Saturday, October 8, 2016
Cuomo: 'New York Stands Ready to Help Haiti'
Statement from Governor Andrew Cuomo
"The devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew
in Haiti, and throughout the rest of the Caribbean, is nothing short of
tragic. I ask all New Yorkers to join me in offering our thoughts and
prayers to all its victims and the millions of people impacted. It is in
these times that the world must come together and help its fellow
citizens. New York stands ready to do just that.
"As part of our efforts, we will be
establishing donation sites in communities across the state to encourage
New Yorkers to contribute supplies, money and other resources to the
recovery efforts in Haiti. We have also created a website
to connect New Yorkers with leading international organizations helping
with the recovery efforts. The state is coordinating with the federal
government and relief organizations to ensure that both state resources
and the generosity of New Yorkers quickly reaches those who need it the
most.
"Additionally, New York is contributing to
the recovery efforts here in the United States. Chief Master Sergeant
Brian Mosher of the 106th RQW at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in
Westhampton has been tapped to be the senior enlisted advisor for the
Joint Task Force dispatched for Hurricane Matthew disaster relief
response. Chief Mosher was selected for his search and rescue experience
and will report directly to the JTF Commander. Chief Mosher's
deployment follows my dispatching a team of New York's emergency management experts to Southern state Emergency Operations Centers.
"Whether in the United States or in the
Caribbean, New York is doing all we can to help those impacted by the
storm and we will continue those aggressive efforts in the coming days
and weeks."
Source: Press Office, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
NAN, Haitian-American Clergy and Elected Officials to Conduct Prayer Vigil for Haiti
A Drive Will Also Be Held to Obtain Clothing and Other Supplies
October 10, at 10:30 a.m., NAN
President Rev. Al Sharpton, Northeast Regional Director Kirsten John
Foy, Councilman Mathieu Eugene, other elected officials and clergy will
conduct a prayer vigil along with NAN youth groups,
NAN Young Professionals and NAN Youth H.U.D.D.L.E. (Helping & Uniting Dreamers to Develop, Lead and Empower).
The vigil will take place at the Haitian Consulate in New York, which is located at 815 2nd Avenue.
A drive will also be held to obtain supplies, clothing and other necessities for those in need.
NAN has announced that a delegation will be traveling to Haiti as soon as possible to assist with the rebuilding effort.
Source: Mercury
Friday, October 7, 2016
The Danville Police Dash Cam Controversy: The Real Story
THE G-MAN INTERVIEWS: EBONY GUY & SHAKEVA FRAZIER
Community Activists Explain Why They Challenged a Common
Practice by Officers and Refute Claims of Being Anti-Police
Practice by Officers and Refute Claims of Being Anti-Police
NOTE: Ms. Frazier's
name was incorrectly pronounced during the introduction, and the episode had
already been completed and posted on YouTube when the error was discovered. My
apologies.
"G-Man"
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Welcome.
Ebony Guy is a native of Halifax County, Virginia, and has been involved with
community activism for 19 years. Her work includes voter registration,
political campaigns, consulting and organizing social projects.
She is a resident of Danville,
Virginia and serves as a community leader and representative with the
non-profit organization Virginia Organizing. One of the campaigns Ms. Guy
champions, “Black Lives Matter”, is a major focus of the local chapter, which
works with area officials to ensure transparency and accountability within
Danville's law enforcement agency.
Shakeva Frazier is the Founder
of Kick it with JESUS, a non-profit outreach ministry that caters to those
struggling to overcome harmful addictions. The organization also specializes in
prison ministry, youth advocacy and helping all men and women with
sustainability in the Danville community.
The activists join me to correct some of the media reports about why they challenged
a directive that had been issued by the Danville Police Department. They will
also reveal why the city’s police officers were lifting the hoods of their
patrol cars during traffic stops, which obstructed the view of the dash cams.
The interview was conducted on
October 5.
Information pertaining to this
episode is available through the following links:
Personal photos provided by
Ebony Guy and Shakeva Frazier
President Obama on Hurricane Matthew
President Obama gave an update on Hurricane Matthew after a meeting in
the Oval Office that included Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh
Johnson, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, and Deputy Homeland Security
Advisor Amy Pope.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Statement on the Employment Situation in September
WASHINGTON,
DC – Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, issued
the following statement today on the employment situation in September.
Summary: The economy added 156,000 jobs in September, as labor force participation rose and wages continued to grow.
