The Village of Whitesboro, NY voted to keep this as their official logo, today… pic.twitter.com/BxaJEtucrM

— Gareth Hardy (@downwithdesign) January 12, 2016

Let me start off by saying the seal above is clearly racist.

At first glance it looks like it should belong in “Parks and Recreation’s” fictitious town of Pawnee, as one of the satirically insensitive murals that Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope constantly showcases–but it’s not.

No, this image dating back to 1883 of a white settler seemingly strangling a Native American is actually the official seal for the appropriately-named village of Whitesboro that sits in Whitestown, New York, and on Monday residents overwhelmingly voted to keep the seal rather than change it it to…well, something less racist.

Before the vote the town’s Mayor Patrick O’Connor, who has been a strong supporter of the seal, told WKTV, “We want to just put an end to it once and for all. Let the residents have the say about what seal they want to represent them and their home and their history.”

The history he’s referring to is that of their village’s founder Hugh White, who is said to have had lived among the local Oneida tribesmen as their friend. On the village’s website it states that the seal depicts a “friendly wrestling match that helped foster good relations between White and the Indians.”

O’Conner also insisted that the seal isn’t racist saying,

Some have reached out directly to me through my village email. And if they looked at the seal and went with an opinion based solely on what they’re looking at, I could understand why people would have concern about it. But, [as with] everything else, I think you have to take all the facts into consideration. And if people take the time to do that and they reach out to us, or they do the research themselves, it’s actually a very accurate depiction of friendly wrestling matches that took place back in those days

Yet something about the white guy with his hands on the Native American’s neck doesn’t exactly scream “friendly.” In the 1970s the seal did undergo a slight makeover after an Indian group sued saying the choking image was demeaning and prejudicial. However, the re-design only amounted to a small change of White’s hand placement so it appeared to be less “choke-y.”

Still the seal remained a source of conflict for the village for years to come. In an effort to finally put the issue to bed the Village Board decided to hold a vote Monday on whether or not the controversial seal should be replaced, and provided residents with 10 possible seal replacements. Of the town’s less than 4,000 residents, only 212 votes were cast, and of those 212 votes, 157 of them were in favor of keeping the seal as is.

That is why Whitesboro’s residents are the epitome of people who suck.

They had a chance to replace an incredibly disrespectful, demeaning, and racist part of their village’s history and didn’t. Even if the village’s story of a “friendly wrestling match” is true, that doesn’t change the fact that for a large number of people, including Native Americans, the seal represents a violent and unjust power struggle of white men over Native Americans–and also it’s ugly.

One can only hope that one day the village will change its mind and pick something less insensitive to display on town trucks, highway equipment, and official documents. Till then they’ll continue to suck.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Suck: Whitesboro Residents Vote to Keep Clearly Racist Seal appeared first on Law Street.

It’s been a little while since my last “People Suck” post, so I thought what better way to revive the Law Street pseudo-series than with a story about a two gun rights groups planning to stage a fake mass shooting at the University of Texas this weekend. Because if people blaring gunshot sounds from bullhorns on a hypersensitive college campus days after the horrific attack in San Bernardino doesn’t scream “People Suck,” I don’t know what else does.

Gun rights groups want to hold a fake mass shooting. There’s no way this could go wrong. https://t.co/lqQ4vmlrAO pic.twitter.com/abJshCIfvw

— PB Post NOW (@PBPostNOW) December 9, 2015

But UT students can expect to see and hear much more than gun shots echoing though their campus. The Open Carry Walk and Crisis Performance Event will also include fake blood, cardboard weapons, and a cast of crisis actors playing first responders.

The event was organized by Come and Take it Texas and DontComply.com in order to protest “gun-free zones” on the campus. Matthew Short, a spokesman for the groups, told Statesman.com,

Criminals that want to do evil things and commit murder go places where people are not going to be able to stop them. When seconds count, the cops are minutes away.

