The Willie Lynch Dark Girls Connection. : ThyBlackMan.com

The Willie Lynch Dark Girls Connection. : ThyBlackMan.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
 A few months ago the documentary “Dark Girls” was aired on The Own Network. From a journalistic point of view this may be old news, but it really isn’t since the subject matter of “Dark Girls” has been a hot topic for years.
It somehow amazes me that in 2013 the subject of color complexion is still a major source of discomfort to some folks. Now I am not shocked or naïve to the fact that race is still a factor in many situations. However, to know this is still an issue within the African American community saddens me.
The documentary “Dark Girls” delves deeply into the attitudes and prejudices involving skin color outside and within the African American community. This film is also poignant because we hear the recorded accounts of women that have personally experienced being treated negatively simply because of the color of their skin. Dark Girls  (—–
The light skinned vs. dark skinned issue has been a heavy one within our community for years. How about hundreds of years to be exact. As I read the numerous articles and comments on “Dark Girls” one thing came to mind, the Infamous Willie Lynch Letter. The name and idea of Willie Lynch continued to pop up in my head.
Some of you may be familiar with Willie Lynch and some of you may not. The British slave owner Willie Lynch delivered a speech in 1712. This was not an ordinary speech, but one that taught methods on keeping slaves under control. Even though his speech is over three hundred years old I believe that it still holds ramifications that effect blacks to this day.
One of the methods mentioned in The Willie Lynch Letter instructs pitting the darker skinned black against the lighter one. Lynch states within the letter that blacks will continue to perpetrate these actions, by self-refueling and self-generating this thought of self-hatred for hundreds of years.
After reading the Willie Lynch Letter I realized that we are still doing just those things. We still sling hateful remarks at one another with no concern on how a person may feel. It appears that Willie Lynch’s letter still has some effect on us today and in some cases seems to be a cycle.
So many times blalantly or subtle we are continuously reminded us that light is right. The house slave vs. the field slave and the paper bag test held by black Greek organizations. Even family members have been known to constantly point out that lighter girls are prettier than the darker ones.
This type of thinking was and in some cases still the norm. In the past and even today some mothers are still telling their sons to marry only light skinned women, so as not to have dark babies. This is sad to me and disheartening.
Here is just an excerpt that has been edited to emphasize points and statements in my opinion that are strongly connected to Dark Girls and the experiences and attitudes of the black race.
I have a full proof method for controlling our black slaves. I guarantee every one of you that, if installed correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 hundred years. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves.
The Willie Lynch Letter

The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.

You must use the dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves, and the light skin slaves vs. the dark skin slaves.
I strongly suggest that you read The Willie Lynch Letter in its entirety.
Some have said that The Willie Lynch Letter is a hoax. Well be it hoax or not it seems to have worked and I believe that there is a connection between the Willie Lynch speech and attitudes on being a dark skinned man or woman.
Since shackled, hauled across the oceans and forced into enslavement the black race in America have been stripped physically, mentally and spiritually, with their self-esteem along with it.
It is understandable to have a preference of what type of man or woman you are attracted to, but when others feel the need to destroy one’s self-esteem that takes it to a whole different level.
We must embrace all of our beautiful sisters and take hold of all of the hues within our special rainbow and while we’re at it let’s burn the Willie Lynch mentality and the self-hatred along with it.
 http://thyblackman.com/2013/08/31/the-willie-lynch-dark-girls-connection/

Low-wage Workers Are Older Than You Think: 88 Percent of Workers Who Would Benefit From a Higher Minimum Wage Are Older Than 20, One Third Are Over 40 | Economic Policy Institute

Low-wage Workers Are Older Than You Think: 88 Percent of Workers Who Would Benefit From a Higher Minimum Wage Are Older Than 20, One Third Are Over 40 | Economic Policy Institute
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
It is a common myth that very low-wage workers—workers who would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased—are mostly teenagers. The reality is that raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would primarily benefit older workers. 88 percent of workers who would be affected by raising the minimum wage are at least 20 years old, and a third of them are at least 40 years old.
When describing who would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased, it is important to look at everyone who earns between the current minimum wage and the proposed new one, as well as workers earning just above the new minimum wage (who would likely also see a small pay increase as employers move to preserve internal wage ladders). The typical worker who would be affected by an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2015 looks nothing like the part-time, teen stereotype: She is in her early thirties, works full-time, and may have a family to support. Our analysis of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage shows:

• The average age of affected workers is 35 years old;
• 88 percent of all affected workers are at least 20 years old;
• 35.5 percent are at least 40 years old;
• 56 percent are women;
• 28 percent have children;
• 55 percent work full-time (35 hours per week or more);
• 44 percent have at least some college experience.

Claims that mostly teenagers would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased are sometimes based erroneously upon the official Bureau of Labor Statistics data on workers who are earning the federal minimum wage or below—i.e. workers earning exactly $7.25 per hour or less. These data do not provide an accurate picture of who would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased because they exclude all workers from the 19 states with higher state minimum wages, along with all workers making slightly above the current federal minimum wage but below the proposed minimum, all of whom would see a raise if the minimum wage were increased. Also, see a comprehensive analysis of the impact of raising the minimum wage in Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would give working families, and the overall economy, a much-needed boost.

---

 http://www.epi.org/publication/wage-workers-older-88-percent-workers-benefit/

Republican Mississippi sheriff indicted on 31 counts for abusing powers | The Raw Story

Republican Mississippi sheriff indicted on 31 counts for abusing powers | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The sheriff for Jackson County, Mississippi was indicted Friday on 31 criminal counts and accused of abusing his position to not only order a female deputy to give him sexual favors, but pursue a murder case against the wishes of an investigating detective.
WKRG-TV reported on Friday that the charges against Sheriff Mike Byrd include 10 counts of embezzlement, and 10 counts of fraud, two counts of extortion and one count of perjury, among other charges. Authorities contend that Byrd, a Republican currently in his fourth term in office, has used his position to target personal and political opponents and fudge his record to boost his re-election prospects.
One of the extortion charges in the indictment concerns an accusation that Byrd threatened the deputy in 2012 with a “bad recommendation to other law enforcement agencies” if she did not perform sexual acts and left the department. When she refused, the deputy was forbidden from taking part in a department program and moved to another work station in retaliation.
Byrd is also accused of pressuring a detective in 2007 to deliver an arrest warrant in a murder case against a man the detective did not believe committed the crime, so that Byrd could say during his re-election campaign at the time that there were no unsolved murders in the county. Authorities also accused Byrd of ordering deputies to conduct surveillance on a Mexican restaurant because it did not accept a personal check from him as payment for a meal.

