President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama named seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The awards will be presented at the White House on November 24^th.

President Obama said, “I look forward to presenting these 17 distinguished Americans with our nation’s highest civilian honor. From public servants who helped us meet defining challenges of our time to artists who expanded our imaginations, from leaders who have made our union more perfect to athletes who have inspired millions of fans, these men and women have enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans.” 

The following individuals will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom:

Yogi Berra (posthumous)

Yogi Berra spent over 40 years as a professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach. Widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history – and an all-time Yankee great – Berra was an 18-time All-Star and 10-time World Series Champion who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Always quick witted, Berra was famous for his “Yogi-isms,” teaching us all that we can observe a lot just by watching. Berra was also a lifelong ambassador for inclusion in sports. Berra put his professional career on hold to join the Navy during World War II, where he fought with Allied forces on D-Day and eventually earned a Purple Heart.

Bonnie Carroll

Bonnie Carroll is a life-long public servant who has devoted her life to caring for our military and veterans. After her husband, Brigadier General Tom Carroll, died in an Army C-12 plane crash in 1992, Carroll founded the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), which provides comprehensive support to those impacted by the death of their military hero, bringing healing comfort and compassionate care to the living legacies of our nation's service and sacrifice. Carroll is also a retired Major in the Air Force Reserve. She serves on the Defense Health Board, and co-chaired the Department of Defense Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide in the Armed Forces.

Shirley Chisholm (posthumous)

Shirley Chisholm made history in 1968 by becoming the first African-American woman elected to Congress, beginning the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives. In 1969 she became one of the founding members of what would become the Congressional Black Caucus. Not satisfied, Chisholm went on to make history yet again, becoming the first major-party African-American female candidate to make a bid for the U.S. presidency when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. She was a champion of minority education and employment opportunities throughout her tenure in Congress. After leaving Congress in 1983, Chisolm taught at Mount Holyoke College and frequently lectured and gave speeches at colleges and universities throughout the country.

Emilio Estefan

Emilio Estefan is a passionate and visionary music producer, entrepreneur, author, and songwriter who has won nineteen Grammy Awards and influenced a generation of artists. As the founding member of the Miami Sound Machine, and later through a decades-long career producing and shaping the work of countless stars, Estefan has helped popularize Latin music around the world.  He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Emilio Estefan is an inductee to the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Gloria Estefan

Gloria Estefan is a singer, songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur who introduced Latin music to a global audience. The Cuban-American lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine has had chart topping hits such as “Conga,” “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” and “Anything for You.” Estefan has won seven Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide. She is an inductee to the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Estefan became one of the first mainstream Hispanic artists to crossover between English and Spanish language music paving the way for countless other Latin artists to follow.

Billy Frank, Jr. (posthumous)

Billy Frank, Jr. was a tireless advocate for Indian treaty rights and environmental stewardship, whose activism paved the way for the “Boldt decision,” which reaffirmed tribal co-management of salmon resources in the state of Washington. Frank led effective “fish-ins,” which were modeled after sit-ins of the civil rights movement, during the tribal “fish wars” of the 1960s and 1970s. His magnetic personality and tireless advocacy over more than five decades made him a revered figure both domestically and abroad. Frank was the recipient of many awards, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award for Humanitarian Achievement. Frank left in his wake an Indian Country strengthened by greater sovereignty and a nation fortified by his example of service to one’s community, his humility, and his dedication to the principles of human rights and environmental sustainability.

Lee Hamilton

Lee Hamilton has been one of the most influential voices on international relations and American national security over the course of his more than 40 year career. From 1965 to 1999, he served Indiana in the United States House of Representatives, where his chairmanships included the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. Since retiring from Congress, Hamilton has been involved in efforts to address some of our nation’s most high profile homeland security and foreign policy challenges. He served as Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission and Co-Chairman of the Iraq Study Group. He was Co-Chairman of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, which issued a report in 2006 calling for reform of the nation’s immigration laws and system. And through the founding of the Center on Congress at Indiana University, he has also been a leading advocate for bi-partisanship and effective governance.

