Ex-Rep. Etheridge to lead state federal farm office | abc11.com

Ex-Rep. Etheridge to lead state federal farm office | abc11.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Former congressman and state schools superintendent Bob Etheridge is the new executive director of the North Carolina office of the federal agency that oversees some agricultural programs and keeps farmers abreast of other federal initiatives.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Etheridge's new job at North Carolina's Farm Service Agency office, which he began Monday. The Harnett County Democrat served as superintendent for eight years, then as the 2nd District congressman for 14 years through 2010, when he lost to Republican Renee Ellmers. He also ran unsuccessfully for his party's nomination for governor in 2012, finishing second to Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.
Etheridge's career also has included time as a tobacco farmer and two recent positions working in then-Gov. Beverly Perdue's administration - one involving federal stimulus money and the other advising Perdue on the state's response to Hurricane Irene.
Etheridge, 72, succeeds Aaron Martin as state director. There was an interim director for about a year before Etheridge received the presidential appointment.
The Farm Service Agency carries out federal conservation programs and resolves appeals over federal issues with local farmers. Etheridge has been involved in elected politics since the 1970s, first as a county commissioner and a state legislator in the 1980s.

Rand Paul's Festivus Rant Begins on Twitter | ABC News - Yahoo

Rand Paul's Festivus Rant Begins on Twitter | ABC News - Yahoo
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Sen. Rand Paul's Twitter feed is on fire today.
On this day of Festivus, Paul is airing grievances on all things ranging from his colleague Sen. Cory Booker to the Senate cafeteria to his pesky staff who refuse to let him wear his turtleneck sweaters.
What is Festivus, you ask?
Its a holiday made up on the popular TV show "Seinfeld" by George Constanza's father, Frank, who hated the commercial and religious aspects of Christmas so much that he made up his own holiday: Festivus.
It begins with an airing of grievances. It can also include feats of strength, and of course you must also have the Festivus pole. It's a Festivus for the rest of us.
In the words of Frank Costanza (played memorably by Jerry Stiller), "I got a lot of problems with you people. Now you're gonna hear about it!"
Paul even aired a little dirty family laundry with a dig at his dad, former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, for auctioning off a vintage 1979 Chevy instead of giving it to him.
My Dad auctioned off this car instead of giving it to me. http://t.co/WcJKiJbAcf pic.twitter.com/sArpHLKmhW
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013

Read more of Paul's airing of grievances from earlier today:
Let us begin:
Airing of Grievances begins …
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Rand Paul is not a fan of "bipartisanship."
In Washington, "bipartisan deal" is a synonym for "increasing our debt"
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Oh, and by the way, there's isn't enough defense of the Constitution going on in Washington these days.
One party seems to like some of the Bill of Rights. The other party, some more. Few willing to stand up for the whole thing.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
He's got beef with the Senate, starting with the cafeteria:
The Senate cafeteria never has burgoo.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Let's move on to the Senate. If you want more bipartisan cooperation, talk more not less.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Allow more debate and amendments. Don't change the rules to run it with an iron fist.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Rand Paul's friends don't retweet him enough:
One more Festivus grievance about bipartisanship. @CoryBooker doesn't RT me enough.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
But somewhere out there, Cory Booker is listening:
U, me & "feats of strength": Senate floor, name the time MT @SenRandPaul A Festivus grievance re bipartisanship. Booker doesn't RT me enough
- Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 23, 2013
He's not a fan of the budget deal, or the Federal Reserve.
The recent "bipartisan deal" will add 7 trillion more debt. And was hailed as an example of Washington "getting something done."
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Fed policies make you poorer, and hurt the poor and middle class the most. Ridiculous monetary policies increase the costs of goods.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
So you can thank the Fed for your grocery and gas bills getting out or control.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
In case anyone was wondering, no feats of strength today:
In response to some of your tweets, there will be no feats of strength, and I have no plans to end Festivus by wrestling with Sen. Reid.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
But let the man wear his turtlenecks!
Grievance with my otherwise wonderful staff: Leave the turtleneck alone. I like it and so do viewers.
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
Too many people wearing ties on TV as it is
- Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013
And a Festivus miracle may have occurred: Booker and Paul may take on the "war on drugs" in 2014. Bipartisanship!
@CoryBooker how about mandatory minimum sentencing reform instead?
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013

@CoryBooker I am the Senate author of Hemp bill!
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 23, 2013

I know. U told me last week. Here is to a 2014 where we take on the failed war on drugs RT @SenRandPaul: I'm the Senate author of Hemp bill!
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 23, 2013

Stay tuned, more to come…
I still have a lot more problems with you people (Washington). I will be back later with more.

Zimmerman’s New Career Is As Redneck Van Gogh | WOLB Talk 1010

Zimmerman’s New Career Is As Redneck Van Gogh | WOLB Talk 1010

 
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
From the looks of it, George Zimmerman is trying to position himself as the redneck Van Gogh. The cash-strapped, luckiest vigilante in the world has reportedly turned to selling his paintings in an effort to generate some much-needed revenue. And revenue George Z is generating.


, Zimmerman’s newest art piece has secured 108 bids so far with the highest totaling more than $100,000. That’s just about as disgusting as the time Zimmerman sold his autograph to his “fans.” In the eBay listing, Zimmerman writes:

First hand painted artwork by me, George Zimmerman. Everyone has been asking what I have been doing with myself. I found a creative, [sic] way to express myself, my emotions and the symbols that represent my experiences. My art work allows me to reflect, providing a therapeutic outlet and allows me to remain indoors :-) I hope you enjoy owning this piece as much as I enjoyed creating it. Your friend, George Zimmerman

Well, I personally would have wanted that “therapeutic outlet” to be a Florida state prison. “:-)”

As you can see from the painting, it’s just a big gob of blue paint used to portray the American flag captioned with “GOD ONE NATION WITH LIBERTY and JUSTICE FOR ALL.” So it’s basically an erotic painting for the White nationalists who get off on guys who shoot down and kill unarmed Black teens.

I normally don’t knock the hustle, but since it’s George Zimmerman, I’m gonna knock like hell: Hey, George, if you want to raise some money, I have some job suggestions. Be a shark dentist. Or a garbage disposal massager (while it’s turned on). A crash dummy. An oven mit and/or dartboard. A trap door tester. A haunted house butler. Or hell, maybe some of these racists who worship you so much can pay you just to crawl in to a hole in which you rot away.
That’d be awesome.  

In the Q&A section of his eBay painting listing, some fool advises Zimmerman to run for political office:

Q: george, pleasee dont leave florida . you are our hero. please run for a political office! we need you. God bless you. A: Thank you, your words of kindness and support will influence my decision on where to plant my roots. Your friend, GZ

You know, Florida, there’s a reason why people consider you to be the back entrance to hell. Speaking of hell and where people can go, one of Zimmerman’s attorneys is facing a Florida bar complaint.
The Orlando Sentinel reports:

Orlando attorney Mark O’Mara, who took on George Zimmerman as a client in one of the nation’s most high-profile murder trials and won his acquittal, is now the subject of an ethics complaint for how he handled the case.
Few details are available, including who filed the complaint and what allegations O’Mara is facing, but the Florida Bar on Monday confirmed that its staff is investigating a complaint and has made no determination as to whether O’Mara should face possible discipline.

What a shame that if anyone gets punished in this horrific matter, it won’t be George Zimmerman.

Change of venue denied in Laurence Lovette murder trial | abc11.com

Change of venue denied in Laurence Lovette murder trial | abc11.com
 JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
A change of venue request was denied Wednesday for the man charged in the killing of a Duke graduate student.

Laurence Lovette, 23, is accused of killing Abhijit Mahato in Jan. 2008 just two months before he was arrested for killing UNC Student Body President Eve Carson in a robbery. He's already been convicted for Carson's murder and sentenced to life in prison.

