Category Archives: Sterling

Obama: Americans Are Not as Divided as Some Suggest

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

President Barack Obama said on Saturday that America “is not as divided as some have suggested,” after a week marked by violence that included two police shootings of unarmed black men and a mass shooting that claimed the lives of five police officers and injured seven more in Dallas on Thursday night.

“This has been a tough week,” Obama told reporters during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, where he attended his last NATO summit. “First and foremost for the families who have been killed, but also for the entire American family.”

“There is sorrow, there is anger, there is confusion about next steps, but there is unity in recognizing that this is not how we want our communities to operate,” he continued. “This is not who we want to be as Americans.”

He also spoke about the US commitment to the NATO alliance, NATO’s importance for international security, the possible impact of Brexit on trade, and global concerns about terrorism.

“In this challenging moment I want to take this opportunity to state clearly what will never change, and that is the unwavering commitment of the United States to the security and defense of Europe, to our transatlantic relationship, to our commitment to our common defense,” he said.

Asked about his reactions to the announcement from FBI Director James Comey that the agency would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton in the criminal investigation looking into alleged misconduct over her use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state, Obama replied, “I will continue to be scrupulous about not commenting on it.”

Obama’s remarks were dominated by the events of the past week and the problems of violence and race relations in the United States. “I’ve said this before: We are unique among advanced countries in the scale of violence that we experience. And I’m not just talking about mass shootings, I’m talking about the hundreds of people who have already been shot this year in my hometown of Chicago,” he said.

Calling the attacker in Dallas a “demented individual,” the president emphasized that his actions do not define the American people. “They don’t speak for us,” he said. “That’s not who we are.”

Obama noted that the troubled history of racial bias in America’s criminal justice system still lingers, and said he will reconvene a task force created following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to come up with practical solutions that can make a difference.

When reflecting on his legacy, especially regarding race relations, he said he hoped his daughters and their children would live in a more equal and just society.

“You know we plant seeds,” he said. “And somebody else maybe sits under the shade of the tree that we planted. And I’d like to think that as best as I could, I have been true in speaking about these issues.”

Jump to original: 

Obama: Americans Are Not as Divided as Some Suggest

Posted in FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Obama: Americans Are Not as Divided as Some Suggest

Police Groups Blame Obama, Black Lives Matter for "War on Cops"

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

In the wake of Thursday’s shootings in Dallas, which claimed the lives of five police officers, law enforcement organizations across the country have used social media to show their solidarity with the Dallas Police Department and the families of those who were killed or injured.

But some police groups are also joining high-profile right-wing figures in issuing sharp criticisms of those they see as facilitating a “war on cops,” often taking direct aim at President Barack Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Friday, the National Association of Police Organizations stated, “While we mourn and grieve and commit ourselves to supporting the survivors, we must also stand up and speak out against the senseless agitators and gutless politicians who helped bring about these murders.” The post also criticized the Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights for its supposed refusal “to prosecute cop killers”:

In a Friday morning interview with Fox News, William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said Obama has not done as much as his predecessors when it comes to “condemning violence against the police and urging support for the police.”

In St. Louis, KMOX radio is reporting that Jeff Roorda, a top official in the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, is standing by a controversial Facebook statement that he posted on his personal page hours after the shootings. The post includes a photo of a pair of hands covered in blood, with the caption “THIS BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS, MR. PRESIDENT.” (The post has been deleted from Roorda’s page.)

Officials with other police organizations have been less heated in their reactions to the shooting but have still implied that some of the blame lies with Black Lives Matter. Patrick Lynch, the leader of New York’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said the Dallas shooting was the result of “national anger against police caused by erroneous information.” In 2015, Lynch faced public backlash after he said that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s support for Black Lives Matter-led protests contributed to the deaths of two NYPD officers.

On Thursday, while addressing the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile this week in encounters with law enforcement, Obama stressed that Black Lives Matter was not anti-police. “When people say black lives matter, it doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter,” he said. Prominent Black Lives Matter activists have condemned the shootings and offered their condolences to the officers and their families.

