Year: 2014

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Dick Cheney Featured George Bush Politics

In The Bush/Cheney Whitehouse, The Torture was Brutal

The brutality of the CIA’s torture program under the leadership and direction of George Bush and Dick Cheney is quite frankly, terrifying.

Interrogations that lasted for days on end. Detainees forced to stand on broken legs, or go 180 hours in a row without sleep. A prison so cold, one suspect essentially froze to death. The Senate Intelligence Committee is finally releasing its review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation programs. And it is brutal.

Here are some of the most gruesome moments of detainee abuse from a summary of the report, obtained by The Daily Beast:

The CIA has previously said that only three detainees were ever waterboarded: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaydah, and Abd Al Rahim al-Nashiri. But records uncovered by the Senate Intelligence Committee suggest there may have been more than three subjects. The Senate report describes a photograph of a “well worn” waterboard, surrounded by buckets of water, at a detention site where the CIA has claimed it never subjected a detainee to this procedure. In a meeting with the CIA in 2013, the agency was not able to explain the presence of this waterboard.

Contrary to CIA’s description to the Department of Justice, the Senate report says that the waterboarding was physically harmful, leading to convulsions and vomiting. During one session, detainee Abu Zabaydah became “completely unresponsive with bubbles rising through his open full mouth.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded at least 183 times, which the Senate report describes as escalating into a “series of near drownings.”

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Healthcare Mitch McConnell ObamaCare Repeal

Mitch McConnell Promising an Obamacare Repeal Vote in The Senate

Republican Senate Majority Leader-elect, Mitch McConnell, campaigned on repealing Obamacare, promising to uproot Obamacare “root and branch” he often said, and the voters in Kentucky, who benefit most from Obamacare decided to put McConnell in charge.

So in an effort to keep his promise to take away his constituents healthcare, McConnell is already gearing up for a repeal vote in the senate.

“Number one: We certainly will have a vote on proceeding to a bill to repeal Obamacare. … It was a very large issue in the campaign,” he told Roll Call in an interview published on Monday.

Republicans will have 54 members in the new Senate to convene on January 3 – short of the 60 needed to overcome an expected Democratic filibuster on a bill that repeals Obamacare.

Though he spoke of a more cooperative and functioning Senate, McConnell insisted that Republicans “will go at that law [Obamacare] – which in my view is the single worst piece of legislation passed in the last half century – in every way that we can.”

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homicide Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting

Justice Department Ruled Mike Brown’s Death a “Homicide”

Another step in trying to find some form of justice for Mike Brown came today in the release of an autopsy report conducted by the Justice Department, and the findings of a homicide in Brown’s killing.

A federal autopsy of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen whose fatal shooting by a white police officer set off nationwide protests, found he died from multiple gunshot wounds and described his death as a “homicide.”

The findings of the Justice Department post-mortem released on Monday echoed those of two previous autopsies carried out by St. Louis County’s medical examiner and a private examiner hired by the Brown family. It found that Brown — who was shot in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9 — suffered “severe injuries of the skull, brain and right chest” and appeared to have been shot in the hand at close range. “The manner of death is homicide,” the Justice Department’s medical examiner ruled.

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murder Sports

Floyd Mayweather Witnessed Murder Suicide on FaceTime

Terrible news being reported by TMZ.

Sources tell TMZ that rapper Earl Hayes called Floyd on FaceTime Monday morning in a rage, over claims his wife — VH1 star Stephanie Moseley — had been unfaithful.

According to our Floyd sources, Earl said he was going to kill his wife. The champ was pleading with him to get a grip … to no avail. Floyd will not say how much he saw, but he acknowledges he was a witness and heard everything. 

Floyd is in shock and is having extreme difficulty dealing with the fact that he witnessed a horrifying murder/suicide.

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Sports

LeBron James Wears the “I Can’t Breathe” T-Shirt at Brooklyn Nets Game – PIC

Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James made a statement tonight in Brooklyn by dawning an “I Can’t Breathe” T-Shirt before his team took on the Brooklyn Nets. James and other players were making their voices heard, showing their apparent displeasure at the grand jury that recently found no wrong doing when police officers applied an illegal choke-hold that led to Eric Garner’s death.

