Saturday, September 24, 2016
Friday, September 23, 2016
Michelle Obama and Laura Bush on Supporting the Military Community
First Lady Michelle Obama and her predecessor Laura Bush talked about
their support for U.S. servicemembers, veterans, and their families.
They spoke about their shared experiences raising daughters during a
time of war, and the need for more awareness of veterans' mental health
issues. The forum was moderated by Bob Woodruff, who was seriously
injured in 2006 while covering the war in Iraq.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Trailblazers in Black History: Sammy Davis, Jr. & Carroll O'Connor
The iconic stars were responsible for the first African-American interracial male kiss on network television. This clip says it all. Enjoy.
'Flashback Friday': Carter vs. Reagan, the 1980 Debates
This video was uploaded on YouTube on February 10, 2011.
The closing arguments all but determined the winner during the 1980 presidential debates between President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
Source: HISTORY
Early Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts Favor Clinton: Ballot Requests in Battleground States
As Election Day nears, both Democratic and
Republican campaigns are ramping up their efforts to get out the vote.
With the rise of early and absentee voting across the country, campaigns
are increasingly focused on early voting as a method of securing an
early lead in the race.
One way that campaigns try to accomplish this is
to motivate voters to request an absentee ballot. By tracking and
analyzing these requests, campaigns get an early glimpse into how well
their get-out-the-vote efforts are working in the very early stages of
the campaign.
The first batch of absentee ballot request data
suggests that Hillary Clinton may have an early advantage, though Donald
Trump appears to be better positioned in Florida, a key swing state.
The NBC News Data Analytics Lab -- using data provided by TargetSmart
— analyzed absentee ballot requests in six critical battleground states
- Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Pennsylvania. The
chart below shows the number of requests received so far.
Click here to review the chart and full article.
Conservatives File Voter Registration Lawsuits That Liberals Say Are Blocking Votes
By Pam Fessler
It's no secret that voter registration lists are filled with
inaccuracies. People move. Or change their names. Or die. But it can
take months if not years for the rolls to get updated. Now, conservative
groups are taking a number of election officials to court, saying
they're not doing their jobs. Liberal groups think the real purpose is
to make it more difficult for some people to vote.
The lawsuits
have targeted about a dozen counties so far in Texas, Florida, North
Carolina and Mississippi. And even some cities, such as Philadelphia and
Alexandria, Va.
"This is an effort to make the voter rolls
cleaner and to follow federal law before the elections in November,"
says J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal
Foundation. His group is behind the suits, along with the American Civil
Rights Union. Adams is a former Justice Department official who has
been at the forefront of efforts to restore what he calls "election
integrity."
Click here for the full article/broadcast.
Source: npr (All Things Considered)
Federal Guidance for Police in Schools Won’t Stop Criminalization of Kids
Earlier this month, the
federal government offered guidance to school districts that use police
officers to keep order in their public schools. To say guidance is
needed is a vast understatement.
Since the deployment of
officers in schools became routine across the country, there’s been no
shortage of reports about children being pepper-sprayed, handcuffed,
roughed up and otherwise abused by officers – often for nothing more
than typical adolescent behavior.
In many jurisdictions, school officials have essentially turned over routine disciplinary matters to the police.
Because police are in the business of combatting crime, not educating
children, the results shouldn’t surprise anyone. Misbehavior that once
earned a student a stern reprimand – or maybe a stint in study hall –
now can land a kid behind bars. Instead of a trip to the guidance
counselor, a child who gets in trouble now often faces a maze of court
appearances, fines and even jail time. The consequences for children and
families can be enormous.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Southern Poverty Law Center
How Will Corruption Charges Affect Cuomo’s Future?
If Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ever harbored the national ambitions that
some say lie at his political core, the hopes might have centered on his
Buffalo Billion economic-development program.
If Cuomo could turn around the poster child for Rust Belt cities,
conventional wisdom held, he could make a case of turning around a
nation lingering in a stagnant economy.
But now Cuomo faces political challenges far more immediate than running
for president someday. Now, the governor must fend off torrents of
criticism rushing his way following the federal corruption charges lodged against his closest advisers – some who have dwelled in his inner circle for decades.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Buffalo News (via The Empire Report)
Former Lawmen Christie and Cuomo Now Bound by Scandals
By Terry Golway
The governor of New York is scheduled to be in the city early next
week to wax eloquent on the subject of infrastructure, a topic to which
he is so devoted that his aides have encouraged comparisons to Robert
Moses. They appear to have forgotten that thanks to the narrative skills
of Robert Caro, the master builder is remembered not so much for his
great works of public utility as his unscrupulous exercise of raw power.
