All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Tami]

I'm just going to put this here without comment:

So close to saying that Trump's election was 'fixed' and possibly not legal.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Protests follow outrage after two black men arrested at Philly Starbucks

Protesters gathered at a Philadelphia Starbucks on Sunday and planned to regroup again on Monday morning after two black men were arrested there last week when they allegedly refused to leave.

Protesters brought megaphones and signs that said phrases like, "Too Little Too Latte," and confronted the employees behind the register, according to NBC Philadelphia.

The original incident occurred on Thursday, when a Starbucks employee called 911 because two black men were sitting inside the café. Soon after they arrived, police handcuffed the men and escorted them out of the shop.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, said the men hadn't purchased anything and refused to leave, which led to the arrest.

A video of the arrest and ensuing confusion went viral on Twitter.

Michelle Saahene witnessed the entire event, as she'd been at the Starbucks for nearly an hour. She told NBC News on Sunday that, as a black woman, she was slightly nervous when the police officers entered the coffee shop, but she was then as shocked as the two men when they were approached by the members of law enforcement.

After the two men were refused the bathroom, they just sat at a table silently and played with their phones as they waited for a friend, Saahene told NBC News.

"The cops were asking them to leave because they weren't purchasing anything," Saahene said. "[The two men] said they were confused. This is a Starbucks. Since when are people asked to leave a Starbucks who are just sitting there?"

Saahene said that a white man sitting next to her had been at the Starbucks for 30 minutes without making a purchase and a jogger came in and used the bathroom without making a purchase.

That's one of the reasons she felt compelled to approach the employee who called 911.

"'Did you feel threatened'?" she said she asked the Starbucks barista. "She didn't look at me. 'Did you feel like your life was threatened?' She still didn't look at me."

"I got to the other side of the Starbucks and yelled, 'you're a coward!'" Saahene added.

I heard this morning on my local all-news radio station that Black Lives Matter is involved with the protests, and they want nothing less than the employee who caused the whole ruckus fired. I don't particularly agree with that demand (though I fully understand the sentiment, a black columnist for the Philly Daily News also called for her firing) since it appears the employee's only crime was being stupid, but at this time, a sacrifice might be the only way to calm the rapidly roiling waters.

[Iron Maiden]

I'm just going to put this here without comment:

I'm surprised they let Kellyanne Conway out of her cave. On GMA earlier today, she asked Comey's interviewer George Stephanopoulos why Comey didn't express his concerns under oath about Trump and Russia's interference in the election instead of writing a book. Stephanolpoulous reminded her that he already had testified under oath last May. They should just cut off her mike and shove her out of the door. Some shows have banned her from appearing.

[Iron Maiden]

Protests follow outrage after two black men arrested at Philly Starbucks





I heard this morning on my local all-news radio station that Black Lives Matter is involved with the protests, and they want nothing less than the employee who caused the whole ruckus fired. I don't particularly agree with that demand since it appears the employee's only crime was being stupid, but at this time, a sacrifice might be the only way to calm the rapidly roiling waters.

I don't think that Starbucks as a company is responsible for the act of one person. I wonder if it was the manager on duty.

In fact one of my complaints as a customer is that they do let people "camp out" all day. If I wanted to just sit down and have a little snack and go, most of the seats are taken up by squatters who I've never seen get asked to leave. I've seen people dial up the wi fi and do their homework or whatever.

The kicker is one time I was in a Pannera Bread and a group had pulled together a bunch of tables ....and they were actually conducting a business meeting ...in public!
My only thought was their boss was a cheapskate and didn't have something delivered to the office.

[MindofShadow]

I don't think that Starbucks as a company is responsible for the act of one person. I wonder if it was the manager on duty.

In fact one of my complaints as a customer is that they do let people "camp out" all day. If I wanted to just sit down and have a little snack and go, most of the seats are taken up by squatters who I've never seen get asked to leave. I've seen people dial up the wi fi and do their homework or whatever.

The kicker is one time I was in a Pannera Bread and a group had pulled together a bunch of tables ....and they were actually conducting a business meeting ...in public!
My only thought was their boss was a cheapskate and didn't have something delivered to the office.

My in laws run a million dollar small business and conduct their employee interviews at Panera. they run the business out of their house and they don't want random people coming through for interviews.

[ZombieHavoc]

Obviously, there are problems with some of Obama's handling of foreign affairs, but this article from July 2016, about his "red line" comment, and all of the thought and discussion and concern for the effect on other countries as well that went into handling Syria at the time, it's enough to make you nostalgic, given the current whatever. And as the article, with rose-tinted glasses I'm sure, points out, even if there were stumbles and even if it obviously (and even more obviously now than when the article was written) didn't solve everything, getting them to give up 1300 tons of chemical weapon without being attacked...that's pretty impressive to me. I'm not expert and I can't imagine having make decisions regarding **** like this.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...visited-214059

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I don't think that Starbucks as a company is responsible for the act of one person. I wonder if it was the manager on duty.

In fact one of my complaints as a customer is that they do let people "camp out" all day. If I wanted to just sit down and have a little snack and go, most of the seats are taken up by squatters who I've never seen get asked to leave. I've seen people dial up the wi fi and do their homework or whatever.

