Saturday, March 2, 2019

New Play Examines What Would Happen if Black People Left America


The Public Theater Presents....Ain't No Mo' 

This video was published on YouTube on January 21. 

Click here for additional information. 

Source: PublicTheaterNY

Tori Sampson Addresses Beauty Standards in New Play


This video was published on YouTube on February 21.

Click here to obtain ticket information on "If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muh*****"

Source: ImageNation

Friday, March 1, 2019

Teenage Boy Buys Friend Electric Wheelchair


It's "Feel Good Friday" on From The G-Man

Scroll down to review other heartwarming and humorous posts.

Danny Trejo: From Criminal to One of Hollywood's Most Recognizable Stars


This report was published on YouTube on January 11. 

FAIR GAME: Kristine Leahy sits down with renowned actor, Danny Trejo, to discuss his rise to stardom from his life in jail, his time with Anthony Bourdain on "Parts Unknown" and why his time on the Muppets will be something he'll never forget. 

Film Bloopers from 1941


This video was published on YouTube on November 13, 2008. 

Warning: The footage contains foul language.

Cute Kids Dancing with Street Performers (2019)



This video was published on YouTube on January 21.

Source: Viralcoholics

Retired Military Dog Reunited with Handler After Five Years


This video was published on YouTube on February 27. 
Clarksvillenow: This military dog, Alex, and his handler, Sergeant First Class Nicholas C. Iafelice, were reunited after five years. Alex will spend the rest of his life with Iafelice and his family.

Santa Maria Police Officials Honored at Annual Awards Ceremony


This report was published on YouTube on February 12.

The Santa Maria Times: Heroism, public service and hard work were celebrated Tuesday during the Santa Maria Police Department’s annual awards ceremony. The event — which was sponsored by the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce and held at the Radisson Hotel — was attended by scores of police officers, local dignitaries and community members.

Teacher's Pup - TIME for Kids


Read aloud of article from Volume 9, Number 3 issue of TIME for Kids.

Source: Kristina Howard

First Lady Melania Trump to Travel on a Three-State Tour to Promote 'Be Best'


The Office of the First Lady is today announcing Mrs. Trump’s participation in a three-state tour to Oklahoma, Washington State, and Nevada to promote the three pillars of her initiative Be Best, which includes the well-being of children, online safety, and opioid abuse.

On Monday, March 4, the First Lady  will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit an award-winning elementary school that focuses on incorporating character education throughout its curriculum.  Mrs. Trump will then visit a tech company near Seattle, Washington to receive a tour and briefing on some of their programs and applications meant to teach children online safety, as well as technology innovations meant to help children with disabilities.

On Tuesday, March 5, the First Lady will give remarks and participate in an opioids town hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Whether it is social media and technology or drug and alcohol abuse, children in our country and around the world are faced with many challenges,” stated First Lady Melania Trump.  “Through Be Best I will continue to shine a spotlight on the well-being programs that provide children the tools and skills required for emotional, social and physical well-being and promote successful organizations, programs, and people who are helping children overcome some of the issues they face while growing up in the modern world.” 

Source: The Office of the First Lady

Governor Cuomo Launches Tax Fairness for the Middle Class Campaign


Earlier today, Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a Tax Fairness for the Middle Class Campaign at Millennium Buffalo in Cheektowaga to make the property tax cap permanent and cut middle class taxes. 

To illustrate the benefits of a permanent property tax cap, Governor Cuomo unveiled a digital tax calculator to showcase estimates of how much taxpayers have saved under the property tax cap and will continue to save over the next 10 years with a permanent property tax cap. 

Source: NYGovCuomo

The Rich Are Still Getting Richer: An Op-Ed by Nomi Prins

 
Like a gilded coating that makes the dullest things glitter, today’s thin veneer of political populism covers a grotesque underbelly of growing inequality that’s hiding in plain sight. And this phenomenon of ever more concentrated wealth and power has both Newtonian and Darwinian components to it.

In terms of Newton’s first law of motion: Those in power will remain in power unless acted upon by an external force. Those who are wealthy will only gain in wealth as long as nothing deflects them from their present course. As for Darwin, in the world of financial evolution, those with wealth or power will do what’s in their best interest to protect that wealth, even if it’s in no one else’s interest at all.

In George Orwell’s iconic 1945 novel, Animal Farm, the pigs who gain control in a rebellion against a human farmer eventually impose a dictatorship on the other animals on the basis of a single commandment: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” In terms of the American republic, the modern equivalent would be: “All citizens are equal, but the wealthy are so much more equal than anyone else (and plan to remain that way).” 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Nation

INN: There is a Bright and Growing Light in News: Nonprofit News


This video was published on YouTube on February 13. 

