The following is a call to action. It details a very specific plan to bring awareness to the Calvary Chapel pastor Bob Grenier’s lawsuit against his son. This awareness will be created through a social media blitz. This blitz will begin on Thursday, February 21, starting at 9 am PST.

Here is a brief summary of the lawsuit:

The plaintiffs are Bob Grenier, pastor of Calvary Chapel Visalia, California, and his wife, Gayle. They are represented by Nick A. Pritchett of Williams, Jordan, Brodersen & Pritchett LLP of Visalia. The defendants are Tim Taylor, a former member of Calvary Chapel Visalia, and Alex Grenier, a step-son of Bob/son of Gayle. Tim lives in Visalia and Alex lives in Idaho. They are represented by Paul Clifford of the California Anti-SLAPP Project.

This is a defamation lawsuit, filed October 17, 2012, where the plaintiffs allege that the defendants committed “Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress,” “Defamation,” and “Conspiracy to Defame.” Bob Grenier claims to be an innocent victim of their “cyber-bullying hate campaign.” The plaintiffs are asking for an award “of exemplary and punitive damages.” The defendants view this as a legal maneuver by the plaintiffs and by Bob Grenier in particular to intimidate and silence them and others from speaking out against sexual abuse, physical abuse, and ecclesiastical corruption they allege he perpetrated.

** The decision on this case has momentous ramifications for First Amendment rights as “citizen journalist” bloggers and spiritual abuse survivors organize and speak out against ecclesiastical abusers. **

To read more about the case, visit http://www.calvarychapelabuse.com/.

Please join us in this campaign on Thursday to speak out and speak loudly about a pastor’s attempt to silence the son he abused. By joining together online throughout Thursday and beyond, we can make our voices unite and make our voices heard.

This call to action has two parts. Part One is Twitter tactics; Part Two is Facebook tactics.

********************

Part One: Twitter

********************

Note: if you aren’t familiar with Twitter, Spiritual Sounding Board provides a good summary of how to use it — http://spiritualsoundingboard.com/proactive-response-to-abuse/.

Summary of Twitter Tactics:

1. End all tweets with #WhoWouldJesusSue.

2. Tweet at Calvary Chapel (@CalvaryChapel) and Bob Grenier (@Bobgrenier).

3. Tweet the story to prominent Christian leaders.

4. Tweet the story to news outlets.

5. Tweet throughout the day of the blitz as often as you can. Use a variety of these Twitter tactics.

6. If you have multiple Twitter accounts, use them all.

7. Include a link to current coverage of the lawsuit in some of your tweets.

8. Tweet the story to specific people who follow you, asking them to retweet (RT).

Detailed Version of Twitter Tactics:

1. End all Tweets with #WhoWouldJesusSue.

&

2. Tweet at Calvary Chapel (@CalvaryChapel) and Bob Granier (@Bobgrenier).

By ending all Tweets with the same hashtag, we will create a unified feed that can be traced easily and (hopefully) consequently trend. That’s Twitter-speak for going viral. And by Tweeting @ Calvary Chapel and Bob Grenier, they will have no choice but to hear our voices.

If you don’t know what exactly to Tweet, or are new to Twitter, here a few examples of good things to Tweet. (You are even welcome to copy and paste these, or use them as templates to create your own messages.) The following 8 examples all fit within Twitter’s word limit.

a. Pretty sure if Jesus sued, it would be the hypocritical religious leaders and pastors of today. #WhoWouldJesusSue @CalvaryChapel

b. Nothing says Jesus loves you like a pastor suing you for speaking out about abuse. #WhoWouldJesusSue @CalvaryChapel http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

c. Standing with survivors of abuse. #WhoWouldJesusSue @CalvaryChapel http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

d. @CalvaryChapel Even secular orgs demand leaves of absence until abuse claims are resolved. #whowouldjesussue http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

e. As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who sue their sons, for they shall silence the accusations.” #whowouldjesussue @CalvaryChapel@Bobgrenier

f. So lawsuits are the new turning-the-other-cheek?#whowouldjesussue #abuse @CalvaryChapel @Bobgrenier http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

g. Jerry Sandusky considers legal switch to Nick Pritchett citing@bobgrenier’s success. http://calvarychapelabuse.com/wordpress/?p=1646 … #whowouldjesussue

h. @CalvaryChapel and @Bobgrenier, heard about the Streisand effect? #whowouldjesussue http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

3. Tweet the story to prominent Christian leaders.

Tweet what’s going on @ Christian leaders, in the hopes that they will share the story and stand up for what’s right.

What to Tweet (fill in blank with the Twitter handle of the leader): @_____________, please take a public stand against pastors suing their kids to hide abuse. http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n #whowouldjesussue

The following is a small example list of Christian leaders and their actual Twitter accounts. You can Tweet at these people and/or others. Remember: you don’t have to necessarily agree with the person you Tweet at. You’re just trying to get the message heard.

T.D. Jakes, @BishopJakes

Michael Farris, @michaelfarris

Gregg Harris, @GreggEHarris

Joshua Harris, @HarrisJosh

John Piper, @JohnPiper

Jeremy Camp, @jeremycamp

Joel Osteen, @JoelOsteen

Billy Graham, @BillyGraham

Bill Hybels, @Bill Hybels

Joyce Meyer, @JoyceMeyer

James Dobson, @DrJamesCDobson

Rob Bell, @realrobbell

Luis Palau, @LuisPalauLive

Rick Warren, @RickWarren

Chuck Swindoll, @chuckswindoll

John MacArthur, @johnmacarthur

Beth Moore, @BethMooreLPM

Donald Miller, @donaldmiller

4. Tweet the story to news outlets.

Tweet what’s going on @ media groups, in the hopes that they will pick up the story.

