Gil Scott-Heron - "Work for Peace" (pass it on)

"Work for Peace" - ten years after the Iraq War was declared and began on the basis of WMDs


We Beg Your Pardon America


"B" Movie


We Almost Lost Detroit


Pieces of a Man


Revolution will not be Televised


H2O Watergate Blues

Mudslide in the Northwest

An aerial photo shows a landslide near Coupeville, Wash. on Whidbey Island, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The slide severely damaged one home and isolated or threatened more than 30 on the island (to enlarge photo, double click on photo)


People look over a cliff caused by a landslide on Whidbey Island, Washington. Courtesy of KING 5 News

President Obama: ‘Shame on us if we’ve forgotten’ victims of Newtown

Story by The Hill
Video by CBS
Written by Justin Sink

President Obama made an emotional plea for Congress to pass gun-control legislation, telling the political world “shame on us” if it has forgotten the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School less than 100 days ago.

“Shame on us if we've forgotten,” The President said Thursday at a White House event where he was flanked by more than a dozen mothers whose children were the victims of gun violence.

The President paused for effect several times in his remarks, stating: “I haven't forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we've forgotten.”

Tears and sobs from the women surrounding Obama punctuated the president's call to action.

“Tears aren't enough. Expressions of sympathy aren't enough. Speeches aren't enough,” Obama said.

“We've cried enough. We've known enough heartbreak. What we're proposing isn't radical. It isn't taking anybody's gun rights. It's something that, if we are serious, we will do.”

The audience in the White House’s East Room included families of three of the 20 children killed in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting that led to a new push on Capitol Hill for gun control legislation.

The mother of a Chicago girl killed walking to school just days after performing at the president's inauguration was also in the crowd. The pain was evident on the faces of many of those in attendance, with those on stage and in the audience openly weeping.

The president is looking to build momentum for a package of new gun control measures to be considered by the Senate early next month.

The legislation would expand background checks on firearm purchases, create new penalties on straw purchases and include new funding for school security.

The bill will not include other aspects of the plan introduced by the president in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting, including the renewal of an assault weapons ban or limits on magazine capacity — although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pledged to allow a vote on those provisions as an amendment.

President Obama stressed that polling showed strong support for many provisions of the Senate bill, even among Republicans and gun owners.

“If you think that checking someone’s criminal record before he can check out at a gun show is common sense, make yourself heard,” the President said.

“If they're not part of that 90 percent that agree that we should make it harder for a criminal or someone with a severe mental illness to get a gun, you should ask them why not.”

But polling also indicates that support for new gun controls is weakening. A survey from CBS News released Thursday showed 47 percent of people in the United States believe gun control laws should be stricter, down 10 points from the immediate aftermath of the Newtown shooting.

Some Senate Democrats have also expressed hesitation about new gun controls, making the prospects for legislation uncertain.

On Thursday, President Obama urged those watching to "make themselves heard right now" and continue exerting political pressure.

"We need everybody to remember how we felt 100 days ago and to make sure what we said wasn't just a bunch of platitudes," the President said.

The White House said earlier in the week that the president would advocate on behalf of his gun plans in a series of public events in coming weeks, including a visit on Wednesday to Denver.

President Obama is being aided in his push by Organizing for Action, the political organization birthed from his reelection campaign. The group was hosting more than 100 events across the country on Thursday to support gun control efforts.

In Washington, President Obama signaled a willingness to take on the gun lobby over the Senate legislation. He warned opponents were attempting to “run out the clock,” hoping that memories of the mass shooting would fade.

“They're doing everything they can to make all our progress under the weight of fear and frustration,” the President said.

Republicans on Capitol Hill appeared largely unmoved by the appeal.

“The proposals the president is calling for Congress to pass would primarily serve to reduce the constitutionally protected rights of law-abiding citizens while having little or no effect on violent crime,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said.

Later Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged that some Democrats in the Senate might be among the group Obama admonished to not "get squishy because time has passed and it's not on the news every single day."

"I'm confident the President will be speaking to both Democrats and Republicans about support for these proposals," Earnest said.

The deputy press secretary said Obama would likely lobby Republican senators on gun control when he sits down for a dinner with them on April 10.

"This is something that is a legislative priority of the president," Earnest said. "I'm confident it will come up in the dinner."

Swearing-in Ceremony of Julia Pierson as the Director of the U.S. Secret Service

President Obama delivers remarks at a swearing-in ceremony for Julia Pierson as the Director of the U.S. Secret Service.

In Challenge to Roe v. Wade, North Dakota Enacts Law Banning Nearly All Abortions

Story and Video from Democracy Now

On Tuesday, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law three bills that could effectively ban abortion in the state and set up a major legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion — at least in the first three months of pregnancy.

One measure blocks abortions after an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, which can happen at six weeks of pregnancy or even earlier.

Another bill would make North Dakota the first state to ban abortions based on genetic defects, such as Down’s syndrome.

A third bill, aimed at shuttering North Dakota’s only abortion clinic, will require all physicians who perform abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

In the video above, we speak to Tammi Kromenaker, the director of the Red River Women’s Center, which is the state’s only abortion provider. We also speak to one of the Republicans who voted against the anti-abortion bills. Transcript on interview of above video is below.

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: We turn to a major development in women’s access to abortion in this country. This time, ground zero is North Dakota. On Tuesday, Governor Jack Dalrymple signed into law three bills that could effectively ban abortion in North Dakota and set up a major legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion 40 years ago—at least in the first three months of pregnancy. One measure blocks abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen at six weeks of pregnancy or even earlier. Another bill would make North Dakota the first state to ban abortions based on genetic defects, such as Down’s syndrome. A third bill will require all physicians who perform abortions in the state to have admitting and staff privileges at a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, a fourth bill has passed in both the North Dakota House and Senate that would amend the state’s constitution to grant fertilized eggs the same rights as U.S. citizens. Voters are expected to decide on that amendment in November, while the other measures are set to go into effect on August 1st.

We’re joined right now by two guests, in Fargo and Bismarck. In Fargo, Tammi Kromenaker is with us, director of the Red River Women’s Center, the state’s only abortion provider. In the capital, Bismarck, we’re joined by one of the Republicans who voted against the anti-choice bills, Kathy Hawken. She has been a state representative representing District 46, which includes parts of Fargo, since 1996.

I want to welcome you both to Democracy Now! We’re going to go to [Bismarck] first, to Kathy Hawken. Explain the significance of this bill, that sets North Dakota apart from the rest of the nation, the strictest abortion ban in the country. How did it happen? And your response to your friend, Governor Dalrymple, signing it?

REP. KATHY HAWKEN: There is a—we’re a very conservative state, and I think that’s part of the reason that North Dakota was targeted. Although the local sponsors say that it didn’t come from outside, if you compare the bills from around the country, they’re certainly very similar. We are conservative. They knew they could probably get this through. And they did, despite the fact that there are, I think, a number of North Dakotans—I was listening while we were waiting for you and heard the representative from Minnesota saying she had made a politically expedient vote. I feel that there are a number of my colleagues who made politically expedient votes on this issue.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about your relationship with Governor Dalrymple—you have been a longtime friend of his—where you stand, what his attitude is toward this, why he signed these. Did it surprise you?

REP. KATHY HAWKEN: I haven’t talked to Jack, but we have a 40-year friendship. And I guess I was very hopeful. I knew that this was a tough decision for him because of the political climate in the state, but I was very hopeful that he would in fact veto them. My disappointment is huge at this point. And he’ll still be my friend, but it’s—I’m extremely disappointed.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to turn right now to Tammi Kromenaker, director of the Red River Women’s Center, North Dakota’s only abortion clinic. Tammi, what do these laws mean for you? And go through them one by one.

