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John Kasich blames black women for infant mortality

Everyone knows Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is running as the “nice guy” in the Republican presidential race. But at MSNBC’s recent GOP town hall, he made some nasty comments about black infant mortality rates in his state.

 

After a question on criminal justice reform, NBC News host Chuck Todd asked Kasich to explain how his efforts in the black community could go further than policing and mass incarceration. Todd listed statistics including the state’s staggering income gap, that Ohio was deemed the sixth worst state to raise a black child by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and that Cleveland is considered one of the of the 10 most segregated cities in the U.S.

Kasich, after saying he didn’t believe those statistics, listed his accomplishments as governor — including school reform and job creation — before oddly pivoting to infant mortality rates.

“The issue of infant mortality is a tough one. We have taken that on and one of the toughest areas to take on is in the minority community,” he said. “And the community itself is going to have to have a better partnership with all of us to begin to solve that problem with infant mortality in the minority community, because we’re making gains in the majority community.”

Ohio has the third highest rate of infant mortality in the nation — and the main organization working to lower those rates had its funding cut by Kasich.

Though Kasich expanded Medicaid, which brought health care to many low-income mothers, a lot of the gains were erased in February. That month he signed a bill to slash $1.3 million of state funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that “perform or promote” abortions (even though Ohio law already prevented state funds from covering abortions). The bill takes effect May 23. Among Planned Parenthood’s services is Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, the largest of 14 infant mortality programs in the state.

“It is offensive to hear John Kasich tell black women what we should do with our bodies, though not at all surprising. John Kasich blames black women for infant mortality, while as Governor, he cuts programs that help black families in Ohio,” said Alencia Johnson, assistant director of constituency communications for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a statement.

huffingtonpost.com

Observant pupil saves class mate’s life while two others tried to poison him

Three first-graders at an Anchorage school have been suspended for plotting to kill a classmate with poison.

 

Luckily for their intended victim, two things went wrong: most importantly, another kid who learned of their scheme informed grownups before the plot could be carried out, local NBC affiliate KTUU reports. And even if they had made their attempt, they likely would have failed: they were planning to use silica gel, which is not actually considered toxic (though they thought it was).

An email to parents of first graders at Winterberry Charter School explained what happened and urged parents to encourage their kids to be like the good Samaritan in this case.

A spokesperson for the Anchorage Police Department said, “The important lesson here is to really teach your kids if they hear something like this, something where someone intends to do harm to someone else, they should tell someone that they trust right away.”

 

time.com

Man With 1,400 Bags Of Heroin In His Rectum Busted By Dog

A 41-year-old from Bronx was Tuesday busted in Vermont with over 1,400 bags worth of heroin inside him, cops have said, according to nydailynews.

Fernando Estrella was hiding three condoms filled with the drug inside his body when state troopers pulled him over on North Elm St. in St. Albans at around 1 a.m. for speeding his gray Chevy minivan through a stop sign, said Sgt. John Helfant of the Vermont State Police.

A drug-detecting dog then alerted police to Estrella’s car seat. Cops found a heroin needle and cooking cap in the car, but recovered no drugs.

Cops detained Estrella and took him to a local hospital, where cops executed a warrant for a body cavity search.

They eventually removed the three heroin-filled condoms, which equal 1,428 bags for sale, from his rectum, Helfant said.

Estrella, had brought the drugs from New York City to be sold in the area, he said.

He was charged with felony heroin possession, heroin trafficking, and heroin importation. He had also violated the terms of his release on a Nov. 2015 cocaine bust, officials said.

'Jesus' Falls 13 Feet From Cross In Guatemala

Tragedy struck for real during a reenactment of Jesus's death when the main actor plunged from the top of the cross to the ground. 

A video on Mailonline shows the man dressed as Christ falling about 13ft into the crowd below has now gone viral on social media.

The incident is said to have happened during Easter celebrations in the town of Santa Barbara, in the south-west Guatemalan department of Suchitepequez.

The images show the man, with long curly hair and a white loincloth, falling off the high cross with his arms flailing.

The scared Jesus actor tries to grab onto the robes supporting the cross but tumbles down into the crowd amidst shouts of alarm.

There is no news as to the condition of the man.