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Story: Lovette sentenced to life in prison for Carson murder

Lovette will stand trial in Durham County for Mahato's murder. A judge Wednesday denied a change of venue and a request to bring jurors in from Wilmington or Elizabeth City.
The judge, however, is allowing a request by the defense to individually interview potential jurors but only after they are given a short questionnaire about their knowledge of Lovette.
Over the last five years, Lovette's attorney said his client's name has been in the headlines more than 1,000 times. That is why she said keeping the trial in Durham County would result in an unfair trial. She said news coverage about the trial has been overwhelmingly negative and it would be difficult to find unbiased jurors.
Lovette rejected a plea deal saying he wanted to have his day in court.
The judge set a trial date for July. The defense says the trial could last three weeks.
The defense and prosecution have until June 9 to submit a questionnaire that will be given to jurors.

Researchers: One in every 200 U.S. women experienced a ‘virgin pregnancy’ | The Raw Story

Researchers: One in every 200 U.S. women experienced a ‘virgin pregnancy’ | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
One in every 200 young American women says she became pregnant while still a virgin.
That is the eye-popping figure reported on Tuesday by US researchers who trawled through a long-term study into reproductive health among young Americans.
Out of 7,870 women who took part in the confidential research, 45 — 0.5 percent — said they had conceived yet had not had vaginal intercourse.
None said they had used in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to become pregnant, according to the paper, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Out of the 45, “there were some miscarriages and other pregnancy losses,” said the authors.
The study was based on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which ran from 1995 to 2009, spanning life between adolescence and adulthood. It is deemed reliable and representative of US social and ethnic backgrounds.
The young women reported their history of vaginal intercourse and pregnancy and their knowledge of birth control methods.
Over 14 years, they responded to regular questionnaires, logging their answers on a laptop rather than in eye-contact interviews, although a helper was also present in the room in case the volunteer needed aid.
Their age and commitment to a religion were also recorded, their parents were asked to say how much they had talked about sex or birth control and their school’s director was asked to say what part sex education had in the curriculum.
Nearly a third — 31 percent — of the “virgin pregnancy” group said they had made a chastity pledge, a vow often promoted by conservative Christian church groups which argue sex should only take place in the context of marriage.
In “non-virgins” who had become pregnant, 15 percent had made the chastity pledge. Among those who said they were still a virgin, the proportion of chastity pledgers was 21 percent.
“Virgin mothers” were also more than two years younger, being 19.3 years on average when they gave birth, compared to “non-virgin” mothers whose average age at parenthood was 21.7 years.
Lead author Amy Herring, a professor of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the volunteers “weren’t asked a question ‘have you had a virgin pregnancy?’, it was put together from a series of questions about pregnancy history and vaginal intercourse history.”
The findings raise intriguing questions about sexual education and awareness but also about the difficulties of getting accurate data about sex lives, she said in a phone interview with AFP.
“Even though we thought that the questions were quite clear, there’s still the possibility that some women misunderstood or misinterpreted them, such as simply giving the wrong year, or for whatever reason that they did not want to admit that they had had intercourse,” Herring said.
“Even though we used technology to try to enhance the candour of respondents, we still see responses that are unrealistic,” she said.
“In fact we went back a few weeks ago to see if this was a phenomenon that was confined only to the women, and we actually found a few virgin fathers as well — which is a little harder to get your head around.”

CBS newsmen recall deadly "Trojan horse" used by apartheid regime - CBS News

CBS newsmen recall deadly "Trojan horse" used by apartheid regime - CBS News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

The apartheid regime Nelson Mandela fought to overturn often resorted to violent extremes to protect its power.
A CBS News report nearly three decades ago exposed one brutal government tactic, leading to the prompt expulsion of correspondent Allen Pizzey and two other CBS News employees.
The report provoked outrage around the world. Pizzey looks back now on the "Trojan horse."

---

The white South African regime often accused the foreign media of instigating the violence that was filmed when I was reporting from the country in 1985.
But on Oct. 15 of that year, two CBS News camera crews would capture a police operation that no one except the perpetrators could possibly have known about in advance.
When cameraman Chris Everson and soundman Nick della Casa arrived in Thornton Road in a mixed-race suburb outside Cape Town, there was no more violence than usual. But it would escalate into an event that many said did more damage to the South African regime's international image than all the other coverage combined.
"There was a bunch of kids standing on the street corner, probably about 30 strong. Clearly there had been some incidents already. There were signs that vehicles had been stoned.  There was glass on the streets. And not wanting to be part of the scene, we set ourselves well back from it," Everson said.
Just up the road but out of sight, CBS cameraman Wim de Vos and sound recordist Anton van der Merwe -- no strangers to police harassment -- arrived at the scene.
"It wasn't violent at that point when I arrived but I could see the rocks in their hands,” de Vos said. “I wasn't that far away from them and I thought, 'Uh-oh, there comes trouble.' "
Everson had the same gut feeling.
"It was a flatbed vehicle with boxes on the back. And I filmed the truck as it went down the road away from me, toward the group of kids on the corner," he said.
Then the truck turned around and came back.
"As it approached the kids, three or four stones hit the windscreen," Everson said.
"And as they did so, there were several policemen in the back of the truck hiding in boxes. And they popped up,” de Vos said.
One stunned youngster froze and watched the horror unfold.
 Back in 1985, we had had no idea that the police had labeled their operation "Ghost Vehicle."  When I wrote the story that day, I called it a deadly Trojan horse. 
Three kids were killed -- the youngest was 11 years old -- and 12 were injured, among them two children who were hit in their own homes.
"The strange thing was, you know, at that time we didn't even realize  the importance of what we had just photographed," Everson said. 
And neither did the police.  When they finally forced the camera crews to leave the area, they failed to confiscate the videotapes -- and the damage was done.
"Of course it was one of those very ugly, very ugly events that did us a lot of harm," said Roleof “Pik” Botha, who was South Africa’s foreign minister at the time. 
“It was extremely harmful for us in foreign affairs because that increased the negative reaction overseas  and effected an expanding economic sanctions against South Africa," he said.
Worldwide condemnation of South Africa was almost immediate and so was the white government's reaction.
Within days of the shooting, the state of emergency was expanded and journalists were prohibited from filming any incident of police violence under the threat of 10 years of imprisonment.
"What was new about this event was that there was a camera there,” Everson said. ”These events, these killings, this police brutality -- this happened all the time in South Africa."
Thornton Road today is a far cry from what it was like 28 ago, except for a steel memorial -- a grim reminder of the day three young South Africans were gunned down from that deadly Trojan horse.

Standing Ovation For Mugabe At Mandela Memorial, Jacob Zuma Booed

Standing Ovation For Mugabe At Mandela Memorial, Jacob Zuma Booed
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe received a standing ovation at the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela while the country’s president Jacob Zuma was booed.
There were raptures after his presence was acknowledged at the FNB Stadium in Soweto by the country ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mugabe waved back to the thousands of mourners at the giant stadium which accommodates a capacity 90 000 crowd.
Mugabe was seated next to his wife Grace and children when other African heads of state clapped and stood in appreciation of his presence.
Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigeria President, and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, are two other heads of state that drew ovations, nonetheless lesser than Mugabe.
Several international media houses were ahead of the event portraying Mugabe as unpopular in South Africa.
International media compared Mugabe and Mandela, a development which was roundly condemned by Zimbabwe, and other African countries.
In Zimbabwe, the country’s Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Jonathan Moyo, dismissed the comparisons as “frivolous attempts by the Western media”.
“It is kind of disappointing that Nelson Mandela’s passing on has attracted gratuitous comparisons between him and other African leaders including our own President Mugabe whose iconic standing as a liberator and empowerer is now an indelible imprint of history.