The
economy added 156,000 jobs in September, as the unemployment rate
ticked up amid rising labor force participation. U.S. businesses have
now added 15.3 million jobs since early 2010, and the longest streak of
total job growth on record continued in September. So far in 2016,
hourly earnings for private-sector workers have increased at an annual
rate of 2.8 percent, much faster than the pace of inflation. In fact,
real wages have grown faster over the current business cycle than in any
since the early 1970s. Sustained real wage growth in recent years,
combined with continued strength in job creation, has led to increased
incomes for middle-class families: last month, the Census Bureau reported
that real median household income increased 5.2 percent from 2014 to
2015, the fastest annual growth on record. Still, more work remains to
sustain faster wage growth and to ensure that the benefits of the
recovery are broadly shared, including increasing investment in infrastructure and implementing the high-standards Trans-Pacific Partnership. Additionally, as discussed in a new White House report,
Congress should follow the lead of 18 States and the District of
Columbia to give millions of American workers a raise by increasing the
Federal minimum wage.
FIVE KEY POINTS ON THE LABOR MARKET IN SEPTEMBER 2016
1. U.S. businesses have now added 15.3 million jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in early 2010. Today, we learned that private employment rose by 167,000 jobs in September. Total
nonfarm employment rose by 156,000 jobs, slightly below the monthly
average for 2016 so far but substantially higher than the pace of about
80,000 jobs per month that CEA estimates is necessary to maintain a low
and stable unemployment rate given the impact of demographic trends on
labor force participation. The
unemployment rate ticked up to 5.0 percent in September, while the
labor force participation rate rose to 62.9 percent, the same rate as in
the fourth quarter of 2013 despite downward pressure on participation
from demographic trends. The share of the labor force working part-time
for economic reasons (those working part-time but who would prefer
full-time employment) ticked down in September to 3.7 percent, though it
remains above its pre-recession average (3.0 percent).
The complete statement is available here.
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
'Saving Our Youth' Series: The Police Athletic League (New York City)
The following is an excerpt from the organization's website.
The
Police Athletic League (or PAL) is New York City’s largest independent
youth development not-for-profit organization. We operate diverse
programs from Head Start, Day Care and Universal Pre-K programs; to
elementary and middle school after-school programs; and summer day camps
and summer Playstreets.
We run evening teen centers; and college
readiness programs, as well as youth employment, juvenile justice
programs. Competitive and recreational sports for children of all ages
is a cornerstone of our youth development strategy. In its over a
century of service, PAL is continuing its evolution and remains a
vibrant and vital New York City institution.
Additional information on the program is available here.
Source: The Police Athletic League
Trailblazers in Black History: Maurice Ashley
Maurice Ashley is a Jamaican American chess grandmaster, author, commentator, app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker.
In 1992, Ashley shared the United States Game/10 chess championship with Maxim Dlugy. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation (FIDE) awarded him the grandmaster title in 1999, making him the world's first Jamaican chess International Grandmaster.
Ashley is well known as a commentator for high-profile chess events. He also spent many years teaching chess.
On April 13, 2016, GM Ashley was inducted officially into the US Hall of Fame along with Chess Grandmaster Gata Kamsky.
Additional information is available here.
Source: Wikipedia
Donald Trump Says Central Park Five Are Guilty, Despite DNA Evidence
Wading into a racially-charged case from his past, Donald Trump
indicated that the "Central Park Five" were guilty, despite being
officially exonerated by DNA evidence decades after a notorious 1989
rape case.
"They admitted they were guilty," Trump said to CNN in a statement.
"The police doing the original investigation say
they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much
evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured,
will never be the same."
Click here for summary.
Source: NBC News
Florida Gov. Rick Scott Under Fire for Voter Registration Decision
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's refusal to extend his state's deadline for
voter registration in response to Hurricane Matthew is leading to fears
that perhaps tens of thousands of Floridians could be kept from
registering, potentially impacting the presidential race.
The deadline to register is Tuesday, but with
1.5 million Floridians under mandatory evacuation orders, the Hillary
Clinton campaign had urged Scott to extend it. He declined.
"Everybody has had a lot of time to register,"
Scott, a Republican and staunch Donald Trump supporter, said Thursday
night. "On top of that, we've got lots of opportunities to vote: Early
voting, absentee voting and Election Day. So I don't intend to make any
changes."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Here's NBC's New Battleground Map
First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC
Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why
they matter.
NBC's Battleground Map heading into the second presidential debate
Hillary Clinton continues to hold the
battleground-map edge before Sunday's second presidential debate,
according to our newest map. But she no longer exceeds the 270 electoral
votes needed to win the presidency. Clinton stands at 268 electoral
votes, Donald Trump at 190, with 80 in the Tossup column. Last month it
was Clinton 272, Trump 174. The biggest change here: We moved New
Hampshire from Lean Dem to Tossup. (Yes, Clinton continues to lead in all public polls
in the Granite State, but our reporting and the state's demographic
profile suggest it might be a little closer.) We also moved Georgia from
Tossup to Lean GOP; Indiana from Likely GOP to Lean GOP; Maine (the
state) from Likely Dem to Lean Dem; and Texas from Likely GOP to Lean
GOP. This is a conservative take on where the race stands before this
weekend's debate. And we will come out with another map after Sunday's
showdown, as well as more state polling we're likely to see.
