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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession - Yahoo News

Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea
voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions against Russia for it.

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Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow — referring to the thousands of Russian troops now in the strategic Black Sea peninsula after seizing it two weeks ago.

But after the polls closed late Sunday, crowds of ethnic Russians in the regional Crimean capital of Simferopol erupted with jubilant chants in the main square, overjoyed at the prospect of once again becoming part of Russia.

The Crimea referendum offered voters the choice of seeking annexation by Russia or remaining in Ukraine with greater autonomy. After 50 percent of the ballots were counted, Mikhail Malishev, head of the referendum committee, said more than 95 percent of voters had approved splitting off and joining Russia.

Opponents of secession appeared to have stayed away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play and land grab by Russia.

Russia was expected to face strong sanctions Monday by the U.S. and Europe over the vote, which could also encourage rising pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine's east and lead to further divisions in this nation of 46
million. Residents in western Ukraine and the capital, Kiev, are strongly pro-West and Ukrainian nationalist.

The Crimean parliament will meet Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed and Crimean lawmakers will fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea's pro-Russia prime minister said on Twitter.

In Moscow, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, suggested that joining Russia was a done deal.
"We understand that for 23 years after Ukraine's formation as a sovereign state, Crimeans have been waiting for this day," Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the state ITAR-Tass news agency.

Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the annexation could take "from three days to three months," according to Interfax.
Some residents in Crimea said they feared the new Ukrainian government that took over when President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month will oppress them.

In Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia now leases a major naval base from Ukraine for $98 million a year, more than 70 people surged into a polling station in the first 15 minutes of voting Sunday.

Ukraine's new prime minister insisted that neither Ukraine nor the West would recognize the vote.
"Under the stage direction of the Russian Federation, a circus performance is underway: the so-called referendum," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Sunday. "Also taking part in the performance are 21,000 Russian troops, who with their guns are trying to prove the legality of the
referendum."
As soon as the polls closed, the White House again denounced the vote.

Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant.

On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant.
"We will not let them advance further into Ukrainian territory," said Serhiy Kuz, commander of a Ukrainian paratrooper battalion.

Despite the threat of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea. At the United Nations on Saturday, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the
referendum illegal. China, its ally, abstained and 13 of the 15 other nations on the council voted in favor.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke and agreed to support constitutional reforms in Ukraine that could ease the tensions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Ukraine's Regional Policy Minister Volodymyr Groisman told The Associated Press the new government was already working on giving towns and regions more autonomy but said there were no plans to turn Ukraine into a federation.

In Donetsk, one of the main cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia demonstrators called Sunday for a referendum similar to the one in Crimea.

In Sevastopol, speakers blared the city anthem up and down the streets but the military threat was not far away — a Russian naval warship still blocked the port's outlet to the Black Sea, trapping Ukrainian boats.

At a polling station inside a historic school, tears came to Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, as he talked about his vote.

But Crimea's large Muslim Tatar minority — whose families had been forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Central Asia during Soviet times — remained defiant.
The Crimea referendum "is a clown show, a circus," Tatar activist Refat Chubarov said on Crimea's Tatar television station. "This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government with armed forces from another country."

The fate of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in their Crimean bases by pro-Russian forces was still uncertain. But Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, was quoted as saying Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Russia not to block Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea through Friday. It was not clear exactly what that meant.

On the streets of Simferopol, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen but red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered in abundance.

Ethnic Ukrainians
interviewed outside the Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of Vladimir and
Olga said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an
illegal charade stage-managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of
the potential for widespread harassment.

"We're just not going to play these separatist games," said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside Simferopol. "Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist." Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea. "This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind," he said.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Waiting for China to Speak Out Against Putin - Bloomberg View