Jacob Zuma was booed by the crowds

“While the subtext of the gratuitous comparisons has been that other African leaders such as President Mugabe should emulate Mandela, the more important and rather self-evident fact that cannot therefore be masked by the shrill comparisons is that God created only one Nelson Mandela with no clones in the same way he created only one Winston Churchill; one John F Kennedy, one Mao, one Lenin and one Mahatma Gandhi with no clones.”
“The notion being peddled in some propaganda quarters that some African leaders should style themselves as Mandela clones has no precedence in the history of civilised nations,” Moyo was quoted as saying.
Moyo was quoted as saying Britain has not had another Churchill and America has not had another Kennedy, arguing that Africa would not have another Mandela insisting that the gratuitous comparisons of Mandela and other African leaders were ultimately “a waste of time.”
Mandela died last Thursday at the age of 95. He will be buried on Sunday.

Lynching As A Misdemeanor • Africanglobe.net

Lynching As A Misdemeanor • Africanglobe.net
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
“White society is incapable of acknowledging – or even perceiving, on the cognitive level – the violence that it daily perpetrates against Blacks.”
A 17-year-old Black student is set upon by four White males that inhabit the same suite of rooms on a college campus. Over a period of almost two months, his tormentors force him into a closet and twice fasten a “U” shaped bicycle lock around his neck, once chaining him for at least ten minutes and bruising his lip in the attack.
The whole time, the perpetrators prominently display a Confederate flag, a board scrawled with the word “n*gger,” and a photo of Adolph Hitler, the mass exterminator of “lesser species” of humanity, while verbally assaulting the victim with racial slurs, calling him “three-fifths” and “fraction” to dramatize their view that he is nothing but a slave to Whites. The victim would sometimes barricade himself in his room to escape the assaults.
The initial police report describes the assaults as “hazing.” CNN insists on calling the prolonged attacks a form of “bullying.” Journalists refer to “three-fifths” and “fraction” as the victim’s “nicknames.” Ultimately, the four Whites are charged only with a misdemeanor hate crime and simple battery, for which they face a maximum of one year in county jail and possible fines.
Oblivious Society
The criminal offenses committed against the unnamed victim at San Jose State University should, under California and federal law, constitute felonious battery, terroristic threats (which, under California Penal Code section 422, can be charged whether or not the person making the threat has the ability to carry out the threat or even intended to carry out the threat), and, if the police were serious about deterring such atrocities, kidnapping.
If vigorously prosecuted in the penal dystopia that California has become, the four White boys would emerge from prison as middle-aged men, covered in Aryan Nation tattoos. But that’s not going to happen, because these are the children of a White society that is incapable of acknowledging – or even perceiving, on the cognitive level – the violence that it daily perpetrates against Blacks.
A Needed Intervention
African-American enrollment was reduced by one back in 2008, when Gregory Johnson’s body was discovered in the basement of the Sigma Chi fraternity house. The police ruled it a suicide by hanging, despite the wound in the back of his head. “He died like a dog,” said Johnson’s tearful mother, Denise, holding pictures of her son as students consoled her at the demonstration.
University President Mohammad Qayoumi, who had initially failed to even suspend the White supremacist assailants, presented words of contrition for his cognitive dysfunction. “By failing to recognize the meaning of a Confederate flag, intervene earlier to stop the abuse, or impose sanctions as soon as the gravity of the behavior became clear, we failed him. I failed him.”
Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Qayoumi has assimilated the values of his adopted country. White supremacy oozes from the digital pores of Atlanta-based CNN, which peppered its coverage of the San Jose assault with links from an article on “bullying” that featured a photo of young White actresses from the 2004 movie Mean Girls: Are we too quick to cry “bully?” When friends become bullies and Bullying among boys easily dismissed?
For CNN, racist assaults and threats of lynching are nothing more than White rites of adolescent passage – like “hazing,” the term used by Raw Story, the Los Angeles Times (“NAACP seeks harsher charges in San Jose racial hazing case”) and the San Jose police, themselves, to describe the crime.
The prosecutor in the San Jose case defended his decision to charge the four White students with misdemeanor crimes. “While we understand the outrage of those calling for even stiffer charges in this case, the charges are not a reflection of the degree of their racism,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen. “The charges are a reflection of their criminal conduct.”
Anybody who lives in the ghetto knows that police and prosecutors routinely pile on layers of escalating charges, all stemming from one discreet crime (and often charge defendants with every unsolved crime in the neighborhood). In the San Jose case, nearly two months of daily crimes that can easily and reasonably be charged as felonies were stripped down to the barest misdemeanors.
The DA claims he is not allowed to prosecute people simply for being racist – which is true. But racism was the obvious motive for the White supremacist students’ physical assaults, terrorist threats, and kidnapping of the Black victim from August 20 through October 13 of this year. It is central to the crime. When the larger society dismisses or diminishes racism as an element of the crimes committed against Black people, it exposes us to an infinity of assaults.
That’s why we have the right and duty of collective self-defense.

Dollar Survival Behind US-China Tensions • Africanglobe.net

Dollar Survival Behind US-China Tensions • Africanglobe.net
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The escalation of military tensions between Washington and Beijing in the East China Sea is superficially over China’s unilateral declaration of an air defense zone. But the real reason for Washington’s ire is the recent Chinese announcement that it is planning to reduce its holdings of the US dollar.
That move to offload some of its 3.5 trillion in US dollar reserves combined with China’s increasing global trade in oil based on national currencies presents a mortal threat to the American petrodollar and the entire American economy.
This threat to US viability – already teetering on bankruptcy, record debt and social meltdown – would explain why Washington has responded with such belligerence to China setting up an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) last week extending some 400 miles from its coast into the East China Sea.
Beijing said the zone was aimed at halting intrusive military maneuvers by US spy planes over its territory. The US has been conducting military flights over Chinese territory for decades without giving Beijing the slightest notification.
Back in April 2001, a Chinese fighter pilot was killed when his aircraft collided with a US spy plane. The American crew survived, but the incident sparked a diplomatic furor, with Beijing saying that it illustrated Washington’s unlawful and systematic violation of Chinese sovereignty.
Within days of China’s announcement of its new ADIZ last week, the US sent two B52 bombers into the air space without giving the notification of flight paths required by Beijing.
American allies Japan and South Korea also sent military aircraft in defiance of China. Washington dismissed the Chinese declared zone and asserted that the area was international air space.
A second intrusion of China’s claimed air territory involved US surveillance planes and up to 10 Japanese American-made F-15 fighter jets. On that occasion, Beijing has responded more forcefully by scrambling SU-30 and J-10 warplanes, which tailed the offending foreign aircraft.
Many analysts see the latest tensions as part of the ongoing dispute between China and Japan over the islands known, respectively, as the Diaoyu and Senkaku, located in the East China Sea. Both countries claim ownership. The islands are uninhabited but the surrounding sea is a rich fishing ground and the seabed is believed to contain huge reserves of oil and gas.
By claiming the skies over the islands, China appears to be adding to its territorial rights to the contested islands.
In a provocative warning to Beijing, American defense secretary Chuck Hagel this week reiterated that the decades-old US-Japan military pact covers any infringement by China of Japan’s claim on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.
It is hard to justify Washington and Tokyo’s stance on the issue. The islands are much nearer to China’s mainland (250 miles) compared with Japan’s (600 miles). China claims that the islands were part of its territory for centuries until Japan annexed them in 1895 during its imperialist expansion, which eventually led to an all-out invasion and war of aggression on China.

Also, as Beijing points out, the US and its postwar Japanese ally both have declared their own air defense zones. It is indeed inconceivable that Chinese spy planes and bombers could encroach unannounced on the US West Coast without the Pentagon ordering fierce retaliation.