What to Tweet (fill in blank with the Twitter handle of the media group): @_____________, please cover the story of a @CalvaryChapel pastor suing his kid to hide abuse. http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n #whowouldjesussue

The following is a small example list of media outlets and their actual Twitter accounts. You can Tweet at them and/or others.

OC Weekly, @OCWeekly

The Christian Post, @ChristianPost

Relevant Magazine, @RelevantMag

Christianity Today, @CTmagazine

Baptist Press, @baptistpress

Christian Press News, @ChristianPress

Prodigal Magazine, @Prodigal

The Raw Story, @RawStory

The Daily Beast, @thedailybeast

The Atlantic, @TheAtlantic

Conor Friedersdorf, @conor64

Fox News, @FoxNews

Fox News Hannity, @hannityshow

Fox News Opinion, @fxnopinion

Fox News Politics, @foxnewspolitics

Stephen Colbert, @StephenAtHome

The Daily Show, @TheDailyShow

CNN, @CNN

CNN Breaking News, @cnnbrk

CNN Politics, @CNNPolitics

Anderson Cooper, @andersoncooper

New York Times, @nytimes

New York Times Live, @nytlive

Margaret Sullivan, @Sulliview

Mark Oppenheimer, @markopp1

5. Tweet throughout the day of the blitz as often as you can. Use a variety of these Twitter tactics.

Just remember to space out your Twitter posts. And don’t focus on just one person or media group. You don’t want to have your account suspended for being “spam.” Be smart in how often you post.

6. If you have multiple Twitter accounts, use them all.

If you have more than one email address, you can have more than one Twitter account. Just saying…

7. Include a link to current coverage of the lawsuit in some of your tweets.

The following are different news pieces on the lawsuit, along with TinyURLs I created for each.

Calvary Chapel Abuse, “Pastor Bog Grenier of Calvary Chapel Visalia and Mother Sues Stepson/Son He Abused” — http://tinyurl.com/a7tv4jn

The Wartburg Watch, “Outrage Growing Over Calvary Chapel’s Bog Grenier Suit Against Allegedly Abuse Son” — http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

OC Weekly, “Alex Grenier, Frequent Calvary Chapel Critic, Seeks to Have Defamation Lawsuit Filed by His Pastor Father Dismissed” — http://tinyurl.com/aj7omy8

Christianity Today, “Calvary Chapel Pastor Sues Son for Cyberbullying” — http://tinyurl.com/b28jdg8

Spiritual Sounding Board, “Calvary Chapel Visalia Lawsuit, Local News Article, Court Declaration” —http://tinyurl.com/bzp6q5w

The Daily Beast, “Calvary Chapel’s Tangled Web” —http://tinyurl.com/apkaqc4

8. Tweet the story to specific people who follow you, asking them to retweet (RT).

For example:

@_____, RT! Standing with abuse survivors. #WhoWouldJesusSue @CalvaryChapel http://tinyurl.com/bba3p8n

********************

Part Two: Facebook

********************

Summary of Facebook Tactics:

1. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on your own page.

2. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on Calvary Chapel pages.

3. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on prominent Christian leaders’ pages.

Detailed Version of Facebook Tactics:

1. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on your own page.

This should self-explanatory. You can use the list of stories mentioned above.

2. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on Calvary Chapel pages.

Post your position and a link to an article about the lawsuit on Calvary Chapel’s Facebook pages. They have multiple pages. Post on more than one, or on all of them.

** Calvary Chapel, main page: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryChapelPage?fref=ts

** Calvary Chapel Visalia: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryChapelVisalia?fref=ts

Other Calvary Chapels that have Facebook pages with more than 300 likes:

Calvary Chapel South Africa: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Calvary-Chapel-South-Africa/180519246512

Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryFTL

Calvary Chapel Golden Springs: http://www.facebook.com/calvarygs?fref=pb

Calvary Austin: http://www.facebook.com/calvaryaustin?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel Boise: http://www.facebook.com/ccboise?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel School of Worship: http://www.facebook.com/ccschoolofworship

Calvary Chapel Virginia Beach: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryVB?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel Sacramento: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Calvary-Chapel-of-Sacramento/107438519296657?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel Miami: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryChapelMiami?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel OKC: http://www.facebook.com/CalvaryOKC?fref=pb

Calvary Chapel Oceanside: http://www.facebook.com/calvaryoceanside?fref=pb

Note: If a Facebook page disables the “write something” or “make a recommendation” feature, you can always share your post as a comment on one of the pages’ own posts.