The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN): An estimated 2,000 journalists have lost their jobs since the beginning of the 2019 in the media industry. But there is a bright and growing light in news: nonprofit news. Sue Cross and Fran Scarlett cover some of the possibilities in nonprofit news.

ONA Strengthens Investment in Local Journalists with an Expanded Leadership Training Program

 

We are pleased to build on the incredible success of ONA Local the past 11 years and introduce its next iteration, a new training program that emphasizes cohort-based leadership development to connect innovators in local journalism communities. The first cohort of 92 ONA Local organizers represents more than 50 communities, from St. Louis, Phoenix and Baltimore to Mexico City, Argentina and Australia.

ONA Local — a global network of resource-sharing groups for digital journalists — has expanded considerably in recent years. With the support of a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation from 2016 to 2018, we experimented with different ways to launch new groups, build leadership teams and provide ongoing support. During that period, our Meetup network has nearly doubled, now reaching over 14,000 members. We organized ONA Local summits to train organizers in key leadership skills and seed collaborations among community builders who otherwise may not have a chance to connect, and designed a Speakers Bureau initiative to expand training opportunities for local journalists. We also improved the structure of the ONA Local student groups to facilitate opportunities for students to explore digital journalism and collaborate on projects.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Online News Association

SPLC and Latin Grammy Award-Winning Band Release Song Teaching Immigrants Their Rights


In an effort to reach immigrants who may not understand their rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has teamed up with the all-female mariachi band Flor De Toloache to launch a new song that aims to help them avoid being victimized by illegal law enforcement tactics.

Click here for the full announcement. 

Source: The Southern Poverty Law Center 

US-North Korea Summit: The Big Fail


The following statement was submitted by a source with high-level contacts in the Asian region.

"The collapse of US-North Korea talks in Hanoi is a big disappointment for all concerned, including South Korea which has been pushing hard for a breakthrough on US-North Korea relations and is trying to improve its own relations with the North. According to what Trump and Pompeo said at their press conference, it looks like both sides miscalculated and came with their maximalist positions: the US asked for complete denuclearization and North Korea asked for the US to lift all economic sanctions. 

"It doesn't look like either side went in ready to compromise, something they should have worked out long before the summit. There's no indication of a third summit anytime soon, although both Trump and Pompeo said negotiations will continue among officials of both sides and that they learned a lot from each other. 

"As long as North Korea refrains from nuclear and missile tests, as they have been since late 2017, we're at least not sliding backward into confrontation. But the status quo can't be sustained indefinitely."

Justin Trudeau Faces Questions Amid SNC-Lavalin Firestorm


Global News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced questions Thursday amid the ongoing firestorm surrounding SNC-Lavalin following Jody Wilson-Raybould's testimony on Wednesday.

Trump Press Conference Following Summit with Kim Jong Un


Full Coverage

This report, which was published on YouTube on February 27, begins at the 18:00 mark.

Parental Alienation: A Growing Problem in the Jewish Community


Rejected by My Children

Is there a way to bridge the abyss when your ex turns your own kids against you? 

By Rachel Ginsberg

It was a perfect picture, the kind you’d stick in a family photo album: three smiling girls in matching outfits on a sunny afternoon, embracing their Tatty as they revel in his attention while licking triple-scoop ice cream cones. But what started out as a Sunday dream morphed into a family nightmare — it was the last time Baruch saw his daughters in four years.

Baruch and his first wife divorced close to a decade ago after a marriage that was stormy from the outset, and their three little girls were put into joint custody — Baruch had them every other week from Thursday to Monday morning, and one overnight in between. Less than a year later, Baruch remarried and his new wife, Liba, joined in the custody of the girls (“they were really just babies at the time,” she says) and raised them together with her own four children. For three years this new blended family found its rhythm, weathering some precarious custody battles in the interim — like the time Baruch’s ex filed an emergency petition in court claiming that he was a drug addict who regularly beat the girls and locked them in the bathroom. For two months, while she railed against him to the children, he wasn’t allowed to see his daughters; he was finally cleared after a series of drug evaluation exams came out clean, and after a court-appointed therapist determined that not only was Baruch not a danger to his kids, but that he was a devoted and stable father and there was no reason he shouldn’t be allowed to see his children.

The complete article can be accessed by clicking on and enlarging the following images. 


Source: Rachel Ginsberg

Happening in Harlem: Blackface.....Really??? (A Hardcore Discussion)


Click on the flier to increase its size.  

Note: The start time has been changed to 6:30 p.m.

Source: ImageNation

AOC, Sanders, and Warren Are the Real Centrists Because They Speak for Most Americans

 

Do you know what really annoys me about the media’s coverage of U.S. politics, and especially the Democratic Party?

Google the words “moderate” or “centrist” and a small group of names will instantly appear: Michael Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, and, yes, Howard Schultz.