But perhaps that is not the comparison they seek to make.
In any case, there are probably bookmakers in more advanced nations
who are calculating the odds of Andrew Cuomo fulfilling his obligation
to the Association for a Better New York on Tuesday afternoon. But
betting that the governor will soon come down with an ailment requiring
extensive quarantine would be like putting down $2 on Secretariat to
show in the '73 Belmont Stakes. A gamble, perhaps, but one hardly worthy
of the concept.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Politico (via The Empire Report)
Bharara Promises ‘Gory Detail’ of Corruption at Core of Cuomo’s Office and Agenda
By
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara lashed out at the state’s executive
branch and the “show-the-money-culture in Albany” today as he unveiled a
massive criminal complaint
implicating some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s closest associates—but he
refused to say what the governor’s knowledge of the alleged scheme might
be.
Addressing the press at his office in Lower Manhattan, the federal prosecutor asserted Cuomo’s ex-deputy executive secretary Joseph Percoco was “on the take” and that “pervasive corruption and fraud” infested one of the governor’s signature economic development programs.
“Companies got rich, and the public got bamboozled,” Bharara said. “I
do hope there’s a trial in this case, so that all New Yorkers can see,
in gory detail, what their state government has been up to.”
Click here for the full article.
Source: Observer (Politics) via The Empire Report
Family of Eric Garner to Support Family of Terence Crutcher at NAN Gathering
On September 24, at 9:30 a.m., the family of Eric Garner will
join the Rev. Al Sharpton at the National Action Network headquarters in effort to show their support for the relatives of
Terrence Crutcher.
The family of Terence Crutcher, the unarmed African American man killed by a Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer, along with their attorneys Benjamin L. Crump and Damario Solomon Simmons, joined Rev. Sharpton at NAN’s House of Justice on Thursday, September 22, to call for a National Day of Justice in Tulsa next Tuesday, September 27.
While the officer has been charged and Rev. Sharpton has said this is a
swift step in the right direction, NAN looks forward to a further
investigation
of all the officers at the scene when this tragedy occurred and knowing
whether the conduct of these other officers will be subject to
disciplinary actions or legal proceedings.
Furthermore, NAN intends to
launch a fundraising drive for the children of Terence
Crutcher.
NAN headquarters is located at 106 West 145th
Street at Malcolm X Blvd. Statements from Rev. Sharpton and the Garner
family will be broadcast live on live on WLIB 1190 AM and livestreamed
at
www.nationalacctionnetwork.net.
Source: Mercury
SUNY Student Assembly President Responds to Charges of Corruption Against SUNY Polytechnic Institute President
The following statement was issued today by SUNY Student Assembly
President and Trustee Marc J. Cohen.
“The news of charges being filed against SUNY Polytechnic Institute
President Alain Kaloyeros is of great disappointment to the students of the
SUNY system. SUNY is defined by academic excellence and great student
experiences - not corruption. The Student Assembly is committed to ensuring
that our students receive the best education possible, under the best
leadership available. We will work actively with Chancellor Zimpher and
Chairman McCall to ensure that the students attending SUNY Polytechnic are not
adversely affected by any of the events that ensue."
The Student
Assembly of the State University of New York (SUNY SA) is the recognized
student government organization representing the nearly 600,000 students of the
State University of New York. Comprised of student leaders elected by their
peers from across SUNY’s 64 campuses, SUNY SA is committed to empowering
students throughout the state, and ensuring the representation of its members
on the state and national level, as well as throughout the SUNY system.
Source: SUNY SA
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Betty Shelby Charged With Manslaughter In Terence Crutcher Shooting
By
Betty Shelby, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officer who shot and killed Terence Crutcher last week, faces a charge of first-degree manslaughter, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced Thursday.
“In the matter of the death of Terence Crutcher, I determined that the filing of the felony crime of manslaughter in the first degree against Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby is warranted,” Kunzweiler said.
Per NewsOK, the charge carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison, if Shelby is convicted. Shelby’s attorney said she opened fire because she feared Crutcher might have been reaching for a weapon. Police failed to find a weapon on Crutcher or in the car.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
“In the matter of the death of Terence Crutcher, I determined that the filing of the felony crime of manslaughter in the first degree against Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby is warranted,” Kunzweiler said.