3. Share links to articles about the lawsuit on prominent Christian leaders’ pages.

Ask prominent Christian leaders on their Facebook pages to take a public stand against Bob Grenier’s lawsuit. Here are links to some leaders’ pages:

Chuck Smith, http://www.facebook.com/pastorchucksmithfans?fref=pb

T.D. Jakes, http://www.facebook.com/tdjministries?fref=ts

Michael Farris, http://www.facebook.com/michael.farris.374?fref=ts

Joshua Harris, http://www.facebook.com/joshharris.fanpage?fref=ts

Harvest Crusades, http://www.facebook.com/harvestcrusades

Jeremy Camp, http://www.facebook.com/jeremycamp

Joel Osteen, http://www.facebook.com/JoelOsteen?fref=ts

Billy Graham, http://www.facebook.com/BillyGrahamEvangelisticAssociation?fref=ts

Bill Hybels, http://www.facebook.com/pastor.bill.hybels?fref=ts

Joyce Meyer, http://www.facebook.com/joycemeyerministries?fref=ts

James Dobson, http://www.facebook.com/DrJamesDobsonsFamilyTalk?fref=ts

Rob Bell, http://www.facebook.com/therealrobbell?fref=ts

Luis Palau, http://www.facebook.com/LuisPalauLive?fref=ts

Rick Warren, http://www.facebook.com/pastorrickwarren?fref=ts

Chuck Swindoll, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chuck-Swindoll/107888769305?fref=ts

John MacArthur, http://www.facebook.com/JohnMacArthur.GracetoYou?ref=ts&fref=ts

Donald Miller, http://www.facebook.com/donaldmillerfan?fref=ts

Note: If a Facebook page disables the “write something” or “make a recommendation” feature, you can always share your post as a comment on one of the pages’ own posts.

********************

Concluding Principles

********************

Just a few reminders:

1. Represent our campaign, as well as yourself, with sober earnestness, passionate zeal, and justified rage. But don’t forget to speak with respect and grace.

2. Don’t feed the trolls.

3. Space out your Twitter and Facebook posts. You don’t want to have your accounts suspended for being “spam.” Be smart in how often you post.

4. If you get official responses from Calvary Chapel, a prominent Christian leader, a news outlet, etc. — TAKE A SCREENSHOT. That way you have a permanent record of the response, in case someone chooses to delete it later.

If you don’t know how to, don’t worry. It’s easy:

* How to take a screenshot on a Mac: http://guides.macrumors.com/Taking_Screenshots_in_Mac_OS_X

* How to take a screenshot on a PC: http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm

5. Follow the #whowouldjesussue Twitter campaign by following the @WhoWouldJesuSue Twitter account.

6. Go get ‘em!

********************

Conservatives have compared President Barack Obama to nearly every dictator under the sun, including Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot — even Julius Caesar.  But as 2013 begins, this has created a problem.

“To put it bluntly,” Republican strategist Karl Rove said, “we’ve run out of dictators to compare [Obama] to.”

This realization came Tuesday night, when Ann Coulter made a comparison between Obama’s gun control proposals and obscure 19th-century Turkish sultan/dictator Abdul Assiz:

“I had just compared Obama to Assiz on The Glenn Beck Show when it dawned on me — that was the only remaining dictator that we hadn’t compared Obama to.”

The panic was visible on both Coulter’s and Beck’s faces.

“Then it hit me,” Coulter exclaims. “By increasing the debt for future generations, Obama preys upon our resources just like a chupacabra preys upon livestock.”

Coulter describes that revelation as liberating:

“To be honest, I had been feeling trapped by the epistemic closure that has plagued conservative thinking for the last few years since McCain lost his presidential race. We have been narrow-minded, thinking of Obama exclusively in terms of worst-case scenario dictators, when in fact there is a whole world of other worst-case scenarios we can use. I mean, there are sea monsters, rapist vikings, Blackbeard the Pirate (which is great because ‘black’ is already part of the name) — really, it was freeing. I hate to sound liberal, but I felt like I opened my mind a bit to other possibilities.”

Coulter is not alone. Rove admits this narrow-mindedness was probably why Republicans did not win the last presidential election with Mitt Romney at the helm:

“I think maybe America got tired of the old-fashioned Obama-as-King-Hitler narrative. I mean, come on, it’s 2013. The GOP needs to get with the times. Dictators are so two years ago. We need to start reaching out to other demographics. Like women.”

Noting that women recently went crazy over 50 Shades of Grey, Rove’s Super-Pac unleashed a new ad campaign with BDSM themes. Rove himself stars in the newest ad, walking into a candlelit dungeon holding a whip. As a generic jazz riff plays, he stares erotically into the camera and breathily says, “Yes, we do tell you what to do in the bedroom.”

Rove hopes the ad campaign will inject a new energy into the conservative movement, showing that Republicans and their policies can be sexy, too.

“It all comes down to sex. Sex sells. Well, at least, legitimate sex sells.”

And in an effort to appeal to Hispanics, Rove’s Super-Pac also revealed a new ad co-sponsored by Taco Bell. The tagline is, “Republican: Think Outside the Bun.”

Incidentally, that is also the tagline of another Rove ad directed at the gay male population.

Again, in the style of The Onion. In other words, satire.

I hate violence. I hate it with a passion. I get sick to my stomach when I think about the shootings in Springfield, Oregon, Aurora, Colorado, and Newton, Conneticut. I cannot fathom what would drive individuals to spill the blood of innocent people, especially children.

Christopher Dorner killed innocent people, too. (I guess to be entirely accurate I should say he was charged with killing innocent people, because technically he was “not…convicted of any crime under the law.”) He killed “the daughter of one of the people he had a beef with.” That woman was Monica Quan, the daughter of Randy Quan,  a retired police captain who had “represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.” He even killed Keith Lawrence, Monica Quan’s fiance, who was neither related to anyone involved nor a police officer. He was, rather, a “public safety officer at the University of Southern California.” The couple was newly engaged: “Days before their deaths, Lawrence…scattered rose petals on the floor of their Irvine home, got down on a knee and asked for her hand.”

When it comes to the actual violence, there’s not a lot of difference between Christopher Dorner and Adam Lanza, the school shooter from Newton. Both took innocent lives; both almost senselessly took sons and daughters away from their families forever.

