Florida Courier - September 18, 2015

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VOLUME 23 NO. 38

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

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ROUND 2

A wide-ranging GOP debate may finally start to winnow down the still-large Republican field of presidential candidates.

BY STEVEN THOMMA AND LESLEY CLARK MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU /TNS

Donald Trump traded the now usual barbs with rivals, but foreign policy dominated much of the second round of Republican presidential debates Wednesday as candidates differed over how to deal with China, Iran and Russia.

The dividing line was whether to tear up agreements with Iran and shun leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some such as Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina drew a hard line. Others such as John Kasich and Rand Paul urged engagement even with enemies in the mold of Ronald Reagan during the Cold War.

Main takeaway Despite some personal skirmishes, Donald Trump faded as a focal point in this debate as other candidates debated foreign policy in detail. Trump and Ben Carson were not really part of

those exchanges.

Instead, the most forceful voices on foreign policy often bypassed Trump and focused on their different approaches from one another, or from President Obama. Dominating: Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Rand Paul. Also, in an earlier debate with other candidates: Lindsay Graham.

REPORT CARD Jeb Bush: The former Florida governor tried to land an early knockout punch against front-runner Donald Trump, but ended up standing by smiling as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took on Trump’s suitability for office directly. Bush and Trump tangled several times, with Trump at one point shushing the former Florida governor. Trump refused to apologize for pulling Bush’s Mexican-born wife, Columba, into the immigration debate. “My wife is as American as anyone in this room.”

RICK LOOMIS/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Republican presidential candidates took the stage for the start of the debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday.

Ben Carson:

ever, against big money in politics, of stealing trust from the country The soft-spoken neurosurgeon saying he was “in no way willing to and promising, “when I’m president, I’m going to take it back.” was overshadowed on the stage by lick the boots of billionaires.”

He sought to burnish his credenthe other candidates as he stressed tials as an outsider despite years his outsider status as a pediatric Chris Christie: The New Jersey governor came surgeon concerned about chilSee DEBATE, Page A2 dren’s’ futures. He took sides, how- out punching, accusing Obama

LOVE AND HAPPINESS

‘No more Daddy’s little girl’

Begging for pain relief ‘Pill mill’ regs may have gone too far

BY DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

TALLAHASSEE – Chris Young is a lifelong gun enthusiast, but his wife, Lesley, got rid of his rifles not long after the couple moved back to Florida nearly two years ago.

She was afraid of what her wheelchair-bound husband might do to himself once the Youngs found themselves among the throng of other patients forced to do the “pharmacy crawl” to get pain medications ordered by doctors.

Chris Young, a former mechanic, was crushed “like an accordion” a decade ago when a car he was standing beneath fell off its lift. Almost completely paralyzed, Young still experiences tremendous pain in his legs, for which his doctors have prescribed a number of narcotic drugs.

Young’s struggle to get prescriptions filled, however, is nearly identical to the plight of patients across Florida who need medication to cope with severe pain. The dilemma has reached such proportions that the Florida Board of Pharmacy’s Controlled Substances Standards Committee is holding a series of meetings in an attempt to figure out what can be done. The panel will meet

Samantha Monts Watterson dances with her father, former Miami resident Stanley Monts, after her Sept. 12 marriage to Sean Watterson in Richmond, Va. See a related ‘No Chaser’ column on Page A4.

See PILLS, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

Supreme Court says ‘only black’ for state judges

BY JIM SAUNDERS THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Supreme Court says the issue comes down to public trust and confidence.

And from now on, that means judges can only wear solid black robes when they head into court.

Despite arguments that it doesn’t need to act as the fashion police, the Supreme Court approved a rule that will prevent Florida judges from wearing col-

ALSO INSIDE

orful robes or other adornments while presiding over cases. Justices said in an eight-page decision last week that judges “wearing different colored robes or robes with varying embellishments” could lead to uncertainty for people going before courts.

“Depending on the color or pattern of the robe or the type of embellishment worn, some may wonder whether the presiding judge is a ‘real judge’ or whether the judge will take the proceedings seriously,’’ the decision said.

Reflection of mood?

“Robe color also could be seen as a reflection of a judge’s mood or attitude that day. Should a defendant facing the death penalty feel trepidation when the presiding judge appears in a red robe or feel more at ease when the robe is green? The possibility that the unique attire of the judge assigned to one’s case could raise these concerns and thereby diminish public trust and confidence in the proceedings is not acceptable.

“The public should not have to guess as to the meaning of different colored, patterned, or embellished robes,’’ the decision said.

“Promoting uniformity in judicial attire, by requiring all judges to wear unembellished, solid black robes, will no doubt avoid these concerns and promote public trust and confidence.

“The people of Florida have a right to expect equal justice every day…and should not have to question whether equal justice is being dispensed based on the color of a judge’s robe.”

FLORIDA | A3

Heat in state key to rise of pythons NATION | A6

Maryland judge a ‘good fit’ for Gray case ENTERTAINMENT | B1

Gala to raise funds for Tampa library BUSINESS | B3

Amazon founder brings jobs to Space Coast

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: FORMER AFRICAN LEADER DENOUNCES US IMPERIALISM AT TRIAL | A5

FOCUS

A2

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

‘In the presence of my enemies’ Frederick Douglass once said, “You can’t get crops without plowing the land.” Samora Machel said, “You can’t get tea without boiling the water.” The Gantt Report has written on numerous occasions that “You can’t get wine without stomping the grapes!”

Well, some say Lucius Gantt is all of that – a plower, a boiler, and someone that will figuratively and, in a literal sense, stomp the life out of a devilish beast!

I care In my mind, all I am is someone that cares. I am not afraid to stand up and speak about issues that are important to my people, my community and me.

I would imagine that I have a whole lot of enemies. I say “imag-

put you in check, keep you weak, hold you down, exploit you, oppress you and subjugate you.

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

ine” because my enemies never step up and tell me that. But I’m smart enough to know I have enemies, and so does everyone that took the time to read this column.

An enemy is someone that wishes to injure you in some way; a foe or someone that may be hostile to your idea, your cause or to your people.

Your enemy doesn’t want you to improve, doesn’t want you to progress, and doesn’t want you to thrive! Your enemy wants to

Worst of all The worst kind of enemy is a hater. They hate the truth, hate how you act, hate how you talk, hate your family, hate your friends, and hate what is important to you and what you believe in.

Some haters are “frienemies,” or people that pretend to be your friend but are really your enemy.

A frienemy claims to know everything about you. They pose as your redeemer, act like they are your supporter, suggest that they are your benefactor and pretend to be your ally.

The haters claim to know your flaws, your faults, your er-

rors, your mistakes, your shortcomings, your weaknesses and your fears. But if they would just look into a mirror they would see those things in themselves!

No fear Don’t be scared of your enemies. If you live clean and let your works be seen, your enemies won’t be able to kill you, hurt you or stop you!

When your enemies look to harm you personally, professionally, spiritually or in other ways, if you’re a good man or a good woman, you will be protected!

When your enemies try to cut you off, shut you down, destroy your marriages and relationships, get you fired, try to put you out of business, success is always the best revenge! The best way to

PILLS from A1

Monday in Tallahassee.

Took action With Florida having the dubious distinction of being branded the “pill mill capital” of the country, Florida lawmakers in 2011 – at the urging of Attorney General Pam Bondi – imposed strict regulations on doctors and pharmacies about dispensing highly addictive pain medications. The effort was aimed at shutting down rogue clinics that had popped up in areas like South Florida and had drawn addicts and traffickers from states hundreds of miles away.

Around the same time, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration targeted pharmacies and distributors that contributed to the problem by allowing powerful narcotics to get into the hands of unscrupulous doctors and dealers.

But now, many doctors, patients and even pharmacists wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.

Pain and death Last year, Lesley Young traveled to more than a dozen Jacksonville-area pharmacies before finding one that would fill her husband’s prescriptions.

Suzy Carpenter, diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, spent three days pleading with pharmacists at 13 drugstores before she received her pain medication.

And three pharmacies rejected 4-year-old Aiden Lopez’s prescriptions for narcotics after the tot underwent surgery for kidney cancer.

A handful of patients have committed suicide because no one would fill their prescriptions, according to doctors who testified at the Board of Pharmacy committee’s last meeting.

Other patients have turned to social media to spread the word.

Some, like Lesley Young, are showing up at the meetings in tears, begging for help. They’re tired of being treated like drug addicts.

DEBATE from A1

in government office, saying he was a Republican in blue state New Jersey.

Ted Cruz: The combative Texas senator showed off a zeal for the battle and red meat, earning applause for saying he would “rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian deal.”

And he showed he was willing to criticize his own congressional peers and party leaders, accusing them of surrendering to Obama by not pursuing a government shutdown in the wake of a veto threat over defunding Planned Parenthood. “We need to stop surrendering and start standing for our principles.”

Carly Fiorina: The business executive and only woman on stage showed early why she deserved her promotion to the first tier, demonstrating a detailed grasp of foreign policy, coyly dismissing Trump as a “wonderful entertainer” and delivering a passionate call to defund Planned Parenthood. “This is about the character of our nation. If we will not stand up and force Pres-

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Gov. Rick Scott signed the ‘pill mill’ bill in Orlando on June 3, 2011. Looking on, from left: Joyce Dawley, FDLE; Phil Williams, Orlando MBI; Gerald Bailey, FDLE; Seminole sheriff Don Eslinger; Winter Park Police Chief Brett Railey; Rep. Scott Plakon.

‘Dress nice’ “You try and dress nice. You go into the drug store and speak well, and they look at you and say what do you need all this medication for and fling (the prescription) back at you,” Young said.

“It’s humiliating.”

Who’s responsible for the problem, and how to fix it, is complicated. Pharmacists offer a litany of reasons for refusing to fill prescriptions.

They don’t have the medicines in stock. They’re worried about running out of the medications and leaving their longtime patients empty-handed. They’re obeying mandates handed down by corporations like Walgreens and CVS. Or they’re afraid of being caught in a net cast by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency that has shuttered 13 Florida pharmacies since 2011.

Physicians complain that pharmacists are second-guessing their decisions, demanding that health care professionals provide the results of MRIs or other tests while questioning drug orders.

“You have some pharmacists that are just out of control with their assessment,” said Charles Friedman, a Pinellas County physician who is certified with the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Friedman said he frequently is grilled by pharmacists, who are

ident Obama to veto this bill, then shame on us.”

Mike Huckabee: The former governor of Arkansas displayed his trademark wit in his opening, dubbing the Republicans the “A-Team” with its own Mr. T “who doesn’t mind saying you’re a fool.” Although not always in the fray, he got in an appeal to Christian conservatives, embracing his role in support of Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk jailed for refusing to sign marriage licenses for gay couples, noting others have been granted religious accommodations, including the Fort Hood shooter who was allowed to grow a beard.

John Kasich: The Ohio governor cast himself as the can-do leader – who has balanced budgets and could work with Democrats here, allies abroad, and geopolitical rivals to get things done. “We work better when we work with our allies. We work better when we are unified.”

Rand Paul: The senator from Kentucky all but ridiculed rivals who would cut off talks and high-profile visits with leaders of nations such as China or Russia or tear up the agreement with Iran. “Think

required by law to call prescribers if they believe that a prescription may be fraudulent.