Katherine G. Johnson

Katherine G. Johnson is a pioneer in American space history. A NASA mathematician, Johnson's computations have influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program. Johnson was hired as a research mathematician at the Langley Research Center with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, after they opened hiring to African-Americans and women. Johnson exhibited exceptional technical leadership and is known especially for her calculations of the 1961 trajectory for Alan Shepard’s flight (first American in space), the 1962 verification of the first flight calculation made by an electronic computer for John Glenn’s orbit (first American to orbit the earth), and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon. In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields.

Willie Mays

Willie Mays was a professional baseball player, spending most of his 22 seasons as a center fielder for the New York and San Francisco Giants. Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, making him the fifth all-time record-holder. Known as “The Say Hey Kid,” Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 and landed on MLB’s All-Time team. In 1951, Mays became one of the first African-American players in Major League Baseball history and won the Rookie of the Year award. Mays also served his country in the United States Army. In his return to Major League Baseball, Mays won the MVP award, and in the 1954 World Series Mays led the Giants to a surprise victory, while making one of the most spectacular plays in sports history, later known simply as “The Catch.”   

Barbara Mikulski

Barbara Mikulski is a lifelong public servant, who has held elected office since 1971. She became the longest serving female Senator in 2011, the longest serving woman in Congress in 2012, and the first female Senator to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2012. Applying what she witnessed in her early career as a social worker and community activist in Baltimore, Maryland to her time in office, Senator Mikulski championed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and helped establish the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health to include women in federally-funded health research protocols. She also helped to make college more affordable by reforming and increasing Pell grants and student loans and wrote the law that prevents seniors from going bankrupt while paying for a spouse’s nursing home care. She championed investments in research and innovation, most notably saving the Hubble Space Telescope. She is dean of the bipartisan Senate women, serving as their mentor.

Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman is a treasured conductor and sought-after teacher. Among his many achievements are four Emmy Awards, 16 Grammy Awards, and the 2008 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2000 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003. A native of Israel, he came to the United States at a young age and was introduced to Americans broadly when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Mr. Perlman made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1963 when he was 18. In addition to performing internationally and recording the classical music for which he is best known, Perlman has also played jazz, including an album made with jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Perlman has been the soloist for a number of film scores such as Schindler's List, which subsequently won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.  Alongside his wife Toby, Mr. Perlman teaches talented young musicians through the Perlman Music Program.  Through his advocacy and his example, he has been an important voice on behalf of persons with disabilities.

William Ruckelshaus

William D. Ruckelshaus is a dedicated public servant who has worked tirelessly to protect public health and combat global challenges like climate change. As the first and fifth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, he not only shaped the guiding principles of the agency, but also worked diligently to bring the public into the decision making process. Among the EPA’s key early achievements under his leadership was a nationwide ban on the pesticide DDT and an agreement with the automobile industry to require catalytic converters, which significantly reduced automobile pollution. He also demonstrated his commitment to public service and integrity as Deputy Attorney General. During the Watergate crisis, Ruckelshaus and Attorney General Elliot Richardson chose to resign rather than fire the Watergate special prosecutor. Their principled stance was a pivotal moment for the Justice Department and galvanized public opinion for upholding the rule of law. He continues to advance his legacy of collaborative problem solving in his current role at the University of Washington and Washington State University.

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim is one of the country’s most influential theater composers and lyricists. His work has helped define American theater with shows such as Company, West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods. Sondheim has received eight Grammy Awards, eight Tony Awards, an Academy Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  Sondheim also founded Young Playwrights, Inc., to develop and promote the work of American playwrights aged 18 and younger.

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is an American film director, producer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.  Spielberg's films include blockbusters such as Jaws, Jurassic Park, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and the Indiana Jones series, as well as socially conscious works Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln, and his newest film Bridge of Spies.  A three-time Academy Award winner, Spielberg is widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in cinematic history. His films have grossed over 8.5 billion dollars worldwide.  Spielberg is the co-founder of DreamWorks Studios as well as the founder of the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization dedicated to overcoming intolerance and bigotry through the use of visual history testimony.