Christopher Dorner was not the new Batman, neither was he the new Joker. He was a human being who made the wrong decision based on being wronged.

But as much as I hate violence, I also hate the words we often use to describe it. What Adam Lanza did in Newton to those kids was deplorable, tragic, and evil. I have no problem saying that. But when I hear people call him a mental case or psychotic or the embodiment of Satan, I cringe. When I hear people shout that Dorner is insane or a lunatic or a monster, I cringe, too.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why. I honestly haven’t quite figured it out. But I think that there’s something about saying someone’s a crazy monster that in itself feels violent to me — even if that person has done crazy, monstrous things. I feel that, even if you do crazy or monstrous things, you’re still a human being. You aren’t just some otherworldly puppet being manipulated by cosmic forces. You aren’t just born broken and thus deserve to be locked up at birth. Human beings can be mean and cruel creatures but we call them “human” still for a reason.

I think I simply want to know what happened. Adam Lanza was just 20 years old. He was a real live person — he played video games, wore short-sleeved, button-down shirts, and liked to read. What makes a person like that massacre 27 other people, including 20 kids? Christopher Dorner was a real live person, too, who dreamed about being a cop since a little boy, loved football, and once found a bank bag with almost $8,000 and returned it to its rightful owner. What makes a person like that justify killing innocent people that never wronged him?

I know I’ll never fully comprehend these tragedies. But I’d like to try. Because trying to understand what happens to people like Lanza and Dorner seems more effective in preventing future acts of violence than just saying, “Another crazy monster!” and moving on to the next action-packed news phenomenon.

I think I also want to comprehend these tragedies because I myself suffer from major depression and struggle with suicidal urges. And while I know those aren’t mental disorders that usually lead to mass shootings or cop-killings, they are mental disorders just the same. Some people would call me “crazy.” I certainly think I am crazy sometimes. So when I hear all this anger at “crazy monsters,” I flinch a bit, because I think, “Well, at one point Lanza and Dorner were just walking around like normal people, just like me, then all of a sudden they ‘go crazy.’ What if I ‘go crazy’?”

People with intellectual developmental disabilities don’t like foolish or rash decisions being associated with them. People with mental disorders don’t like murderous rampages and school shootings associated with them, either.

That’s the best reason I can come up with for why I want to know what happened. To know that these people aren’t suddenly possessed by cosmic forces of evil, so easily labeled as “crazy monsters.” To know that they — like all of us — are human beings that experience the difficulty of life with the minds and bodies we are given and then make choices — more or less consciously — that lead to new life-difficulties. What those choices are, and how in control we are of our minds and bodies, will of course determine whether we are acting intentionally or morally. But, like I said, I’m not one to withhold judgment if you decide to shoot innocent people. I will, nevertheless, refrain from calling you a crazy monster — not just because it makes me cringe, but also because calling you a monster actually abdicates you of your responsibility. If you’re a monster, you’re merely acting according to your nature. And what separates me from someone who kills innocent people is not some magically evil enchantment but my decision that killing innocent people is a horrible idea.

There’s something about saying someone’s a crazy monster that in itself feels violent to me — even if that person has done crazy, monstrous things.

But some people, like Christopher Dorner, aren’t willing to make a similar decision. And though I vehemently disagree, I consider it important — both for the sake of my taking an educated stance against his decision as well as a nod to his own humanity — to try to figure out why. Adam Lanza seems a much more difficult, elusive case, as do most school shooters. But Christopher Dorner was a very articulate, intelligent person who pretty much layed out his case in his now-infamous manifesto. In fact, some have suggested that, “The manifesto answers a lot of the whys behind what Dorner did. For the most part, the manifesto was minimized by those who were covering the Dorner situation. Instead of pushing the manifesto…sensationalist titles were affixed to Dorner’s name in the headlines.”

Much internet space has already been filled over that manifesto. I care little about contributing to that. But I do want to share a few stories that I found while trying to figure out Dorner’s motives and the context in which he lived (and died). I want to share these stories not to justify his actions, but to simply show that he wasn’t by any means unexplainable. He’s not the new Batman, neither is he the new Joker. He’s a human being who made the wrong decision based on being wronged.

For each of these observations, I give both a few links to the full stories as well as an excerpt that summarizes the point of the story.

Observation 1: There is a serious “use of force” problem in the LAPD.

Christopher Dorner claimed that another officer, Teresa Evans, used excessive force against a man with schizophrenia, Christopher Gettler. It was this claim that got Dorner fired. Whether or not that’s true, it doesn’t strike me as abnormal. If you haven’t read or heard about the LAPD’s consistent overuse of force, you should. Here are just a few recent examples:

“A friend of 20-year-old college student Ronald Weekley says he was beat up by overzealous LAPD officers in Venice on Saturday. The confrontation was captured on video (after the jump). The friend, Alexis Parker, says Weekley was trying to avoid gangsters on the other side of the street when police asked him to stop — and then tackled him when he didn’t…Parker says Weekley suffered a broken chin bone, a broken nose and a concussion in the confrontation.” (Full story)

“Police tonight said they’re investigating a videotaped beat-down ‘use of force’ by two LAPD cops in its San Fernando Valley Foothill Divison…The woman was ID’d tonight as 34-year-old Michelle Jordan of Sunland…The station described Jordan’s situation as ‘getting your head slammed into the pavement.’ The video, apparently security footage from a nearby business, depicts the officers sharing a fist bump after the woman is slammed to the ground.” (Full story)