“Can you give me his diagnosis?

Do you have MRI scans? When was their physical examination?

Have you tried other modalities of care?” Friedman said. “It’s like a whole laundry list of questions they ask you. They’re a pharmacist. They’re not really trained in making a clinical assessment. …

I think they’re really walking outside of the box and stretching out beyond their expertise.”

‘Fill it’ Florida Medical Association General Counsel Jeff Scott, who did the “pharmacy crawl” in Tallahassee in an attempt to locate pain medication for his elderly father, is even more direct. “(Pharmacists) need to fill the damn prescription,” Scott, whose father was diagnosed with cancer, said. “If a doctor orders it, they need to fill it. Period. Unless they have reason to believe it’s fraudulent.”

At a meeting of the pharmacy board committee last month, Susan Langston, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s divergent program manager for the Miami Field Division, called 4-year-old Aiden Lopez’s story “deeply troubling.”

Langston, who delivered lengthy prepared remarks, insisted that her agency isn’t trying to keep pharmacists from doling

if Reagan had said that during the Cold War? We continued to talk with the Russians throughout the Cold War, which is much more significant that where we are now.”

out medicines to legitimate patients.

“In watching for suspicious activities we are not asking pharmacists to be medical doctors.

We are not asking them to review medical records, MRI reports or to diagnose a patient. We simply want pharmacists to be aware that there is an epidemic of pharmaceutical drug abuse in this country and to use their education, experience, professional judgment, ethics and common sense to not knowingly participate in this national health crisis,” she said.

Pharmacists fearful But, three years after Walgreens agreed to pay an $80 million fine for violations regarding distribution and dispensing of highly addictive narcotics, Florida Pharmacy Association Executive Director Michael Jackson acknowledged that pharmacists are scared.

Pharmacists are experiencing “some real, real fear,” Jackson, a member of the controlled substances committee, said at a meeting in June. “We need to find ways of overcoming that fear and fixing that anxiety.”

Two months later, the DEA’s Langston tried to quell those concerns.

Caused by addicts?

Part of the problem may rest in

Top quotes

The senator from Florida was strong on foreign policy, talking in detail about Russian President Vladimir Putin in Syria.

“Women clearly heard what Mr. Trump said.” Carly Fiorina on Trump saying of her: “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”

“We’re going to pull the caliphate up by its roots and we’re going to kill every one of these bastards we can find.” Lindsay Graham on the Islamic State.

Donald Trump:

Most controversial

Marco Rubio:

The real estate billionaire appeared to fade on the stage as rivals largely ignored him and bored in on their disagreement on issues. While others spoke in detail about issues such as Iran, Russia and Syria, Trump defended his qualifications to be commander in chief by cutting his business success. “I think I have a great temperament. I built a phenomenal business with incredible iconic assets, one of the truly great real-estate businesses.”

Scott Walker: Often passive in the first debate, the Wisconsin governor went right after Trump. He accused him of being too inexperienced to be commander in chief. He also hit Trump for using bankruptcy to escape debts. “You can’t take America into bankruptcy.”

The Iran deal. Some, notably Ted Cruz, said they would tear it up on Day One as president.

“This deal abandons four American hostages in Iran, and this deal will only accelerate Iran’s acquiring nuclear weapons. You’d better believe it. If I am elected president, on the very first day in office, I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal,” Cruz said.

Others, notably John Kasich and Rand Paul, said it would be irresponsible to act unilaterally without the agreement of allies.

Said Kasich: “If they cheat, we slap the sanctions back on. If they help Hamas, and Hezbollah, we slap the sanctions back on.

And, if we find out that they may be developing a nuclear weapon, then the military option is on the table. We are stronger when we work with the Western civiliza-

quiet a hater is to do what you do and be very good at it.

Table prepared When you survive hate, when you defeat your enemies and become successful in spite of those persons with devilish intent and wicked ways, the table is being prepared!

When the Bible says God will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies, it encourages you to be strong, be brave and to tell your haters and enemies to their face to kiss your booty!

They can try to knock you down. But they can never knock you out!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants.net.

Florida’s history as the country’s “pill mill capital.”

“Addicts have brought us to this point,” Melissa Ramba, a lobbyist for the Florida Retail Federation, which represents pharmacy chains like Walgreens, told the panel in June.

Doctors aren’t required to consult the state’s prescription-drug monitoring program, the database that contains all of the prescriptions for controlled substances. About 10 percent of physicians use the program, according to the latest data provided by the Department of Health. Nearly half of the state’s pharmacists have consulted the database, the records show.

Florida’s law should require doctors to check the database prior to writing prescriptions, Ramba said. That would give pharmacists “some comfort” in filling the orders and “help move the needle on this issue,” she said.

But the Florida Medical Association vehemently opposed forcing doctors to use the database, and it is unlikely that lawmakers will approve such a requirement without the support of the powerful lobbying group.

Dosage ‘cap’ Also of concern is a state law that includes a trigger for distributors to examine retailers who order more than 5,000 dosage units per month of controlled substances. While the 5,000 dosage units are only a trigger, some pharmacies may be treating it as a cap, according to testimony from the committee’s previous two meetings.

Bondi called the plight of legitimate patients heartbreaking. But she balked at the idea of eliminating the 5,000 dosage unit trigger.

“If they’re not doing anything wrong, they shouldn’t have a concern about it,” she said. “What I know is that we cannot return to the days when seven Floridians were dying each day due to prescription drug overdoses. I also know there are credible reports of people with legitimate pain who aren’t able to get their prescriptions filled. My heart goes out to them.”

tion, our friends in Europe, and just doing it on our own I don’t think is the right policy.”

Said Paul: “Should we continue to talk with Iran? Yes. Should we cut up the agreement immediately? That’s absurd. Wouldn’t you want to know if they complied?”

The pre-debate Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina dominated the first debate, featuring four candidates whose poll numbers did not make the cut for the main debate and which quickly morphed into a series of sharp exchanges among the four.

Graham cast himself as the only candidate capable of serving as commander in chief as he pledged to put combat troops in Iraq and Syria. He earned several rounds of applause, including when he defended saying nice things about Hillary Clinton by insisting he’d be happy to have drinks with Democrats. “That’s the first thing I’m going to do as president, we’re going to drink more,” he quipped.

Also participating: former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

FLORIDA

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Hospital district will pay $69.5 million in referral case THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

In a case that stemmed from a whistleblower complaint, the North Broward Hospital District has agreed to pay $69.5 million to resolve accusations that it had improper financial relationships with doctors, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The sprawling public hospital district, which is known as Broward Health, was accused of vio-

lating federal laws that focus on hospitals and physicians who refer patients for care. Those laws are designed, at least in part, to prevent hospitals from improperly compensating doctors for referrals.

The Justice Department announcement said the Broward case involved allegations that the hospital system provided compensation that was higher than market value to nine physicians.

"Our citizens deserve medical

treatment uncorrupted by excessive salaries paid to physicians as a reward for the referral of business rather than the provision of the highest quality health care," South Florida U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer said in a prepared statement.

$12 million for surgeon The Justice Department announcement said the settlement involved "allegations only, and there has been no determination

of liability."

The case began with allegations by orthopedic surgeon Michael Reilly, who had staff privileges at the system's Imperial Point hospital and previously had privileges at two other Broward Health hospitals.

"Dr. Reilly was personally offered employment by Broward Health under terms which presented potential violations of the federal … laws,'' said a version of the complaint filed in 2011. "Dr.

Reilly declined the offer from Broward Health, but he continued to witness Broward Health's strategy to recruit, employ and compensate physicians at excessive levels based in part on the value and volume of referrals to Broward Health hospitals and clinics."

As a whistleblower under the federal False Claims Act, Reilly will receive about $12 million of the settlement, according to the Justice Department.

BRIEFS Prison system to appeal kosher food rulings In the latest move in a long-running legal battle, the Florida Department of Corrections has given notice it will appeal rulings by a federal judge about providing kosher food to prisoners.

The department filed a notice on Sept. 11 that it will take the case to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The notice did not provide details of the state’s arguments, but it cited orders issued in April and August

by U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz.

The August rulings, in part, granted federal officials’ request to monitor kosher meals, called the “Religious Dietary Program,” through visits to prisons.

Seitz also required the Department of Corrections to file monthly reports about the use of the program with the court and the U.S. Department of Justice and to file quarterly reports about prisoners suspended or removed from the program.

The appeal comes after more than a decade of fighting about prisons providing kosher meals to inmates who want to follow religious diets. That includes Jewish, Muslim and Seventh-Day Adventist prisoners.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in 2012, with Seitz ordering in April that the corrections agency provide the meals.

Lawmaker pushing online ticket sales A South Florida lawmaker has filed a proposal that could lead to the Florida Lottery selling tickets online.

The bill (SB 270), filed by Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Miami, will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, which starts in January.

The bill would give the Florida Lottery the authority to create and run a program for online purchases of lottery tickets.

– The News Service of Florida

COURTESY OF FLORIDA HOUSE

Rep. Edwin Narain, D-Tampa, debates during a special session of the Legislature on June 6. He filed a bill last month to help STEM teachers.

Legislators want to help STEM teachers pay off loans THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Two Democratic lawmakers have filed proposals that would help pay off student loans for Florida college graduates who

teach science, technology, engineering and math – so-called STEM – courses in public schools.

Sen. Chris Smith, DFort Lauderdale, filed a proposal (SB 290) on Monday, following a sim-

ilar proposal (HB 15) filed last month by Rep. Ed Narain, D-Tampa.

Under both proposals, the state would make loan payments of up to $16,000 for teachers who meet certain qualifications, includ-

ing that they teach STEM courses for at least eight years in public schools.

The bills will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, which starts in January.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’: “This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.”

– Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat!

• How Black students can program their minds for success; • Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!

www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC

MARK RANDALL/SUN SENTINEL/TNS

This 13-foot-long Burmese python was used to demonstrate safe-handling techniques during the kick off of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission's 2013 Python Challenge in which hunters nationwide competed to remove the reptiles that posed a threat to native wildlife in the Everglades.

South Florida’s heat key to rise of pythons and their kin

BY JENNY STALETOVICH MIAMI HERALD/TNS

If Floridians ever want to rid the state of Burmese pythons, tegus and other slithery invaders, they should hope for cold.

A new University of Florida study has confirmed what scientists have long suspected: Temperature, more than habitat, determines where reptiles invade. Using the kind of risk assessment strategy normally used in business, researchers modeled where invasive lizards and geckos were likely to live based on native habits, and then compared that to where they live in Florida. Temperature creates an invisible barrier.

And that means South Florida is likely to remain the nation’s hottest spot for invasive species.

Temperatures matter Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com

Facebook ccherry2 excellencewithoutexcuse

for info on speeches, workshops, seminars, book signings, panel discussions.

Twitter @ccherry2

Scientists started thinking about the power of temperature after a severe 2010 cold snap froze iguanas and wiped out pythons in unprecedented numbers, said Frank Mazzotti, a biologist and one of the study’s five authors.

“That’s when people really began to appreciate that acute cold events may often be as important or more important than regular cold weather,” he said. “It’s not how

cold it gets all the time. It’s how cold it gets when it really gets cold.”