Waiting for China to Speak Out Against Putin - Bloomberg View
\JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
The world's condemnation of Vladimir Putin's power grab in Ukraine is missing one important voice: China's. That's no surprise.
Since assuming office, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put great emphasis on building up his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both men fancy themselves strong, charismatic leaders bent on restoring their nations to greatness.
But if China wants to be the world leader it claims to be, it cannot afford to sit on the sidelines this
time. Xi spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday night and, contrary to Russian claims
of Chinese support, agreed on the "importance of upholding principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, both in the context of Ukraine and also for the broader functioning of the international system." That's a nod in the right direction, not a bold step.
The difficulty for Xi is that he considers Russia -- his first overseas stop after becoming president -- to be a useful counterbalance to the West. It's also an increasingly important source of energy and advanced weaponry.
Even as China, in its one public comment on Russia's incursion in Crimea, reaffirmed its respect for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, it underscored that "there are reasons that the Ukrainian situation is what it is
today" -- a reference to the messy collapse of the Soviet Union, which both Xi and Putin agree was a tragedy.
Yet the real bond in the Sino-Russian relationship is the very principle Putin has just violated in Ukraine: noninterference in another nation's internal affairs. Moscow and Beijing cling tightly to the dictum to justify United Nations Security Council vetoes. It's critical to both, given their shared worries about how outsiders might exploit ethnic tensions and democracy movements within their countries.
If Putin continues to advance in Ukraine, forcing a military confrontation or breakup of the country, he may well push China to take a stronger stand. The truth is that in material terms, China gains less than Russia does
from their relationship. The latter accounts for a little more than 2 percent of China's external trade. While volumes are growing, in 2011 China got only about 6 percent of its imported oil from Russia. And though China is Russia's largest trading partner, Putin has also been hedging his bets. He has sought to expand rail links, pipelines and energy exports not just to China but also to both Koreas and to China's archrival Japan.
Russia is aiming to sell sophisticated weaponry to India, and has deepened economic and military relations with Vietnam. Moscow has longstanding fears about Beijing's influence in its Far East, where an influx of Chinese traders has virtually colonized the region.
In other matters affecting international stability, China has acknowledged its responsibility to get involved. It has, for instance, agreed to chase pirates off the coast of Somalia even if they flee into territorial waters, and it has chosen not to obstruct some international sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Implicitly tolerating Putin's adventurism now only reinforces fears about China's behavior -- especially among its neighbors, who already suspect that it aims to annex several islands and atolls across the East and South China Seas.
China ultimately shares the same goals in Ukraine as the rest of the world: to affirm the sanctity of international borders, avoid bloodshed and restore stability to global markets as quickly as possible. All would be accomplished much faster and more durably if China spoke out now against Putin's aggression.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Is Ben Carson 2016's sleeper candidate? | TheHill

Is Ben Carson 2016's sleeper candidate? | TheHill
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Neurologist Ben Carson could be 2016’s sleeper presidential contender. You won’t find him in early polls, and he doesn’t make headlines for huddling with top advisers in primary states. Carson is lauded for his plainspoken yet forceful ability to speak clearly about the party’s values. The retired neurosurgeon, rose to prominence after delivering a controversial speech at last year’s National Prayer Breakfast, where he lambasted President Obama and his policies while standing just feet away from the president.

