Source: NYGovCuomo
Saturday, December 2, 2017
'Nothing Without Us': Doc Highlights Heroism of Women Fighting HIV/AIDS
Click on the photo to increase its size.
by Vee Wright
When the HIV/AIDS test the Rev. Joyce Turner
Keller administers to a young woman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana comes
back negative, one breathes a huge sigh of relief and she does too.
Thousands
of miles away in Lagos, Nigeria, Daisy Uwakwe, an adolescent who has
been infected with HIV since birth, is becoming active in the fight
against the spread of HIV/AIDS among her peers. Daisy attends an HIV
youth camp run by Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA), an NGO founded by Morolake Odetoyinbo.
As
people unite to raise awareness of HIV on World AIDS Day, annually
observed on Dec. 1, Keller and Odetoyinbo, are on a mission. They are
among several women living with HIV/AIDS featured in a new documentary
"Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS." The 68-minute
documentary, directed and co-produced by Harriet Hirshorn, made its
North American premiere at "DOC NYC” in November.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
What Flynn’s Guilty Plea Means for Trump and the GOP
by Jonathan Allen
WASHINGTON — It's going to get harder for President Donald Trump to distance himself politically from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe after Michael Flynn's guilty plea — and that could be bad news for his fellow Republicans at the polls.
Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI on Friday, and the White House is worried about any information he could pass along to prosecutors.
For now, the president's legal team is playing down the conviction as a contained fire — one that will burn only Flynn for his deceit — but the political fallout could impede Trump's agenda next year and further divide a Republican Party that has been riven by a high-stakes electoral civil war.
Even in the best of times, Trump has struggled to unify a fractious White House team, GOP lawmakers on the Hill, the Republican Party and the nation. That's hurt him in Congress, where a tax-cut bill is his last best gasp for a single major legislative accomplishment deep into his first year in the Oval Office.
WASHINGTON — It's going to get harder for President Donald Trump to distance himself politically from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe after Michael Flynn's guilty plea — and that could be bad news for his fellow Republicans at the polls.
Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI on Friday, and the White House is worried about any information he could pass along to prosecutors.
For now, the president's legal team is playing down the conviction as a contained fire — one that will burn only Flynn for his deceit — but the political fallout could impede Trump's agenda next year and further divide a Republican Party that has been riven by a high-stakes electoral civil war.
Even in the best of times, Trump has struggled to unify a fractious White House team, GOP lawmakers on the Hill, the Republican Party and the nation. That's hurt him in Congress, where a tax-cut bill is his last best gasp for a single major legislative accomplishment deep into his first year in the Oval Office.
Statement from the Press Secretary on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
President Trump applauds the Senate for passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Senators who voted for these historic tax cuts did a great service to their constituents as they supported putting America first, growing the economy, and rebuilding our great country. The policies in this bill will cut taxes for hardworking families and put our economy on a path of sustainable economic prosperity and job creation. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reclaim America’s great destiny. The Administration looks forward to working with Congress to fulfill the promise we made to deliver historic tax cuts for the American people by the end of the year.
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
Friday, December 1, 2017
Rensselaer County DA Joel Abelove Indicted, Rev. Al Sharpton Responds
Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove was indicted on
Friday following an investigation into his handling of a fatal
police-involved shooting.
“As we allege, District Attorney Abelove’s actions violated the law
and undermined a criminal investigation,” state Attorney General
Schneiderman said in a statement. “The Governor’s Executive Order was
designed to restore public confidence in our criminal justice system –
yet the actions we detail today only served to further erode that
confidence. My office will continue to work collaboratively with law
enforcement agencies across the state, including district attorneys, to
ensure fair, comprehensive, and independent investigations of every case
within our jurisdiction, so that families like the Thevenins get the
answers they deserve.”
Click here for the full article.
Source: timesunion.com
Statement from Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Leader
and President of the National Action Network
and President of the National Action Network
“The
announcement by Attorney General Schneiderman on the indictment of Joel
Abelove is unprecedented and a huge deal for those of us that have
called for fairness and action on police-related
crimes. I cannot recall when a prosecutor has been indicted for
withholding evidence on a police matter. This is a big step in the right
direction and the Attorney General should be saluted for having the
courage to protect citizens not only from bad cops,
but bad prosecutors as well. We at National Action Network will be
closely monitoring the trial.”
Source: Mercury
Mumia Abu-Jamal on Roy Moore: 'Just a Good Ole Boy'
Click here for audio.