 Gulflive.com reported on Friday that bail for Byrd was set at $1,000 per count. Watch WKRG’s report, aired Friday, below.

And read the 15-page indictment against Byrd here.

Indictment Against Sheriff Byrd by Chad Petri

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/30/republican-mississippi-sheriff-indicted-on-31-counts-for-abusing-powers/

A seat in the house, 50 years later - baltimoresun.com

A seat in the house, 50 years later - baltimoresun.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

Movie tickets at the Northwood Theatre cost just 90 cents back in 1963. But for some, the price of admission was considerably higher.
It took years of picketing and nights in jail for hundreds of African-American college students and their supporters before the theater in the Hillen neighborhood of Baltimore dropped its whites-only policy. Fifty years ago this week, the matinee of the Disney movie "In Search of the Castaways" played to the Northwood's first-ever integrated audience.
"It was just something in my opinion that needed to be done," said Joyce I. Dennison, 71, who, as a student at Morgan State College, joined the protests that led to the theater's desegregation on Feb. 22, 1963.
"You say you want to open a facility to the public — we are part of the public."
Half a century later, the integration of a small neighborhood movie house that closed in 1981 might seem a minor footnote in the sweep of civil rights history. It was not Brown v. Board of Education or the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Yet, for those who pounded the pavement, staged sit-ins or languished in jail for the simple, day-to-day access to movie theaters or lunch counters, the Northwood victory remains a sweet one.
"It took a lot longer than perhaps we would have wished," said the Rev. Douglas Sands, 78, who first began protesting at the Northwood in the 1950s as a Morgan student. "But because of that, it did a lot for a generation of us. We got to know each other, and there was a lot of community-building.
"We had people from Loyola, from Johns Hopkins, Goucher," said Sands, who leads the White Rock Methodist Church in Sykesville. "It was a training ground for so many comrades in the struggle."
Dennison, who went on to become a schoolteacher and staff sergeant in the Army, was among the final wave of protesters who brought the long-running Northwood fight to an end. After years of smaller demonstrations that failed to get the theater to relent, organizers decided that only a larger show of resistance would bring about change.
By early 1963, activists in Baltimore had won access to the Read's Drug Store fountains and to Ford's Theatre downtown, where African-Americans had had to climb a back staircase to sit in a segregated balcony.
But the Northwood's management stubbornly refused to budge, even as other businesses in the shopping center dropped their resistance.
Day after day, for about a week, hundreds of picketers marched on the theater. Police started to run out of vehicles to transport those arrested, and the city's jails overflowed.
With Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations supporting the demonstrators, and with civic leaders tiring of the turmoil, the theater's management dropped trespassing and disorderly-conduct charges and agreed to open its doors to all.
A picture widely circulated at the time shows Dennison and a Goucher student sitting in jail, studiously reading textbooks as they bided their time for their civil disobedience. Dennison thinks the books came from Morgan's strict dean of women, who visited throughout what turned out to be a three-night stint in jail.
"She did not accept being in prison as an excuse for not studying," Dennison said wryly.
Coming from Kennett Square, Pa., with its long history of Quaker activism, Dennison said she was naturally drawn to the protests. But as the first member of her family to go to college, she didn't let on to her parents how she was spending her free time.
"I think our parents were very supportive, but also fearful," Dennison said. "A lot of us had grandparents who were, 'Just be patient. Things will change in time.' Or, 'There's no chance of you winning this argument.'
"My generation was a little more rebellious," she said.
The memories came back last week when she viewed an exhibit, curated by University of Maryland law professor Larry Gibson, on Morgan State's role in the civil rights movement.
In 1963, Gibson said, the college was in something of an awkward position: generally supportive of the demonstrators, but wary of the cost of raising too much of a ruckus.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-northwood-civil-rights-20130216,0,5177491.story#ixzz2dKPZIP00

Carson Huey-You, 11, Starts Freshman Year Texas Christian University | News One

Carson Huey-You, 11, Starts Freshman Year Texas Christian University | News One
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
FORT WORTH, Texas  — The hardest part of college life for Carson Huey-You (pictured) is the weight of the books he must carry in his backpack.
After all, Carson’s only 4-foot-7, 75 pounds — and 11-years-old as he embarks on his freshman year at Texas Christian University.
He became TCU’s youngest student ever when classes started last week. The physics major says he plans to be a quantum physicist.
The Southlake child graduated in May as co-valedictorian from a private Grapevine high school at age 10. He scored 1770 on his SAT, and his mother, Claretta Huey-You, says Carson was reading by age 2. She says numbers and math came easily to him, he plays classical music on the piano, and he can speak Mandarin Chinese.
Watch news story of Carson’s great accomplishment below:

// He even played Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” during his admissions interview. As brilliant as the young man is, Dean of Admissions Ray Brown told NBC Dallas/Fort Worth that Carson’s youth posed a few challenges during the application process.  “He was completely off the grid when it came to even the most basic of things, like completing an application or completing a financial aid form,” he said. “Because of his date of birth, those forms would not accept his application.”
(The system does not accept applications from people born in 2002)
For those who worry about Carson’s maturity and his ability to adjust to college life, Dr. Magnus Rigby, an associate dean and physics professor in astronomy, says there’s nothing to be concerned about. “When people worried about him going to college at this age, my response is, ‘What else would he do?’” he told WFAA 8-TV.
Besides, he’s been in this situation before. “When I was five, I was put in 8th grade with people a lot older and a lot taller,” Carson told the TV station.

Never intimidated by challenges, he says he plans on earning his doctorate before he’s 20. How’s that for ambitious! When Carson is not in class, he enjoys playing video games. His favorite movie is “Star Wars,” and he loves the “Chronicles of Narnia” book series.

