Epic O’Reilly Race Rant: Vintage Video

NewsBrusandReviews

Writer Leonard Pitts looks at the typical talking points made by pundits like O’Reilly, such as the black-on-black crime rate:

“…this has become the go-to “reasoning” for those on the right — Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh — when asked to give a damn about the killings of unarmed black boys and men.

“That formulation is false for multiple reasons.

“In the first place, being concerned over the shooting of unarmed black men hardly precludes being concerned over violence within the African-American community. Giuliani and others suggest a dichotomy where none exists.

“In the second place, they ignore the obvious: When black people commit crimes against black people, they face prosecution, but when police officers (or certain neighborhood watchmen) commit crimes against black people, they face getting off with little if any punishment.

“In the third place, what exactly is “black on black” crime?

“Do black people kill one another? Sure they do. Ninety percent of black murder victims are killed by black assailants.

“But guess what? White people kill one another, too. Eighty-three percent of white victims are killed by white assailants. See, the vast majority of violent crime is committed within — not between — racial groups. Crime is a matter of proximity and opportunity. People victimize their own rather than drive across town to victimize somebody else.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article4187602.html#storylink=cpy

Are Teachers Treated Poorly In This Country?

The Young Turks

Annika McKenzie, 34, is charged with second-degree assault and strangulation for physically attacking a teacher, according to ABC 7.  Her 14-year-old niece is facing second-degree assault charges as a juvenile.

McKenzie allegedly became enraged because she believed that a math teacher at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead, Long Island “put her hands on” her 12-year-old daughter, the New York Daily News reports.

The teacher, Catherine Engelhardt, was outside her classroom at around 2 p.m. when, cops said, McKenzie attacked her. Engelhardt is a 22-year veteran of the Hempstead School District.  McKenzie allegedly knocked the teacher to the ground, then put her in a chokehold until she lost consciousness, according to Pix 11.

The niece allegedly joined in the attack by punching the teacher in the head, Hempstead Police Chief Michael McGowan told Newsday.

(Updated report)

Texas Mother Pulls Gun On Student

A mother pulled a gun on a female student after the student got into a fight with her daughter, according to the Pasadena, Texas, Independent School District, according to click2houston.com.

PISD said the two students were fighting at a park across the street from Pasadena High School Tuesday when Viridiana Alvarez took out a gun.  Pasadena ISD police broke up the fight before anyone was seriously injured.

Hours after the fight, cellphone video and pictures surfaced of the altercation that appeared to show Alvarez pointing a gun at the teen’s head.  Alvarez was arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

“I don’t think a grown woman should be taking a gun where kids are,” said the victim’s grandmother. “I think it’s wrong.”

During her first appearance in court Alvarez, 33, told the judge that she wasn’t planning to shoot the girl with the pistol, only “scare her.”   Her family told KPRC2 that the gun was not loaded.

“Yeah but still,” said the victim’s grandmother.  “It’s not right to take (out) a gun.”

Former Federal Judge Regrets Sending Man To Prison For 55-Years Over Marijuana

Do judges ever have a conscience that catches up with them?  Do they ever regret harsh punishments? Are their hands ever tied over sentencing?

Weldon Angelos was just 24 years old when he was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for three marijuana sales, according to Yahoo! News.  He is one of the hundreds of thousands of federal prisoners serving decades-long sentences for non-violent crimes, thanks to mandatory minimum sentencing laws created in the 1980s during America’s war on drugs.

Angelos may not live long enough to experience freedom again.

His case has haunted the federal judge that put him there.

“I do think about Angelos,” said Paul Cassell, a now-retired federal judge in the Utah circuit. “I sometimes drive near the prison where he’s held, and I think, ‘Gosh he shouldn’t be there. Certainly not as long as I had to send him there. … That wasn’t the right thing to do. The system forced me to do it.”

Back in 2002, Angelos was an aspiring music producer and a father of two young boys living in Salt Lake City. Determined to make it big, he founded his own record company, eventually collaborating with big names like Snoop Dogg.