Click here to learn more about Mumia Abu-Jamal and his imprisonment.
Sources: Prison Radio and Democracy Now!
McConnell on GOP Tax Bill: ‘We Have the Votes’
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell announced Friday that Republicans have the votes to pass the
GOP tax bill, after Sen. Jeff Flake said he will support the
legislation.
"We have the votes," the Kentucky Republican
told reporters on the Senate floor shortly before noon, adding that a
final vote on the plan would take place some time on Friday.
Moments later, Flake, an Arizona Republican
who is not running for re-election next year, issued a statement saying
that the bill, which had been revised numerous times, now met his
"objectives."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Senators Schumer and Baldwin on Tax Reform
The Senate continues work on the GOP tax bill with a final vote possible.
Source: C-SPAN
U.S. Doing 'a Lot of Work' Behind the Scenes on Israeli-Palestinian Relations, Says Ehud Barak
This report was broadcast on November 30, 2017.
'Flashback Friday': The Hollywood Ten (1950)
This video was published on YouTube on January 9, 2011.
"Who were the Hollywood Ten? This 1950 documentary gives us a closer
look at the ten blacklisted film writers and directors who defied the
government and the sentiments of their day by refusing to testify during
the HUAC anti-Communist hearings. John Berry, who directed the
documentary, was blacklisted himself upon its release." (Ironweed Films)
Source: Matthew Hormann
Trailblazers in Black History: J. Ernest Wilkins Jr.
J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. was a prominent African American mathematician and physicist who worked at the University of Chicago Met Lab during the Manhattan Project.
Wilkins entered the University of Chicago in 1936 at the age of 13, becoming one of the youngest students to ever attend the university. After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at 17, he continued his academic studies, receiving a Master’s degree the next year. In 1942, at the age of 19, Wilkins became the seventh African American to obtain a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the university.
After graduation, Wilkins taught mathematics at the Tuskegee Institute before joining the University of Chicago Met Lab in 1944. Working in collaboration with Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi, Wilkins researched methods for producing fissionable nuclear materials, focusing in particular on plutonium-239. He did not learn the purpose of his research until the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Wilkins entered the University of Chicago in 1936 at the age of 13, becoming one of the youngest students to ever attend the university. After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at 17, he continued his academic studies, receiving a Master’s degree the next year. In 1942, at the age of 19, Wilkins became the seventh African American to obtain a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the university.
After graduation, Wilkins taught mathematics at the Tuskegee Institute before joining the University of Chicago Met Lab in 1944. Working in collaboration with Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi, Wilkins researched methods for producing fissionable nuclear materials, focusing in particular on plutonium-239. He did not learn the purpose of his research until the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Additional information is available here.
Source: Atomic Heritage Foundation
HUD Programs Seek to End Homelessness Among Nation's Veterans
by Donna Owens
As National Veterans and Military Families Month
comes to an end, Patrick Adams is among the former service members who
are thankful for a warm home in which to lie their heads at night.
The
U.S. Navy veteran was among several formerly homeless individuals who
met with Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, and
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin, in the
nation’s capital earlier this week.
Adams, 67,
spoke fondly of his tenure in the U.S. military during the late '60s and
'70s and his pride in serving his country. But when he fell on hard
times years ago — the details are vague — the New Jersey native found
himself homeless.
"I couch surfed with
relatives, did odd jobs, and sometimes I slept outdoors on the beach,"
Adams told NBC News, explaining that over the years he’d migrated to
states with warm climates such as California, Florida, and Hawaii. "I
didn’t really want to be living that way. Enough was enough."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Federal Agency Calls on Congress to Pass LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Law
by Julie Moreau
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an
independent agency tasked with developing and enhancing federal civil
rights laws, released a report on Wednesday outlining the "long, serious
and pervasive history" of employment discrimination against lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and called for federal
legislation to address the issue.
Following the release, the Commission's chair, Catherine E. Lhamon, noted this new report, titled "Working for Inclusion," is the first investigation in the Commission's 60-year history to focus solely on LGBT civil rights.
Key Findings
The 154-page report, addressed to President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, compiled the most recent research on LGBT employment discrimination.
The report concluded LGBT workers have faced a "history of official and unofficial employment discrimination by both federal, state, and local governments and private employers." The report also found federal data sources do not effectively capture rates of LGBT employment discrimination.
The 154-page report, addressed to President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, compiled the most recent research on LGBT employment discrimination.