Watch Carson talk about adjusting to college life:

The hardest part of college life for Carson Huey-You is the weight of the books he must carry in his backpack. After all, Carson’s only 4-foot-7, 75 pounds — and 11 years old as he embarks on his freshman year at Texas Christian University. He became TCU’s youngest student ever when classes started last week. The physics major says he plans to be a quantum physicist. The Southlake child graduated in May as co-valedictorian from a private Grapevine high school at age 10. He scored 1770 on his SAT, and his mother, Claretta Huey-You, says Carson was reading by age 2. She says numbers and math came easily to him, he plays classical music on the piano, and he can speak Mandarin Chinese. Now he’s learning the TCU Fight Song.Read More at: http://www.kfoxtv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.tx/20f664bb-www.kfoxtv.com.shtml#.Uh37qrxQ1tk

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The hardest part of college life for Carson Huey-You is the weight of the books he must carry in his backpack. After all, Carson’s only 4-foot-7, 75 pounds — and 11 years old as he embarks on his freshman year at Texas Christian University. He became TCU’s youngest student ever when classes started last week. The physics major says he plans to be a quantum physicist. The Southlake child graduated in May as co-valedictorian from a private Grapevine high school at age 10. He scored 1770 on his SAT, and his mother, Claretta Huey-You, says Carson was reading by age 2. She says numbers and math came easily to him, he plays classical music on the piano, and he can speak Mandarin Chinese. Now he’s learning the TCU Fight Song.Read More at: http://www.kfoxtv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.tx/20f664bb-www.kfoxtv.com.shtml#.Uh37qrxQ1tk

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The hardest part of college life for Carson Huey-You is the weight of the books he must carry in his backpack. After all, Carson’s only 4-foot-7, 75 pounds — and 11 years old as he embarks on his freshman year at Texas Christian University. He became TCU’s youngest student ever when classes started last week. The physics major says he plans to be a quantum physicist. The Southlake child graduated in May as co-valedictorian from a private Grapevine high school at age 10. He scored 1770 on his SAT, and his mother, Claretta Huey-You, says Carson was reading by age 2. She says numbers and math came easily to him, he plays classical music on the piano, and he can speak Mandarin Chinese. Now he’s learning the TCU Fight Song.Read More at: http://www.kfoxtv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.tx/20f664bb-www.kfoxtv.com.shtml#.Uh37qrxQ1tk

The hardest part of college life for Carson Huey-You is the weight of the books he must carry in his backpack. After all, Carson’s only 4-foot-7, 75 pounds — and 11 years old as he embarks on his freshman year at Texas Christian University. He became TCU’s youngest student ever when classes started last week. The physics major says he plans to be a quantum physicist. The Southlake child graduated in May as co-valedictorian from a private Grapevine high school at age 10. He scored 1770 on his SAT, and his mother, Claretta Huey-You, says Carson was reading by age 2. She says numbers and math came easily to him, he plays classical music on the piano, and he can speak Mandarin Chinese. Now he’s learning the TCU Fight Song.Read More at: http://www.kfoxtv.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.tx/20f664bb-www.kfoxtv.com.shtml#.Uh37qrxQ1tk

http://newsone.com/2701909/carson-huey-you-texas-christian-university/

South Africa Land Debate Heats Up • Africanglobe.net

South Africa Land Debate Heats Up • Africanglobe.net
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
AFRICANGLOBE – South Africa needs a bolder approach to the land reform issue to prevent the alarmingly frequent murders related to land conflict arising out of inequality and a historically antagonistic relationship between White settler commercial farmers, African labourers and local communities, an official of the National African Farmers Union of South Africa said yesterday.
Nafu president Motsepe Matlala told participants at a regional conference on agriculture, environment, science and technology innovations that many people were being killed in land-related conflicts because of the slow progress of land redistribution and high cost of land restitution under the “willing seller, willing buyer” principle.
“The ownership and re-allocation of agricultural land is possibly the most emotive and controversial topics in the agricultural arena,” he said.
“In South Africa many people are being murdered because of land conflicts. Our farmers are being killed over struggles of ownership and re-allocation of land.
“What should we do so that our people are not killed? We need land re-allocation to avert this. We should change everything, let’s de-politicise agricultural land and convert all farming entities into a 99-year leasehold with options to renew if farms are highly productive.”
Mr Matlala said more than 52 governments in Africa were not selling land and his country should move to re-allocate land without paying to prevent deaths arising out of land conflict.
The land issue which is heating up in South Africa shows that Zimbabwe was right in carrying out its land reform programme which sent an unequivocal message to the world on the importance of land in tackling poverty and enhancing social equity.
Land reform has been a song Zimbabwe has sung for the past three decades, but few countries in Africa and other bilateral and multilateral institutions ever danced to it.
Scientists and development experts at an international conference organised by the Regional Agricultural and Environmental Innovations Network – Africa (RAEIN-Africa) say securing access to land is critical for millions of poor people in Africa.
They say modern, efficient, and innovative strategies on land rights are vital to reducing poverty and promoting growth, agriculture production, better nutrition and sustainable development among poor communities.
Veteran Zimbabwe agronomist and chairman of the RAEIN-Africa board, Mr Andrew Mushita, expressed concern that significant investments in science and technology, research and development had failed to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Africa.
“Despite these investments Africa continues to be plagued by poverty and food insecurity especially for resource constrained communities,” he said.
“Most countries will not be able to achieve their MDG targets particularly that of eradicating poverty and hunger by 2015.”
In 1996, two years after the end of White apartheid, some 60,000 White commercial farmers owned almost 70 percent of south Africa’s land classified as agricultural and leased a further 19 percent.
 http://www.africanglobe.net/africa/south-africa-land-debate-heats/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+africanglobe%2FQfoi+%28WWW.AFRICANGLOBE.NET%29

Who is Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter? 9 Facts About The Former Boxer | GIANTlife

Who is Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter? 9 Facts About The Former Boxer | GIANTlife
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter is known for his amazing boxing career and the drama that ensued during the height of it all. Last night on Celebrity Crime Files will reveal just why the athlete wrongfully anded in prison for nearly two decades.
Here are nine facts you may not have known about the former boxer.

1. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter is a professional boxer.
2. Carter’s career record in boxing was 27 wins, 12 losses and one draw in 40 fights with 19 total knockouts.
3. Was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.
4. While training for his shot at world middleweight title against Dick Tiger in October 1966, Carter was arrested for the triple murder of three patrons at the Lafayette Bar & Grill in Paterson, NJ.
5. Carter was wrongfully convicted twice of a triple murder and imprisoned for nearly two decades.
6. Carter was exonerated in 1985.
7. AFter being released from prison, he published “Lazarus and the Hurricane: The Untold Story of the Freeing of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter” in 1991.
8. Carter served as executive director of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 to 2005.
9. Denzel Washington starred in “The Hurricane” which depicted the accusation, trials and time spent in prison.

