Links - 16th May 2018 (1)

WALSH: The Facts Are In. The Real Story At Starbucks Is Entitlement, Not Racism. - "We were told at first that two black men sat down at a table, and, out of nowhere, for no reason other than their race, were summarily perp walked out of the establishment by an army of police officers. This already made little sense for a number of reasons, including the fact that the incident occurred at a store in Philadelphia. The store presumably sees hundreds of black customers every week. If it was in the habit of having black people randomly arrested, why is this the first time we're hearing about it?... we find out that the two men were warned that the cops would be coming and they responded, "Go ahead and call them. We don't care."... the manager, Holly, is an "SJW feminist of the highest order," according to a regular customer at that location. Certainly not the picture of a slobbering, uncontrollable racial bigot who hates black people so much that she reports them to the police without provocation... She approached them and offered to get them drinks or anything else they might want. They declined. They were asked to leave and they declined. The police came and asked them to leave and they declined. This is their own version. When asked on "Good Morning America" how they would respond to people who say they broke the rules by loitering and not buying anything, their lawyer declared that Starbucks is a "place to meet." In other words, they have decided that this private establishment is more like a camping ground or a public park... The Starbucks CEO, who has spent all week cowering to the mob and throwing his innocent store manager under the bus, has now affirmed this interpretation. He may very well have destroyed his business in the process. So be it... There is a real victim in this case: the Starbucks manager whose life is now in ruins, and who is probably afraid to even leave her house, all because she tried her best to follow her company's policies. For that, she is Public Enemy Number One across the nation, and the CEO of her company has tossed her to the wolves. She was the victim of the rude and unacceptable behavior of these men, and now she is the victim of a pitchfork mob comprised of hysterical people who do not know the facts and do not care about them."
Perhaps this explains growing SJW hysteria - as per the Red Queen hypothesis, you need to get ever more radical in order to not get lynched

Philadelphia Starbucks manager claims loitering was ongoing problem - "The Starbucks manager who called the police on two black customers for trespassing has spoken out, claiming that loitering has been an ongoing issue in the store... she'd had problems with loiterers and one had even chased her round the shop after she asked them to leave. The manager blamed what she claimed was a corporate policy at City Center Philadelphia locations which prohibits excessive loitering in their stores."

Black men arrested at Philadelphia Starbucks say they feared for their lives - "Police Commissioner Richard Ross, who's black, said in a Facebook post that arresting officers "did absolutely nothing wrong," and added that Nelson and Robinson were disrespectful to officers. Ross said officers did what they were supposed to do and were professional in their dealings with the men, "and instead they got the opposite back... Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. has said the location where the arrests occurred has a policy that restrooms are for paying customers only"
If I feared for my life I would leave instead of waiting to be arrested

All the seats at Starbucks taken up by homeless people. : starbucks - "I’m not against homeless people at all. But as I sit and try to work, I can’t. 60% of the seating is taken up by homeless ppl. People that need the space are coming, and leaving because nothing is available. I left because of the smell. It’s always the case at this (and several other) location"

Offering free Wi-Fi leads to an unexpected consequence at Starbucks - "Three Starbucks locations in parts of Los Angeles with large homeless populations have recently closed their bathrooms to customers and noncustomers alike in recent months. The company reports the closures are linked to safety concerns, but current and former Starbucks employees told NPR that homeless people’s reliance on the bathrooms has been a struggle for the chain... Many Starbucks bathrooms, especially busy locations in cities, have solved the issue of homeless customers bathing in bathrooms by adding a lock on the bathroom door, making it only accessible for paying customers."
From 2016

Starbucks Now Calling the Cops on Laptop Hobos - "'Guy: "They told me to buy a cup of coffee or leave. That's pressure. I'm in Starbucks all the time. This isn't a Mom & Pop store."
Police: "It's a business and you have to buy something."
Guy: "Is this any way to run a business? I'm leaving, but I want your badge numbers."'"
From 2011. Too bad the laptop hobos were presumably white. Maybe the guy in the anecdote decided not to get arrested because he knew he wouldn't be able to get away so easily