To test their theory, researchers looked at the invasive reptiles on the Florida landscape. They then whittled down the list to include only reptiles that are well understood in their native ranges, which could provide enough data to feed into their models. Pythons, while a bigger threat, didn’t make the cut. Neither did tegus or Nile monitor lizards, two more-aggressive egg-eating, cat-consuming invaders.

Geckos, lizards and more Instead, they came up with 14 geckos, lizards and anoles, everyday invaders like the Hispaniola green anole and common wall gecko. They then compared their native ranges to their appearance in Florida.

The models showed that for reptiles, temperature matters most ––in particular, low temperatures. While temperature most accurately predicted location for the whole group, the type of land played a varying role depending on the species. Mediterranean house geckos were less picky about whether they lived in wetlands or a pine rockland.

Star lizards were far more finicky, leading researchers to conclude that adding land type improves predictions.

Researchers also found that most exotics thrive in South Florida’s steamy tropics, which tend to more-closely match native ranges.

Being able to target likely hotspots could be a valuable tool in fighting the spread of invasive species that can destroy native wildlife and cost far more to remove once they become established, Mazzotti said.

“It helps us set our priority on where to look in South Florida,” he said.

EDITORIAL

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SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

I support Black Lives Matter, but not its approach As the rapper Tef Poe sharply pointed out at a St. Louis rally in October protesting the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., “This ain’t your grandparents’ civil rights movement.”

He’s right. It looks, sounds and feels different.

Black Lives Matter is a motleylooking group to this septuagenarian grandmother, an activist in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Many in my crowd admire the cause and courage of these young activists but fundamentally disagree with their approach.

Love and unity Trained in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr., we were nonviolent activists who won hearts by conveying respectability and changed laws by delivering a message of love and unity. BLM seems intent on rejecting our proven methods. This movement is ignoring what our history has taught.

The baby boomers who drove the success of the civil rights movement want to get behind Black Lives Matter, but the group’s confrontational and divisive tactics make it difficult. In the 1960s, activists confronted White mobs and police with dignity and decorum, sometimes dressing in church clothes and kneeling in prayer during protests to make a clear distinction between who was evil and who was good.

But at protests today, it is difficult to distinguish legitimate activists from the mob actors who burn and loot. The demonstrations are peppered with hate speech, profanity, and guys with sagging pants that show their underwear. Even if the BLM activists aren’t the ones participating in the boorish language and dress, neither are they condemning it.

Elders respected The 1960s movement also had an innate respectability because our leaders often were heads of the Black church, as well. Unfortunately, church and spirituality are not high priorities for Black Lives Matter, and the ethics of love, forgiveness and reconciliation that empowered Black leaders such as King and Nelson Mandela in their successful quests to win over their oppressors is missing from this movement.

The power of the spiritual approach was evident recently in the way relatives of the nine victims in the Charleston church shooting responded at the bond hearing for Dylann Roof, the young White man who reportedly confessed to killing the church members “to start a race war.” One by one, the relatives stood in the courtroom, forgave the accused racist killer and prayed for mercy on his soul.

As a result, in the wake of that horrific tragedy, not a single building was burned down. There was no riot or looting.

“Their response was solidly spiritual, one of forgiveness and mercy for the perpetrator,” the Rev. Andrew Young, a top King aide, told me in a recent telephone interview.

‘Sick people’ “White supremacy is a sick-

REV. BARBARA REYNOLDS TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

ness,” said Young, who also has served as a U.S. congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, and mayor of Atlanta. “You don’t get angry with sick people; you work to heal the system.

If you get angry, it is contagious, and you end up acting as bad as the perpetrators.”

The loving, nonviolent approach is what wins allies and mollifies enemies. But what we have seen come out of Black Lives Matter is rage and anger – justifiable emotions, but questionable strategy.

For months, it seemed that BLM hadn’t thought beyond that raw emotion, hadn’t questioned where it would all lead. I and other elders openly worried that, without a clear strategy and welldefined goals, BLM could soon crash and burn out.

Oprah Winfrey voiced that concern earlier this year, saying, “What I’m looking for is some kind of leadership to come out of this to say, ‘This is what we want.

This is what has to change, and these are the steps that we need to take to make these changes, and this is what we’re willing to do to get it.’”

Oprah criticized For her wise counsel, Oprah became the target of a deluge of tweets from young activists, who denounced her as elitist and “out of touch,” which caused some well-meaning older sages to grit their teeth in silence.

Now, nearly 10 months later, BLM has finally come around, releasing a list of policy demands last week. If this young movement had embraced the well-meaning advice of its elders earlier, instead of responding with disdain, it could have spent recent months making headway with political leaders, instead of battling the disheartening images of violence and destruction that have followed its protests against police brutality in Black neighborhoods.

Few mentors This opportunity for mentorship is fleeting, evidenced by the recent deaths of civil rights movement giants Maya Angelou, Julian Bond and Louis Stokes. Seizing the wisdom of veteran civil rights activists will only help Black Lives Matter achieve its goals.

The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be the most obvious assets to BLM, as civil rights leaders who have run for president and led political campaigns – but BLM has welcomed neither.

Long before they targeted Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, young activists stormed the stage and stole the microphone at Sharpton’s “Justice for All” march against police brutality in Washington in December.

Some have defended the young activists. Speaking at a conference at Boston University’s So-

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 267 QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

Congrats, Sam and Sean! Your humble writer journeyed with family to Richmond, Va. – home of the Museum of the Confederacy, the White House of the Confederacy, and “Monument Avenue,” a street punctuated with oversized statues of traitorous, White supremacist Confederate political and military leadership.

Sitting in the (Episcopal) Church

cial Justice Institute in April, Pamela Lightsey, a noted theologian and lecturer on queer theology at Boston University’s Theological Seminary who chronicled the Ferguson protests, explained the disconnect between Black Lives Matter and the older civil rights cohort: BLM activists “respect the leaders of another day, but they are not going to bow down to them. They can’t come into a protest march and demand a front seat or to jump on the front lines when the cameras are on.”

She added that, while there are clergy participating in the BLM protests, “the movement is not a Black church initiative.”

‘Spiritual, thoughtful’ Young doesn’t take BLM’s dismissive attitude toward preachers and the movement’s lack of discipline lightly.

“In our movement, we were not only spiritual, we were thoughtful,” he said. “The reason our campaigns for change were successful in Montgomery and Birmingham was because they were undergirded by boycotts. We didn’t burn any businesses down.

I don’t see that discipline here. We also trained people not to get angry because we knew our minds, not our emotions, were our most powerful weapons. We knew – to lose your wits was to lose your life.”

What Young is selling – discipline, respect for elders, restraint – is badly needed in the movement. But right now, BLM isn’t buying.

“BLM rejects the usual hierarchical style of leadership, with the straight Black male at the top giving orders,” Lightsey said. The BLM also gives special “attention to the needs of Black queers, the Black transgendered, the Black undocumented, Black incarcerated and others who are hardly a speck on today’s political agenda.”

In this way, BLM has improved on the previous generation. The new movement has embraced Black women as leaders and was, in fact, founded by three Black women.

Sexist movement King’s model, by contrast, was sexist to the core, imitating the tone of the country at that time.

Civil rights heroines such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker and even Rosa Parks – whose refusal to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery launched the 1960s movement – were not allowed to speak or march with the male leaders at the 1963 March on Washington.

In social movements of the past, “Black” meant male and “women” meant White, but BLM is unapologetically refusing to let the plight of Black women go unnoticed. Black women are incarcerated at three times the rate of White women.

Recent deaths of Black women in police custody generally haven’t received the widespread news coverage that Black men killed by officers have. The names of these Black women are hardly known: Raynette Turner; Joyce Curnell; Ralkina Jones and Kindra Chapman. But with the backing of BLM, the case of Sandra Bland, a of the Holy Comforter on Monument Avenue – a church Blacks were probably barred from attending when it was founded in 1902 – I reflected on the ironies of the day.

Me, dressed like an African chief, sitting in the front pews with my Black relatives, in one of Richmond’s oldest churches (on Monument Avenue!) as my young Black cousin, Samantha Monts, married a White man, Sean Watterson, she met when they were fellow students in a desegregated school. If they had gotten married 50 years ago, they would have been arrested for violating state laws that prevented interracial marriage. And

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: BLACK LIVES MATTER

MIKE KEEFE, CAGLE CARTOONS

Black woman who died in a Texas jail cell after she was aggressively arrested in a minor traffic violation, was given nationwide coverage last month.

Narrow focus Still, the movement has remained too narrow in its focus. I understand why, as a new movement, BLM has focused on Black pain and suffering. But to win broader appeal, it must work harder to acknowledge the humanity in the lives of others.

The movement loses sympathy when it shouts down those who dare to utter “all lives matter.” Activists insist that this slogan diverts attention from their cause of racial justice, saying it puts the spotlight on people whose lives have always mattered.

But we should remember the words of King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The civil rights movement was not exclusively a Black movement for Black people. It valued all human lives, even those of people who worked against us. I can’t believe that the life of a murdered White police officer, or an Asian child sold into sex slavery, or a hungry family in Appalachia are lives that don’t matter.

Broad slogan In a sense, even the slogan “Black Lives Matter” is too broad because the movement overlooks Black-on-Black homicides, the leading cause of death for Black males between the ages of 15 and 34. That horrific fact remains off the movement’s radar, for fear that it puts Black men in a negative light. So which Black lives really matter?

In an attempt to unify the different groups, some organizations are hosting interracial and intergenerational events. Black Women for Positive Change has established Oct. 17- 25 as the Week of Non-Violence in 10 cities, where officials, faith institutions and youth groups will come together.

Keith Magee, director of Boston’s Social Justice Institute, is organizing a rally and all-day talk-a-thon on Oct. 10 with similar goals.

“The older generation can no more retire to the sidelines than the BLM can isolate itself just focusing on Black lives mattering,” Magee said. “We must create a space for people to come together and listen to each other.”

Find middle ground Admittedly, baby boomers like myself can be too judgmental, expecting a certain reverence for our past journey. But it is critical yet 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down such laws – in the ironically titled “Loving vs. Virginia” case – the movement of the day is “Black Lives Matter.” The more things change…

Donald Trump is the GOP’s Barack Obama – The tea party types are projecting conservatism onto Trump, just like Black folks and many Dems projected liberalism onto Obama. (Both are Ivy League-educated centrists who play to their respective partisan bases.) Trump’s tapped effectively into the revulsion Americans feel about lying, ineffective, ambitious politicians, much like

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

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that these two generations find a middle ground.

Among Americans killed by police, Blacks are more than twice as likely to be unarmed than Whites.

To reach their common goal of ending this unequal treatment, baby boomers and millennials must overcome their differences and pair the experience of the old with the energy of the young to change a criminal justice system that has historically abused both.

Xavier Johnson, a 32-year-old pastor in Dayton who monitors the movement for his doctoral dissertation, argues that boomers should do more to fix the generational misunderstanding.