The report concluded LGBT workers have faced a "history of official and unofficial employment discrimination by both federal, state, and local governments and private employers." The report also found federal data sources do not effectively capture rates of LGBT employment discrimination.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Fate of GOP Tax Bill in Doubt as New Analysis Pours Cold Water on It
Republicans are eyeing a crucial final vote Friday for a tax
overhaul package expected to add $1 trillion to the nation's deficit
over 10 years.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., threw his support behind the tax plan Thursday, boosting the bill's chances of passage.
While McCain's support offered momentum, key
holdouts expressed renewed concern about the plan after a
late-in-the-day analysis from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on
Taxation, or JCT, concluded that the plan doesn't live up to
expectations.
Hope for a vote on the bill, however,
re-emerged Friday after two of those GOP holdouts — Sens. Steve Daines,
of Montana, and Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, said they would support the
bill after securing changes to how certain small businesses, known as
"pass-throughs," would be taxed under the bill.
The previous evening, amid a whirl of meetings
and dramatic votes, Senate GOP leaders rewrote the bill behind closed
doors. They weighed scaling back the tax cuts in the legislation to
secure crucial support.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Jury Finds Undocumented Immigrant Not Guilty in Murder of Kate Steinle
Source: CBS News
Statement from the Press Secretary on the Kate Steinle Case
Yesterday’s verdict in San Francisco underscores the danger to public safety when our Nation fails to enforce its laws. Kate Steinle was killed by an illegal immigrant and convicted felon who had been deported from the United States five times. He, and countless other criminal illegal immigrants like him, should never be allowed to threaten our citizens.
It’s more important now than ever for Congress to secure our borders and provide the resources, including more ICE officers, needed to deport criminal illegal aliens and to finally stop sanctuary city policies that cause needless loss of innocent life. Politicians who fail to address these needs share responsibility for preventable crimes committed against innocent Americans.
Had San Francisco enforced our Nation’s immigration laws, the Steinle family would be celebrating this holiday with all of their loved ones.
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
SPLC to Homeland Security Committee: Focus on White Supremacist Terrorism
On November 30, 2017, SPLC President Richard Cohen testified before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security about the need to focus on domestic terrorism from the radical right.
Cohen delivered the following oral remarks to the committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, in addition to written testimony.
Thank you, Chairman McCaul, and thank you, Ranking Member Thompson.
Members of the committee, it’s an honor to be here today.
Charlottesville truly was a wake-up call for our country. It was a reminder that the oldest form of terrorism our country has ever known is still with us.
It was proof that the white supremacist movement has been energized by Mr. Trump’s campaign, proof that Mr. Trump’s campaign has “unearthed some demons,” to use Congressman Sanford’s words.
The marchers’ chant in Charlottesville – “You will not replace us” – was an expression of paranoia over cultural displacement. It reminds us of what Dylann Roof said when he murdered nine people in a Charleston church: “You're taking over our country.”
The marchers’ chant, “Blood and soil,” their anti-Semitism, reminds us of one of the darkest chapters in modern history.
In my written testimony, I called the threat associated with groups like ISIS the most acute ones we face. So I certainly don’t take issue with Director Wray’s calling it our “main terrorism” threat.
Cohen delivered the following oral remarks to the committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, in addition to written testimony.
Thank you, Chairman McCaul, and thank you, Ranking Member Thompson.
Members of the committee, it’s an honor to be here today.
Charlottesville truly was a wake-up call for our country. It was a reminder that the oldest form of terrorism our country has ever known is still with us.
It was proof that the white supremacist movement has been energized by Mr. Trump’s campaign, proof that Mr. Trump’s campaign has “unearthed some demons,” to use Congressman Sanford’s words.
The marchers’ chant in Charlottesville – “You will not replace us” – was an expression of paranoia over cultural displacement. It reminds us of what Dylann Roof said when he murdered nine people in a Charleston church: “You're taking over our country.”
The marchers’ chant, “Blood and soil,” their anti-Semitism, reminds us of one of the darkest chapters in modern history.
In my written testimony, I called the threat associated with groups like ISIS the most acute ones we face. So I certainly don’t take issue with Director Wray’s calling it our “main terrorism” threat.
Click here for the full statement.
Source: The Southern Poverty Law Center
Why New York City Created Its Own Fund to Bail People Out of Jail
The city’s new plan may seem counter-intuitive. But it’s one of several ways NYC is trying to reform a bail system that the state largely controls.
