Kids & cops camp: Rebranding the police
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Sheriff Roundtree’s community policing strategy targets inner-city youth
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The CSRA’s FREE WEEKLY
Newspaper VOL.2 NO.45 VOL.2 NO.18 The CSRA’s
AUGUST 1 - 7, 2013
Photo by Vincent Hobbs
UrbanProWeekly • AUGUST 1 - 7, 2013
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IT’S A SCHOOL-GIRL THING: Top high school girl players with the Georgia Hoopstars and All-Ohio Midwest Xpress work the court during the Peach State Basketball Elite 32 Summer Jam, held at GRU’s Christenberry Field House recently. The event presented an opportunity for college scouts from across the USA to evaluate the top high school girl’s basketball players. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
HOMEGOING GRIEF Friends and family of Marquez Eubanks mill about the hearse at the funeral of the former Laney High School athlete who succumbed to gunshot wounds a week ago. Eubanks’ Homegoing Service was held on Saturday, July 27, 2013 at the Thankful Baptist Church in Augusta. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams
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The City At Kids & Cops Camp
Cops profile inner-city youth for all of the right reasons By Frederick Benjamin Sr. UrbanProWeekly Staff Writer AUGUSTA In Sheriff Richard Roundtree’s first seven months in office he has totally changed the culture within the walls of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO). Now, with his Kids and Cops Camp on Monday, July 29, at the W.T. Johnson Community Center, he has planted seeds that could change the dynamic between the police and the community’s youth for years to come. “Everyone knows that my passion for the youth. We have to get to these kids at an early age,” Sheriff Roundtree told UrbanProWeekly. “I was born and raised here. I know that sometimes, the only interaction a child has with law enforcement is negative. We want to let them know that we are here to help them,” he said. By spending several hours interacting with the kids, the RCSO is sending the message that “hanging with cops can be cool” and while the sheriff emphasized over and over
Sheriff Richard Roundtree: “It’s our job to keep you safe.” Photo by Vincent Hobbs that the police are there to protect them and their families, a basic tenet of community policing is that, police need the community’s assist ance if they are to be effective. Sheriff Roundtree is working hard to dispel traditional attitudes that inner-city youth
often hold toward the police. He told the kids, “When you see a police officer, we want you to come out. If you need assistance, if you need help, I want you to come to one of our officers and say, “I need some help. I need some assistance. It’s our job to keep you and your family safe.”
Some 30 members of the RCSO volunteered their time to spend time with the kids. “This was not an assignment. They volunteered to come out here and show how much they care. That’s the important thing.” Trust and familiarity are the by-products of such a law enforcement initiative. “So when you see one of our officers, go up and talk to him and they will talk back to you,” Roundtree told the kids. At the end of the day-long session, at which the kids were well fed, the sheriff had an important message for them to take away. “When you go back home, when you go back to school. You have to listen to your parents. You have to listen to your teachers. You have to listen to the grown ups. They’re trying to help you out. “School will be starting in a couple of weeks. We will be going to some of your schools. If you see me, come up to me and tell me where you saw me.” Along with the sheriff’s department, there were employees on hand from the
fire department and ambulance services. The kids got the opportunity to cool off by running through the sprinklers in their bathing suits. For the sheriff, this is just the beginning. “One of the first things I told my staff when I came into office was that we were going to have a camp this year — and it was going to be free of charge. I couldn’t be more excited about the number of kids we were able to serve today — right around 200. All we had to work with was the budget we inherited. So next year, we will double the number of kids we serve,” Roundtree said. This year, the camp was cosponsored by the Boys & Girls Club. Sheriff Roundtree was surprised how many kids wanted to take pictures with him. “A lot of kids were excited about seeing the sheriff. So many of them would never have had that opportunity otherwise. They will always have that photo. That’s something that can’t be taken away from them.”