TAMMI KROMENAKER: Well, House Bill 1305, which is the sex selection and genetic abnormality, you know, we’re looking into the impact of that one. I’ve never had a woman present at our clinic who says, "I’m having this abortion because of the sex of the pregnancy." And by the time a genetic abnormality is found, most women are past the point where we can see them at our clinic—we go to about 16 weeks.

House Bill 1456, which is the heartbeat bill—and I’m glad that you said six weeks or sooner. Six weeks into pregnancy is actually, you know, four weeks from conception, so that’s even earlier than some people are realizing. They didn’t come right out and say it has to be detected by a transvaginal ultrasound, but we can assume that’s what they mean. They didn’t want to jump into that fray, but that one’s the most blatantly unconstitutional, and we’re so thankful that the Center for Reproductive Rights has vowed to challenge that.

S.B. 2305, which is the admitting privileges bill, you know, we can just look to Mississippi, where the same type of bill has been passed. The very qualified physicians there have been unable to gain admitting privileges, partly because the hospitals don’t want to jump into this contentious battle. And the bill limited us, our ability to try and gain privileges, at only two hospitals within 30 miles. And one has a requirement that you have to have at least 10 admissions a year. Well, there is absolutely no way that we’ll be able to meet that standard. We’ve had one woman in 10 years who’s been admitted to the hospital. And any physician who admitted 10 patients a year simply wouldn’t be welcome at Red River Women’s Clinic; that would mean they weren’t a competent physician.

AMY GOODMAN: How will you continue with your clinic, the only one in North Dakota, Tammi? How this is going to change your daily operations?

TAMMI KROMENAKER: Well, first of all, none of the bills go into effect until August 1st, so we definitely have time to attempt to see if there’s any way that the hospitals will give privileges to our physicians. The House Bill 1456, the Center for Reproductive Rights will surely file a temporary injunction to stop the pass—or stop that bill from going into effect. You know, we go to court with the state next month, in April, on a bill that they passed in 2011. So we’re already engaged in litigation with the state. And a judge in that case did give us a temporary injunction, because judges give those injunctions because they feel that the plaintiff will prevail. And that was on a medication abortion case, not this much more blatantly unconstitutional House Bill 1456, the heartbeat ban. So what we want to reassure our patients and we’ve put on our website and on social media posts is that we’re open, we’re still here, we’re still able to offer abortion services. And I believe that we will prevail. And unfortunately, this will just be a giant waste of time, energy and taxpayer dollars.

AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday, North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple called on the state’s Legislative Assembly to appropriate funds for the attorney general to defend the newly passed anti-abortion measures. Meanwhile, a conservative nonprofit group, Liberty Counsel, has offered to defend the laws pro bono, saying, quote, "Cost should not be a part of Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s decision to sign or veto the bills. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant," they wrote. This is a comment of North Dakota State Senator Margaret Sitte, who supported the bills.

SEN. MARGARET SITTE: You know, there are lots of organizations that have lined up and said that they will defend the state in these life bills. There is the Liberty Counsel, Thomas More Law Society. Many organizations are standing ready to join with our attorney general, and they have sent us emails saying they will bear the entire cost to defend these bills.

AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to her colleague, North Dakota State Representative Kathy Hawken in Bismarck. Congress—legislator Hawken, talk about the forces outside the state that are involved in this legislation.

REP. KATHY HAWKEN: I was not aware of that last little bit about—I’m in the House, and Senator Sitte obviously is in the Senate, and we don’t visit all that often. That leads to the point of, this is outside forces. There isn’t any doubt that these are people who are moving—are trying to move our state in a direction that I don’t believe the majority of the people here do. I’m hopeful that the constitutional amendment will be defeated. And that was part of the reason I was hoping that Governor Dalrymple would veto the other bills, because we do have a bill that—or a constitutional amendment that’s going to go to the people, and we could let the voters decide. It wouldn’t cost the state the legal money, and we could put it to good use doing education funding or child care funding. There are so many needs, and to do it in court just seems like not a valuable use of money.

AMY GOODMAN: The personhood amendment, State Representative Kathy Hawken, explain.

REP. KATHY HAWKEN: It’s terrifying. You know, medical advances have enabled us to do in vitro fertilization. I have many friends that have grandchildren because of this wonderful medical advancement. My husband gave his brother a kidney, and as a result, my brother-in-law is alive. This kind of legislation could prevent that. End-of-life decisions could be excluded so that you would be kept alive, whether you chose to or not. You would have no control over your life. So, the embryo-gets-citizenship bill is terrifying.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to a clip of the so-called personhood amendment that would endow fertilized eggs with all the rights of U.S. citizens. This is the first time both the state House and Senate have approved such a measure, which would effectively outlaw abortion. Gualberto Garcia Jones, a legal analyst for Personhood USA, which backed the measure, said the amendment, quote, "takes the pro-life plank of the GOP platform and puts it into practice. Furthermore, it allows the legislature the needed flexibility to implement the specific protections of the right to life through future legislation." We’ll end with Tammi Kromenaker. Your response to this and the role of groups like Personhood USA? Very quickly, we have 30 seconds.

TAMMI KROMENAKER: Well, these groups come into states that they think are vulnerable, and they push their own agenda on these states. And as Representative Hawken has said, I don’t believe this is what everyday North Dakotans want. They don’t want outside forces coming in. And it’s just absolutely disgusting that some of these legislators—not Kathy Hawken—have allowed this to happen in our state.

AMY GOODMAN: Tammi, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Tammi Kromenaker is the director of the Red River Women’s Center, which is North Dakota’s only abortion clinic, speaking to us from Prairie Public Broadcasting, the PBS station in Fargo, North Dakota. And thank you to the longtime Republican state representative in North Dakota, in Bismarck, Kathy Hawken. She’s speaking to us from the Dakota Media Access, a community TV station that also broadcasts Democracy Now! in North Dakota.

Robert L. Johnson Releases a National African American Opinion Poll On The Obama Presidency, Unemployment, Economic Opportunity and Social Issues

Black Opinions in the Age of Obama: Results of a National Zogby Poll
Video Link: http://www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?id=10737439005

Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies and founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), today announced the results of a national poll commissioned by Zogby Analytics that reveals current African American sentiment on a range of issues that include the state of national affairs, race relations, employment, and a variety of current political and social issues. Johnson announced the results of the Zogby poll during his remarks today at a National Press Club Luncheon.

“I commissioned this poll for a number of reasons,” said Johnson“ First, for African Americans, this country has experienced the most historic political event and that is the election and re-election of the first African American president, Barack Obama. Because of this, I wanted to find out how African Americans today feel about Obama’s presidency and equally important, if they feel that their lives are better off having lived under the first four years of Obama and the prospect of an Obama Administration for the next four years,” he continued.

“Second, the country has experienced the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and African Americans have been the hardest hit. Today, African Americans continue to have double the rate of unemployment and less access to capital, and whereas, African Americans were once the largest ethnic minority group and the dominant minority political voice, they are now confronted with the growing political influence of the Hispanic population, which may directly impact competition for jobs and minority business opportunities,” he continued.

“Further, I wanted to create a discussion within the Black community and the broader community to bring to the forefront of public debate key issues of primary concern to African Americans. I am pleased to say that I am intrigued by the results of the poll and I believe better informed,” he noted.

The poll reveals that African Americans have an immense sense of pride in Barack Obama as President of the United States and he is unequivocally liked. He receives a 91% favorable rating. Seventy-two percent believe that President Obama’s election has helped them while only 4% believe his election has hurt them.

