Hi! You are reading the first post generated from my 16GB iPhone. I am still getting used to the touch-pad typing, but it shouldn’t be too much longer before I can type faster. Or at least I hope so. Wish me luck! This thing makes my thumbs feel 5 times their size.

Read my friend Matt’s story here. Updates to the saga can be found on his blog, here.

Reactions to people in the area include and are not limited to the following. But what I post below is a prime example of a topic that I hold close to home. When this story came to Boo and I from Matt, I really just placed it on my site to put it out there. Matt’s story was also on the front page of links for digg.com yesterday.

What I did not expect was how much our local list would respond after Boo posted it here. And I have to say…it amazes me that in an area so diverse as Northeast that the first thing ANY of us are considering is the racial aspect!! I mean yes, it has its majorities and minorities…but for shame, people. Some of the comments I have read so far really speak to how much work we have to do as a society. And to think this is the capital of our country.

Brian hit the nail on the head with his post in response to another lister. I will agree that in an area with so many renovations that we should expect theft-by-contractor-proxy…and that some extra measure would need to be taken by stores to make sure their stockis secured. I also agree with the letter-of-law statements. And I agree that officers sometimes improperly moonlight. But one thing I will not agree on as a gay-white-graduate of an historically black university is that race should even have come up as a topic.

What is this country built on but the cooperation of several races to achieve an environment friendly to everyone without losing our individual cultures? What would an observer say here about a reaction to this situation even MENTIONING race? I would think they’d suggest that other countries are way ahead of the USA on losing the stereotyping and lack of acceptance. I mean…this is rich. The audacity that race would even be mentioned in this particular forum of discussion is rather disturbing. I really do find this to be a problem on multiple levels.

In black text, the racial response. In blue text, the reply from Brian.

> Four thumbs up from the (last name withheld) household to Josh’s friend. Home Despot’s receipt checking policy is unnecessary (50+ cameras at the checkout counters) and inconsistently applied so that it is /de facto/ racist (i.e. receipt checkers are absent in Home Depot stores in white neighborhoods).

> What’s a *white* neighborhood, (name)? What’s a *black* neighborhood? What about the Mayor … and Senator Obama? They each have a *white* parent. So? Black? Or white? What do you know of the precise racial demographic of neighborhoods surrounding Home Depots? How does a store apply receipt-checking “consistently” to meet (name) standards? Must it be nationwide? If stores that have low shoplifting stats are not receipt-checked, is that racist? And what exactly are your standards for *racism* — de facto and overt? Is leaving the policy to local managers racist? Last I noted, both Brentwood and Hyattsville had black store managers….. and a lot of black assistant managers,.. and a lot of black employees….. with families and kids who really count on their continued employment at profitable, successful stores. TW, does that make those stores *black*? If one (black or white) criminal shoplifts at such a store, is that also de facto racism? So is it *white on black* or *black on black* racism you’re talking about here? Or both? Are the store managers *reverse racists*… or merely *racialist* in their foolish thinking that they ought defend their inventory against common thieves? What do you know of shoplifting and fraudulent return practices, (name)? What do you know of time requirements to monitor 50 cameras (assuming you’re accurate about that)? 50 employees to cover the cams? Or maybe the could get by with just 25 cam monitors. Maybe, not so accurate, huh? And that would be versus… what??? 2-3-4… maybe as many as 8 receipt checkers on a busy day?

> We blow by the receipt checkers most of the time. One time we failed to avoid the receipt check is the Prince George’s Plaza Home Depot 6′4″ 250lb guard who physically restrained the cart from leaving the store, and the uniformed PG sheriff on duty wondered why we cared about our constitutional rights–it was, after all, just “store policy” and there was a lot of shoplifting after all. You know what we did? We returned the $91.25 worth of stuff without leaving the store, and plan to whenever this happens.

> Aren’t you the clever ones. I guess you showed them. <ROTFL> BTW, these black managers whose receipt checking (and marking) policies stopped you from wheeling $91.25 worth of goods out of the store without proof of purchase (That’s, in part, what a receipt *IS*, (name). Sheesh!)… were they racist because you’re *white*? And if they didn’t stop and check (*& MARK*) your receipt, what would stop you from loading your goods in your trunk, and running back in to duplicate the order. Except this time you could bypass the checkout because you already have a receipt. Duh. (Uncle Jim prided himself on being a pretty savvy retailer.)

> It is an OUTRAGE that uniformed Law Enforcement is helping to enforce this receipt checking.

I see. So it’s your position that MPD and the PG County PD should not be used to investigate potential criminal activity like felony shoplifting? In fact, it’s an *OUTRAGE*?

> There’s real crime out there–like muggings and robberies and murders. I hear crime’s increasing.

Yeah, not like those petty, unreal crimes like shoplifting, huh? How many thousands of dollars an hour do you think could be ripped off on a busy weekend day at HD, if some of these busy urban stores didn’t check receipts, (name)? How many service jobs might be created if that were preventable? Not that you would be a stockholder of HD, but imagine if you were, and someone proposed a “shoplifters holiday” at the HD stockholders’ meeting. Oh, my! No. Let’s consider again those *black* (maybe some are half and half) managers, assistant managers, employees … and their kids who depend on a reasonably profitable store to keep their jobs and income streams. That should be a liberal enough cause for you to support. Also, let’s not presume to direct law enforcement to some other preferred crime-fighting tasks. They’re suppose to enforce it all. Right?

> And yes, a very small part of this story is the security guard. Yes, he’s “just doing his job.” Which he is. Nothing personal. Likewise, we’re just doing our job by exercising our rights, which is not to accept the presumption that we are thieves or allow law enforcement to execute unjustified search and seizure. Nothing personal. — (Name) — P.S. I complained on the completely useless Home Depot website on the receipt checking policies and they just replied “we’re sorry you feel that way” and “we let stores set policies.”