Now, his supporters believe Carson, as a black Republican and a true political outsider, could be the one GOP candidate capable of taking down Hillary Clinton.
That simple star power has made him one of the biggest draws at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, earned him a prime speaking slot on Saturday, and and even inspired an unlikely movement to draft him into the presidential race.
But for as much of a surprise as his rise with conservatives has been, he’s still a reluctant candidate. Carson maintains he doesn’t want to run and isn’t making any serious preparations for a bid, but in a Thursday interview with The Hill, it was clear that he has thought seriously about the logistics of a campaign.
“My hope, obviously, is that someone else will really catch fire and generate a great deal of enthusiasm. If that doesn’t happen in another year and there’s still a lot of people clamoring for another option, then I will have to really look seriously at it,” he told The Hill in a phone conversation.
But people are already clamoring for Carson. He wouldn’t give specifics on where his packed speaking schedule had taken him in the past few months, but said he visits states in every corner of the country, headlining fundraisers and civic events and speaking at schools about conservative principles and on the dangers of ObamaCare.
“People are so thrilled to see that they’re not the only one with common sense. But the problem is the
people with common sense have been beaten down so they’re afraid to express themselves,” he said.
That’s why he’s trying to “wake the American people up” — a central theme of his speech on on CPAC’s closing day.
“I’m going to talk about how [conservatives have] been picking on little things and making big arguments out of them, rather than looking at the big things that are destroying our country,” he said, noting the national debt as an example of a troubling “big thing.”
But don’t call his address a precursor to a presidential run. Carson said that “if it’s supposed to happen it’s going to happen,” and that he’s leaving the preparations “in the hands of God.” Or, the hands of Vernon
Robinson, a former congressional candidate and George H.W. Bush appointee and one of the co-founders of the Draft Ben Carson for President Committee.
The organization raised $2.83 million from 47,000 donors in its first six months of operation — considerably more than the $1.25 million the similar “Ready for Hillary” effort made in its first six months, and they’ve deployed 1,700 active volunteers to GOP functions nationwide to gather draft signatures. Standing in the noisy hallways of CPAC, where a troupe of volunteers were passing out “Ben Carson for President” swag two floors down, Robinson told The Hill that the group is hoping to triple that sum by the end of the year.
“We’re trying to do three things: Get a million people to sign the [draft] petition by the end of the year, raise someplace between $7 or 8 million from 150,000 donors by the end of the year and we’re trying to build a
political infrastructure,” he said.
Robinson is so enthusiastic about Carson for president because, he says, he may be the only candidate that can take down Clinton.
“He’s the only guy who can broaden the GOP base, get 17 percent of the black vote, get a healthy number of Hispanic voters, while still staying true to conservative ideals,” Robinson said. “[Carson’s] very effective at communicating conservative ideas so that the average American can understand.
Carson said he was aware of the draft effort but that he would “have to see something on a sustained basis” in terms of encouragement to run, and that “$2-3 million is not anywhere close to enough money” to support a campaign.
Carson did say, however, “I’ve heard from some very big donors” encouraging him to run, though he wouldn’t offer any names. He readily acknowledges that he’s not steeped in politics and would need a
team with that experience to mount a strong challenge.
And, as any serious contender would do, he’s sizing up the field before he makes his decision.
“I really am waiting more to see what the field looks like. If there’s somebody out there who is truly exciting people, there wouldn’t be any need for me to run,” he said.
But that hasn’t happened yet: “I think there are a lot of potential people. No one has really grabbed the
imagination of the American people.” Indeed, if the need is there, he just might do it. Begrudgingly.
“I don’t particularly want to do it,” he told The Hill, “but I would never turn my back on my fellow Americans.”

Mitch McConnell On Tea Party Challengers: 'We Are Going To Crush Them Everywhere'

Mitch McConnell On Tea Party Challengers: 'We Are Going To Crush Them Everywhere'
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he isn't worried about tea party-backed candidates challenging GOP incumbents in this year's midterm elections.

"I think we are going to crush them everywhere," McConnell told the New York Times in an interview published Saturday. "I don't think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country."

McConnell is one of several senators facing tea party opposition in their primary races this spring. McConnell's main opponent is Kentucky businessman Matt Bevin, who has spent the campaign attacking the senator's conservative credentials. As the Associated Press reported last month, McConnell and other GOP incumbents have started to come out aggressively against these candidates, using opposition research to undermine them.

“Mitch McConnell is clearly in trouble in this primary or he wouldn’t be attacking Matt Bevin and declaring
war on conservatives,” the Senate Conservatives Fund's Matt Hoskins told the Times.

However, polls in the race tell a different story. A survey released last month by GOP firm Wenzel Strategies found McConnell with a 42 point lead over Bevin, while a Bluegrass Poll pinned McConnell's lead at 26 points.

The Kentucky primary will be held May 20.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Michele Bachmann jewsplains to U.S. Jews that they are buzzkilling her End Times dream date | The Raw Story

Michele Bachmann jewsplains to U.S. Jews that they are buzzkilling her End Times dream date | The Raw Story
Bachmann_DONKEYHOTY-Flickr

JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Michele Bachmann (R-North Bedlam) is not very happy with American Jews. No siree, she most definitely is not.

After all that American conservative evangelical Christians have done for The Chosen People, they persist in not choosing Republicans at the voting booth. C’mon, you guys! The Bible-thumpers are totally looking
the other way about that little misunderstanding a couple of thousand years ago when you guys kinda-sorta killed Their Lord and Savior, The Prince of Peace, Son ‘O God: Jesus “MC J.C” Christ.

