Month: July 2013
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New Apple Airport: Review (Video)
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Trayvon
A young African-American man is dead. He was armed only with Skittles and a hoodie, which now qualifies as dangerous. He reacted when a self-styled and armed neighborhood watchman bothered him for little reason other than he seemed to be threatened that an African-American male was walking the gated premises. The laws of Florida allow armed people to shoot first and ask questions later.
This was the recipe for travesty, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time it happens.
For all of the talk about having an African-American president, we are not a post-racial society. Race plays an important, and in this case an explosive role in our civic culture. President Obama has shied away from invoking race where it is an issue and, in my mind, he hasn’t done enough to focus Americans on the continuing injustice that colors our system. He should be speaking out more and letting America know that we have much work to do to achieve equality in society and fairness under the law.
Now there’s talk that the Department of Justice ought to file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. Perhaps, like OJ Simpson, that will provide the family with closure and provide for some kind of punishment. There’s also talk of plots against Mr. Zimmerman and I truly hope that he remains safe. Violence should not beget more violence.
What truly needs to happen is that laws like Florida’s that allow people to legally acquire firearms and use them preemptively must be stricken from the books. How many innocent people need to die before we do that?
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DEAD WRONG – PIC
George Zimmerman‘s brother, Robert Zimmerman, Jr., is clearly delusional. Last night, he appeared on CNN after his brother was found not guilty of manslaughter and murder charges and painted the victim, the late Trayvon Martin, as a machine gun toting drug dealer.
“We have to grow from this,” Zimmerman, Jr. told Piers Morgan. “I want to know what make people angry enough to attack someone the way Trayvon Martin did. I want to know if it’s true, and I don’t know if it’s true, that Trayvon Martin was looking to procure firearms, was growing marijuana plants or was making lean or whatever he was doing.”
From there he goes on to mention that his brother was dedicated to service, expressed dismay at people calling for harm to his kin and made sure to mention George mentored two Black kids. Hey, at least Zimmerman didn’t kill them, right? Also, Trayvon Martin wasn’t the one with the gun.
Sadly, Zimmerman, Jr’s asinine views are in line with a lot more people than are willing to admit it. Watch the segment below.
– See more at: http://hiphopwired.com/2013/07/14/george-zimmermans-brother-wonders-if-trayvon-martin-was-making-lean/#sthash.nw09IwNI.dpuf
Tyson Gay has tested positive for a banned substance and will not compete in the World Championships next month.In a phone conversation from Amsterdam, Gay told reporters, “I don’t have a sabotage story. … I basically put my trust in someone and was let down.”The sample came from an out-of-competition on May 16th. Gay has not revealed the substance and his “B” sample has yet to be tested.
After coming back from groin and hamstring injuries, Gay looked to be a favorite at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia. He had run seasonal bests in the 100m (9.75) and 200m (19.74) at the U.S. Championships in late June.
h/t – flotrack
I watched MSNBC and heard when the announcement was made that the verdict was reached. About 15 minutes after, when everyone had shuffled into court, the Judge brought the Jury in and the decision was read:
“We the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.”
*pause*
George Zimmerman smiled and shook the hands of his lawyers. His family hugged each other and shed tears of joy. Told that his monitoring bracelet would be removed, Zimmerman knew that the jury, the law justified the killing.
No one thought of the life that was lost. No one thought that a 17 year old was just walking home from the store when he was gunned down like an animal. No one remembered Trayvon Martin… except his grieving parents.
Just another day in the life of black America, where black males are gunned down every day and no one seems to care. Life I guess, goes on…
It is now 6:20PM, and the Jury in the Zimmerman Trial is waiting for more instructions on the manslaughter charge. The judge called all necessary participant to the court about a half an hour ago, and advised them that the Jury had sent a note.
The note read:
May we please have clarification on the instructions regarding manslaughter?
An educated guess would be that there is agreement among the jury on the more serious charge of second degree murder and need to know more about the manslaughter charge. If they find Zimmerman guilty of manslaughter, that charge carries a punishment of 30 years on jail.
The Judge has ordered a temporary recess as the Jury’s note is looked at.
The rodent is usually seen in front of business that hire nonunion workers, but when it appeared by Weiner’s crib, we were naturally concerned: Rodents and Weiners don’t go together.
A group of education and union activists inflated the rodent to protest a Weiner proposal to eliminate the parent coordinator position Mayor Bloomberg created in city schools to serve as parent contacts.
The protesters say they’re so determined to block Weiner from City Hall that they’ve launched a “Stop Weiner” campaign to rival a group that’s targeting City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
“If people think Stop Chris Quinn is bad, wait ‘til they get to meet us,” said Mona Davids, who works for the union that represents parent coordinators.
Along with the giant rat, the few dozen protesters at Weiner’s Park Avenue South building carried signs with slogans like “We Don’t Want a Weiner For Mayor” and “Don’t Let The Sexting Perv be Mayor.”
Weiner said he didn’t mind the rat, but he lamented what he sees as the overuse of the iconic protest symbol.