 

 

primenews.com.gh

Passenger on board hijacked EgyptAir flight describes reactions witnessed

A passenger on board the hijacked EgyptAir flight has described the unique reactions he witnessed among his fellow travellers when they believed they could be killed during the ordeal.

 

As the plane was forced to divert from Cairo at the behest of hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa, 58, many began calling loved ones for what they thought were their final goodbyes.

One rang his wife to reveal the existence of a secret bank account, while another woke up as the diverted jet approached Cyprus, asking: 'Why Cyprus? I'll miss my connection.'

Another man's wife, apparently unconcerned about the fact her husband was a bomb hostage, forced him to repeat the details of his bank account several times.

The stories were retold by AbdAllah El Ashmawy, an orthopedic surgeon from Egypt who is based in Plymouth.

In a post on his Facebook page, he thanked all those who called and messaged him concerned about his safety.

Admitting it was a day he would 'never forget', he said it was a 'very painful experience to be on a hijacked plane in the middle of the sea with a guy... who claims he has explosives'.

However, he also revealed that the reactions of his fellow passengers helped lighten the tense mood on board the plane.

He wrote: 'Most of the people managed to stay calm, but as usual passengers on board made my day.

'A lovely Egyptian chap decided to call all his family and friends one by one in the middle of the hijacked plane when we were about to land to Cyprus.

'Another funny husband calling [sic] his wife to tell her about some money he was hiding in a bank and the funniest part is his wife forgetting about the hijack thing and asking him to repeat the bank name.

'Another lovely guy was sleeping and woke up to be informed we are landing in Cyprus and his funny response was 'why Cyprus??!..I will miss my connection.'

dailymail.co.uk

Miami man rejects $1.8 million price tag on ancestors land

A Native American man has refused to sell his tiny wooden Miami house to developers for $1.8million because he believes it is on sacred ground.

 

Ishmael Bermudez, 65, also known as Golden Eagle, has been excavating the backyard of his home for almost 50 years and claims it is a mystical place sacred to the Tequesta tribe.

He says he will not sell his home unless the garden, where he discovered a natural spring, is protected.

The small house, which is decorated with colorful paintings, sits incongruously in the heart of Miami's bustling city center, surrounded by high rise buildings, heavy traffic and ongoing construction projects.

Developers have driven up the value of his property to at least $1.8 million, but Mr Bermudez says he has no intention to sell unless his backyard can be protected.

Mr Bermudez claims he has found evidence of the earliest native inhabitants of the area in his garden, which sits just two blocks from busy Brickell Avenue and is surrounded by skyscrapers, bars and restaurants.

dailymail.co.uk

Police officer shoots dead unarmed man in Arizona despite pleas to spare his life

An unarmed young father of two was shot five times by a police officer in Mesa, Arizona, after begging “Please don’t shoot me.” Now his widow is fighting the system to try to keep her husband’s murderer from walking free.

 

Police invaded Daniel Shaver’s hotel room after receiving a phone call that somebody was pointing a rifle out the window, according to local affiliate KTAR. The rifle wound up being two pellet rifles, which the police “later determined were related to his pest control job.”

Police forced Shaver and his acquaintance to “crawl” out from the room. Shaver reached towards his waistline, “possibly to pull up his shorts,” when Officer Philip Brailsford gunned him down with his own personal AR-15 assault rifle, which was inscribed with the phrase “You’re f***ed,” according to Tucson News.

Shaver was only 26 years old, and leaves behind two daughters.

Brailsford has been fired and is pleading not guilty to second degree murder. However, county attorney Bill Montgomery has said that they are considering a plea deal. At most, he would likely serve three years and nine months with a possibility for probation.

usuncut.com

How the U.S. media actively misinforms the public on crucial issues

Either by omission or by commission, the US media actively misinforms the public on crucial issues that matter. The reason they do this is because they legally can.

My mentor and dissertation committee member, Dr. Peter Dale Scott, recently wrote on his Facebook page: “Inadequate decently priced housing is one of America's most urgent domestic problems, with developers vacating neighborhoods to build third and fourth homes for the one percent. It is a symptom of what's wrong that Cynthia McKinney, one of the relatively few former members of Congress with a Ph.D., has to go to RT to discuss a crisis that is so under-reported in the US media.”