At 7 p.m. on a Thursday inside the Bronx Criminal Court, Lisa
Whiteside is trying to determine who she can prevent from spending the
night on Riker’s Island. She scans the docket of 30 scheduled
arraignments, knowing it will likely double in length as the night gets
longer. Whiteside sits across one side of a thick glass barrier and asks
promising candidates whether or not they have secure housing. What the
circumstances were behind their arrest. What headspace they are in now.
Not all people get to the face-to-face meeting, but those who do have a
chance to argue that they should be helped. And Whiteside must then
decide whether or not to pay their bail.
Whiteside is a charitable bail fund agent in the Bronx. She pays bail
for some New Yorkers who can’t afford to pay it themselves.
Whiteside is part of a program that may seem counterintuitive. The
Liberty Fund, created by the City of New York, sets free some of the
very people that the city’s municipal judges have deemed a flight risk.
Click here for the full article.
Source: CITYLAB (via The Empire Report)
NYC Weekend Subway Service Changes For Dec. 2-3
NEW YORK, NY — Here's how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
will screw up your plans this weekend — from late Friday night, Dec. 1,
through early Monday morning, Dec. 4 — in the name of "upgrading and
maintaining our tracks, stations and signal systems in order to continue
to provide our customers with safe and reliable service.
Getting
around on the subway this weekend is going to be tough, as a whopping
20(!) train lines will be running with modified service.
All info courtesy of the MTA. And here it is in map form.
1 train: From
9:45 p.m. Friday, December 1 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, December 4, uptown 1
trains run express from 96 St to 157 St due to track maintenance. Use a
downtown 1 train to complete your trip.
2/3 trains: From 1:45 p.m. Friday, December 1 to 5:00 a.m. Monday, December 4, 2/3
service will be suspended in Brooklyn due to Fix&Fortify Sandy
Recovery Work in the Clark St Tunnel.
This project is part of MTA's ongoing efforts to fix assets damaged
during Sandy, and include repairs and rehabilitation of tracks, signals,
pump rooms, fire protection system, and power and communication cables.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Patch.com (via The Empire Report)
DOH Redacts Financial Details for Cuomo Donor from Docs
By Chris Bragg
In response to an open records request from the Times Union, the
state Department of Health redacted almost all the financial details
from the applications of two projects awarded $25.4 million in state
funds in 2016. Both projects had already broken ground about six months
before being awarded the money, and the financial details from their
applications for money might have provided more information about the
state's decisions.
Crystal Run, a private, rapidly growing Orange County health
care company, built the two medical facilities, in Monroe and West
Nyack. Its executives, doctors or their spouses have given at least
$400,000 in campaign donations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including 10
$25,000 gifts in a single fundraiser in October 2013.
Click here for the full article.
Source: timesunion.com (via The Empire Report)
Eye on Africa: AU-EU Summit Wraps Up with Calls for Evacuation of Libyan Migrant Camps
Source: FRANCE 24 English
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Bombs in Your Backyard
The military spends more than a billion dollars a year to clean up sites its operations have contaminated with toxic waste and explosives. A full map of these sites has never been made public — until now.
Click here and enter your address to see the hazardous sites near you, or select a state.
Source: ProPublica
White House May Share Nuclear Power Technology With Saudi Arabia
The overture follows an intense and secretive lobbying push involving Michael Flynn, Tom Barrack, Rick Gates and even Iran-Contra figure Robert McFarlane.
The Trump administration is holding talks on providing nuclear
technology to Saudi Arabia — a move that critics say could upend decades
of U.S. policy and lead to an arms race in the Middle East.
The Saudi government wants nuclear power to free up more oil for
export, but current and former American officials suspect the country’s
leaders also want to keep up with the enrichment capabilities of their
rival, Iran.
Saudi Arabia needs approval from the U.S. in order to receive
sensitive American technology. Past negotiations broke down because the
Saudi government wouldn’t commit to certain safeguards against
eventually using the technology for weapons.
Now the Trump administration has reopened those talks and might not
insist on the same precautions. At a Senate hearing on Nov. 28,
Christopher Ford, the National Security Council’s senior director for
weapons of mass destruction and counterproliferation, disclosed that the
U.S. is discussing the issue with the Saudi government. He called the
safeguards a “desired outcome” but didn’t commit to them.
