Bulletin112917

WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION

Jesse Jackson reveals he has Parkinson’s Disease

By Sharon Cohen and Corey Williams For more than 50 years, the Rev. Jesse Jackson has been in the public eye as an activist, a two-time presidential candidate and a guiding force in the modern civil rights movement.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Award-winning actress Della Reese died on November 19, 2017.

‘Touched by an Angel’ star Della Reese dies at 86

By Stacy M. Brown

Della Reese, the legendary actress and star of the classic movie “Harlem Nights” and the longrunning CBS drama “Touched by an Angel,” died on Sunday, November 19. She was 86.

From Reese’s memorable appearances in movies like “A Thin Line between Love and Hate” to television shows like “Chico and the Man,” “Sanford & Son” and “227,” fans and friends celebrated her storied career on social media.

“Saddened to hear of the passing of Della Reese,” the Rev. Al Sharpton wrote on Twitter. “I’ve enjoyed her artistry as long as I can remember.”

In a nod to her starring role in the CBS television series, “Touched by an Angel,” Reese’s co-star Roma Downey wrote: “I know heaven has a brand new angel this day. Della Reese will be forever in our hearts. Rest in Peace, sweet angel, we love you.”

According to Variety, “At its height, “Touched by an Angel” reached more than 21 million total viewers a week and remained popular through syndication and DVD releases.”

Chicago jazz composer Ramsey Lewis said, “She really had stage presence, some magic about her.”

BET, CBS and Essence magazine also tweeted out their love for Reese.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family,” Essence magazine posted on Twitter.

Born Deloreese Patricia Early in Michigan on July 6, 1931, Reese started her career recording and performing on television variety shows in the 1950s.

From 1969 to 1970, she hosted a TV talk show called, “Della,” and she went on to appear in many other series over the decades including “Sanford and Son” with her good friend, Redd Foxx.

Reese’s TV show, “Della,” made her the first African American woman to host a talk show.

She earned a gospel music Grammy nomination for best female soloist in 1987 and, in the 1990s,  Reese, see page 3

J

ACKSON, 76, disclosed on Friday that he’s been treated for Parkinson’s disease for the past two years, leaving unclear what role he will play in the national conversation going forward.

The onetime protÈgÈ of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has taken on numerous roles that have shaped his life. Here are some of them: ___ CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER Jackson’s passion for civil rights was deep in his DNA from his earliest days.

He was arrested in 1960 in his native South Carolina when he and others entered a segregated public library.

Five years later, Jackson joined King in the Selma to Montgomery,

Alabama, marches. His world changed with terrible suddenness on the night of April 4, 1968, when King died of an assassin’s bullets on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Jackson was with him.

As the towering leader at the center of the civil rights movement, King had been a dominant presence in the life of the young activist, still in his 20s. In the years that followed, Jackson would come into his own, becoming a familiar public face and powerful orator, fighting for voting rights, equal job and business opportunities for AfricanAmericans and an end to other racial injustices.

“In many ways, history is marked as ‘before’ and ‘after’ Rosa Parks,” Jackson said after the death of the woman whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus helped invigorate the  Jackson, see page 2

Group seeks landmark status for Emmett Till’s Chicago Home A preservation group wants the Chicago home where Emmett Till once lived to receive landmark status.

A city report notes the boy and his mother moved into the apartment in 1953. It’s a red brick two-flat and was Till’s home before he traveled to Mississippi in 1955, where he was brutally killed.

His killing sparked outrage and galvanized the civil rights movement.

The Chicago Tribune reports Preservation Chicago has proposed the idea to city officials. To get the designation, the building has to meet criteria and get City Council approval.

Having landmark status would protect it from demolition and major changes.

Renters live in the apartment. The owner, Brahmananda Bandela, says he Photo by Erick Johnson/Chicago Crusader was unaware of the property’s history Emmett Till’s former home in Chicago’s and is interested in ensuring it’s turned predominately Black Woodlawn neighborhood. into something to commemorate Till.

FBI report on black ‘extremists’ raises new monitoring fears

By Sadie Gurman and Russell Contreras An FBI report on the rise of black “extremists” is stirring fears of a return to practices used during the civil rights movement, when the bureau spied on activist groups without evidence they had broken any laws.

The FBI said it doesn’t target specific groups, and the report is one of many its intelligence analysts produce to make law enforcement aware of what they see as emerging trends. A similar bulletin on white supremacists, for example, came out about the same time.

The 12-page report, issued in August, says “black identity extremists” are increasingly targeting law enforcement after police killings of black men, especially since the shooting of Michael Brown roiled Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The report describes  FBI, see page 6

Fund set up to preserve African-American historical sites

By Jesse J. Holland A new $25 million fund is being set up through the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help ensure that historical sites important to African-American history are no longer endangered.

The African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, announced Wednesday, will be financed through partnerships with groups like the Ford Foundation and the JPB Foundation, and already has more than $3 million on hand.

“There is an opportunity and an obligation for us to step forward boldly and ensure the preservation of places which tell the often-overlooked stories of African-Americans and their many contributions to our nation,” said Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The money will be used to address critical funding gaps for the preservation of African American historical sites, including memorializing some places already lost to history, like Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Virginia.

Shockoe Bottom was the center of Richmond’s slave trade, second only in importance to New Orleans between 1830 and 1865, but much of it has been paved over. The National Trust named Shockoe Bottom one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2014, and is working to add a memorial park to the area.

“The preservation challenge there is how do you memorialize this place and keep the story alive to inform future generations,” she said.  Preserve, see page 3

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

NEWS Study: Women and minority TV directors make modest gains Women and minority television directors made modest gains last season, but the overwhelming majority of television episodes are still directed by white men and women, the Directors Guild of America found in a study released Tuesday.

The guild’s study states that 62 percent of nearly 4,500 television episodes reviewed during the 20162017 season were directed by white men. When adding in white female directors, 78 percent of the television episodes reviewed were helmed by white directors.

Non-white directors accounted for 22 percent of all episodes directed last year, with black directors accounting for 13 percent. Asian-Americans accounted for 5 percent of the episodes directed, while Latinos represented 4 percent.

The numbers reflect low singledigit increases for female and minority directors from previous seasons.

