Sunday, December 9, 2012

Piece of shit of the week: Disraeli Arnold

Apologies to our readership for not posting anything in a long time. We've been busy with stuff but we're back in full effect, and today we present to you our piece of shit of the week: Hurst, TX police officer Disraeli Arnold. Let's just cut to the chase, watch the video below:


The video begins with 17-year old Andrew Rodriguez being pinned down by an officer who is in the process of arresting him. Evidently the teenager had a warrant out or was wanted for a previous trespassing charge. This part of the story does have us a little torn, because obviously here at People Liking People we don't like little shits who trespass. When Disraeli Arnold arrives on the scene though, it becomes very clear who the douchebag in this situation truly is. Now before Mr. Arnold even enters the picture, the first officer appears to be getting things under control, as Andrew Rodriguez begins submitting to the officer's demands. The main focus at this point is just Andrew pulling up his pants because his butt crack is starting to show. Other than that, things were calming down and the arrest was almost wrapped up.

Disraeli Arnold evidently didn't think things were proceeding as quickly as they should, and felt he needed to throw himself into the situation to show the first officer how it's done, but his demeanor is anything but professional. As everyone here knows, we're very pro-police here at People Liking People. But it's our positive view of the police that causes us to be the first ones to call for the firing of a bad officer, because they make the rest of the force look bad, and that builds distrust in the community. Whether Disraeli Arnold has a drug problem as some have suggested, or whether he's on some weird ego power trip, the end conclusion is the same: Mr. Arnold needs to be relieved of his duties as a Hurst, TX police officer.

In the end of the video, Disraeli Arnold seems to take pride in the fact that he is abusive in his methods, giving the camera guy his name and badge # without prompting. This is a classic sign of someone either drunk with power or some other mind altering drug. In his mind he's above the law and the world is his little playground to go around being Mr. Badass and fuck anyone who thinks he's unprofessional - he'll keep doing it and he'll get away with it. That's his mentality anyway, but it's time for a reality check and to be shown that there are repercussions to bad behavior.

If you have information about Disraeli Arnold, don't hesitate to send us a message at peoplelikingpeople@yahoo.com. We'll post information here as it's received.

Contact the Hurst Police Department at 817-788-7146.


Update 1:  An alert reader has brought to our attention that there is a profile of Disraeli Arnold on The TCU Horned Frogs Athletics site.
 
Look at those cute biscuit lips and dumbo ears. Combine that with a name like Disraeli and it's no wonder this guy has a lot of pent up tension. 

Additional info on Disraeli Arnold from the profile:

- Parents: Curtis Arnold and Shirley Arnold.

- Full Name: Disraeli Tosskanaan Arnold.

- "Is a pre-med and psychology major at TCU...would like to work with children in the health field following graduation." This guy wanted to work with children? This guy needs to stay far far away from kids.


Update 2: A reader has sent in 2 addresses (both apartments) for Disraeli Arnold:

4236 W Pioneer Dr, Apt 2083
Irving, TX 75061



4002 N Story Rd, Apt 533
Irving, TX 75038



The rest of his family (parents, siblings) live at 1319 W Clements St Odessa, TX 79763.
  
Tohsheka? Kreasta? I'm starting to think Disraeli got off easy! 

If anyone has any additional information on Disraeli Arnold don't hesitate to send us a message. Stay warm out there folks!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Girls kicked out of school after racist rant goes viral on Youtube: What happened to free speech?

From The Huffington Post:

After two minors from Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Fla., posted a nearly 14-minute-long racist rant on YouTube, the girls are "no longer students at the school."

Watch the video for yourself here:




You may not like what they were saying, but what happened to free speech? For the most part they were simply speaking their opinion about the racial makeup and differences at their school. Maybe their assessment was entirely incorrect but maybe it was the truth. At the end of the day it's their viewpoint and they're entirely entitled to that viewpoint. We should defend all speech no matter how much it differs from our own views or offends us.

Apologies have now been issued by the girls:

"I am one of the girls who were in the racist video that got posted. I’m writing this so that I can tell people how truly sorry I am. I could never, in a million years, have pictured this happening with me involved. I wasn’t raised to hate people for their race, and I still don’t. I made a horrible decision in being a part of this video ... "

It has been reported that the girls received several death threats and now had to have police protection.

Does nobody else have a problem with this? We have to put fear into people and beat into submission the people we disagree with and force them to apologize? It's complete bullshit. No one should ever have to apologize for their opinions. If you have a certain perspective or way of looking at things, as long as that's your honest opinion why is that something to be ashamed of? For all we know her school really could be full of a bunch of kids who don't give a shit about their future and that's what she was reacting to. Instead of pointing our finger at someone talking about a problem, why not look to see what she's talking about? She just might have a point.

By the way, take a look at this line from the apology letter:

I know people are wanting to blame the parents for this, for our opinions and what we said, but I want it known that I wasn’t raised how I portrayed myself in that video. My parents never taught me hate or to judge someone like that. I honestly don’t know where that came from, but it was wrong no matter what.

You don't know where it came from? Oh I don't know, it could be that you experienced things and formed an opinion on them and then voiced that opinion?