And therein lies the problem with US media: The news is so filtered and in some cases propagandized that it bears little resemblance to the day-to-day intellectual needs of the average US citizen. It fails to provide solutions, let alone information that allows US citizens to cast informed votes. Either by omission or by commission, the US media actively under-, ill-, or misinforms the public on crucial issues that matter! The reason they do this is because they legally can. Media in the US has at least one court ruling that allows them to knowingly lie to the public.

Let’s start with the First Amendment to the US Constitution that protects freedom of speech. Courts in the US have ruled on many occasions that freedom of speech also includes the freedom to lie. The rationale is that such rulings give space for unpopular statements of fact. For example, in 2012, the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to affirm a lower court decision to overturn a conviction for lying about one’s credentials.

The lower court judge in that case wrote, “How can you develop a reputation as a straight shooter if lying is not an option?”

Washington State Supreme Court even ruled that lying to get votes, distinguishing between fact and opinion, was not something that the state should negotiate. It wrote that people and not the government should be the final arbiter of truth in a political debate.

Now, the First Amendment does not protect some types of lying: like, for instance, lying while under oath, lying to a government official, lying to sell a product. Even in defamation cases, the plaintiff has a firm threshold to overcome, especially if the person targeted is a “public person.” However, the Supreme Court has emphatically ruled that individuals have a right to lie: what about corporations and media outlets? In 2012, the Supreme Court extended First Amendment rights to organizations and corporations in its Citizens United decision.

My local newspaper, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (AJC), ran a headline against me just days before my election that read: “McKinney Indicted.” One had to pore over the article to learn that the McKinney referred to was neither me nor my father, nor anyone related to me. But the AJC never stated that fact. It was a dirty trick carried out by the US press. And sadly, it happens all the time. I filed a lawsuit against the AJC, but had to withdraw it because of a lack of money to finance the lawsuit and, worse, the hostile environment regarding the media and anybody's efforts to make them tell the truth. I remained powerless before the media monolith and wondered why and how they could get away with such blatant and outright lies.

Then, in 2010, 'Project Censored' ran a story that caught my eye: “The Media Can Legally Lie.” After having had my series of run-ins with my local media as they always failed to report the truth about me, I was drawn to this story. Project Censored is a media watchdog based at Sonoma State University in California. Its goal is to end the junk food news diet of misinformation and disinformation fed to the US public by the corporate media. It is a project of students and faculty to shine a light on underreported or unreported stories that should be of great interest to the public. The Project Censored movie tells a part of its important story.

The 2010 story centers on two journalists, hired by FOX News as investigative journalists, who became whistleblowers when they were instructed to report “news” that they knew was not true.

According to Project Censored, in February 2003, FOX News argued that there was no prohibition on media outlets distorting or falsifying the news in the United States. And skipping ahead, FOX News won on that claim! But to backtrack to provide some context, the issue was the placement of Bovine Growth Hormone, BGH, manufactured by Monsanto, into the milk stream without labeling it.

A husband and wife reporting team produced a four-part series revealing the health risks for humans in drinking milk from cows treated with BGH to boost milk production. FOX News wanted the reporters to add statements from Monsanto that the couple knew were not factual. When they refused to make the suggested edits, the couple was fired. They sued and a Florida jury decided the couple was wrongfully fired. FOX News appealed the case. Basically, the Florida Appeals Court ruled that there is no law, rule, or even regulation against distorting the news and that the decision to report honestly resides with the news outlet.

FOX News was joined in its court action by other news outlets, notably Cox Television, Inc., a sister organization to the Cox-owned Atlanta Journal and Constitution. In an incredible and chilling turnabout, the two truth-telling journalists were ordered to pay FOX News millions of dollars to cover the company’s attorney fees. The reporters were told by FOX News executives, “The news is what we say it is.”

And there we have it. Now, this Court action immediately affected the right of people in the US to know what is in the food they buy. Media consolidation in the US is such that six corporations control 90 percent of the junk food news and entertainment fed to the people of the US and around the world. And US Courts not only say that this is OK, but also decided that it’s OK for them to knowingly lie to the public. That, in a nutshell, is why the US media lie: Because they can. And that, in a nutshell, is why the people of the US are increasingly turning to RT and alternative news outlets for information: Because they must.

rt.com

Lawyer who dishonestly practiced for 10 years convicted

A former president of a Pennsylvania county bar association has been convicted of using forged documents to pose as an estate lawyer for a decade even though she didn't have a law license.

