Saturday, March 5, 2016
Why We Should Teach About the FBI’s War on the Civil Rights Movement
This month marks the 45th anniversary of a dramatic moment in U.S.
history. On March 8, 1971—while Muhammad Ali was fighting Joe Frazier at
Madison Square Garden, and as millions sat glued to their TVs watching
the bout unfold—a group of peace activists broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole every document they could find.
Keith Forsyth, one of the people who broke in, explained on Democracy Now!:
I was spending as much time as I could
with organizing against the war, but I had become very frustrated with
legal protest. The war was escalating and not de-escalating. And I think
what really pushed me over the edge was, shortly after the invasion of
Cambodia, there were four students killed at Kent State and two more
killed at Jackson State. And that really pushed me over the edge, that
it was time to do more than just protest.
Delivered to the press, these documents revealed an FBI
conspiracy—known as COINTELPRO—to disrupt and destroy a wide range of
protest groups, including the Black freedom movement. The break-in, and
the government treachery it revealed, is a chapter of our not-so-distant
past that all high school students—and all the rest of us—should learn,
yet one that history textbooks continue to ignore.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Common Dreams
Friday, March 4, 2016
White House Daily Briefing
Spokesman Josh Earnest briefed reporters and responded to questions on a
variety of topics, including the February 2016 jobs numbers, the
president’s upcoming trip to Cuba, North Korea, the Zika virus, and the
presidential election. Responding to a question on whether the president
watched the Republican debate the previous evening, Mr. Earnest
stressed that President Obama strongly believed that Donald Trump would
not be the next president.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
State Department Daily Briefing
John Kirby briefed reporters and responded to questions on a variety of international topics.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
Farrakhan on Hillary Clinton: 'That's a Wicked Woman'
Note: This video is being published in an ongoing effort to present all points of view on any given issue and in support of the First Amendment.
In addition, the commentaries presented on "From The
G-Man" do not necessarily reflect the views of its managing editor, its advertisers or other individuals that have been or continue to be showcased.
Tea Party Patriots Co-Founder Jenny Beth Martin Remarks at CPAC
Martin criticizes Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump,
saying, "Donald Trump is about love of himself" and that "he has no
business thinking he's Tea Party." She speaks about his record on a
variety of issues, including abortion, freedom of the press, eminent
domain, and immigration, and urges voters to support Senator Ted Cruz
(R-TX) in the November election.
User-Created Clip
by Caitlin Hillyard
March 4, 2016
User-Created Clip
by Caitlin Hillyard
March 4, 2016
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
Statement on the Employment Situation in February
WASHINGTON, DC – Jason Furman, Chairman
of the Council of Economic Advisers, issued the following statement today on
the employment situation in February.
Summary: The economy added
242,000 jobs in February, extending the longest streak of private-sector job
growth on record.
The robust pace of job creation continued in February as
the unemployment rate held at its lowest level since February 2008 and labor
force participation rose. Over the past two years, our economy added more
private-sector jobs than in any two years since 1999. While these trends speak
to the strength of the labor market recovery, and while wages have grown faster
than inflation over the last year, more work remains to drive faster wage
growth, including investing in infrastructure, implementing high-standards free
trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and raising the minimum
wage. As discussed in the 2016 Economic Report of the President, these policies are key parts of the President’s agenda
for inclusive growth and would help ensure that the benefits of economic growth
are shared with all Americans.
The complete statement can be viewed here.
Source: The White House, Office
of the Press Secretary
President Obama Statement on February Jobs Report
President Obama speaks to reporters about the February jobs report
released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows the
unemployment rate at 4.9 percent.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
Trooper in Sandra Bland Traffic Stop Formally Fired
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas trooper indicted over his arrest of a black
woman who was later found dead in jail has been formally fired, three
months after his bosses first announced they would do so, state
officials said Wednesday.
Former Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper
Brian Encinia can still appeal the decision to fire him, which came
after a grand jury indicted him on a perjury charge in December. He's
accused of lying about his July 2015 arrest of Sandra Bland and their
confrontational traffic stop that was caught on dashcam video.
Click here for the full article.
'The Stakes Are High': Young, Muslim American, and Politically Engaged
CHICAGO, Ill. — Futuro Media Group's
Maria Hinojosa met and spoke with a young Palestinian-American
millennial, a community organizer who is leading a voter registration
effort at one of Chicago's oldest mosques to try to encourage her
community to help change the discourse, disrupt Islamophobic rhetoric,
and be engaged in the political process.