Bill Cosby will be in town for ‘invite-only’ performance at Paine
Comedian Bill Cosby will perform on Sunday, August 11. AUGUSTA Comedian, philanthropist
Bill Cosby will perform at Paine College on Sunday,
August 11. Paine College officials say that the performance is in appreciation of the college’s faculty and staff. “We will celebrate the men and women of the faculty and staff who work tirelessly to contribute to the College’s success and those who facilitate the living and learning environment for our students,” said Dr. George C. Bradley, Paine College president. Cosby fans, however, may not be able to see their favorite comedian unless they can manage to get invited to the show. The
college says it is “by invitation only.” The performance will be in the HEAL Complex at 5 p.m. Doors will open at 4 p.m. Cosby, long a proponent of higher education (especially at HBCUs) has a doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts, to go along with a host of honorary degrees — including one from Paine College. One of America’s most beloved comedians, Bill Cosby has captivated generations of fans with his comedy routines, iconic albums and best-selling books. His
comedy transcends age, gender and cultural barriers. Although Mr. Cosby’s visit will focus on celebrating the contributions of Paine College’s esteemed faculty and staff, he will also greet the 2013 fall incoming freshman class, returning upperclassmen, alumni, friends and supporters in the Cosby vintage style. For more information, please contact Helene Carter in the Office of Institutional Advancement at 706.821.8323, or via email: Helene.Carter@ paine.edu.
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than 60 producers and AUGUSTA anchors in 14 locaAndrew Dawson has been tions across six cities. named Station Manager and “Drew’s extenHost of GPB Augusta (WACGsive journalism backFM, 90.7), the Georgia ground and leadership Public Broadcasting station experience will help housed on Georgia Regents to shape the future University’s Summerville of GPB Augusta,” Campus, effective Aug. 1. said Tanya Ott, Vice The appointment follows the President of Radio at January signing of a memoGPB. “We have big randum of understanding things planned for the between GRU and GPB to station, and we are revitalize the station. confident that Drew “We are excited to Andrew Dawson can lead that transforhave Drew join GRU as Station Manager and Host,” said David mation.” “This is an exciting time to join the Brond, GRU Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing. “He station,” Dawson said. “I am honored to will play an integral role in our universi- have this unique opportunity to work in ty community and in the city of Augusta, concert with the leadership at Georgia continuing to deliver on our commit- Regents University and GPB. We are developing a new vision and a new plan ment to inform and educate.” A 30-year veteran of radio, Dawson for the radio station; one that will effecpreviously served as Host, News Anchor, tively serve the Augusta area with NPR and Reporter for WGBH-Boston Public quality content.” Dawson is a National Black Radio, as well as News Anchor and Features Reporter for Virtual News Programmer’s Coalition Station of the Center. Prior to that, he worked as the Year award recipient. He received a bachBoston Operations Manager for Metro elor’s degree in communications from Networks, where he supervised more Syracuse University.
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Community Space: Kellie Kenner McIntyre - Solicitor General
Solicitor gives six-month progress report UPW: It’s been a little over six months since you were sworn in as Richmond County’s Solicitor General. Can you describe what changes have occurred or have begun in the Solicitor’s office since you took office? Kellie Kenner McIntyre: Most have been internal organizational changes. However, we have improved the method of scheduling the backlog of cases awaiting sentencing. Also, my office provides full participation and cooperation with Accountability Court which has resulted in increased success with enrollment and completion. UPW: We understand that the office has taken on added responsibilities. Can you describe the changes?