So can you folks of the Hebrew persuasion maybe help a Brother In Christ out and vote for a Republican, even if he’s a Mormon, once in awhile?

C’mon …. be a mensch (Jewish for: ‘cool dude’) just once!

Apparently it’s not in the Kabbalah cards, so Michele sat down with Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, (‘Murican for: ‘chock full ‘o Godbotherers’) to explain that U.S Jews are bring about the destruction of their homeland – which is, admittedly, kind of bad for them – but it’s actually really worse for her because she’s not getting any younger and the End Times aren’t getting here any faster.

And you know why?

According to Right Wing Watch, Michele says it’s all because of those meddling Jews and that schvartzer in the, previously, White House:

The Jewish community gave him their votes, their support, their financial support and as recently as last week, forty-eight Jewish donors who are big contributors to the president wrote a letter to the Democrat [sic] senators in the US Senate to tell them to not advance sanctions against Iran. This is clearly against Israel’s best interest. What has been shocking has been seeing and observing Jewish organizations who it appears have made it their priority to support the political priority and the political ambitions of the president over the best interests of Israel. They sold out Israel. Why it was just last year when Bachmann warned that the End Times Are Nigh:

“This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history.”

“Rather than seeing this as a negative, we need to rejoice, Maranatha
Come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand,” Bachmann continued. “When we see
up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were
told this; these days would be as the days of Noah.”

Cosmology note: Noah opens nationwide on March 28, so that has to mean something. Right?

Anyway, everybody knows that Jesus won’t come back until Israel is all nice and tidy, so it would be greatly appreciated if the U.S. Jews would clean up their act, stop hanging around with riff-raff (like giving him money and smokes), and stop treating Israel like a frat house; maybe make the bed, wash a few dishes and take out the empties.

Then, when He gets here, the Jews can all convert which will totally make up for that little whoopsie-doodle! from a couple of thousand years ago…

Bless your Savior-denying (John. 1:11) hearts…

Big names set to win in Texas primaries shaken by Tea Party influence - Yahoo News

Big names set to win in Texas primaries shaken by Tea Party influence - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Texans went to the polls on Tuesday in primary elections where the top candidates for governor were
projected to post easy wins and favorites of the conservative Tea Party movement shook up several races with established Republicans.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, will win his race by a wide margin, local media projected. Attorney General Greg Abbott, the leading Republican candidate for governor, and state Senator Wendy Davis, the top Democratic Party candidate, were also projected to win in landslides, they said.

Run-off elections will be held on May 27 between the top two vote-getters in races where a single candidate did not win an outright majority.

The vote marks a changing of the guard for the Republicans with long-serving Governor Rick Perry not seeking re-election, perhaps to pursue a presidential run in 2016. Republicans dominate the statehouse and have not lost a statewide race since 1994. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has emerged as one of the leaders of the Texas Republicans, pushing politics in the already conservative state even further to the right, analysts said. He is a favorite of the Tea Party movement, which is considered both conservative and libertarian and also populist in advocating for a smaller federal government and tax cuts.

Perry, governor since 2000, has won praise for increasing jobs, exports and the size of the Texas economy, which has a $1.4 trillion annual GDP, slightly larger than South Korea's.
Perry has been criticized for not doing enough to improve schools or provide health insurance for the poor,
while pushing a socially conservative agenda with increased abortion restrictions and a ban on same-sex marriage.
A host of Republican hopefuls have been trying to ride on the coattails of new star Cruz, turning campaigns into raucous affairs about how much they despise President Barack Obama's healthcare policy, embrace the constitutional right to bear arms and see a need to raise alarms about undocumented immigrants.
"The Republican lieutenant governor's race and attorney general's race have been races to the right," said Sherri Greenberg, Director at the Center for Politics and Governance at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
These two races were likely heading for run-offs. In the Dallas area, U.S. Representative Pete Sessions is the most prominent Republican in the Tea Party firing line. Challenger Katrina Pierson's website features a picture of Cruz and a quote in which he calls her "an utterly fearless principled conservative."
Less than 1 percent of the precincts had reported in that race as of 8:30 p.m. U.S. Central Time, according to official voting results. In neighboring Fort Worth, Cruz has endorsed local Tea Party leader Konni Burton as the Republican nominee for a state Senate seat. Burton was the early leader in the race.
State Senator Ken Paxton, running in a crowded field for attorney general, has featured a comment on his website in which Cruz calls him a "conservative warrior."
Paxton took an early lead over Dan Branch, a long-serving member of the Texas House in that race.

Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Joins Kapor Center - The Root

Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Joins Kapor Center - The Root
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JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Benjamin Jealous left the NAACP in January, but, he says, he plans to “stay on track with my life’s mission of leveling the playing field in this country.” And in the next phase of his career—as a venture partner at
the Kapor Center for Social Impact—he’ll be focused on “trying new ways” to expand opportunities for young black and Latino students and entrepreneurs.

Jealous—who became the youngest-ever president and CEO of the nation’s best-known civil rights organization when he took over at the end of 2008—is moving on, but he’s clear about what his legacy is at the NAACP.

Brought in to bring the association into the digital age and get “engaged online in a serious way,” Jealous says that under his leadership, the NAACP “went from less than 200,000 to more than 2 million digital activists.” He believes that “in any type of battle,” including ongoing civil rights struggles, “the ability to get the resources to the front line is really what makes or breaks your success.” And to that end, he says, in five years the association was able to “massively expand” its donor base.

Going forward, Jealous says, “restoring Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act” will be the NAACP’s top priority, but it’s one they’ll have to take on without him, because he’s already beginning a new chapter at Kapor.

The center invests in tech companies that aim to narrow the divide in educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for African Americans and Latinos, particularly in the information technology sector.

When asked if part of the motivation for his next move was a sense that civil rights was migrating away from a government focus—particularly in light of President Barack Obama’s new emphasis on public-private partnerships like his My Brother’s Keeper initiative—Jealous suggested that his is a “‘both-and’ generation” of civil rights leaders who have “stayed in the groove of ‘We shall overcome’” and “resisted the temptation of ‘I shall overcome,’” and have “understood implicitly that we have to be willing” to address civil rights challenges “by any means that work.”

That includes My Brother’s Keeper, of which the Kapor Center is a sponsor.

He’ll be working now to “diversify the start-up culture of the Silicon Valley by any means,” including efforts like Kapor’s sponsorship of “hack-athons” that provide experience for elementary and middle schools students who want to enhance their computer-programming skills and its funding of University Now, a program designed to ease the cost burden of tuition for minority students seeking advanced degrees.

The Kapor Center also works with start-ups like Pigeon.ly, a service that provides lower-cost digital communication between prison inmates and their families, and Regalii, another service that allows immigrant families to digitally pay bills for their families in their home countries.

The goal, says Jealous, is to provide seed investments for “disruptive technologies that promise to have a positive social impact” and “close gaps in access, opportunity and participation” for African Americans and Latinos in the start-up economy.

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Dreaming of a White GOP - The Daily Beast

Dreaming of a White GOP - The Daily Beast
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
In the dreams of one infamous conservative writer, the GOP is the party of white people. But the reality is that the dream has already come true.

John Derbyshire was a columnist for the National Review before he was fired for defending his racism in print. Now, the erstwhile pundit is writing for white nationalists, and denouncing Republicans for trying to expand their tent and appeal to minorities:

He said “conservatives are the only people in the U.S.A. trying to ‘transcend contentious racial issues,’” but agreed with his “friend” — white nationalist Jared Taylor – that white people should stop trying to get along with black people. “Whites may as well start asserting themselves and join in fighting for the spoils,” Derbyshire said. “If that’s right, ‘colorblind conservatism’ is a dead end, and the future of the conservative movement is as a home for white ethnocentrism.”What’s funny, of course, is that this isn’t far from the GOP’s current position. Setting aside questions of policy and ideology, it’s a simply a fact that the vast majority of Republican voters are white. In 2012, 87 percent of self-described Republicans were white, according to a pre-election analysis from the Pew Research Center. Likewise, a 2013 survey from Gallup found similar results—89 percent of Republican responders were white, compared to 2 percent who were black and 6 percent who were Latino.