Per NewsOK, the charge carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison, if Shelby is convicted. Shelby’s attorney said she opened fire because she feared Crutcher might have been reaching for a weapon. Police failed to find a weapon on Crutcher or in the car.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Huffington Post
Rev. Sharpton Statement on First-Degree
Manslaughter Charges Against Betty Shelby
Manslaughter Charges Against Betty Shelby
“The first-degree manslaughter charges
against this officer are a swift step in the right direction as we pursue
justice in the death of Terence Crutcher. But we also look forward to a further
investigation of all the officers at the scene when this tragedy occurred and
we are anxious to know whether the conduct of these other officers will be
subject to disciplinary actions or legal proceedings.”
Source: Mercury
Attorney General Lynch Addresses Violence in Charlotte, North Carolina
Attorney General Loretta Lynch addresses violence in Charlotte, North
Carolina in the wake of a recent police-involved shooting there. She
speaks at the beginning of a news conference with Justice officials on
mail fraud.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Congressional Black Caucus Holds Press Conference on Police-Involved Shootings
Congressional Black Caucus members speak to reporters at the Department
of Justice about a letter they’ve written to Attorney General Loretta
Lynch calling for greater accountability of law enforcement in the wake
of recent police-involved shootings.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
North Carolina Governor's Remarks on Violence in Charlotte
Governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) and the mayor of Charlotte speak to
reporters about the violence at ongoing protests in the wake of a
police-involved shooting of an African-American man earlier in the week.
This is courtesy of Fox 46 WJZY.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Trailblazers in Black History: Calvin Brown
Calvin Brown is the first African American stuntman recognized in
Hollywood. He is also one of the original founders of the Black
Stuntmen’s Association and the Sober Living House.
Brown was born in Farmersville, LA, on April 23, 1936 to Sylvester
Brown and Ida Mae Washington Brown, who married at the age of 18 and16
respectively. Brown and his twin brother Galvin are the second born to a
family with eight children; five boys and three girls. At the age of
two years old his family moved to Grambling, LA. Brown states that he
was “community raised”, meaning that everyone in the community was
responsible for raising the children, he continues, “you could do no
wrong, somebody was going to get you”.
This was also the community where
he, at the age of nine, started working for the United States Postal
Service as a 2nd Class Special Delivery Mail Messenger. He earned nine
cents per letter and earned up to thirty or forty dollars per month.
Brown says, that was a lot of money during that time for someone his
age.
Calvin continued to work as a 2nd Class Special Delivery messenger
as he completed his undergraduate work at Grambling State University
where his salary increased to $1.92 per letter. He played numerous
sports and was a member of the marching band in the horn section. He
graduated from Grambling in 1957. After graduation he moved to
California, worked for the US Postal Service there and became and extra
in Hollywood movies.
Additional information is available here.
Source: The National Visionary Leadership Project
Clinton and Trump Take Different Approaches to First Debate Prep
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appear to be preparing for their
highly anticipated Monday night debate showdown in ways that are as
different as their candidacies. One looks to be hunkering down with
homework, research and rehearsals, while the other seems to be taking an
on-the-fly casual approach to what could be the most important 90
minutes of the presidential election.
Monday night's first presidential debate could
easily be among the most-watched events ever. At the very least it will
be nearly impossible for anyone to avoid seeing some parts of it on a
television screen, cell phone, tablet or laptop or social media.
Here's what we know about how they are preparing:
Hillary Clinton
Between her 2000 Senate run and two presidential
bids, Clinton has appeared on the debate stage nearly 40 times. Still,
she has never prepared for an opponent quite as unpredictable as Trump.
Click here for the full article.
Editorial: Charlotte is Drowning in Systematic Injustice
Just before 4pm, on Tuesday, September 20th, a Charlotte police officer shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott
outside Scott's parked car. Eyewitness and police reports do not agree
on who the officer was, whether Scott was holding a book or a gun, or
what took place between officers and Scott before the shooting.
There is much we do not know. But there is unrest in Charlotte because of what we do know.
We know, whatever the facts, that the law protects the officer, not
the victim, in cases like this. Three years ago, a Charlotte officer
shot and killed Jonathan Ferrell, an unarmed black man who was asking for help after his car broke down.
The Movement for Black Lives led peaceful
protests, and the state conference of the NAACP insisted on due process.
The case ended in a hung jury. The attorney general's office denied our
request for a re-trial.
There is unrest in Charlotte because of what we know.
Click here for the full article.
Keith Scott Shooting: No 'Definitive' Evidence He Pointed Gun at Cops, Chief Says
Police bodycam video of the killing of Keith Lamont Scott does not
specifically show him pointing his gun at officers before they fatally
shot him, Charlotte's police chief said Thursday.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney
did not detail the footage during a news conference following a second
night of violent unrest, but said the videos he watched fail to show
"absolute definitive, visual evidence" that Scott brandished his weapon
at the cops.