Bloomberg is considered a “centrist thought leader” (Vanity Fair). Klobuchar is the “straight-shooting pragmatist” (Time). Biden is the “quintessential centrist” (CNN) and the “last hurrah for moderate Democrats” (New York magazine). Shultz is gifted with high-profile interview slots to make his “centrist independent” pitch to voters.

Now Google the freshman House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s been dubbed a member of the “loony left” (Washington Post), a “progressive firebrand” (Reuters), and a “liberal bomb thrower” (New York Times).

Got that? Biden, Schultz and Co., we are told, sit firmly in the middle of American politics; Ocasio-Cortez stands far out on its fringes.

This is a brazen distortion of reality, a shameless and demonstrable lie that is repeated day after day in newspaper op-eds and cable news headlines.

“It’s easy to call what AOC is doing as far-lefty, but nothing could be farther from the truth,” Nick Hanauer, the venture capitalist and progressive activist, told MSNBC in January. “When you advocate for economic policies that benefit the broad majority of citizens, that’s true centrism. What Howard Schultz represents, the centrism that he represents, is really just trickle-down economics.”

“He is not the centrist,” continued Hanauer. “AOC is the centrist.”

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Intercept_

Trump Administration Officials Asked About Sexual Abuse of Unaccompanied Minors Allegations

 
C-SPAN: Florida Congressman Ted Deutch raises newly reported allegations of sexual abuse against thousands of migrant children in U.S. custody by contract employees of the Health and Human Services Department. The allegations were included in documents handed over to Congress by the department. According to the documents the Office of Refugee Resettlement received 4,556 complaints and the Justice Department received 1,303 complaints, including nearly 200 allegations of sexual abuse between 2017 and 2018.

Click here for video. 

Click here for complete coverage of the hearing.  

Attorney General Barr Pledges to Protect Voting Rights In First Address


C-SPAN: New Attorney General William Barr delivers remarks at an African American History Month event at the Justice Department, in which he pledges to protect voting rights during his second tenure at the law enforcement agency.

Click here for video. 

U.S. House Debates Resolution Blocking National Emergency Declaration

 
C-SPAN: The House will consider a joint resolution to terminate the President’s national emergency declaration to build a southern border wall.

Click here for video.

House Democrats Announce Plans for Vote on Gun Background Checks Bill


C-SPAN: House Democrats, former Representative Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), and student advocates speak with reporters about H.R.8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.

Click here for video.

House Republicans Brief Reporters on Gun Legislation


C-SPAN: Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) and other House republicans spoke about two gun background check bills before the House, H.R.8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, and H.R.1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019.

Click here for video.

High School Students Lead Fight to Get Civil Rights Cold Case Bill Passed


Note: In July of 2015, the teacher showcased in this report, Stuart Wexler, appeared on The G-Man Interviews to discuss "Christian Identity”. 

According to the critically acclaimed author and lecturer, his groundbreaking 2012 book, The Awful Grace of God: Religious Terrorism, White Supremacy, and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr (Counterpoint), which he co-authored with Larry Hancock, allowed him to “have a better understanding of how a network of religious zealots created an informal proto-social network under the umbrella of a little known but important ideology: Christian Identity."

In tracing this network through the 1960s, it became clear that they may have had their hand in a number of different racial crimes. This revelation served as the catalyst for the book America's Secret Jihad, which was released in August of 2015.

From The G-Man congratulates Mr. Wexler and his students on their monumental achievement. 

Monday, February 25, 2019

Governor Cuomo Signs Red Flag Gun Protection Bill


Earlier today, Governor Andrew Cuomo, joined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, signed the Red Flag Bill, a key component of his 2019 Justice Agenda. The Red Flag Bill, also known as the extreme risk protection order bill, prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm. This legislation builds on New York's strongest in the nation gun laws and makes New York the first in the United States to empower its teachers and school administrators to prevent school shootings by pursuing court intervention. 

More information is available here

Source: NYGovCuomo

Bernie, His Army and the Historical Moment

 
By Ted Glick

Bernie Sanders finally announced that he is running for President this week. When asked what would be different this time around, he replied, “We will win.”

Can he win? Yes, there are lots of reasons to believe he can.

There’s the 6 million dollars he raised in the 24 hours after his announcement, most of it from his over-two-million-person list of donors from 2016. Of his competitors for the Democratic Party nomination, the second-best in this regard was Kamala Harris pulling in 1.5 million.

There’s the very important fact that after 2016 he and his supporters got themselves organized into an independent national organization, Our Revolution, with 600 chapters in just about every state. None of his competitors have anything close to that. When combined with the many millions of others not active in Our Revolution who supported him in 2016 and/or will be supporting him now, and remembering the massive, people-powered momentum built with his leadership in 2015-2016, calling it an “army” seems accurate.