In a speech discussing the Dallas shootings earlier Friday, Obama was firm in his condemnation of the attacks on police officers, saying there was “no possible justification for these kinds of attacks or any violence against law enforcement.”

Visit site:  

Police Groups Blame Obama, Black Lives Matter for "War on Cops"

Posted in FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Police Groups Blame Obama, Black Lives Matter for "War on Cops"

The Congressional Black Caucus Just Issued a Passionate Call for Gun Control

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Two weeks ago, a group of House Democrats led a 26-hour sit-in, after Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) peacefully occupied the House floor to force a vote on two pieces of gun control legislation that the GOP had refused to consider. Congress returned to Washington this week just as three firearms-related tragedies rocked the nation: The police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the fatal shooting of five police officers in Dallas on Thursday night. Friday afternoon, members of the Congressional Black Caucus renewed calls for the GOP to pass gun control legislation.

“We don’t need to leave the Hill this week, or any week, without assuring the American people that we understand the problem of police misconduct in America. We understand the murders of innocent black Americans. We get it,” said Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), chair of the caucus. “We understand the problems faced by law enforcement officers, most of whom put on the uniform every day and serve and protect our communities. Republicans, what on earth? Why are you recoiling and not giving us a debate on gun violence?”

Other members of Congress reacted earlier in the day with additional calls for peace and a solution on gun control. Rep. John Lewis, another member of the Congressional Black Caucus who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 to demand voting rights, reacted to Thursday’s police deaths in Dallas on Twitter:

Rep. Chris Murphy, whose district includes Newtown, Connecticut, where the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took place in December 2012, wrote:

Originally posted here – 

The Congressional Black Caucus Just Issued a Passionate Call for Gun Control

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Congressional Black Caucus Just Issued a Passionate Call for Gun Control

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Urges Americans to Reject Violence After Dallas Police Ambush

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Friday called on Americans to come together and reject violence in the wake of the “unfathomable tragedy” that occurred overnight in Dallas, where five police officers were killed and six wounded in a police ambush.

“Americans across our country are feeling a sense of helplessness and uncertainly and fear,” Lynch said in a press conference. “These feelings are understandable and they are justified, but the answer must not be violence. The answer is never violence.”

She encouraged Americans to take “peaceful and collaborative” steps towards building trust between law enforcement officials and communities. Echoing President Obama’s remarks on the tragedy just hours earlier, Lynch said the attack should spark a serious consideration about the easy access with which individuals seeking to inflict harm are able to obtain weapons.

Throughout her address, she urged Americans not to allow the events of this week, which included the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, to become the “new normal in America.”

“May we turn toward each other, not against another.”

Continued:

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Urges Americans to Reject Violence After Dallas Police Ambush

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Attorney General Loretta Lynch Urges Americans to Reject Violence After Dallas Police Ambush

Trump’s Facebook Fans Call for Race War

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

The morning after five Dallas police officers were killed and six others were wounded in a shooting spree, Donald Trump posted a message to his Facebook wall calling for the restoration of “law and order.” He also cited the “senseless, tragic” deaths in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban Minneapolis, referring to Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, who were killed by the police earlier in the week, without mentioning their names. (This was his first official statement regarding those shootings.) He added, “racial tensions have gotten worse.”

Trump’s reasonable statement prompted overheated and extreme reactions from his Facebook followers. Some claimed a race war was underway. Others predictably slammed President Barack Obama. And some defended Trump’s supposed defense of white people. Here’s a sampling:

Read More:  

Trump’s Facebook Fans Call for Race War

Posted in FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trump’s Facebook Fans Call for Race War

Sarah Palin Urges the US to Leave the United Nations

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

In the immediate aftermath of the landmark vote in which Britain has decided to leave the European Union, Sarah Palin—once the governor of Alaska and real life vice presidential candidate—is suggesting the United States takes similar steps to leave the United Nations.

“It is time to dissolve political bands that connect us to agendas not in our best interest,” she concluded. “May UN shackles be next on the chopping block.”