U.S. spy planes have been repeatedly violating Chinese airspace

Furthermore, maps show that the American-backed air defense zone extending from Japan’s southern territory is way beyond any reasonable halfway limit between China and Japan. This American-backed arbitrary imposition on Chinese territorial sovereignty is thus seen as an arrogant convention, set up and maintained by Washington for decades.
The US and its controlled news media are absurdly presenting Beijing’s newly declared air defense zone as China “flexing its muscles and stoking tensions.” And Washington is claiming that it is nobly defending its Japanese and South Korea allies from Chinese expansionism.
However, it is the background move by China to ditch the US dollar that is most likely the real cause for Washington’s militarism towards Beijing. The apparent row over the air and sea territory, which China has sound rights to, is but the pretext for the US to mobilize its military and in effect threaten China with aggression.
In recent years, China has been incrementally moving away from US financial hegemony. This hegemony is predicated on the US dollar being the world reserve currency and, by convention, the standard means of payment for international trade and in particular trade in oil. That arrangement is obsolete given the bankrupt state of the US economy. But it allows the US to continue bingeing on credit.
China – the second biggest economy in the world and a top importer of oil – has or is seeking oil trading arrangements with its major suppliers, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, which will involve the exchange of national currencies. That development presents a grave threat to the petrodollar and its global reserve status.
The latest move by Beijing on November 20 giving notice that it intends to shift its risky foreign exchange holdings of US Treasury notes for a mixture of other currencies is a harbinger that the American economy’s days are numbered, as Paul Craig Roberts noted last week.
This is of course China’s lawful right to do so, as are its territorial claims. But, in the imperialist, megalomaniac mindset of Washington, the “threat” to the US economy and indebted way of life is perceived as a tacit act of war. That is why Washington is reacting so furiously and desperately to China’s newly declared air corridor. It is a pretext for the US to clench an iron fist.

Georgia Using Excessive Taxation To Steal Gullah-Geechee Land

Georgia Using Excessive Taxation To Steal Gullah-Geechee Land 
It’s a culture struggling to survive. Fewer than 50 people — all descendants of enslaved Africans — fear they may soon be taxed out of the property their families have owned since the days of slavery.
They are the Gullah-Geechee people of Sapelo Island off Georgia’s coast, near Savannah. This small, simple community is finding itself embroiled in a feud with local officials over a sudden, huge increase in property assessments that are raising property taxes as much as 600% for some.
Many say the increase could force them to sell their ancestral properties.
“That’s part of the American history. That’s part of what built this country,” said Charles Hall, 79, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who was born under a midwife’s care in the same home he lives in today.
“Sapelo being the only intact Gullah-Geechee community in the country that’s left, that is a part of history. It will be a shame not to preserve” it.
McIntosh County’s decision to reappraise homes on the island sparked the problem.
County Attorney Adam Poppell claim that the Gullah-Geechee culture is invaluable, but the properties had been historically undervalued due to errors in previous property appraisals.
“We have to follow the law, and assess at fair market value,” he told reporters.
To fix the problem, he said, “the state has to create a special exemption for cultural communities.”
Sapelo Island, about the size of Manhattan, is a short 20-minute boat ride from Georgia’s coast. But in some ways, it seems much farther.
The bumpy, unpaved dirt roads are a constant reminder that this is an island with few services. There are no police officers, fire rescue personnel, doctors or hospitals. There is no school or post office. People drive their garbage to a single garbage compactor. There are no grocery stores. The gas station is open only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Ninety-seven percent of the island is owned by the state of Georgia. Residents live on a small section known as Hog Hammock.
A ferry makes three round trips each day, with the last departure from the mainland at 5:30 p.m.
Residents can’t miss that ferry if they want to work or go to school on the mainland. They complain this limits their employment opportunities and prohibits their children from participating in after-school activities.
Many have fled the island over the years because opportunity just doesn’t exist there.
Cornelia Bailey has been one of the loudest defenders of the island where she was born and raised.

The Gullah-Geechee are a culturally distinct group of African-Americans

She’s the ninth generation of her family to live on the island, whose slave roots are traced back to Angola. She said the taxes on her one acre property have gone from $600 a year to about $2,300.
“All these years of getting nothing, then all of a sudden, they want to lay this tax on your back and still not give you nothing,” she said.
“For the last three years, we’ve been paying $128 a year for garbage collection. I don’t even have my green garbage can. Where’s my can?”
She added, with a hint of anger in her voice, “You can call 911, but nobody gonna squeal up to your front door, so forget it.”
Homeowners are hiring lawyers now to have their displeasure heard in state and federal court.
Reed Colfax — a partner at Relman, Dane & Colfax, one of the leading housing discrimination litigation firms in the country — is heading full speed into court to have the tax bills struck down for at least half the residents of the island.
“The solution is that we freeze the tax assessments, we get the services to this island, so the people can live here,” he said. “Families can move back in, have children here, have jobs on the mainland, or even develop their own economy here on the island.”
Tax Assessors Board Chairman James Larkin suggests the Sapelo residents brought this issue on themselves, as some began to sell their property to developers and non-islanders who built bigger, upscale vacation homes, causing valuations to increase, and along with them their property taxes.
“If they hadn’t started selling their property, there wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
But Reginald Hall isn’t buying that argument. He and his family own three properties on more than seven acres of property on the island.
The assessed “fair market value” of their property went from $176,075 in 2011 to $910,333 in 2012. That brought on increase of more than 500% in property taxes. He is refusing to pay the taxes and he refuses to sell his family land, which he says is worth over $3 million.
“Once you leave, you are separated from more family members … which is a real interruption in the generational teachings on this island of the culture,” he said.
“We leave, and we’re gone. Can’t come back, because if we try to come back after we sell, you can’t afford to buy,” he told reporters.
Cornelia Bailey said her land may be worth about $384,000, but in reality it is priceless.
“I told one guy it was priceless, and he said everything has a price, and I said, you don’t know me, this is priceless. You don’t have enough money to buy it, so forget it,” she said.
“We have a legacy that most people would die to have. We’re fighting to keep it even for the unborn.”

US urges 'immediate release' of elderly American held in N. Korea - Yahoo News

US urges 'immediate release' of elderly American held in N. Korea - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The United States called Saturday for the "immediate release" of Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old Californian detained in North Korea.
The Korean War veteran was plucked off a plane last month as he was leaving the reclusive state after a tourist visit.
"Given Mr Newman's advanced age and health conditions, we urge the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to release Mr Newman so he may return home and reunite with his family," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
In addition to calling for Newman's "immediate release," Hayden also urged Pyongyang to free another American, Kenneth Bae.
The 45-year-old tour operator was arrested a year ago and sentenced to 15 years' hard labor on charges of seeking to topple the government.
"We continue to urge the DPRK authorities to grant him amnesty and immediate release," Hayden said.
"We remain deeply concerned about the welfare of the US citizens held in custody in the DPRK."
The State Department said the Swedish Embassy, acting on Washington's behalf since the United States has no formal ties with Pyongyang, was given "consular access" to Newman on Saturday.
Earlier, North Korea for the first time officially admitted holding Newman, saying he has been detained for "hostile acts" against the communist country.
Newman was held after entering the North "under the guise of a tourist," the official KCNA news agency said.
KCNA said Newman had committed crimes both as a tourist and during his participation in the Korean War six decades ago and published an apology running to nearly 600 words -- parts of it written in poor English -- in which he allegedly confessed to his crimes.
The retired financial executive has been accused of infringing upon the "dignity and sovereignty" of the secretive state and "slandering its socialist system, quite contrary to the purpose of the tour," the report said.
The American had also masterminded espionage and subversive activities during the 1950-53 Korean War and was involved in the killing of North Korean soldiers and innocent civilians, it added.
"I realize that I cannot be forgiven for my offensives but I beg for pardon on my knees by apologizing for my offensives sincerely toward the (North Korean) government and the Korean people and I want not punish me," KCNA quoted Newman as saying.
The State Department said it had seen the KCNA report according to which Newman apologized for the "misunderstanding" that led to his detention.
However, the diplomatic agency said it had "no other information regarding the reason for his detention."
"At this time, the Department recommends against all travel by US citizens to North Korea," it said in echoing Hayden's calls for both Newman's and Bae's release.
Newman's wife Lee has said her husband of 56 years, who has heart problems, was detained on October 26 shortly before takeoff in Pyongyang. He had just completed a 10-day tour of the country, "a trip he had looked forward to making for a long while," she added.