The kicker is one time I was in a Pannera Bread and a group had pulled together a bunch of tables ....and they were actually conducting a business meeting ...in public!
My only thought was their boss was a cheapskate and didn't have something delivered to the office.

The café in the downtown Philly Barnes & Noble is just as bad, if not worse as I've seen homeless people, overstuffed bags and all in there from time to time. How the staff handles them I have no idea.

My in laws run a million dollar small business and conduct their employee interviews at Panera. they run the business out of their house and they don't want random people coming through for interviews.

What? They couldn't rent office space for an hour or so? Conducting interviews at a public eatery where perfect strangers can overhear everything that goes on seems, I don't know, awkward to me.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Protests follow outrage after two black men arrested at Philly Starbucks





I heard this morning on my local all-news radio station that Black Lives Matter is involved with the protests, and they want nothing less than the employee who caused the whole ruckus fired. I don't particularly agree with that demand (though I fully understand the sentiment, a black columnist for the Philly Daily News also called for her firing) since it appears the employee's only crime was being stupid, but at this time, a sacrifice might be the only way to calm the rapidly roiling waters.

that employee SHOULD be fired

Im willing to bet a large number of people roam in and out of there daily and don't buy **** and no one calls the cops

that employee saw two "scary" brown people and called the cops, that speaks to judgment and character

[Tami]

Public Service can be a tricky profession. On the one hand, you do not want to do anything that might offend customers, or potential customers [Starbucks big mistake], on the other you want to provide a comfortable, clean and pleasant environment for customers [I think that as long as the B&N customers don't have legitimate complaints, or as long as the 'bag' people aren't creating a mess or breaking any laws, then it is good for them to let them be.]

By law or by rights, no one should be discriminated against or forced out of an establishment without just cause [as in committing a crime, harassing employees or patrons, doing something obscene or damaging property].

[Mecegirl]

that employee SHOULD be fired

Im willing to bet a large number of people roam in and out of there daily and don't buy **** and no one calls the cops

that employee saw two "scary" brown people and called the cops, that speaks to judgment and character

There were multiple witnesses that said that other customers were allowed to set/use the restroom without a purchase. And that's the real issue. Either you can loiter or you can't. It would be one thing if they were loud or disheveled or in any other way disruptive to a peaceful environment. But no one has claimed that they were.

[Iron Maiden]

that employee SHOULD be fired

Im willing to bet a large number of people roam in and out of there daily and don't buy **** and no one calls the cops

that employee saw two "scary" brown people and called the cops, that speaks to judgment and character

Which is why I wouldn't be surprised if that staff member gets fired or maybe suspended with the stipulation they go through some special training to address their lack of judgment, etc.

[Iron Maiden]

The café in the downtown Philly Barnes & Noble is just as bad, if not worse as I've seen homeless people, overstuffed bags and all in there from time to time. How the staff handles them I have no idea.

Ay, and there lies the rub. I'm not a homeless hater but there are issues of shall we say, personal hygiene? In the days before the internet, if I had a research paper to do in high school, the teachers would use it to have you learn how to use the public library. I used to go the main branch in my city because they had the bound volumes of magazines and journals to look up articles as sources. The area where the magazines were was frequently the spot where the what we now call the homeless would stay. We were kids and just called them the drunks back then because they smelled pretty bad. If this kind of "customer" drives the rest of your customers away, you should be able to have the police remove them and drop them off at a shelter or something.

What? They couldn't rent office space for an hour or so? Conducting interviews at a public eatery where perfect strangers can overhear everything that goes on seems, I don't know, awkward to me.

Sometimes you can book rooms for meetings at your local library. Barring that, I guess if the restaurant has a secluded booth somewhere it would be OK. But I would refrain from asking personal questions as part of the interview in an open area like that.

[Malvolio]

In a hypothetical situation, yes, there may be someone who is clearly driving other customers away. But not in this case. These were two guys who, as we can see in the video clip, were not bothering any of the other customers and no one was complaining. It was the Starbucks employee who decided to call the cops.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump: Comey, McCabe 'committed many crimes'

Someone should press Trump to reveal just what those "crimes" were that Comey allegedly committed, other than not obediently kissing his orange ass.

**********

UK's May tells lawmakers: Syria strikes were legal and moral

British Prime Minister Theresa May told restive lawmakers on Monday that military airstrikes against Syria were right both legally and morally, and accused Syria and its ally Russia of attempting to cover-up evidence of a deadly chemical weapons attack.

May faced down her domestic critics as European Union foreign ministers united to say they understood the need for the airstrikes and called for a new push for a political solution to the war in Syria.

Royal Air Force jets joined American and French warplanes and ships in hitting targets in Syria early Saturday in response to a reported chemical attack by the Syrian government in the town of Douma.

The British government is not legally bound to seek lawmakers' approval for military strikes, although it is customary to do so.

May told lawmakers in the House of Commons that consulting them would have been impractical, both because Parliament was on a spring break until Monday and because some of the intelligence behind the decision was classified.

[BeastieRunner]

If the Syrian strikes were legal and moral, why do the vast majority of the people around the world think they were a terrible idea?

And why on God's green Earth could NOBODY get off the schneid and do this during Darfur, Congo, and several other chemical attacks/genocide?