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand is one of our Nation’s most gifted talents. Her body of work includes extraordinary singing, acting, directing, producing, songwriting, and she is one of the few performers to receive an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony. Her performance in 1968’s Funny Girl endeared her to Americans for generations, and she won her first Academy Award for her role in that film. In 1984, she became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director, which she won for the motion picture Yentl. Streisand is also a recipient of four Peabody Awards, in addition to the National Medal of Arts and Kennedy Center Honors. In 2009, she endowed the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, which works to correct gender inequality in the research of a disease which each year kills more women than men.

James Taylor

As a recording and touring artist, James Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 40 years, while setting a precedent to which countless young musicians have aspired.  Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards for classics ranging from Sweet Baby James in 1970 to October Road in 2002.  In 2015 Taylor released Before This World, his first new studio album in thirteen years, which earned him his first ever #1 album.  He has won multiple Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. 

Minoru Yasui (posthumous)

Minoru Yasui was a civil and human rights leader known for his continuous defense of the ideals of democracy embodied in our Constitution. A graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law, Yasui challenged the constitutionality of a military curfew order during World War II on the grounds of racial discrimination, and spent nine months in solitary confinement during the subsequent legal battle. In 1943, the Supreme Court upheld the military curfew order. Yasui spent the rest of his life appealing his wartime conviction. At the time of his death in 1986, he had successfully convinced a trial court to vacate his arrest, and a case challenging the constitutionality of his conviction was pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Yasui also spent his life fighting for the human and civil rights of all people. 

Source: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary

Europe, ISIS and Us: Now What?

 
By Rabbi Abraham Cooper

Simon Wiesenthal Center officials sat across from President François Hollande at the Èlysée Palace some eighteen months ago, sometime between the Toulouse Day School and the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher massacres. His words were devastating: “I can confirm that 1,000 French citizens went to Syria and Iraq to train with ISIS or al Qaeda," the somber French leader told us, adding… "They have returned to France, melted into the general population — many of them armed — and we do not know where they are.”

 

Rabbi Marvin Hier asked, “How many Imams are there in France and how many have condemned terrorist attacks?” Hollande responded, “Six thousand Imams…and about ten have publicly spoken out…” These days the number has been reduced to one: Imam Chalgoumi of Drancy. The others have been cowered into silence.

So, a year and a half later, here we are, the morning after ISIS plunged the City of Lights into darkness. Now what?

 

Without question, the terrorist leaders are triumphant:

• Despite France’s heightened alerts, the three cells converged on Paris, apparently undetected. One suicide bomber reached the entrance of France’s largest stadium during a soccer match and almost succeeded in detonating himself where 80,000 fans — including President Hollande  — were in attendance. How could that happen? Without a doubt, the latest off-the-shelf encryption apps and other Internet technologies must have been deployed to enable the terrorist networks to communicate and evade surveillance.

• ISIS was able to infiltrate at least one terrorist within the mass migration to Europe. He was processed along with other refugees on the Greek Island of Lesbos before making his way to Europe’s heartland. This fact, puts more pressure on the entire European Union, but especially on Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel to stop her open door policy to Middle East refugees and migrants.

• ISIS is enjoying a huge propaganda victory. There were reports of over 50,000 tweets on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the bloodbath celebrating the mass murders. With a boost from their sophisticated social media marketing strategy, their “triumph” is sure to attract more young recruits and more supporters for the global food-chain of terrorism.

• ISIS sees a world leadership, deeply divided in what, if anything to do next. Statements by our President and Secretary of State that, “We will do everything it takes to defeat ISIL” are not taken seriously. The President himself has admitted that we have no strategy. Despite the aerial assassinations of a few ISIS leaders, the terrorists are convinced that America has no appetite for boots on the ground. The Democratic presidential debate yielded a half-hour of semantic sparring over the Islamist terrorists but no specific ideas how they would protect the Homeland. Beyond declaring that we are at war with radical Islamists, most Republican candidates have yet to articulate how they would take on the evildoers.

