• Arrest made in bomb threat against con hotel

    From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to All on Thu Apr 11 07:40:02 2024
    The hotel which hosted Motor City Furry Con had to be evacuated because
    of a bomb threat they received during the con. There was a similar
    threat during last year's con. It's reported that someone in California
    was arrested, though particulars aren't available.

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/08/calif-suspect-arrested-bomb-threat-against-ypsilanti-twp-motel/73242640007/

    I don't get why a subfandom that centers on animation and funny costumes
    gets so much hatred.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to petertrei@gmail.com on Thu Apr 11 16:54:36 2024
    In article <uv93nu$1pbbb$3@dont-email.me>,
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 4/11/2024 7:40 AM, Gary McGath wrote:
    The hotel which hosted Motor City Furry Con had to be evacuated because
    of a bomb threat they received during the con. There was a similar
    threat during last year's con. It's reported that someone in California
    was arrested, though particulars aren't available.

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/08/calif-suspect-arrested-bomb-threat-against-ypsilanti-twp-motel/73242640007/

    I don't get why a subfandom that centers on animation and funny costumes
    gets so much hatred.

    They get swept up in the current right wing panic about anyone who
    expresses any kind of alternative sexuality.

    Yes, I know furries aren't pedophile groomers seeking to put
    gender=free litterboxes in primary schools - at least no more
    so than non-furries. But that's the perception.

    Some furry groups have been energetic about ejecting Nazi furries,
    which didn't go over well with the Nazis.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Charles Packer@21:1/5 to Gary McGath on Fri Apr 12 07:56:11 2024
    On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 07:40:02 -0400, Gary McGath wrote:

    The hotel which hosted Motor City Furry Con had to be evacuated because
    of a bomb threat they received during the con. There was a similar
    threat during last year's con. It's reported that someone in California
    was arrested, though particulars aren't available.

    https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/04/08/calif-
    suspect-arrested-bomb-threat-against-ypsilanti-twp-motel/73242640007/

    I don't get why a subfandom that centers on animation and funny costumes
    gets so much hatred.

    No such thing as bad publicity?

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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Fri Apr 12 06:37:30 2024
    On 4/11/24 12:54 PM, James Nicoll wrote:

    Yes, I know furries aren't pedophile groomers seeking to put
    gender=free litterboxes in primary schools - at least no more
    so than non-furries. But that's the perception.

    Some furry groups have been energetic about ejecting Nazi furries,
    which didn't go over well with the Nazis.

    Then maybe someone who was banned spread the litter-box stories to
    gullible audiences in retaliation?

    The litter boxes for my cats have always been gender-free.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to garym@mcgath.com on Fri Apr 12 13:25:00 2024
    In article <uvb2ta$2a8hd$1@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    On 4/11/24 12:54 PM, James Nicoll wrote:

    Yes, I know furries aren't pedophile groomers seeking to put
    gender=free litterboxes in primary schools - at least no more
    so than non-furries. But that's the perception.

    Some furry groups have been energetic about ejecting Nazi furries,
    which didn't go over well with the Nazis.

    Then maybe someone who was banned spread the litter-box stories to
    gullible audiences in retaliation?

    The litter boxes for my cats have always been gender-free.

    As I recall, it turned out some classrooms in the Jefferson County Public School District in Colorado do or did have litter boxes but not for the
    reason the alt-right claimed. It was so that during routine school mass shootings, kids waiting their turn to be murdered would have somewhere to relieve themselves without spoiling the game by making a run for the
    bathroom.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Keith F. Lynch@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Fri Apr 12 14:03:44 2024
    James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    Then maybe someone who was banned spread the litter-box stories to
    gullible audiences in retaliation?

    The litter boxes for my cats have always been gender-free.

    Coincidentally, in today's news, I read of a woman in DC being shot
    while emptying her cat's litter box:

    https://wtop.com/dc/2024/04/she-was-emptying-her-cats-litter-box-when-a-stranger-walked-up-and-shot-her-was-it-a-case-of-mistaken-identity/

    As I recall, it turned out some classrooms in the Jefferson County
    Public School District in Colorado do or did have litter boxes but
    not for the reason the alt-right claimed. It was so that during
    routine school mass shootings, kids waiting their turn to be
    murdered would have somewhere to relieve themselves without
    spoiling the game by making a run for the bathroom.

    As for "routine school mass shootings," the average American school
    goes several thousand years between such shootings. More school-aged
    children drown in bathtubs than are killed in such shootings, but we
    don't hear demands that adult possession of a bathtub be made a felony.