African Americans believe that President Obama’s election has helped them. A majority of those polled –62 percent –are optimistic about employment in the next four years.

On the issue of employment, the poll reveals that thirty percent of respondents believe they are doing better off financially than compared to four years ago; however, the most recent jobs report shows an ongoing high rate of unemployment within the African American community. When polled on why African Americans believe Black unemployment is consistently double that of whites, responses include: failure of the education system for minorities, lack of corporate commitment to hiring minorities, and a failure of government policies for hiring practices.

The poll was conducted by John Zogby and Zogby Analytics. One thousand and two randomly selected African American adults were polled by telephone and online survey. The complete survey results and remarks from today’s National Press Club Luncheon can be found online at www.rljcompanies.com/news.

Video link: http://www.c-span.org/flvPop.aspx?id=10737439005

Nationwide Poll of African American Adults on most trusted leaders

Zogby Analytics was commissioned by Robert L. Johnson to conduct an online survey of 1002 African American adults in the United States. All calls were made from February 14 through February 20, 2013.

Which of the following speaks for you most often?

Person Percent (%)

1. Reverend Al Sharpton, Talk Show Host/National Action Network 24
2. Reverend Jesse Jackson, Rainbow PUSH Coalition 11
3. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D‐CA) 9
4. Benjamin Jealous, President & CEO, NAACP 8
5. Assistant Democratic Leader, Congressman James E. Clyburn (D‐SC) 5
6. Marc H. Morial, President & CEO, National Urban League 2
7. Michael Steele, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee 2
8. None of the above 40

A plurality (40%) say that none of the people listed speaks for them. The person who is most often speaks for respondents is Reverend Al Sharpton (24%). About one in ten say that Reverend Jackson (11%) and Representative Maxine Waters (9%) speaks for them, while 8% say that Ben Jealous of the NAACP most often speaks for them.
One in twenty say that Representative Clyburn speaks for them, while one in fifty each say that Marc Morial and Michael Steele most often speaks for them.

Michigan ‘czars’ strip away citizens’ rights

Commentary by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
March 25, 2013

Imagine Gov. George Wallace of Alabama in 1963 appointing an emergency manager in Birmingham with broad powers to dismiss elected officials, renegotiate contracts, sell assets and become sole authority of the city’s pension funds a month after the voters rejected the emergency manager law in a statewide referendum? What would Dr. King have written from his Birmingham jail cell?

Emergencies can force people to come together. They can also be used by the powerful to impose policies that would otherwise be rejected. Author Naomi Klein called this the “shock doctrine,” using a crisis to overcome democratic resistance.

The state of Michigan is in crisis. The Great Recession added to the collapse of the auto industry. Wrong-headed trade policies hollowed out a proud manufacturing center. When the recession hit, revenues sank, costs rose. Conservatives took over the state government and cut funds to cities in revenue sharing. Detroit, Flint and other cities hit the wall financially.

Conservative Republicans passed a harsh emergency manager (EM) law that empowered the governor to appoint virtually a czar with powers to strip elected officials of their powers and their salaries, break contracts, sell off assets and act as a virtual dictator. Benton Harbor, Allen Park, Ecorse and Flint were placed under emergency managers.

Last November, Michigan voters struck down the EM law in a statewide referendum. A stunning 82 percent of Detroit voters rejected it. But the lame-duck Republican state Legislature scorned the majority and enacted a new EM law the following month.

And now conservative Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed his czar to take over Detroit beginning this week. Almost one half of African Americans in Michigan are governed by these czars, effectively having their democratic rights stripped away.

Financial crises force gruesome choices. Work forces have to be reduced; services cut back. Pension and health-care promises come under review. These difficult choices — and the shared sacrifices needed — make democratic representation most important. Elected leaders must seek to gain public support for harsh choices. And the public can hold them accountable if the choices seem unfair or unwise.

Trampling democracy and installing an outside emergency manager opens the way not for tough, accountable choices, but for plunder. Assets are sold off at fire sale prices. Creditors are made whole, while unions are busted and contracts broken. Appointing an emergency manager will not only, as state Sen. Coleman Young Jr. concluded, “destroy democracy in Detroit,” it will expose people to predatory choices.

In Pontiac, crisis management has yielded the sale of the Silverdome for $583,000 — although it cost nearly $56 million to build. In Benton Harbor, an emergency manager sold city-owned, lakefront property to a development company for a prestigious golf course that the majority of residents cannot afford to play.

Much of this crisis is not of Detroit’s making. Detroit didn’t hollow out the auto industry. Detroit didn’t blow up the housing bubble and sink the economy. Yes, the citizens of Detroit will face even harder times, but they don’t need an unelected czar to sell off the city and break its unions. They need a plan to rebuild Detroit.

When Wall Street’s excesses blew up the economy, Washington devoted trillions to bail out the big banks and ensure that the financial system would not collapse. Now we need a plan for urban reconstruction, one that will provide hope to cities that are acting responsibly. We need a plan to rebuild Detroit, not a czar to sell off its assets in a fire sale to private interests.

50 years ago Loyola made NCAA Basketball History

The Loyola University Ramblers (Chicago, Illinois) won the 1963 NCAA basketball tournament. Their journey was historic. Loyola won 1963 NCAA title with four black starters, three years before Texas Western won with five.

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/tourney/2013/03/13/loyola-chicago-ramblers-ncaa-tournament-championship-50-year-anniversary/1973795/

Israel fires into Syria after Golan attack on troops

Story by Reuters
Written by Dan Williams and Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM — Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel held Syrian troops or rebels responsible for what a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said had been a deliberate attack on Israeli patrols in the occupied territory.

Israeli forces "destroyed a Syrian machine gun nest that fired twice in the last 24 hours on Israeli patrols operating to safeguard the border," the spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, said on his Twitter page.

Shells have fallen several times inside Israeli-controlled territory during Syria's civil war. Some of the incidents have drawn Israeli return fire.

Syria's southern provinces bordering Jordan and Israel have become an increasingly significant battleground as the capital Damascus - in Syria's south - comes into play and President Bashar al-Assad's forces fight hard to prevent rebel advances.

The Israeli military said one of its vehicles was hit late on Saturday by shooting from across the Israeli-Syrian ceasefire line on the Golan Heights, but no one was hurt.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, said, "Our understanding is that it wasn't stray fire."

After a second incident on Sunday, Israeli soldiers "responded with accurate fire toward the Syrian post from which they were fired on", the military said.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement that Israel viewed shooting from Syria "with severity" and would not allow "the Syrian army or any other element to violate Israeli sovereignty by firing at our territory".

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the strategic plateau in 1981 in a move that has not won international recognition.

"Any ... fire from the Syrian side will be answered immediately by silencing the sources of fire when we identify them," Yaalon said.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official, said battles between Syrian government forces and Syrian rebels sometimes take place just a short distance from Israeli lines.

"At times, shells or bullets are fired at Israel. Usually the shooting (from Syria) is not deliberate, but it doesn't matter," he told Army Radio.

"Israel should not be the target of any attack, whether intentional or unintentional - because after all, if you accept something that was unintentional, that could lead to something intentional in the end," Gilad said.

Israel has said for months that it expects Assad's government to fall and has voiced concern that its chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and al Qaeda.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has called for Assad to step down.

Genachowski confirms he’ll exit FCC.

Story by Inside Radio

Four years after he was tapped to lead the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski confirms he’ll be leaving the agency “in the coming weeks.”

During a meeting with FCC staff on Friday, Genachowski listed his accomplishments – largely focusing on broadband expansion.

He did note that it was on his watch that there was the “largest expansion of community radio” with new rules governing low-power FM.