• ISIS and its supporters are thrilled by every drop of infidel blood spilled, by every tear shed. Their greatest export is fear and they take great pride that they brought the greatest carnage to the streets Paris since World War II.

So what needs to be done to ensure that the Paris attacks will serve as a turning point and not merely another bloody stop on the highway to hell?

First, President Hollande declared war on ISIS. The United States and other NATO allies should join with France, whether Russia agrees or not.

Yes, with all due respect to Hillary Clinton, these terrorists are at war with us. It’s time to articulate an effective strategy. Someone’s boots — perhaps NATO — will have to get on the ground so that the ISIS snake can be beheaded, instead of innocent Christians, Muslims, and Yazidis. Large-scale ISIS casualties and destruction of their training bases will destroy their nexus to extremists who have returned to Europe. A NATO force would also help secure an immediate humanitarian goal of establishing a safe-haven/no fly zone for the millions of displaced Syrians that would at least slow the flood of humanity storming the shores of Europe.

Secondly, in 2015, we must reject the mantra that, “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” ISIS and all groups associated with Islamic extremism are determined to bring humanity back to the Dark Ages. These groups attacking soccer stadiums, concert halls, and restaurants in Paris or stabbing women and children in streets of Jerusalem have one thing in common — they have declared war on the basic tenets of humanity and decency. Leaders, whether stationed in the halls of political power, on university campuses, or in the pulpits of houses of worship must demand that their constituents denounce all acts of terrorism.

Finally, social media giants must join the war against terror. When will Twitter finally wake up? Why do they continue to allow themselves to serve as the key platform for the cheerleaders of depravity? And Silicon Valley leaders may want to take note that the apps they are generating are not only allowing teens to hide their sexual antics from their parents but enabling mass murderers to threaten us all.

During the Cold War there was a doomsday clock always set a few minutes before a feared midnight of a nuclear war. Humanity was lucky that no lunatic got close to that button. But a new doomsday clock lurks. We need leaders who will forge new alliances to defeat movements who will stop at nothing to destroy our values and our lives.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper is Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Message from President Obama to the People of Burundi

President Obama speaks directly to the people of Burundi urging them to put aside the language of hate and division and to build a peaceful and stronger country.

President Obama G-20 News Conference

 

President Obama speaks to reporters in a news conference from the G-20 summit in Antalya, Turkey. Topics include military efforts to combat the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and the recent terror attacks in Paris. 

Click here for video.

Source: C-Span

ISIS Motivations and Strategies

 

Panelists talked about the history, motivations, and strategies of ISIS.* The panel discussed the group’s roots and origins, its leadership structure, how the group was influenced by other terror organizations, and its current operations and trajectory.

* The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or DAISH/DAESH in Arabic is a militant group that has called itself the Islamic State. 

Click here for video.

Source: C-Span 

Washington Journal: Matthew Segal on Millennial Voters in 2016

 

OurTime Co-Founder and President Matthew Segal discusses issues important to millennial voters in the 2016 presidential election and what candidates are doing to win their support.

Click here for video.

Source: C-Span

Washington Journal: Dick Carpenter on Civil Asset Forfeiture

 

Dick Carpenter, with the Institute for Justice, discusses money the federal government and the states bring in through civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property and money without pressing criminal charges.

Click here for video.

Source: C-Span

Confessions of an ISIS Spy

 
By Michael Weiss

He joined the self-proclaimed Islamic State, trained jihadist infantry, and groomed foreign operatives—including a pair of Frenchmen. And now, Abu Khaled says he is ready to talk. 

For all the attention paid to ISIS, relatively little is known about its inner workings. But a man claiming to be a member of the so-called Islamic State’s security services has stepped forward to provide that inside view. This series is based on days of interviews with this ISIS spy.