Directors Guild President Thomas Schlamme wrote in a statement accompanying the report that the results show “stark disparities among the major studios that raise questions about how committed to inclusion some employers really are.”

He said studios must do more to find directors from diverse backgrounds.

“Frankly, it’s hard to understand why they’re not doing more,” Schlamme said. “Even if all the right reasons are not enough for them, they should at least be motivated by the bottom line—inclusion just makes good business sense.”

Jackson continued from page 1

civil rights movement. “She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down.”

Jackson, leader of the Chicagobased Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, has continued to emphasize the power of the vote in recent appearances. ___ ACTIVIST In 2014, Jackson quietly and without fanfare walked up to a memorial on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, where black 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death by a white city police officer. He was greeted warmly by people living nearby and those viewing the memorial.

Jackson also joined protesters as they marched through the streets of the St. Louis suburb, demanding justice on Brown’s behalf and a stop to unfair treatment of blacks by the Ferguson officers.

It was one of countless demonstrations Jackson has participated in over the decades—marching against apartheid; flashing the peace sign at an anti-Iraq war rally in London; joining striking Red Cross, grocery and airline workers on picket lines in cities across the nation; getting arrested for protesting at a plant where workers’ jobs were being relocated to China.

Like King and other civil rights leaders, Jackson has maintained the belief that change can be achieved through nonviolence.

He led a protest last year in Flint, Michigan, where a lead-tainted water crisis started when a state-appointed manager in 2014 switched the city’s service to the Flint River from Detroit’s system. The river water was not properly treated, causing lead to leach from aging pipes into Flint homes. Tests later showed high lead levels in some children.

Jackson said there should be “tape around the city, because Flint is a crime scene.” ___ CANDIDATE In 1984, Jackson entered the presidential arena as an improbable candidate for the Democratic nomination, a black civil rights activist who thundered against racial injustice and poverty, never sugarcoating his words as he addressed an overwhelmingly white electorate.

Jackson, who’d never run for public office, mobilized surprisingly large support with the passion of his words, an experienced minister who made the campaign trail itself his pulpit. He called his base a “rainbow coalition” as he won the backing of progressives, blacks, Hispanics, blue-collar workers and struggling farmers.

Taking aim at poverty and racism, Jackson called for increased federal funding for social programs, cutting the defense budget and reversing President Ronald Reagan-era tax cuts. He also called for creation of a Palestinian state—something that chilled his relationship with some Jewish voters.

Despite the skepticism that greeted his bid, Jackson won more than 3 million votes. Though he came in a distant third, Jackson was credited with enrolling as many as 2 million Democratic voters that some say helped the party recapture the Senate in 1986.

In a riveting convention speech, Jackson summed up his historic—and imperfect—campaign.

“I am not a perfect servant,” he said. “I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet.”

Four years later, Jackson made another bid for the White House, this time more experienced and better

funded. His message remained the same. America had much work to do to overturn the racial discrimination, poverty and injustice that had long haunted it.

In that campaign, he won nearly 7 million votes. ___ NEGOTIATOR For Jackson, the world has been his stage. In his role as a self-styled diplomat, he’s met with leaders such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, brokered the release of American prisoners and lobbied for causes such as wiping out apartheid.

His first success came in 1984 when Jackson, then running for president, negotiated the release from Syria of Navy Lt. Robert Goodman, who was shot down over Lebanon. That same year, Jackson visited Castro, who then freed dozens of American and Cuban prisoners from Cuban jails. In 1990, Jackson helped secure the release from Iraq of hundreds of foreign women and children being detailed as human shields to ward off an American military attack after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Critics sometimes accused Jackson of showboating and meddling in foreign policy, but his diplomatic forays also won him praise. After Goodman’s release, Reagan, in a White House ceremony, called Jackson’s trip to Syria “a personal mission of mercy” worthy of admiration.

Jackson once explained his foreign policy strategy: “Humanitarian appeals always help. They penetrate deeper than political trade-offs.”

And at a ceremony in Chicago to mark the 30th anniversary of Goodman’s release, Jackson summed up his negotiating skills with a simple declaration: “Talking matters. No talking never works.”

___ FAMILY MAN Jackson’s personal life has had its share of joy and pain. He met his wife, Jacqueline, at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College as the civil rights movement began gaining momentum. They soon were married and had five children—three sons and two daughters.

Unlike her husband, Jacqueline Jackson has largely avoided the spotlight. But in 2001, the glare from her husband’s affair with a former aide shone on Jacqueline Jackson.

Her husband admitted that January to fathering a daughter with the former aide.

Then in 2013, Jesse Jackson watched as his son, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., was sentenced to 21/2 years in prison for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s wife, Sandra Jackson, also was sentenced for filing false joint federal income tax returns.

In 2012, Jesse Jackson told The Associated Press: “My heart burns. As I always say to my children, champions have to play with pain. You can’t just walk off the field because you’re hurt.”

Following his son’s sentencing, Jackson told reporters it had been “an extraordinarily difficult time for our family.” ___ FIGHTER After publicly disclosing his Parkinson’s disease on Friday, Jackson vowed to keep plugging away for the causes that have helped define him.

“I will continue to try to instill hope in the hopeless, expand our democracy to the disenfranchised and free innocent prisoners around the world,” he wrote. “I steadfastly affirm that I would rather wear out than rust out.”

Your child’s dreams are like stars: If he chooses them as his guides, he can reach his destiny.

BORN TO BE GREAT By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school. Previously, courses teaching higher-order thinking skills like critical thinking and problem solving were reserved for the economically advantaged and “gifted and talented.”

The federal government has a responsibility to invest in the success of every student. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires that acquisition of those higher-order thinking skills be the standard for every student but your involvement is needed to make those requirements realities.

To learn more about ESSA and how you can get involved, visit www.nnpa.org/essa.

Made possible by a grant from the

© 2017 National Newspaper Publishers Association. All rights reserved

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

Preserve continued from page 1

The fund was created during the discussion on whether Confederate monuments and memorials should be taken down.

Several cities around the nation removed images of the Confederacy after white nationalist and Confederate enthusiast Dylann Roof murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. The reviews gained momentum after the Aug. 12 protest by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, over a Robert E. Lee statue, which left one counter-protester dead.

“We were concerned that the narrative around historical monuments and markers that was all about tearing things down,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “While we think there is a role to play in determining what monuments should remain, we believe that it is equally as important to create monuments and markers for people whose stories have not been told.”