BREAKING NEWS: FAA closing 149 air traffic control towers due to sequester cuts

Story by AP

The Federal Aviation Administration says it will close 149 air traffic control towers at small airports around the country because of federal budget cuts.

The agency announced the decision Friday, a month after it released a preliminary list of facilities that could be closed.

All of the affected airports will remain open. Pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with no help from ground controllers. That's something they are trained to do, but airport directors have raised concerns about the potential impact on safety.

In an accompanying statement, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta says the agency will take steps to ensure safe operations at the affected airports.

Dr. Raymond Tanter, Visiting professor of political science at Georgetown University

Video by France24

This week, President Barack Obama is visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories. One of the main issues on the table will be the Iranian nuclear programme. For more, Melissa Bell speaks to Raymond Tanter, who served on the senior staff of the National Security Council during the Reagan administration and is now a visiting professor of political science at Georgetown University.

President Obama Holds a Press Conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel hold a press conference in Jerusalem.

Nationally Syndicated Radio Host Michael Baisden Bids Farewell to Radio

Michael Baisdan

Story by AP

Nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Baisden announced a hiatus from his radio show yesterday on his Facebook. Baisden, who commands a daily audience of over seven million listeners, states he is unable to discuss the particulars but concluded that a deal could not be made on mutually agreeable terms. Recognized as one of the most influential men in radio, his "Michael Baisden Show" is one of the top rated afternoon drive radio programs heard in the top urban markets. He is also a TV talk show host, filmmaker and New York Times best-selling author with nearly two million books in print.

Now in his tenth year on the air, Baisden wants his radio family to know he did everything in his power to continue his "Michael Baisden Show" without interruption. Cumulas Media responded to his Facebook announcement by locking out the staff from the studio.

"Just because we couldn't come to an agreement is no reason to deprive the listeners, our affiliates, and our advertisers of only 9 days to say goodbye and show our appreciation," expressed Baisden.

"We're already planning to return to the air as soon as possible in a way that will give the 'Michael Baisden Show' a more direct relationship with our affiliates, and most importantly, our listeners," cites Pamela Exum, his business manager.

Roland Martin out at CNN

TV1's Roland Martin and I at the Roland Martin St. Jude Inauguration Ball and Fund Raiser

Story by Politico
Written by Dylan Byers

CNN spokesperson Edie Emery confirms that Roland Martin's contract will end in the first week of April.

CNN analyst Roland Martin says that he is leaving the network on April 6 due to a decision made by new president Jeff Zucker -- an announcement that the network has yet to confirm.

"Last day at @cnn is April 6," Martin wrote on Twitter this morning. In response to a question from a follower regarding the decision, Martin wrote, "new boss wants his own peeps."

Martin did not immediately respond to request for comment. CNN spokespeople also did not respond to a request for confirmation.

Martin, also a syndicated columnist and analyst for TV One, was suspended from the network last year after writing controversial tweets that were interpreted as homophobic by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Martin emails POLITICO:

[My] agents notified me that they had been informed that at the conclusion of the two month extension granted in February, my last day at CNN would be April 6.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my little over six years there. There are many folks I will miss dearly, especially wonderful colleagues like Josanne Lopez, Soledad O'Brien, Ali Velshi, and so many bookers and producers.

But I also miss the folks I tried to speak for and represent the most when I was on the air: the men and the women who worked on the crew; the security guards; and even the janitorial workers. Those were the people I most spoke for; those were the people who would cheer me on as I walked down the streets, in the grocery store; and at airports.

I have had the likes of Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and others in sports and entertainment thank me for being an unwavering and unapologetic voice of truth, and unwilling to back down when someone needed to stand up.

Before I signed with CNN, I sat in the lobby of 1 Time Warner Center and said, "God, if it's your will to be here, then so be it.' I said the same these last two months.

I've worked hard to ensure that my voice wasn't heard in one place. I will continue with my show on TV One, a network I was with before CNN; will continue my daily segment on the Tom Joyner Morning Show; and will continue my nationally syndicated column.

In my final days at CNN when I'm on the air, I will to do as the Tuskegee Airmen did, fight to the last hour, last minute, last second, for what is right. And I will do that as long as there is breath in my body.

Freddie Mac Sues Multiple Banks Over Libor Manipulation

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Tom Schoenberg & Andrew Zajac

Freddie Mac (FMCC) sued Bank of America Corp., UBS AG (UBSN), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and a dozen other banks over alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, saying the mortgage financier suffered substantial losses as a result of the companies’ conduct.

Government-owned Freddie Mac accuses the banks of acting collectively to hold down the U.S. dollar Libor to “hide their institutions’ financial problems and boost their profits,” according to a complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

“Defendants’ fraudulent and collusive conduct caused USD LIBOR to be published at rates that were false, dishonest, and artificially low,” Richard Leveridge, a lawyer for Freddie Mac, said in the complaint, which was made public yesterday.

Manipulation of interest rates by some of the world’s biggest banks has spawned probes by half a dozen agencies on three continents in what has become the industry’s largest and longest-running scandal. More than $300 trillion of loans, mortgages, financial products and contracts are linked to Libor.

Libor is calculated by a poll carried out daily by Thomson Reuters Corp. on behalf of the British Bankers’ Association, an industry lobby group that asks firms to estimate how much it would cost to borrow from each other for different periods and in different currencies.

Dozen Banks

The complaint lists 15 banks as defendants as well as the British Bankers’ Association. They include Citigroup Inc. (C), Barclays Plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), the Royal Bank of Canada, Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG. (CSGN)

Freddie Mac accuses the banks of fraud, violations of antitrust law and breach of contract. The housing financier is seeking unspecified damages for financial harm, as well as punitive damages and treble damages for violations of the Sherman Act.

“To the extent that defendants used false and dishonest USD LIBOR submissions to bolster their respective reputations, they artificially increased their ability to charge higher underwriting fees and obtain higher offering prices for financial products to the detriment of Freddie Mac and other consumers,” the U.S.-owned company said in the complaint.

Banks Named

Representatives of the banks who declined to comment on the lawsuit were Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for New York-based Citigroup; Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for New York-based JPMorgan; Brandon Ashcraft, a Barclays spokesman; Bill Halldin, a Bank of America spokesman; Victoria Harmon, a spokeswoman for Credit Suisse; and Ed Canaday, a spokesman for Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland.

Eberhard Roll, a Portigon AG spokesman, didn’t respond to e-mail and phone messages requesting comment.

Calls to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. and Norinchukin Bank, both of Tokyo, which also were named in the complaint, weren’t answered on a public holiday.

“The BBA is aware of the lawsuit in the United States and is unable to comment,” Brian Mairs, a spokesman for British Bankers’ Association, said in an e-mail.

Brad German, a spokesman for McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac, said the company doesn’t comment on litigation. Denise Dunckel, a spokeswoman for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator of Freddie Mac, also declined to comment.

Freddie Mac and its sister company, Washington-based Fannie Mae, could have lost a combined $3 billion because of Libor manipulation, the auditor of the FHFA said in a Nov. 3 internal memo urging the regulator to investigate further.

Floating Rate

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae use Libor to determine interest payments on their investments in floating-rate financial instruments such as bonds and swaps.

The two companies, which package mortgages into securities on which they guarantee payments of principal and interest, have been under U.S. conservatorship since 2008.

Barclays, UBS and RBS have been fined more than $2.5 billion following a global probe into Libor manipulation. Traders rigged the benchmark to profit from bets on derivatives, while banks sought to submit artificially low rates to appear financially healthier than they were, according to regulators.

From August 2007 and through at least May 2010, the defendants “formed a combination, conspiracy, or agreement,” to submit false Libor rates, Freddie Mac alleged in the complaint.