“When you look at this group [BLM] from the bottom up, you see young people who are grieving from the pain inflicted on Black bodies,” he told me. “They saw Michael Brown, someone their age, uncovered in the street for four hours baking in the hot sun. There were unarmed Eric Garner in New York, and Tamir Rice, a little kid police killed who was playing with a toy gun. They see churches on mostly every corner, but not where they are. They see a Black president who they feel ignores them. They are showing righteous indignation for a system that does not value their humanity.”

Johnson encouraged me, and others in my cohort, to spend more time trying to understand BLM activists, instead of judging them. To help me gain insight, he referred me to a popular song.

Musical reminder “Every movement has its own soundtrack,” he told me. “One of ours is by rapper Kendrick Lamar, who sings ‘Alright.’” So I listened to the song, expecting it would be as uplifting as “We Shall Overcome.”

I was terribly disappointed. The beat was too harsh; the lyrics were nasty and misogynistic: “Let me tell you about my life / Painkillers only put me in the twilight / Where pretty pussy and Benjamin is the highlight.”

Instead of imparting understanding, the song was a staunch reminder of the generation gap that afflicts civil rights activism – and the struggle it is going to take to overcome it.

Dr. Barbara Reynolds is an ordained minister and the author of six books, including the first unauthorized biography of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. She is a former editor and columnist for USA Today.

Obama tapped into “Bush fatigue.”

Can Trump win the GOP primary?

Yes. Can he win the presidency?

Yes. (Didn’t Obama? And Trump’s stinking RICH.) If Trump wins, the tea party types will eventually feel as disappointed as Black folks and Dems were by Obama. Pay attention…

Hillary Clinton, neocon – Her foreign policy speech last week indicates that she will make America a client state subservient to Israel – prior to going to war with Iran. Pay attention…

Me? ccherry2@gmail.com.

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SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Migration crisis sows seeds of unintended but foreseeable consequences History is replete with great migrations.

In modern times, they have included Blacks from the rural South to the urban North and West in the United States (191560); Jews from Europe to Palestine (1931-39); Muslims from east to west and Hindus and Sikhs from west to east in the Punjab (1947); Cubans from Mariel to Miami (1980); Mexicans from all over Mexico to all over the United States (1960-present); Rohingyas from Myanmar to Malaysia/Indonesia (2014-present).

Yet, given media coverage of and political reaction to the ongoing migration of refugees from Syria to Germany, you’d think it’s the first of its kind since the migration of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land during the Bible days (also known as the Exodus).

Different crisis To be fair, the current migrant crisis seems different. With war, instability and poverty spreading through Africa and the Middle East, a prosperous and peaceful Europe is proving a powerful attraction to potentially millions of people who have wearied of the constant turmoil and day-to-day struggles for survival. There is little sign the flow will soon subside.

What seems different about this migrant crisis has more to do with the extraordinary media coverage – and politically motivated reaction to that coverage – than with the all-too-ordinary human tragedy involved. In fact, even though it has been unfolding for years, this migration did not become a “crisis” until this month when the image of a drowned, 3-year-old Syrian boy, who washed up on shore in Turkey, went viral.

Historical memory Granted, equally heartrending for many were looping videos of displaced, desperate and despairing Syrians being corralled at train stations in Hungary, only to be taken to refugee camps. After all, this evoked very unsettling memories of Jews being corralled in similar fashion in Germany, only to be taken to concentration camps.

Which might explain German Chancellor Angela Merkel making quite a show of pledging to resettle as many Syrians as can make the trek through Turkey, across the Mediterranean Sea, through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, and Austria, to what she has proclaimed as their promised land. It’s not quite the wilderness the Israelites wandered in for 40 years, but no less harrowing, I’m sure.

Leaders react Other world leaders became suddenly seized by a crisis of conscience too, affecting emotions to reflect the viral sentiment of their respective constituents.

To varying degrees, they aped Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s humanitarian concerns: “Is there anybody on the planet who could not be moved by what they saw in the papers – anybody with a sense of humanity – who saw the body of a young boy washed up on a beach like driftwood. This is a human catastrophe.”

There were and are notable exceptions, however.

Here is how Hungarian Prime

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

Minister Viktor Orbán vented his xenophobic fears: “Irresponsibility is the mark of every European politician who holds out the promise of a better life to immigrants and encourages them to leave everything behind and risk their lives in setting out for Europe. If Europe does not return to the path of common sense, it will find itself laid low in a battle for its fate.”

Far more interesting, for obvious reasons, is how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked his existential imperative: “We will not allow Israel to be submerged by a wave of illegal migrants and terrorist activists. Israel is not indifferent to the human tragedy of Syrian and African refugees…but Israel is a small country – very small – without demographic or geographic depth. That is why we must control our borders.”

Emotional and rational I suspect many of you would condemn Orbán and Netanyahu (to a lesser degree) as readily as you’d commend Kenny and other belated do-gooders in this context. But I am convinced that, no matter how nationalistic and/ or anti-Islamic their motives, Orbán’s fears and Netanyahu’s imperative are as rational as Kenny’s concerns are emotional.

In fact, instead of rushing to one-up each other’s pledge to resettle Syrians, European leaders should be joining forces to do whatever is necessary to redress conditions in Syria that are forcing them to leave.

Failure to do so, in triage fashion, means that millions could be wandering through Europe, in migrant formation, before the end of the year. At that rate, Europe might end up with a majority nonWhite population before the United States.

With apologies to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 60, I paraphrase: “Like as waves make towards the pebbled shore, so too will Syrians take to the sea, All changing place with those who went before, in droves migrants will continue to flee.”

I’m on record empathizing with Kenny’s humanitarian concerns.

I fear, however, that conscienceassuaging measures pursuant to them might only end up vindicating Orbán’s xenophobic fears.

Assimilation challenge I am acutely mindful of the social upheaval dispossessed, destitute, disenfranchised, disassociated and disillusioned immigrants (most of whom happened to be young Muslims) caused when they erupted in riots all over Europe just years ago. I duly wrote a series of commentaries from 2005 through 2014 on that subject.

And frankly, I have no reason to believe that, no matter how wellintentioned, Europeans will do a better job assimilating these migrants than they did assimilating those immigrants.

There are all manner of White nationalists, like the neo-Nazis, lying in wait to terrorize resettled migrants. And I would not be the

least bit surprised if the Germans greeting this first wave of migrants with banners, cheers, and food are among those hurling xenophobic epithets at sequent waves of them a few months from now – as predictable strains and conflicts with respect to gainful employment and welfare benefits become manifestly untenable.

Hell, even the United States is no longer welcoming unyielding waves of huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Therefore, as Orbán warns, it seems irresponsible for Europe to be doing so.

Accordingly, European leaders should coordinate comprehensive humanitarian interventions, enabled and protected by NATO (not United Nations) forces, to contain would-be migrants within their borders. It’s clearly far better to provide local safe havens than for migrants to continue risking life and limb – only to end up in splendid desolation in Europe or in fetid isolation in internment camps, where millions are being detained today in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and increasingly in Hungary.

U.S responsible?

Meanwhile, Western pundits accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of taking political cheap shots last week when they not only blamed this migrant crisis on U.S. foreign policies – which Europe helped execute in lapdog fashion – but also claimed that they warned it would be thus.

Specifically, they gloated that but for America’s shortsighted yet cocksure attempt to change regimes across the Middle East and Northern Africa, countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria would still be bedrocks of political stability – even if ruled by reprehensible dictators.

I agree

EDITORIAL

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ARAB STATES REFUSE REFUGEES

PAUL ZANETTI, AUSTRALIA

intended, but all too foreseeable, ment of [undesirable] migrants.

Because African migrants are now consequences. posing the same challenges for Europe that Haitian migrants have No ‘defining image’ That said, I am profoundly dis- been posing for the United States mayed that it took Syrians drown- for decades.

In a bit of perverse symmetry, ing and being corralled like catit’s arguable that Europeans actle to prick the conscience of Europeans. Nothing irked my con- cepting Syrians but rejecting Afsciousness in this respect quite ricans in this context is analogous like watching internationally ac- to Americans accepting Cubans claimed actress and activist Em- but rejecting Haitians.

In both cases, Whites betray a ma Thompson, during a Septemclear preference for migrants who ber 3 BBC interview, and confess shame as she decried the UK’s appear higher on the de facto rafailure to provide refuge to more cial totem pole the way Whites in Apartheid South Africa assigned Syrians.

She insisted that only racial Brown (or colored people) to a (and religious?) bigotry could ex- caste above Black ones. Only diplain this failure. She obviously vide-and-marginalize racism exforgot that thousands of African plains this disparate treatment of migrants – including untold num- Brown and Black refugees. bers of children even younger than three – had already drowned Arabians, Africans at sea and washed up on Euro- uninterested pean shores long before the meFinally, I cannot overstate this dia declared the picture of one observation on the pathological drowned Syrian boy the “defining refusal of Africans to assume any image of this migrant crisis.” responsibility for resolving huHere is how I decried the forsak- manitarian crises in their midst, en plight of African migrants on as I wrote earlier this year in a post October 7, 2013 in a post entitled, entitled, “African Migrants Turn“Lampedusa Tragedy Highlights ing Mediterranean Sea into Vast Europe’s ‘Haitian’ Problem”: Cemetery,” on February 12, 2015: As tragic as this event was, poI just hope the damning irony litical dysfunction, economic stag- is not lost on any proud African nation, and civil strife on the Dark that, 50 years after decolonization, Continent are such that Africans hundreds of Africans (men, womwill continue to risk life and limb en, and children) are risking their to seek a better life. For, just as no lives, practically every day, to sublegal barrier or risk of drowning in jugate themselves to the paternal the Caribbean Sea has stemmed mercies of their former colonial the tide of Haitian migrants setting masters in Europe. off for America, no legal barrier or In a similar vein, I hope the risk of drowning in the Mediterra- equally damning irony is not lost nean Sea will stem the tide of Afri- on any proud Arab that, despite can migrants setting off for Europe. their profligate wealth, the royal Images and videos of their tragrulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuedy were sufficiently available to wait, UAE, and Bahrain are reportprick the conscience of anyone edly showing no interest in resetwho cared, even though none evtling any of these Syrian refugees. er went viral.

For surely this makes a mockery of This raises questions about racany claim to religious and/or culism that should prick the contural pride in the Muslim world. science of Europeans even more It’s shameful enough that than the picture of that drowned Syrian boy did. I alluded to those they’re sitting on their thrones questions – and offered the only and expecting the United States to possible answer to them all – in a protect their respective kingdoms post entitled, “Europeans Erect- from ISIS the way it protected ing High Fences to Maintain Good them from al-Qaeda. But the least Relations with African Neighbors” these regal bastards can do is fund on October 8, 2005, which in- the UN food program for huncludes this prescient equally pre- dreds of thousands of Syrian refugees now living in Jordan – given scient observation: There’s no denying that America the SOS the UN recently sent out has an arbitrary, even mercenary, for $236 million just to continue immigration policy – highlighted this program through November.

This is why imperious Arab and by a racist ‘Wet Foot, Dry Foot’ sysunscrupulous African leaders are tem that grants Cuban migrants as worthy of condemnation for an EZ pass but repatriates Haitian migrants summarily. Yet, com- willfully leaving it to European pared with that of other countries, leaders to deal with this migrant America has by far the most invit- crisis, as presumptuous American ing and humane policy of them all. leaders are for triggering (so much of) it in the first place.