Walker will lead an advisory panel that includes names like Lonnie Bunch, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, chairwoman of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; actress Phylicia Rashad; and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. The diversity of the panel will ensure their decisions include as much of the diversity of the AfricanAmerican population as possible, Walker said.

“It’s always difficult to discern who are our history-makers, but if you leave it to a few elite, you won’t have the full story,” he said.

Other foundations already committed include the Open Society Foundations, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

“We have an opportunity, through this tremendous project, to preserve, protect and cherish another history too often neglected, the vital story of African-Americans and their enormous contributions to the idea of America,” said Patrick Gaspard, vice president of the Open Society Foundations.

NEWS Film Review: Roman J. Israel, Esq.

By Dwight Brown Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Denzel Washington may be the most accomplished actor of our generation.

Like a chameleon, he’s morphed from the stern father in “Fences” to a dorky, introverted attorney in this meandering crime-drama/ thriller. His talent is more than enough reason to sit through the two hours and nine minutes of misguided, anticlimactic storytelling.

W

R I T E R / DIRECTOR Dan Gilroy’s feature film debut “Ni g htc r aw l e r,” about a sleazy paparazzo, hinted at a bright future.

His second piece of direction—and tenth screenplay—is noteworthy for creating a uniquely, memorable character: Roman J. Israel, Esq. Israel is a socially conscious, politicallyminded attorney. He’s a remnant of the ‘70s pro-Black movement. The puffy Afro, big glasses and boxylooking suits make him look like a college professor frozen in time.

Now in his mid-sixties, he’s spent the better part of his career sequestered in a Los Angeles law office, surrounded by files and books. He’s an egghead; the brains of the firm, not the dazzling courtroom attorney. At home, with record albums stacked around his cluttered apartment, it looks as if he has idiosyncrasies akin to a hoarder. His brilliant mind (he memorizes legal statutes like Martha Stewart recalls recipes) is evident. His awkwardness around people is profound, like someone with Asperger’s Syndrome.

When Roman’s extroverted law partner suffers a heart attack and can’t return to work, the bookworm is forced to plead cases in criminal courtrooms, to no success. He finds work at a glitzy law firm run by a slick attorney (Colin Farrell, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”), and fails to fit in. A budding romance with a teacher/social activist (Carmen Ejogo, “Alien: Covenant”)

brings him to the doorstep of reality.

Working a case for a defendant, who is accused of murder, puts the naïve and income-challenged Roman in a tempting situation, where he can collect a reward.

“I’m tired of doing the impossible for the ungrateful,” Israel says.

Gilroy’s script exhausts its energy in the beginning, meticulously setting up Roman’s character. Then it runs out of steam and ideas. What’s the point in watching a man who is living on the edge of insanity if there isn’t a breakthrough that takes him somewhere audiences could not have imagined? Or, why tag along with a failed attorney if he doesn’t redeem himself? As the momentum flails in this character-driven film, so does Gilroy’s direction.

The pacing (editor John Gilroy of “Michael Clayton” and “The Bourne Legacy”) is decent regardless. The cinematography (Robert Elswit from “Michael Clayton,” “The Bourne Legacy”) takes the spit and polish off of Los Angeles and makes its street scenes look as grimy as those shot in New York City. The contrast between Roman’s old digs and his new fancy condo is all the more startling, because of the diametrically-opposed set designs (set decorator Meg Everist and production design Kevin

Reese continued from page 1

Reese landed the lead role in the hit TV drama, “Touched by an Angel.”

However, she never forgot where it all began for her: singing in the church at the age of six, according to Biography.com.

Reese’s talents eventually landed her an opportunity to work with gospel great Mahalia Jackson, when Reese was just 13.

Raised on gospel music, Reese transformed into a seductive secular music superstar with her No. 1 R&B and No. 2 pop hit “Don’t You Know” in 1959.

It was her first single on RCA Records, a ballad drawn from an aria from Puccini’s opera, “La Boehme,” NBC News reported.

Ultimately, Reese revealed a mastery of standards, jazz and contemporary pop through the early 1970s, and over the course of her career she received four Grammy Award nominations.

“She was an incredible wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and pastor, as well as an award-winning actress and singer. Through her life and work she touched and inspired the lives of millions of people,” Reese’s family said in a statement.

In 1997, Reese told the Associated Press that she achieved many things that others may have thought to be impossible. She explained her ability to succeed in song and in film.

“I had good training for it. I was always a stylist, a lyricist,” she said. “I became acquainted with the words in order to convince you I must believe in what I’m singing.

That’s what acting is: believing. It was just like one thing flowing into

another,” Reese said.

Following her memorable performance in “Harlem Nights” in 1989, Reese appeared in a number of TV shows and made-for-TV movies until she landed the role of “Tess” in the television series “Touched by an Angel” in 1994.

CBS cancelled the show after the first season, but fans swarmed the network with letters and calls, forcing

Photo courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment

Denzel Washington stars in “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

them to renew the series.

Reese would go on to portray “Tess” on “Touched by an Angel” for nine seasons, earning seven NAACP Image Awards as best lead actress in a drama.

She also received two Emmys and a Golden Globe nomination.

Reese is survived by her husband, Franklin Lett, a film producer and concert promoter.

Kavanaugh from “Nightcrawler”).

And if prizes were given for making wonky characters appear suitably shabby, costume designer Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (“The Birth of a Nation”) would win.

Colin Farrell, with his slickedback hair and fancy suits, displays the right balance of cold-as-ice calculating attorney and caring snake. Somehow, it’s a bit hard to imagine a woman, who looks like Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”) having a romantic interest in man who looks like an urban bear. Yet, their beauty and the beast flirtations are worth a gander.

Both actors greatly support Denzel Washington as he crafts a character that was not previously in his arsenal.

He’s concocted crooked narcotics officers (“Training Day”), pugilists (“The Hurricane”), heroic activists (“Malcolm X”) and gunslingers (“The Magnificent Seven”). In most of his

performances, anger, decisiveness and self-assurance have wellcomplimented his leading man looks.