Part One: An Appointment in Istanbul

ISTANBUL — It took some convincing, but the man we’ll call Abu Khaled finally came to tell his story. Weeks of discussion over Skype and WhatsApp had established enough of his biography since last we’d encountered each other, in the early, more hopeful days of the Syrian revolution. He had since joined the ranks of the so-called Islamic State and served with its “state security” branch, the Amn al-Dawla, training jihadist infantry and foreign operatives. Now, he said, he had left ISIS as a defector—making him a marked man. But he did not want to leave Syria, and The Daily Beast was not about to send me there to the kidnap and decapitation capital of the world. I had met him often enough in Syria’s war zones in the past, before the rise of ISIS, to think I might trust him. But not that much. “Lucky for you, the Americans don’t pay ransoms,” he ventured, after the two of us began to grow more relaxed around each other and the question of ISIS hostage-taking inevitably came up. He said he was joking. 

Click here for the full article and corresponding photos.

Source: The Daily Beast

NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, DHS, NYPD and Acacia Network are Opening Themselves Up for a Lawsuit

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York 

You should know that this past Friday, November 13, 2015, a woman who resides at the homeless shelter located at 941 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, New York, was reportedly stabbed by a resident of the same shelter. The shelter, which is run by Acacia Network is across the street, right in front of my District Office.

 
According to reports and statements people have given me, the perpetrator was caught on tape breaking the security cameras in the homeless shelter during the weekend (November 7 - 8) before Friday’s stabbing.

 
The assailant’s vandalism did not come to Acacia’s attention until Monday, November 9, because no one on Acacia’s staff took a look at the cameras over the weekend.  On Tuesday, November 10th, Acacia’s staff reported the destroyed cameras to the police, providing copies of the video tapes to the 41st Precinct, with footage of the suspect smashing the security cameras.
 
Even though Acacia gave this information to the police, the perpetrator was not questioned or arrested until after Friday’s stabbing took place.

 
The family shelter residents at 941 Intervale Avenue went unprotected for a whole week without their building’s security cameras working, and with no one to check for their safety.

 
It is important for you to know that this shelter, run by Acacia Network, has been the subject of controversy for some time.  Before Acacia, this shelter was run by Aguila, Inc. The NYC Department of Homeless Services took the contract away from Aguila in order to reduce costs, and transferred the shelter to the Acacia Network.

 
In February, 2015, the Acacia Network submitted a contract to the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) for services to be provided to the homeless families including security.  

Nine months later, that contract continues to flounder somewhere between the NYC Department of Homeless Services and NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office, leaving the residents of 941 Intervale Avenue without the proper security and services they need. This situation has forced Acacia Network to borrow money in order to even try to provide minor security services for the families in that shelter, such as staff to check security cameras.  Without these services, the residents are subject to danger and violence.

 
We all know, and it has been widely reported, that NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer is refusing to sign many contracts, forcing organizations throughout the City, such as Acacia Network, to cut services or to borrow money from banks, paying interest and incurring extra expenses which the City of New York may never pay back.

 
As you can see, my dear reader, the incident in which a woman was stabbed, could have been avoided:
 
1. If Acacia Network had been able to do their job and hire the security personnel in order to have someone to check the cameras round-the-clock and provide actual and real security to the shelter residents, and not have to wait for a few days before checking their broken cameras;

 
2. If the New York City Police Department had acted promptly on the report they received showing the perpetrator on the video destroying the security cameras at 941 Intervale Avenue. We all know that people who destroy a security camera do so for a reason, often to prevent a future crime from being recorded;

 
3. If the City of New York’s Department of Homeless Services had been responsible and diligent, knowing that if an agency does not have a properly and officially executed contract, that agency, under their supervision, will not have the necessary resources to provide the needed services that homeless families deserve. If the Department of Homeless Services knew that, they should have had emergency funds available and not have to force the agency to borrow money;  

4. If the NYC Comptroller Mr. Scott Stronger stopped holding up contracts to agencies, placing homeless families in situations where their lives, services and protection are put in jeopardy.  He should not have waited 9 months for an incident like the stabbing of this woman to realize that agencies need resources in order to protect the homeless.

 
You should all know that this mess could have been avoided, and this woman who was stabbed would not be suffering today if all of the agencies mentioned above would have done their part.
 