“A South Los Angeles woman who was treated to a ‘leg sweep’ by an LAPD cop after allegedly struggling with officers died while in custody, police said in a statement tonight. In-car video of the situation, when the suspect was in custody, ‘revealed some questionable tactics and improper comments,’ according to an LAPD statement. The Los Angeles Times said the woman was stomped in the groin and possibly called ‘fat ass.’” (Full story)

“The civilian commission that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department has taken the rare step of rejecting a recommendation from the department’s chief, ruling that two police officers were wrong when they fatally shot an unarmed autistic man last year. Police Chief Charlie Beck concluded after a lengthy internal investigation that the officers made serious tactical mistakes during the brief, late-night encounter…” (Full story)

“The family of a man who was fatally shot by police after a freeway chase filed a $120 million legal claim against the city of Los Angeles Monday. The claim could be the beginning of a lawsuit…Police fired more than 90 rounds in Arian’s direction, killing him. Officers later discovered that Arian was unarmed throughout the entire confrontation.” (Full story)

Observation 2: Law enforcement agencies should encourage whistleblowing and  transparency, not attempt to hide mistakes from the public.

Christopher Dorner believed that he wasn’t taken seriously by his superiors when he reported Gettler’s abuse at the hands (or feet) of Evans. He also believed that they tried to suppress the fact. Again, that wouldn’t be the first time that happened:

“The Los Angeles Police Department’s news release on an Oct. 12 officer-involved shooting seemed fairly routine…But one crucial piece of information was left out of the release: The suspect’s hands were cuffed behind his back at the time and he was lying on his stomach…LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said investigators are trying to understand the circumstances that led to an officer shooting a restrained and unarmed man…The case marks the second time in as many months that the LAPD has withheld important and potentially unfavorable information from the public in cases involving serious uses of force by officers. Last month, the department released an account of an incident in which a woman died after several officers forced her into the back seat of a police car. The news release made no mention of the fact that a female officer was under investigation for berating the woman and stomping on her genitals during the encounter.” (Full story)

Observation 3: Abuse fosters more abuse. It’s a deadly cycle.

Christopher Dorner claimed to have suffered abuse his entire life due to his skin color, and that the LAPD were relentlessly racist against him. This isn’t the first time the LAPD has been accused of rampant racism (Rodney King comes to mind). In fact, another former LAPD officer has come forward and said that, while he would never support killing innocent people like Dorner did, he agrees with Dorner that the LAPD has some serious problems. From what I’ve read, those serious problems — and Dorner making them public, albeit with murder — is why some people view him as a hero.

This isn’t the first time the LAPD has been accused of rampant racism (Rodney King comes to mind).

“In the first six months of this year, one Black person every 36 hours was executed. This wanton disregard for Black life resulted in the killing of 13 year-old children, fathers taking care of their kids, women driving the wrong cars, as well as people with mental health and drug problems.” (Full story)

“In 2006, Schefres was interviewed about the punching incident during an investigation into allegations that Dorner slapped the hand of another recruit officer, internal affairs records show. Dorner had accused that second recruit–as well as another recruit — of using a racial slur while they were traveling in a police vehicle during their time in the academy. The department confirmed Dorner’s slur allegation against one of the recruits but not the other, the records said…Two months later, Dorner lodged another complaint against fellow cops, according to an LAPD complaint review report. Dorner said that after work on Oct. 10, 2007, he discovered that his jacket, on top of his duty bag, ‘was wet and dirty,’ according to the report. He believed someone had urinated on it.” (Full story)

“A former LAPD officer who wrote a Christopher Dorner ‘manifesto’ of his own supporting claims of racism at the department told the Weekly today that ‘I understand why he snapped.’…Jones said he didn’t find it unusual at all to hear of a situation like Dorner’s in which a rookie, African American officer’s case against a senior white officer was met with disbelief and rejection by the department and court system…Asked if he experienced racism on-the-job, Jones almost laughed. Asked if he was surprised to see the African American community in L.A. respond so differently to Dorner than the rest of town, he said, ‘Of course they’re going to see it different.’…’I definitely know what it’s like to go through having your name slandered after having done the right thing,’ Jones told us. ‘It’s a terrible feeling.’…He wants readers to know that his greatest sympathy for the victims of the suspect in this case. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I don’t understand him killing people. I don’t understand a police officer that’s dead.’” (Full story)

“Disgraced ex-LAPD cop Christopher Dorner has been described by police and experts as a delusional and perhaps even psychopathic killer. But in the African American community he’s often viewed in a different light — as a victim of racism who became unhinged only after exhausting legitimate avenues to fight the good fight against his firing. Some are even calling him a hero…Earl Ofari Hutchinson of The Hutchinson Report and the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, says Dorner’s allegations ‘have resonance’ in L.A.’s African American community. ’I'm not surprised,’ he says, ‘that Dorner would emerge almost as a folk hero, a perverse Robinhood.’” (Full story)

I do not understand the Robinhood sentiment. Yes, the LAPD has some serious issues. But I do not think killing innocent people is the right way to address those. But I also do not understand the delusional, psychopathic killer sentiment.  If you were discriminated against your whole life, tried to stand up for a mentally ill person against someone you believed was abusing her badge, and then got fired for doing the right thing by people who were calling you a n****r every other day — I can make the psychological connections very easily. It doesn’t justify murder. But it’s not a case for the X-Files, either.

What I see is neither an otherworldly embodiment of evil nor a folk hero. What I see is a man who suffered abuse at the hands of an abusive culture — and who chose to further perpetuate it.

