Donald Trump continues to be an inspiration to the worst people in the world. In Olympia, Washington last week, he evidently inspired one man to attack an interracial couple with a knife.
Here’s Salon’s account of the attack:
Daniel Rowe stabbed a black man in Olympia, the capital of Washington state, outside of a bar at around 8:30pm [Tuesday night] after seeing the black man kiss a white woman. … Rowe … yelled a racial slur and lunged with his knife, police say. The blade grazed the woman and went into the man’s hip, according to a news release from Olympia police.
After being arrested he admitted to stabbing the couple and told police that he was a white supremacist, according to a police department spokesman.
According to court documents cited by Salon, Rowe “took a blood oath to fight on the street, and [said] if he was let go tonight, he planned on heading down to the next Donald Trump rally and stomping out more of the Black Lives Matter group.”
Meanwhile, as Salon goes on to note, the case of a Florida teenager who was caught literally eating the face off of one of the two people he had just killed for no clear reason has gotten even weirder. Apparently the murderer-turned-cannibal was wearing a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat when he committed his crimes.
Given the bizarre nature of the crime, it seems rather unlikely that the young murderer was inspired by Trump, but it is creepy as hell.
I wouldn’t go with anything that has livesmatter as part of it. At this point anything that ends like that but isn’t BLM is used by assholes who want to diminish BLM’s struggle. In the very best cases.
Another thing is that I don’t think there’s a need to “start” anything – I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure Twitter is already ripe with groups that advocate against gun violence, it might be better to just join forces with them.
Disclaimer : I don’t have a Twitter account, so it’s not like I’d know.
Looks like women, some of them WOC did well at the Hugo Awards despite the best efforts of Pox and his minions.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/hugo-awards-celebrate-women-in-sci-fi-send-rabid-puppi-1785558867
The only way this could make me any happier is if Chuck Tingle went and – oh, wait.
New to the blog, had to jump in here because the “junkie” thing is a very close issue personally. I know a number of other commenters have already said much the same already and there’s a policy against “pile ons”. If this is that I apologize but I still wanted to post and share some of my own experience as a “junkie”.
The problem is that junkie is a perojative. If Ohlman had said simply “these drugs are particularly dangerous” or “people taking bath salts or krokodil should seek immediate medical attention because of the deleterious physical effects” that would be fine though the second is rather condescending. Often addicts are self aware to know the damage they are causing. Do you really think telling the person with necrotic wounds that they should see a doctor is an earth shattering revelation?
Ohlman seems to be under the illusion that junkie is simply a category of drug use that denotes something beyond addiction (i.e. drug abuse, drug addiction, junkie). This is simply not the case. Cut the indignation routine, you’re just perpetuating the stigma that makes it difficult for people to seek help.
Also, I think you misrepresent why people take certain drugs. Availability, experimentation or simply being lied to are all reasons why people might use any drug, including bath salts or krokodil. I started using bath salts because of availability and kept using them because they are very addictive and I couldn’t stop. In Russia people use krokodil because it is more availabile than heroin. In the case of krokodil use in Illinois, the women were sold it as herion.
Beating myself up about being a junkie was one of the ways I kept myself using. “You’re just a junkie. You’ll always be a junkie. Don’t bother trying to get help because you can’t.” These were all lies I told myself and that, to an extent, society holds about addicts. I know you didn’t say as much but whether you want to recognize it or not this is the connotation that comes with calling peopl junkies.
-a recovering bath salt junkie (462 days clean!)
WWTH, Sinkable John – thanks for those links. Good news and a little Chuck Tingle to brighten the day.
Axecalibur – that reminds me of the intense struggle people with AIDS (and their allies) had back in the 1980s to get medical professionals to use ‘people with AIDS’ instead of victims, sufferers or patients.
Switchblade is cooler.
@ weirwoodtreehugger: communist bonobo,
That’s great news about the Hugo awards! Really happy to hear that the Sad/Rabid Puppies got their lunch eaten once again. Perhaps, they’ll stop with the slate nonsense now that it has failed twice.
Not much more to add on the drug use issue. It’s bloody hard to talk about for me. My family has a long and difficult history with all kinds of drugs, legal and illegal. Worst example: my brother killed a man while ‘under the influence’ and I don’t believe he would have done it sober. My big bro was 17 when he began his life sentence in prison. So I’m not naive about the problems, and I think Ohlmann is right to caution against suspending any judgement.