The case is Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Bank of America Corp. (BAC), 13-cv-00342, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria).

Miami Heat beats Boston Celtics for 23rd win in a row

LeBron James slam dunks over Celtics Jason Terry

The Spinners

"I'll Be Around"


"Games People Play" and "Mighty Love"


"Could It Be I'm Falling in Love"


"Rubber Band Man"


"Love Don't Love Nobody"


"It's A Shame"

Bobby Smith, Co-Founder of The Spinners, Dead at 76

Story by Your Black Word
Written by Malcolm Morrow

The soul music world has lost yet another legendary performer. Bobby Smith, co-founder and co-lead singer of the group The Spinners passed away at age 76.

The Spinners created hit songs such as “I’ll Be Around” and “Rubberband Man.” His family has not released any official statements or memoriam plans. According to SoulTracks.com, “Smith was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and became a fixture on the local music scene with his group mates. He was also the group’s original lead singer, and was the voice on the Spinners’ first hit, ‘That’s What Girls Are Made For’ and shared the lead with Philippe Wynne – and later, John Edwards – on the group’s biggest hits in the 1970s, including ‘I’ll Be Around,’ ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love,’ and ‘Games People Play.’”

I grew up listening to music from The Spinners and it’s saddening to hear of Mr. Smith’s passing, I will continue to follow this story as more details are released. We send our condolences and prayers to his family and hope that his soul is at rest.

Turnaround specialist Kevyn Orr named Detroit emergency manager

Kevyn Orr at his first press conference just before being named Detroit's emergency financial manager. He appeared with Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. (Photo by Tanya Moutzalias)

Story by Michigan Live
Written by Khalil AlHajal

DETROIT, MI -- Gov. Rick Snyder recommended bankruptcy attorney Kevyn Orr take over the city of Detroit as an emergency financial manager.

Orr appeared with Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Thursday for the announcement. His appointment should be finalized this afternoon by the Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board.

The decision comes after months of talks, proposals, financial reviews, hearings, confrontations and protests.

During the press conference, Orr said he could complete a financial turnaround of Detroit within 18 months. He also said he resigned his job in Washington D.C. yesterday to take the emergency manager job.

Following the 40-minute press conference, Orr met with the loan board to formally accept the position. The board will also set Orr's contract, including salary.

The Detroit News reports this afternoon the Detroit City Council won't legally challenge the emergency manager appointment, which is expected to be finalized in Lansing on Thursday at 3 p.m. by the Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board.

As emergency manger, Orr will have the authority to strip elected officials of their powers and pay, sell city assets and void union contracts.

Activists who oppose state takeovers last year got the Michigan law granting those sweeping powers repealed in a state referendum.

Lawmakers passed similar new legislation that goes into effect this month, and as a takeover began to appear inevitable in recent days, protestors started staging highway demonstrations, slowing traffic to a crawl. Some have said they'll continue to take drastic action, including forming a human chain around City Hall to keep out an emergency manager.

The new emergency manger law, Public Act 436, did include a significant change from the rejected version.

It gives elected officials in local governments under financial emergency the choice of bringing in an emergency manger, continuing a consent agreement with the state, mediation or bankruptcy.

But Detroit doesn't have that choice, because the law doesn't go into effect until March 27.

Other Michigan governments under state-appointed emergency mangers include Flint, Pontiac, Ecorse, Allen Park, Benton Harbor and the Highland Park, Detroit and Muskegon Heights school districts.

An emergency manager in Detroit would be handed the responsibility of addressing the city's $327 million deficit and $14 billion in long-term debt.

The gargantuan task involves restructuring debt and reorganizing government under the cloud of outdated and faulty technological systems, massive debt service payments, rampant crime and vast blight throughout most of the city.

Mayor Dave Bing and City Council, though frequently butting heads along the way, implemented dozens of reforms, dramatic cuts and efforts to raise revenue in recent months.

But the changes, which included cuts to employee wages, park closures, fire station closures, police unit disbandment, major outsourcing moves, health care changes and other desperate measures like selling scrap metal from abandoned vehicles, weren't enough, according to a review team that studied the city's finances.

The review team, led by state Treasurer Andy Dillon, last month determined that the city was in financial emergency with no "satisfactory" reform plan, setting the stage for Snyder to launch a takeover.

Bing disputed the assertion that there is no viable plan in place and questioned some of the numbers reported by the review -- including the $14 billion long-term debt estimation that includes obligations from separate, revenue-generating entities like the water department -- but ultimately chose to stop fighting a state takeover.

He announced last week that he wants to cooperate with an emergency manager, rather than continue to resist.

City Council, knowing that it was unlikely to sway the governor, appealed the state's moves toward a takeover, telling a Treasury official in a hearing this week that the consent agreement implemented last year should have been given more time.

City lawyers argued that an emergency manger will renew legal and employee morale challenges that began with the state's involvement last year and were only recently overcome.

The council has been considering filing a lawsuit against a state takeover.

The mayor, meanwhile, announced this week that he has chosen the Cleveland-based Jones Day law firm to serve as the city's "restructuring counsel."

Multiple media outlets, citing sources close to the process, reported that Jones Day partner Kevyn Orr is the governor's top pick for emergency manger.

Orr, a University of Michigan graduate, is a nationally known top bankruptcy lawyer who represented Chrysler in its 2009 restructuring and has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Orr -- who would face opposition from some residents and City Council members who have frequently evoked the civil rights movement in questioning a takeover by a white, Republican governor in a city that is 83-percent black -- is African American.

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz to Move to Weekend Slot

Story by Talkers Magazine

News/talk personality Ed Schultz announced at the end of his Wednesday evening program that he will be vacating the 8:00 pm ET time slot on MSNBC to begin hosting a two-hour weekend program on both Saturday and Sunday – from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm beginning in April. Saying it is “a big opportunity for ‘The Ed Show’ and my brand.” Schultz said on the air that the five-nights-per-week gig isn’t for him and he’s looking forward to more time to prepare stories.

He told viewers, “I raised my hand for this assignment for a number of personal and professional reasons…My fight on ‘The Ed Show’ has been for the workers and the middle class. This new time slot will give me the opportunity to produce and focus on stories that I care about and are important to American families and American workers.” MSNBC offered a congratulatory statement from Phil Griffin but is not announcing just yet who will take over the slot leading into the channel’s prime time star, Rachel Maddow.

Schultz’s program has performed well for the network.

On Tuesday, March 12, for example, Schultz came in second to Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly but beat CNN’s Anderson Cooper in most demographics (in Persons 25-54 Schultz grabbed 195,000 to Cooper’s 170,000, according to TVByTheNumbers.com). Schultz also fared better than his lead-in, Chris Matthews.

Schultz continues to host his nationally syndicated talk radio program.

Pope Francis I: Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is new Catholic leader

Story by NBC News
By Alastair Jamieson and Ian Johnston

VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was named leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday after being elected pope. He will be known as Pope Francis I.

The 76-year-old - the first Jesuit, the first South American and the first non-European pope of the modern era - was introduced to the world from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in front of tens of thousands gathered in the square below.



In Italian, he joked with the rain-soaked crowd before delivering his blessing, saying: "As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world."

“Pray for me and I will see you soon," he told the crowd, asking them to also pray for his predecessor Benedict XVI, who abdicated on Feb. 28. "Have a good evening and rest well.”

About an hour before he emerged, white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel and bells rang out across Rome to signal a decision had been made, prompting cheers and wild applause.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/13/17290508-pope-francis-i-argentinas-cardinal-jorge-mario-bergoglio-is-new-catholic-leader?lite

White smoke rises from Sistine Chapel; new pope elected

Story by NBC News
Written by Alastair Jamieson

VATICAN CITY - White smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel Wednesday and bells rang out across Rome, signaling to world that the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have chosen a new pope.

