Cattress 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (173)

• On the post: Supreme Court Deals Blow To Lying Cops, Lowers Bar For Malicious Prosecution Lawsuits

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2022 @ 09:30pm

  And often enough people who have nothing to hide still get fucked by the police. Baby above with diaper rash for instance. Donut glaze, cotton candy, cat litter, dead baby ashes, hundreds of gallons of diesel and oil, legally owned and stored/carried guns, lack of ID, put innocent cooperative people behind bars or 6 feet under. I even foolishly agreed to polygraph, as a victim with nothing to hide only to find that I was already deemed a druggie in some shit bag no-nothing cops opinion, and was coerced to say what the cop wanted to hear.

• On the post: Supreme Court Deals Blow To Lying Cops, Lowers Bar For Malicious Prosecution Lawsuits

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2022 @ 09:13pm

  Gee, they could actually get the warrant. Conduct an actual investigation. Tap other state resources like social services for help. Don't pretend that cops always bother to investigate emergency calls like they actually care, I can think of a couple women (sadly also the kids) that were being murdered by their estranged partners which the police just drove by, or claimed that they couldn't find the correctly reported address in an apartment complex (the neighbors saw the woman dragged violently back inside her home as they had come outside)

• On the post: Former Hertz Employee Says Company Is Outsourcing Its Collection Efforts To Law Enforcement

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 12 Apr, 2022 @ 08:48pm

  People who can't qualify for car loans due to credit, history of bankruptcy or repossession, insufficient income or time on the job (usually a combination of these) often times end up financing a car through a buy here, pay here type of place, where cars have starter interrupters and GPS locators installed. When someone is late for their payment, and doesn't call in to the billing department to work out their payment, they simply activate the starter interrupter, which does not stall the car or anything,just prevents it starting. If the person abandons the car, decides they aren't going to pay anymore, it can be located and returned to the dealer. Usually though, it just generates a phone call where the payment is set up or taken. Yes I see the risk of the GPS tracking and think this specific information should have layered security and unable to be accessed by just anyone working for the dealer. But I'm actually kind of surprised rental cars don't also do this. If the car is late, the customer isn't responding to attempts to communicate, after a certain point, activate the interruption service. At minimum it would mean ensuring the business has an effective, accurate inventory control system at all franchise locations, something employees can't screw up, and glitches can be resolved in a few minutes without involving the police. I mean seriously, I'm kind of surprised some police departments even accept this form of reporting and actually act on it.

• On the post: DirecTV Ignores GOP Pressure, Kicks OAN Off Its Cable Lineup

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2022 @ 11:09pm

  Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Trump, who was familiar with an industry very different than politics, was not aware of the risks of foreign actors attempting to penetrate his inner circle and exert influence; because he wasn't aware of the risk, and operated his campaign in the same undisciplined manner he did his personal business, meaning he didn't get professional services to vet everyone working in his campaign which created a significant vulnerability. And this vulnerability was being exploited/attempted to be exploited, and whether as a candidate or as president, it was a matter of national security that this vulnerability was investigated and eliminated, and did not actually mean that Trump sought any Russian assistance aside from some offhand remarks he made in public. Because ultimately it was found that the Russians were testing boundaries, did have tentacles in some of Trump's trusted inner circle. All Trump had to do was quietly cooperate with the FBI, with the understanding that the investigation was about finding those who had violated his trust and creating security risks. He and his dumb ass sons could have just claimed ignorance of the law when it came to that hotel meeting and they would have come through it all unscathed. Instead they only increased the appearance of guilt by obstruction, refusing to remedy the risks, then publicly kissing Putin's ass. That was a mess entirely if Trump's making

• On the post: DirecTV Ignores GOP Pressure, Kicks OAN Off Its Cable Lineup

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 07 Apr, 2022 @ 10:22pm

  Or happened to be less than 3000 miles away? I'm pretty sure he was living in CA at the time, quite a hike here to DE. I'm also pretty sure that that while some of the data was authenticated, the laptop hasn't been proven to actually belong to him. DE has a large population of Russian immigrants in the beach towns, and it's a small, small state.

