America may have run on Dunkin’ at some point, but now it just runs on corruption, stupidity, and police violence.
The city of brotherly love wasn’t so lovable to protesters back in 2020. Philadelphia announced it will pay $9.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by racial justice protesters who accused police of abusing them at a 2020 rally following the killing of George Floyd. The city government said in a written statement that the payment would be distributed among 343 plaintiffs who alleged physical and emotional injuries in the police response to protests ignited by the murder of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, at the hands and knees of several Minneapolis police officers. That comes out to just under $27,000 per protester.
Meanwhile, taxpayers in Torrance, CA will be paying a man $750,000 after two city cops spray-painted a swastika inside his car in January 2020. After discovering a swastika on his car’s back seat, Kiley Swaine filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Torrance and its police department. The incident occurred after he and two other men were arrested on suspicion of mail theft from an apartment building, charges they were subsequently cleared of. An investigation into that particular incident led to the discovery of a treasure trove of racist and homophobic text exchanges among Torrance piglets. The resulting scandal has forced prosecutors to toss dozens of felony cases.
Don’t worry though, I’m sure all we need is a nice big playground for the piglets to learn new tactics and expand their arsenal of lethal stupidity.
Side Items
Into the Metaverse: This article thoughtfully illustrates what happens when a grown man moves to a new country and tries to make friends in the ~Metaverse~. It’s exactly as awkward and uncomfortable as you’re imagining. I’ve spent exactly zero time inside the metaverse and have no plans to change that in the future. If you or a loved one have been subject to the metaverse, you may be entitled to financial compensation, but you’re more likely in need of a real friend or two
Mental Health “Awareness”: Joey Biden finally figured out how to address our nationwide mental health crisis: he invited the cast of the Ted Lasso show to the White House to talk about the importance of mental health care. That’s all good and well, those actors seem nice enough, but at present there are a lot of folks that are truly not equipped to be kind or generous to THEMSELVES, let alone the rest of the world, without actual/tangible resources or assistance. By prioritizing these photo opps, mental health becomes just another individualized problem with individual solutions, and nothing actually changes because the change is all “on us, together”, whatever that means. Make therapy cheap and readily available, there’s a novel idea
A Deeply Unserious Country: The former president claims he’s gonna be brought up on charges today that could point to him committing perjury while in office. Meanwhile there’s a sliding timetable on his arrest like he's waiting on his car at the local Auto Zone. Police have started placing barricades around the courthouse in Manhattan in anticipation of protests or redneck riots, but this whole process is patently absurd