McIntyre: My office is working in conjunction with State Court, Clerk of Court and local law enforcement agencies to form the Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB). The TVB will handle non-serious, non-arrest violations such as speeding citations, failures to obey red lights or stop signs, etc. The remaining cases, as well as those requiring a trial, will be forwarded to the Solicitor General’s Office. With the (Below) Solicitor General Kellie McIntyre (L) talks to administrative assistants Marsha Baskett (center) and TVB, there will be more convenient Brenda Shepherd (R) in the departmental offices at the John H. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse. Photo by Vincent Hobbs needed information for disposition of ways of paying fines as the process their cases. will be streamlined. Citizens will be able to pay online or go directly to the UPW: The issuing of speeding office of the Clerk of Court without the tickets along River Watch Parkway need to contact the Solicitor General’s in connection with an improperly Office. This will allow more time to noted speed limit on a sign resulted attend to the more serious offenses in a number of complaints. Can you addressed by my office. update us on how those complaints are being resolved? UPW: When you were campaigning, some of your stated goals were McIntyre: I think it’s important that to “bring fairness, compassion and everyone understand that the citations accessibility to the office.” Tell us were written and processed in good faith about your progress so far in achievthrough my office as a normal course of ing those goals. business. Once the issue was brought to my attention, it was my intention to McIntyre: My first task was to make do all that could be done in those cases sure that employees in the office which had not been adjudicated. The understood that in exercising their office is still addressing open cases on a discretion a sense of fairness and comcase-by-case basis. For those which were passion must be maintained and to adjudicated before we had knowledge of treat people the way in which they the issue, we are unable to “undo” what would like to be treated. We have a UPW: Some citizens may not know has been done as it is too complex and high volume of cases coming through of any other new technology that the office, but the need to return tele- could broaden public access to the that the Solicitor’s Office has a ser- involves entities other than the Solicitor vice designed to provide support General’s Office. phone calls, e-mails, answer questions Solicitor’s office? and help to victims and witnesses from the public is stressed. To allow UPW: “Superwoman” is a term that McIntyre: My office is currently work- of crime. the public an opportunity to gather has been used to describe profesinformation regarding the office and ing with Augusta-Richmond County’s McIntyre: Victim-Witness Assist- sional women who create a workstaff, in addition to the function of the Information Technology department Solicitor General’s Office, there have and the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council ance serves the victims and witnesses able balance between work and been several local speaking engage- to install a new internal case manage- of misdemeanor crimes prosecuted home responsibilities. Do you have ments and appearances. It is always ment system. This system improves through the Solicitor General’s Office. a secret to your own success as a a wonderful experience to share with efficiency and allows information to Primarily, the unit assists those professional with a young family? be easily accessed by personnel to involved in domestic disputes by those in the community. McIntyre: It’s no secret – you must respond to questions and requests accompanying them to court, notifying victims of court appearances, trial keep God first. He blessed me with UPW: Have you found the need to from the public in a timely manner. dates, bond hearings, dispositions of my family and put me in this position. use social media, such as Facebook, UPW: Do you find that your past criminal cases and possible release I have faith that God will give me all to assist in the dissemination of information to citizens about the experience as a victim’s advocate dates for offenders. They also connect that I need to take care of both. I also and social worker has been helpful victims with community resources. have a very strong support system. It is services your office provides? in making prosecutorial decisions? Our advocates contact and provide often said that “it takes a village.” This assistance and information to victims not only applies to raising a child, but McIntyre: Not at this time. I have McIntyre: My experience as a vic- of car accidents and other crimes as to supporting the family structure and found that the easiest way to disseminate information is to issue a press release to tim’s advocate and social worker defi- we often are not aware of the extent the successes of those within. I am the media as everyone is not connected nitely helped me to realize that all cases of injuries or additional information abundantly blessed with a supportive to social media, but may have access to a do not need a punitive resolution and which may result in additional charg- husband, parents, brother, mother-inthere may be a need to seek an alter- es. Future goals for the unit will law, aunts, godmother and friends who newspaper or television. native to address the needs of those involve prosecutor/case assignment not only help to care for my family but which will help prosecutors gather make sure that I care for myself. UPW: Have you taken advantage involved in the case.
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JAMMIN’ FOR J.A.M.P. Legendary singer Melba Moore performs with J.A.M.P. (James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils) during their 3rd Annual Concert held at the Augusta Museum of Natural History. Moore, a four-time Grammy nominee and Tony Award winner, entertained the crowd with her four-octave-range voice and energetic moves. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
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Artistic Commentary Provided by LadyVee DaPoet
HOLDING ARTISTIC GRUDGES - Is it a wise policy?