Cheers, shouts and applause erupted from the soaked crowd that had gathered in St Peter's Square despite torrential rain to await the decision of the 115 cardinal-electors.

The smoke came on the second day of behind-closed-doors voting and marked the beginning to a new era for a church combating scandal and internal strife.

The cardinals are thought to have taken five ballots to reach the two-third majority necessary for a decision.

The name of the new leader of the church's 1.2 billion worshippers was expected to be unveiled imminently on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica overlooking St. Peter's Square. His appearance will be heralded by a Latin announcement begins with the phrase "Habemus Papam!" meaning, "We have a pope!" The papal election follows the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 28. Now known as the Pope Emeritus, he is now in a temporary lakeside residence at Castel Gandolfo while his permanent living quarters inside Vatican City are refurbished.

Shooting that killed 6-month-old likely gang retaliation, source says

Story by Chicago Sun-Times
Written by Frank Main, Mitch Dudek, Lisa Donovan, Stefano Esposito and Fran Spielman

As teddy bears and balloons piled up Tuesday night near the South Side spot where a 6-month-old girl was fatally shot and her father wounded, detectives continued to scour the Woodlawn neighborhood for leads.

“We don’t have one individual who is stepping up to help us,” Supt. Garry McCarthy said.

A police source said Jonathan Watkins may have been targeted in retaliation for alleged links to an earlier robbery and shooting.

“We’re not clear at this point if he’s cooperating,” McCarthy said of Watkins.

Watkins was recovering from bullet wounds at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a funeral was planned for his daughter, Jonylah.

While police are exploring several different angles to the investigation, McCarthy said Tuesday that “there are very strong gang overtones to this event.”

Police sources say Watkins, 29, is a gang member who has been arrested 30 times, including once in 2007 police for illegal possession of a 9mm handgun, which he told police he was carrying for protection, court records show. He received a three-year prison sentence.

Police are tapping the Rev. Corey Brooks, who is acting as the Watkins family spokesman, to assist in obtaining help from hesitant family members.

On Monday afternoon, Watkins was standing on the curb in the 6500 block of South Maryland, changing his daughter’s diaper on the front passenger seat of a minivan, when a gunman emerged unnoticed from a gangway behind him and opened fire. He and Jonylah were injured. She survived emergency surgery but died Tuesday morning.

Brooks initially said Jonylah had been shot five times, but a law enforcement report indicates one bullet entered her right shoulder and exited her left buttocks.

Watkins remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, with gunshot wounds to the side, buttocks and cheek, but he spoke briefly by phone with the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I was trying to help. I was trying to help. I was trying to help her,” Jonathan Watkins said in a weak voice shortly after learning that Jonylah had died.

“They told me she didn’t make it,” Watkins said, his voice cracking with emotion.

He said he has no idea who shot them, although McCarthy said it appeared that he was the “intended victim.”

Watkins recently married his wife, Judy, 20, who works at a McDonald’s restaurant. They live in Woodlawn.

Brooks, who said Jonathan Watkins has two other children from a previous relationship, met with Watkins and his wife Tuesday to pray, but he did not discuss the shooting with them. He is “pretty sedated,” Brooks said.

“I don’t know him to be in a gang,” said Brooks Tuesday night at a memorial for Jonylah.

Also on Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the shooting “a senseless, despicable act of violence that is heartbreaking.”

Although the city saw homicides drop in February by 50 percent from the previous year — a trend continuing into March — Emanuel said that progress in reducing violence “is only one measure.”

Monday’s shooting was Jonylah’s second brush with gun violence. Judy Watkins was shot in the knee less than three blocks from Monday’s shooting when she was eight months pregnant with Jonylah.

Jonathan Watkins and his daughter had been visiting friends in the neighborhood when the shooting occurred, said Mary Young, the baby’s maternal grandmother.

After the shooting, the gunman ran across a vacant lot, hopped into a blue van and drove north.

On Tuesday, Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), a former Chicago Police officer, said he has taken the unprecedented step of calling on gang leaders to essentially deliver the message that, it’s OK to kill each other, but don’t kill innocent people and certainly not kids.

Cochran was joined by several other African-American aldermen and a former gang member at a City Hall news conference to condemn the murder..

“We’ve talked with some of the gang leaders, and we’ve talked about how important it is for them to not harbor offenders that they know are offenders who have committed crimes associated with innocent victims,” Cochran said. “These are acts that are carried out by people on the street. And on the street is where it has to be dealt with.”

Cochran said he never talked to the gang leaders about who shot Jonylah. He simply sought and received a “commitment” from them to pass along an important message.

“Innocent victims are unacceptable. They are out-of-bounds. They’re off-limits,” he said.

Kwame Kilpatrick Guilty: Former Detroit Mayor Found Guilty In Federal Trial

Story by HuffPost Detroit

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of multiple counts of racketeering and extortion, a jury decided Monday. Kilpatrick was convicted of a multitude of charges, including racketeering, extortion, attempted extortion, bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and filing false tax returns. Both Kilpatrick and contractor Bobby Ferguson were found guilty on most counts. Kilpatrick's 71-year-old father, Bernard Kilpatrick, was only found guilty of one tax count.

Jurors deliberated for 15 days before announcing that they were ready to vote on a verdict. The 12 members of this jury have spent 79 hours total deliberating all the details from the five-month trial.

Judge Nancy Edmunds thanked the 12 members of the jury before reading the verdict, saying, "These jurors did an extraordinary job."

According to WXYZ, some jurors have expressed an interest in talking to the media and will address reporters soon.

This is a developing story..

The five month corruption trial alleged that Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick and contractor Bobby Ferguson ran a criminal enterprise out of Detroit’s City Hall. Prosecutors said the former Detroit mayor, who has already served over a year in prison for perjury, spent $840,000 more during his tenure than he earned. They’ve charged the former 42-year-old mayor with 33 criminal offenses that include charges of tax fraud, bribery, extortion and RICO charges. Ferguson and Bernard Kilpatrick have also been accused of racketeering charges.

Kilpatrick defense attorneys deny the charges. They admit that the former mayor accepted cash gifts from his friends, but say he’s broken no laws.

Among other accusations from the case, federal prosecutors have said that Kilpatrick operated a fund for the needy called the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, with the aim of helping Detroiters in need. Instead, they said, the former mayor used the money for yoga classes, golf clubs and vacations.

They’ve also targeted $84 million in contracts given to Kilpatrick’s friend Bobby Ferguson. Detroit businessman Tony Soave and other businesspeople with city work say they were forced to hire Ferguson as a subcontractor if they wanted to win city deals. In court, Soave told jurors that Kilpatrick racked up $389,000 in travel on his private plane.

During the trial, many witnesses claimed that Kilpatrick’s father, Bernard, demanded bribes in exchange for city contracts.

Kilpatrick left Detroit’s City Hall in 2008 after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice related to a text message sex scandal with a former employee. He served about a year in jail for those crimes and agreed to pay the city of Detroit $1 million in restitution.

In January the ex-mayor spent a weekend in jail for violating his parole by not reporting cash gifts he received in 2012.

Colion Noir, the NRA’s ‘urban gun enthusiast,’ is off target

Story by The Grio
Commentary by Jonathan M. Metzl

Last week, the National Rifle Association opened a cynical new front in the debate about gun rights in America with its campaign to promote gun ownership to minority and low-income urban communities. NRANews.com, the Association’s official website, introduced a partnership with Facebook sensation Colion Noir, a young, African-American “urban gun enthusiast” and the first of a promised procession of “diverse commentators” to appear on the NRA site.