If failing to provide a proof of purchase receipt is truly your right(s), why don’t you sue HD? Of course, the answer is, you’re mistaken. There is no such right. The store owners, managers and employees have rights, too. The law is there for everyone. Gosh, if you’re going to strike a blow for civil liberties, please, choose a cause of nobler purpose, (name). (…like the relocation of gay, swingin’ nudie bars.) brian

- I sharded a perfectly great blue-item electrical rifle with 7 mod slots on accident last night. For any Hellgate:London player, this is the equivalent of a small tragedy.

-The red-line system has someone with an open mic this morning. Haha! Haven’t heard anyhing juicy, but the central control team eventually made an announcement to basically ‘turn yer shite off’.

- Three G8 busses in a row this morning. All inside a 5 minute window. So much for WMATA’s scheduling. But I suppose it’s bette than yesterdays 5 Not-In-Service busses within a 3 minute period. I was like “wow”.

- Speaking of WoW, my thesis topic got approved. Now I just have to come up with the approach. “Multinational Collaboration and Achievement: A Study Of Online Warcraft Gaming Guild ‘Sol Invictus’”. Who’d have thought it would actually work…?

- Repeat: I broke 37000 on Alchemy yesterday, but proceeded to die afterwards.

- WHO decided to run for President at the fucking midnight hour??! AND WHY??!!!!!

- Were it not for the potential to headache me so early in the morning, I think a nice glass of red wine sounds great right now.

- 830am and I already want lunch.

- I get paid twice on Friday! Maybe I can get rid of this blasted (faithful) Treo680 finally. But which phone to buy? I want an iPhone but everyone tells me to wait for the next version as I have this nasty habit of buying things for which the next model hits market 5 days later. But I want an oompa-loompa NOW DADDY!!!!!

- Wouldn’t it be great if we could just know in our heads who wouldn’t mind at all if you just walked right up and started making out with them? Or who wouldn’t mind finding a dark corner to keep the kissing going for a few minutes? There are a few great examples on the subway this morning of MILKs (men I’d love to kiss). But ah, such things will never be true.

- I want certain social dialects of English to disappear. I’m not going to be specific. The ones (plural) I am thinking of make people look, sound, and act DUMB, STUPID, TRITE, and probably undesireable to any love interest, employer or possible social acquaintence. I’ve always thought this to be true despite having adapted some of these dialects solely for the purpose of communication and breaking it down, so to speak. But I especially think it now as I see the English language diminishing into a bastardized version of itself. WHO puts words like “w00t” in the frackin’ dictionary?

- My desire for getting rid of things includes a very short list of accents that are devoid of any cultural heritage, but the biproduct of improper education. I consider them counter-productive to the people using them and my biggest pet peeve is when people waste their on potential. Do not think me an intolerant biggot for this. I am not one. I tolerate shit like this every day in my business, personal and otherwise transactions. I’m just tired of it. There are a lot of other people who just won’t say it.

- Vocal utterences like the tip-of-tongue click to display dissatisfaction, attempts at words such as “uh”, “umm”, “err”….should all be erased. Can we say effecticve communication??? How many speeches could have gotten the point across more clearly? I counted 75 “uh’s” in a CIO’s speech one day. How that company is still alive….

- Want to call me a bitch? An ass? A total dick about such things? Stand in line. More people think I am brave for speaking, and on the whole a total sweet heart.

- And to end the note on a positive one…I made a new friend yesterday of a 10 year artist. I also got some grat quality time with BooDadday. We played video games and afterwards we got some amazing…cuddle time.

I just broke 37 thousand points on Alchemy!!!!!

I’m divided on an issue and perhaps you can help. I can’t decide (in addition to not being allowed to listen to music without headphones) if people should be prevented from singing, humming, or making any other type of possibly rude noise on the subway as well. How would you enforce it? Hmmmmm….

The only award I was worried about for this year’s Oscars – Best Actress – went to Marion Cotillard for her biopic role as French songbird Édith Piaf. She also took the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Actress in the same role.

Marion, you GO with your sweeping wins this year! You truly captured the spirit and story of Édith. I’m quite happy to say that it’s you who has sparked my interest in her music.

If you have not seen the Picturehouse production of La Vie En Rose, a film by Oliver Dahan, then I encourage you to get it in your Netflix queue right this minute.

5 second scene: I just stepped in piss, screaming in angry realization with an effect that can only describe a culmination of occurrences. Now for some background….

So the house has 3 cats and one dog. In order of arrival, we have his 9 year old female Russian Blue (Cassandra…Cass for short), his 3 year old black Lab Terrier Border Collie mix (Zahnn), my 2.5 year old female gold ocicat tabby cat (Merrick), and my 6-month old grey ocicat tabby kitten (Elric). This post isn’t about the cats so much as it is about the dog, who thinks she is a cat. The cats actually do no wrong. And that is not a biased statement, it’s just the bloody truth.

I’m about to rip on my partner’s dog pretty meanly because I’m in a bad mood, so continue reading if you dare. (more…)

It’s no secret that there are other guys out there with my name.  It’s a fairly common European name.  Christopher Aaron Clements.  THAT said…we all know I go by my middle name.  Also having THAT said, there are those of you who know my personality…or my body…or both.

*ahem* Between the lot of you lays the potential to get a pretty good kick out of this Urban Dictionary entry. You can read the hysterical reference to some unsuspecting guy with the same name as me…here.

Poor Aaron Clements…wherever he is.  ;-)