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n the creative community there are some artists that, unfortunately, have their advancement crippled by gigantic chips on their shoulders. These are the people that have their ego crushed by “constructive criticism”. Instead of seeing other artist’s success as inspiration, these people get jealous and choose to hold a grudge - sometimes with one other artist or even with entire organizations. For example, I›ve had artists ask me specifically for my opinion on their art. A few weeks later, I notice that even though my feedback was intended to help them improve,
Joel Russell Brown set to perform here
they take offense at my critique and refuse to support anything I›m doing. What a limitation! Holding a grudge with someone connected with others in various art arenas, shuts you off from opportunity that could help you down the road. I used to get personally offended when I come up with a great idea for a project or event and then when I share it online or elsewhere, a few others take the idea and make it their own. It even went so far that I›d get invites to the event that was crafted after my imagination! At first, the emotions kick in and you want to be angry. A better decision
is to think of the situation as a chance to network and make your event even more special. My advice to artists that want to see growth in their careers on a long term basis is simple: GET OVER IT! Whatever your craft may be, there will always be other artists doing exactly what you do. Event promoters put on similar shows, visual artists paint landscapes, spoken word artists use the same universal themes to write performance poems. No one else has your experience and your voice. The main point to remember is that no one is uniquely you.
Holding a grudge against others in the same artistic industry is detrimental to advancing your craft. The person you›re «mad at» may very well be the one person with the contact or advice you need to take your art to a level that its never been. Relax and let it go! Your artistic career will be much better for it! Loving Life, LadyVee DaPoet www.ladyveedapoet.com www.facebook.com/ladyveedapoet
Smooth/Pop • Classic • Big Band • Fusion/Funk • Contemporary • Blues
2013 Candlelight Jazz Concert Series
On August 18th Russell Joel Brown will present Broadway and Beyond featuring a star studded line-up of performers. th Russell returns to Augusta, Georgia for his first concert here in eight 8:00pm :: $6 (kids under 13 admitted free) :: (706) 495-6238 :: (706) 821-1754 years. Broadway and Beyond is a benefit concert for the Jessye Norman School of the Arts. The show will be held at the Maxwell Theatre STYLE: *-smooth/pop +-classic @-big band !-fusion /funk <-contemporary =-blues for Performing Arts, GRU at 5 p.m. Opera Legend Jessye Norman will be Emcee for the evening. Additional performers will be LaShonda Reese, vocals; Dr. Rosalyn Floyd, piano; David Heath, bass; Michael West, drums; Joe Collier, trumpet; Justin for not smoking – for keeping your conversations down – for keeping your pets quiet and on a leash. Reeves and Christopher Wilson, Thank you for supporting our musicians, vendors and sponsors. Calendar of jazz events is online at dancers; and the Jessye Norman gardencityjazz.com. Visit www.rainedout.com for text weather alerts. School of the Arts Vocal Ensemble. The evening will include several fun auctions including an art auction of Russell Joel Brown tribute paintings by professional artists @ May 05: Georgia Regents University Conservatory Jazz Band + Stallings Island Middle and JSNA students. There is also an + May 12: John Hobbs - Mothers Day Tribute online auction for a chance to dance on stage with Russell to “If I Only ! May 19: JAMP Masters + Afro Cubop Quartet Had a Brain.” A second online auction gives * May 26: Garden City Jazz 3 an opportunity to win backstage passes and meet Russell and the other artists up close and personal. *Jun 02: Matthew Davis Band Both online auctions can be bid on @ Jun 09: ABBA - Augusta Big Band Aggregate at http://www.freecharityauctions. com/view-auctions. All proceeds will ! Jun 16: David Heath Project go to the Jessye Norman School of + Jun 23: Piano Jazz Feature the Arts. Concert Tickets are $40 for < Jun 30: Patrick Arthur Trio adults and $20 for students under 25 with a valid student ID. Tickets can be purchased online ! Jul 07: Funk You at Jessyenormanschool.org. For more = Jul 14: Buzz Clifford information call 706-826-4713. Thank you for not smoking – for keeping your conversations down – With the continuing support of + Jul 21: Edwin Gfor keeping Trio your pets quiet and on a leash. Thank you for supporting Hamilton the Augusta community, JNSA has our musicians, vendors and sponsors. Calendar of jazz events is online grown from 30 to 80 plus students < Jul 28: Courtland Saxon & Desire in ten years. Their goal is to be able at gardencityjazz.com. Visit www.rainedout.com for text weather alerts. to accommodate 100 students this fall. The first summer program was = Aug 04: Tony Williams & Blues Express held in 2012 and the school served * Aug 11: Preston&Weston 75 students. This summer 95 students were served. Recent additions * Aug 18: Sounds Unlimited to curriculum include an Arts and Technology for high school students * Aug 25: quietSTORM and Photography classes.