White Writers Join N-Word Debate - The Root

White Writers Join N-Word Debate - The Root
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
White writers are coming forward to say they cannot sit on the sidelines in the debate over who can use the "N-Word," if anyone. The latest is Mike Wise, Washington Post sports columnist, who responded in Friday's printed Post, "I deserve a seat at this table. This is about the world my 3-year-old is going to live in."Wise isn't the only one. Garret Mathews, a retired metro columnist for the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press, wrote Thursday in the Indianapolis Star about a visit to an Indianapolis high school where the word was bandied about by black students. He taught them about the civil rights movement. "I tell the students the N-word was used by white racists as far back as the 19th century to reinforce the stereotype that persons of color are lazy and stupid," Mathews wrote.
Even Rush Limbaugh, patron saint of conservative talk radio, entered the fray. After Michael Wilbon, co-host of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption," said last week that he uses the N-word "all day, every day of my life" and that white people have no right to tell black people how to use it, Limbaugh said Wilbon should have used the occasion to scold white liberals wedded to "political correctness" — not all whites.
The latest controversies over the N-word have come from the sports world. The NBA fined Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes $25,000 last week after his ejection after L.A.'s' 111-103 victory over Oklahoma City the previous night. Officially, Barnes was dinged for "failing to leave the court in a timely manner … and using inappropriate language on his Twitter account."
"I love my teammates like family, but I'm DONE standing up for these n—–!" Barnes wrote, referring to his fellow Clippers, Ben Golliver reported for Sports Illustrated. "All this s— does is cost me money."
Before that, black players in the Miami Dolphins locker room said they had no problem with white players calling them the word. The Dolphins' Richie Incognito, according to news reports, left a voice mail calling teammate Jonathan Martin the N-word. Incognito later apologized after the incident became public.
Most recently, John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a group formed to promote diversity in hiring in the NFL, said Thursday that Trent Williams, offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins, directed the N-word at umpire Roy Ellison after Ellison had attempted to stop players from the Washington and Philadelphia teams from directing abusive language at one another, Mark Maske and Mike Jones reported Friday in the Post. Williams and Ellison are black.
On Friday, the NFL suspended Ellison for one game without pay for “making a profane and derogatory statement" to Williams, Maske and Jones reported Saturday.
Wise wrote, "All this time I had it in my leftist-engineer head that this word was the most vile, disgusting, loaded word in the history of the English language, and now it's an accepted synonym for 'man' or 'dude' or 'partner?' More jarring, Wilbon said he used it 'all day, every day, all my life,' specifying on 'Pardon the Interruption,' 'I have a problem with white people framing the discussion for the use of the N-word.'
"Okay.
"And I have a problem with anyone of any ethnicity telling me that my values and beliefs about eradicating slurs from public and private conversation are less important than having agency over them for personal use — no matter who it hurts, including millions of African Americans who want the word abolished and should have just as much say.
"Actually, it's deeper than that. When you think you're fighting for a less hostile, less confusing and more mutually respectful country for our children to live in and then you find out your idea of a shared purpose wasn't shared by people you like and respect, a real hopelessness sets in.
"The N-word is filth; it's disrespectful, confusing and uplifts no one. I know of no other minority in the world co-opting a dehumanizing, racial slur used by its oppressor.
"Yet I’m told, 'You don’t get it; you’re white.'
"No. That doesn't work for me. I deserve a seat at this table. This is about the world my 3-year-old is going to live in.
"Spending my formative years in a rural part of Hawaii, where welfare and food stamps were how many families in Ewa Beach got by, I grew up as one of a few 'haole' kids among an ethnic stew of poor- to middle-class Filipino, Samoan, Tongan, Hawaiian and Japanese kids. I would not wish some of the early prejudice and violence I experienced on any prepubescent teen. But in hindsight, I now feel being a minority, even for a few years, should be a prerequisite for every person of a dominant culture; it makes you see and feel what people on the other side see and feel.
"It's where I gained a real affinity and appreciation for diversity, for experiencing the world outside my own ethnic prism. I want to continue that for my son, to impart the one-world values my father imparted on me. I don't want him to experience the word in any form.
"When I am told, 'This isn't about you,' I feel like I’m being judged by the color of my skin and not the content of my character.' . . ."
Wise joins Tom Joyce of the Mount Airy (N.C.) News, Skip Bayless of ESPN and Jack Dickey of Time magazine among whites who have said they cannot keep silent.
Dickey zeroed in on NBA analyst Charles Barkley, a Hall of Famer who said, "White America don't get to dictate how me and Shaq [O'Neill] talk to each other." Dickey picked apart Barkley's logic in a blog post headlined, "Charles Barkley Is Still Not a Role Model."
Jenice Armstrong, Philadelphia Daily News: Rest of Dolphins owe as much blame in Incognito flap (Nov. 13)


Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: N-word isn't acceptable in the workplace


Connie Cass, Associated Press: Young people say online slurs common, not OK


Chris Chase, USA Today: Adrian Peterson hears 'crazier things than just the N-word' in NFL locker rooms


Michael DiRocco, ESPN.com: Jaguars react to potential ban of N-word


J.R. Gamble, the Shadow League: Stephen A. Smith Says White Opinion Must Kick Rocks, Leave Fate Of N-Word to Blacks


Justice B. Hill, BET: The N-Word Defines Blackness in All the Wrong Ways


Ernest Hooper, Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times: Learning n-word's origin might help curtail its use


Mark Maske, Washington Post: Fritz Pollard Alliance urges NFL players to stop using N-word


Piers Morgan, CNN: Debating the "N" Word and the "F" Word with Charles Blow, Don Lemon, and Noah Michelson


Lateef Mungin, CNN: Massachusetts high school cancels football games after racial slur spraypainted on player's home


Bob Raissman, Daily News, New York: Bryant Gumbel on 'Real Sports' says no one should ever use N-word


Gyasi Ross, Huffington Post: Richie Incognito, Redskins and Racism in the NFL


George Willis, New York Post: LaTroy Hawkins: Keep N-word out of locker rooms (Nov. 13

Extension of Benefits for Jobless Is Set to End - NYTimes.com

Extension of Benefits for Jobless Is Set to End - NYTimes.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
1.3 million people will lose access to an emergency program providing them with additional weeks of jobless benefits. A further 850,000 will be denied benefits in the first quarter of 2014.

Related

• Caught in a Revolving Door of Unemployment (November 17, 2013)

Congressional Democrats and the White House, pointing to the sluggish recovery and the still-high jobless rate, are pushing once again to extend the period covered by the unemployment insurance program. But with Congress still far from a budget deal and still struggling to find alternatives to the $1 trillion in long-term cuts known as sequestration, lawmakers say the chances of an extension before Congress adjourns in two weeks are slim.

As a result, one of the largest stimulus measures passed during the recession is likely to come to an end, and jobless workers in many states are likely to receive considerably fewer weeks of benefits.