Noir’s opening soliloquy contained a simple message: African-Americans need arms to protect themselves against the government.

“No one wants to fight for their protection, they want the government to do it,” Noir intones. “The same government who at one point hosed us down with water, attacked us with dogs, wouldn’t allow us to eat at their restaurants and told us we couldn’t own guns…The only person responsible for your safety is you.”

Perhaps the “diverse commentators” strategy represents an attempt to shift focus away from the stodgy white octogenarians who have been NRA spokespersons in the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy.

But the approach seems particularly disingenuous, even for the NRA. “Urban” America is quite clearly the worst place to introduce more guns. Indeed, guns are already readily available in low-income minority areas, and gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color. African-Americans make up roughly 13 percent of the U.S. population, but in 2010 they suffered 56 percent of all firearm homicides.

Young black men who live in neighborhoods with high gun crime commit more serious acts of violence than teens who have not been exposed. It is far from surprising, then, that African-Americans support gun control far more frequently than do white Americans. A recent PEW survey found that 68 percent of black Americans support gun-control today while only 24 percent support unrestricted gun rights—the percentages were 42 percent and 51 percent for white Americans.

In light of this, Noir’s position that African-Americans should embrace a continued proliferation of assault weapons rather than support legislation that could only reduce guns on the street is baffling—particularly as he does so in the name of personal safety.

So too, gun proliferation enhances the ever-growing threat of violence posed, not just to to the helpless families and citizens caught in the crossfire, but to the persons who help promote “safety” in high density urban areas, such as aid workers and first responders.

Most concerning, the appearance of an armed African-American man on the website of an organization whose “diversity” problems mirror those of the Republican Party is far more complex than it seems. This is because the very image of an armed black man plays to historical currents—indeed, racialized currents in which the NRA is deeply embedded. As the NRA and Mr. Noir should realize, the civil-rights era of the 1950s and 1960s was not just a time of water cannons and police dogs. It was also a time when exaggerated representations of black men with guns mobilized significant response in mainstream white America.

For instance, the FBI famously overstated the threats posed by Malcolm X, Bobby Seale, and Huey Newton, by highlighting these men’s attempts to obtain firearms and “plots” to overthrow the government. The FBI also hung Armed and Dangerous posters throughout the US South warning citizens about NAACP leader Robert F Williams, author of the manifesto Negroes With Guns, who advocated gun rights for African-Americans.

To be sure, Malcolm X, Robert Williams, and others had wholly valid concerns about safety. Yet their attempts to obtain arms were used for wider political purposes that were at odds with the ideologies these leaders espoused. Fears about black militancy and urban revolt led to widespread calls for gun control, leading up to passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968—legislation that the NRA supported. Meanwhile, the emerging libertarian wing of the NRA seized upon the instability of the political climate to begin its decades-long campaign to arm America’s white gun owners in the name of self-protection.

One might argue that the “diverse commentators” approach represents a more racially-sensitive NRA. More likely, however, is the prospect that the NRA campaign foments longstanding anxieties on both sides of the suddenly inevitable racial divide.

For, as we know from history, images of angry black guys with guns—and here, of angry-black-guys with guns on white websites—lead ever-more white guys to buy ever-more guns. Ever-more more white guys with guns then play to justifiable African-American uncertainties and fears.

Over time, guns become much more than symbols of self-protection—they become symbols of racial inquietude and mistrust. And we as a society perpetuate a vicious cycle in which instruments of conflict become our only, tragic means for envisioning protection, if not resolution.

Jonathan M. Metzl is a professor at Vanderbilt University and author, most recently, of The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease.

NRA To African-Americans: You’ll Need Guns To Protect Yourselves

Story by Atlanta Black Star
Written by Kevin Webb

The National Rifle Association has apparently begun its previously mentioned initiative to reach minority audiences, announcing that Youtube celebrity and self-described “urban gun enthusiast” Colion Noir will join NRA News.

Noir appeared in a short clip posted to the NRA News Youtube channel, expressing the necessity for guns in African-American communities.

He tied the battle for gun ownership to the civil rights movement, claiming that black people must be responsible for their own protection. Speaking of the high level of gun violence that prevails in black communities, Noir said: “It’s not a gun problem. It’s not even a violence problem. It’s a culture problem. It’s a poverty problem. It’s a history problem.”

The message reflected many of the NRA’s common arguments, specifically the government’s inability to protect its citizens, and the Obama administration’s plan to systematically disarm America. The Center for American Progress recently reported that blacks make up 56 percent of all victims in firearm homicides, despite making up just 13 percent of the country’s population.

Meanwhile, Noir suggests that the government’s proposed gun control measures are avenues of oppression.

“The same government who at one point hosed us down with water, attacked us with dogs, wouldn’t allow us to eat at their restaurants and told us we couldn’t own guns. . . The only person responsible for your safety is you,” he says in the video. “Cops can’t always be there. Obama definitely can’t be there. Guy telling me to get rid of my guns when I need them the most, isn’t my friend, isn’t looking out for my best interests and doesn’t speak for me or the community that I’m part of.”

Noir’s message seems to willfully ignore the time the NRA spent attempting to disarm the Black Panther Party in the years surrounding the civil rights movement. Furthermore, the use of guns contradicts the largely nonviolent message that led the movement.

Celebrating an Olympic Champion

Radio One/TV1/Reach Media owner Ms. Cathy Hughes with Olympic Champion Gabby Douglas and her mother Natalie Hawkins at the Dwayne Wade Party

Holder: Obama to talk about drones soon

Story by USA Today
Written by David Jackson

We heard -- at length -- from the filibustering Rand Paul about drones.

Soon, we may be hearing from President Obama.

Attorney General Eric Holder told senators Wednesday that Obama will soon discuss the issues behind the use of armed drones, especially as they apply to American citizens.

"You will hear the president speak about this," Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The U.S. has used armed drone strikes overseas against suspected members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, including at least one American citizen.

That has raised questions about the president's drone authority domestically.

Said Holder: "We have talked about a need for greater transparency in what we share, what we talk about. ... There would be a greater degree of comfort that this government does these things reluctantly but also in conformity with international law, with domestic law and with our values."

From The Washington Post:

"Holder was questioned by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) about whether it was constitutional to target a U.S. citizen on American soil if that person posed no imminent threat and was, for example, simply sitting in a cafe.

"Holder said it would not be 'appropriate.' Earlier in his testimony, he said the possibility of capture, a key factor in any decision, is markedly different between the United States and overseas.

"Holder said the use of armed drones in the United States might occur when events like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or the strike on Pearl Harbor were underway.

"Cruz said he plans to introduce legislation that would outlaw the use of drones for armed attacks in the United States."

Too-Big-to-Fail Banks Limit Prosecutor Options, Attorney General Eric Holder Says

Story by Bloomberg
Written by Phil Mattingly

The size of the largest financial institutions has made it difficult for the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges when there’s wrongdoing, Attorney General Eric Holder said.

Criminal charges against a bank -- something that could threaten its existence -- may also endanger the national or global economies in the case of the largest ones, because of their size and interconnectedness. That has “made it difficult for us to prosecute” some of those institutions, Holder said today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“That is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large,” Holder told lawmakers. “It has an inhibiting impact on our ability to bring resolutions that I think would be more appropriate.”

U.S. lawmakers, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, have raised concerns that the largest institutions haven’t been held accountable for their actions that played a role in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

While Holder didn’t single out any specific institutions, he said bank size was something Congress would “need to consider.”

‘New Twist’

Holder’s comments on bank size “add a new twist to this debate” about whether action should be taken to downsize the largest financial institutions, Brian Gardner, senior vice president for Washington research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc., said in a note clients today.