Palin’s advice comes amid plummeting international stocks, a 30-year low for the Sterling, and admissions of empty campaign promises from prominent Brexit advocates.

See original article here:

Sarah Palin Urges the US to Leave the United Nations

Posted in Brita, Everyone, FF, GE, LAI, Landmark, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sarah Palin Urges the US to Leave the United Nations

Why Do We Put Up With Saudi Arabia? Maybe We Don’t Have Much of a Choice.

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Responding to reports that Pakistan’s intelligence service funded a deadly 2009 Taliban attack on a CIA outpost in Afghanistan, National Review’s David French says we should release the secret 28 pages of the 9/11 report that describe possible Saudi involvement:

We’ve long known that our “alliance” with Saudi Arabia has put us in bed with the devil. It’s time for us to find out how evil that devil truly is.

….I recognize that the needs of war sometimes require our nation to ally itself with dangerous regimes (see World War II for the most salient example), but there is still a difference between a shaky or temporary ally and an actual enemy — a nation that is trying to undermine American interests and kill Americans. In other words, there is a line, and it is worth asking (and re-asking) if Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are on the right side.

This is one of those remarkable issues that unites far right, centrists, squishy left, and far left. We all think pretty poorly of Saudi Arabia, and we’d all like to know what’s in those 28 pages. The fact that no one in the federal government wants to oblige us just adds to our conviction that these pages contain something pretty damning.

Still, this raises a difficult question, especially for conservatives: who do you want the US to ally with in the Muslim world? The basic power blocs in the Middle East are the Sunni gulf states led by Saudi Arabia and the Shiite bloc led by Iran. Obviously Iran is out. So does this mean conservatives want to dispense with allies altogether? Give lots of arms to Israel but otherwise just pull out of the Middle East altogether? Launch periodic wars against whoever happens to be the greatest perceived threat at any given time?

My loathing of Saudi Arabia is pretty boundless on all sorts of levels: religious liberty, treatment of women, encouragement of Wahhabi intolerance throughout the Muslim world, geopolitical treachery, general tribal assholishness, human rights in general, and plenty of other things I’ve probably forgotten. At the same time, Iran is hardly a sterling citizen. They lack some of Saudi Arabia’s vices, but make up for it with others (less proselytization, more export of terrorism). And at least Saudi Arabia cooperates with us some of the time. Iran wants nothing to do with us.

This is all pretty obvious, but I guess it’s why I go off on rants about Saudi Arabia only occasionally. It’s easy to do for someone like me, who has no influence over anything. But if I were president, and I had to choose from a steaming pile of seriously ugly choices—with American interests, American lives, Mideast stability, and the threat of global terrorist surges all on the line? Well, I might look at everything, hold my nose, and play nice with the Saudis. I don’t know. But that’s apparently the choice that President Obama made, even though it’s pretty clear he didn’t like it much.

Link:  

Why Do We Put Up With Saudi Arabia? Maybe We Don’t Have Much of a Choice.

Posted in Casio, Citizen, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why Do We Put Up With Saudi Arabia? Maybe We Don’t Have Much of a Choice.

Brave Testimony Helps Convict Costa Rican Slayers of a Turtle Conservationist

A Spanish veterinarian who was attacked by thugs as they also murdered a turtle conservationist provided vital testimony at a Costa Rican trial. Continue at source:  Brave Testimony Helps Convict Costa Rican Slayers of a Turtle Conservationist ; ; ;

Link:  

Brave Testimony Helps Convict Costa Rican Slayers of a Turtle Conservationist

Posted in alternative energy, ATTRA, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, ONA, organic, Presto, solar, solar power, Sterling, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Brave Testimony Helps Convict Costa Rican Slayers of a Turtle Conservationist

Hillary Clinton Will Never Let Bernie Sanders Live Down This Vote

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Three weeks removed from the Iowa caucuses, with Bernie Sanders nipping at Hillary Clinton’s heels in the polls, the Clinton campaign is reminding Democrats of the Vermont senator’s most problematic vote in Congress.