For the first time in memory, those innate characteristics are absent. His Roman is a muddled misfit, who makes bad choices; his instincts block him. The slouched posture, protruding stomach and puffy face, also mean that Washington has laid all vanity aside to thoroughly inhabit this unique role. And, he delivers his lines with dour sarcasm. When an offer is made to Roman, the indignant attorney responds, “It’s an enema of sunshine.”

The quirky story of “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” is unmemorable.

However, it is a very useful showcase for one of the finest actors working today. This kind of performance makes Oscar voters stand in awe.

This kind of acting keeps viewers’ eyes glued to the screen, regardless of the surroundings.

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THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

OPED

By Marian Wright Edelman I hope you will speak up loudly and do whatever else is necessary to stop Congress’ hugely unjust Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that rewards billionaires at the expense of poor babies and corporations at the expense of vulnerable children. Millions of America’s children today are suffering from hunger, homelessness and hopelessness. Nearly 13.2 million children are poor – almost one in five. About 70 percent of them are children of color who will be a majority of our children by 2020.

More than 1.2 million are homeless.

About 14.8 million children struggle against hunger in food insecure households. Despite progress and coverage of 95 percent of all children thanks in large part to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 3.3 million children lack the health coverage they need to survive and thrive. Millions of young children need quality early childhood programs during their critical years of early brain development but only 5 percent of eligible infants and toddlers are enrolled in Early Head Start and Head Start serves only 46 percent of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds.

The majority of all our public school fourth and eighth graders cannot read at grade level; over 70 percent of Latino and 80 percent of Black children cannot read at grade level in fourth or eighth grades. Every 47 seconds a child is abused or neglected and the number of children in foster care is increasing rapidly in some parts of our country from out-ofcontrol opioid use.

And what are our callous and morally blind and money greedy political leaders doing to address grim child survival needs in our wealthy nation? Making it worse by seeking to enact tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires and powerful corporations, hugely increasing the national deficit, and imposing emasculating and deep cuts in essential lifegiving investments for children and families. Both the House and Senate are working hard to move millions and millions of low- and middle-income children and families backwards and to line the pockets and fill the coffers of powerful special interests.

The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R.1) approved by the House of Representatives and the version of the

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that will be voted on in the Senate after Thanksgiving are massively expensive and morally indefensible new giveaways to the wealthiest households and most powerful corporations at the expense of vulnerable children and low- and middle-income families. Countless children will pay for these cruel tax cuts with cuts in their health care, nutrition, child care, education, housing and other survival needs.

Congressional Republican claims that these massive tax cuts will help the middle class are lies. The Joint Congressional Committee on Taxation says more than two thirds of the nearly $1.5 trillion cost of the House bill would go to the wealthiest families and businesses. Families with annual incomes under $75,000 would (on average) see a tax increase in ten years, while families making more than $1 million would see a tax cut.

Although the House and Senate bills include an increase in the maximum Child Tax Credit, both socalled improvements deny benefits for children in low-income working families. Under the House bill, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates one in three families would be excluded entirely or only partially benefit from the increase – ten million children in families that work for low pay would be excluded entirely and roughly 13 million more children in working families would

receive only a portion of the increase.

And more than three million lowincome children, many U.S. citizens, in hard-working immigrant families currently benefitting from the tax credit will lose it entirely with the new requirement that all families file their income taxes with a Social Security Number rather than the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number many taxpaying immigrant families now use.

The House-approved bill also would eliminate a number of existing credits that currently help children and families at the bottom and in the middle of the income range. It ends tax credits or deductions for employers offering child care to working parents; high cost medical treatment for children and adults with severe medical needs; reimbursement for public school teachers who purchase supplies for their classrooms out of their own pockets; student loan interest and other higher education assistance; and help to find jobs. Charitable contributions that help service programs for vulnerable children and families will likely decrease as the percentage of taxpayers who itemize deductions is expected to decline because of changes in the House bill to eligibility for the standard deduction.

It gets worse. Senate Republicans announced last week that they will use their tax bill to continue their

cruel efforts to destroy the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s individual mandate requiring most Americans to purchase health care or pay a penalty as they file their tax returns. This will “save” $338 billion for the rich and leave millions of children and families without health insurance beginning in 2019 and 13 million children and adults without health insurance over the next ten years while raising premiums for millions more. Savings from the mandate’s repeal will threaten treatment and be used to pay for tax cuts of nearly $100,000 a year for the very top 0.1 percent of the income scale. A broad group of health care providers and insurance companies oppose the harms it will cause.

Finally, it is critical to understand that the massive and morally obscene tax cuts in the House and Senate bills will require huge budget cuts in safety net programs for vulnerable children and adults. The $1.5 trillion tenyear deficit both bills will allow will undermine the health and well-being of millions of children and is just Part I of theft from the minds and bodies and spirits and hopes of children. In Part II we will see additional huge cuts in Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, child care and Head Start, education, Pell grants, and other crucial child investments likely to be proposed to pay for welfare for nonneedy billionaires and corporate tax cuts. The 2018 budgets proposed by

President Trump and those approved by the Senate and the House provide a multilane highway roadmap to eviscerate the basic survival and development needs of millions of babies, children, and youths hungering for hope.

Although polls reflect public skepticism about these unjust tax cuts for the very non-needy rich, Congressional Republicans and the President are recklessly zooming full speed ahead. Every American who believes in fairness must stand up and stop their indefensible massive giveaways to the least needy and richest among us at the expense of the most needy and vulnerable young and old. A recent CBS poll showed 70 percent said Congress should address other issues before passing a tax bill. Over the Thanksgiving recess and for as long as it takes, make sure your voices are strongly heard by the morally bankrupt leaders who have lost any semblance of our nation’s purported commitment to just opportunity for all.

In his last Sunday sermon at Washington National Cathedral, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. retold the parable of the rich man Dives who ignored the poor and sick man Lazarus who came every day seeking crumbs from Dives’ table. Dives went to hell, Dr. King said, not because he was rich but because he did not realize his wealth was his opportunity to bridge the gulf separating him from his brother Lazarus and allowed him to become invisible. Calling for a Poor People’s Campaign, Dr. King warned this could happen to America, the richest nation on earth. On the day he was assassinated, he called his mother to give her his next Sunday’s sermon title: “Why America May Go to Hell.” He warned that “America is going to hell if we don’t use her vast resources to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life.” If this horrifically unjust tax bill passes we will be well on our way there!

Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

For more information go to www. childrensdefense.org.

Is the Middle East about to have another war?

Some significant events have happened in the Middle East within the few weeks. The events have worldwide implications, but the media is too concerned with how President Trump feeds fish in Japan to pay attention. WWI started because of an assassination of some royal in a corner of the Balkans, what event is likely to set the Middle East on fire?

Let’s not kid ourselves, the Middle East is hot, arid, and has had tribal and religious conflict since the beginning of recorded history, but it is important because of oil and gas.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) accounts for 81.5 percent of crude oil reserves, and the Black Gold Triangle accounts for 65.5 percent of OPEC, or about 56 percent of the global supply.

What happens in the Middle East influences the life of every American.

No American is unaffected by petroleum or natural gas.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two regional powers fighting to be the hegemon of the Middle East. It is a fight 1400 years in the making between the Sunni and Shia.

President Obama believed the nuclear deal with Iran would be his most significant foreign policy achievement, but it looks like the agreement put Middle East powers on a path to war. The hundreds of millions in cash paid for ransom and tens of billions in unfrozen assets galvanized Iranian hardliners and sent them on a mission to create a

Shia Crescent stretching from Yemen through the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Yes, Sunni Islam is the majority in the Islamic world, but not in the Shia Crescent.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution that swept the Ayatollah Khomeini into power sent shockwaves through the region. While the area was predominantly Islamic, it was still ruled by secular dictators. Many rulers in the region believed they were next and for a good reason.

The Iranian Constitution Article 11 states, “According to the Qur’an: “Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood. And I am your Lord and cherisher: therefore serve me” (21: 92), all Muslims form

a single nation and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is required to base its overall politics on the merging and unity of the Muslim nations. It must continuously strive to achieve the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Muslim world.”

Saudi Arabia is ruled by the House of Saud, with Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud serving as the current king.

Second in command is the King’s son, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, seemingly the architect of recent actions in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom is deeply rooted in Sunni Wahhabism, an Islamic doctrine founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab described as fundamentalist or ultraconservative.

Wahhabism got a boost in 1979 from the Kingdom following the siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. A group of zealots seized the Grand Mosque declaring the Mahdi had arrived and called for the overthrow of the House of Saud. To get permission to retake the Grand Mosque, the Saudis needed a religious ruling from the clerics to assault the holy site. To get

the ruling, the Saudi Royal family agreed to fund the clerics, thereby spreading Wahhabism throughout the world. Wahhabi schools around the world are considered prime recruiting grounds for radical Islamic terrorists.

The Crown Prince has had several princes arrested for corruption, including one of the wealthiest men in the world, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. Most see this as an attempt to consolidate power, and it seems to be just that, but it could also be a willingness change the course of the nation.

The Crown Prince is also fighting the religious establishment. The Prince stripped the religious police of their arrest powers and promised women the right to drive. He did this as he was detaining dozens of hardline clerics while ordering others to speak about respect for other religions. Americans have been leery of the Kingdom in the past, for a good reason. It now appears there is a reliable partner to work with in Saudi Arabia.

President Trump has been supportive of the moves made by the King and Crown Prince. “The king and crown prince’s recent public statements regarding the need to build a moderate, peaceful and tolerant region are essential to ensuring a hopeful future for the Saudi people, to curtailing terrorist funding, and to defeating radical ideology — once and for all — so the world can be safe from its evil,” the White House said in the statement.

The Crown Prince is consolidating power for his side of the Saud family.

He attempting to get closer to western allies by modernizing Islam and the economy of Saudi Arabia. It is a very precarious time for the Kingdom and any action against the family could be seen as the beginning of a war.

On November 4, Yemen Shiite rebels, backed by Iran, fired a ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia aimed at Riyadh’s King Khaled Airport. The missile was manufactured by Iran and bore Iranian markings according to Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian.

Also on November 4, the Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri resigned, citing Iranian influence across the region and that he feared for his life. He announced his resignation from Saudi Arabia. This was followed up by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.

On November 9, an explosion took out a section of oil pipeline supplying Bahrain from Saudi Arabia. Bahrain has stated Iran is responsible for the action.

The actions seem to be escalating, and what happens next is unknown.

A war between the two nations is likely to shut down two of the worlds seven strategic chokepoints. War is likely to take 50 percent of the world’s oil off the market. Because of alliances, war is likely to spread to the rest of the region and draw in more powerful allies. We could be on the cusp of WWIII, and the American media is concentrating on fish.

5

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

OPED

Jeff Sessions fighting gun crimes when Obama refused

By Natalia Castro Republicans and Democrats alike can agree that safety must be a priority for the American people, but while Republicans believe in gun ownership, Democrats favor abolition of the 2nd Amendment. None the less, the two sides have come together on one element of the gun freedom debate- violent felons should not be permitted to carry weapons. To ensure the safety of the American people, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made getting illegally acquired guns off the streets a priority of his agenda. Making the only questionwhy hasn’t this always been a priority?

Since the Gun Control Act of 1968, instituted by Lindon B Johnson, 18 U.S. Code § 922 has made clear: “It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person— (1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (2) is a fugitive from justice; (3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)); (4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution; (5) who, being an alien— (A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or (B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a) (26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(26))); (6) who [2] has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; (7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship; (8) is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that— (A)

“ ”

Under the Obama Administration 21 percent of cases regarding firearms transactions have ‘significant errors’ that indicate ‘firearms potentially may have been transferred inappropriately’ to prohibited persons.

was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and (B) (i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or (9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.”

Since this time, Republicans and Democrats have come together through legislation such as the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, signed into law

by Ronald Reagan, which outlawed machine guns and most fully automatic weapons.

Illegal gun ownership is dangerous for all Americans, which is why under AG Sessions, prosecutions for unlawful gun ownership have increased by 23 percent.

Sessions explains in a memo thanking the efforts of police and prosecutors, “Law abiding people in some of these communities are living

in fear, as they see families torn apart and young lives cut short by gangs and drug traffickers. Following President Trump’s Executive Order to focus on reducing crime, I directed federal prosecutors to prioritize taking illegal guns off of our streets, and as a result, we are now prosecuting hundreds more firearms defendants.”

Sessions continues to explain that most of these were previously convicted felons. This year, the Department of Justice is on pace to charge 12,626 defendants with illegal firearm crimes, making this the year with the most federal firearms cases since 2005.