• On the post: Yes, It’s Difficult To Change Cop Culture, But Let’s Not Pretend It’s Too Expensive Or Impossible To Achieve Quickly

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2022 @ 12:05am

  Bye. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2022 @ 11:43am

  So first thing, how does donning a dress determine the sex or gender of an individual? Yes dresses are traditionally feminine garments worn by women, but throughout history the particulars of what is considered masculine and feminine have not exactly been static. Men have worn worn makeup, high heels, wigs, embraced the color pink, ruffles and frills, grown their hair long, wax/shave body hair. Some traditional men's clothing in the Middle East are rather reminiscent of caftans and tunic dresses, and those are in cultures with very strict interpretations of masculinity. And how unsurprising that you are so upset by a biological male identifying with the feminine gender, yet make no mention of a biological female identifying as the masculine gender. Deep down, or maybe not so deep, you see femininity and women as inferior. You think little tomboys are cute and endearing, but little boys pretending to be princesses a shameful abomination. The trans and non-binary communities simply wish to be accepted for who they are, as they present themselves, without being forced to conform to rather arbitrary social designations of gender assigned to certain genitals and chromosomes. You have no right to know anything about their sexual organs or chromosomes, it's none of your business. You have no moral authority to make claims degrading another person's humanity. I'm sorry you feel threatened by a changing world, we all struggle with change. But the reality is that the patriarchy that demands such conformity hurts men too. Similarly, the systemic racism that has created chasm in racial disparity is also restraining significant potential successful outcomes and better living for all of humanity. Who knows what humanity could have achieved if it did engage in religious war and genocide,not to mention the ridiculous antivax, anti-mask, general refusal to mitigate the spread of the pandemic, plus the old classic disinformation campaign on the effectiveness of condoms, wiping out so much potential. So if Twitter decided that keeping content that is hostile and degrading to certain groups of people, contrary to your assertions (which also make clear that you have never read Techdirt before now) I would respect their right to be assholes and just close my account. Of course then you would be screaming about cancel culture...

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 07:15pm

  No gay porn until the 80s? Shhhh, don't anyone tell him about the Greeks.

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 07:10pm

  I've never heard anyone here make any of those claimed, or anywhere really. Well except about the covid vaccine being more effective than it's turned out to be, but situation in the ground changed because of mutations. Are you really that dense? Also, there's nothing wrong with anonymous sources so long as the journalist citing them is credible, and that's on you to make a judgement call. What about this Face Off thing with Trump & Putin? Trump is wayyyy too far and wayyyy to orange to be switch his face with Putin. That's just silly.

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 07:01pm

  I've never read either of those, but you could come read those to my 4 year old anytime. I can't guarantee she will actually pay any attention, unless you have a real knack for voices or have added colorful illustrations that have animals, the Cocomelon characters, dinosaurs, playgrounds, unicorns, and also concepts like lift the flap, pop-up, buttons with funny sounds or music. You obviously don't have kids, don't know anything about kids, don't know any teachers, or even have the slightest clue about how curriculum is designed, children's books are curated for a library or classroom.

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 06:26pm

  You mean make an effort to understand and empathize with people coming from different viewpoints than those of us that are white, het-cis Christian males? (Or females in my case). You mean like actually research or verify the claims we make about people different from ourselves? Or about the realities of covid, or the 2020 election? I mean do you have a specific point about those that you have read from anyone here that you would like some kind of verification of where the facts were found, or clarification of how we justify the morality of our beliefs? Thing is, you could easily find a few books with mature content. You just couldn't find any record that those books were ever made available or recommended or required reading of such young kids, as you said 5-8 yr olds. So yeah, we call bullshit.

• On the post: Apparently Unwilling To Learn From Florida & Texas’s Failures, Georgia Moves Forward With Unconstitutional Content Moderation Bill