Abandoning the safeguards would set up a showdown with powerful
skeptics in Congress. “It could be a hell of a fight,” one senior
Democratic congressional aide said.
Click here for the full article.
Source: ProPublica
Facebook to Temporarily Block Advertisers From Excluding Audiences by Race
The social network’s actions come after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Facebook failed to keep its promise to reject discriminatory housing ads.
by Julia Angwin
Facebook said it would temporarily stop advertisers from being able
to exclude viewers by race while it studies the use of its ad targeting
system.
“Until we can better ensure that our tools will not be used
inappropriately, we are disabling the option that permits advertisers to
exclude multicultural affinity segments from the audience for their
ads,” Facebook Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus.
ProPublica disclosed last week that Facebook was still allowing advertisers to buy housing ads that excluded audiences by race, despite its promises earlier this year
to reject such ads. ProPublica also found that Facebook was not asking
housing advertisers that blocked other sensitive audience categories —
by religion, gender, or disability — to “self-certify” that their ads
were compliant with anti-discrimination laws.
Under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, it’s illegal to “to make, print,
or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice,
statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a
dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or
national origin.” Violators face tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Click here for the full article.
Source: ProPublica
Oval Office Chat: Moon Jae-In
President Trump spoke today with President Moon Jae-in of the Republic
of Korea for the second time since North Korea launched an
intercontinental ballistic missile
on November 28. The two leaders discussed next steps to respond to
this most recent provocation by North Korea, including how to bring
maximum pressure to bear on the regime. The presidents reiterated their
strong commitment to enhancing the alliance’s deterrence
and defense capabilities. Both leaders reaffirmed their strong
commitment to compelling North Korea to return to the path of
denuclearization at any cost. President Trump committed to sending a
high-level delegation to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
Mehdi Hasan Rips Thomas Friedman’s “Nauseating” Column in NYT Praising Saudi Arabia
Source: Democracy Now!
Saving Our Youth: Unmasking the Truth Behind Gangs
This video was published on YouTube on January 21, 2015.
Source: New River Valley Juvenile Detention
Trailblazers in Black History: Ellen E. Armstrong
Ellen Armstrong was an African American female magician and daughter of Prof. John Hartford Armstrong.
She got her start at the age of six as assistant in
her father's show. As a young child, she showed great skill as a
"psychic" performer, and even had her own mindreading segment of the
show.
By her teens, she was also doing a routine known as
"Chalk Talk", in which she told stories by drawing characters on a chalk
board. With the addition of a few strokes of the chalk, each picture
would completely change to a new character, adding to the story.
Additional information is available here.
Source: MagicTricks.com
Black Lawmakers Meet with FBI Director Over 'Black Identity Extremists' Report
by Chandelis R. Duster
Black lawmakers met with FBI Director Christopher
Wray on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over concerns about a bureau report
targeting "Black Identity Extremists."
In what
was described as a "open and serious meeting," Congressional Black
Caucus members, including Reps. Val Demings, Karen Bass, Bonnie Watson
Coleman, and others spoke with Wray for nearly two hours regarding the
bureau's internal assessment "Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated
to Target Law Enforcement Officers,” that was written in August and
posted online.
CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond, D-La., called the meeting a "good first step."
"It's
a breath of fresh air to talk to this director compared to our
relationship with the Justice Department," Richmond said to a group of
reporters after the meeting. "We think that his background and we will
give the benefit of the doubt based on his actions, words, and
background today, that he is really trying to lead the FBI in a very
transparent, fair way."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Philando Castile's Girlfriend Reaches Settlement Over Shooting
ST. ANTHONY, Minn. — The Minnesota city that employed a police officer who fatally shot black motorist Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year has reached a settlement with Castile's girlfriend and her daughter, who were in the car with him when he was killed.
The
St. Anthony City Council voted Tuesday night to pay $675,000 to Diamond
Reynolds and her daughter, who was 4 years old when her father was
killed.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Calculated Anti-Muslim Tweets
By Nida Khan
Early Wednesday morning, the world was treated to yet
another flurry of tweetstorm from President Donald Trump. It was the
typical seemingly random but not-so-random attacks against "fake news,"
hypocritical calling out of Matt Lauer, praise for the economy – and oh –
retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda videos from the deputy leader of a
hate group in England. Sadly, none of this is surprising. It's the same
playbook we saw on the campaign trail: Incite anti-Muslim fervor, fears
of terrorism and the 'other,' and drum up support from his base. While
Trump in his role as president thoroughly degrades the office he holds,
none of us should be shocked; as the saying goes, he showed us who he
was a long time ago. What should make everyone pause, however, is why
this sort of anti-Muslim nonsense continues to resonate with so many and
why it appears to work time and again.
