Hasta La Gadget!

Homeless advocates expressed anger this week at the prospect of more police raids on Manhattan homeless shelters, after NYPD officers last Friday arrested 22 people at the Freedom House on the Upper West Side.

DNAinfo reported last week that police performed background checks on all of the occupants of the Freedom House homeless shelter on the Upper West Side, and that five officers conducted a pre-dawn raid in which 22 people were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, questioned the legality of the raids. “There’s no justification for this,” she told The Huffington Post in a statement. “Being homeless is not grounds for suspicion that someone has a bench warrant.”

“This incident goes against what this administration stands for,” she added, referring Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, “and is going to drive people out of homeless shelters.”

Joshua Goldfein of the Legal Aid Society told NY1 on Thursday that the police have other options for dealing with criminals at homeless shelters.

“It would make a lot more sense for city staff to help people identify if they have warrants and clear them rather than surprising people in the middle of the night and shackling them and bringing them into court,” he told the station.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who used to represent the neighborhood in the New York City Council, agrees.

“Enforcement is one option, but caseworkers at city-funded shelters can also help resolve outstanding warrants so the people affected can take steps toward eventually finding jobs and permanent housing,” she told HuffPost in a statement. “They should not be caught in a cul-de-sac of warrants and arrests.”

The NYPD says it took 10 people into custody last Friday night, many of whom had long rap sheets. Police told DNAinfo that those 10 individuals had previous arrests for burglaries, grand larceny and drug sales. The Department of Homeless Services handled the other 12 arrestees as part of a “inter-agency joint operation,” police said.

“The warrant sweep was conducted to address a precinct burglar condition that was going on,” a NYPD spokesperson told HuffPost. “In that particular area burglaries are up 83.9 percent as of May 25.”

Prior to the raid, police had checked for warrants against a list of occupants at the 388-person shelter. Thirty-five people turned up with outstanding warrants; the police did not explain why only 22 were arrested.

These types of warrant sweeps have become a common practice over the last 20 years, according to Patrick Markee, a senior policy analyst at Coalition for the Homeless. Often, Markee said, the police arrest people on warrants for minor infractions, like jumping the subway turnstile or sleeping on the streets.

In one such warrant sweep in 2000, police conducted nighttime raids at multiple shelters, arresting 135 people.

In a statement to HuffPost, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Homeless Services said the raids help keep the non-criminal residents in the shelter safe.

“The NYC Department of Homeless Services is committed to following its mandate of safely housing the homeless,” DHS said, “and it will continue to work with the NYPD on any law enforcement activity at its facilities.”

More raids are likely to follow. “We do intend to follow up at not only this location, but others within the precinct as well,” Capt. Marlon Larin, the 24th Precinct’s commanding officer, told DNAinfo.

According to Aaron Biller, president of community group Neighborhood in the Nineties, the arrests are a good way to keep the area safe.

“The police raid is welcomed by this community as in direct response to certain street crimes,” he said. “Burglaries, drug dealings, and larceny.”

“It’s not about demonizing these people,” Biller added, “but it’s about catching those who have fallen through the net.”

Neighborhood in the Nineties has been vocal in its opposition to the shelter since it opened in 2012.

“Don’t rest all of your life expectations on one outcome. When you have no expectations, you don’t lose all that money on wasted ribbons and polo shirts. I flew to Beijing without knowing a thing about what to expect or what to bring. Granted, I also had to live without deodorant and the correct prescription contact lenses for two months, but I survived. And so will you! Even if you don’t get into your program, there will always be other ways to get to Paris and other ways to change your life.”

– Jess to her best friend Rachel, Graduates in Wonderland

Some people swear by over-preparing for a big adventure. My friend and co-author Rachel wrote about why she thinks everyone should thoroughly research and plan out every step before moving abroad, but that’s nonsense.

Pick a place, pick a purpose, book your flight and go! Just go. Don’t read a travel book. Don’t search on every forum. Do not take a language class. GO! Now. Put your shoes on and get out of town. You should get to your destination with as little research as possible…

1. Because you will not be disappointed

The day I flew into Beijing, it was hot and smoggy. So smoggy that I couldn’t really see the tops of buildings. I was dumb enough to think this was fog and therefore was not saddened upon my arrival (and it did clear a few days later, revealing blue skies). If I had known it was pollution, I probably would have cried into my noodle soup. I didn’t know the good neighborhoods to go to, but everything was a marvel. The street food vendor cracking eggs into pancakes? So cheap and delicious! Elderly Chinese people doing Tai Chi in a park? It’s so beautiful. That baby is walking around wearing no pants because diapers aren’t really a thing here? Fascinating. And truly, I was fascinated because I did not know about any of these things before arriving.