Applebee’s apparently never took note of this. You’ve most likely heard about their most recent encounter with virality. But in case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a brief summary:

A waitress at a St. Louis Applebee’s lost her job for posting online the receipt upon which a pastor had declined to leave a tip, with a snarky note saying she gave God 10 percent.

After her dinner on Jan. 25, Pastor Alois Bell crossed out the automatic 18 percent tip charged for parties of more than eight. “I give God 10% why do you get 18,” she wrote above her signature.

Employee Chelsea Welch — a colleague of the stiffed server — took a picture of the receipt and uploaded it to the online site Reddit. She subsequently lost her job, an Applebee’s spokesman confirmed to TheSmokingGun.com, for violating a customer’s privacy.

Yesterday on Fox 2 Now, the pastor issued a (sort of?) apology.

All this information, of course, is so yesterday. “Pastor gets server fired” was Chapter One in this strangely entrancing saga, on par with a slow-motion train wreck from which you cannot tear away your eyes. Chapter Two is where Applebee’s apparently wants to commit suicide in front of our digital eyes.

Applebee’s fired the server in question, named Chelsea Welch. This created a fury of rage on the Internet, with social media users taking to their weapons of choice and lambasting away, thousands at a time, against the restaurant’s decisions. Numerous “Boycott Applebee’s” groups sprung up on Facebook, along with “Rehire Chelsea Welch” and other similar groups. Applebee’s website has a “What’s the Buzz” widget, that shows what people are saying on Twitter about the company. It’s been non-stop attacks, all publicly displayed on Applebee’s own page:

But it started to get interesting last night. Earlier in the day, around 3 pm, Applebee’s made a status updated about the controversy:

Applebee’s social media team decided to respond to the growing clamor by saying, “We wish this situation didn’t happen…Our franchisee has apologized to the Guest and has taken disciplinary action with the Team Member for violating their Guest’s right to privacy.” Around midnight last night, the reaction against this status had grown to a frenzy. There were well over 10,000 comments on the post, most of them negative.

There was a repeated theme to the comments, which the media has so far not covered. Applebee’s, just two weeks ago, had — according to comments — violated another Guest’s right to privacy themselves by posting a picture of a note from a guest that clearly featured the guest’s name. Most interestingly, Applebee’s deleted this picture right when the Chelsea Welch issue went viral. Here’s the original picture, captured by If You Can’t Afford to Tip… via screen shot:

Users of Facebook were sharing this picture left and right, using it to call bull@#$% on Applebee’s reasoning regarding “right to privacy.” Here’s just a small sampling:

By around 2 am, there were around 17,000 comments on Applebee’s original Facebook status. Then began the most bewildering move in corporate social media/public relations that I have ever witnessed. At 2:53 am, the middle of the night, whoever manages Applebee’s Facebook page started making comments on their status update. In response to the over 17,000 comments, the following statement appeared — not as a new status update, but as a comment on the status update. (Had to break it into two pieces to capture it.)

I was, to put it plainly, stunned. Surely this was someone using a fake Applebee’s page to make a comment. Commenting on your own status update during the biggest PR disaster in the history of your company at 2:53 am is the exact definition of social media suicide. Assuming this was a fake Applebee’s account, I clicked on the name. It took me right back to the page I was on. This was an official Applebee’s person. Commenting at 2:53 am.

But that, readers, is just the beginning. Oh it gets better. So much better.

The reaction was immediate:

Legitimate points. I mean, you can’t drop an official response in the middle of post that’s expanding 1K+ posts an hour. It becomes nearly impossible to find after 5 minutes.

Now, before I continue with the train wreck that follows, I’d like to sidetrack for a quick moment and reveal something else: the entire night, Applebee’s is allegedly deleting negative comments left and right, as well as blocking people from its Facebook page. People at this point are getting furious at being censored (again, a small sampling):

So people are getting furious at being censored. Then Applebee’s social media makes a comment on a status update at 2:53 am. Next up: Applebee’s starts repeatedly tagging people in the middle of the night and repeating their same comment over and over… and over. It’s now about 3 am in the morning:

This should come as no surprise, but — people don’t really like this repetition. It kinda gets under their skin. And they don’t hesitate to let Applebee’s know:

You’d think at this point in time someone in Applebee’s social media team would advise whoever is posting on behalf of Applebee’s to just lay low for a while. But no — the unthinkable happens. At 3:06 am, Applebee’s starts tagging people and arguing with them:

Naturally, people don’t take kindly to this:

Around 4:20 am, Applebee’s finally and brilliantly decides to take its comment on its status update and make it an actual status update so it doesn’t have to keep repeating itself via comments:

This now prompts people to comment on both the original status update as well as the new status update. I went to bed at 5 am. As of 5 am, the original status update had 19,027 comments. As of 5 am, the new status update had 2,111 comments.

I check back into Applebee’s Facebook page today at 2 pm. And guess what? That original status update, with almost 20,000 comments that featured Applebee’s complete social media meltdown? It is deleted, along with all those comments. But the problem is, the Internet doesn’t forget things like that. Which Applebee’s should have learned by this point in this controversy. People take it upon themselves to remind Applebee’s about that (now deleted) post:

Applebee’s now makes its most brilliant move, posting, “No posts have been deleted.”