What’s more, on an ideological level, the Republican preference for low taxes, small government, and fewer services is attractive to white voters with high levels of ethnocentrism or racial resentment. To wit, in their book Us Against Them: The Ethnocentric Foundations of American Public Opinion, political scientists Donald Kinder and Cindy Cam find a strong connection between white ethnocentrism and opposition to higher spending on welfare, food stamps, and other public assistance programs. This, however, doesn’t extend to Medicare and Social Security—there, ethnocentrism correlates with higher support.

In other words, the stronger you identify with being white, the more likely it is you want cuts to welfare and other programs associated with minorities. By contrast, you don’t have the same antipathy for our entitlement
programs, which lack the same association.

This, it should be said, has a clean fit with the GOP’s domestic approach, which combines traditional entitlement spending with deep cuts to safety net programs like food stamps and unemployment insurance.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Afro Latinos' Mixed Identity Can Leave Them Out of the Mix

Afro Latinos' Mixed Identity Can Leave Them Out of the Mix
JohnButts@JBMedia Reports:
Afro Latino Marco Davis laughed when he recalled the lengths he went to keep in touch with Black and Latino alumni groups when he graduated from Yale University.
“One year I would put down that I was Hispanic so I could keep in touch with the Latino groups on campus that I was involved with, and another year I would put down Black, so I could get their information. I would alternate because I wasn’t able to put down that I belonged to both,” said Davis, 43, who has a Jamaican father and a Mexican mother. “The university said they didn’t have it built in to their computers to check off more than one box at a time, and I had to do just one.” Like Davis, other Afro Latino Americans feel they
straddle two communities, each with a distinct heritage and history celebrated in the U.S. eight months apart. Black History Month comes to a close Friday and Hispanic Heritage Month begins in mid-September.
Black Latinos say there is little understanding of their mixed heritage, and little knowledge of the history of the importation of slaves by Spanish-speaking countries of which many, though not all, are descendants.
Yet growing racial pride and a move to a more multiracial society with changing demographics are helping this group stake a claim to being both Black and Latino.
Davis, now working in the Obama administration in Washington, D.C., grew up in a predominantly African American neighborhood in New York. “We weren’t Puerto Rican (the majority Latino population in New York), and people never heard of people like us,” explained Davis. “The Black people knew we spoke Spanish but they didn’t make the connection to the Hispanic community, and the Latinos didn’t quite get it, and others just assumed I was Black and that’s it.” But he attended Mass at a Mexican church two towns over, and spent summers visiting relatives in his mother’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. In college, he joined a historically Black fraternity while also becoming involved with Latino groups on campus. “It really opened my eyes. I felt connected to both, but I remember being asked what would my loyalty be if there was ever a problem, and I would think, why do I have to choose? I navigate both worlds. I don’t have a choice. It’s who I am.”
That is the fundamental challenge of being an Afro Latino in the United States, said Davis. “I walk down the street and people assume I am a Black man and nothing more. The story of the Afro Latinos is a chapter in our society that hasn’t been well written. It’s a story that still needs to be told. We are of both worlds. It’s not either or, and people don’t get that.”
Some of that history will be discussed Thursday night in Washington, D.C. at a symposium on Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, held by the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Schomburg Center.
A writer, historian and activist, Schomburg is the namesake of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, part of the New York Public Library system. Schomburg’s research collection laid the
foundation for the study of Black history and culture, according to the library.
But many may not know that in addition to being a Black man, Schomburg was Puerto Rican and self-identified as afroborinqueño. Puerto Rico was known as Borinquen before the arrival of the Spanish.
“He pioneered the concept of an African Diaspora — that Black people around the world are connected,” said Ranald Woodaman, Smithsonian Latino Center director. Schomburg was also involved in fighting for the
independence of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Woodman said it is important for Latinos to claim his “Latinidad” as well, and make sure he is part of the Latino Pantheon. Last week, the Washington, D.C. Mayor’s
Office on Latino Affairs, with the Afro Latino Alliance, held a two-day forum and gala devoted to recognizing dual Afro Latino identity. Organizers deliberately chose Black History Month for the event and
plans are being made for an event in September. “Afro Latinos have a right to celebrate Black History Month,” said Roland Roebuck, 66, a D.C. government retiree who advises the Afro Latino Alliance in
Washington, D.C.
Roebuck said an “invisibility” exists, which often keeps Afro Latinos “out of the mix.” Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, Roebuck said when he first moved to Washington in the early 1970s, after serving in the U.S. Air Force, he was told by African Americans, “you’re not a full-time brother.”
“The African American community may find it strange, but the only difference between us is the language, and the geography. It’s about where the slave ships landed,” Roebuck said.
Howard University history lecturer J. Santiago Mauer, who also uses the pen name Msomi Santiago Moor, said Black people don’t just speak English, but he did not know that growing up in Ohio as an African American.
Afro Latinos, he said, “need to be unapologetically Black. It’s okay to be Black and speak Spanish.”
About 3 percent of the 51 million people who identified as Hispanic or Latino on the 2010 Census also identified as Black.

<blockquote”>

The story of the Afro Latinos is a chapter in our society that hasn’t been well written. It’s a story that still needs to be told.

Filmmaker Dash Harris, who is of Panamanian descent, hopes to bring more exposure to the Afro Latino experience though a documentary series, Negro. Harris said the work grew from her own frustrations.

“I was exhausted trying to explain who I am,” Harris said. “I’m not here to convince anyone about their African ancestry because that’s a fact. It’s about educating the next generation.”

Afro Latina Sarita Copeland Singh, a Washington lawyer married to a Trinidadian with Indian roots, said she sees change afoot.

“We definitely need to hear and learn more about Afro Latinos so that it won’t seem so unusual,” said Singh, 30, who is of Panamanian descent. “My young daughter already moves easily between both worlds.”

UN wants 10,000 soldiers, 1,820 police for C.Africa - Yahoo News

UN wants 10,000 soldiers, 1,820 police for C.Africa - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Monday recommended deploying 11,820 peacekeepers in strife-torn Central African Republic, including 10,000 soldiers and 1,820 police officers, to re-establish order.
In a report sent to the 15 members of the Security Council, Ban specified that the peacekeeping mission should focus, in the initial stage, on "the protection of civilians." However, the mandate for the proposed operation would be progressively expanded to cover "support for the political process" of transition, in

particular restoring the government's authority over the country and organizing elections, safeguarding the delivery of humanitarian aid, the respect of human rights and the return of those displaced by the violence.

"It is envisaged that the strength of the peacekeeping operation would comprise up to 10,000 troops and 1,820 police personnel," and included logistical and transport support, such as helicopters, the report explained. The deployment would be rolled out in stages. "To deal with immediate security needs, there will be an initial surge of military personnel and corresponding military enablers," the report said. "Police will also be phased in and, as the security environment improves, should eventually replace the bulk of the initial military surge capacity," first in the capital, Bangui, and then in the provinces. Little by little, a large civilian component would be added, though the report does not specify exact numbers. These civilians -- administrators, engineers, rights observers and lawyers -- will be charged with helping organize elections, promote national reconciliation and to rebuild a national government that hasn't been effective for months and which no longer provides essential services for the population. But even in the best case, UN peacekeepers couldn't be deployed for another six months -- not before September or October -- because of the time

required to mount such an operation. The former French colony was thrown into chaos after rebels from the mainly Muslim Seleka group seized power in a March 2013 coup. The Muslim-Christian violence that has erupted in its wake -- killing thousands and displacing around a quarter of the country's 4.6 million people -- has prompted the United Nations to speak of fears of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

An African Union-led force, MISCA, nearly 6,000-strong, is already engaged on the ground, as are 2,000 French soldiers from the Sangaris operation.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

(1) DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE SCHOOL VOUCHER TRICK.... - Curtis Everette Gatewood

(1) DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE SCHOOL VOUCHER TRICK.... - Curtis Everette Gatewood
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Curtis Everette Gatewood

DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE SCHOOL VOUCHER TRICK.
The community should be thankful for the coming together of organizations, attorneys, such as those who represent the NC NAACP and the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). Atty. Jessica Holmes, for example, is great at serving as both a legal mind and reason why public education is important, in addition to why the NC vouchers for private schools initiative (State Education Assistance Authority - SEAA) is full of holes, smoke, and mirrors. Consequently, the recent court injunction to stop this particular vouchers program in its tracks was a major victory for the people who love justice. We must come together as a community and make sure SEAA is exposed and abolished altogether.