Before he died, Eric Brown was heard saying “I can’t breathe” as a police officer held him in a choke hold.

Categories
Mike Brown Politics

More Insanity – Bar Owner Offers “Mike Brown Shots”

But of course, the owner is now saying that he didn’t mean any harm by offering the “Mike Brown Shots!”

Local TV station WDAF reported that Mug Shots, a bar in St. Joseph, Mo. whose motto is “where sarcasm is always free,” advertised a “Michael Brown” special of six shots for $10. Local residents protested at the bar after a photo of the advertisement circulated on social media, according to the report.

“It’s not meant to cause any harm,” the owner told WDAF on Saturday. “I should have thought a little bit more about it before I made it a shot special.”

WDAF did not identify the owner because he wished to remain anonymous to protect himself and his family. He added that he stole the idea from other bars in the area that referenced Brown, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. back in August, and got a “good response” from it.

The apparently very self-aware owner offered a new deal, “The Owner of Mug Shots is an ***hole shot special,” on Saturday in an attempt to appease protesters who were unhappy with the reference to Brown.

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Featured Mike Brown Racism

High School Counselor Threatens to “Personally Shoot” All #ICantBreathe Protesters

On her Facebook post, Mary Kate Blankenburg, the Counselor at the Central Bucks West High School in Pennsylvania, threatened to kill all the protesters who were protesting the death of Eric Garner. Blankenburg wrote to “personally shoot every one of them!”

Her Facebook post has since been deleted, but of course screenshots of it was captured before the deletion occurred. Blankenburg wrote, “If my child cannot get to the Eagles game due to protesters, I will personally SHOOT every one of them. You’ve been warned idiots!!”

Blankenburg has since been suspended and an investigation is on the way. Central Bucks School District Superintendent David Weitzel in a statement said;

“We will take appropriate action once we learn all of the facts. I also notified the District Attorney’s Office on Sunday and we are working with them as they investigate this incident,” he said.

“The content of the post does not in any way reflect the beliefs or values of the Central Bucks School District.”

 

Categories
Mike Brown Racial profiling Tamir Rice

Tamir Rice’s Mother Speaks Out – Says Her Son’s Killers Should be Convicted (Video)

At a news conference in Cleveland today, Samaria Rice, mother of the slain 12 year old boy shot to death by police a couple of weeks ago, called for justice for her son and revealed that her daughter was also handcuffed by police after they killed her son Tamir.

Rice said that when she got to the park where her son was shot, she found her 14-year-old daughter, who was also at the park that afternoon playing, handcuffed in the back of a police car. When Rice later reunited with her daughter, the young girl said police officers tackled and handcuffed her once she saw her younger brother lying on the ground, bleeding.

When Samaria arrived and saw her youngest child shot and her daughter in the back of a police car, police officers warned her that if she didn’t calm down, she’d be placed in the police vehicle as well.

The family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, argued that if there is enough probable cause, “we don’t need to have another grand jury.”

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Mike Brown Mike Brown Shooting Politics Racism

Fox News Concludes – Minorities Should be Retrained on How to Deal With Police – Video

A classic case of the blame the victim mentality. We will be foolish to expect anything more from Fox News.

In light of all the protests going on these days with people speaking out against police brutality throughout this country, Fox has decided to take a different look at the reason minority communities are being victimized and murdered by some police officers and according to Fox host Jeanine Pirro, minorities are to blamed.

Reading a question from a poll conducted by Fox News to her viewers on her television program, Justice with Judge Jeanine, Pirro asked the question? “Do police need to be retrained on how to be sensitive to the minority community.” Pirro said the response from Fox viewers was “overwhelmingly in favor of law enforcement,” and she also read some of those results to her audience.

Pirro quoted Fox viewer ‘Jeff’ who wrote, “Why is it always necessary to tip toe around the minority community,” with ‘Larry’ writing, “No. Enough is enough. The general public needs to be more sensitive to the police and show them the respect they deserve.”

Pirro added, “I agree.”

Viewer ‘Jordan’ disagreed, saying.”Yes. Those cops were racially profiling,” setting off a condescending Pirro who said, “Hey Jordan, you don’t even know what racial profiling is.”