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2022 @ 06:07pm

  That dummy jabber just lacks basic reading comprehension skills. None of the books that do have mature content, and they do exist, are available in elementary, or middle school. Some nitwit in Moms for Liberty" (I despise their disgusting hijacking of the word liberty, that's my daughter's middle name because it's something hubby &I have such high regard for) was trying to turn a description of seahorses mating into a sensual, erotic reading. The thing that gets me, is how many of these idiots are convinced that young people will me morally corrupted, or some how at an increased risk for sexual abuse because they read a passage about a sexual encounter, yet demean and minimize the trauma of the young people demanding something be done about gun violence because they just saw their classmates blown away. Of course, frank, open, honest, age appropriate conversations about the body and sex and consent from an early age could actually help kids avoid becoming a victim and speak up when something has happened (by making it less uncomfortable to talk about and kids more willing to ask about confusing things, give kids the terminology they need to explain an incident, by making sure that kids know that they have the right to say no, no matter who it is). I want to know what makes so many of they morons think they can erase all traces of sexuality from the under 18 crowds world, and why that is a good thing. And why are they so convinced that any conversation that do happen outside of curriculum, or within an approved curriculum, are not kept in age appropriate range, especially at a common enough occurrence that it must be addressed with a law. I mean, I know it's to erase the presence of anyone LGBTQ and any acceptance and affirmation, but they really go all in on this fear that sexual predators are lurking everywhere and all children are being targeted for grooming.

• On the post: The ‘Culture Of Free Speech’ Includes Criticism Of Others’ Speech; Get Over It

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 28 Mar, 2022 @ 12:46am

  Are people who applied and are awaiting approval for asylum, "illegal aliens"? I mean, do you have a specific criteria, like if they crossed the border and then turned themselves in different than those who were able to apply for asylum at an official border crossing point? What about those in DACA, people who arrived here as children, do those who have little to no recollection or connection to their country of origin, get considered any differently in your mind? Or do you simply see them as less than human, undeserving of dignity, of safety, of an opportunity to live and thrive? Because when you use phrases like illegal alien, you are dehumanizing actual human beings, for no real reason but where on this planet they took their first breath of air. And speaking of dehumanizing, how you speak of the homeless is repugnant. Go fuck yourself, you know nothing of what these people have been through, and what they continue to face day after day. You know nothing. Homeless people are far more likely to to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators. Being homeless has an incredibly destructive effect on the mind and body, and makes it impossible for most to maintain or gain employment. Worst of all, the pathetic white 'economic insecurity' that drives the racism and xenophobia rumbling in the country has been pushing out and away a very necessary part of the workforce. The current workforce for home building is aging out fast. Millennials were told get a college degree or you'll never achieve anything, so we didn't fill much of employment demand in construction. This country desperately needs affordable housing, which is another reality I'm sure you know nothing about in a personal sense. We need day laborers (among a host of other jobs typically filled by immigrant workers) to help build more housing wherever nimbys can be busted to allow for building. You should be ashamed of how you talk about other humans, and how you make judgements and assumptions about them when you know nothing about the people or the circumstances they are in. May you never have to go through anything like the people you degrade because you will sink like a stone.

• On the post: Ted Cruz, Mike Lee Join Dumb, Baseless GOP Quest To Pretend OAN Was Unfairly Censored

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2022 @ 10:46pm

  If OAN is such a profitable and desired channel, why doesn't it just do an online show, or see if they can can picked up on a streaming service? I mean, doesn't that potentially get them a larger market? I thought the fiduciary responsibility was to make money for the shareholders. If the channel isn't doing that, or worse, costing them money, they have no choice but to drop the channel. I don't know shit about corporate finance or stocks, or common carriers outside of net neutrality, so maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think it's really any more complicated than profitable = keep, unprofitable= drop.

• On the post: ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Man Told Officers 12 Times In 30 Seconds Before They Sentenced Him To Death For Driving Under The Influence

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2022 @ 10:29pm

  Are you being serious? Because that's just some of the most batshit authoritarian garbage I've ever seen. Ah yes, just choose life. Don't dare allow your body to instinctually react by putting a hand out before being slammed on the ground, or attempt to move so that the lungs can pull in sufficient oxygen to live. Next time you go swimming with some friends and have someone hold you under water, and don't let you up if you try to resist. You got to hold your breath, your with friends who will revive you if needed, but just see how well you can stop yourself from physically resisting in order to get air. After all, if you just relax...