It is a clear contrast from the efforts of the Obama Administration.

Daniel D. Roberts, who in 2009 was named Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, confirmed that more than 100,00 criminals each year attempt to buy guns with criminal records.

Despite this fact, a June 2016 Justice Department Inspector General report revealed that from 2008 to 2015 U.S. Attorneys prosecuted less than 32 people per year for lying on federal applications to purchase guns.

Additionally, the report shows that

under the Obama Administration 21 percent of cases regarding firearms transactions have “significant errors” that indicate “firearms potentially may have been transferred inappropriately” to prohibited persons.

The Obama Administration’s Justice Department knew that illegal gun ownership was a problem, but did little to enforce the law and correct the problem.

This could account for some of the uptick in violent crime during the Obama presidency, considering lawful gun owners commit less than a fifth of all gun

crimes. Obama’s failure to prosecute illegal gun owners, failure to crack down on sanctuary cities and illegal immigration, and inability to address gang violence all allowed violent individuals to get away with heinous crimes.

From 2012 to 2016 alone, violent crime saw an uptick of 2.6 percent, according to FBI statistics.

Sessions and the Trump Administration have worked hard to reverse this trend through policies such as the prosecution of illegal gun owners. By prosecuting the unlawful gun owners Sessions is creating a safer environment for all Americans by merely enforcing the laws which both sides have said are necessary for decades. As Session proclaimed, “That sends a clear message to criminals all over this country that if you carry a gun illegally, you will be held accountable.”

Natalia Castro is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.

6

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

NEWS

Hate crimes rose for 2nd year in a row in 2016, FBI reports T

By Sadie Gurman Hate crimes rose for the second straight year in 2016, with increases in attacks motivated by bias against blacks, Jews, Muslims and LGBT people, according to FBI statistics released Monday.

HERE were more than 6,100 hate crimes last year, up about 5 percent over the previous year. In 2015 and 2016, that number was

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: PEARLS OF WISDOM

driven by crimes against people because of their race or ethnicity.

More than half the 4,229 racially motivated crimes were against black people, while 20 percent were against whites, the report shows. And Jews were targeted in more than half the 1,538 crimes that were motivated by religion. Crimes fueled by bias against LGBT people rose from 203 in 2015 to 234 last year.

The yearly report is the most comprehensive accounting of hate crimes in the U.S. But authorities have long warned it is incomplete, in part because it is based on voluntary reporting by police agencies across the country.

The numbers likely reflect an uptick recorded by civil rights groups in harassment and vandalism targeting Muslims, Jews, blacks and others amid the presidential campaign, which included sharp rhetoric from Republican Donald Trump

FBI continued from page 1

ACROSS 1. “No way” partner 6. Lending letters 9. Basketball star Nowitzki 13. “Love,” à Paris 14. ____ date 15. Kind of chisel 16. Infamous Ford model 17. Stuff in a tray?

18. Romanov’s edict 19. Bony chest plate 21. *It makes the heart grow fonder 23. *You can’t make an omelet without breaking one 24. Border 25. Prune 28. Block of granite, e.g.

30. Whacko one 35. Eye layer 37. Author Murdoch 39. Paparazzo’s quest 40. Common allergens 41. *Sure sign of fire 43. Like nay-sayers 44. Rid of obstructions 46. Done to trouble 47. Asian weight unit 48. Cold sore, e.g.

50. Object of worship 52. 9 to 5, e.g.

53. Not of the cloth 55. Famous frat house 57. *Louder than words 61. *They can’t be choosers 65. Allocated quantity 66. Famous T-Rex 68. Cereal killer 69. Prodded 70. *”No ____ crying over spilt milk” 71. Recycle, in a way 72. H or O in H2O, e.g.

73. *”You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ____” 74. Make tea, e.g.

DOWN 1. Midday slumbers 2. Fail to mention 3. Use a whetstone 4. Grossly unconventional 5. *Two of these do not make a right 6. Genesis man 7. Pimple fluid 8. ____ center for help 9. Home of Blue Devils

10. Ali Khamenei’s domain 11. CISC alternative 12. Genuflecting joint 15. Serious quarrel 20. Tangerine-grapefruit hybrid, pl.

22. Ballerina’s do 24. Non-living 25. *No such thing as a free one 26. Egg cell 27. ____ Cottontail 29. Picture on a coat?

31. Not this 32. Actor Hill 33. Weasel’s aquatic cousin 34. *A watched pot never does this 36. Hurry up!

38. Row of vagrants 42. With a jagged margin 45. Follows aim and shoot 49. ____ Diego 51. They’re usually golden or amber 54. Question in dispute 56. White heron 57. Caribbean color 58. Like a short reply 59. Burkina Faso neighbor 60. Big-ticket ____ 61. Duff in Springfield, e.g.

62. Flu symptom 63. Kate Winslet in “Titanic” 64. *Beginning of a thousand mile journey 67. “This land is your land...”

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

cases in which “extremists” had “acted in retaliation for perceived past police brutality incidents.” It warned that such violence was likely to continue.

Black leaders and activists were outraged after Foreign Policy revealed the existence of the report last month. The Congressional Black Caucus, in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, said the report “conflates black political activists with dangerous domestic terrorist organizations” and would further erode the frayed relationship between police and minority communities.

“I have never met a black extremist. I don’t know what the FBI is talking about,” said Chris Phillips, a filmmaker in Ferguson.

Before the Trump administration, the report might not have caused such alarm.

The FBI noted it issued a similar bulletin warning of retaliatory violence by “black separatist extremists” in March 2016, when the country had a black president, Barack Obama, and black attorney general, Loretta Lynch.

But black voters overwhelmingly opposed Donald Trump. And they are suspicious of his administration, which has been criticized as insensitive on racial issues, including when Trump was slow to condemn white nationalist

and others against immigrants, especially Muslims. There were 307 crimes against Muslims in 2016, up from 257 in 2015, which at the time was the highest number since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In releasing the figures, the FBI said hate crimes remain the “number one investigative priority” of its civil rights unit and pledged to continue collecting data on the problem. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said it would be a top focus of his Justice Department.