You should also know that if I were a relative of the woman who was stabbed, I would be taking her to consult a lawyer to see what her options are.

 
I am Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.

  

Changing Course: Keeping Kids Out of Gangs

 
By Nancy Ritter, Thomas R. Simon and Reshma R. Mahendra

A new book offers evidence-based principles that can halt the cascading impact of gangs on youth, families, neighborhoods and society at large.

The gang problem in the United States has remained stubbornly persistent over the past decade. Here are the facts:

• One in three local law enforcement agencies in 2010 reported youth gang problems in their jurisdiction.
• In a 2010 national survey, 45 percent of high school students and 35 percent of middle-schoolers said that there were gangs — or students who considered themselves part of a gang — in their school.
• Nearly one in 12 youth said they belonged to a gang at some point during their teenage years.

Public health and public safety workers who respond to gang problems know that after-the-fact responses are not sufficient. An emergency department doctor who treats gang-related gunshot wounds and a law enforcement officer who must tell a mother that her son has been killed in a drive-by shooting are both likely to stress the need for prevention — and the complementary roles that public health and law enforcement must play — in stopping violence before it starts.
 
But how can we prevent gang-joining, especially during a time of limited national, state, tribal and local budgets? To help meet the challenge, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) engaged some of the nation's top criminal justice and public health researchers to explore what the evidence shows. The result of that effort is the book Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership and its companion executive summary, which are available in print, Web and e-book formats.

Click here for the full article.

Source: The National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Program

Trailblazers in Black History: Sgt. Henry Johnson, World War 1 Hero

Published on YouTube on Nov 9, 2015

November 9, 2015 - Albany, NY - Governor Cuomo announced that the Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Sgt. Henry Johnson, an Albany resident, for his heroism during World War I is now on display in the War Room of the New York State Capitol.

Today in History: November 16th

Answers Demanded After Black Man Shot During Altercation With Police

Minnesota authorities are investigating the shooting of the man identifies as Jamar Clark in Minneapolis. Lou Raguse of KARE reports.

Paris Attacks Transform the 2016 Presidential Conversation

The attacks are overshadowing the presidential campaign as Hillary Clinton is now trying to distance herself somewhat with President Obama, who recently said ISIS had been contained.

'Anonymous' Hackers Declare War on ISIS in Video Message

 

By Holly Ellyatt, CNBC

The hacker group Anonymous has apparently responded to the attacks on Paris by posting a video declaration of war against ISIS.

In the as-yet-unverified video, posted on YouTube, a spokesperson wearing the group's signature Guy Fawkes mask said the group of hackers would use its expertise to wage "war" on the militant group.

"Expect massive cyber attacks. War is declared. Get prepared," the announcer says in French. 

Click here for the full article and corresponding videos.

Source: NBC News 

Obama, Putin Go Head to Head on G20 Sidelines

 

By NBC News and Reuters

BELEK, Turkey — Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama talked to each other for more than 30 minutes in an informal meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Turkey on Sunday.

The presidents and two associates could be seen in an intense huddle in a group of chairs around a coffee table on the sidelines of the meeting of international heads of state.

"President Obama and President Putin agreed on the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, which would be proceeded by UN-mediated negotiations between the Syrian opposition and regime as well a ceasefire," a White House official said. 

Click here for the full article and related videos. 

Source: NBC News 

Kurdish Forces Discover Two Mass Graves After Freeing Iraqi Town from ISIL Control

Source: Euronews

Lebanon Arrests Terror Suspects, Including Several Syrians

Source: Euronews

Paris Attacks: Terror Suspect Salah Abdeslam Still at Large Despite Reports of Arrest

Source: Euronews

French Jets Bomb ISIL Stronghold in Syria

Source: Euronews

Questions Asked Over Syrian Passport Found By Body of a Paris Suicide Bomber

Source: Euronews

Paris: The Faces Behind the Headlines

Source: Euronews

Parisians Gather in Place de la République Despite the State of Emergency

Source: Euronews

French Islamic Community Fears Backlash Following Paris Attacks

Source: Euronews