• On the post: Ninth Circuit Says Arresting People For ‘Fuck The Cops’ Chalk Writing Is Unconstitutional Retaliation

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 25 Mar, 2022 @ 10:11pm

  Spoken like someone who doesn't understand that the laws, regulations, and priorities of prosecuting attorney's are not uniform across states. You think this is the kind of misdemeanor needs to be prosecuted, chalk writing some naughty words? Do you see the cognitive dissonance of cops crumbling and being completely unable to do work because of the emotional trauma of reading "fuck the police in chalk", are the same folks you claim are the only ones willing to step up and face the possibility of death by intervening in violence? Explain how you think it's acceptable for police to "make up" a misdemeanor, or any level of crime, at all, ever, for any reason? Don't these cops have real crimes they should be stopping, instead of crying about some mean things written with chalk? You are going to feel so betrayed if you ever call the cops for help and they do what they do, make the situation worse. I can guarantee your gun is not making you safer, and when it comes to cops, it's likely to get you killed. Home invasion style robberies do happen, but are incredibly rare. Burglars would rather bust in grab what they want and get out, and they have probably already cased your home to see what you have & where you keep it. Like while installing new windows, delivering furniture, or visiting for a family birthday party. The people most likely to commit a crime against you are people you are at least acquainted with. Pointing and firing at a familiar face, like a great niece or cousin, or that good hardworking young man who called you sir and ask to used the bathroom while he was at your house putting up new gutters, isn't going to be as easy as you think. Certainly not as easy as it will be for cops who rush in and see you holding a gun and not reacting to drop it quickly enough to blow you away. Or maybe they will pin you face down while a couple of them lean on you while they try to sort out if you're really the home owner, while you are enraged that you could be treated this way in your own home, and each time you yell, or try to move so you can breathe better, they whack you with a night stick or stun you while yelling "stop resisting". You are going to feel so betrayed.

• On the post: ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Man Told Officers 12 Times In 30 Seconds Before They Sentenced Him To Death For Driving Under The Influence

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2022 @ 06:29pm

  In case you weren't aware, one of the four teenagers shot to death by the deranged teen who's parents bought him a gun for shits and giggles, one of those teens rushed Ethan to try to stop him, died trying to protect his classmates. Heck one time I protected a woman I worked with so she get her kids and pack a bag while her crack addict boyfriend was in a paranoid fit, with nasty little stun gun I had. My mom stepped in between some woman literally kicking a little 3 yr old kid to stop her, got attacked by the woman who thought she had a right to kick a small child. My husband used to do security when he was younger, back in Alaska. He dealt with drunk and disorderly all the time, no one got killed over it. Stop pretending that nobody will ever step up to stop an act of violence. Stop pretending that society should tolerate murder like the above for the rare instance cops actually show up in time to stop an attack, and for an average of less than 1/2 of murder cases being solved with practically limitless resources and scientific innovation they never had in the past (when more murders occurred). Oh, I guess you didn't read that the cop flight bullshit you are peddling is more propaganda to manipulate public perception to give them more of what they want. Just like they turn a blind eye to actual rioters causing destruction and setting fires, while focusing on pepper spraying moms, grandmas, for not dispersing, & obvious members of the press covering the events. And I know meth is a real problem, but it's an upper, and I notice an inordinate number of folks who die in police custody, especially when marked with the entirely fabricated excited delirium cause of death, have toxic levels of meth in their system. Makes me wonder if the postmortem blood testing for meth is scientifically accurate. Just saying.

• On the post: Alaska State Senator Introduces Bill To Ban Fact Checking And Content Moderation. For Freedom

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2022 @ 08:27pm

  Let her news stream suddenly fill with Pro Muslim stories, events and news within Muslim world, and lots of stories about the Green Party and the Dems, then tell her changing the algorithm would violate her stupid law. And what makes this dummy think she can make an internet regulation like that which only affects folks in Alaska? Dummy.