On Monday, Sessions said the Justice Department is awaiting a full report from a task force on steps it can take to improve training for prosecutors and investigators, boost data collection on hate crimes and partner with local officials and communities. In the meantime, Sessions said, the department can continue to aggressively prosecute people who violate the

civil rights of others.

“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that individuals can live without fear of being a victim of violent crime based on who they are, what they believe, or how they worship,” Sessions said in a statement.

Advocates said they can’t adequately address the problem without a fuller understanding of its scope.

“There’s a dangerous disconnect between the rising problem of hate crimes and the lack of credible data being reported,” said Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt, who called for an “all-hands-on-deck approach” to address underreporting. “Police departments that do not report credible data to the FBI risk sending the message that this is not a priority issue for them, which may threaten community trust in their ability and readiness to address hate violence.”

protesters following a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama senator whose career has been dogged by questions about race and his commitment to civil rights, did not ease lawmakers’ concerns when he was unable to answer questions about the report or its origins during a congressional hearing this past week.

Sessions said he was aware of “groups that do have an extraordinary commitment to their racial identity, and some have transformed themselves even into violent activists.” He struggled to answer the same question about white extremists.

It wouldn’t be unusual for an attorney general not to have seen such an FBI assessment, which the FBI creates on its own to circulate internally among law enforcement agencies. But the exchange with Rep. Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, presented an uncomfortable moment.

“What worries me about this terribly is that this is that it is a flashback to the past,” Bass said after the hearing. She said she was especially concerned after receiving complaints from members of Black Lives Matter, who said they were being monitored and harassed by police in her district.

The group rallies after racially

charged encounters with police, but it is not mentioned in the FBI’s intelligence assessment. Even so, Bass said she worried the report will send a message to police that it’s OK to crack down on groups critical of law enforcement.

The FBI does not comment on its intelligence bulletins, which usually are not public. In a statement, the FBI said it cannot and will not open an investigation based solely on a person’s race or exercise of free speech rights.

“Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on individuals who commit violence and other criminal acts,” the FBI said. “Furthermore, the FBI does not and will not police ideology. When an individual takes violent action based on belief or ideology and breaks the law, the FBI will enforce the rule of law.”

The assessments are designed to help law enforcement agencies stay ahead of emerging problems and should not be seen as a sign of a broader enforcement strategy, said Jeffrey Ringel, a former FBI agent and Joint Terrorism Task force member who now works for the Soufan Group, a private security firm. Agencies can decide for themselves whether the assessment reflects a real problem, he said.

Still, some veterans of the black and Latino civil rights movement said the FBI assessment reminded them of the bureau’s now-defunct COINTELPRO, a covert and often illegal operation under Director J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s and 1960s. Agents were assigned to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalists,” Hoover said in a once-classified memo to field agents.

David Correia, an American Studies professor at the University of New Mexico, said the new memo carries a similar message.

“It’s part of their playbook,” he said. “They try to characterize legitimate concerns about something like police violence as somehow a danger so they can disrupt protests.” The FBI used a similar tactic to try to cause confusion among New Mexico Hispanic land grant activists in the 1960s, he said.

SODOKU SOLUTION

7

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

LEGAL

8

THE BULLETIN, WEDNESDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2017

SPORTS

Christian NFL players frustrated by criticism for anthem protest

By Rob Maaddi Eric Reid and other Christian players who support Colin Kaepernick’s social justice movement want believers on the opposite side of the controversial anthem protest to ask themselves a simple but powerful question: What would Jesus do?

Reid joined Kaepernick, his former San Francisco 49ers teammate, in kneeling for the “The Star-Spangled Banner” last year because he wants to be a “voice for the voiceless,” a lesson derived from a Bible verse found in Proverbs. The 25-yearold safety-turned-linebacker said he has discussed faith with Kaepernick, who remains unsigned.

“It’s the foundation of why we started doing this,” Reid told The Associated Press on Oct. 29.

“We all have a love for people.

The Bible tells us love your brother as yourself so that’s why we’re doing it.

“We have to speak up for those who can’t do it for themselves.

My faith is ultimately what led me to start protesting and it’s what continues to drive me.

Faith without works is dead. I feel like the past year before we started protesting, the Lord has prepped me for this moment.”

Reid made the decision to kneel following a meeting with Kaepernick and former

Green Beret and Seahawks long snapper Nate Boyer. Kaepernick initially sat for the anthem before his conversation with Boyer.

They chose to kneel because they felt it’s a “respectful gesture.”

But the movement has drawn heavy criticism as it continues to envelop the NFL. President Donald Trump exacerbated the situation earlier this season when he suggested team owners should fire any players who knelt during the anthem.

Kaepernick, who led San Francisco to consecutive NFC championship games and one Super Bowl, filed a complaint that team owners colluded against him because of the protests, which are aimed at raising awareness for police brutality against AfricanAmericans and other issues.

Reid said he’s “baffled” that some people misconstrue player demonstrations as being protests against the anthem itself, or the American flag, or the military or police.

He’s especially frustrated by

Rams machine needs some repairs

By Dave Campbell The Los Angeles Rams arrived in Minnesota with the NFL’s highest-scoring offense, a machine averaging 33 points per game and making the team the talk of the league with this sharp turnaround under new coach Sean McVay. Their four-game winning streak was tossed aside by a determined Vikings defense in a 24-7 defeat on Sunday in this matchup of NFC division leaders.

After a 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game, the only tangible production by the Rams was extra punting practice for Johnny Hekker. The Rams totaled just 254 yards, with 54 yards coming from on a garbage-time possession at the end of the game against mostly Vikings backups.

“We can play a lot better than we performed,” said Jared Goff, who had guided the Rams to a 144-41 scoring advantage during the streak with 1,025 passing yards and nine touchdowns with only one interception.

The Vikings started the second half by forcing four punts in a row by the Rams (7-3), who also led the league entering the week with a third-down conversion rate of 46.7 percent. They moved the chains just three times in 11 opportunities against the Vikings.

“They had some good tight coverage. They had some disguises, some different things that disrupted our timing and our rhythm,” said McVay, who declared his team “humbled” by the Vikings throughout the course of the afternoon at daunting U.S. Bank Stadium.

With the crowd noise reverberating off the translucent roof to give the defense, which ranked fifth in the NFL in both points and yards allowed, an even greater advantage, Goff often had to walk back and forth to tell his wide receivers the plays before the snap to keep McVay’s fast-paced, no-huddle scheme going.