“This will further stoke the debate over breaking up the large banks and will generate negative headlines for the largest US banks,” Gardner wrote.

Holder’s remarks came in response to questions from Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has criticized the Justice Department’s lack of prosecutions against banks.

Grassley and Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, sent the Justice Department a letter on Jan. 29 asking whether the federal government avoids prosecuting banks that they described as “too big to jail.” The two senators specifically cited the $1.9 billion settlement between the government and HSBC Holdings Plc. (HSBA) to resolve allegations that included money laundering for criminal organizations.

Internal Rules

Judith C. Appelbaum, principal deputy assistant attorney general, defended what she called the department’s “vigorous enforcement against wrongdoing” in a letter to Brown dated Feb. 27. Federal prosecutors must follow internal rules, which include taking into account the economic impact, to assess whether to pursue a criminal case, she said.

The Justice Department remains willing to bring charges against a corporation of any size, she wrote. The Justice Department secured a guilty plea from the Japanese subsidiary of UBS AG in a resolution of allegations that the bank rigged interest rates. A Royal Bank of Scotland Plc subsidiary also pleaded guilty to charges in that bank’s settlement with authorities in the global rate-rigging probe.

Still, Holder said going after individuals remains the best way to halt wrongdoing on Wall Street.

“The greatest deterrent effect is not by the prosecution of any corporation, though that’s important,” he told Grassley. “The greatest deterrent effect is to prosecute the individuals in the corporation who are responsible for those decisions.”

Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President dies

Story by AP

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against U.S. influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, died Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast. He said Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time.

Links:

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/hugo-chavez-venezuelan-president-who-crusaded-against-us-has-died/2013/03/05/4604846e-85e0-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html?hpid=z1

NBC News: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17135772-venezuelas-comandante-hugo-chavez-dies?lite

As President Obama signs the order, sequester is enacted

Story by NBC News
Written by Carrie Dann

It’s official.

Late Friday evening, President Barack Obama signed an order – as required by the “sequester” legislation – to enact broad cuts to federal spending, according to a White House release.

Those cuts will now officially go into effect at midnight Friday.

The low-key statement, unaccompanied even by a White House-authorized photo of the signing, comes after weeks of finger-pointing with little urgency from Democrats or Republicans to avert the cuts.

In the week leading up to Friday’s deadline, Obama administration had warned of the consequences of the sequester, with Cabinet officials taking to the airwaves and the president hitting the road to highlight the measure’s effect on jobs, education, and even delays for air travelers.

On Friday, Obama acknowledged that while the cuts will be “painful,” they won’t be completely catastrophic.

"We will get through this," he said. "This is not going to be an apocalypse, I think, as some people have said. It’s just dumb. And it's going to hurt."

President Obama signs sequester plan that takes place at midnight

Story by NBC News
By Carrie Dann, Political Reporter

Lamenting the idea that only a "Jedi mind meld" could prod the GOP into compromise, President Barack Obama said Friday that the "dumb" automatic across-the-board cuts taking effect Friday are the fault of Republican resistance to a reasonable deal to avert the sequestration's budget reductions.

"I know that this has been some of the conventional wisdom that's been floating around Washington," Obama told reporters after meeting with congressional leaders. "Even though most people agree that I'm being reasonable, that most people agree that I am presenting a fair deal -- the fact that [Republicans] don't take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what's right," he said.

Obama spoke hours before signing an order officially enacting the cuts, which take effect at midnight Friday.

Asked why leaders did not negotiate more vigorously to get a deal before sequestration deadline day, Obama said that his ability to negotiate is limited by Congress's unwillingness.

"I'm not a dictator," he said. "I'm the president. So ultimately if Mitch McConnell or John Boehner say 'I need to go to catch a plane,' I can't have Secret Service block the doorway, right?"

Obama acknowledged that the sequester's effects will be painful but predicted that the cuts will be manageable by a resilient American people.

"We will get through this," he said. "This is not going to be an apocalypse, I think, as some people have said. It’s just dumb. And it's going to hurt."

President Barack Obama discusses his Friday sequester meeting at the White House with Capitol Hill lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner.

The president huddled Friday with leaders at the White House in a meeting largely considered to be a show of effort in advance of inevitable sequestration cuts.

The session lasted less than an hour.

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In a brief statement to reporters after the meeting, Boehner reiterated that Republicans will continue to oppose Democratic proposals to raise new revenues to offset the cuts.

"The discussion about revenue, in my opinion, is over," he said. "It's about taking on the spending problem here in Washington."

The House speaker added that Congress will move next week on a measure to maintain government funding after March 27th.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

But even since the meeting was first announced on Wednesday, hopes were bleak for an eleventh hour solution to the across-the-board cuts.

In a written statement released Friday morning before the meeting, McConnell all but promised that no last-minute solution would be hammered out.

"I'm happy to discuss other ideas to keep our commitment to reducing Washington spending at today's meeting,” he said. “But there will be no last-minute, back-room deal and absolutely no agreement to increase taxes."

Budget sequestration, which formally begins when the president orders it into effect sometime before 11:59 p.m. ET tonight, will result in $85 billion in spending cuts this fiscal year.

President Obama Triggers Sequester's Cuts

Story by The Hill
By Erik Wasson and Amie Parnes

President Obama late Friday officially triggered $85 billion in sequestration cuts to the federal government’s discretionary budget for this year.

His signature makes official a failure by the administration and Congress to come to a deal on cuts that both sides, to one degree or another, believe are foolish.

“It's just dumb. And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt individual people and it's going to hurt the economy over all,” Obama told reporters earlier in the day, after a last-ditch, half-hearted attempt by the president and congressional leaders to avert the cuts.

The sequestration order implements 9 percent cuts to non-exempt domestic accounts and a 13 percent cut to defense accounts for the period of March 1 to Oct. 1 this year.

It will be up to agencies to administer the cuts to the programs, projects and activities covered by the appropriations accounts.

Some agencies, like the Department of Justice and National Labor Relations Board, have already informed employees that they could be forced to take unpaid leave. The first immediate effects will likely be reduced unemployment benefit checks this month.

Obama was forced to sign the order under the August, 2011, Budget Control Act. The act set up a deficit supercommittee to find a $1.2 trillion deficit-reduction package.

When the supercommittee failed, the sequester was triggered. In January, Congress delayed the sequester by two months to give time for a deal.

The White House demanded a “balanced” package that included tax increases, but Republicans only want to use targeted cuts to replace the sequester, which falls disproportionately on defense.

“The discussion about revenue in my view is over. It's about taking on the spending problem in Washington," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in brief remarks at the White House on Friday.

As required by law, the Office of Management and Budget also sent a detailed report to Congress outlining the actual cuts on Friday.

In the report, OMB’s deputy director for management, Jeffrey Zients, wrote that the cuts would be “deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments, and core Government functions.”

“The Administration continues to stand ready to work with the Congress to enact balanced deficit reduction legislation that replaces sequestration and puts the Nation on a sound long-term fiscal path,” Zients wrote.

OMB has calculated that to achieve the required budget savings on a full-year basis, domestic agencies must get a 5 percent cut and defense must be cut 7.8 percent. Because only seven months remain in the fiscal year, these percentages become 9 percent and 13 percent respectively.

The 83-page OMB report goes account by account through the vast federal government, applying the percentages and revealing the new dollar amounts available for use.

A senior administration official said Obama will continue to talk about the sequester in events at the White House and on the road, with the hopes that Republicans will be forced to come to the table.

But the official said Obama will also hold events on comprehensive immigration reform, gun control and raising the minimum wage.

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