As the Chinese say, “Ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” Actually, I don’t think they were the ones who say that. No matter. Whoever said it, they got it right.

2. Because only when you are desperate will you work hard and take risks

I did not know Mandarin, which meant I had to learn the language — fast. I threw myself into studying, because that was the difference between eating pigs ears and eating Peking duck, between ending up on a country road selling eggs for the rest of my life or making it home to my apartment. It also meant that when I heard English being spoken, I latched onto the speaker like they were my best friend and we had just been reunited after 50 years spent apart on opposite sides of the world (this is great way to make friends).

Once I randomly ran into the cutest guy from my college during my first month in Beijing. I was feeling very alone in the city and so I boldly walked over to say hello. He immediately hugged me, hard. This guy didn’t even know my name at Brown and yet, here he was, arms wrapped around me. In Beijing. During a summer rainstorm. It was awesome. I’m so glad that moment happened, and you will be, too.

If you’re fluent and a comfortable know-it-all, life will be too easy and less exciting.

3. Because you could become too afraid to go

If you do too much research, you may talk yourself out of it. No matter what your destination, there will always be some negative aspect that grabs headlines. Exciting Spain? Bad economy. Breathtaking landscapes in Iceland? Too expensive. At least one person you talk to will hate where you are going. Another one will want to come with you. Your parents’ friends will scoff. Bottom line: What other people think doesn’t matter, but if you think about it too much beforehand, it could start to get to you. There will always be a reason not to go. If you dwell on the decision too much, inevitably you will lie awake and think, I’ll just move to, let’s say, Boston. Everyone I know is moving to Boston. This is obviously a good idea.

It is not a good idea. Do you know how cold it is in Boston?

4. Because you can’t plan for the unexpected, so don’t even try

No matter how many guidebooks you read or forums you scour, you will still be thrown hurdles. You might get mugged. You might get lost. You might get food poisoning. You might meet the “love of your life” and then realize that he is a mature-looking 18-year-old boy. It’s so much easier to face these things when you haven’t planned everything to within an inch of your life. I say, go in with no expectations and you’ll be nothing but surprised and shocked (in a good way).

Before I flew to China, I was convinced I needed to find a job before I arrived, so I applied to a program looking for Americans to teach English to Chinese children. When I arrived, I discovered the school was miles outside central Beijing and that the last thing I wanted to do was spend my days teaching English. Instead, I went out and met people and eventually found my way into a magazine job.

See? I made plans and the Gods laughed at me, just like the Yiddish saying warned. Plans are for suckers.

5. Because everything will blow your mind

I did no research on China before I went. My dad is Chinese, so I felt like by looking Chinese and occasionally eating Chinese food, I already knew too much. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to a culture in which spitting on the ground was commonplace. This did not disgust me. This intrigued me. I loved the taxi drivers who all carried a thermos of hot tea. I made Chinese friends who ordered plum juice. Have you ever had fresh plum juice? It is amazing. What about steamed pork buns sold on the street? What about coming across a group of elderly couples dancing in a temple’s square at sunset to music blaring over speakers? (I’m sorry to contradict my argument and ruin these China surprises for you — but there are endless more surprises that I’ll let you discover on your own, as you should — put down that travel guidebook).

If I had known about these things before, the excitement would have been muted and each discovery would have instead been a “Oh yeah, I saw Anthony Bourdain do that.” I prefer my discoveries untainted. Yes, yes, it’s true, I did not know where to find deodorant or contact lenses my first few months in Beijing. But as I tell Rachel in the book, I survived. And so will you.

P.S. I mean, get a visa, though. If you can’t even get into the country, the adventures definitely won’t be happening.

Graduates in Wonderland, an epistolary memoir between two friends living in Beijing and Paris is out now.

I realized just the other day, only after someone text me to say “happy anniversary” that its been six months since I have publicly come out. While it’s been a lot longer than that that I have been gay, I thought back on how quickly six months has flown by, and put together the top 10 things I’ve learned.