Goff finished 23 for 37 for 225 yards and no turnovers, taking only one sack.

He didn’t force any dangerous throws or take any huge hits, but the unpredictable pressure the Vikings sent at him from all position levels added up over time and clearly took the second-year quarterback out of his element. Hekker was forced to punt six times, the second-highest total of the season.

“It’ll be good to see what this adversity will do for our team,” Goff said. “We responded to every bit of adversity we faced so far and expect no different.”

The defense was stout in the first half, forcing punts by the Vikings on two of four possessions, and the Rams were in position to take a one-touchdown lead late in the second quarter. Rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp caught a pass over the middle on third-and-4 from the 11-yard line and reached the 1, before Vikings safety Anthony Harris stripped the ball out and recovered the fumble with 4:03 left before halftime.

“That’s seven points coming off the board there. You never know what happens if they go up 14-7,” Vikings safety Harrison Smith said. What has made the Vikings defense so difficult to play against this season, as the Rams found out, is the improvement in stopping the run.

Rushing the passer and solid coverage in the secondary have long been hallmarks of coach Mike Zimmer’s scheme, but the Vikings have been just as tough this year when the ball stays on the ground. After Todd Gurley capped the opening possession with a short touchdown run, the NFL’s fifth-leading rusher had only 17 yards on 11 carries the rest of the game.

Christians who lash out against the players.

“I do see some hypocrisy with the people that call themselves Christians,” Reid said. “If you know Jesus, he went into the house of God and turned over the tables and was angry and said they made the house of God into a marketplace so I would say this is something that He would do.”

But the issue has been so divisive that Christians can’t agree.

“This is not about black, white, brown, red or yellow; it’s about respect for the country and its flag, which symbolizes we are ‘one’ nation under God,” said Joseph Bruce Sofia, senior pastor at Gloucester County Community Church in Sewell, New Jersey. “The national anthem speaks of oneness and not division; it speaks of hope and unity, of poverty to wealth, from the ghetto to the Presidency. The Biblical principle of sowing and reaping is in effect here. Sow discord and we’ll reap discord. Oppression is a horrible thing, and needs to be taken on head-on, but take it to

“ ”

The Bible tells us love your brother as yourself so that’s why we’re doing it. We have to speak up for those who can’t do it for themselves.

Eric Reid the town hall or courts or social media but, in my opinion, using the national anthem during a football game draws a line in the wrong sand.”

Carl Lentz, the lead pastor at New York City’s Hillsong Church, said many people, including Christians, are ignoring the real issues.

“What we see right now in culture is what’s easier? To make this about a flag, which it’s never been about, or to actually say, Colin, what’s your beef?

What’s your passion? What’s going on?” Lentz said. “Our country has a sad history of missing the mark, missing the moment, and deflecting issues.

To judge this guy for putting his

career on the line for something he’s passionate about, I do not understand. It’s sad.”

Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson, a strong advocate for social reform, said he’s disappointed when Christians put “politics above the gospel, empathy and understanding.”

“We talk about what Jesus would do. Let’s think about that,” said Watson, who has been standing for the anthem.

“How should I Biblically look at this situation? Is my response as an American going against what my response should be as a Christian? If I’m a Christian, I want to delight in the things that (Christ) delights in and those things are blind. They’re not based on color, creed or culture or money.

“Being kind is not predicated on what you can do for me.

Justice is not predicated on if I experienced injustice or not.

We can advocate for people who have experiences that we don’t even have. True justice is blind and righteous. Christians should be about expanding and promoting the gospel. If you

listen or think about the subject matter that players and people are concerned about, you could not as someone who reads scripture turn a blind eye to it.”

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, one of the founders of The Players Coalition , said the Christian community could effectuate positive change if it wasn’t divided.

“As big as we are, as much influence as we have on policy and politics, if the Church ever got behind really being for equality and really being for justice, it would show up, it would come,” said Jenkins, who has been raising a fist during the anthem. “But a lot of times we don’t show the empathy, we don’t take the time to listen and we’re just as segregated as the world is right now.”

Watson emphasized the importance of both sides listening to each other.

“These guys love America.

We’re not traitors, we just want this country to be better on some things,” Watson said.

“When we’re able to sit and communicate with one another, it allows us to understand. None of us are perfect.

Trump says he should have left UCLA basketball players in Chinese jail President Donald Trump says he should have left three UCLA basketball players accused of shoplifting in China in jail.

Trump’s tweet Sunday comes after the father of player LiAngelo Ball minimized Trump’s involvement in winning the players’ release in comments to ESPN. “Who?” LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about Trump’s involvement in the matter. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing.

Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.”

Trump has said he raised the players’ detention with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the leaders’ recent meeting in Beijing.

The players returned to the U.S. last week. They have been indefinitely suspended from the team.

Says Trump: “Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I

should have left them in jail!”

Trump later tweeted: “Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!”

The younger B a l l , along w i t h fellow freshmen Jalen Hill a n d Cody R i l e y, aren’t with the rest of the No. 23 Bruins, who are in Kansas City to play in the Hall of Fame Classic on Monday and Tuesday. The trio isn’t allowed to suit up, be on the bench for home games or travel with the team.

The players were arrested and questioned about stealing from high-end stores next to the team’s hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins stayed before

leaving for Shanghai to play Georgia Tech.

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said last week that the players stole from three stores.

“As long as my boy’s back here, I’m fine,” LaVar Ball told ESPN. “I’m happy with how things were handled.

A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, ‘They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.’

“I’m from LA. I’ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn’t define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that’s a different thing,” he said.

“Everybody gets stuck on the

negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long.

That’s not me. I handle what’s going on and then we go from there.”

Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors coach who has been critical of Trump, talked about the situation Sunday before his team’s game in Brooklyn.

“Two people seeking attention and they’re both getting it, so I’m sure both guys are really happy,” Kerr said. “You know what would help? If all of you just stopped covering both of them. Is that possible? You could probably stop covering LaVar. I don’t think you can stop covering the president. I don’t think that will work.”

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, retweeted Trump’s tweet and included his own comment.

“The President would have left American students in a foreign jail because their families didn’t lavish sufficient praise on him,” Schiff wrote. “How can someone in such a big office be so small?”