There were many and numerous responses to this, but I think the shortest was the best:

Denial is apparently the company’s PR weapon of choice. But as my saved screenshots show, their original status update is gone. There is still the one posted at 4:20 am, which now — at 2 pm — has gone from 2,111 comments at 5 am to 9,679. And there is a new status update from Applebee’s posted at around 10 am this morning that has 7,292 comments. The status update is as follows:

As of 5:15 pm, Applebee’s social media was continuing to argue with people in the comments section, provoking one person to say, “Applebees, just shut up”:

As of 8 pm when I write this, the tallies for comments are as follows: the original post, now deleted, was at 19,027 when I last saw it; the second post is at 11,216; the third post is at 11,035. That’s 41,278 mostly negative comments — and who knows how many more there were before Applebee’s started deleting comments, not just posts. I wonder why Applebee’s just doesn’t disable comments at this point.

The upshot of this is, the Internet is laughing. And Applebee’s is losing a lot of customers. After personally reading thousands and thousands of comments, I have seen businesses and non-profits and families and individuals all say they are boycotting or even canceling reservations or changing locations for regular business lunches and dinners. Surely there was a better way to handle this that wouldn’t have led to comments such as:

Amidst all the rubble, though, there was one comment that stood out. Because it was a moment of kind-heartedness, which I appreciate after swimming through the filth and sarcasm and anger of the Internet:

***

Updates, 02/02/2013

1. Readers have pointed out to me that Applebee’s did not delete the original post. Allegedly Applebee’s “hid” the post here.

2. If You Can’t Afford to Tip… informed me that they took the original screen shot of the other receipt that allegedly Applebee’s had posted and then deleted. You can view it on their Facebook page here. I changed the original post to reflect that, and am restating it as an update as well.

3. Did Applebee’s block me?

4. I must be unblocked, because now — as of 8 pm tonight — I can see Applebee’s still going back and forth with people. But on Twitter this time. *sigh*

***

Updates, 02/04-9/2013

1. As of 4:45 pm today (02/04), I was told (and verified) that Applebee’s has made public the previously hidden post.

2. This story now has over 1,400,000 views.

3. The following is a list of notable places this photo essay has been referenced:

• NPR, “Big Op-Ed: When Private Comments Go Very Public,” February 4, 2013, http://www.npr.org/2013/02/04/171079146/when-private-actions-go-very-public
• NBC News, “Applebee’s social media faux paus a ‘learning experience,’” February 5, 2013, http://www.nbcnews.com/business/applebees-social-media-faux-pas-learning-experience-1B8251556
• The Atlantic, “Anger Directed at Applebee’s Is More Likely to Hurt Than Help Workers,” February 5, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/anger-directed-at-applebees-is-more-likely-to-hurt-than-help-workers/272861/
• The Australian, “US restaurant Applebees commits ‘social media suicide,’” February 4, 2013, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/us-restaurant-applebees-commits-social-media-suicide/story-e6frg6n6-1226570581548
• News.com.au also published the Australian story, February 4, 2013, http://www.news.com.au/technology/biztech/us-restaurant-applebees-commits-social-media-suicide/story-fn5lic6c-1226570581548
• The Herald Sun also published the Australian story, February 4, 2013, http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/us-restaurant-applebees-commits-social-media-suicide/story-fn7celvh-1226570581548
• The Huffington Post, “Beware of Internet Outrage,” February 8, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chez-pazienza/beware-of-internet-outrage_b_2647685.html
• The Huffington Post, “A Tip for Applebee’s,” February 8, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-miller/applebees-pr-crisis_b_2647328.html
• AOL Jobs, “Online Petitions Ask Applebee’s to Rehire Waitress Chelsea Welch,” February 4, 2013, http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/02/04/applebees-waitress-chelsea-welch-facebook-job-back/
• Business 2 Community, “Applebee’s Social Media Crisis: Should the Waitress Have Been Fired?,” February 5, 2013, http://www.business2community.com/social-media/applebees-social-media-crisis-should-the-waitress-have-been-fired-0398039
• Technorati Business, “Social Media’s Power is No Joke! Just Ask Applebee’s!,” February 9, 2013, http://technorati.com/business/article/social-medias-power-is-no-joke/
• Decoded Science, “Applebee’s Social Media Nightmare: Technology 24/7 Isn’t Always a Good Thing,” February 3, 2013, http://www.decodedscience.com/applebees-social-media-nightmare-technology-247-isnt-always-a-good-thing/25209
• The Riverfront Times, “Chelsea Welch, Applebee’s Waitress, Talks Unemployment; Applebee’s PR Melts Down,” February 4, 2013, http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2013/02/chelsea_welch_fired_applebees_waitress_pr_meltdown.php
• Haverford-Havertown Patch, “Applebees Fires Waitress For Exposing Tip-Skipper, Then Tries to Silence Public on Social Media,” February 3, 2013, http://haverford.patch.com/blog_posts/applebees-fires-waitress-for-exposing-tip-skipper-then-tries-to-silence-public-on-social-media
• Geekosystem, “Applebee’s and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week,” February 6, 2013, http://www.geekosystem.com/applebees-bad-week/
• Intentious, “Social Media Suicide: A Dissection of the Applebee’s ‘Strategy,’” February 6, 2013, http://intentious.com/2013/02/06/applebees-facebook-strategy-social-media-suicide/
• Outside the Beltway, “Social Media Fail (Applebee’s Edition),” February 2, 2013, http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/social-media-fail-applebees-edition/
• The Franchise King, “Applebee’s Restaurant Social Media Fail,” February 3, 2013, http://www.thefranchiseking.com/applebees-restaurant-social-media-fail?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheFranchiseKing+(The+Franchise+King+Blog
• God Discussion, “Applebee’s uses Facebook in response to firing of waitress, creates PR nightmare,” February 3, 2013, http://www.goddiscussion.com/107006/applebeesnightmare/

Reblogged from queerphc:

October 11 was National Coming Out Day.