After the demonstration, the groups plan to walk through Austin with loaded weapons, which are currently banned from UT’s campus until next August when a new campus carry law goes into effect. Short explained to the Statesman,

We want criminals to fear the public being armed. An armed society is a polite society.

The groups have said outright that they don’t find the timing of the event to be insensitive at all, despite the mass shooting in San Bernardino being labeled the deadliest terror attack on American soil since 9/11.

But how could it not be?

As news of more and more attacks surface each month, mass shootings have gone from a hypothetical situations that you’ll probably never find yourself in to possible realities. Schools have continued to receive threats of more violence, and some community members find themselves in a state of constant vigil.

Therefore, simulating most Americans’ worst nightmare shouldn’t be at the top of these people’s list. Gun rights activists are more than welcome to hold meeting, demonstrations, and even bake sales for their cause if they so choose, but scarring college students with fake gunshots and blood is just weird and cruel.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Suck: Gun Rights Groups Plan Fake Mass Shooting on TX Campus appeared first on Law Street.

University of Connecticut student Luke Gatti really wanted some bacon-jalapeño mac and cheese. The problem is the Union Street Market he’d stumbled into wasn’t serving any–and he was wasted.

But instead of acting like most drunk people I know and settling for anything remotely edible, an enraged Gatti opted to instead verbally assault the cafeteria’s manager. After being refused service for having an open container of alcohol, the 19-year-old is seen profanely accosting the cafeteria’s manager for the missing mac in a now viral nine minute clip that surfaced Monday.

Watch the full nine minute clip below.

After arguing with the staff and fellow students for several minutes, Gatti then attempts to physically assault the cafeteria manager, resulting in both the manager and a fellow cafeteria employee wrestling him to the ground. The police then quickly arrived, arresting the drunk teen before escorting him out of the building. Gatti is still currently enrolled at UConn, but has reportedly already moved off campus.

The drunk Bacon Mac and Cheese Bro has officially left the UConn campus http://t.co/uRdWaWA0WO pic.twitter.com/S2e6gu2xY0

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 7, 2015

But is this video funny or just sad? There have been a few different writers weighing in on the now-viral video. A writer from the Hartford Courant criticized the students standing around during the altercation saying,

A room full of able-bodied young adults are audience members; none of them steps up to help. They’re elbowing each other, taking pictures and smirking. I’m sure the incident didn’t make that great of a Snapchat.

To the contrary, I wouldn’t mind receiving that Snapchat. But to address this writer’s critique first lets point out that’s she isn’t exactly being truthful. I personally recount seeing at least three students attempt to calm down an escalating Gatti or lead him out of the cafeteria in the video. Secondly, what do you expect these students to do? The manager was attempting to handle the issue and the police had been called. If we’re going to blame anyone how about we blame the entitled underage drunk dude who thought being enrolled in college made it acceptable to assault university employees because he couldn’t get his mac and cheese fix.

But for Gatt’s sake I hope the mac and cheese really was so good that it was worth getting arrested over, because he can bet on this embarrassing video following him for life.

Editor’s Note: This story originally reported that Gatti had been expelled from UConn.The post has been updated to reflect that he is still enrolled at the University.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Suck: Drunk UConn Student Goes on Foul Mac and Cheese Rant appeared first on Law Street.

If there was ever a candidate worthy of a “People Suck” shout out it would be George Zimmerman. Not only did he get off essentially scot free in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, but he also proved he’s a pretty worthless human being after using Twitter to brag about it.

Warning: graphic image below.

He recently retweeted a photo of Martin’s dead body sprawled out on his lawn with the caption “Z-man is a one man army.” Twitter officials have since deleted the tweet, but not before screengrabs of the image were taken.

George Zimmerman retweeted a photo of Trayvon Martin’s dead body, appearing to brag about it. http://t.co/uzeLDNeQ4e pic.twitter.com/MBkUw9zcd4

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 28, 2015

Zimmerman has made a habit of regularly tweeting/retweeting idiotic pictures and sayings on his Twitter account about race, politics, and Trayvon Martin. However, this tasteless photo in combination with its even more tasteless caption, led most people to believe that Zimmerman was bragging about the shooting. Social media quickly erupted with outrage as people began chastising his actions. Here are some of their comments below:

Maybe someday someone will tweet a picture of George Zimmerman’s dead body. And I won’t mind a bit. — Harold Itzkowitz (@HaroldItz) September 28, 2015

The fact that George Zimmerman killed a child and constantly trolls us about the fact that he got away with it just irks my soul. — The Other Serena (@ReenuhGee) September 28, 2015

George Zimmerman retweeting a pic of Trayvon Martin’s lifeless body is probably the vilest thing I’ve heard of in a while. What a small man. — Toula Drimonis (@ToulasTake) September 27, 2015

Dear @Twitter, please do the world a huge solid and delete George Zimmerman’s account. Signed, Everyone (I wish) #RIPTrayvon @jack — Holly Robinson Peete (@hollyrpeete) September 28, 2015

Zimmerman seemed entirely unfazed by the universe hating him. Rather than apologize, he responded to his most recent scandal with this string of crude tweets:

I wonder when Twitter will take these images down??? pic.twitter.com/avVfhlzkHI — George Zimmerman (@TherealGeorgeZ) September 28, 2015

All media inquiries can be directed to Ms. Micah Williams (360) 628-1467 or (931) 802-8913 or @SonusCarAudio pic.twitter.com/vKYfoOAGWE — George Zimmerman (@TherealGeorgeZ) September 28, 2015

As much as I love owning all you trolls I have to work… On my tan! Tell “Karma” she’s worthless, God protects me. pic.twitter.com/Cz6SFfDiLY — George Zimmerman (@TherealGeorgeZ) September 28, 2015

Sorry Zimmerman, but you have not in fact “owned any trolls.” Instead you act only as a sad reminder of the injustice surrounding Trayvon Martin’s tragic death.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post George Zimmerman Proves He is the Absolute Worst appeared first on Law Street.

In this week’s edition of “people suck” I’d like to introduce you to Martin Shkreli.

Shkreli is a 32-year-old former hedge fund manager and the founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG. He’s also the pharmaceutical industry’s public enemy number one. Why? Because Shkreli quickly skyrocketed to internet fame after he purchased the rights to a 62-year-old lifesaving drug used for fighting parasitic infections, and then raised its price overnight by more than 5,500 percent.

How to stop guys like Martin Shkreli from jacking up the price of a life-saving drugs http://t.co/5tVOXV7ZCP pic.twitter.com/Vw1YXfcHNQ

— Slate (@Slate) September 23, 2015

According to the New York Times, Turing acquired the drug Daraprim in August and quickly raised its price from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a tablet. Daraprim is mainly used to treat toxoplasmosis, which is a parasitic infection that can cause life-threatening problems for people with compromised immune systems, like AIDS patients and certain cancer patients. So by drastically inflated the drug’s price, Shkreli and his company greedily price gouged these patients by raising their cost of treatment to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the immortal words of Kanye West: “how could you be so heartless?”

After news got out about the price hike, Shkreli went on CNBC to defend his business move, claiming that the increase was needed to fund development for a better version of the AIDS drug. However, reporter Meg Tirrell fired back saying that experts have said that reformulating the drug is completely unnecessary.

Shkreli said,

At this price, Daraprim is still on the low end of what drugs costs. And we’re certainly not the first company to raise drug prices.

Turing is a very small company, it’s a new company and we’re not a profitable company. So for us to try to exist and maintain a profit, I think is pretty reasonable.

Tirrell concluded the interview by asking Shkreli if he would consider lowing the price in response to the negative media attention and many “doctors and patients saying that they can’t access this drug.”

Shkreli responded with a simple, “no.” But his resolve didn’t last long.

Politicians quickly began denouncing his actions, while Democratic presidential candidates responded by tailoring their health care platforms around the issue of the rising costs of prescription drugs.