Click here for the full article.
Hurricane Matthew Inflicts More Pain on Impoverished Haiti
The darkness that shrouded Haiti while Hurricane Matthew hammered
the island lifted Friday — and the true extent of the damage was laid
bare as the death toll reportedly soared past 800.
The first reports trickling in from the remote
southwestern peninsula hit hardest by the storm were dire. The United
Nations warned that more than a million people were directly affected by
Matthew and that some 350,000 people were in desperate need of
humanitarian assistance.
Reuters reported Friday afternoon that more than 842 were dead and
tens of thousands left homeless in the wake of the storm. NBC News could
not immediately confirm those numbers.
"We have nothing left," Saintful Jean Perpetu,
who lives in the storm-ravaged town of Jeremie, told reporters.
"Our
personal things, important documents like birth certificates — it's all
gone. We sleep on streets with our children and nobody came to help us
until now. "
The monstrous storm, Perpetu said, "took shirts from our backs."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Mumia Abu Jamal's Attorneys File New Lawsuit to Access Hep C Cure
The following update was provided on October 6 by Noelle Hanrahan, Director of Prison Radio.
Today Mumia's attorneys filed a new lawsuit
to demand immediate Hepatitis C treatment for Mumia. The lawsuit targets
Pennsylvania DOC Secretary John Wetzel, five top officials in the
department's Bureau of Health Care Services, medical contractor Correct
Care Solutions, and the physician assigned to treat Mumia.
In the meantime, this article on Courthouse News Service provides background to the suit filed today.
Hochul Retirement Decision Creates Buzz in Legal Community
William J. Hochul Jr. surprised much of Western New York on Wednesday
when he announced plans to retire in three weeks as U.S. attorney.
After
30 years of prosecuting gangsters, drug dealers, and terrorist
sympathizers, he says he is leaving government and heading into private
practice without identifying any particular firm. The prosecutor who
oversees federal law enforcement in New York’s 17 western counties said
he simply wants to leave public service and pursue a new career. Hochul
has served for six years, making him one of the longest-serving U.S.
attorneys in the region’s history.
“I am definitely going into private life,” he said, adding that he intends to remain in Buffalo.
Several
Buffalo attorneys said they knew Hochul was eventually planning to move
on to other ventures, but all were surprised by the timing of Hochul’s
announcement late on Wednesday afternoon.
“This really came out of
the blue,” said veteran defense attorney Paul J. Cambria on Thursday.
“I’ve got all kinds of people asking me, ‘What’s going on with this?’ I
don’t know what to tell them.”
Dennis C. Vacco, the former U.S.
attorney appointed by a Republican president who was one of Hochul’s
first bosses, said Thursday, “I think Bill wants to go out on his own
terms.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Buffalo News
City & State: Winners and Losers for 10/7/16
Three straight weeks on the wrong side of our Winners
& Losers list must be getting to the Gov’s head. “I am not a
politician!” he told
the Daily News’ Mike Lupica. We all want to run from our problems
sometimes, but a man with such keen political instincts shouldn’t deny
them. We’re sure he’ll disagree on this, too, but he’s a loser – for at least one more week.
Winners
Rob Astorino – Astorino must be loving every second of this Bridgegate trial. After the so-called “gossip”
(or what some might call testimony under oath) that Gov. Andrew Cuomo
collaborated with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to keep the controversy
quiet, the Westchester county executive had a basis to call out Cuomo,
his 2013 gubernatorial rival, and Christie, who headed the Republican
Governors Association but did conspicuously little to support Astorino.
Plus, he got to portray himself as a crusader against corruption.
Todd Kaminsky – The governor tends
to take the “distant father” approach to helping other Democrats get
elected – supporting from afar, but not really getting his hands dirty.
But after promoting several liberal initiatives this past legislative
session, Cuomo will host a fundraiser for state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat running for re-election in a key race. Drinks are on the governor!
Click here for the full listing.
Source: City & State (via The Empire Report)
Winning Bid for NYPD Body Camera Contract Comes Under Lobbying Attack
A hard-fought bidding war to supply body cameras to the New York
Police Department took an aggressive new turn last week, when one of the
city's top lobbyists began a campaign to sow doubts about the company
that won the contract.
On Friday, the NYPD announced a tentative plan to work with
Seattle-based company VieVu for the first phase of the department's
long-awaited body camera program.
The $6.4 million contract, to provide 5,000 cameras, has the
potential to turn into a gold mine if the winning bidder ultimately
secures a contract to provide cameras to all of the city’s patrol units.
Such a contract could be worth an estimated quarter of a billion
dollars, over a period of 14 years.
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