I’m on record saying as much in previous commentaries. And not to put too fine a point on it, but only a warmongering fool like former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney could deny that: • Iraq would be better off today if the United States had not deposed Saddam Hussein.

• ISIS/ISIL would not be the regional menace it is today if the United States had not used the attacks of 9/11 as a pretext to launch a neocon Christian crusade to remake the Middle East in America’s image.

• Egypt would be better off today if the United States had not championed the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.

• Libya would be better off today if the United States had not triggered the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi.

• Syria would be better off today if the United States had not called for Bashar al-Assad “to go,” then left it to a fractious group of opposition forces to undermine his regime. To be sure, there would have been the usual trickle of asylum seekers, but not the millions of refugees who have already fled for their lives.

More to the point, though, no- Africans, Haitians body can deny that, for all its similar promises, the Arab Spring has This fact is finally coming inharvested nothing but turmoil to stark relief for Europeans who and strife; and this migrant crisis once chided Americans with righis just the latest in its slew of un- teous indignation for their treat-

Anthony L. Hall is a Bahamian native with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com.

Former African leader denounces US imperialism at trial When the trial of former Chadian president Hissène Habré began last week, in Dakar, Senegal, the judges and the guards treated the defendant like Bobby Seale, at the Chicago Seven trial, back in 1969. The 72 year-old Habre was carried into the courtroom by four guards and forced to sit still in his seat, as he shouted “Mercenaries!” and “Scofflaws!” at the judges.

It was much the same scene as back in July, when the Extraordinary African Chambers court first attempted to try Habré for alleged crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes. The former strongman yelled “Down with imperialism!” and denounced Senegalese politicians as “African traitors!” and “Valets of America!”

GLEN FORD BLACK AGENDA REPORT

American ‘tool’ Which is quite interesting because Hissène Habré used to be a client of America and tool of U.S. imperialism, himself, between the years 1982 and 1990, when he is alleged to have committed all those crimes.

Habré was a willing asset of both the United States and the French former colonial masters of Chad, who made good use of him in their proxy war against Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s government in the neighboring country

States and France are not sitting in the dock with Hissène Habré, who faces the consequences of their mutual crimes, alone. Habré might have escaped judgment entirely had pressures for his arrest not caught up with him.

The out-of-work warlord has spent most of the last 25 years in quiet exile in Senegal. The Belgians had claimed “universal jurisdiction” to prosecute him – but what kind of justice would that be, given that the King of Belgium killed as many as 12 million Congolese and countless other Africans during the colonial period?

The Senegalese refused to hand Habré over to the Belgians. Then, in 2010, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Test for Africa asked the African Union to create Needless to say, the United a special tribunal to try Habré. In of Libya. With the CIA’s help, Habré managed to defeat Gaddafi’s forces in the 1987 so-called “Toyota War,” and to kill 40,000 of his own countrymen in his vast political prison system, where another 200,000 were held and tortured.

Habré served the Americans so well, Gaddafi gave up trying to influence events in Chad, leaving it the Americans and Europeans.

Soon, Hissène Habré was no longer needed, and in 1990 was overthrown by Idriss Déby, a warlord from an ethnic group that had suffered greatly under Habré.

But nothing has changed in Chad except the name and tribe of the puppet. The U.S. and France remain the real powers in charge.

2013, Habré was arrested.

The Extraordinary African Chambers court is thought by some to be a “test” of whether Africa can dispense justice to its own current and former politicians.

But, I think the question is posed incorrectly.

Africa is full of presidents that have killed and imprisoned their own people – most of them while working as agents and “mercenaries” for U.S. imperialism, the main source of the crime wave.

Until the American, British and French are made to sit in the dock with the Hissène Habrés of the continent, there can be no justice.

Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. Email him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

NATION

TOJ A6

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

Judge in Gray case ‘doesn’t take any mess’ Baltimore jurist will hear case officers’ cases in man’s death

BY ZENITHA PRINCE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The Freddie Gray saga has moved from the streets to the courtroom, turning a worldsized spotlight on Associate Judge Barry Williams, the Baltimore City Circuit Court jurist who is overseeing the criminal cases of the police officers charged in Gray’s death. But the 53-year-old is unlikely to wilt under the public scrutiny, observers say.

“That’s not a problem for him.

He won’t be worried about public pressure and all of that. He’s just going to do his job,” said Ronald Richardson, a civil attorney with the Law Offices of Peter Angelos who knows Williams from the courtroom and their shared membership in at least one professional organization.

In fact, several professionals in Maryland’s legal community said Judge Williams may have been just the person needed to oversee a case of such complexity and gravity. “No question he’s a good fit,” said veteran criminal attorney A. Dwight Pettit.

“He has a fundamental academic understanding of not only the procedural issues but also the substantive issues in this case.” Williams was born April 4, 1962, in Neptune, N.J. In 1984, he graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in history.

Former Maryland attorney Three years later, he graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law. After graduation, Williams served as a law

clerk to then-Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Arrie W. Davis then Judge Robert M. Bell, then of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Judge Barry For eight years, Williams 1989 to 1997, Williams did a stint as a Baltimore City prosecutor before going federal, serving as a trial attorney and special litigation counsel in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice until 2005.

From December of that year to the present, Judge Williams has served in Maryland’s 8th Judicial Circuit Court. And, in all those positions, Williams has served with distinction, legal experts said.

“When he was a prosecutor he was known to be thorough and ethical. There was very little controversy over how he did his job,” said Jose Anderson, professor, University of Baltimore School of Law. “And, as a judge, his reputation is that he is very careful about how he rules on issues…[and] of being very balanced.”

Earned his stripes In December 2011, Williams was appointed as the judge-incharge of the Baltimore Circuit Court’s Criminal Division, a position he held until January of this year. In that position, Williams was responsible for assigning judges, managing the criminal docket and serving as chair of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

The appointment suggested that though Williams had been named to the bench relatively young, he has earned his stripes among his peers, Anderson said.

“To be given the responsibil-

ity of running this division in such a large city suggests that he’s earned the respect of his colleagues.” Fellow legal scholar Larry Gibson, a professor in the University of Maryland School of Law, echoed those sentiments.

Six separate cases “It would be difficult to imagine a judge with more relevant experience to oversee this case — eight years as a prosecutor, eight years as a civil rights lawyer in the Department of Justice, [nine] years as a judge. And in all of those positions, he’s been a leader,” Gibson said, before adding, “In addition to that experience, he’s extremely bright, level-headed and energetic.”

Attorneys who have appeared before him also had overwhelmingly positive views of the jurist.

“He’s an excellent judge…very stern and no-nonsense and he moves things along,” said Pettit, who has defended cases before Williams before, including a murder case last year. “He goes directly to the facts of the case,” Pettit added. “He allows the lawyers to try the case. A lot of judges will take over and try to interject his or her opinion and try to sway the jury.”

That commitment — to ensuring everyone has their day in court — may have been the basis of Williams’ decision to sever the cases of the police officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death into six separate cases during a pretrial hearing Sept. 2, experts said. Williams denied the state’s motion to try three of the officers as a group, saying it was “not in the interest of justice.”

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

Children eat their breakfast at the Deanwood Recreation Center on July 9, 2010 in Washington, D.C. Federal nutrition programs to feed low-income youth during the summer months weren’t keeping pace with increasing child hunger fueled by the recession.

Many Black households going hungry

BY FREDERICK H. LOWE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

More than 25 percent of surveyed African-American-headed households suffered from food insecurity last year, meaning they worried that the food would run out before they got more money or could not eat all day because they did not have enough money to buy food, according to a report issued last week by the United States Department of Agriculture.

The study, titled “Household Food Security in the United States in 2014,” reported that 26.1 percent of Black households suffered from either recurrent but not chronic food insecurity.

Some 22.1 percent of Hispanicheaded households were foodinsecure.

The USDA reported that 86 percent of households were food-secure throughout the year, meaning they had access to food

at all times for an active healthy lifestyle for all family members.

But 14 percent or 17.4 million households were food-insecure at least some time during the year, including 5.6 percent with very low food security, meaning their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household either lacked money or other resources for food. In 2014, they typical food insecure household spent 26 percent more on food than the typical food-secure household of the same size and same composition.

Households that were food insecure reported the following: 98 percent reported having worried that their food would run out before they got money to buy more; 97 percent reported that the food they bought just did not last and they did not have money to get more; 69 percent reported that they had been hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.

These were some but not all the complaints shared.

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from NorthStarNewsToday.com.

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IFE/FAITH

SEPT. 18 – SEPT. 24, 2015

Remembering Moses Malone See page B2

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

‘Perfect Guy’ producer: Film no ‘hood movie’ See page B5

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

|

SECTION

B

S

PLENTY OF

BLACK HISTORY AT REVAMPED

TAMPA LIBRARY

Robert Saunders Foundation, Jack and Jill hosting a gala to raise funds for more exhibits and quality children’s programs

BY KRISTAN MCCANTS SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

N

early a month after opening its doors to the Tampa community, the new Robert W. Saunders Library will host a formal banquet and gala on Sept. 26 to officially celebrate its revamping.

Illyasah Shabazz, an author and daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X, will be the guest speaker.

The two-story library, formerly called the Ybor City Library, was renamed after the civil rights leader Robert W. Saunders in 2003. The library reopened in July after undergoing a $7 million renovation.

In 1952, Saunders took on the dangerous role as the Florida’s NAACP field secretary after the bombing deaths of Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette, on Christmas Day Robert in 1951.

Saunders For 14 years, Saunders led Florida’s NAACP campaigns from Tampa. He later worked as an equal opportunity administrator for the federal government in Atlanta, the returned to his native Tampa as Hillsborough County’s equal opportunity administrator.

After retiring in 1988, wrote about his experiences in his autobiography, “Bridging the Gap: Continuing the Florida NAACP Legacy of Harry T. Moore.’’ Saunders died in 2002 of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

Aug. 12 official opening On Aug. 12, hundreds of Tampa Bay residents, elected

COURTESY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY COOPERATIVE

The new Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library includes a unique display of the area’s African-American history. Along the entrance wall in the library is a stone mural titled “Symbols of Mankind” created by a local artist to reflect the diversity of the community and the knowledge found within the walls of the building.

TICKETS Tickets to the gala are $125 each and can be purchased on PayPal (RWS Gala 2015).

For more information, call 813-812-4252 or email rwsgala2015@gmail.

officials and community leaders gathered at the library for a grand opening and to remember the local icon who spent most of his 81 years as a leading civil rights activist in Florida.

Dr. Walter L. Smith, a former president of Florida A&M University, was one of the longtime Tampa residents and community leaders who participated in the festivities that day. A wing at the updated library is named in Smith’s honor. He explained that although the new library sits at the same site as the original, the new library exceeds its predecessor in the realm of quality.

“It’s outstanding,” Smith told the Florida Courier. “It’s something that will attract anybody if they choose it for study.”

Rich local history Stepping into the library immediately puts visitors in awe as they gaze at Tampa’s African-American history frozen in time with images photographed by the Burgert Brothers intimately plastered on the walls of the building.

A stroll inside is guaranteed to give any passionate history buff a case of hair-raising goose bumps.