 

Kimberly Kitchen was convicted on Thursday on charges of forgery, unauthorized practice of law and felony records tampering in Huntingdon County.

Kitchen, 45, fooled BMZ Law, a Huntingdon firm, by forging a law license, bar exam results, an email showing she attended Duquesne University law school and a check for a state attorney registration fee, prosecutors said.

The married James Creek resident handled estate planning for more than 30 clients despite never attending law school, and she even served as president of the Huntingdon County Bar Association for a time.

She made partner at BMZ, where she specialized in estate planning, before the fraud was discovered.

The judge on the case was brought in from another county, and the state attorney general, not county prosecutors, handled the case because Kitchen had been a fixture in the county courthouse for years.

BMZ officials testified at her two-day trial but haven't commented publicly since issuing a statement in December 2014, when the Huntingdon Daily News first reported that Kitchen was being investigated.

The firm's voicemail said its offices were closed for Good Friday.

'Sadly, it would appear that our firm was the last, in a long line of professionals, to have been deceived by Ms Kitchen into believing she was licensed to practice law,' the firm said previously. 'We are undertaking a thorough review of each and every file she may have handled.'

Kitchen had worked in fundraising at Juniata College before she started telling people she was an attorney, state prosecutors said.

The charges she was convicted of carry a maximum sentence of three-and-a-half to seven years behind bars.

Defense attorney Caroline Roberto said Friday that she is reviewing whether to appeal.

The judge didn't immediately schedule sentencing, giving caseworkers 90 days to file a presentence report first.

'We think that she had no intent to defraud,' Roberto said.

Last year Roberto called Kitchen an 'incredibly competent person'.

'She worked very diligently and was devoted to the people she served in the community,' Roberto added.

She said there was no evidence Kitchen's work was bad. 'She provided a good service,' she said.

Kitchen hasn't practiced law since the firm asked her to stop in December 2014.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane's office said it is happy with the conviction of Kitchen.

'The Attorney General's Office is certainly pleased to prove this case but more importantly to take an impersonator office the streets,' spokesman Chuck Ardo told WJAC.

Ardo added that Kitchen's lies were bound to catch up with her because 'they almost always get caught'.

A date for Kitchen's sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

dailymail.co.uk

Suicide Bomber Kills 38, Injures 100 In Pakistan

Just within days of the twin terrorist attack on Brussels, a suicide bomber has killed at least 38 people, mostly women and children, outside a public park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday, according to rescue officials and police.

Ladies of ‘The View’ show enquire from Carson why he backed Trump

Appearing on the The View Thursday morning was none other than former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson. He, of course, spoke of his time running for office and even joked that his first choice for president went out the window the day he dropped out.

 

Carson was then asked by the women of the show about his endorsement of Donald Trump. Which, in all honesty, doesn’t make any sense, and it was discovered last week that Trump may have illegally offered him an advisory role in exchange for an endorsement.

Whoopi Goldberg didn’t hold back at all and laid it all out on the table for Carson:

“This guy…he’s a racist and he’s not good for the country… You’re Ben Carson! You’re so much better than this.”

Carson then explained that because he “is better than this” he’s capable of looking past the racism to the broader picture. Which is the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard.

 Carson also said that we have to get away from the ruling class, and unfortunately it had to be explained to the sleepy doctor that Trump is very much a part of the ruling class.

All in all, the ladies of The View, in particular, Whoopi Goldberg, tore Trump a new one, and laid into Carson for backing him.

And as per usual, Trump proves that he cannot handle criticism, especially if it comes from women. He quickly took to his Twitter account while the show was still airing to show everyone, once again, that he has the maturity level of a seven-year-old.

. @TheView T.V. show, which is failing so badly that it will soon be taken off thr air, is constantly asking me to go on. I TELL THEM "NO"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Explain how the women on The View, which is a total disaster since the great Barbara Walters left, ever got their jobs. @abc is wasting time

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Well, the women of The View , while still on air, called him out on these tweets, and told him that they’d love to have him on, but he’s terrified they’ll be mean to him and ask him tough questions. You see, Trump only wants to be part of interviews where he can control the conversation and be adored by the media. Being surrounded by strong, successful women interrogating him is pretty much his worst nightmare.