• On the post: Minneapolis Cops Who Watched Officer Derek Chauvin Kill George Floyd Convicted On Federal Charges

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 23 Mar, 2022 @ 07:37pm

  You keep thinking you have gotcha points, but you really don't make the effort to search out anything that doesn't confirm what you want it to. In Portland, yes they took a tiny little bit off the budget (they were getting 10 million a year increases every year for quite some time, the approx 28 million reduction was a little less than 1/2 for budget shortfalls due to pandemic, and the rest was supposed to be spent on other resources), during a crime surge that was happening all over the US. And yes they are throwing another 5 million back on to the police budget. But, were those reallocated funds a waste? The Portland Street Response program was only funded as a pilot for one neighborhood, and only for outdoor/homeless response. Program worked well, recommended to be expanded city wide,and to include additional services to suicide and domestic/in home calls. Unfortunately the police union WONT ALLOW this alternative team respond to certain things city wide, such as the in home mental health/suicide calls- no surprise there that the union is screwing shit up. Something interesting, that I mentioned before, that the researchers found when assessing this program was that many of the respondents were TOO AFRAID to call 911 for help because they didn't trust that the police wouldn't show up, and inevitably make the situation worse. When the police are corrupt and kill and beat and abuse the citizens they are supposed to protect, the people will not report or cooperate in investigations, which hampers effective policing. Anyway, funding cuts, also as I mentioned before, have to coordinated with the implementation of new programs; they did good with the program above, but it wasn't city wide. Other investments were things like an extra million towards homeless housing, which is good, but way too little. Homeless programs need to be for permanent housing, can't go chasing people from shitty motel to shitty motel like Reno. They used the rest of the funds for some miscellaneous programs like some sort of leadership thing, and a chunk went into general funds. Lots of lip service, but I don't see a sufficient commitment to addressing the the drivers of crime, like economic insecurity, fixing the community trust through major police reforms, training and rules ect. And you know who stands in the way to new styles of training,like those emphasizing de-escalation, more public access to body cams, more discipline for police who otherwise are completely unaccountable without bystander video, those scumbag police unions. They want to keep putting police in danger by having them act aggressively, keep having them in those split second decision positions, keep using their time and manpower to respond to things cops aren't qualified to respond to (resulting in a disproportionate number of folks with mental illness getting shot to death), sending them into no knock raids to risk getting shot at by someone protecting their home and family, fight tooth and nail against the de-escalation training resulting in good cops getting PTSD because they were scared in a situation they made worse and killed someone. (And I'm all for lots more mental health help for officers, suicide and domestic violence are real problems. Probably can't fix the rapiness or child porn fetishes) It's the police unions, they are standing in the way, and have far too much power. Settlements from cops beating and murdering people come from our tax dollars, I bet if they had to insure each cop they would force the changes. (Don't believe any crying of poor from public unions, they make a shit ton of money)

• On the post: Minneapolis Cops Who Watched Officer Derek Chauvin Kill George Floyd Convicted On Federal Charges

  

  Cattress ( profile ), 22 Mar, 2022 @ 11:21pm

  No one here has ever remotely suggested that police can't act in self defense, or in defense of others. No one here hopes for cops to suffer harm, with the exception that when they go busting into people's homes in the middle of the night, deliberately disorienting the occupants, that they face the same consequences that anyone not a cop would, and that doesn't give them the right to murder the occupants for reacting like any ordinary person would. Frankly, I would like to see cops taking up defensive positions, giving themselves distance from potential threats, stay back use their cars to provide a physical barrier, give clear commands from a distance. Don't go racing up to the threat and slaughter a person who has been given no opportunity to respond to orders, like little Tamir Rice and Alton Sterling. Do not give conflicting, impossible to follow commands like Philando Castillo or Daniel Shaver- fuck have you watched Shaver get blown away, crying and begging for his life on his knees?. Policy should be not to get into long foot chases or car chases, use some of that damn surveillance to catch up with the suspects at another point. So many of these killer cops chased after and shot people the back for what were non violent (often pretextual) stops, like some shit hanging from the mirror, a broken taillight, serving warrant over tags, buying a little personal weed. Cops don't need to pursue every suspect at all costs, and put themselves in greater danger. Chases should be limited to situations where specific innocent victims are in danger, or the threat to the public is something along the lines of an active shooter, or someone who has made armed attacks against random strangers. Just having a gun doesn't mean they are an imminent public threat, catch them later under better conditions. Cops murdered a little 7or 9 year old girl shooting at the wrong vehicle, which was moving at the time. As reckless as the teens who exchanged gunfire earlier were, no one was hurt. Summary execution wouldn't have been ok if the cops did have the right car. Oh, and I'll leave this right here, about those droves of officers leaving the force https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/09/01/police-say-demoralized-officers-are-quitting-in-droves-labor-data-says-no

Next >>