Click here for the full article.
Related story: Michael Jordan: Hornets Committed to Helping Charlotte Heal...
Related story: Michael Jordan: Hornets Committed to Helping Charlotte Heal...
Black Cops at Odds With Fraternal Order of Police Over Trump Endorsement
The endorsement of Donald Trump by the Fraternal Order of Police
appears to have driven a wedge between many black cops and their white
brothers in blue.
And nowhere is the split more visible than in
Philadelphia, where the local FOP chapter has fallen in line and also
endorsed the Republican presidential candidate — over the objections of a
group that represents some 2,500 African-American officers in the city
and which has branded Trump an "outrageous bigot."
"Our Local FOP is saying that our people have to
follow the national lead," Rochelle Bilal, head of the Philadelphia
Guardian Civic League, told NBC News. "We are saying you don't have to
vote for Donald Trump and the national FOP should have stayed out of
this election."
Click here for the full article.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Tension With Chicago Cops Complicates Crime Fighting
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose tenure in office has been marked
by a fraught relationship with local law enforcement, will give a
long-awaited address on Thursday on the devastating violence besieging
the city.
Emanuel's plans include proposals to work more
closely with law enforcement and adding more officers to combat the
carnage in several of Chicago's beleaguered neighborhoods.
It is a move some supporters say might alleviate
the city's high crime rates—there were more than 3,000 shootings this
year alone.
But Emanuel's inconsistent and, at times, disjointed relationship with
the Chicago Police Department could cause him to lose a precious ally in
combating the violence.
Click here for the full article.
Yahoo Says 'State-Sponsored Actor' Hacked 500M Accounts
This is nothing to say "Yahoo" about.
Yahoo confirmed today a massive security breach
impacting 500 million users and said it believes a "state-sponsored
actor" is behind the hack.
The internet company is currently in the process of being acquired by Verizon.
"Based on the ongoing investigation, Yahoo believes that information
associated with at least 500 million user accounts was stolen and the
investigation has found no evidence that the state-sponsored actor is
currently in Yahoo's network. Yahoo is working closely with law
enforcement on this matter," Bob Lord, Yahoo's chief information
security officer said in a statement.
Click here for the full article.
St. Louis Cop Caught on Film Planting a Gun on a Man He Just Killed
By
Newly released footage has
shed a troubling new light on a 2011 police shooting in St. Louis,
showing an officer gun down a black suspect and then planting a gun on
the crime scene.
Officer Jason Stockley and his partner Brian Bianchi had engaged drug
suspect Anthony Lamar Smith in a high speed chase. Stockley can be
heard saying “I’m going to kill this motherfucker.”
The police rammed Smith off the road, and camera footage shows
Stockley shooting five shots into the driver’s seat of Smith’s disabled
car.
Click here for the full article.
Source: U.S. Uncut
NYPD 'Looking Into' Weiner Communication with Teen
By Azi Paybarah
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said “detectives are looking into” a report
that former congressman Anthony Weiner traded sexually explicit
messages with a girl who identified herself as a 15-year-old high school
student.
The exchange was first reported by the Daily Mail yesterday, which withheld the name of the girl because she is a minor.
Weiner yesterday referred reporters to a statement he had given the
Daily Mail, saying he regretted his online conversations but pointing to
a letter the girl wrote calling the incident “a hoax.” The girl later
recanted that characterization, and shared with the Daily Mail a series
of images and messages she said she traded with Weiner up until July.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Politico
Jeffries to Keynote Pro-Charter Schools Rally in Prospect Park
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who has been mentioned as a possible challenger
to Mayor Bill de Blasio in a Democratic primary next year, will be the
keynote speaker for a charter school march hosted by Families for
Excellent Schools and charter school executive Eva Moskowitz in Prospect
Park next week.
At the rally, speakers will call on the de Blasio administration to
stop what they perceive to be his opposition to charter schools, and
will ask City Hall to increase charter school capacity from 100,000
students to 200,000.
“New York City charter schools have had an incredible impact on
children across the city. That’s why I’m proud to march alongside
parents fighting for life-changing public charter schools," Jeffries
said in a statement.
Jeffries has been a consistent supporter of Moskowitz, her Success
Academy's network of schools and of charter schools in general, and has
been a featured speaker at Success Academy's annual benefit.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Politico
Christie, Cuomo on Potential Witness List for Bridgegate Trial
By Salvador Rizzo
Governor Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appear on a list of
more than 300 witnesses who may be called to testify in the trial over
the George Washington Bridge lane closures.