Have a spine. How embarrassing for someone to have to pretend they don't have a viewpoint or feel shame in holding it. If that's what you really feel, then stand by it. Maybe the way you voiced it was in bad taste, but if there is a real problem going on in that school then that concern needs to be raised.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Telxon scanner down the pants



We here at People Liking People have noticed a disgusting practice at our local grocery store which is likely shared by retail establishments all across the country: employees putting the Telzon scanner down the back of their pants - in between their trousers and their dirty underwear down their ass crack. We first noticed it a few months ago and thought "wow, I'd hate to be the guy that has to use it after him". But now we're noticing it all the time with many different employees - evidently it's standard procedure.

Does nobody think it's gross that everyone's sticking this thing down their ass crack, and then the part that was down the guy's ass is the handle that you have to hold on to? The device has a string thing attached to it, why don't you use that instead? Or get some type of belt to hang it on to. Just think of how many germs have got to be on your average Telxon scanner handle. If there were ever a reason to not work retail, this would have to be it.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ripoff or Inspired by? Eddie Money, The Doobie Brothers, and Robbie Dupree

We've been listening to a lot of different music here lately at People Liking People, and we love finding similarities in different songs as well as seeing how artists do things differently in the context of a similar song. Sometimes you can tell an artist was clearly inspired by a musician that came before them, and other times it's more of a blatant rip off. Today we present to you 3 songs that we invite you to listen to in the order in which they were written and see if you can't hear that there might have been some "borrowing" going on.

The first original song here is Baby Hold On by Eddie Money, which was released in December of 1977.



Baby Hold On stands out for its drum and bass guitar groove that continues throughout the whole song. Now check out The Doobie Brothers' What a Fool Believes, a completely different sounding song which came out just a month later in January 1978.




Now that you have those 2 tracks in mind that were released in 1977 and 1978, listen to Robbie Dupree's Steal Away, which was released in 1980.



Steal Away uses the same foundation as Baby Hold On but takes a smoother drum and bass approach instead of the stop/start feel of Baby Hold on. It also adds in additional keyboard elements seemingly taken straight from The Doobie Brothers' What a Fool Believes.

Is this the case of a blatant rip off or accidental similarity? You be the judge.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

New Facebook Investors Will Be Bagholders



You've probably heard all the excitement lately over the news that Facebook will be going public - on Wednesday they filed their IPO prospectus with the SEC. They are soon to be trading on the NYSE and the company is predicted to be valued up to $100 billion. This means that thousands of investors are going to be putting up their money and betting on the future of Facebook, hoping to score big returns.

Google went public back in 2004 and anyone who bought Google shares then is doing very well right now with their return on investment. But is Facebook another Google? Does it really have the staying power and growth potential?

We see it more as another Myspace. And social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook don't have the type of staying power that search engines like Google do. They're more like a fad or fashion trend, although they can definitely stay popular long enough to rake in some dough. But these sites have a life cycle where they reach their full potential within a few years, and then as the excitement wears off and their users get bored, inevitably something else comes along that becomes the next big thing. And right now we're at the very end of the peak for Facebook's popularity. It has already had its been run, the big run is not in the future.

Young people are always what drives the next hot site, the next innovation. Facebook is still "cool" right now, but how about in a couple years when a whole new generation views Facebook as their mother's social networking site? It's going to happen, and it won't be long before it does.

Facebook is about to get a shitload of money though, and it definitely won't go down without a fight. Expect to see a bunch of new features and services rolled out over the next few years and witness their attempt to turn it into something much more than just a social networking site - just as Google became much more than just a search engine. But at the same time they're rolling out these new features, they're also going to be facing pressure from investors to monetize their popularity. Investors won't just be flooding in money to Facebook to be nice, they're going to want to see big revenues coming in. So at a time when Facebook is almost at its "old and stale" phase of the life cycle, they're going to be bombarding their members with annoying ads and other ways they can get money out of them. It's only going to make it that much easier for people to switch to the next big thing when it comes along.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The psychology of the fade out at the end of a song



A "fade out" in music is when when volume of the song decreases gradually until the listener hears nothing at all, and is a common way songs are ended. There's a lot of hate for the fade out, as many people think it's a lazy way to end the song. Critics will say "I guess they couldn't come up with a good ending so they just turned the volume down".

Perhaps in many cases it is the result of laziness but often times it works well to create a feeling that the song is continuing on forever. But why would gradually turning down the volume create a vibe that something is continuing on forever?

One thing I've noticed is that the songs seem to sound their best during the fade out. Technically it probably doesn't really sound any better at all, but it's the point where you're like "goddamn this song is awesome, I wish it would keep going and going, I don't want it to stop". It's the point where you really start to appreciate the song and realize how good the vibe is. You've already heard the chorus several times by now at this point, but you took it for granted. Now you're realizing that this isn't going to last forever, and you're trying to hold onto it for as long as you can and cherish the moment.

You've heard the phrase "You don't know what you've got until it's gone", which can apply to many things in life like relationships and your health. When you're in the moment you don't quite realize just how good you have it, it's not until it's over or gone that you really appreciate it. Well, the fade out gives us the unique opportunity to have each foot on a different side and see both perspectives at the same time. On the one hand we still hear the song and are still in the vibe, but the other side of us sees it slipping a way and is in the perception of the song being over. We're able to experience both being in the moment and seeing the moment lost at the same time - which enables us to appreciate the song in the way we appreciate things in life after they're gone - only this time we have the benefit of getting to do that while we're still in the moment, if only for a brief amount of time.