But still. Through my own experiences as an addict, labels – and the kinds of treatment that labels allow – had a thoroughly destructive impact on my self-esteem and sense of agency. The fallout never ends.
Capnkrunch already articulated this beautifully above – thanks.
On a lighter note – 1. lol at the Hugo news
2. Axe is indeed our local warden and guardian <3 <3
@capnkrunch
Here’s to 463 and beyond!
@Mish
Hugs and love
TW: Guns and slurs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNDQD0gkAU
When it’s time to go off, it’s time to go off…
capnkrunch-462 days?! OMG that is so AWESOME!!! ? Well done and keep up the good work! You should be so proud of yourself. ?
Axecalibur-
I am a criminology student and that is how we are encouraged to refer to people when discussing things like substance abuse. We use terms like ‘people who have a substance addiction’ ‘people who have an addiction to alcohol or drugs’ ‘those who have a substance abuse disorder’. When we are discussing mental illness we use similar phrases, like ‘people who have a mental illness’ ‘people with depression or anxiety’ (many prisoners, particularly female prisoners, are dealing with depression and anxiety). We do not use ableist or derogatory terms like ‘junky’ ‘crazy’ ‘retarded’. We don’t even call prisoners or those with a criminal history as ‘criminals’. Instead we refer to them as ‘prisoners’ or ‘offenders’ (as in those who have committed an criminal offence) and ‘probationers’ or ‘parolees’.
Sorry for hijacking but I think I just had a panic attack during dinner. What do? I went outside the restaurant and now I need a bathroom but I can’t go back in. Is it peeing in public illegal in Galveston TX?
@IP
Don’t know about Galveston in particular. Worst case scenario, if they catch you, you could be labeled a sex offender. Public exposure and all. But if they don’t catch you it didn’t happen. So risk it? Maybe find another establishment, tho restrooms are often reserved for customers. They may or mayn’t actually enforce that…
@Axe
Too late, I went behind a car (TMI).
Still kinda panicking. Not quite sure what’s going on.
@IP
*Fullbodied sigh of relief* Tho, you probably had the same reaction (TMI) 😉
Perfectly fine, you’ll figure it out later. You alone? Otter? Regardless, stay safe tonight, OK
@Axe – you’re the bestest xxx
@IP – I hope you’re ok now. Panic attack + full bladder = :/
Just after I saw your post I got an email from an online place that I buy stuff from, containing this pic:
http://cdn.saintbernard.com/media/extendware/ewimageopt/media/inline/95/f/socksmith-womens-significant-otter-crew-sock-241.jpg
Significant otter socks! Such serendipity. Take care 🙂
I’m better now. Trying to sleep. Thanks, Axe and Mish.
Guys and Gals, it’s pejorative, not perjorative. Perjorative isn’t a thing. That would be what is called an ‘eggcorn’.
Hope you feel better, IP.
@IP: that’s rough, but I’m glad you got through last night OK. Good luck.
@cowboy: thanks. For some reason, my iPhone’s spell check recognizes perjorative as well as pejorative.
Capnkrunch, keep kicking ass. <3
@Petal
Hugs if you need/want them. Panic attacks suck. I hope you’re feeling better.
@IP
All the scruffy hugs you want. Panic attacks are the worst 🙁
Actually, that’s kinda a bad example. A lot of autistic people, myself included, prefer identity first. Here’s a good explanation. TLDR version: Basically autism is a part of who we are, not something we necessarily suffer from. I mean, it’s not like using person first language will ruin someone’s reputation as an autism advocate, and some do prefer it for themselves, but in general, identity first for autism.
But with a lot of other psychological conditions, yes, absolutely.
@Amnesia
Hey, thanks! I was actually wondering about that the other day when posting about my wife’s cousin, who has autism. I did some googling and ended up describing him as “autistic” instead of saying “…who has autism”. But I wasn’t sure if I was screwing it up. Like many times before, I simply trusted the WHTM commentariat to call me out, and make a sincere apology if need be. 😉 This community is awesome like that.
@others
Thanks. I’m doing a lot better now. I found a Scyther and met a puppy. All is well.