Los Angeles Police Test Knife Found on Property Owned by O.J. Simpson
Reuters, 04/03 17:40 CET
(Reuters) – Police in Los Angeles are testing a knife recovered on a
property once owned by O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted in the murder of
his former wife and her friend, the Los Angeles Police Department said
on Friday.
The department is investigating the Buck knife with a
retractable blade, which was apparently turned over to a police officer a
number of years ago by a construction worker at the property, the Los
Angeles Times newspaper reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement
source.
The knife was found on the grounds of the house where
Simpson lived at the time of the murders. The house, in the posh
Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, has since been razed.
Los Angeles Police spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said the
agency’s Robbery Homicide Division was investigating. She declined to
provide further details.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
North Korea ‘Nuclear Standby’ Orders Spark Global Concerns
He is no stranger to bellicose rhetoric.
But Kim Jong-un’s latest orders for North Korea
to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time, putting the
military in ‘pre-emptive attack’ mode, have sent shockwaves around the
world.
Kim’s comments, made amid exercises involving new multiple rocket
launchers according to state TV, sparked particular concern over the
border in South Korea.
Attending a military ceremony there on Friday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye was resolute.
“If we don’t stop North Korea, its nuclear capabilities will
continue to be heightened, which will bring an irreversible disaster to
the future of our people and demolish the basis of peace and order in
Northeast Asia,” she declared.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
The Challenges of Preventing Migrant Deaths in the Aegean Sea
Each day since the start of the year around 2,000 migrants have
arrived on the Greek coast. At this rate the numbers for those who made
the perilous sea journey since January 2015 could top the one million
mark by the middle of this month.
Many have waited for days on the shores of Turkey – in places just
eight kilometres from the Greek island of Lesbos. More and more women
and children – some of them very young – are crossing by sea. They board
inflatable dingies, sometimes small with not enough seats for everyone
which increases the risk of the craft capsizing.
According to the International Organisation for Migration, nearly 130,000 arrived by sea to Greece and Italy this year. Four hundred and eighteen people have perished or disappeared.
A higher number have landed in Greece than Italy. The Mediterranean
crossing from Libya is more dangerous than using the Aegean.
It is a small consolation but the 418 deaths since the start of the
year are slightly less than in the same period in 2015. But in the first
nine weeks of this year 77 children died when crossing the Aegean. That
works out at more than one death each day.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Don’t Assume Bernie Sanders Supporters Will Back Hillary Clinton If She’s The Nominee
By Samantha-Jo Roth
Some of the Vermont senator's fans would rather not vote -- or even vote for Donald Trump -- than vote for Hillary.
ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- A horde of Bernie Sanders supporters at a local pub were watching closely as the Super Tuesday election results rolled in, a few booing as Hillary Clinton’s smiling face, accompanied by a green check mark, repeatedly flashed across the screens.
When they learned their candidate had beaten Hillary Clinton in
Minnesota, taking the largest share of the state’s available delegates,
they chanted and cheered the Vermont senator’s name -- and many vowed
never to support his opponent, even if she goes on to win the Democratic
nomination.
“I will never support Hillary Clinton,” said Adam Burch, 28, of
Minneapolis. “I identify as a socialist. She stands for everything that
I’m against. It’s Bernie or nothing.”
Burch isn’t alone. He's part of a group on social media called Grassroots Action for Bernie that
has promised to support only Sanders in the election, using the hashtag
“BernieorBust” to spread its message.
Similarly, 50,000 people have
signed an online pledge to
write in Sanders’ name or vote for the Green Party candidate in the
general election if the former Secretary of State wins the nomination.
If that happens, some in this crowd are willing to go a step further
in the general election and cast their ballot for Republican
front-runner Donald Trump.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
Mitt Romney Remarks on Republican Presidential Race (Full Video)
In a speech at the University of Utah, 2012 Republican presidential
nominee Mitt Romney says that Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz or John Kasich
should be the party’s nominee instead of Donald Trump if the party
wishes to win the election in November.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
CPAC 2016 Discussion on National Security Challenges
The American Conservative Union hosts its annual Conservative Political
Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The 4-day conference
features current presidential candidates and other conservative leaders.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
House Speaker Weekly Briefing
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) briefed reporters and responded to questions on his party’s legislative agenda.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
House Minority Leader Weekly Briefing
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) briefed reporters and responded to questions on her party’s legislative agenda.