    More school-aged children are killed by cops than by school mass
    shootings, but kids don't have cop drills in which they're trained on
    how to behave if they ever encounter a cop, to reduce their risk of
    being killed or falsely convicted of a crime. I could have benefited
    from such a drill, as I had no idea that cops lie.

    Lots of people who are shot by cops while trying to follow their
    directions could have benefited from such a drill. If cops are
    pointing a gun at you, *freeze*, and do not move even if they order
    you to. That may increase your risk of a beating, tasing, or
    resisting-arrest charge, but it will decrease the odds of your being
    shot dead, since a trigger-happy cop may not notice that you're
    following the orders of another cop.

    The recent Crumbley verdicts and sentences, holding parents guilty
    if their kid shoots up a school, will go a long way toward ensuring
    that parents never again trust their children. For every odd kid who
    shoots up a school, there are a million odd kids who are perfectly
    harmless, and whose childhoods will now be ruined by daily parental interrogations and strip searches.
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Fri Apr 12 10:23:09 2024
    On 4/12/24 9:25 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    In article <uvb2ta$2a8hd$1@dont-email.me>, Gary McGath
    <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:

    Then maybe someone who was banned spread the litter-box stories to
    gullible audiences in retaliation?

    The litter boxes for my cats have always been gender-free.

    As I recall, it turned out some classrooms in the Jefferson County
    Public School District in Colorado do or did have litter boxes but
    not for the reason the alt-right claimed. It was so that during
    routine school mass shootings, kids waiting their turn to be murdered
    would have somewhere to relieve themselves without spoiling the game
    by making a run for the bathroom.

    You've just illustrated another way such stories can come up: by the
    game of telephone, where each retelling gets a few more points wrong.

    Here's the actual story:

    https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/jeffco-schools-have-emergency-buckets-where-people-can-pee-during-lockdowns/73-481198424

    There weren't any "litter boxes" in the normal sense. The school set up
    what they call "emergency go buckets," effectively an improvised revival
    of the old chamber pot, with cat litter at the bottom.

    The school district never claimed school mass shootings were routine.
    What may have become routine in some places is lockdowns on the
    slightest excuse.

    Then there's this detail: "Food and candy are also included in the
    Emergency Go Buckets to help those who may need sugar during the wait."
    *In* them? Yuck, even if the buckets haven't been used yet.

    If a shooting was in progress, I wouldn't want to come out of hiding to
    reach the bucket. If my pants needed changing afterwards, I doubt anyone
    would blame me.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to garym@mcgath.com on Fri Apr 12 15:12:06 2024
    In article <uvbg4d$2dcin$2@dont-email.me>,
    Gary McGath <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:
    On 4/12/24 9:25 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    In article <uvb2ta$2a8hd$1@dont-email.me>, Gary McGath
    <garym@mcgath.com> wrote:

    Then maybe someone who was banned spread the litter-box stories to
    gullible audiences in retaliation?

    The litter boxes for my cats have always been gender-free.

    As I recall, it turned out some classrooms in the Jefferson County
    Public School District in Colorado do or did have litter boxes but
    not for the reason the alt-right claimed. It was so that during
    routine school mass shootings, kids waiting their turn to be murdered
    would have somewhere to relieve themselves without spoiling the game
    by making a run for the bathroom.

    You've just illustrated another way such stories can come up: by the
    game of telephone, where each retelling gets a few more points wrong.

    Here's the actual story:

    https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/jeffco-schools-have-emergency-buckets-where-people-can-pee-during-lockdowns/73-481198424

    There weren't any "litter boxes" in the normal sense. The school set up
    what they call "emergency go buckets," effectively an improvised revival
    of the old chamber pot, with cat litter at the bottom.

    The school district never claimed school mass shootings were routine.
    What may have become routine in some places is lockdowns on the
    slightest excuse.

    Then there's this detail: "Food and candy are also included in the
    Emergency Go Buckets to help those who may need sugar during the wait."
    *In* them? Yuck, even if the buckets haven't been used yet.

    If a shooting was in progress, I wouldn't want to come out of hiding to
    reach the bucket. If my pants needed changing afterwards, I doubt anyone >would blame me.

    It now occurs to me the next time I have to shelter in place, I am going to
    do it in the 2nd floor washroom I know has a door wedge nearby. I am
    also going to try very very hard not repeat the mistake I made last
    time, which is to shelter in place in the same room as the armed
    person from whom I was sheltering in place from, in such a way as to
    block all of his possible egresses.


    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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