Check out this clip of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter giving a speech at Queen’s University.
Watch the full episode here, and tune in to TV One for more “Celebrity Crime Files” Mondays at 9pm.
 http://giantlife.com/1031255/celebrity-crime-files-tune-in-who-is-rubin-hurricane-carter-9-facts-about-the-former-professional-boxer/

Spaulding planning to run for NC governor in 2016 | abc11.com

Spaulding planning to run for NC governor in 2016 | abc11.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

RALEIGH -- An attorney and member of a prominent Durham political family said Monday he's planning to run for North Carolina governor in 2016, unhappy with the direction of the state under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the GOP-led legislature, particularly on education.

Ken Spaulding, a former state House member, congressional candidate and Board of Transportation member, said he's getting in the race now because taxpayers and voters tell him they want a reasonable alternative to the Republicans' "extremist positions and actions" this year.
In a statement, he focused squarely on North Carolina's election overhaul law and per-pupil reductions in state funds for the public schools, including no pay raises again for teachers. He said McCrory, portrayed as a moderate on the way to victory last fall, has failed to rein in an over-the-top General Assembly.
"North Carolina can do much better," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think the actions that have been taken negatively impact our economy, negatively impact our business climate."
Spaulding, 68, is the latest Democrat getting an early start or considering one to become the next chief executive although the race is more than three years away. The Democratic primary, 33 months from now, could require millions of campaign dollars to march to victory.
"It's a long, long way away and a lot of work," he said.
James Protzman of Chapel Hill, a business consultant, contributor to the "BlueNC" blog and former town council member, filed paperwork with the State Board of Elections in May creating a gubernatorial campaign committee.
"Our General Assembly is out of control. Our schools and infrastructure are falling apart. And our governor is missing in action," Protzman's website says. "I may not be perfect, but I'll tell you one thing. I could do better with my eyes closed. And you probably could, too."
Attorney General Roy Cooper, who has passed on gubernatorial bids before, appears to be giving it more thought this year and listening to allies.
"I am very concerned about the direction of our state," Cooper told News 14 Carolina last week. "It's certainly too early to talk about any kind of announcement or talk about that type of election that's way down the line but I'm certainly going to keep working and do what I can to move North Carolina in the right direction."
Spaulding said if Cooper ran he would look forward to a "very spirited primary" when considering Cooper's record.
Spaulding served in the legislature from 1978 to 1984 and lost a close U.S. House Democratic primary to incumbent Tim Valentine in 1984. He was a leader of a key Durham-area political action group and a Board of Transportation member during Gov. Mike Easley's administration.
Spaulding talked Monday about his economic development experience as a private-sector attorney helping get the Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham built and promoting growth while on the transportation board through highway projects.
If he had been governor this year, Spaulding said, he would have kept tax rates the same - rather than passing a tax overhaul package that cut rates - to ensure more immediate revenue for education. Republicans who wrote the tax law changes and McCrory argue the lower rates will spur economic growth, which will in turn boost revenues. They also point out overall public school spending in the state budget increased compared to last year.
He considered his recent political distance from Raleigh a plus, saying politicians can lose touch with the average taxpayer. Spaulding said he didn't begin his campaign with great fanfare because "so many North Carolinians feel alone" in a period of uncertainty.
"The average taxpayer and voter just feels alone when it comes to whether the elected officials are looking out for our interest - and that's how I feel," he added.
 http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/politics&id=9220017

Prison reform advocates: ‘The war on drugs is the 800-pound gorilla that must be killed’ | The Raw Story

Prison reform advocates: ‘The war on drugs is the 800-pound gorilla that must be killed’ | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Sentencing reform in the criminal justice system emerged as a major theme from the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington this week, an issue highlighted by Attorney General Eric Holder’s proposals to review and alter the sentencing process for drug convictions.
Panelists discussed the proposals and the conditions leading to the call for reform Sunday on MSNBC in reference to speeches made at the National Action to Realize the Dream March this week. “The war on drugs is the 800-pound gorilla that must be killed,” said Billy Murphy, a former Baltimore circuit judge turned criminal defense attorney. “The private prison industry is sucking the life out of the black community. … it is the enemy of progress for black people.”
Describing Holder’s proposal as “the single most significant proposal for reform that any attorney general has ever put forth with regard to sentencing,” Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights noted that “It’s proof positive that elections do matter, they have consequences.”
Watch the video below.

 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/25/prison-reform-advocates-the-war-on-drugs-is-the-800-pound-gorilla-that-must-be-killed/

White on White crime more prevalent than Black on Black | Call & Post Newspaper | Cleveland, Ohio
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
When White on White crime takes place it’s never talked about the way it is when Blacks commit crimes.
In the United States, a White person is almost six times more likely to be killed by another White person than by a Black person, according to FBI homicide data. In 2011, there were more cases of Whites killing Whites than there were Blacks killing Blacks. However, the mainstream media obsesses over Black on Black violence and rarely mentions the problem of White on White violence.
These statistics have not led to a media outcry about the problem of White on White crime or the unique pathology of the White community. Nor has the White community stood up to demand change in their community like the Black community does when trying to tackle instances of Black on Black crime.
Most White people don’t kill White people. Yet media pundits, from Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly to CNN’s Don Lemon, have no problem using the phrase “Black on Black violence” despite the fact that most Black people don’t kill Black people.
When the news talks about gang-related deaths, they treat it as an almost exclusively Black problem. However, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, for the period of 1980 to 2008, a majority (53.3 percent) of gang homicides were committed by White offenders, and the majority of gang homicide victims (56.5 percent) were White.
When was the last time you’ve seen on the news, discussions about a White-gang problem?
Crimes committed by White people are explained as deviations of the individual but have nothing to do with race, but crimes committed by Blacks or Latino’s are somehow attributed to race. Gang-bangers from South Chicago have somehow become a symbol that Black men are to be feared, but you don’t get the same fear that one could attach to the brutal murders committed by Neo-Nazi skinheads.
According to statistics from the Justice Department, White men are more likely to kill than any other racial group. When it comes to how and why people kill, Black men do, in fact, outnumber Whites in gun-related homicides, but especially drug-related offenses. However, White men top the list in most all other categories.
 http://callandpost.com/news/2013/aug/16/white-white-crime-more-prevalent-black-black/

Affidavits: Hannah Anderson's mother, brother 'tortured and killed' - CNN.com

Affidavits: Hannah Anderson's mother, brother 'tortured and killed' - CNN.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The California man who kidnapped 16-year-old Hannah Anderson "tortured and killed" her mother and brother before snatching her as she left cheerleading practice, according to formerly sealed warrants that were released Wednesday.