However, not everyone on the list may be called to testify, according to a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Fishman’s office is prosecuting two former political operatives for
Christie, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, for shutting down access
lanes to the bridge in 2013 as part of a political revenge plot
targeting Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich. The mayor appears
on the list and is scheduled to testify today in federal court in
Newark.
Some of the most powerful figures in New Jersey politics appear on the
list, including New Jersey lawmakers, current and former Christie
administration officials, commissioners and staff of the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey, mayors, county officials and others.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NorthJersey.com
Nine Defendants Charged with Federal Corruption And Fraud Offenses in New York
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District
of New York, Adam Cohen, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Buffalo Field
Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Shantelle P.
Kitchen, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the
Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced
today the unsealing of a Complaint charging eight defendants with
federal public corruption offenses, including Joseph Percoco, the former
Executive Deputy Secretary to the Governor of the State of New York,
and Alain Kaloyeros, the President of SUNY Polytechnic Institute (“SUNY
Poly”). The charges arise from two separate but overlapping schemes
involving bribery, corruption, and fraud in the award of hundreds of
millions of dollars in New York State contracts and other official state
actions.
In the first scheme, Percoco is charged with soliciting and accepting
more than $315,000 in bribes in return for taking official state action
to benefit an energy company (the “Energy Company”) and a
Syracuse-based real estate developer (the “Syracuse Developer”). As
part of this scheme, Peter Galbraith Kelly, Jr., an executive at the
Energy Company, and Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, executives at the
Syracuse Developer, are charged with orchestrating the payment of bribes
to Percoco.
In the second scheme, Aiello and Gerardi, along with Louis Ciminelli, Michael Laipple and Kevin Schuler, who are executives at a
Buffalo-based development company (the “Buffalo Developer”), are charged
with paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Todd Howe, a
consultant hired by Kaloyeros to help administer the state’s “Buffalo
Billion” initiative and related programs. As the charges allege, in
exchange for the bribe payments, Howe and Kaloyeros secretly rigged the
bids on lucrative state-funded contracts to ensure that the Syracuse
Developer and the Buffalo Developer would win the contracts.
All eight defendants charged in the Complaint were arrested this
morning. Percoco, Kelly, and Kaloyeros are scheduled to be presented
later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan
federal court. Aiello and Gerardi are scheduled to appear later today
in federal court in Syracuse. Ciminelli, Laipple and Schuler are
scheduled to appear later today in federal court in Buffalo.
Also unsealed today is the guilty plea of Todd Howe in connection
with his participation in both corruption schemes described above. Howe pled guilty pursuant to an Information before U.S. District Judge
Richard M. Berman on September 20, 2016, and is cooperating with the
Government.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today’s charges shine a light on
yet another sordid side of the show-me-the money culture that has so
plagued Albany. As alleged, Joseph Percoco, the former Executive Deputy
Secretary to the Governor, was on the take. And pervasive corruption
and fraud allegedly infected signature state development projects like
the Buffalo Billion program. The bids allegedly were rigged, the
results preordained; companies got rich and the public got bamboozled. As alleged in the Complaint, it turns out the state legislature does not
have a monopoly on crass corruption in New York.”
Click here to read the full statement
Source: United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
“I learned this morning of the charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office that include a former member of my administration. If the allegations are true, I am saddened and profoundly disappointed. I hold my administration to the highest level of integrity. I have zero tolerance for abuse of the public trust from anyone. If anything, a friend should be held to an even higher standard. Like my father before me, I believe public integrity is paramount. This sort of breach, if true, should be and will be punished.
“SUNY has rightly relieved Alain Kaloyeros from his duties and has suspended him without pay, effective immediately.
“This matter is now in the hands of the court, which is exactly where it belongs. My administration will continue to be fully cooperative in the matter as we have been since it began.”
Source: Press Office, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Statement from Governor Andrew Cuomo
“I learned this morning of the charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office that include a former member of my administration. If the allegations are true, I am saddened and profoundly disappointed. I hold my administration to the highest level of integrity. I have zero tolerance for abuse of the public trust from anyone. If anything, a friend should be held to an even higher standard. Like my father before me, I believe public integrity is paramount. This sort of breach, if true, should be and will be punished.
“SUNY has rightly relieved Alain Kaloyeros from his duties and has suspended him without pay, effective immediately.
“This matter is now in the hands of the court, which is exactly where it belongs. My administration will continue to be fully cooperative in the matter as we have been since it began.”
Source: Press Office, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo