Antonio French pins a map of Ferguson to the wall at his new office that he just opened in Ferguson on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 27, 2014. French plans to do voter registration out of the office. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Marches, protests and prayer vigils have been a constant in the region for more than two weeks, and as a grand jury pores over evidence in the Michael Brown killing, similar actions are expected to continue.
But other responses to the police shooting, designed to be more long-lasting, have popped up. They include getting more African-Americans engaged in their communities and challenging people to leave their comfort zones and talk about race.
On Wednesday, a storefront on West Florissant Avenue opened as the office of #HealSTL, which grew from a Twitter hashtag, and is being developed as an outreach center, including offering voter registration.
It’s on the same busy strip that has been the center of unrest, including looting, tear gas, arrests and a curfew.
“This has been a Twitter story,” said the effort’s organizer, St. Louis Alderman Antonio French. “It has touched so many people because of social media.”
Heal STL: Join the Movement
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has replaced publisher Katharine Weymouth with a co-founder of the newspaper’s competitor Politico, the company announced Tuesday.
Weymouth’s departure is the end of an era of Graham family involvement with the Post. Her great-grandfather bought the newspaper in the 1930s, and her uncle Donald Graham sold it to Bezos last August for $250 million.
She’ll be replaced by Frederick J. Ryan, the founding CEO of Politico and a former Reagan administration official.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jeff-bezos-replaces-katharine-weymouth
https://twitter.com/ByJoeFleming/status/506897850224345089
The lime green against that choc-o-late SKIN…. OOH-LA-LA
https://twitter.com/HistoricalPics/status/506154572336082944/photo/1
April @ReignOfApril
#DarrenWilson is still at large after killing #MikeBrown. I storified his behavior & his supporters here https://storify.com/ReignOfApril/darren-wilson-supporters … … #Ferguson
This Man Changed His Name From Jose To Joe And Immediately Got More Job Interviews
http://youtu.be/PR7SG2C7IVU
Ha! no surprise. Wonder how they’ll be able to keep up with the EVER INCREASING HISPANIC population in America.
Will the majority Hispanicw go with Jose/Joe and do the old swicharoo to appease the white establishment?
Ari Berman @AriBerman
Follow
800,000 registered voters in Texas lack a voter ID but state has issued only 279 new IDs since last year http://www.thenation.com/blog/181433/will-texas-get-away-discriminating-against-voters …
1:24 PM – 2 Sep 2014
Get them Ari! And Texas is wondering why DOJ is after their racist voter supression laws and voter ID cards? GTFOH
https://twitter.com/thei100/status/506180911323303937/photo/1
Mary Engelbreit for Ferguson
The image featured on this shirt was drawn by famous artist and native St. Louisan, Mary Engelbreit. All proceeds from the sale of this shirt will be donated to the Michael Brown Jr. Memorial Fund.
http://teespring.com/maryengelbreit
Abducted Ga. Couple Found Shot; Man Dies, Fiancee Fighting for Life
Jeronta Brown did not survive, and his fiancee, Briana Brooks, is still fighting for her life after they were kidnapped early Saturday.
By: Breanna Edwards
Posted: Sept. 2 2014 11:03 AM
Questions still remain in the fatal kidnapping of a Decatur, Ga., couple as the authorities continue their search for suspects, WXIA-TV reports.
Jeronta Brown and his fiancee, Briana Brooks, returned home after taking their 8-month-old baby and teenage niece out to eat early Saturday morning and were walking toward the house when they were jumped by a group of men, according to the report.
Brown and Brooks were put into the back of a van and were taken away. The children were able to escape, the station reports.
“The guys walked up, started ringing on the doorbell, beating on the door, yelling, ‘FBI, FBI,'” Brown’s aunt, Myesha Brown, told the station.
Brown instead called the police. After the kidnappers left, a relative got a call from them, demanding a $150,000 ransom.
According to Brown, when authorities arrived, they speculated that Jeronta Brown was pulling a prank on his family and did not take the situation seriously.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/09/abducted_ga_couple_found_shot_man_dies_fianc_fighting_for_life.html
News Analysis
Are Police Bigoted?
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2 Sides Cite Discrimination as Battle on Texas Voting Law Heads to Court
By MANNY FERNANDEZ
SEPT. 1, 2014
HOUSTON — Minority groups and Democrats in Texas have loudly opposed a state law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification before casting their ballots. But one of the law’s biggest critics can be found not in Texas but in Washington — Eric H. Holder Jr., the United States attorney general.
On Tuesday, in a federal courtroom in Corpus Christi, Tex., Justice Department lawyers will try to persuade a judge to strike down the voter ID law, the latest skirmish in a three-year legal battle over whether the law passed by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011 discriminates against blacks and Hispanics. If Texas loses the trial — which opens Tuesday and will last about two weeks — it could again be required to seek federal approval before making changes to its voting procedures, a level of oversight it was freed from by the United States Supreme Court.
The case has taken on a bitter political undertone, with Texas alleging that the Justice Department has gone after “only Southern, Republican-led states” and suggesting that the agency ignores the concerns of white Republican voters and favors minority Democratic voters. The allegations have outraged lawyers for the Justice Department and several minority groups, voters and Democratic lawmakers who are part of the agency’s lawsuit against Texas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/us/both-sides-cite-discrimination-in-battle-over-texas-voter-id-law.html?_r=1
Falling like dominoes: Red-state govs expanding Obamacare
09/02/14 09:19 AM—UPDATED 09/02/14 11:57 AM
By Steve Benen
As of a week ago, about half of the nation’s states had embraced Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, while the other half seemed to be motivated almost entirely out of partisan spite. But in recent days, there’s been a burst of unexpected activity on this issue.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) struck a deal with the Obama administration that will allow Medicaid expansion to cover another half-million low-income Americans in the Keystone State. A day later, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said he expects to follow suit in the coming weeks.
Ruby-red Wyoming generally resists any voluntary federal program, but it, too, is starting to come around on Medicaid expansion. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), a fierce “Obamacare” critic, recently did the same.
And even Utah is moving forward with its Medicaid-expansion plans, though not without an unintentionally amusing debate.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/falling-dominoes-red-state-govs-expanding-obamacare
HA HA HA HA These mofos know what year it is and the time.
https://twitter.com/jazziz2/status/506830844301148160/photo/1
unlike the author, I think they are quite clear…\
they want WAR WAR and more WAR
……………………………
The Unbearable Emptiness of a New York Times Op-Ed
John McCain and Lindsey Graham want Obama to confront ISIS now. They don’t specify how.
PETER BEINART
——————————————–
I have my concerns about President Obama’s foreign policy. But nothing eases them like listening to his Republican critics. There’s an onion-like quality to the arguments GOP politicians often deploy against Obama’s policies in the Middle East. Peel away the layers of grave-sounding but vacuous rhetoric, and you’re left with almost nothing intellectually nourishing at all.
.
.
Sometimes history vindicates presidents who choose war. At least as often, it vindicates presidents who don’t. That’s part of the reason Obama’s decision in Syria is hard. Of course, if you ignore the times when war has brought disaster—and you ignore the most difficult questions about war in Syria—then Obama’s decision doesn’t seem that hard at all.
————————————————-
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/09/the-empty-critiques-of-obamas-mideast-policy/379433/
New York Set to Accuse Evans Bank of Redlining
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Drawn in thick marker along the map of upstate New York, the line snaked down the Niagara River and zigzagged east to outline a swath of Buffalo and its surrounding neighborhoods.
But one area of the city — neighborhoods in east Buffalo, where more than 75 percent of the city’s African-American population lives — was explicitly excluded, cut off from access to mortgage credit.
That map, ringed by a line, is at the center of a sweeping investigation by the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, into whether banks are “redlining” — deliberately choking off mortgage lending to predominantly minority communities — people briefed on the matter said.
The investigation was expected to reach its first target as early as Tuesday, the people said, with Mr. Schneiderman’s office taking aim at Evans Bank, a regional lender whose business in the Buffalo area dates to 1920, accusing it of denying mortgages to African-Americans regardless of their credit.
more here: http://mobile.nytimes.com/blog…®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Business%20Day&pgtype=Blogs
Cantor: A Real Servant of the People
by BooMan
Tue Sep 2nd, 2014 at 09:16:56 AM EST
By most objective measures, Eric Cantor is a bum. Democrats have no use for anything he “accomplished” as a congressman, and the Republican primary voters just threw him out of office for insufficient zeal. It’s true that he climbed the leadership ladder quite quickly, but right when he was on the cusp of success, he lost his job.
Yet, he doesn’t have to worry about a thing. His new compensation package is worth $3.4 million a year. He now has an office in New York City and he’s opening up a new branch of the Moelis & Co. investment bank in DC. He’ll also be on their board of directors.
As Politico says:
First elected in 2000, Cantor was seen as a major ally for Wall Street on Capitol Hill. He was a top recipient from the private equity and investment industry during 2013 and 2014, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
In its statement, Moelis & Co. praised Cantor’s work, including his efforts to lower taxes and “eliminate excessive regulation.”
As of 2010, the House Majority Leader makes $193,400 annually, so Cantor is now making more than seventeen times as much money as he was making in Congress.
This is not how most bums fare.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/9/2/91656/70135
Police Arrest Young Black Politician For Distributing Voting Rights Leaflets
by Alice Ollstein Posted on September 2, 2014 at 9:17 am
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA—The stars of North Carolina’s Moral Mondays movement took the stage Monday at Charlotte’s Marshall Park to condemn the state’s record on voter suppression and racial profiling, and urge the community to organize and turn out at the polls this November. Just a few hundred feet away, police cuffed and arrested local LGBT activist and former State Senate candidate Ty Turner as he was putting voting rights information on parked cars.
“They said they would charge me for distributing literature,” Turner
told ThinkProgress when he was released a few hours later. “I asked [the policeman] for the ordinance number [being violated], because they can’t put handcuffs on you if they cannot tell you why they’re detaining you. I said, ‘Show me where it’s illegal to do this.’ But he would not do it. The officer got mad and grabbed me. Then he told me that I was resisting arrest!”
There is a local ordinance prohibiting leafleting on cars. But according
to local activist Casey Throneburg, who filmed the above video, it is
almost never enforced, and “certainly not with handcuffs.”
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/02/3477768/police-arrest-young-black-politician-at-moral-mondays-rally/
GET IT DONE, FERGUSON. GET.IT.DONE.
Pursing my lips going UH HUH
UH HUH
…………………………………………….
Emanuel-Rauner ties create campaign subplot
By John Chase, David Heinzmann, Jeff Coen,
Tribune reporters
JUst a few months before announcing plans to become Chicago’s next Democratic mayor, Rahm Emanuel strolled down the gravel path to a Montana resort restaurant with Republican businessman Bruce Rauner, both men smiling as they carried bottles of wine.
In his hand, Emanuel carried a bottle of Napa Valley Reserve. The wine — which a spokeswoman says was not Emanuel’s — is so exclusive it is available only through a private vineyard whose members pay six figures to join the club.
It was not the only time Emanuel, then chief of staff to President Barack Obama, has been a guest of the venture capitalist, who owns thousands of acres of ranchland and homes out West. Their relationship — steeped in the high-stakes investment banking business and a shared approach to remaking public education — is no secret to anyone who follows Illinois politics.
Still, the 2010 scene along the banks of the Yellowstone River underscores one of the most intriguing subplots of the fall election season: How deep are their ties, and how will that alliance play out as Rauner seeks to unseat incumbent Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Emanuel launches his 2015 re-election campaign?
Emanuel has endorsed Quinn for re-election. And both the mayor and Rauner have said they disagree with each other on many policy issues, including how to reform public pension programs and whether to raise the minimum wage. But they have more in common than they may care to admit, starting with money.
During a brief but lucrative stint in investment banking after leaving the Clinton White House, Emanuel helped hash out a deal that made Rauner’s firm, GTCR, about $500 million. The deal also helped make Emanuel a wealthy man.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-rahm-emanuel-bruce-rauner-20140829-story.html#page=1
Perry’s border policy causes problems for Guard troops
09/02/14 08:50 AM
By Steve Benen
The humanitarian crisis along the U.S./Mexico border has moved from the front page for a couple of reasons. The first, obviously, is that there have been some unrelated crises that have unfolded in recent weeks – in Missouri, in Ukraine, in the Middle East – that have dominated the news.
But the second is the fact that the number of unaccompanied children has dropped considerably. In his pre-Labor Day press conference, President Obama highlighted recent “progress,” noting, “The number of apprehensions in August are down from July, and they’re actually lower than they were August of last year. Apprehensions in July were half of what they were in June. So we’re seeing a significant downward trend in terms of these unaccompanied children.”
It’s a complex challenge and as Josh Voorhees explained the other day, it’s hard to say with confidence exactly what’s caused the recent trend.
But as that discussion continues to unfold, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) response to the situation is coming under new scrutiny. After he deployed National Guard troops for no particular reason, some of those troops reportedly reached out to a local food bank because the state hadn’t fully planned for their deployment.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/perrys-border-policy-causes-problems-guard-troops
Billionaires Speak On Big Campaign Donations: ‘It Gives You Access’
By karoli September 2, 2014 5:00 am – 13 Comments
Billionaires may be shy about disclosing their donations, but they’re not embarrassed to admit they’re buying the government they think they deserve.
Anyone who doesn’t have money understands exactly why billionaires buy politicians. Those of us without it understand that politicians represent those with the loudest voices, and when it comes to Republicans in particular, voices are measured in dollars and cents.
Today’s Washington Post report on the influence money has on politicians in the post-McCutcheon world is ironic and chilling all at once.
Andrew Sabin gave Republicans so much money in 2012 that he accidentally went over a limit on how much individuals could donate to federal candidates and party committees.
So Sabin, who owns a New York-based precious-metals refining business, was delighted when the Supreme Court did away with the limit in April. Since then, he has been doling out contributions to congressional candidates across the country — in Colorado, Texas, Iowa and “even Alaska,” he said.
Top Republicans have taken notice: Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott have paid him personal visits this year, he noted proudly.
“You have to realize, when you start contributing to all these guys, they give you access to meet them and talk about your issues,” said Sabin, who has given away more than $177,000. “They know that I’m a big supporter.”
Sabin and other wealthy political contributors have more access than ever to candidates since the ruling in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. More than 300 donors have seized the opportunity, writing checks at such a furious pace that they have exceeded the old limit of $123,200 for this election cycle, according to campaign finance data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research organization.
They give you access to meet them and talk about your issues.
Or put another way, they do your bidding because: a) They have heard your command; and b) You bought their cooperation.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/09/billionaires-speak-big-campaign-donations
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/506784256497295361/photo/1
McConnell campaign manager resigns amid bribery scandal
08/30/14 02:18 PM—UPDATED 08/30/14 02:51 PM
By Steve Benen
The controversy started, oddly enough, six days before the 2012 Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa.
In a development that was simply unheard of, state Sen. Kent Sorenson (R), the chair of Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign in Iowa, announced just six days before the caucuses that he was quitting Team Bachmann to support Ron Paul’s presidential campaign.
At the time, the move seemed inexplicable, but this week we learned that the Ron Paul campaign paid Sorenson a $73,000 bribe to switch teams. Following a federal investigation into the incident, Sorenson pleaded guilty to two criminal counts associated with the bribe and the lies told to cover it up.
But the broader effects of the scandal didn’t end with Sorenson’s guilty plea. We know who received the bribe, but there’s the unresolved matter of who paid the bribe.
The investigation remains ongoing and its effects have now reached Kentucky, where Jesse Benton resigned late yesterday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) campaign manager, after Benton “emerged as a figure” in the controversy.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mcconnell-campaign-manager-resigns-amid-bribery-scandal
https://twitter.com/Mooncatadams/status/506571935816642560/photo/1
And this is why the GOP/Repubs try sooooo hard to SUPRESS OUR VOTES!
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/506523535784030209/photo/1
https://twitter.com/zizii2/status/506581213881315328
What Has President Obama Done? Here’s a List of 253 Accomplishments, with Citations
It’s 2014, and once again, we have a very important election ahead of us. Yet, there are a lot of very loud progressives who have done nothing but complain since President Obama was inaugurated five and a half years ago. No, he’s not perfect. Adults don’t expect perfection. Bu when they claim that he’s no progressive, well, that’s just an outright lie. What do these folks think “progressive” means? The root word is “progress,” and there has been a lot of progress since January 20, 2009. Admittedly, most of the progress happened in the first two years, but as I recall, one reason Republicans took back the House was because Obama was a “disappointment,” and Democrats were “spineless.”
Four years later, we progressives have a chance to reverse our incredible screw-up, and still; many progressives prefer to complain about the imperfection of Democrats than to work to get rid of the right wing GOP.
isHere is a list of many of President Obama’s accomplishments as President. Every one of them has a citation, so no one can dismiss these as lies. Imagine what he could have done had we not taken away his Democratic majority after 2010. This list is important. Every time someone complains that Obama’s not progressive, send them the link, or print it out and hand it to them. This list is growing constantly, even with an obstructionist Republican Congress trying to stop everything he does.
Being progressive is not about having the correct positions on issues. Given the obstacles, this President will leave a legacy. If we want to win elections – and in a democracy, that has to be our main goal – we have to make people want to vote for us. That means accentuating the positive, and talking about how great we are, especially compared to the alternative.
Pass this list around to everyone you know, especially those who whine that Obama has done nothing. Then keep being positive, and encouraging people to vote. We can’t allow 2014 to be like 2010.
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/obama-accomplishments/
Armed Open Carry activists crash Ohio anti-gun violence rally and harass protesters
By David Ferguson
Monday, September 1, 2014 13:18 EDT
A group of armed Open Carry activists descended upon a group of protesters against gun violence in Akron, Ohio on Sunday in a misguided attempt to “educate” them.
The blog Liberaland.com compiled a timeline of social media updates and marchers themselves tweeted and took photos as the men carrying assault rifles and handguns approached them and began to berate and harass the people attending the protest, which was organized by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Late in the afternoon on Sunday, pastor and marcher Kristine Eggert posted on the social medium Twitter:
https://twitter.com/pastorkriscleve/status/506225656309379072/photo/1
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/01/armed-open-carry-activists-crash-ohio-anti-gun-violence-rally-and-harass-protesters/
https://twitter.com/pastorkriscleve/status/506224986785210368/photo/1
Aw HELL NAW! This is just further intimidation from these gun nuts. GTFOH.
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/506581751087767552/photo/1
Look Obama hates de wimmens! LOL
https://twitter.com/AntonioFrench/status/506573364455297024/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/506590711613906944/photo/1
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/506546786358820864/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NBCNewsPictures/status/506576285431119873/photo/1
The Fierce Minimalism of Barack Obama
President Obama’s critics often claim he doesn’t have a strategy in the greater Middle East. That’s wrong. Like it or loathe it, he does, and he’s beginning to implement it against ISIS. To understand what it is, it’s worth going back seven summers.
In July 2007, at a debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube, Obama said that if elected president, he’d talk directly to the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela. Hillary Clinton derided his answer as “irresponsible and frankly naïve.” The altercation fit the larger narrative the media had developed about the two Democratic frontrunners: Obama—who had opposed the Iraq War—was the dove. Hillary—who had supported it—was the hawk.
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2014/08/fierce-minimalism-barack-obama/92804/#.VAUqm3iRNAg.twitter
ExtremeLiberal (Jim) @ExtremeLiberal
Follow
Just because the #GOP is turning Foreign policy challenges in the world into partisan politics doesn’t mean the #media has to go along. #p2
6:41 AM – 2 Sep 2014
Pics from the Dwayne Wade/Gabrielle Union wedding
Where’s the money???? This is all to déjà vu. He’s living with gz and his dog right now doing shooting practice in their backyard.
I’m sick, Chicas! I feel like giving up.
Is there anyone on this earth that believes that anyone in that god forsaken town will stand up for justice for Michael??? Definitely not anyone with a badge or any of these elected “fact waiters” I’m so disgusted. Ready to move ladies. I don’t even know what to tell my kids anymore. This country was built off of our backs and we are still fighting to get them off of our backs
Don’t give up, SG2.
All these muthaphuckas are being exposed.
I mean it about being educated, SG2. About shining the light on all these rotten azz mofos. Don’t let their azzes hide in the shadows.
I’ve said from day one that if there is justice for Michael Brown it will be from the DOJ. This is a nationwide problem, not just the Confederacy. These issues, really all of them (police killings, police brutality, police harassment, mass incarceration, school to prison pipeline, etc…) related to black folks (mostly black men) are so ingrained and systemic throughout this country that the DOJ is the only force that can affect desperately needed changes in a reasonable amount of time.
These killings by cops have been taking place in rapid succession. Some killer cop somewhere needs to hear a jail cell door slam behind him and it needs to be soon. Darren Wilson is as good as any, as far as I’m concerned, he’s a bad cop and he’s as guilty as the devil. DOJ needs to get this done and I suspect they want to.
But this situation is so severe that the DOJ has to provide the leadership from the top down. Don’t expect the states to do a damn thing. Body cameras on cops are great but it’s a piecemeal approach to what is a life and death problem. The rest of it has to come from the ground up, just exactly what Antonio French is doing in Ferguson. Groom candidates to run for city council, register voters, get out the vote, and take over that damn town. Then clean up local law enforcement and keep going.
Hey Liza! Good comment. On point. I tweeted it and tagged Antonio French.
“But this situation is so severe that the DOJ has to provide the leadership from the top down.”
Yes, Liza, it does have to be from the TOP down.
I would like to see a study of the successes LOCAL federal prosecutors across the nation have had in 1. bringing charges and 2. getting convictions (especially when it has involved a brutal beating or a killing.)
Then, I would like to see a study of the local federal prosecutors who did NOT bring charges and/or did NOT get convictions. I would like to know where these towns and cities are and why they were unsuccessful.
TY, SG2.
Good morning, everyone!
Good Morning, SG2 and everyone at 3CHICS!
Good Morning, Ladies!
good morning ladies. No comment on the thread. Just letting it marinate.