Sundays The Augusta Sundays @ the@River Stage @Common 8 Street AUGUST 4
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Community Corner
What: School supply give-away for participants of Georgia Regents University’s Healthy Grandparents Program When: 9-11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2 Where: Outpatient Clinic, first floor, GRU Health Sciences Building. The Health Sciences Building is located at 987 St. Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA 30912. Readers can contact Mike Patton at 706-721-6227 for additional details about the program.
Azziz among 14 named to America’s Top Doctors list AUGUSTA Georgia Regents University President Dr. Ricardo Azziz is one of 14 Georgia Regents Medical Center physicians named to the 2013 list of America’s Top Doctors,® a national patient reference guide published by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. that identifies the top 1 percent of physicians in the nation by specialty. Georgia Regents Medical Center is the only hospital in the Augusta-Aiken area with physicians on the list, and most of the doctors, who also serve on the faculty at GRU’s Medical College of Georgia, have been America’s Top Doctors for more than a decade. Azziz, who specializes in Reproductive Endocrinology and Surgery, has clinical and research interests in endoscopic pelvic reconstruction and reproductive endocrinologic disorders in women, particularly androgen excess, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, non-classic adrenal hyperplasia and hirsutism. Azziz also serves as CEO of the Georgia Regents Health System.
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Back-to-School Supply Giveaway Serenity Charity Club, Inc and Augusta Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, along with Augusta Recreation and Parks Department, K ISS 96.3 and B el lemea d Neig hb orho o d Association, will be holding their
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GRU Healthy Grandparents Program organizers offer school supplies
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12 UrbanProWeekly • AUGUST 1 - 7, 2013
Commentary Who are we at war with? That’s classified! by Cora Currier In a major national security speech this spring, President Obama said again and again that the U.S. is at war with “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces.” So who exactly are those associated forces? It’s a secret. At a hearing in May, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked the Defense Department to provide him with a current list of Al Qaeda affiliates. The Pentagon responded – but Levin’s office told ProPublica they aren’t allowed to share it. Kathleen Long, a spokeswoman for Levin, would say only that the department’s “answer included the information requested.” A Pentagon spokesman told ProPublica that revealing such a list could cause “serious damage to national security.” “Because elements that might be considered ‘associated forces’ can build credibility by being listed as such by the United States, we have classified the list,” said the spokesman, Lt. Col. Jim Gregory.
“We cannot afford to inflate these organizations that rely on violent extremist ideology to strengthen their ranks.” It’s not an abstract question: U.S. drone strikes and other actions frequently target “associated forces,” as has been the case with dozens of strikes against an Al Qaeda offshoot in Yemen. During the May hearing, Michael Sheehan, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, said he was “not sure there is a list per se.” Describing terrorist groups as “murky” and “shifting,” he said, “it would be difficult for the Congress to get involved in trying to track the designation of which are the affiliate forces” of Al Qaeda. Sheehan said that by the Pentagon’s standard, “sympathy is not enough…. it has to be an organized group and that group has to be in co-belligerent status with Al Qaeda operating against the United States.” The White House tied Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and “elements” of Al Shabaab in Somalia to Al Qaeda
in a recent report to Congress on military actions. But the report also included a classified annex. Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law who served as a legal counsel during the Bush administration and has written on this question at length, told ProPublica that the Pentagon’s reasoning for keeping the affiliates secret seems weak. “If the organizations are ‘inflated’ enough to be targeted with military force, why cannot they be mentioned publicly?” Goldsmith said. He added that there is “a countervailing very important interest in the public knowing who the government is fighting against in its name.” The law underpinning the U.S. war against Al Qaeda is known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, and it was passed one week after the 9/11 attacks. It doesn’t actually include the words “associated forces,” though courts and Congress have endorsed the phrase. As we explained earlier this year, the emergence of new or more loosely-aligned terrorist groups has legal
scholars wondering how effectively the U.S. will be able to “shoehorn” them into the AUMF. During the May hearing, many lawmakers expressed concern about the Pentagon’s capacious reading of the law. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., described it as a “carte blanche.” Obama, in his May speech, said he looked forward “to engaging Congress and the American people in efforts to refine, and ultimately repeal, the AUMF’s mandate.” But he didn’t give a timeframe. On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., introduced an amendment that would sunset the law at the end of 2014, to coincide with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was voted down the same day, 185 to 236. The AUMF isn’t the only thing the government relies on to take military action. In speeches and interviews Obama administration officials also bring up the president’s constitutional power to defend the country, even without congressional authorization. © Copyright 2013 Pro Publica Inc.