Oh, and The View has been on for 20 years now and is doing just fine with or without Trump as a guest. He’s the last person to talk about a failing television show.

Good on Whoopi for calling both Carson and Trump out. Carson on his hypocrisy and aversion to reality, and Trump on his utter horseshit. Well done.

addictinginfo.org

 

Israeli soldier’s killing of wounded Palestinian raises concern of war crimes

An Israeli soldier has been caught on video shooting a wounded Palestinian in the head in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) after he was injured over an alleged stabbing attack.

 

On Thursday, the human rights group, B'tselem, released the graphic footage taken by one of its members after two Palestinian youths were shot over allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier earlier in the day.

In the video, the wounded Palestinian can be seen lying on the ground after being initially shot by Israeli forces.

After about a minute, one of the Israeli troops raises his gun and shoots the man in the head, causing a surge of blood from the wound, which then stains the surrounding pavement.

“I heard gunshots, went outside my house to check what it was, and saw several Israeli soldiers yelling and two youths on the ground. A soldier approached one of the youths that was moving while yelling and opened fire at him from zero range,” a local witness was quoted by the Ma’an news agency as saying.

The second Palestinian succumbed to his wounds after being denied medical aid by the Israeli soldiers. The wounded Israeli was transferred to a hospital in al-Quds (Jerusalem) with minor stab wounds in the shoulder and hand.

Israel claims to have detained the soldier and launched an investigation into the incident.

In response to the Tel Aviv regime's latest atrocity, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, Philip Luther, said the shooting could easily be deemed as a war crime.

"The shooting of a wounded and incapacitated person, even if they have been involved in an attack, has absolutely no justification and must be prosecuted as a potential war crime," he said, adding, "Israeli forces have a long history of carrying out unlawful killings – including extrajudicial executions – in the occupied Palestinian Territories with impunity.”

Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Awwad also referred to the incident as a "war crime," noting that even before to the shooting, medics were not treating the gravely injured man.

Al-Khalil , the largest West Bank city, has witnessed escalated tensions between some 200,000 Palestinians and several hundred Israelis living in illegal settlements under heavy military guard.

Tensions have heightened in the occupied territories since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

At least 208 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

presstv.com

Rev Al Sharpton, media corporations sued by Byron Allen for discriminatory deeds against blacks

After questioning Al Sharpton‘s legacy as a black leader along with his non-profit Civil Rights organization the “National Action Network,” (founded by Sharpton in 1991), Byron Allen included Sharpton’s name in a lawsuit as well as the NAACP and other “black” organizations for allegedly signing “sham” diversity agreements then taking donations from major corporations like Comcast knowing the corporations were using these black “leaders” and organizations to keep quiet and to allegedly help them cover discriminatory practices.

 

CEO Byron Allen is proving to be quite a nightmare to the major corporations who allegedly could not buy all black folks off to keep quiet. Allen also included in his suit last year Time Warner, Comcast and AT&T. (AT&T has since settled with Allen).

The recent Oscar awards’ lack of inclusion for African Americans is and has always been just the tip of the iceberg and while other black celebrities are complaining and still begging for inclusion, CEO Byron Allen is actually stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.

The media mogul has just filed a suit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Charter Communications for racial discrimination against African American Media. Allen who has often been a silent yet respected brilliant businessman over the last few decades, has always gone against the grain of traditional media corporations upon realizing he was not going to be afforded the same opportunities.

“Everyone talks about diversity, but diversity in Hollywood and the media starts with ownership,” Allen states. He goes on to say that: “President Obama and the Democratic Party have completely excluded the African-American community when it comes to economic inclusion,” Allen said in a statement to TheWrap Wednesday. The $10 billion lawsuit was filed at the Central District Court of California yesterday (Wednesday), citing Charter Communications is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. section 1981. The corporation, according to Allen spent 4 Billion annually without a single dollar going towards black owned media companies. The court documents filed by Allen also state that Charter Communications President and CEO Tom Rutledge is a “blatant racist.”

The suit has pristine timing before the FCC gives final approval for the acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks making Charter Communications even more dominant in the industry. Allen states that the FCC should never consider Charter Communications’ acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks because of their alleged discriminatory history. We’ll keep you posted on this story.

urbanintellectuals.com