Investigators did not detail in the warrants how the torture was carried out, but they did reveal new details about how authorities believe James Lee DiMaggio carried out the killings and abduction.

"DiMaggio tortured and killed his best friend's wife and eight-year-old son. DiMaggio also shot and killed the family dog," according to one of the affidavits. "After the double homicide, DiMaggio set the house on fire."

The details were revealed the same day that a preliminary autopsy showed that DiMaggio was shot at least five times by an FBI tactical agent during a confrontation in the Idaho wilderness over the weekend. That confrontation ended a massive manhunt that began in San Diego County, California, after authorities found the bodies of Hannah's mother and brother in his burned out home.

DiMaggio sustained at least five gunshot wounds to his upper torso, arms and head, Valley County, Idaho, Coroner Nathan Hess said. An exact cause of death will not be formally released until toxicology tests have been completed in six to eight weeks, he said.

The first indication of a problem came the night of August 4, when firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a fire at DiMaggio's log cabin.

As firefighters were trying to put out the blaze, they noticed flames in the home's detached garage, according to search warrant and arrest warrant affidavits dated August 6.

A couple of firefighters quickly doused that fire while others focused on putting out the fire engulfing the cabin.

Inside the garage, a fire captain discovered the body of Hannah's mother, 44-year-old Christina Anderson, face down in the garage, covered with a tarp. The documents revealed that a crowbar and what appeared to be blood were found next to Anderson's head.

Near the body, sheriff's deputies found the body of a dog covered by a sleeping bag, according to the affidavits. What appeared to be blood was found near the dog's head, the documents said.

As firefighters and investigators were making their way through the burned out remains of the house, they found the badly burned remains of a small child, the affidavits said.

Authorities issued a nationwide Amber Alert for Hannah and Ethan on August 5, but the documents revealed that authorities suspected the remains were those of the boy.

Warrants also were sought by the San Diego County sheriff's investigators to place "tap and trace devices" on DiMaggio's e-mail, Facebook and cell phone accounts as well as Hannah's phone, e-mail and social media accounts.

In the affidavits, authorities indicated that Hannah's cell phone was turned off on the afternoon of August 4, the same day and about the same time she was last seen as she was picked from cheerleading practice at her high school. The affidavit does not identify who picked her up.

Shortly before her phone was turned off, there were 13 calls that day between Hannah and DiMaggio, according to the warrants. 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/us/california-amber-alert-dimaggio/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

DOJ to Stop Packing Prisons With Minor Drug Offenders (Full Transcript) | Mother Jones

DOJ to Stop Packing Prisons With Minor Drug Offenders (Full Transcript) | Mother Jones
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

Update: Here is a full transcript of Eric Holder's prepared remarks and here is the corresponding memo he issued to US attorneys.
Attorney General Eric Holder is proposing a groundbreaking reform package to fix America's increasingly overcrowded prisons, which includes doing away with mandatory minimums for certain nonviolent drug offenders, the Washington Post reports. The Justice Department also plans to reduce sentences for certain elderly prisoners, champion drug treatment programs as an alternative to prison, and bar prosecutors from listing quantities of drugs when charging minor drug offenders.
"This is a win for people concerned about overfederalization as well as overcriminalization—we just can't keep making a federal case and a 10-year federal prison stay out of all these nonviolent drug offenders," says Monica Pratt Raffanel, a spokesperson for Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). "States can handle drug offenders like these and, in many instances, give them better access to the treatment and supervision they need to turn their lives around."
The way the law stands now, drug offenders caught with a certain amount of illegal drugs automatically face years in prison. A person arrested with one gram of LSD, for example, will face a 5-year mandatory minimum without parole, the same sentence doled out to Americans caught with 100 marijuana plants (see full chart below). Civil liberties advocates argue that these minimums are Draconian, expensive, and don't give judges discretion to make sure the punishment fits the crime.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums

As the Post notes, under Holder's new policy, mandatory minimums as they apply to specific quantities of drugs will no longer be used against offenders whose cases do not involve violence, a weapon, and selling to a minor, and they will also not be used against offenders that do not have a "significant criminal history" and ties to a "large-scale" criminal organization. A bill introduced by Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in March would codify Holder's recommendations, giving judges the ability to hand out sentences lower than the current mandatory ones. As Molly Gill, government affairs counsel for FAMM explains, "DOJ policies change with administrations--what is really needed is a full-scale reassessment of this system by Congress, to fix this problem for good."
Based on how Republicans have reacted to sentencing reform efforts in the past; it shouldn't take long for conservative lawmakers to start spreading the word that the sky is falling. But as we reported last week, sentence reductions have already been retroactively applied to crack cocaine offenders—and the US Sentencing Commission has found the program to be a success. At least 7,300 prisoners sentenced under mandatory minimums have had their sentences reduced by an average of 29 months, saving taxpayers an estimated $530 million. Given that the Associated Press found that US federal prisons are 40 percent over capacity, advocates say reform can't come soon enough.
To see how states have already been implementing sentencing reforms for crack cocaine offenders, check out the map below (unshaded parts mean that no data is available):

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/08/justice-department-ending-mandatory-minimums-some-drug-offenders

Newark, New Jersey introduces transparent ‘stop and frisk’ policy as alternative to New York City’s | The Raw Story