In all, as many as 4.8 million people could be affected by expiring unemployment benefits through 2014, estimated Gene Sperling, President Obama’s top economic adviser.

“Historically, there has not been a time where the unemployment rate has been this high where you have not extended it,” Mr. Sperling said in an interview. “Why would you not extend now, when you’re dealing with the nearly unprecedented levels of long-term unemployment coming off such a historic recession? This would be the wrong time to do it.”

Democrats are pushing for an extension of the emergency insurance program as part of the broader budget talks designed to avert a repeat of the government shutdown in October. But negotiators in the House and Senate are discussing a relatively small deal focused on replacing or altering the sequestration cuts, which would probably not include an extension of the jobless program.

Both Republicans and Democrats are skeptical that even such a small deal is possible given how divided the parties are.

Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington and chairwoman of the Budget Committee, “clearly supports the policy, is interested in doing it and is hopeful there will be a path in this budget conference,” said a senior Democratic aide with knowledge of the discussions. “She will continue to work with Republicans to see if it’s possible in this deal.”

Republican aides declined to discuss the talks. But Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the House budget chairman, “is committed to finding common ground,” said William Allison, a spokesman. “He hopes both parties can work together to cut spending in a smarter way.”

Congress initially created the federally funded unemployment insurance extension in 2008, as a way to combat poverty and to help unemployed workers get through the worst recession since the Great Depression. Congress has repeatedly extended the program since then, with the Congressional Budget Office calling it among the most effective forms of government stimulus.

But with each extension, legislators have haggled over the program’s cost and over how many weeks of benefits the government should provide. Extending the current program through 2014 would cost about $25 billion. The program has cost roughly $250 billion so far.

The end of the emergency program would come as the economy is improving, if slowly. Employers are now adding jobs at a pace of around 200,000 a month, and the unemployment rate has dropped to 7.3 percent.

But weakness persists beyond the headline numbers. About four million Americans have been looking for work for more than six months, and the share of the working-age population with a job has declined over the past year.

In part that is because the government has slashed spending even as private businesses have picked up their hiring. Sequestration forced federal agencies to enact sudden budget cuts this year. And a number of recession-era programs beyond the emergency jobless aid program are ending. This month, for example, an expansion of the food stamp program expired.

The left-of-center Economic Policy Institute has estimated that the expiration of the emergency jobless benefits program would reduce job growth by 310,000 positions next year because consumers over all would have less money to spend. Michael Feroli, chief United States economist at JPMorgan Chase, has estimated that it would drain about four-tenths of a percentage point from first-quarter economic growth.

Already, about 2.5 million unemployed people who have not worked in six months or more are receiving no federal jobless benefits.

Those include Jonathan Galliher, a 31-year-old computer programmer in Chicago who is living with family and freelancing while searching for a full-time job. “For a long time, I felt like I didn’t have any momentum,” he said. “It has been difficult. I spend my days sitting at home, working and not really seeing a lot of other people. That kind of isolation is not good for people.”

The odds of finding a job once out of work for a long spell are slim — about 1 in 10 during any given month. That has spurred hundreds of thousands of workers to simply drop out of the labor force, with long-lasting economic consequences for those workers and for the country.

“When I go for an interview and I get asked, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ ” said Nancy Copeland, 56, who lives in Kansas City, Kan., and is looking for a job in medical billing. “I’m made to feel like it’s the Sunday night before a term paper is due, I’ve known about it for months, and I just started on it Wednesday afternoon and now my mom is asking me why I waited so long.”

Virginia cop under investigation for Tasing a suspect for 40 seconds | The Raw Story

Virginia cop under investigation for Tasing a suspect for 40 seconds | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
A Fredericksburg, Virginia police officer is under investigation after video surfaced of him using a Taser for more than half a minute on a non-armed suspect, seemingly breaking his department’s protocol.
WRIC-TV reported that the suspect, 36-year-old Lantz Day, was released from a local hospital on Wednesday after placing a $3,500 bond and faces an obstruction of justice charge following his Nov. 9 encounter with police.
Day was picked up after the gray Buick sedan in which he was riding reportedly hit at least five parked cars. The driver fled the scene before an unidentified officer reached the vehicle. Video filmed by a witness shows Day attempting to do the same, before the officer uses his Taser and continues to employ it after Day drops to the ground. Day can be heard yelling, “Stop it” and screaming in the footage.
“I remember a high level of voltage,” Day told WRIC on Wednesday. “And I remember screaming out at one point. And after that, I just remember being in a jail, being in a tank in a jail, freezing.”
Fredericksburg Police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe told ABC News that the department’s investigation is standard protocol following the use of force by an officer.
“We’re not investigating whether it should have been deployed,” Bledsoe explained. “The suspect was legally detained, noncompliant and attempted to flee.”
However, WRIC reported that the department’s policy on the use of force states, “A subject fleeing from an officer, by itself, is not justification for the Taser to be deployed and is prohibited.”

RALEIGH: NAACP adds churches and other plaintiffs to NC elections-law challenge | State Politics | NewsObserver.com

RALEIGH: NAACP adds churches and other plaintiffs to NC elections-law challenge | State Politics | NewsObserver.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Six churches from across North Carolina have added their names to an NAACP lawsuit challenging new state elections law.
In an amended complaint filed in federal court this week, the historically African-American churches in Merry Hill, Brevard, Durham, Hickory and Chapel Hill complained that cuts to the number of days for early voting and the ban on same-day registration and voting would have a negative impact on them.
The churches contended they would have to divert money for food banks, computer classes and other social-service programs to help get members who need assistance to the polls and proper locations for IDs and supporting documentation.
Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winston-Salem contends that the reduction in the number of days for early voting, allowing only one Sunday, “will place a strain on the church’s transportation services, will make it difficult for the church to operate the programs as they have in the past, and will lead to a reduction in the number of voters and congregants the church is able to transport to the polls.”
During the 2008 and 2012 elections, many African-American churches across North Carolina offered “Souls to the Polls” programs that encouraged voting by taking church-goers from services directly to the polls during early-voting periods.
“Emmanuel Baptist Church must now divert substantial resources and attention away from other critical missions to assist members if its congregation, the residents of the surrounding community it serves, and other contituents who stand to have their right to vote burdened by the law,” the amended complaint states.
Ray Starling, the general counsel for House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Cornelius Republican, questioned Thursday whether the churches would have standing to join the case. He maintains the lawsuit is more about politics and building support among Democratic strongholds than the constutional questions about the elections-law changes.
"It's further proof that it's not about the law, it's about turf and politics," Starling said.
Irv Joyner, a N.C. Central University law professor who is helping with the NAACP lawsuit, argued the churches should have standing.
“Historically, the center of political activity in the African-American community has been the churches,” Joyner said. “In every respect, the history of the African-American churches have shown that they are suffering the ill effects, as are their congregants, that this law has brought.”
The amended complaint adds six individuals as plaintiffs, too.
In August, when Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law sweeping revisions to North Carolina's voting procedures, the stroke of his pen set off a flourish of lawsuits.
Rosanell Johnson Eaton, a nonagenarian in Franklin County, was a lead plaintiff in a suit filed in August by the state NAACP and a voter rights organization.
A proponent of early voting who has spent years helping others get to the polls, Eaton claims that provisions of the new law are too restrictive and will hinder her ability to vote.
She has a North Carolina driver’s license, but she fears that the name on it may not match the name on her certified birth certificate. The reason is that she was born at home and a midwife inaccurately wrote her name on her birth certificate, she said.
In the lawsuit filed in August, Eaton contended the new law will force her to “incur substantial time and expense” to correct her identification documents.
Joining Eaton in the amended complaint are: Carolyn Q. Coleman, an African-American county commissioner from Guilford County, Mary Perry, an 84-year-old Wendell resident, and Armenta Eaton, 64, also of Franklin County.
Three African-American college students, Baheeyah Madany, 20, an N.C. Central University business major, Jocelyn Andreka Ferguson-Kelly, 19, at Winston-Salem State University, and Faith Jackson, a Winston-Salem State nursing major, have added their names to the complaint. They contend the new ID restrictions will render them ineligible to vote unless each obtains the required identification.
In September, the Obama administration decided to sue North Carolina to block the new voting rules, including the oft-debated photo ID provision.
In announcing the federal government’s plans, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder contended that his office would show that key provisions of North Carolina’s elections law are “both discriminatory in intent and in impact.”
The complaint was filed in North Carolina’s Middle District, where the NAACP and other civil rights groups have filed their recent challenges of the new elections law.
The Republican-led legislature and Gov. Pat McCrory have voiced support for the law changes, particularly the Voter ID provision, arguing that the measures were necessary to prevent the possibility of voter fraud.
Critics have said the measures were designed to suppress the votes of Democrats in a state where few voter fraud cases have been brought.
The ID provision that goes into effect for the 2016 elections requires voters to show a valid, government-issued ID before casting a ballot.
Other provisions trouble the civil rights division of the U.S. Justice Department and plaintiffs in the NAACP lawsuit. Some of them begin in 2014.
Among the provisions are:
• The early voting period will be one week shorter. County election boards, however, are required to provide the same number of hours for early voting.
• Straight-ticket voting will be prohibited, and candidates will appear on the ballot in alphabetical order by party – beginning with the party whose nominee for governor received the most votes in the most recent election.
• People no longer will be able to register and vote on the same day.
• Voters who show up at the wrong precinct no longer will be able to cast a vote there with a provisional ballot.
In 2016, voters will have to show one of eight authorized photo IDs: an N.C. driver’s license that has not expired, a special ID card for non-drivers, a driver’s license issued by another state but only within 90 days of the voter’s registration, a U.S. passport, a military ID card, a veteran’s ID card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a tribal enrollment card issued by the federal government, or a tribal ID card recognized by the state. Student IDs are not included.
Voters without a valid ID will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot. But to have it count, they must go to the elections board within six days (nine in presidential elections) and show a valid ID.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/14/3371415/naacp-adds-churches-and-other.html#storylink=cpy