Bradley Manning revealed crimes far worse than the ones he supposedly committed By John Glaser WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning has been acquitted of the most serious charge against him, that of aiding the enemy. But the 20-something other charges, including espionage, have stuck and could land him a sentence of more than 100 years in prison. In the media world, even national security hawks like The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake concede that Manning’s leaks had “a lot of public benefit.” But very few have argued Manning should go free. Did Manning break the law? According to the letter, yes he did. But since when did we presume to hold people in government accountable to the law? The Bush administration lied to the American people in order to justify the war crime of attacking Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. That crime qualified, in the words of the Nuremberg Tribunal, as “the supreme international crime differing only from other crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Trillions of dollars and the death and suffering of millions of people were
the consequences of that crime. The Bush gang also secretly ordered warrantless surveillance of Americans’ domestic communications without involving the courts, a blatant violation of both constitutional and statutory law. And don’t forget the setting up of a worldwide torture regime that directly violated longstanding international law as well as domestic law, specifically a Convention against torture, passed by Congress and signed by Ronald Reagan, which specifies that “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever... may be invoked as a justification of torture.” Yet, nobody but the most marginal voices in our politics ever dared to suggest the Bush administration should be prosecuted according to the letter of the law. Many of these types of crimes have extended into the Obama era as well. The Obama administration’s penchant for secret legal interpretations of when the Bill of Rights applies and when it doesn’t conflicts with basic principles of the rule of law. James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, recently committed perjury when he lied to
Congress about whether the National Security Agency collects information on American citizens, a federal crime as it turns out. He issued an apology, but otherwise faces no consequences. In the U.S., there are crimes the government approves of and those it doesn’t. Contrast Bradley Manning’s punishment, for example, with that of the commander in charge of the torture at Abu Ghraib. Manning was subjected to abusive detention and faces more than a hundred years in prison. Col. Thomas M. Pappas, who oversaw the brutal torment of hundreds of detainees got an $8,000 fine. Bradley Manning’s leaks revealed crimes far worse than the ones he has supposedly committed. The Collateral Murder video shows the sickening slaughter of a group of people in Iraq, including journalists and rescuers. One State Department cable revealed to the world for the first time that U.S. special operations forces raided a house in Iraq in 2006 and summarily executed one man, four women, two children, and three infants -- all shot in the head. Although Phillip Alston, the UN
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, brought the incident to the attention of then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Bush administration failed to respond. Manning’s leaks also revealed the fact that the Obama administration colluded with the Yemeni dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh to execute a secret war without the consent of Congress and systematically lie about it. Yet Manning, who blew the whistle on this criminality, is the only one facing legal prosecution. The lopsided nature of our legal system is well-known to any close observer of American politics. The law is for the powerful to defy with impunity, and for the weak to be punished with. History, at least, will look very kindly on the actions of Bradley Manning and harshly on the crimes of the overlords he challenged. The real task is for Americans to get to the point where the country – and its government – is ruled by law, and not by men. John Glaser is editor at Anti-war. com
T
by Corey Washington
Was it really worth it? Many people have asked if it was worth it to bring the George Zimmerman trial to court. They go on to suggest that Civil Rights leaders like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson riled people up to push for the arrest and conviction of George Zimmerman. They also constantly chide Trayvon Martin supporters for their persistent efforts to further seek justice. They may even go so far as to suggest that taxpayers monies have been wasted in a fruitless pursuit of non-attainable justice. But, what about the other side of the equation? Was it really worth it for the State of Florida to not arrest George Zimmerman initially? That is what really started the fire storm.