10. Coming out won’t change the fact that you’re still insecure about some things.
Just because you come out, you don’t immediately have an injection of confidence that gets rid of the insecurities. At least for me it didn’t. I still am shy around someone I find really attractive. I’m still nervous when someone asks me what I think about a certain guy. Getting over some of those takes time, don’t be embarrassed by them, but don’t let fear grip you either.

9. Suddenly life seems less worrisome, and things a bit more clear.

It may sound cliché, but once you come out, I literally felt like I didn’t have a worry anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t feel on top of the world, but I knew the energy I spent trying to hide or wrestle with it, and keep it from some people, could now be spent in a healthier way, freeing my mind to see life, and truly live life for the first time. People will say you have “a glow” about you — just not the pregnancy one!

8. It’s like Instagram knows you’re out.

Suddenly you come across a lot more hard bodied reminders of what your body DOESN’T look like, but a little double tap on the screen keeps you hoping somehow he sees your like, and he starts following you back, and then he DM’s you, and then you exchange numbers, he schedules a trip from Europe to come and see you, and then you live happily ever after. Really? I’m the ONLY one who has wished this!?

7. Dating doesn’t get any easier once you come out.

Just the opposite in fact. Ok, so maybe meeting your future Mr. Right on Instagram isn’t gonna happen. Somehow, I thought dating would be easier and a relationship would come soon after. If I’m out, others will see me as approachable, and hopefully more attractive. NOPE! With all of the apps, dating sites around today, finding someone genuine to grab coffee with, or go to dinner with is still just as hard. So until it gets easier, I’m told to just keep putting myself out there.

6. Not everyone will support you, that’s OK.

They, don’t have to be ok with it, YOU do! While it may be 2014, still there are some people that aren’t ok with you… being YOU. (It sounds crazy I know!) I found out, not everyone is going to be cool with you coming out. I refused to let that get me down, but rather used it to have conversations to get people to see one another as equals, no matter what the differences are, homosexuality aside.

5. Your coming out can be a catalyst for someone else’s, yet their story will inspire you daily!

I came out publicly in a blog post, and never expected the amount of feedback (positive and negative) that I got from it. Still, while people said how much my post helped them make the decision to come out, there are countless of stories each day that have inspired me when reading or watching them — that have me as nervous as hell as I was before pressing submit on my post. Its people like Sam Smith, Tom Daley, Ellen Page, and Ben Hobson, that I literally imagine myself right there with in their moment of vulnerability, saying “I stand with you, even if no one else will.”

4. You run out of places to go and eat.

Sure there is always the club, but who wants to go there on a Wednesday night!? Chick-fil-A doesn’t want you eating their chicken biscuits. Arizona business can refuse your patronage. Cracker Barrel won’t let you stand behind the register of their country store, wearing an ill fitted, hideous brown apron. (See #6. Ugh, fine, to the club on a Wednesday it is…)

3. Some people aren’t ready to talk about it yet. (EVEN THOUGH it’s been six months)

Just because some are taking longer to digest it than Bruce Bogtrotter eating chocolate cake in Matilda, give them time. They may never actually say anything about it at all, and others may just not be sure WHAT to say.

2. You notice you take a stand for more social issues.

Before you come out, you are so concerned with hiding who you are, that you really are afraid to speak up for some things, because then people may “be on to you” and begin to figure out the secret you’re trying to hide. Once out, you realize that having a voice, and standing against injustices and in favor of equalities is truly the only right way. I even felt a little embarrassed and ashamed I tolerated some things at times, by saying nothing at all.

And the MOST SHOCKING thing I learned six months after coming out…

1. Not that much has changed…

You are still you. You still shop at the places you did before, hang with the people you did before, listened to the same music you did before. Why? Because YOU were being YOU all along. The sooner you realize that you are no different, and have great things to offer in life, the sooner others will begin realizing that and treating you as such. You were you, you’ve always been you, and you should ALWAYS BE YOU!

Computer storage is no longer just an issue at your place of business or in your home office. Today’s mobile
society requires our smartphones to carry just as many gigs (if not
more) than what our desktops were supplied with just few short years
ago. If you’re still wasting your mobile phone’s precious in-built
storage, you’re either purchasing too many seldom-used apps or. . .

Over the course of the last year, we’ve debated, accepted, and ultimately learned to enjoy iOS 7 , but that doesn’t mean we’re not ready for another round of improvements. Here’s what we’re hoping to see when Apple shows off iOS 8 next week.

Read more…