 

White Supremacist Confronted with DNA Results on Live TV: ‘You Have a Little Black in You’ | Mediaite

White Supremacist Confronted with DNA Results on Live TV: ‘You Have a Little Black in You’ | Mediaite
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The white supremacist leader attempting to turn a rural North Dakotan town into a neo-Nazi-controlled paradise recently underwent a DNA test for a syndicated talk show. As it turns out, he’s got some Sub-Saharan African genetics in his blood.
As we’ve previously reported, 62-year-old Craig Cobb has been attempting to transform Leith, N.D., into a safe haven for fellow white supremacists. Along the way, he’s faced fierce opposition from the locals, including a zoning board that has used several ordinances in its favor.
While he seems like the last person to ever appear on a syndicated daytime talk show, Cobb somehow agreed to appear on The Trisha Show. He also submitted his DNA for testing as part of the show’s ongoing “Race in America” series.
Host Trisha Goddard read Cobb’s genetic results aloud on-the-air, much to the delight of the audience who laughed and applauded as it was revealed that the white supremacist is 14-percent Sub-Saharan African.
Cobb immediately waved away the results as “statistical noise” and refused Goddard’s mocking fist-bump. “I tell you,” he said. “Oil and water don’t mix.”
“You have a little black in you!” Goddard shouted at Cobb, who refused to meet her touch on two occasions.
In an exclusive interview with the DailyMail, Cobb said he agreed to the show’s test because “I assumed it was science,” but was upset to find that it was actually the product of “craven and debased executives,” whose “goal is to shock” and “promote multiculturalism.”
Even if another test showed similar results, Cobb said he’d still fancy himself a “border guard for the purebreds.”

Watch the video, via DailyMail:

Does the 60 Minutes retraction hurt the GOP's case on Benghazi? - Yahoo News

Does the 60 Minutes retraction hurt the GOP's case on Benghazi? - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

"I see criticism from the left where they go, 'You guys are covering a phony scandal,'" Steve Doocy, co-host of Fox & Friends, said two weeks ago. "60 Minutes doesn't cover phony scandals."

Related Stories

• '60 Minutes' Corrects Its Benghazi Story: 'We Are Very Sorry' The Atlantic Wire
• '60 Minutes' apologizes for flawed Benghazi report Associated Press
• Sen. Graham not backing down on Benghazi demands Associated Press
• CBS admits error in Benghazi '60 Minutes' story Associated Press
• The Benghazi Conspiracy Is Too Good a Story Not to Be Told The Atlantic Wire

It turns out that isn't entirely true. Yesterday, CBS News correspondent Lara Logan apologized on 60 Minutes for a story the show aired featuring Dylan Davies, a security contractor who said he was at the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, the night it was attacked.

In the now retracted story, Davies talked about scaling the 12-foot walls of the embassy during the attack, hitting an al Qaeda member in the head with the butt of his rifle, and seeing J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, dead in the hospital..

His supposedly first-hand account bolstered accusations that security at the compound was inadequate. Specifically, his claim that he disobeyed orders not to go to the consulate added to the perception that the Obama administration failed to send enough help on the night of the attack.
The problem? Davies told the F.B.I. and his Britain-based employer, Blue Mountain, an entirely different story, saying that he never even reached the compound.

Before that came to light, Republicans were eager to push the CBS News report as evidence of the White House's incompetence in Benghazi.
The day after the Oct. 27 piece aired, the Republican National Committee put out a press release titled, "CBS Exposes Latest Benghazi Blunders." Several Republican politicians, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), some of the most fierce critics of the White House's response to Benghazi, passed the story around on Twitter.

The most drastic calls to action, however, came from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The day after the 60 Minutes report aired, Graham blasted the White House and claimed that he was "going to block every appointment in the United States Senate until the survivors are being made available to Congress."

That would mean delaying nominees Janet Yellen, chosen as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, and Jeh Johnson, who was picked to become the next head of the Department of Homeland Security.

So does the retraction hurt Graham's case?
Graham says no. Even after the 60 Minutes correction, Graham told CNN's Candy Crowley that his threat still stood because his core argument, and that of the 60 minutes' report, remains unchanged.

The 60 Minutes story says that the attack on the consulate was not a protest but a pre-planned al-Qaida attack that you could see coming for months. The people who said that were not the British contractors...

Oversight's important. I want to perform oversight — I'm not trying to prosecute a crime, I'm not trying to defend a British contractor...Fourteen months after the attack we haven't heard from those who survived the attack and that's what I'm after. Congress has a duty. [The Guardian]

That sentiment was echoed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), who said in a statement, "Our position on Benghazi hasn't changed. What happened with the 60 Minutes piece is on CBS and 60 Minutes."

There are certainly still legitimate questions that need to be answered about Benghazi, discredited witness or not. Who, exactly, planned the attack? What was the C.I.A. doing in the area? Why wasn't the U.S. consulate more prepared? Republicans have been pushing for answers on Benghazi long before Davies talked to 60 Minutes. The fact that he wasn't a credible eyewitness doesn't completely destroy their case against the White House.

But this latest round of outrage centered around the now discredited 60 Minutes story and, likewise, should be apologized for, writes Politico's Marvin Kalb:

Republicans seized on the 60 Minutes story to call for new investigations of the Obama administration's defense of its actions during the Benghazi attack. Will Senator Graham now apologize for jumping the gun on the Benghazi story and lift his hold on Obama's two nominees? Tune in. In broadcasting, the story generally trumps the apology in impact and consequence. [Politico]

Saying producers at CBS aren't the "only ones who owe the public an explanation for having shown poor judgment," Steve Bennen at The Rachel Maddow Show similarly argues that Graham should apologize and stop blocking the administration's nominations:

Graham seized on the 60 Minutes report to bolster his conspiracy theories, but the segment has been retracted and discredited. The senator has said he needs to block all pending nominees because he wants to talk to survivors of the Benghazi attack, but survivors have already agreed to deliver congressional testimony.