In 2005, Sanders, then in the House of Representatives, voted for an NRA-backed bill to provide legal immunity to gun manufacturers if their guns were used to commit crimes. Then-Sens. Clinton and Barack Obama, by contrast, voted against the bill.

Over the last few months, as mass shootings from Charleston to Roseburg to San Bernardino have rocked the country, and under increasing criticism by Clinton, Sanders has tried to neutralize the gun issue and even walk back his support for that vote. On a Friday conference call, Sanders’ campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, told reporters, “I would say that there’s about zero daylight between the president and Sen. Bernie Sanders.”

So the Clinton campaign set up a conference call of its own.

“Democrats have a real choice, because standing up to the gun lobby is a real difference between Sen. Sanders and Hillary Clinton,” John Podesta, a senior Clinton adviser, told reporters on the Friday afternoon call. Podesta highlighted Sanders’ vote for immunity for gun manufacturers, calling his record very different from both Obama’s and Clinton’s. He issued a challenge Sanders to “commit today to support legislation to overturn the sweeping immunity provision he voted to confer upon the gun industry.”

The Clinton campaign’s latest broadside against Sanders on guns comes one day after President Obama raised the issue of immunity for gun manufacturers in a New York Times op-ed and promised not to support any candidate—including Democrats—”who does not support common-sense gun reform.”

Sanders has come under repeated fire from Clinton for his 2005 vote and others on guns. In response, he has said he would revisit the legislation, but has declined to say that he regrets the vote. “I hope you know that Senator Sanders has said he’d be willing to take another look at that legislation,” Sanders’ spokesman, Michael Briggs, told Politico. This week, Sanders backed Obama’s executive actions on guns, including one to expand background checks to more gun sales.

Still, the senator’s gun record is a clear blemish on his near-sterling progressive record. Don’t expect the Clinton campaign to let voters forget that.

View article: 

Hillary Clinton Will Never Let Bernie Sanders Live Down This Vote

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Sterling, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hillary Clinton Will Never Let Bernie Sanders Live Down This Vote

Mitch McConnell Has Met The Enemy, and It Is Him

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Politico has a fascinating story today. It’s all about Mitch McConnell’s months of LBJ-worthy maneuvering to get legislation passed that would repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, thus paving the way for a clean budget bill later this year. But here’s the kicker: he wasn’t engaged in Herculean negotiations with Democrats. He was engaged in Herculean negotiations with his own party. The goal was to somehow trick them into supporting the Obamacare/PP bill, which was entirely symbolic since President Obama would veto it instantly, paving the way for a budget bill later this month that Obama could sign.

How did he do it?

McConnell marshaled a secret weapon that ultimately would work in his favor: Anti-abortion groups.

Since the summer, the Senate majority leader had spoken with influential organizations opposing abortion such as National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List to ensure they would back his move to link the Obamacare repeal with a measure to defund Planned Parenthood….Anti-abortion groups vowed to score against any senator who rejected the anti-Planned Parenthood provision, exerting additional pressure on conservative lawmakers who would have seen their sterling pro-life ratings tarnished if the defunding language was dropped.

Apparently McConnell persuaded the anti-abortion folks that their cause was better served by electing a Republican president in 2016, and the best way to do that was to avoid a protracted government shutdown over a budget bill that Democrats would fight if it included the PP defunding language. Instead, he proposed a symbolic standalone bill that allows everyone to vote against Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. Obama will veto it; everyone will shrug and say “we tried”; and then a clean budget bill will be negotiated and signed.

This is a strategy that firebrand conservatives opposed, but apparently they aren’t willing to risk their 100 percent scores from anti-abortion groups. So they caved.

And that’s that. In today’s Washington, passing bills isn’t a matter of getting Republicans and Democrats to agree. They can usually manage that. The trick is somehow neutering the wingnut faction of the Republican Party. Once that’s done, negotiations between the two parties are (relatively speaking) a piece of cake. Welcome to 2015.

Link to original: 

Mitch McConnell Has Met The Enemy, and It Is Him

Posted in alo, Everyone, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Sterling, Ultima, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mitch McConnell Has Met The Enemy, and It Is Him