Where can I find Starbucks official policy on loitering?? : starbucks - "Most of this is from the Safety, Security, and Health Resource Manual which you can find on the Portal. You can ask a disruptive customer to leave the store at any time. A disruptive customer is one who negatively impacts the Third Place environment or makes a customer, partner, or other guest feel uncomfortable. One of these instances is "Person(s) loitering or otherwise remaining on the store premise without a discernible legitimate purpose." So you are well within your rights to ask someone who is loitering to leave. To help with this, something else I got from one of our P&AP people is that Starbucks are not public property (semi-public private property is the term she used, I think) so you have the right to refuse service to anyone...just follow our policies as a CYA."
From 2013

Squattery Barn: Dealing with Lingering, Loitering Laptop Laggards - "I noticed a staffer surveying the seating area, telling people that they had to be a customer in order to sit. The presence of this Pumpkin Spice Latzi felt was surprising given the chain's traditionally relaxed Seattle vibe."
From 2014

After Starbucks debacle, 4chan trolls make fake coupons enticing homeless to flood chain’s stores - "Internet personality Bryan “Hotep Jesus” Sharpe also took advantage of the Starbucks controversy by shooting a video of himself demanding free coffee as “reparations” because Starbucks is “racist.” Sharpe boasted about his stunt and decried the outrage on Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s show. “I am sick and tired of liberals using black people and making us look like victims, making us look soft with their liberal dogma”"

Starbucks: ‘I heard y'all was racist, so I came to get my free coffee’ - "In 2015, Starbucks was widely ridiculed for a ham-fisted diversity campaign in which baristas were instructed to write “Race Together” on customers’ cups. The initiative, which came in the wake of national protests over police killings of black males, was ditched after widespread backlash slamming it as opportunistic and inappropriate. “Most people come to Starbucks for coffee,” 19-year-old African-American Ninette Musili told AP at the time. “Race is an uncomfortable thing to bring up, especially in a Starbucks.”"
Looks like pandering to SJWs isn't a viable business strategy

Some McDonald's and KFC branches are banning under-18s for anti-social behaviour - "Some branches of McDonald's and KFC are banning under-18s from eating inside because of anti-social behaviour.It's after a fight broke out between 20 teenagers near the Meir Park area of Stoke-on-Trent a few weeks ago. Eight people were arrested after police sent armed officers and a helicopter to reports of a fight and gunshots. They've now been bailed. Now it means under-18s will only be able to dine with an adult. Otherwise they'll have to take their food away. McDonald's says the ban is to protect other customers and it'll stay in place for the "time being"."
Too bad ageism is not as sexy as alleged racism

Want to Use the Starbucks Bathroom? These Are Your Rights - "A company spokesperson said Starbucks does not have a broad policy prohibiting people from using restrooms or sitting inside for free, allowing individual stores to set their own rules. Populations density plays a part too — it’s a little easier for people to wait unnoticed inside a more crowded Starbucks in a place like New York City without paying and than it is in sparser locations where policies can be enforced more strictly. The Philadelphia Starbucks store where the arrest occurred has a rule in place that customers can only use restrooms if they purchase something. Such rules would allow Starbucks to ask people to leave — under federal law, businesses like Starbucks can refuse service for reasons other than discrimination"

Why Starbucks faces toilet trouble - "Starbucks has amended its toilet policy to allow anyone to use the facilities - whether or not they purchase something - following a row over the treatment of black customers. But the move by the US coffee chain could open the door to other problems including drugs, prostitution and homelessness... Starbucks is far from the only US business to keep its toilets under lock, wanting to avoid them being used as "public bathrooms". Aside from vandalism concerns, public toilets need constant maintenance to stay functional, let alone hygienic. For many businesses, asking customers to pay for goods before requesting toilet access helps cover maintenance costs. More concerning than cleanliness is the prevalent drug use and prostitution in public facilities. A 2013 study of New York City businesses found that 58% of store managers had seen drug use in their toilets. Over the last year, US media have called public lavatories the new frontline of the opioid epidemic. The city of Seattle spent $5m (£3.6m) on five self-cleaning toilets in 2004, only to close them four years later due to rampant drug use and prostitution. One woman even told the New York Times that she used to smoke crack cocaine in the toilets but stopped because they were too "disgusting"... "Cities don't offer public restrooms because they offer more problems than they solve""

Tamika Mallory: Boycott Starbucks Over Jewish Group Partnership - "Mallory, who has been roundly criticized for her ties to notorious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, accused the ADL, a Jewish advocacy group, of “attacking black and brown people.”"