At the University of Oregon, National Coming Out Day was met with wild fanfare, with rainbow balloons and a parade making its way through the University Street Faire. But advocating for LGBTQ&A rights has evolved over the decades: ”Sylvester, who came up with the idea for the banner and planned many of the week’s events, decided to make a last-minute addition to the afternoon’s happenings after experiencing a moment of prejudice earlier in the week. ‘Some of the street preachers said some pretty insensitive things to me,’ Sylvester said. ‘So in response to that I called in a “kiss in.”‘ Sylvester explained that a ‘kiss in’ is an event where people may hug, kiss, or hold hands in protest of homophobia and ignorance.” [1]

Kiss-ins have become all the rage. After the controversial National Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day happened earlier this year, protesters protested back with their own protest: that’s right, a kissing protest. Activists planned “‘National Same-Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A’…As part of the event, couples [were] encouraged to go one of the chicken restaurant’s locations and take a photo or video of themselves kissing.” [2]

[Continue reading at Eugene Daily News.]

Seattle superstars Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will take to the McDonald Theatre stage on Saturday, October 20.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hail from Seattle, Washington. They are two separate and distinct artists who have collaborated on several musical endeavors in the last few years. Macklemore is a rapper — a white rapper, to be precise. I would not call attention to the fact of his whiteness were it not the subject of many of his raps. More important than his race, though, in my opinion, is his focus. Macklemore provides biting, spot-on social commentary, music industry jabs, and moving passages of poetry in his oft-termed “diary rap” style. He takes a genre known for bling, women, and cars and transforms it — almost effortlessly — into rhymes advocating same-sex marriage, anti-consumerism, and fighting addiction to oxycontin.

While Macklemore provides the lyrical mastery to the group, Ryan Lewis provides the musical mastery. And to be honest, as good as Macklemore’s raps are, Lewis by far steals the show in whatever the group does. Lewis’ productions are epic, employing scorching beats, ethereal strings, and angelic choirs. Should Lewis break out on his own, he could easily end up in the Producer VIP world where Timbaland and Kanye West currently reside. He is really that good. Lewis is also in the same company as Xaphoon Jones, the production wizard half of the rap group Chiddy Bang. They both are moving hip hop towards a “high pop art” feel, using both traditional, heavy-hitting rhythms as well as unique orchestrations and indie music sensibilities.

[Continue reading at Eugene Daily News.]

As a former academic debater and debate coach, I try to watch the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debates every four years. I feel that argumentation and opposing viewpoints are in the grand tradition of this country. We are a country that gives almost unlimited value to our freedoms of speech. Using that speech to create a dialogue between differing ideas is one of the noblest and useful activities imaginable.

The nobility and utility of that dialogue should therefore — theoretically — reach almost dramatic, earth-shaking proportions when that dialogue occurs between four of the most important people in the United States of America. Those four people, of course, are whatever four individuals make up the main contending parties for President and Vice-President of the United States. (Someday I’d love to say “six individuals,” or even “eight individuals” — but for now, I can only dream of the dissolution of the Two-Party Frat Party that makes up the American political scene.)

I sighed when I wrote that last paragraph because the “theoretically” part — as far as I have ever witnessed — remains just that: theoretical. Every four years, the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates are the opposite of what I hope they will be. They are an exercise in ignoble, useless mudslinging and fodder for pedantic talking heads. They are not dramatic. They do not shake the earth. They are benign. And the earth lies still. Very still.

[Continue reading at Eugene Daily News.]

As economic growth has come to a halt, people everywhere are struggling to make ends meet by pinching pennies and cutting unnecessary expenditures.

In a world where the number of PhD recipients on food stamps and other forms of welfare more than tripled, and where the highest paying jobs are often technical or pragmatic and not academic or artistic, it makes sense that schools are re-emphasizing more practical, concrete, direct-to-jobs programs. That emphasis begins even as early as elementary school with more science and math and less dance and theatre.

In public K-12 schools around the nation, for example, only 4% of elementary schools offer dance and even fewer, 3%, offer drama — a 20% decline since 2000. This decline is worse for minorities: “fewer 18-year-olds surveyed in 2008 reported receiving any arts education in childhood than did those surveyed in 1982, dropping from about 65 percent to 50 percent…Just 26 percent of African-Americans surveyed in 2008 reported receiving any arts education in childhood, a huge drop from the 51 percent who reported as much in 1982…For Hispanics ages 18 to 24, the figure for getting any arts education plummeted to 28 percent in 2008, down from 47 percent in 1982.”

[Continue reading at Eugene Daily News.]

Kyle was not alone that year. Over 30,000 people kill themselves every year in the U.S., making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.

April 22, 2009 was a dark day for Kyle’s family. But out of that darkness came a mission. The tragedy inspired Kyle’s aunt, Angela McClintic, to learn more about and get involved with suicide prevention. McClintic became a passionate advocate for preventative strategies, families who have lost loved ones to suicide, and survivors of suicide.

In the months after Kyle’s death, McClintic and Kyle’s sister came across the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the national Out of the Darkness Community Walks. Together, McClintic and Kyle’s sister organized the first-ever Out of the Darkness Walk in Eugene in October 2009. The walks have become an annual event held at Alton Baker Park.

[Continue reading at Eugene Daily News.]