Newark, New Jersey introduces transparent ‘stop and frisk’ policy as alternative to New York City’s | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Police in the city of Newark, New Jersey, have enacted new, highly transparent “stop and frisk” procedures that civil libertarians have called a model for the country and an alternative to the New York City policy rejected by a U.S. judge.
New Jersey’s largest city, about 10 miles west of New York City, will on Thursday begin reporting data collected from the first month of its “Police Transparency Policy,” disclosing the race, gender, age and English proficiency of everyone that Newark police officers stop and frisk.
“It really should serve as a model for the rest of the state and even the rest of the nation,” said Udi Ofer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
The Center For Constitutional Rights and the New York Civil Liberties Union had sued New York City over its “stop and frisk” tactics, and a U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled on Monday that New York City had violated the constitutional rights of racial minorities who were unfairly targeted by the New York City Police Department.
Officers often frisked young minority men or searched their pockets for weapons or contraband before letting them go, in a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits intentional discrimination based on race, the judge said in her 195-page decision.
The ruling was a stinging rebuke for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is entering the final months of his 12 years in office, and could trip up NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who President Barack Obama has indicated may be a possible nominee for U.S. secretary of homeland security.
Bloomberg has vowed to challenge the judge’s finding, arguing that “stop and frisk” contributed to the city’s dwindling crime rate, but the judge ruled the efficiency of program was irrelevant.
By contrast, the new “stop and frisk” procedures in Newark were being rolled out just as Newark Mayor Cory Booker seeks higher office in Tuesday’s special primary election to select a new U.S. senator for the state of New Jersey. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/13/newark-new-jersey-introduces-transparent-stop-and-frisk-policy-as-alternative-to-new-york-citys/

Rosanell Eaton: 92-Year-Old NC Woman Sues State Over Voter ID Law | News One

Rosanell Eaton: 92-Year-Old NC Woman Sues State Over Voter ID Law | News One
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The NAACP announced today that it will sue the state of North Carolina over its controversial Voter ID measure that was signed into law Monday by Gov. Pat McCrory (R).
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is 92-year-old Rosanell Eaton (pictured) of Louisburg, N.C., a registered voter since the 1940s. The NAACP says Eaton will be adversely affected by the new law.


“Mrs. Eaton, who was born at home, has a current North Carolina driver’s license, but the name on her certified birth certificate does not match the name on her driver’s license or the name on her voter registration card,” the lawsuit notes. “Mrs. Eaton will incur substantial time and expense to correct her identification documents to match her voter registration record in order to meet the new requirements.”
The lawsuit seeks relief under Section 2 under the Voter Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race; the recent Supreme Court ruling limits reviews under Sections 4 and 5 of the VRA.
According the Washington Post, the new Voter ID law requires “voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls and shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days. It will also end pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-old voters who will be 18 on Election Day and eliminates same-day voter registration.”
While critics of the law feel it discriminates against minority voters, Governor McCrory appeared in a YouTube calling the law good policy.
“Many of those from the extreme left who have been criticizing photo ID are using scare tactics,” McCory asserted. “They are more interested in divisive politics than ensuring that no one’s vote is disenfranchised by a fraudulent ballot.” http://newsone.com/2675187/rosanell-eaton-lawsuit-voter-id-laws/

Africa, the Factory Floor of the World? • Africanglobe.net

Africa, the Factory Floor of the World? • Africanglobe.net
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
In order to significantly transform the economies of Africa from the current low-income level to middle-income status, value must be added to Africa’s large reservoir of natural and agricultural resources through processing and manufacturing activities – implicit in the transition process from predominantly agrarian to industrial economies.
It is a fact that Africa’s recent relatively good growth performance has not been inclusive regarding its impact on poverty, due largely to the lack of diversification of its growth sources and an over-reliance on primary commodity exports. Also, growth has not necessarily led to job creation, and in some countries, has rather resulted in a rise in inequality!
The absence of significant industrialisation in much of Africa is a missed opportunity for more robust, diversified and sustainable economic development. The Asian industrialisation experiences are the most successful among the developing countries, and there is therefore good reason for Africa to look at this model as a basis for its own industrial development. Specific industrial policies and programmes worked in Asia and can be replicated in Africa. Among these are a sophisticated use of global value chains (GVCs) and the special economic zones (SEZs).
GVC operations concern the global division of labour in production processes and its concurrent effect on the distribution of income and profits between participating countries. Involvement in GVCs presents an opportunity for African economies to move beyond producing raw materials and build dynamic and competitive manufacturing sectors capable of processing the continent’s abundant minerals and agricultural products. It also provides an opportunity to create sustainable jobs and stimulate inclusive growth, as new markets for value-added produhttp://www.africanglobe.net/business/africa-factory-floor-world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+africanglobe%2FQfoi+%28WWW.AFRICANGLOBE.NET%29cts evolve both in the continent and in the industrialised and emerging economies.

Until Last Week, The Official Policy Of One Virginia City Was To Assume All Rape Victims Were Lying | ThinkProgress

Until Last Week, The Official Policy Of One Virginia City Was To Assume All Rape Victims Were Lying | ThinkProgress
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Until last week, Norfolk, Virginia police classified sexual assault claims to be “unfounded” — or not valid — by default. According to the Virginian-Pilot, a 22-year-old woman’s case prompted Norfolk police chief Mike Goldsmith to update the policy so that officers must now assume rape victims are telling the truth.
The woman reported the attack immediately to police, only to be told, “If we find out that you’re lying, this will be a felony charge.” Before giving her a medical examination, officers subjected the woman to interrogations during which they said things like, “You’re telling us a different story than you told … the other detectives,” and “This only happened hours ago. Why can’t you remember?” Having had enough, the woman cut off the interview.
The police eventually arrested and charged the attacker for multiple other sexual assaults and felonies, and Goldsmith apologized for mishandling the woman’s initial allegations. Now that Goldsmith has updated the policy for handling sexual assault cases, the department will also undergo training for post-traumatic stress disorder and rape trauma.
Many other areas have this same problem. In light of a Baltimore investigation on the city’s high number of unfounded cases, the Police Executive Research Forum noted, “Unwarranted ‘unfounding’ of cases can result in offenders remaining free — and in victims losing trust in the justice system.” This classification also leads to lower reports of rape, because “unfounded” cases are not included in crime stats.
 http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/08/13/2457991/virginia-law-enforcement-rape/

Samuel L. Jackson: 'Open Season' on Black Men

Samuel L. Jackson: 'Open Season' on Black Men
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
On the heels of yesterday's ruling that charges will not be brought against a New York police officer accused of shooting an unarmed black teen, actor Samuel L. Jackson took to Twitter to voice his opinion.

"Young brothers Beware!!" he tweeted. "It's Open Season!"

Eighteen-year-old Ramarley Graham was shot and killed in the bathroom of the apartment he shared with his grandmother last year by a police officer pursuing him on suspicion of drug activity. The officer, 31-year-old Richard Haste, claimed that he fired because he believed Graham had a gun. In fact, he was unarmed.