Clinton tweeted:

Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on. -H https://t.co/9Z0Aw7aI6h — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 21, 2015

Shortly after she sent out the tweet, stock plummeted for Turing. And shortly after that, Clinton rolled out a new drug plan that would prevent insurers from offering health plans that charge patients more than $250 a month in co-payments for drugs.

All of this seemed to give Shkreli a change of heart, because on Tuesday he announced that he would be lowing the cost of the medication. There’s no word yet on how much the drug will now cost or when we can expect the price change to take effect, but one thing is certain–he’s still a douche.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Suck: Ex-Hedge Funder Buys AIDS Drug, Increases Price 5,000% appeared first on Law Street.

Since introducing herself to the world as Caitlyn Jenner on the July cover of Vanity Fair, Jenner has capitalized on her privilege and social media presence to shine a much needed spotlight on the transgender community. And while millions have empathized with her struggle, it was only a matter of time until the internet does what it does best, and turned her coming out into a joke. Cue the Caitlyn Jenner Halloween costume.

There’s now a Caitlyn Jenner Halloween costume and it’s as terrible as you expected http://t.co/R1v7bQsQxP pic.twitter.com/1cQzjNC8Xh

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) August 24, 2015

The $74.99 unisex costume, which is modeled after her Vanity Fair cover shot, includes white shorts, a padded white top, a brown wig, and a pageant sash reading “Call Me Caitlyn,” and is listed on many costume retailers’ sites under the category “humor.” Twitter quickly blew up with people both defending and condemning the costume.  Here are just a few examples below.

@chrisparente @Caitlyn_Jenner @KDVR she’s a celebrity. Almost all celebrities have a costume. Why should she be excluded. = means = — Mario (@Maguirre90) August 21, 2015

@bae_sic If Bruce Jenner can wear a Caitlyn costume, why can’t anyone else? — Maria Sanchez (@nmlinguaphile) August 25, 2015

The struggle that Caitlyn Jenner has to face isn’t a Halloween costume. Whoever made this is a shitty person. pic.twitter.com/dlwP4LJraw — RXB SPXXRS (@Sonickid1234) August 13, 2015

Caitlyn Jenner Halloween costumes are disgusting. Trans people are not a costume for you to laugh at. pic.twitter.com/AumLLeM41U — anna (@nutellaANDpizza) August 25, 2015

If i see anyone in a “Caitlyn Jenner costume” this halloween.. my momma better hold me back.. — steven (@deathofadisco) August 21, 2015

My personal favorite (even though I do not condone any beverage violence):

They’re selling a Caitlyn Jenner costume for Halloween? If I see anyone wearing it I will personally throw hot tea in your disgusting face — Ethan (@EthanPamyu) August 22, 2015

A change.org petition started by Addison Vincent against SpirtHalloween.com, a retailer who carries the costume, begged the site to take down the costume. In the petition Vincent wrote,

Do not turn Cailtyn Jenner into a costume. Your profit will only lead to greater transphobia and marginalization of an already at-risk community.

However, Lisa Barr, senior director of marking at Spirit Halloween responded defending the costume saying,

At Spirit Halloween, we create a wide range of costumes that are often based upon celebrities, public figures, heroes and superheroes. We feel that Caitlyn Jenner is all of the above and that she should be celebrated. The Caitlyn Jenner costume reflects just that.

Spirt Halloween has since taken the costume down from their site, but has given no explanation as to why. However, the negative publicity hasn’t stoped other retailers, from continuing to sell the costume to consumers on sites like AnytimeCostumes.com and WholesaleHalloweenCostumes.com, which sells the getup for only $49.90.

Sadly, the tasteless costume shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. For years Halloween has been used by many as an excuse to culturally appropriate others for laughs. Take blackface for example, which never fails to make a comeback every October, despite all efforts to educate ignorant wearers of its racist history.  It is nice to see people sticking up for Caitlyn and the transgender community, but we shouldn’t forget that other offensive costumes still stock the shelves of some of our most popular Halloween retailers.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post People Suck: There’s Now a Caitlyn Jenner Halloween Costume appeared first on Law Street.