Was it really worth it for Sanford, Florida to not push for the arrest of George Zimmerman locally, before it got international attention? Was it really worth it for the Sanford Chief of Police to disregard the recommendation of the lead investigator Chris Serino, who wanted to charge George Zimmerman with Manslaughter? Those who say it wasn’t worth it to bring this case to trial are discounting the incredible dialog that has been brought about by these unfortunate events. Many people are talking about how they feel about being profiled, and some people are at least acknowledging their fears of young Black men. We are not including those who
cowardly sit behind the anonymity of a computer and spew hate and ignorance, but rather those who are honest and constructive in their comments. Just telling someone what’s on your mind is not enough when you have nothing of substance to offer. Was it worth it for Sanford and the State of Florida to “Stand their Ground” by not arresting George Zimmerman initially? The early reports do not bode well for the Sunshine State. The town of Sanford was already on the ropes when it came to home sales, but now the economy is really hurting as people are having to “short sale” their homes, or either foreclose altogether. Businesses are
also reporting decline in revenues. The state of Florida now has one big bull’s-eye on it because of it’s Stand your Ground laws, despite the fact that many other states (including GA) have these laws on the books. Florida stands to lose billions in future revenue because of the avalanche of boycotts coming their way. There are no winners in the final analysis. Trayvon Martin’s family has lost a loved one. George Zimmerman’s life is messed up. But wait, their is one winner in this whole mess........the media!!!!! Corey Washington is the author of Plain Talk Vol.1 and 2, Nobody Cages Me (Jimi Hendrix)
FORUM Weiner and Filner:
The case for more women in politics Kristie Robin Johnson At the risk of sounding like a female chauvinist, women are just better at certain things. No one can apply makeup while navigating morning rush hour traffic quite like a woman. And managing to sit, stand, and walk eight hours a day, five days a week in pantyhose and pumps is a skill tailor-made for the feminine physique. Let us not even begin to talk about giving birth. I kid, but there are some legitimate differences in approach between the genders that deserve deeper examination. This past week in political news reminded us that women just might have the edge when it comes to mastering the ability to hold public office and behave appropriately at the same time. It’s an age-old scene in American political theater. Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl. Boy runs for office. Boy wins. Boy meets a different girl. Boy then either sends racy mes-
sages to, sexually harasses, sleeps with, or has an affair with said different girl. Boy gets caught. Boy tearfully apologizes, usually with original girl by his side. Boy steps down and goes into political exile. Boy resurfaces years later, absolved of all sins, asking voters to support him again. The recent antics of Anthony Weiner, ex-congressman running for Mayor in New York, and Bob Filner, the currently embattled Mayor of San Diego, are just the latest in a long storyline of men behaving badly. I believe that an individual’s personal life is just that – personal. Indeed, it has been proven in history that one can have some serious character defects and still be an extraordinary leader (i.e. Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton). Here’s the problem: while tongues are wagging about text messages and lawsuits, serious policy issues
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are ignored. Anthony Weiner should be getting bombarded by questions about New York’s “stop and frisk” policy, not the number of women he’s had inappropriate contact with in the last twelve months. Enter Citizen Jane. She may be our savior from salacious headlines and distracting, scandalous campaigns. She possesses something that many average Joe’s do not. It’s called humility. And men that get caught in these embarrassing webs could use a big dose of it. Maybe women are less susceptible to hubris because we’ve had to fight tooth and nail to gain civic equality in this nation. The right to vote was not a birthright for women at the dawn of our republic. So when a female ascends to elected office, it is particularly precious. That lady understands that hundreds of thousands of women struggled to give her that opportunity. Serving becomes an honor and privilege – not an entitlement. It’s
something that she won’t easily take for granted. For this reason, we need more women in office. Women make up roughly half of the U.S. population, but only hold 18.3% of the seats in Congress according to recent Rutgers University study. Perhaps women stay away from public office because of the scrutiny involved with running for office. Many women do not see politics as a viable or even an available path. And not just any woman will do. We need passionate, articulate, thoughtful, ethical, and thickskinned women to take up this banner. For modern women the blueprint has been laid by courageous souls like Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, and Hilary Clinton. To the women who have answered the call, thank you for your service and taking your task seriously. For sisters sitting on the sidelines, it’s time for us to take their example and literally run with it.
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