With the conclusion of the Trayvon Martin case and the release of Fruitvale Station, a movie based on the story of Oscar Grant, many are hyperfocused on what they see as the devaluation of black lives in the eyes of the law. Jackson's tweet captures the sentiment of countless others.
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/grapevine/samuel-l-jackson-open-season-black-men

American Colony on the Rio Pongo: Book Details Plan to Send Ex-Slaves Back to Africa

American Colony on the Rio Pongo: Book Details Plan to Send Ex-Slaves Back to Africa
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports: After 30 years of teaching African history, I am still fascinated by the idealism and innocence expressed by those who supported plans to settle African Americans on the African coast in the 1820s. They knew so little about the continent and the people who lived in it.
Nearly everyone who supported colonization believed that Africa would embrace the return of African Americans. They also believed that slavery in America was wrong and outdated, and they wanted it ended. Some believed that its end would come quickly, while others expected owners to free their slaves gradually.
Many supporters of colonization were convinced that freed blacks would become a perpetual underclass in America and that whites and blacks could not live harmoniously as equals. For some, the solution to the "Negro problem" was to move all African Americans to another place -- any place would do -- where they could rule themselves. Others dreamed of black republics spreading American-style republicanism and civilization, commerce and Christianity on the African continent. Some considered their efforts to be compensation for the damage America had inflicted upon the continent. And others dreamed of economic rewards that would surely come to sponsors, just in case African-American colonies became successful.
There was also a British side to the idea of returning African Americans to Africa. On Africa's west coast, Sierra Leone's governors were convinced that Americans were planning to surround and overwhelm the British colony by flooding the coast with American products and African-American settlers.
 http://www.theroot.com/views/addressing-negro-problem-1820s

Armed Gun Advocates Descend Upon Starbucks In Newtown, Across U.S. | ThinkProgress

Armed Gun Advocates Descend Upon Starbucks In Newtown, Across U.S. | ThinkProgress
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Open carry groups are holding “Starbucks Appreciation Day” rallies across the country on Friday, including in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 26 people eight months ago.
Starbucks currently allows customers to carry their guns in states with open carry. Gun advocates have taken this move as encouragement to stage “appreciation days,” like the one on Friday.
As many as two dozen gun advocates have stopped by the Newtown coffee shop so far today.
Across the country, many of the participants have posted “Appreciation Day” photos to Facebook where they hold their coffee and guns, and even occasionally children:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/08/09/2444801/armed-rally-held-in-newtown-starbucks/

Bayard Rustin honored by LGBT group 50 years after March on Washington | theGrio

Bayard Rustin honored by LGBT group 50 years after March on Washington | theGrio
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
 Bayard Rustin was a key figure during the 1960s — he was a man who fought in social movements for both civil and gay rights.
As one of the few openly gay men active during the Civil Rights era, Rustin participated in the 1963 March on Washington and was the chief organizer of the historic event. The historic march took place 50 years ago this month. Rustin died in 1987 at the age of 75.
In light of the milestone anniversary, the National Black Justice Coalition — the nation’s top black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization — are honoring Rustin with the Bayard Rustin 2013 Commemoration project. 
“NBJC has implemented a multi-tiered strategy to garner Rustin the recognition he deserves,” reads the project’s mission statement. “By harnessing the power of the media, mobilizing [b]lack LGBT youth, and petitioning for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, NBJC is committed to keeping Rustin’s legacy alive.”
To add to their efforts, the NBJC is also hosting a commemorative event, titled “A Tribute to Bayard Rustin and the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.”
The event will show a clip from the documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin. It is scheduled to take place on August 26 in Washington, DC.  http://thegrio.com/2013/08/05/bayard-rustin-honored-by-lgbt-group-50-years-after-march-on-washington/

This Week in Poverty: Chairman Ryan and the Real World | The Poverty Line, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com

This Week in Poverty: Chairman Ryan and the Real World | The Poverty Line, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

Wednesday, at a House Budget Committee hearing entitled “War on Poverty: A Progress Report,” Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee used her allotted time to try to discredit the sole Democratic witness, Sister Simone Campbell. Sr. Simone is the executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby, but she is more widely known as the leader of the Nuns on the Bus.
“You said you come to this hearing today as a Catholic sister living under Christian tradition,” said Rep. Blackburn. “Would it be fair for this Committee to question the validity of your testimony knowing that the Vatican has reprimanded the Leadership Conference on the Women Religious and singled out your organization for only promoting issues of social justice, and being silent on the right to life from conception to natural death?”
Sr. Simone replied that the exchange with the Vatican was about “theological struggles, not about our engagement in political activity, and our organization works on economic issues.”
Republican Chairman Paul Ryan seemingly admonished Rep. Blackburn, albeit indirectly, telling Sr. Simone: “Speaking as a Catholic who usually disagrees with you on some of these issues, I think you are very well within Catholic social teachings to give the testimony that you gave here today.”
It was one of many bizarre moments during a hearing that Washington Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott described perfectly to his Republican colleagues when he said: “This hearing is surreal… You are not living in the real world.”
Indeed, one of the three Republican witnesses — University of Maryland professor Doug Besharov, director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Social and Individual Responsibility Project — was there to discuss incentives to help people get out of poverty. So it was surprising that he was unsure what the current federal minimum wage pays.
“The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, correct?” said New York Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, trying to pivot to a discussion about good jobs as the best anti-poverty program.
“Uh, it could be,” said Besharov. “I—I don’t know the exact number. It’s around there.”
Texas Republican Congressman Roger Williams described himself as “a job creator” who has owned and operated his family car business for forty-two years.