In other words, what we’re left with is a senator throwing a tantrum for no particular reason. He’s single-handedly bringing all Senate confirmation votes to a halt to get what he’s already been given, and because of a CBS report that CBS no longer believes. [The Rachel Maddow Show]

Prisons and Sentencing Reform | Equal Justice Initiative

Prisons and Sentencing Reform | Equal Justice Initiative
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than any other nation in the world. The increase in the jail and prison population from 200,000 to 2.3 million in the past 40 years has lead to unprecedented prison overcrowding and put tremendous strain on state budgets. “Tough on crime” policy has created a growing underclass of ex-prisoners who are barred from productively re-entering society by increasingly numerous and onerous restrictions on things like applying for a driver's license, adopting a child, voting, and receiving federal aid for education or food in many states.
Alabama’s prisons were built to hold 14,000 prisoners. Today, they hold 28,000. The state faces an overcrowing crisis created by the tremendous increase in the number of people sent to prison in the last 25 years.
Alabama spends only $26 a day per prisoner; the national average is $62. It spends the least of any state in the country on medical care for inmates. Alabama’s prisons have the highest inmate to correctional officer ratio in the county. Many have waiting lists for solitary confinement. Unsafe prison conditions have given rise to lawsuits in which courts have found that crowding in state and local facilities is “barbaric.”
Alabama inmates have been forced to sleep on concrete floors in facilities were the “sardine-can appearance of cell units more nearly resemble the holding units of slave ships during the Middle Passage of the eighteenth century than anything in the twenty-first century.”
Alabama also is home to some of the nation's harshest sex offender registration and residency restrictions. Alabama's Community Notification Act applies to everyone convicted of a sex offense, regardless of the nature of the offense. It bars people from living within 2000 feet of a college, school, or day care center. Many people have been left homeless or deprived of critical medical care because they cannot find homes that comply with the CNA. Indeed, people have been convicted of a felony offense and sentenced to 10 additional years in prison because they were unable to identify a CNA-compliant residential address prior to their release from prison.

Democrats unite on new military sexual assault bill | MSNBC

Democrats unite on new military sexual assault bill | MSNBC
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

Senators at odds over competing proposals to change the way the military deals with its epidemic of sexual assault cases have united on a separate plan designed to address another flaw in the justice system.
On Tuesday, Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and 11 others introduced a proposal to change the way court martial preliminary hearings are conducted. Joining efforts was Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, author of proposed reforms competing with changes designed by Gillibrand. The new bill would change Article 32 hearings to be more like preliminary hearings in civilian criminal trials.
This is the most recent major piece of legislation introduced designed to address sexual assault in the military this year. Reforming the military justice system to better prosecute sexual assault cases has been a major focus since a series scandals broke just as the Defense Department released a report estimating there were 26,000 incidents of unwanted sexual contact during the 2012 fiscal year. Of those, only 3,374 were reported, and only 302 of those were prosecuted. Of those who reported, more than 60% of victims said they experienced retaliation for reporting their assaults.
The proposed reforms will be folded into a larger defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, which the Senate is expected to debate before the Thanksgiving recess. The opening for debate would allow Gillibrand another chance to pass her Military Justice Improvement Act, a bill that would reassign convening authority for sexual assault cases and other serious crimes to a military prosecutor. Currently decisions about prosecution are made by an officer within the accused attacker’s chain of command.
The defense bill currently includes reforms supported by Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin and McCaskill. McCaskill’s reforms would leave authority within the chain of command.
Both senators’ proposals include reforms that would strip commanders of their ability to overturn jury convictions, mandate dishonorable discharges for anyone convicted of sexual assault, and make it a crime to retaliate against victims who report a sexual assault, but this disagreement over chain of command has caused deep divisions, even within the Democratic Party.
While veterans groups and many advocates for survivors of sexual assault support Gillibrand’s bill, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate. On Monday, Levin said that Gillibrand’s amendment would need to get 60 votes to be approved; Gillibrand has already collected the support of 45 other senators. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also said Monday that he would do “whatever it takes” to stop Gillibrand’s amendment from passing.
Reforms to the military justice system and policies surrounding sexual assault cases will be one of the most contentious points of debate during the Senate’s work on the full defense bill, no small feat for legislation that includes bans on transferring prisoners from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Boxer’s Article 32 reform bill could face an easier path thanks to both its broad coalition of supporters and recent events in a high profile case. The bill would make testimony by victims voluntary, something that is already allowed for civilians at Article 32 hearings. It would also, among other things, limit the scope of the proceedings to probable cause, which would protect victims from questions designed to impugn credibility and character.
“When military victims of sexual assault are forced to endure hours of insensitive and intrusive questioning by military justice officials, they are treated more like perpetrators than victims,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday. “Limiting the scope of Article 32 proceedings and requiring a military lawyer to oversee them will ensure that victims of sexual assault are not further harmed by the same military justice system that is put in place to protect them.”
The ongoing court-martial process for former Naval Academy football players accused of raping a female midshipman has allowed a glimpse into the way military sexual assault cases are prosecuted and inspired lawmakers to write this new bill. During the Article 32 hearing, the young woman who alleged she was assaulted by three men at a party was subjected to five days of cross-examination by a dozen defense lawyers, during which she was asked about what she was wearing and about how she performed oral sex.
Two of the three men accused in the Naval Academy case face court martial early next year. The Superintendent of the Academy referred those cases to trial after the officer who presided over the pretrial hearing recommended none of them face court martial and reportedly harshly criticized the alleged victim’s character.
The Naval Academy case is not the only high-profile military sexual assault case to continue to cause controversy. Last month, when it was announced that James Wilkerson, a Lt. Col. whose jury conviction for sexual assault was overturned unilaterally by the officer in charge of the court martial, would retire Jan. 1 at a reduced rank, Rep. Jackie Speier called the reduction a “slap on the wrist.” Despite being convicted of sexual assault by a jury, Wilkerson will still receive his military pension.
In addition to Boxer’s bill and the full defense bill debate, advocates and survivors are continuing to speak out about their experiences and call for change. Service Women’s Action Network, the Iraq and Afghan Veterans Association, and the Vietnam Veterans Association released an open letter Tuesday urging lawmakers to pass Gillibrand’s proposal. “Military sexual assault is a multi-generational issue. For decades, it has been swept under the rug yet continues to rear its ugly head,” said Marsha Four of Vietnam Veterans of America in a statement Tuesday.
This year’s push for reform marks only the latest push in the wake of scandal. For decades, military leaders have lamented the lack of a “silver bullet” solution to sexual assault in the armed forces. In September, the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services met to discuss reforms and recommended that the Department of Defense support Gillibrand’s bill.
“Separating military justice decision-making from the chain of command will make it possible for commanders to concentrate on improving the climate in their commands that helps prevent sexual assaults,” said Nancy Duff Campbell, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center said at a press conference about military sexual assault and proposed reforms held Wednesday. “They can model the behavior they expect from those they command.  This is the leadership job that commanders should be called upon to do and the job for which they have particular expertise.”
Anu Bhagwati also rejected the argument that commanders must retain control or face chaos in the ranks. “Often, we see the military justice reform debate framed as a choice to support either sexual assault survivors or military readiness,” she said in a statement released Tuesday. “Today, we want to be clear. A vote for Sen. Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA) is a vote for our troops, and a vote for a stronger military.”