In 2010, I penned a piece titled "Islamophobia – Weapon
of Choice for the Midterms." It's hard to believe, but it was seven
years ago when Islamophobes like Pam Geller and others descended upon
New York City to protest the proposed construction of what was in
essence the Muslim version of a YMCA, which they manipulatively dubbed
the "Ground Zero mosque." The right-wing saw an opportunity and ran with
it straight into the midterm elections. Their "Ground Zero mosque"
nonsense was pushed for months on conservative talk radio, networks like
Fox News and others in their echo chamber. Then a few weeks prior to
the anniversary of 9/11 in 2010, Geller and others convened a massive
protest against the "Ground Zero mosque" in downtown New York. I covered
that rally.
Click here for the full article.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
House Passes Mandatory Harassment Training
This report was broadcast on November 29.
Source: CBS News
Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Department of Correction Graduation Ceremony
Source: NYC Mayor's Office
Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at NYPD Memorial Honoring Fallen Police Officers
Transit Experts Propose Ending NYC's 24/7 Subway System
By Dan Rivoli
Imagine New York without its 24/7 subway system?
The experts at the Regional Plan Association did, and they believe it's
key to building a reliable transit system for a growing metropolitan
area.
The radical idea to snuff the pride of New York is one of dozens of
recommendations in the research group's latest regional plan — the
association's fourth region-wide blueprint since 1929 — being released
Thursday.
“We think that the days of the 24/7 subway system in New York are
coming to an end,” RPA president Tom Wright told reporters of the
“controversial” idea.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The New York Daily News (via The Empire Report)
Russell Simmons Steps Down From Companies After Sex Assault Claim
MANHATTAN, NY — Music mogul Russell Simmons said Thursday he is
stepping down from his companies after screenwriter Jenny Lumet accused
him of sexual assaulting her more than 25 years ago, the second
allegation made against him in as many weeks. Lumet, the daughter of
filmmaker Sidney Lumet, described the encounter in excruciating detail
in a letter published earlier Thursday.
In the letter to The Hollywood Reporter,
Lumet said Simmons offered her a ride home from a Manhattan restaurant
in his chauffeured car in 1991, but ordered the driver to his New York
apartment instead of her home. Once there, Lumet alleged, Simmons
forcefully had sex with her.
"It was dark, but not pitch dark.
You closed the door," Lumet wrote of her experience in his apartment.
"At that point, I simply did what I was told. There was penetration. At
one point you were only semi-erect and appeared frustrated. Angry? I
remember being afraid that you would deem that my fault and become
violent. I did not know if you were angry, but I was afraid that you
were."
Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Recordings and the
clothing line Phat Farm, was also accused in a Nov. 19 Los Angeles Times
article of forcing model Keri Claussen to perform oral sex on him in
1991.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Patch.com (via The Empire Report)
Get Ready for Concealed Guns in All 50 States
House panel approves law that will allow firearms-owners to cross any state line with a hidden weapon.
By Polly Mosendz
The National Rifle Association has called the concealed carry bill,
which would make it easier for gun owners to keep their firearms hidden
when crossing state lines, its “highest legislative priority in
Congress.” Despite concerns raised by Democrats about states’ rights and
domestic violence, the Republican-controlled Congress has pushed the
proposal one step closer to becoming law.
The House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday voted 19-11 for the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which would amend the federal criminal code to allow the concealed transport of handguns across state lines, so long as both states allow it. States will not be able to impose their individual requirements for a concealed carry license on armed travelers from other states.
The House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday voted 19-11 for the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which would amend the federal criminal code to allow the concealed transport of handguns across state lines, so long as both states allow it. States will not be able to impose their individual requirements for a concealed carry license on armed travelers from other states.
Republicans
rejected Democratic amendments that would ban violent offenders from
qualifying under the law, as well as a change that would have prevented
forum shopping, which means a New York resident barred from obtaining a
concealed carry permit could instead send away for one from somewhere
else. The bill, which has more than 200 co-sponsors, almost all
Republicans, now heads for the floor of the 435-member House. A similar
bill, with 38 Republican co-sponsors, is pending before the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Click here for the full article.
Source: BloombergPolitics (via The Empire Report)