The upgraded library at 1505 N. Nebraska Ave. designed by Harvard Jolly now features a historical archive illustrating the rich history of Tampa’s Central District that once bustled during the ear-

COURTESY OF ERSULA ODOM

Dr. Walter Smith, third from left, was among the local dignitaries participating in the Aug. 12 ground breaking and ribbon cutting ceremony. The library includes a wing named after the former president of Florida A&M University. ly 1900s with Black-owned businesses from drugstores to beauty parlors.

Today, the library spans over 26,000 square feet. Additions include advanced computer technology for visitors, new collections, reading rooms, an oral history recording studio, and interactive displays highlighting Tampa’s African-American history.

Diverse visitors As Smith affirms, the updates have attracted the community. People of all walks of lives frequent the library each day. Visitors may catch a young child reading a graphic novel to a white-collar worker sitting at a desk pouring through sheets of large data sets.

The library also features the Ada T. Payne room, a stellar 350-seat community room with a kitchenette where the upcoming gala event will take place.

Smith, author of “The Magnificent Twelve: Florida’s Black Junior Colleges” which

is displayed in the Dr. Walter L. Smith room at the library, noted that the revamping also improved the library’s relationship with neighboring libraryless Booker T. Washington Elementary School.

“There was no direct relationship with it for kids to go to the library after school,” said Smith in reference to the original library. “You can now walk right from the school through a walkway to the library. That creates greater access for kids who go to the library.”

‘Our Life, Our Children, Our Legacy’ The Sept. 26 Gala Ball will be sponsored by the Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library Foundation, Inc. and the Greater Tampa Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. The library foundation’s mission is to raise funds for education, African-American research and cultural activities at the library.

Joining in this mission is the local chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc, a membership

Stuart Scott’s daughters discuss their funny moments with beloved dad

BY PENNY DICKERSON FLORIDA COURIER

Taelor and Sydni Scott remember their father and ESPN anchor Stuart Scott with a delicate humor reserved for daughters only. Scott died of cancer in January at the age of 40. Earlier this month at the Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion in Orlando, the siblings shared with the Florida Courier intimate memories of a man who was much more than his signature catchphrase: “Boo-ya!”

His girls loved him beStuart cause he was daddy.

Scott “We were away from our dad a lot due to his job so we really treasured the limited time we had because he was so busy and it was difficult for him to make time,” said Taelor, a New York-based collegiate ma-

joring in anthropology with a concentration in film.

“I really liked when he came home and took his many shirts, jackets, and ties and threw them down the steps,” said Taelor, who simultaneously was joined in laughter by younger sister Sydni.

Lots of silly moments They both recognize this seasoned memory well.

“We used to jump in his clothes and see how many shirt and ties we could put on before he took his clothes to the dry cleaners. We loved playing dress up because those were small elements of his job we could be a part of,’’ Taelor added.

Sydni bears a remarkable resemblance to her father and attends high school at a Connecticut-based institution that excels in academics and athletics.

“Categorically, the greatest memories I have of my dad are the times when he was just completely focused and able to

Taelor and Sydni Scott were guests at the Tom Joyner Family Reunion. be our dad without the additional piece of Stuart Scott,” said Sydni. “Like when he was funny, and silly, hanging out with my friends and making jokes. I think that was the best.”

Legacy of authenticity Scott’s silly side included amusing his girls by slinking around corners of hotels like a stealth spy. He was a jokester so prone to physical antics he once did a somersault into a doorway and suffered a head injury. All at the cost of fatherly fun.

Their desires to sustain Scott’s legacy are simple.

organization of mothers with children ages 2-19, dedicated to nurturing future AfricanAmerican leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.

The slogan “Our Life, Our Children, Our Legacy’’ is the declared theme of the scheduled event and promises to be a night to remember.

Carolyn Johnson, a member of Jack and Jill of America for 18 years, is co-chair of the gala event. According to Johnson, immediate past president of the Greater Tampa Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, proceeds from the event aim to raise money for exhibits and quality programming for children within the community.

“At this particular time, there’s not a lot of programming at the library,” said Johnson. “If there is, it will give the kids something to do and an opportunity to learn something they may not have outside of the school.”

Young entertainers Those who decide to go to the gala event not only will help their community by raising money but will have the opportunity to indulge in a night teeming with entertainment. Johnson assures that attendees will “leave with a night to remember, one that is fun-filled, educational and with good food.”

Along with hearing from Illyasah Shabazz, the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz whose memoir is “Growing Up X,’’ guests attending the event will be treated to tunes from 1207, a fourmember band made of students from Blake High School, a historically Black school in Tampa.

“I want his individuality to be remembered. Whether that was good or bad, it was consistent and he was authentic,” said Taelor whose insights are shared by her sister.

“I think his authenticity is an important part of his character because when he wasn’t successful and people had a problem him, he never thought to change.

He maintained that authenticity,’’ added Sydni, who shared another memory dear to her heart.

Made music together “In the fifth grade, I volunteered in school to play the saxophone,” related Sydni. “When we went to the music store, he recalled that he used to play the sax in sixth grade so he bought himself a saxophone that day and played with me.

“People love that story because it sounds sweet, but I love that it shows how similar and impulsive we both are about things we’re passionate about,” she added.

They closed by emphasizing the importance of health care advocacy. Take care of yourself and those in your family with unbridled passion.

CALENDAR

B2

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

and Pompano Beach. More details: www.festivalofpraisetour.com.

Jacksonville: Catch Mary J. Blige at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on Nov. 6, the CFE Arena in Orlando on Nov. 7 or the University of South Florida Sun Dome on Nov. 8.

Daytona Beach: Bethune-Cookman University faces Lane College on Sept. 19. The game is at 4 p.m.

Details: www.bcuathletics.com.

Fort Lauderdale: Paulette Brown, the first Black woman president of the American Bar Association, will speak on Sept. 19 at the Fifth Annual Women of Color Empowerment Conference. It will be held at the Bahia Mar Resort & Spa, 801 Seabreeze Blvd. More info: www.SouthFloridaWomenofColor.com.

Miami: Shaquille O’Neal will host Barry University’s 75th Anniversary Birthday Bash on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

Soho Studios, 2136 N.W. First Ave. Wyclef Jean will perform. Tickets: Call 305-899-1156. Sponsorships: partnerships@barry.edu.

Jacksonville: The Festival of Praise Tour featuring Kim Burrell, Fred Hammond, Israel Houghton, Donny McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker will make a stop at the Veterans Memorial Arena on Oct. 11. Other stops are in Fort Myers, Lakeland, Jacksonville

Sarasota: The West Coast Black Theatre Troupe will present “The Color Purple’’ Oct. 14-Nov. 21. More information http://westcoastblacktheatre.org.

Tallahassee: Florida A&M’s first home game is at 6 p.m. Sept. 26.

The team plays Tennessee State.

Details: www.famuathletics.com.

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

STOJ

CHAKA KHAN Tickets are on sale for a concert featuring the legendary singer on Nov. 13 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

Orlando: The Opal Network Alliance’s South Florida Women’s Summit is Oct. 28-29 at the at the Bonaventure Resort & Spa in Weston. More information: www. onatoday.com.

St. Petersburg: Tickets are on sale for a Nov. 13 show featuring the legendary Chaka Khan at the Mahaffey Theater.

ROB BASE

The singer will perform during the first 95.7 Beats

By The Bay music festival on Oct. 24 at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg.

The lineup includes Tyrese, Blackstreet, 112, Whodini and Rob Base.

Miami: Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable World Tour stops at AmericanAirlinesArena on Sept. 20, Orlando’s Amway Center on Sept. 23 and Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Sept. 24.

Tampa: Candy Lowe hosts Tea & Conversation every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at 3911 N. 34th St., Suite B. More information: 813-394-6363.

Jacksonville: Multi-instrumentalist Booker T. Jones will be at the Ritz Theater and Museum on Oct. 3 for an 8 p.m. show.

JEFFREY OSBORNE

A concert with Al Jarreau and Jeffrey Osborne is Sept. 19 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

gear. By his late 20s, he was earning $2.2 million yearly with the NBA’s 76ers. He reportedly was the highestsalaried athlete in America — and one of the hardestworking.

“I watch tapes of our games to see how hard I’m playing,” he said in the Playboy interview. “I wanna see tension in my eyes.

I wanna see me sweating and getting angry out there — if I don’t see that, it gets me mad. If I see myself relaxing, or laughing and smiling during a game, I say, ‘Heck, I ain’t doing my work.’’’

Retired in 1994 Malone was like “the basketball equivalent of blunt-force trauma,” Houston Chronicle sportswriter Michael Murphy wrote in 2001. He was “a foundry worker among ballet stars.”

Dogged by injuries, Malone retired from the San Antonio Spurs in the 1994-95 season, with just 17 games under his belt. He returned to basketball as a consultant for the 76ers in 2005.

Malone was divorced from Alfreda Gill in 1992.

His survivors include sons Michael and Moses Jr.

In the relatively few interviews he gave, Malone said he never regretted not going to college.

“The Lord made some people to be engineers,” he told The New York Times.

“He made some people to be doctors. He made me to be a great basketball player.”

(A funeral is scheduled for Saturday at noon at Lakewood Church in Houston. Barkley is scheduled to do the eulogy.)

Times staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.

JEFF SINER/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/TNS

Former NBA and Hall of Fame member Moses Malone is shown in 2013 at a HoopTee Celebrity Golf Classic in Charlotte, N.C.

NBA’s ‘Chairman of the Boards’ Moses Malone passes away at 60

BY STEVE CHAWKINS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

When Moses Malone was growing up in Petersburg, Va., he lived in a four-room wooden house propped up on cinder blocks — a wobbly-looking structure that, in his last year of high school, was jammed with boxes full of scholarship offers from colleges vying for the 6-foot-10 basketball phenomenon.

Malone was the best high school player in the country. In a recruiting war, scouts from dozens of universities camped out in Petersburg, finally receding when he chose the University of Maryland.

Malone attended classes for a day and a half.

Hours into his college career, he accepted a $3 million, seven-year contract from the Utah Stars, leaping from high school to the pros in a move that was virtually unprecedented and widely criticized. He never looked back.

At charity golf event Malone became one of the greatest centers in the history of professional basketball. He was chosen three times as the NBA’s most valuable player and, by the time he left the game after 21 seasons, had scored 29,580 points, grabbed 17,834 rebounds and made more free throws — 8,531 — than any player ever had.

Malone, whose ferocious rebounding ability earned him the admiring nickname “Chairman of the Boards,” died Sept. 13 in a hotel room in Norfolk, Va., where he was to take part in a charity golf tournament.

He was 60.

Malone’s body was found after he failed to meet friends for a ride to the golf course, Norfolk police told The Associated Press. (A medical examiner’s report reveals he died of cardiovascular disease.)

Earlier in the weekend, Malone had attended induction ceremonies for the honorees at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Hall of Famer During Malone’s 2001 induction ceremony, his friend Julius “Dr. J” Erving recalled being asked by his bosses on the New York Nets in 1974 to welcome the new recruit to the league.

All of 23 at the time, Erving gave Malone an ominous little pep talk.