Sister Simone Campbell waves as she steps off the bus in Ames, Iowa, Monday, June 18, 2012 (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

“Don’t you think a lot of this debate is the fact we’ve lost our family values?  We’ve got single parents and so forth and we need to get back to that?”  Williams asked Sr. Simone.“I practiced family law for 18 years in Oakland, California. I found with low-income families that the biggest cause of family break up was economic stressors,” said Sr. Simone. “So I think the most important piece we could do to support families would be to raise the minimum wage.”
“Or you could do away with the minimum wage,” said Williams.
Wisconsin Republican Congressman Reid Ribble described his “own religious upbringing”—his father was a minister; three of his brothers and one son are all pastors.
“Whoa,” said Sr. Simone, impressed.
“Christianity is all about serving the poor,” Rep. Ribble told her. “What is the Church doing wrong that it had to come to the government to get so much funding?”
Sr. Simone said the need for government assistance is more about the “dimension of the issue.”  She noted a Bread for the World study that calculated the funds religious institutions would have had to raise if the food stamp cuts proposed in last year’s House Republican budget had been implemented.  She said “every church, synagogue, mosque, and house of worship in the United States” would have needed to raise $50,000 in additional monies — every year, for ten years.
“We have a limitation in our capacity to do that,” said Sr. Simone.
“Your capacity is the same as our capacity,” Rep. Ribble argued.
These head-scratching moments aside, I found the entire frame of the hearing as laid out by Chairman Ryan to be seriously flawed. Ostensibly, it was to examine the most effective ways to fight poverty as we approach the 50^th anniversary of the War on Poverty next year.
“Government focuses too much on inputs,” said Chairman Ryan. “We focus on how much money we spend. Instead, we should focus on results.”
It’s a claim he has made consistently since last year. But it’s Rep. Ryan and his conservative colleagues who are constantly bemoaning the amount of money spent on anti-poverty programs — money we “confiscate” from taxpayers, said Indiana Republican Congressman Todd Rokita — while dismissing the data that show how effective these programs can be.
Indeed there are many poverty scholars who have found positive outcomes in both the short- and long-term for children and adults who participate in anti-poverty programs. Research from Arloc Sherman (here, here, here and here), Hilary Hoynes and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Greg Duncan and Katherine Magnuson, and organizations like Children’s HealthWatch — to name just a few — reveal that these programs contribute to improved health, higher achievement, and greater financial security, for example.
But if Chairman Ryan wanted to hear more about results, Sr. Simone certainly obliged.
“In 2011, government benefits lifted a total of 40 million people out of poverty,” she testified. “While Social Security has the largest impact of any single program, means-tested programs such as SNAP, SSI and the EITC lifted almost 20 million Americans, including 8 ½ million children, out of poverty.”
She also noted that “poor babies in the 1960s and 1970s who were fortunate enough to live in counties served by the Food Stamp Program… were healthier as adults and were more likely to finish high school” than poor babies who lived in counties that didn’t yet have the program. (They also scored higher on a “self-sufficiency” index that included adult outcomes like earnings, income and decreases in welfare participation.)
Watch her full testimony, here:
And yet the House Republican proposal to cut $20.5 billion from SNAP (food stamps) over ten years would lead to approximately 5 million people being eliminated from the program, and would increase federal and state health care costs by $15 billion for diabetes alone over ten years.  Further, Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen of Maryland noted that the Republican House budget would cut “$810 billion from base Medicaid funding” and that “Medicaid [would] be cut by one-third in 2023.”
“It simply adds insult to injury — and tortures the English language — to pretend that deep cuts to food and medical assistance programs will somehow ‘strengthen’ that safety net and help people in poverty,” said Rep. Van Hollen.
The star witness for the Republicans was Eloise Anderson, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Anderson’s main message was that she saw time limits and the work requirement as the keys to the “success” of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program created by welfare reform in 1996. She touted her own data from Wisconsin — that “90 percent of the people left the program — and have continued to stay off.”  She urged Congress to implement work requirements and time limits in all anti-poverty programs.
But the twists in the hearing just kept coming. Wisconsin Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore revealed that she was on welfare in 1985 and worked for the Department of Employment Relations where she was trained by Secretary Anderson.
“She was brilliant, and of course, that was contagious, I’m brilliant now,” said Rep. Moore.
But Rep. Moore took issue with Secretary Anderson’s data and her description of TANF as a success in Wisconsin.
“Yes, the rolls did fall by 93 percent, because they just threw people off,” said Moore. “Many of the [people who left] did not find jobs. I tried to require that they do data and statistics — which they didn’t want to do — because they didn’t want to confirm that.”
Moore also noted that because the creation of TANF in 1996 made cash assistance much harder to obtain, the number of people living on $2 a day or less — the definition of poverty in developing nations, according to the World Bank — has doubled in the U.S.
As the hearing came to a close, Chairman Ryan said, “I think you can tell that the rhetoric is still mired in the status quo… Hopefully we can get past the status quo, past the rhetoric, and collectively focus on evidence-based solutions.”
But the fact is that there was plenty of evidence offered during the hearing about what works. The Chairman just chooses to ignore it.
As Sr. Simone testified, “We won’t address [poverty] by ignoring the successes of today’s safety net, but neither is today’s safety net adequate — we need a new commitment to reduce poverty and promote opportunity. ”http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/02/this-week-in-poverty-chairman-ryan-and-the-real-world/

Number of Whites in Washington D.C. Has Skyrocketed, But Blacks Account For 83% of D.C. Arrests | Your Black World

Number of Whites in Washington D.C. Has Skyrocketed, But Blacks Account For 83% of D.C. Arrests | Your Black World
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Much has been said about the gentrification in Washington D.C., with an influx of whites moving back into the city for work, but you wouldn’t know that there’s been an increase in the number of whites in the nation’s capital if you looked at the arrest rate.
A report by the Washington Lawyers Committee found that the overwhelming majority of the people arrested in the city are African-American.
According to the report, 83 percent of the people arrested between 2009 and 2011 were African-American while only 14 percent were white, even though African-American adults make up less than half  of Washington D.C.’s population.
Based on the report, 69 percent of traffic arrests in D.C. were of African Americans, 91 percent of drug arrests were of African Americans, and 76 percent of disorderly conduct arrests were of African Americans. In fact, blacks were arrested at higher rates in just about every category.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier issued a statement about the report’s findings:

“Comparison of racial proportions alone is not sufficient for examining this important issue. We are not aware of any agreement among community members, criminal justice professionals, or academics that says that arrest rates should match the racial proportion of residents of a city.“

Many in D.C. protested the racial disparity at City Hall on Wednesday.

“Some things that occur are attenuated with poverty,” District Council member Tommy Wells told News4 in D.C. ”We don’t have a large poor white population but with traffic crimes, there should be no difference between black and white.”

 http://www.yourblackworld.net/2013/08/black-news/number-of-whites-in-washington-d-c-has-skyrocketed-but-blacks-account-for-83-of-d-c-arrests/