Categories
Politics

President’s Weekly Address – Sharing in A Better Economy

In this week’s address, the President highlighted the good news in Friday’s jobs report – that American businesses added 314,000 new jobs this past month, making November the tenth month in a row that the private sector has added at least 200,000 new jobs. Even with a full month to go, 2014 has already been the best year of job creation since the 1990s. This number brings total private-sector job creation to 10.9 million over 57 consecutive months – the longest streak on record.

But even with this real, tangible evidence of our progress, there is always more that can be done. Congress needs to pass a budget and keep the government from a Christmas shutdown. We have an opportunity to work together to support the continued growth of higher-paying jobs by investing in infrastructure, reforming the business tax code, expanding markets for America’s goods and services, making common-sense reforms to the immigration system, and increasing the minimum wage.

Video

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Domestic Policies Express Yourself Healthcare Immigration ISIS Mike Brown News Politics Racism

Is It Just Me?

Is it just me, or does it still not feel like the holidays yet? Perhaps the warmish, wet weather we’ve had here in the Northeast is partly to blame, or maybe it’s that the calendar has jammed the buying season into one less week this year because of a late Thanksgiving. Yes, yes, Chanukah, for once, is neither early nor late, which is rare for a Jewish holiday, but I think there’s something more than this going on in the country that’s partly clouding the season.

We have other things on our minds. Ferguson. Staten Island. ISIS. Oil prices. Wages. Equality issues relating to gender, age, sexual preference and orientation. Supreme Court arguments over worker disability rights and whether someone can post noxious, threatening dreck on Facebook, call it rap, and never mind the effect on the intended target. Even sports won’t let us relax and enjoy, what with players being suspended, unsuspended, arrested, concussed and, heaven forbid, involved in some of the aforementioned social issues. Why can’t they just be like Mike and play the game?

It seems as if the country is a bit more serious than normal this holiday season, weighing the price of our freedoms against the responsibilities that come with them. We’re looking at race and wondering why we still have problems and why whites and African-Americans still have such differing perspectives on how they are treated by police, the courts, storekeepers and mall security. We’re looking at income inequality and wondering why companies that make billions can’t lead by example and pay workers what they are worth, which is a wage that allows them to live a decent life. We’re looking at who is an American and how we can make sure that people who live here and contribute to their families and communities can stay here without the fear that the government is going to deport them because of a long-ago action. In short, we’re looking at justice and trying to make sure that everyone gets it because more than any other freedom afforded us, justice must be applied equally at all times.

In the end, I think this makes us stronger, and makes the season of giving that much more important. When we discuss, protest and even engage in some civil disobedience, we are reminded that we have given ourselves the greatest gifts of all: to live in a free society where we can air our concerns and make others realize that many groups in the United States are uncomfortable and unwealthy and insecure, and that each of us is responsible to make sure that every citizen is safe. That way, we can give other gifts, the material ones, knowing that we have done our part to make this a better country. The holidays we are about to celebrate are religious, but we need to remember that our national religion is democracy, and as such, we must all practice it.

So although it might not feel like the holidays just yet, I’m a little more optimistic that this season will see us do more good for ourselves and our neighbors.

Is it just me?

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
Featured

Man Shot By Police in The Heart of Hollywood – PIC

No one seems to know how to deescalate a situation anymore. One person always go home to their family,  which means the other person is more than likely making an unplanned, one way trip to the morgue.

The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the heart of Hollywood’s entertainment and tourism district, Los Angeles Police Officer Jane Kim told BuzzFeed News.

Police were responding to a call for an assault with a deadly weapon when they arrived and found a suspect armed with a knife, Kim said. The man survived the shooting and was take to a hospital, but later died.

Police did not provide information about the suspect’s name, age, or ethnicity.

Lisa Bregman happened to be driving through the intersection at the moment the shooting occurred. Bregman said she heard a series of gunshots, then looked up and saw a man lying on the ground.

“It was more than one or two,” Bergman said of the number of gunshots. “Like maybe three or four.”

Bregman took a photo of the scene while police still had their guns drawn.

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