“Well, kid,” I said, “you’ve been swimming around in shallow pools for a long time. Now is the time for you to step into the deep waters of pro basketball — and I hope you can swim.”

Malone, known as a man of few words, responded with a faint smile.

Famous playoffs prediction After the ABA’s Stars collapsed financially, Malone spent brief periods with teams in St. Louis; Portland, Ore.; and Buffalo, N.Y., before landing with the Houston Rockets in 1976. After six seasons, he went to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he propelled the team to the 1982-83 NBA Finals.

Asked how the playoffs would go, he became fa-

mous in Philadelphia for his concise prediction of three four-game sweeps: “Fo’, fo’, fo,’ ” he said.

When Philadelphia beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the championship, he acknowledged that his forecast had been a little off.

“We had to settle for fo’, five, fo’,” he told reporters.

“But that’s all right. We’ll take it.”

Malone played for eight NBA teams in all. He mentored a number of players, including onetime 76er Charles Barkley.

“I will never know why a Hall of Famer took a fat, lazy kid from Auburn and treated him like a son and got him in shape and made him a player,” Barkley said in a statement. “Every time I saw him I called him ‘Dad.’”

Hard-working athlete Moses Eugene Malone was born March 23, 1955, and grew up poor. His father had left his mother, a nurse’s aide and food plant worker, when Malone was 2.

When he was 13, Malone started playing basketball nightly, going one-on-one until 2 a.m. with his friend Gut (named for his ample abdomen) Johnson.

His mother never worried about his late hours, he told Playboy in 1984.

“She knew I wouldn’t get into no trouble playing ball,” he said. “The only trouble I had was I kept wearing out my shoes.”

Malone led his high school to 50 consecutive victories and two straight state championships.

While the ABA imploded, Malone’s career was in high

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SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

BUSINESS

How to avoid fees that bring billions in revenue to big banks

Jeff Bezos, left, debuts a launch vehicle on Tuesday as Florida Gov. Rick Scott applauds during a press conference Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

BY DAVID LAZARUS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

RED HUBER/ ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

New rocket factory plans 330 jobs in Florida Amazon.com founder bringing $200 million company to Space Coast

BY SCOTT POWERS ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION — Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday that his Blue Origin space company will assemble rockets in Florida and launch them from a long-dormant launch complex here.

The effort will bring 330 new jobs to a $200 million Blue Origin Space Coast rocket factory outside the gates of Kennedy Space Center, and at assembly, processing and testing facilities adjacent to the launch pad, he said. This region of Florida is known as the Space Coast.

Launches should begin late in this decade, he said, from Launch Complex 36, a site that had sent rockets into deep space decades ago before shutting down in 2005.

The liftoffs likely will include both manned and unmanned rockets that are currently under design as orbital vehicles. Until now, Blue Origin has only built and launched sub-orbital rockets, from the company’s private launch complex in West Texas.

Pledges partnership In a brief speech, Bezos revealed few

details of his plans during an announcement attended by Florida Gov. Rick Scott, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and scores of NASA, Air Force, political and space business VIPs. He did, however, pledge a partnership between his company and the Space Coast.

“You residents of the Space Coast have enjoyed front-row seats to the future for almost 60 years. That’s pretty cool,” Bezos said. “Our team’s passion for pioneering is the perfect fit for a community dedicated to forging new frontiers.

Please keep watching.”

‘We’re building here’ Bezos said the orbital rockets would be designed in the company’s home offices outside Seattle, but would be manufactured, assembled, tested and launched at Cape Canaveral, which is about 50 miles east of Orlando. The suborbital rockets will continue to be launched in West Texas.

“We’re not just launching from here.

We’re building here. At Exploration Park, we’ll have 21st-century production facilities where we’ll focus on manufacturing our reusable fleet of orbital launchers, and readying them for flight again and again,” Bezos said.

“Locating the vehicle assembly near our launch site makes it way easier to process and transport really big rockets,” he said. “We’ll be launching from here later this decade.”

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To hear big banks tell it, this is a great time to be a bank customer.

Most Americans — 61 percent — pay no monthly fees for things like checking accounts and use of automated teller machines, according to a recent survey by the American Bankers Association.

“We’ve seen tremendous innovations to bank services over the last decade that have allowed our customers to bank in the way that is most convenient for them and at little or no cost,” said Nessa Feddis, the organization’s senior vice president and deputy chief counsel for consumer protection and payments.

Good times. Oh wait, what’s this? It’s a recent report from SNL Financial showing that in the first quarter, three of the largest U.S. banks collectively generated more than $1 billion from service charges and overdraft fees.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. each reported pocketing more than $350 million in overdraft fees over the threemonth period.

Wells also reported $90 million in ATM fees, Bank of America $87 million and Chase $56 million, according to the report.

Who’s paying them These eye-opening numbers come courtesy of the federal government, which now requires that banks with more than $1 billion in assets disclose such charges instead of lumping them with other income, as they used to do.

In all, banks falling under the new disclosure requirement took in more than $2.5 billion from bounced checks in the first quarter and about $438 million in ATM fees. Monthly account-maintenance fees produced an additional $974 million in revenue.

So what happened to that idea that most of us aren’t paying any fees?

“Don’t let it confuse you,”

said Ruth Susswein, deputy director of national priorities for the advocacy group Consumer Action.

“If you’re someone with big bank deposits, you’re probably one of that 61 percent paying nothing in fees.”

However, if you’re a working stiff living paycheck to paycheck, unable to maintain a minimum balance of hundreds of dollars, you’re likely among those generating billions of dollars in fees for banks.

“It’s the people who can least afford it,” Susswein said. “The ones with lower or middle incomes who aren’t part of the fortunate 61 percent.”

Overdraft protection?

The overdraft fees for the first quarter alone are particularly troubling. At that rate, Chase, Bank of America and Wells would see $4.5 billion in such fees for the full year. The typical charge for a bounced check runs $35.

Banks had been pushing overdraft insurance on account holders until, in a move to protect consumers, federal regulators required banks to seek customers’ consent before signing them up for overdraft coverage. But that rule just applies to one-time-only debit-card transactions.

If you use your checking account for recurring payments, such as rent, of if you use an old-fashioned paper check, a bank can still pop you with an overdraft fee if you go into the red — regardless of whether you opted out of protection.

Some banks seem to try to put customers into arrears by processing transactions not in chronological order but from largest to smallest, thus raising the likelihood of triggering multiple overdrafts once an account is depleted.

Opt out Avoiding bank fees can be tricky. A recent study by the financial website WalletHub found that not all fees are disclosed upfront in an easily accessible manner,

B3 making it difficult for consumers to compare institutions.

That said, there are steps everyone can take to improve their chances of being among the 61 percent that the banking industry says inhabit No Fee Land.

If you haven’t already, opt out of overdraft protection and do your best to maintain some spare cash in your checking account to cover any payment you forgot to mark down.

Ask about alerts If requested, most big banks will send you a text or email if your account drops below a certain level.

Look around for the best deal on checking and savings accounts. You can avoid a $10 or $12 monthly maintenance fee by arranging for some form of regular income — your paycheck, say, or Social Security benefit — to be deposited automatically in your account.

Or you can maintain a minimum balance each month. Some big banks set the bar high at $1,500, but others require only a fraction of that amount.

Consider online banks Take a look at online-only banks such as Ally Bank or Bank of Internet USA. Many offer fee-free checking accounts. And don’t forget credit unions, which tend to have more consumerfriendly policies as a matter of principle.

However, make sure you pick a bank or credit union with enough ATMs to keep you in-network no matter where you go. Using out-ofnetwork ATMs is a sure-fire recipe for racking up unwanted fees.

Finally, don’t be shy about asking your bank to waive an unexpected fee.

That’s not something you can do frequently, but most banks will cut some slack for customers in relatively good standing.

The American Bankers Association says “consumers hold all the cards” when it comes to financial services these days. That’s laughably untrue.

But we’re not bluffing either.

David Lazarus, a Los Angeles Times columnist, writes on consumer issues. He can be reached at david.lazarus@latimes. com.

UPS hiring up to 95,000 for holidays ATLANTA — UPS announced it will hire 90,000 to 95,000 seasonal workers for the busy holiday shipping season.

The company, based in suburban Atlanta, is starting its hiring process for

full-time and part-time seasonal workers, and said it needs people on all shifts at UPS locations across the country. The busy season starts in November and runs through January.

UPS said seasonal jobs

are an entry point for permanent positions at the company. Those interested can go to UPSjobs.com.

The Atlanta JournalConstitution/TNS

B4

HISTORY

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

STOJ

PHOTOS BY NANCY STONE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Registrar Kate Swisher frames a poster that urges people to protest the killing of Black Panther Fred Hampton.

Museum’s exhibit covers slave trade to Obama presidency 400 years of Black history highlighted in Chicago collection

BY KERRY REID CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

It’s a time of transition at Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African American History — and not just because of the promised arrival of the Barack Obama Presidential Center as a high-profile neighbor.

The 54-year-old museum has just opened a major permanent exhibit, “Freedom, Resistance and the Journey Toward Equality” that spans 400 years of African-American history — from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the election of Obama. But as Tiffany Charles, the exhibit’s project manager and museum’s head of collections and registration, notes, “We still have a way to go.”

She is speaking specifically of the journey toward equality, but as she and Troy Ratliff, DuSable’s chief operating officer since February, both point out, the museum itself faces challenges in merging its historic mission with contemporary currents — both in national events and in technology.

200 artifacts The new exhibit, conceived by former curator Charles Bethea, includes around 200 artifacts, most from the museum’s permanent collection. The opening section on slavery includes a replica of the hold of a slave ship and a “punishment collar” from the 16th century, as well as items created by slaves, such as leather shoes and pottery.

From there, the exhibit moves through Reconstruction, the “Great Migration” to the North (which, of course, helped create a vibrant and vital black community in Chicago), Jim Crow segregation, and the civil rights and Black power movements of the 1960s. The last is embodied in a battered door emblazoned with Blackpower slogans that once led to the headquarters of the Chicago Black Pan-

Instruments of the slave trade also are displayed. thers, a few blocks from where 21-year-old Panther leader Fred Hampton was killed by Chicago police and the FBI in 1969.

The exhibit tries to strike a balance between the bigger historic events and the smaller domestic realities of African-Americans seeking a better life amid racial discrimination. So, for example, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the celebrated antilynching activist who lived on the South Side, is represented in part by a small bureau from her home.

Past and next generation The role of A. Philip Randolph and the Pullman porters in the growth of the Black labor and civil rights movement is represented through a replica of a Pullman sleeping car. Ratliff notes that the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in the Pullman neighborhood has offered to lend some of its artifacts.

“The exhibit is going to be a permanent installation,” said Ratliff. “But it’s not going to be a static installation. It’s going to change and perhaps grow.” Currently, he is focused on raising funds to increase the role of interactive multimedia in the display. “You have to provide (visitors) with a little excitement,” he says, “especially when you look at the younger groups.”

Connecting with the next generation is also a crucial part of Charles’ vision for the current exhibit.

“Originally, when it was developed, at the end was Obama. He becomes president. But I had thought that, really, we’re not in this post-racial world that

people think of. We have a small exit section that basically sort of sums up that we have not reached the end of this journey. We still have a ways to go. It sort of asks our audience, ‘Where do we go from here? What are the next steps?’”