Anne Rice - Signing off with thanks to all who have... | Facebook - "we are facing a new era of censorship, in the name of political correctness. There are forces at work in the book world that want to control fiction writing in terms of who "has a right" to write about what. Some even advocate the out and out censorship of older works using words we now deem wholly unacceptable. Some are critical of novels involving rape. Some argue that white novelists have no right to write about people of color; and Christians should not write novels involving Jews or topics involving Jews. I think all this is dangerous. I think we have to stand up for the freedom of fiction writers to write what they want to write, no matter how offensive it might be to some one else. We must stand up for fiction as a place where transgressive behavior and ideas can be explored. We must stand up for freedom in the arts... internet campaigns to destroy authors accused of inappropriate subject matter or attitudes are dangerous to us all."
This follows in her previous words (attributed) about writing about Others

Anne Rice Claims “we are facing a new era of censorship, in the name of political correctness.” - "Rice’s comments seem to have been spurred on by the recent scandal in the Romance community over the Nazi romance novel For Such a Time. The novel, which depicts a love between a Holocaust prisoner and a Nazi officer, has overwhelmed the Romance world with controversy the last few weeks"

A Game as Literary Tutorial - NYTimes.com - "For certain writers, especially those raised in the 1970s and ’80s, all that time spent in basements has paid off. D&D helped jump-start their creative lives... The Dungeon Master must create a believable world with a back story, adventures the players might encounter and options for plot twists. That requires skills as varied as a theater director, researcher and psychologist — all traits integral to writing"

Middle East Time Bomb: The Real Aim of ISIS Is to Replace the Saud Family as the New Emirs of Arabia - "This is the deep schism we see today in Saudi Arabia, between the modernizing current of which King Abdullah is a part, and the “Juhayman” orientation of which bin Laden, and the Saudi supporters of ISIS and the Saudi religious establishment are a part. It is also a schism that exists within the Saudi royal family itself. According to the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper, in July 2014 “an opinion poll of Saudis [was] released on social networking sites, claiming that 92 percent of the target group believes that ‘IS conforms to the values of Islam and Islamic law.’”

Do You Know Your Tsukemono? A Guide to Japanese Pickles - "Japanese pickles—known collectively as tsukemono—can easily go unnoticed as part of a washoku (traditional Japanese) meal. Yet they've rightfully earned their place as a cornerstone food because they serve an important purpose: Japanese food culture is heavily influenced by principles of balance handed down from kaiseki (the national haute cuisine). These principles suggest that a meal should contain a variety of colors, flavors, and cooking methods while taking into account sensory and aesthetic considerations. Tsukemono help create this harmony. They cleanse the palate and provide piquancy to counter the heaviness of umami-rich foods. Available in a number of bright hues, they also help fulfill the general rule that a meal should contain five colors: black, red, green, white, and yellow. And although they are altered by the processes of pickling, tsukemono are still considered to be raw. Think of them as salads with the added benefits of lactic-acid fermentation."

Sex ratio and women's career choice: Does a scarcity of men lead women to choose briefcase over baby? - "Using both historical data and experiments, we examined how sex ratio influences women's career aspirations. Findings showed that a scarcity of men led women to seek high-paying careers and to delay starting a family. This effect was driven by how sex ratio altered the mating market, not just the job market. Sex ratios involving a scarcity of men led women to seek lucrative careers because of the difficulty women have in finding an investing, long-term mate under such circumstances. Accordingly, this low-male sex ratio produced the strongest desire for lucrative careers in women who are least able to secure a mate"
More from the Daily Mail: Do girls only want a career because they can't attract a man? Provocative study casts high fliers in a new light - "After collecting data from across the U.S., they found that as the number of eligible men in a state decreased, the proportion of women in highly paid careers rose. In addition, the women who became mothers in those states did so at an older age and had fewer children... When they were led to believe that men were scarce, they were more likely to prioritise career over family. However, when questioned, the women didn't believe the shortage of men would lead to more job openings for women. Instead they thought there would be more competition to find a husband... women who saw themselves as being less desirable than average were highly likely to be career-orientated."