But Angelos told ABC News he also started dealing pot on the side.

Federal authorities caught wind of Angelos’s dealings and set up three stings, using a criminal informant to buy about $1,000 worth of marijuana from him. There was one critical detail in the case – during the deals, the criminal informant claimed Angelos had a gun.

The case went to federal court and Angelos was convicted in federal court of selling narcotics while in possession of a firearm.

These offenses fall under mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and prosecutors treated each of the three marijuana deals as its own individual offense. This is called “stacking” the charges.  It means Angelos was facing three prison terms, stacked on top of each other. All in– 55 years in prison, with no possibility of parole.

When Cassell delivered his ruling in the Angelos case, he was quick to point out how severe the sentence seemed compared to violent crimes.

“If he had been an aircraft hijacker, he would have gotten 24 years in prison. If he’s been a terrorist, he would have gotten 20 years in prison. If he was a child rapist, he would have gotten 11 years in prison. And now I’m supposed to give him a 55-year sentence? I mean, that’s just not right,”

More:

https://gma.yahoo.com/former-federal-judge-regrets-55-marijuana-sentence-012200265–abc-news-topstories.html

Do People Get Arrested For “Marijuana Possession?”

MSNBC / HenryBloggit

According to MSNBC, people can and do get arrested for marijuana possession.

In this clip, Chris Hayes looks at a video of Bill O’Reilly claiming that no one gets arrested for possession of marijuana.

Britain Retraces Winston Churchill’s Funeral Journey 50 Years Later

It was the day an entire nation was watching, re-created 50 years later.

Britain has commemorated the state funeral of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill by retracing the actual journey of the funeral.

Prime Minister David Cameron described Churchill as a ‘great Briton’ who should never be forgotten, and laid a wreath in his honor.

Churchill’s family stood aboard the merchant vessel Havengore, as it made its way down the Thames from the Tower of London to Westminster as it did in 1965.

euronews

Is The U.S. Senate Select Committee On Intelligence All Democrats?

Is the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence – which recently released the report on torture – composed of all Democrats?

As can be seen on the Committee website and the chart below, seven of the members are Republicans.  (Eight members are Democrats.)

2013-2014
Democrats		Republicans
	Dianne Feinstein, California Chairman		Saxby Chambliss, Georgia Vice Chairman
	John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia		Richard Burr, North Carolina
	Ron Wyden, Oregon		James E. Risch, Idaho
	Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland		Daniel Coats, Indiana
	Mark Udall, Colorado		Marco Rubio, Florida
	Mark Warner, Virginia		Susan Collins, Maine
	Martin Heinrich, New Mexico		Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
	Angus King, Maine

More:

http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/memberscurrent.html

Mexican Protester Lights Himself On Fire

According to the AP, a young farmer in Tuxtla Gutierrez in southern Mexico set himself on fire to demand the release of his father, an indigenous leader who was arrested last year on charges stemming from a series of demonstrations in 2011 that turned violent.

He was outside of the Chiapas state legislature building.

Agustin Gomez Perez, 21, lay down and allowed another protester to douse him with gasoline and set it alight on Friday. He was taken to a hospital, and his stepmother, Araceli Diaz, said Saturday that he was “serious but stable” condition with second- and third-degree burns.

Gomez Perez and other indigenous farmers have been protesting last year’s jailing of his father, Florentino Gomez Giron.

The father is charged with murder, stealing cattle, organized crime and causing 39 families to flee the Ixtapa municipality as a result of leading indigenous protests in 2011 to demand improved basic services. The protests culminated in violence that included the destruction of police cars and the burning of the Ixtapa town hall.

The human rights office of the Chiapas state government issued a statement lamenting Gomez Perez’s immolation and saying it would seek to discourage “acts that put at risk the lives of protesters.”

Rush Limbaugh Threatening to Sue The DCCC

Rush is threatening to sue the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for using his words against him.

Sam Seder video.