social media scrolls. She is known online as "Burnitdown."

June 12, 2022

so many articles are poorly written. this article is confusing as heck! do you agree?

best comment following article : Someone please rewrite the story.

Pursuit Driver Dies After Violent Crash in Sherman Oaks

The California Highway Patrol was in pursuit of a vehicle in the San Fernando Valley when it ended in a violent crash in Sherman Oaks.

CHP officers followed the silver colored Honda through the southbound 405 Freeway until the driver exited on Burbank Boulevard.

The driver went into the parking structure of a Target store on Sepulveda Boulevard when he was seen calmly walking away from the store.

The man was then seen running around the streets and reentering the parking structure.

He appeared to have gotten back into his vehicle and driven away.

CHP officers found the vehicle in a violent crash against another vehicle in the Sherman Oaks area.

The pursuit driver's vehicle had crashed into a palm tree at a residence on the corner of Burbank Boulevard and Mammoth Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

The second vehicle was beginning to catch on fire but it was quickly put out.

Several patrol units showed up to the scene as fire officials worked to rescue the pursuit driver from his vehicle.

Fire officials had to remove the roof of the vehicle to try and rescue the pursuit driver.

His condition was not immediately known.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/pursuit-driver-dies-after-violent-crash-in-sherman-oaks/ar-AAYmIbx