‘What’s important?’

In addition to Black Lives Matter, Charles points to local activist groups such as We Charge Genocide, which is working to highlight police violence and its impact on Back youths.

Ratliff also notes that the DuSable has to wrestle with the questions of when something becomes history.

“We are a history museum. We are not an art museum. So the question is — what do these exhibits encompass? What in terms of a mission of ensuring that people observe and understand African-American experience in this country, gets you to a position of saying, ‘What’s important?

When can it be seen?’”

As for Ratliff, he doesn’t fear that Obama library will cast an insurmountable shadow on the DuSable.

“I would change the imagery. Will we be able to stand the light that it is going to bring to this area?” he said, adding “We want to be prepared to benefit from that. And that is why we are looking at how our exhibits become more interesting, more dynamic, how our cultural events reach out to all aspects of the community, and that we take advantage of the fact that we are geographically closely related to a number of excellent cultural institutions and see how we reinforce each other.”

Top: Photographs from President Obama’s first inauguration are included.

Above: A photo display of the famous lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro, N.C., is included.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT When: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Where: DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place.

Tickets: Admission $10 for adults; $7 for students and senior citizens; $3 for children 6-11; children 5 and under free. Sundays are free to all. 773-9470600 or dusablemuseum.org.

Left: A Black Panther poster is on display at the DuSable Museum of African American History museum.

STOJ

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

jay

Jay Johnson was born in Allentown, Pa., raised in Los Angeles, and has resided in Miami for the past decade. He is a part-time web administrator and social media assistant. His hobbies include drawing and painting abstract art and photography as well as reading and spending time at the beach. Contact Jay at i.am.10thletter@ hotmail.com. CREDIT: TIM WALKER STUDIO

whitley

Whitley Denise is a new model who enjoys doing print and catalog work; walking in fashion and runway shows has always been a dream of hers. She is currently a sophomore in college studying biology. Contact Whitley at www.modelmayhem.com/ wdhopkins751, Wdhopkins@valdosta.edu or on Instagram @HeyyBella_.

Selma’ star: ‘Captive’ is different kind of faith-based story “Any role I play, my job is to inhabit the mindset of the character and to not judge what they do but to understand what they do.

This was one of the toughest characters I’ve ever had to play, from that point of view because what Brian Nichols did that day is reprehensible, but when you’re playing him, you can’t approach it that way.”

BY BARBARA VANCHERI PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE/ TNS

Try as he might, David Oyelowo wasn’t going to meet with Brian Nichols, the man he portrays in the movie “Captive.”

He was “roundly rebuffed” in efforts to see the prisoner whose brazen 2005 Atlanta courthouse escape left four people dead and turned one young woman into a hostage for a night. Nichols now is serving multiple life sentences without the chance for parole.

Kate Mara plays the hostage, Ashley Smith, in the movie, now playing in theaters. She credited Rick Warren’s inspirational book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” for guiding her and her captor through the harrowing ordeal.

Source: ‘Unlikely Angel’ “The real Ashley Smith was a huge source of information for me,” Oyelowo (pronounced oh-yellowoh) said in a recent phone call. “She was on set with us for quite a bit of the shoot.

BN FILMS

Her book, ‘Unlikely Angel,’ was also a great source because she wrote that book soon after the events, and so it has her fresh recollection of what happened but — as you can imagine — such a traumatic event seared itself on her brain.

“In talking to her, it almost feels like something that happened the day before. … And then there’s quite a bit of foot-

age around the day these events happened and then the trial afterward, so those were also great sources of just how he talks, how he moves, who he was. I was able to piece him together that way.”

Emmy nomination Oyelowo may be best known for his meticulous, moving portrayal of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

in “Selma,” which failed to earn him an Oscar nomination but gave him boxoffice muscle to make other projects happen or land distribution. He has been nominated for an Emmy for the HBO movie “Nightingale,” as a war veteran who begins to unravel thread by thread.

He stayed in character during filming for those two projects, but not “Captive.”

‘Perfect Guy’ producer frustrated by ‘Black movie’ label

BY MOLLY EICHEL PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

“The Perfect Guy,” starring Sanaa Lathan, Morris Chestnut and Michael Ealy was No. 1 in the box office in its debut weekend.

Tommy Oliver doesn’t want you to think of “The Perfect Guy,” the film he has produced and that opened this month as a “Black movie.”

“People oftentimes like to reduce things to sound bites,” he said recently. “It’s a Black lead, so it must be a Black movie. It’s unfortunate. There are urban movies, but there are also movies that just happen to have Black characters.”

Instead, Oliver wants “The Perfect Guy” to thrill “everyone.” The movie follows lobbyist Leah Vaughn (“Love and Basketball’s”

Sanaa Lathan), who gets passionate with Carter (Michael Ealy, “Think Like a Man, Too”). Carter, however, is not as wonderful as he initially seems, as evidenced by some disturbing behavior. Things get ever more complicated for Leah when her ex-boyfriend (Morris Chestnut, “The Best Man Holiday”) enters the fray.

‘Not a hood movie’ “The Perfect Guy” is Oliver’s first movie after the critically acclaimed “1982,” a semiautobiographical movie — shot in the Philadelphia house where he grew up — about a fa-

Sobriety and salvation

In fact, Oyelowo met Nichols’ mother for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and she confided, “I can’t believe this is my life, and I can’t believe that that was my son who did that.”

His mother thinks “something in him snapped,” but Oyelowo acknowledges, “The truth of the matter is, no one truly knows other than Brian himself.”

“Captive” arrives on the heels of “War Room,” a family drama with a Christian message about the power of prayer that landed at No. 1 at the box office Labor Day weekend.

“I personally am less interested in bashing an audience over the head with a story that has faith both

“What I love about ’Captive’ is that faith is just an intrinsic element because it just is,” he said, citing the role the evangelical pastor’s book played, the effect the experience had on recovering meth addict Smith, who never touched drugs again, and the dramatic turn of events for both hostage and hostagetaker.

Smith thought Nichols was God’s punishment for her bad choices; instead, she found sobriety and salvation and the ability to encourage others in recovery.

“My hope is that ‘Captive’ appeals to an audience that gravitates toward faith-based movies, but broadens out from that to people who just want to see kinetic storytelling that is meaningful, thought-provoking, challenging and, in some ways, thrilling.”

ther caring for his daughter after her drug-addicted mother relapses.

For the 31-year-old, “The Perfect Guy” is a departure from the previous smaller family drama.

“It was the idea of doing a thriller in a smarter, slightly elevated manner,” Oliver said in a phone interview. “But also here’s a woman fighting for herself and fighting for her destiny. You have characters who are people first. It’s not an urban movie, it’s not a hood movie, but you have three Black leads.”

The thought of “The Perfect Guy” being pigeonholed frustrates Oliver. In recent years, movies starring Black leads have been said to outperform box office expectations. (This

summer’s smash “Straight Outta Compton” is a perfect example.) But when these movies continue to outperform, when are they just performing?

“I grew up in Philly, in the hood, went to public school.

For me, I’ve always done ever ything I can to put myself into a position Tommy where I can Oliver be proud,” Oliver said.

“Doing work that’s reduced to the lowest common dominator or doesn’t represent people, Black or otherwise, is doing everyone a disservice.”

Follows ‘War Room’

Ashley Smith, played by Kate Mara, read “The Purpose Driven Life’’ to Brian Nichols (David Oyelowo) while she was being held captive.

imposed into it, and imposed onto the audience,” the British-born actor said of faith-based projects in general.

B6

FOOD

SEPTEMBER 18 – SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

S

BEEF BURGUNDY STEW Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 8 hours Servings: 8 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped 1 bag (10 ounces) pearl onions, trimmed 1 can (8 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup prepared Orrington Farms Low Sodium Beef Broth Base & Seasoning 1/2 cup dry red wine 1/4 cup tomato paste 1 pouch Orrington Farms Slow Cookers Vegetable Beef Stew Seasoning hot cooked egg noodles (optional) Place flour in large re-sealable plastic bag. Add beef a few pieces at a time and shake to coat.

Place beef, carrots, onions, mushrooms and garlic in large slow cooker.

In medium bowl, combine prepared beef broth base, wine, tomato paste and vegetable beef stew seasoning.

Pour over beef and vegetables.

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or until meat is tender. Serve over egg noodles, if desired.

FROM FAMILY FEATURES

W

alking in the door from a hectic day to the heady, fragrant smells of a meal ready to enjoy may seem like a far-fetched fantasy. With the right ingredients and cookware, you can delight your busy family with dinners that taste like you spent a day hard at work in the kitchen.

These easy, time-saving slow cooker recipes are fast on prep time and big on unique flavors.

The seasonings, made by Orrington Farms with natural ingredients and no added MSG or gluten, blend perfectly with your fresh additions for a homemade taste.

For more delicious dinner ideas, visit orringtonfarms.com or Facebook/ OrringtonFarms.

CREAMY SLOW COOKER CHICKEN Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 hours Servings: 8 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, about 6 ounces each 1 can (10.75 ounces) condensed reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 1 package (8 ounces) fresh sliced mushrooms 1/2 cup white wine 1 pouch (2.5 ounces) Orrington Farms Slow BOURBON BBQ BABY BACK RIBS Prep time: 45 minutes Cook time: 8 hours Servings: 6 6 pounds pork baby back ribs, cut into serving-size pieces 1 pouch Orrington Farms BBQ Pork Roast Seasoning, divided 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup prepared Orrington Farms Beef Flavored Soup Base & Seasoning 1/2 cup bourbon 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon hot sauce Preheat oven to 475 F. Rub 2 tablespoons pork roast seasoning over ribs and place meaty side up on large baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Place ribs in large slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs.

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours, until ribs are tender. Remove ribs from slow cooker. Set aside and keep warm.

Carefully pour sauce through a fine strainer set over a 2-quart saucepan, reserving liquid.

Skim fat, if desired. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes or until thickened.

Brush sauce over ribs.

Cookers Chicken Noodle Soup Seasoning 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed hot cooked rice pilaf Place chicken in large slow cooker. In small bowl, com­bine mushroom soup, mush­rooms, wine and soup seasoning. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low 4 hours.

Stir in cream cheese. Cover and cook 1 hour or until cream cheese is melted. Remove lid and, if desired, serve chicken breast halves or shred chicken.

Serve over rice pilaf.

SLOW COOKER BEEF STROGANOFF Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 7 hours Servings: 7 1 1/2 pounds top round steak, cubed 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoons butter 1 package (8 ounces) fresh sliced portobello mushrooms 1 small onion, chopped 2 medium garlic cloves, minced 1 can (10.75 ounces) condensed reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 1 tablespoon Orrington Farms Restaurant Style Au Jus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup sour cream hot cooked egg noodles minced fresh parsley Sprinkle beef with salt, paprika and pepper. In large skillet, brown beef in butter. Place beef in large slow cooker. In same skillet, saute mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender. Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir in soup, au jus mix, Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on low 6 hours.

Combine remaining water and flour until smooth; add to slow cooker. Stir in sour cream. Cover and cook 1 hour longer. Serve over noodles; sprinkle with parsley.