Click here for video.
Source: C-Span
The Senator Holding Flint Aid Hostage
Photo illustration by The Daily Beast
By Tim Mak
As Flint, Michigan deals
with the effects of utter government failure, Sen. Mike Lee is secretly
preventing them from receiving assistance from the federal
government—all on a technicality.
The intellectual leader of the tea party movement in the Senate is secretly holding up a bill to help the residents of Flint, Michigan who have been poisoned by their own water supply.
As Republican presidential hopefuls gather in Detroit for a critical post-Super Tuesday debate, Sen. Mike Lee is stalling plans to alleviate the nearby town’s drinking water crisis—a disaster that has a disproportionate and devastating impact on the poor and the young.
Lee
is using a Senate tactic used to gum up the works known as a “hold,”
which is generally kept secret so the lawmaker can remain anonymous. But
two senior Senate sources confirmed to The Daily Beast that Lee is
behind the maneuver to stall an utterly uncontroversial provision.
Source: The Daily Beast
2016 L.A. Gang Violence Prevention & Intervention Conference
Click on image to increase its size.
The 2016 conference will focus on criminalization of youth – its impacts on youth development and positive options, exploring system-wide efforts at positive youth development as a public safety strategy, efforts to re-frame how we see young people, collaborations and system-level efforts to address decriminalization of young people, and case studies of providing positive youth supports.
The 2016 conference will focus on criminalization of youth – its impacts on youth development and positive options, exploring system-wide efforts at positive youth development as a public safety strategy, efforts to re-frame how we see young people, collaborations and system-level efforts to address decriminalization of young people, and case studies of providing positive youth supports.
Click here for more information.
Source: Violence Prevention Coalition
Trailblazers in Black History: Cisero Murphy
Click on photo to increase its size.
Cisero Murphy (1937–1996) was an American professional pool player. Murphy was the first African-American professional pocket billiards player to ever win world and U.S. national titles. He is also one of two players to win the world title on a first attempt, the other being Ray Martin who won the title in 1971.
James "Cisero" Murphy grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of
Brooklyn, one of eight children. His father left the family home when
Murphy was a child, forcing his mother to go on welfare. At 15, he was a
high school dropout. One summer, however, young James began playing
pool at the Police Athletic League (PAL), and except for short-term
jobs, he continued playing pool for the duration of his life.
He became city champion in 1953 and state champion in 1958. From 1959
to 1964, he was eastern state champion in the PAL. Later in life,
Murphy participated in city programs in an effort to help young adults
and children, such as Billiards in the Streets, which was sponsored by
the Department of Parks and Recreation. He also would visit veterans
hospitals, senior citizen homes, and mental hospitals giving trick shot exhibitions and teaching people how to play pool.
More information is available here.
Republican Ex-IRS Commissioner: Trump Should Release Taxes
Mark Everson
A former head of the IRS is calling on Donald
Trump to release his tax returns, saying that there is no legitimate
reason to withhold them.
"When Americans file their tax returns each
year, they declare under penalty of perjury that to best of their
knowledge they are true, correct and complete," says Mark Everson, who
served as IRS Commissioner during the Bush Administration.
"Trump is no exception," Everson tells NBC News,
adding, "Trump either stands by his returns - which he previously
promised to release - or he doesn't."
The call from a top ranking Republican tax
expert comes as Mitt Romney is criticizing Trump on his taxes, business
record and qualifications to be president.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Romney: Trump's Promises Are as Worthless as Trump University Degree
Former GOP nominee Mitt Romney refused to endorse a candidate, but said any of the options are better than Donald Trump.
Alabama Police Officer Charged With Murder in Shooting of Unarmed Man
An Alabama police officer was arrested Wednesday
and charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man
in Montgomery last week, authorities said.
Montgomery police officer Aaron "A.C." Smith,
23, was charged with murder in the death of Gregory Gunn, 59, who was
fatally shot early Thursday, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl
Bailey said.
"[The State Bureau of Investigations] and I agreed at the beginning of
this investigation that this case would be treated as any other case,"
Bailey said in a statement. "We agreed that if there were probable cause
that a crime had been committed then an arrest would be made."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News