There are the steps he has taken to politically strengthen both his message and his connections to important constituencies where he had weaknesses in 2016. An example is the fact that there are four co-chairs of his campaign, California Congressperson Ro Khanna, Our Revolution leader and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, San Juan, PR mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, and Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Three of the four are people of color, two are women.

Another example of how he has politically strengthened his positions is an In These Times article last month where he articulated a good analysis of US militarism and an imperialist foreign policy, without using those words.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: tedglick.com

Grannies Respond: What We Saw on the US-Mexico Border in McAllen, Texas Motivated Us to Fight On

 
Grannies Respond is a grassroots movement, which formed in spring 2018 in response to the separation of families seeking asylum at the southern border of the United States. As news spread of immigrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border — at that time a hallmark of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy — a group of outraged grandmothers in New York state decided it was time to act.

They formed Grannies Respond/Abuelas Responden, and put out a call on social media for others to join them in a six-city, 2,000-mile trip to McAllen, Texas, home of the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention center for undocumented immigrants, where they planned to protest.

The 30 Grannies and their supporters departed from New York City’s Union Square July 31, 2018 in two 15-seat vans and a camper. By the time the Grannies’ caravan reached the border, the group had picked up participants from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Louisiana; they converged along the route, driving vans, RVs, cars, trucks, busses — anything, really, with wheels and a motor (there was even a motorcycle). They were a diverse lot, but all agreed on these demands: the immediate reunion of all families, an end to the detention of immigrants and their families, and due process under the law for all immigrants requesting asylum.

Click here for additional information.

Source: Grannies Respond/Abuelas Responden

The Week Ahead in Washington


Associated Press White House reporter Darlene Superville and Washington Post congressional reporter Mike DeBonis discussed the week ahead on Capitol Hill and at the White House.

Click here for video.

Source: C-SPAN 

Tax Season’s Dynamic Duo: E-file and Direct Deposit

 
New York State Taxpayer Advocate Margaret Neri today encouraged all New York State taxpayers to e-file their tax returns and have any refund directly deposited into their bank account.

“We know that New Yorkers want their refunds quickly, and we aim to deliver,” said New York State Taxpayer Advocate Margaret Neri. “That’s why we recommend that filers avoid paper, and combine the simplicity and security of e-filing with direct deposit to speed refunds by up to two weeks.”

Benefits of e-filing

E-filing is safer and more efficient than sending paper returns through the mail. About 92% of all personal income tax returns in New York State are electronically prepared and filed. All returns, regardless of how they’re filed, undergo the same systematic review.

Use direct deposit

To use direct deposit, simply check direct deposit on your tax return, then enter your bank’s nine-digit routing number and your account number. For checking accounts, this information is available on your checks; for savings accounts, contact your bank.

Free filing options available

Taxpayers with adjusted gross household incomes of $66,000 or less in 2018 may use free, user-friendly software at www.tax.ny.gov to electronically prepare and file both their state and federal tax returns. Taxpayers can search Free File on the Tax Department website to be directed to the tax preparation software. Using the software can reduce filing errors that delay return processing and refunds. This also prevents valuable credits from being overlooked.

Eligible taxpayers can also visit a free Tax Department preparation site. A schedule of dates, times, and locations for free-filing sessions statewide is available on our Facilitated Self-Assistance (FSA) program webpage.

Tax Department experts will be available at each site to assist low- and middle-income New Yorkers through the filing process at no charge. At certain locations, they can assist taxpayers in multiple languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.

Check your refund status

Taxpayers can quickly view the status of their New York State tax refund anytime by using the Check your Refund tool on the Tax Department website: www.tax.ny.gov. Updated daily, it’s the fastest and most convenient way to know when to expect your refund. It provides the same information available to our phone representatives—only without the wait!

You can also find out when your refund will be issued by signing up for Tax Department email alerts. Visit the Tax Department homepage at www.tax.ny.gov and select subscribe at the bottom of the page.

Don’t have a computer or smart phone? Call the Tax Department’s automated refund-status line anytime at 518-457-5149.

New York State Taxpayer Rights Advocate

As a New York State taxpayer, you have rights protecting you from any unfairness in the administration and collection of taxes, as well as a variety of options to resolve tax issues.

The Office of the Taxpayer Rights Advocate will help you understand your rights and will help find the best way for you to pay the amount of tax you owe.

The Office of the Taxpayer Rights Advocate, an independent office within the Tax Department, provides: free assistance to resolve difficult or ongoing tax problems; options to consider if a tax issue is causing undue economic harm; and recommendations for administrative or legislative reforms.

Click here for additional resources. 

Source: The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

Public Advocate Race: 7 Factors That Will Help Decide Who Wins on Tuesday

 
The nonpartisan special election features 17 candidates, and a number of variables.  

Click here for details. 

Source: The New York Times