First of all, this is not about whether you think churches should be able to control and offer private Christian schools. This is not about whether you grew up thinking certain segregated schools were okay or certain charter schools seem to be doing a better job than certain poorly funded and poorly performing public schools. Furthermore, SEAA was not truly designed to save poor struggling children of color. Don't be fooled!
1. If you truly want to have an impact on the education of poor and economically deprived children, don't rob the already underfunded public schools of nearly 12 million dollars to give a limited pool of children a voucher worth $4,200. Not only would this be bad, but the voucher would not cover the cost of tuition for 62% of the private schools in NC. Where is a struggling child suppose to get the money for the portion of the tuition his/her voucher did not cover?
2. If you want to make sure poor children reap the benefit of educational dollars, you should already know you will find them disproportionately flooding and overflowing the enrollment within schools which are fully FREE and open to all children - Public Schools!
3. This is why it makes sense that in as far back as 1868 the North Carolina Constitution states taxpayers dollars must be designated for the establishment and "exclusive" use of free and public education. The lawsuits being filed to stop the voucher program can for the most part stand on the premise "exclusive" means "exclusive."
4. Therefore, if you would like to send your child to a private school where they currently have no legal obligation to follow the same guidelines in hiring, certification, curriculum, diversity, transportation, free/affordable lunch, special needs accommodations as public schools - that is your 'choice'. If you would like for your child to go to a Christian-based or some other religiously focused school which may violate the religious or nonreligious beliefs of certain other children/parents - that is your 'choice'. But the Governor or Legislature must not be allowed to violate the constitution and further strategically deplete funding from and destroy public schools by robbing an already robbed, crippled, and struggling public school system of another near 12 million dollars to fund private schools.
Yes, public schools today are in many ways failing poor children and children of color. Yes, public schools policies and curriculums have too often been unfair. Yes, public schools today are in many ways less effective today than some of the segregated schools in Black communities during the 1950s and 1960s. But, with that said, do not let the wolves throw the baby out with the bath water!
Get the metaphorically clean 'bath water' in our public schools by providing the funding needed to bring the schools in low income communities up to higher and fair standards; Supply those schools with certified/qualified teachers who love/respect the child and their families/cultures and understand what is at stake; Stop out of school suspensions unless a person's life has been put at risk, but even then, make sure all children are receiving the needed psychological and counseling assistance; The main difference for the betterment during the 60s was not the segregation, but the fact the 'whole village' worked together in raising us. The teachers/educators also saw themselves as part of the larger village (they knew our families).
There is no way around it, public schools (where most of our precious children will end up) must be supported and protected - not violated and neglected. Robbing Peter/Public to pay Paul/Private is in no way the solution!
Whether it is the 60s Jim Crow, Sr. or 2000s Jim Crow, Jr. Esquire, we've been there done that; got the tshirt and the hat, we say no to Jim Crow and we are not going back!

Van Jones to Rich Lowery: ‘You can’t point to God to excuse your bigotry’ | The Raw Story

Van Jones to Rich Lowery: ‘You can’t point to God to excuse your bigotry’ | The Raw Story
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
CNN host Van Jones on Sunday asserted to National Review Editor Rich Lowry that Christians “point to God” as an excuse to discriminate against LGBT people. During an ABC This Week panel discussion, Lowry argued that Arizona’s SB 1062 was vetoed because it was “subject of a tsunami of poorly-informed indignation.”
“If you’re going to substantially burden someone’s exercise of religion, there has to be a compelling governmental interest at stake,” Lowry said.
Jones, however, pointed out that the only justifications for Arizona’s proposed law “were anti-gay justifications.” “And that’s what really blew this thing up. They didn’t say there’s 57 problems, they said the problem has to do with gay folks,” he explained. “The one great achievement in the last century, we took out
of American lexicon six words: ‘We don’t serve your kind here.’” “We took those words out, it took the Civil Right Movement to do it.
Dr. King got killed trying to do it. ‘We don’t serve your kind here’ is not acceptable anymore. Those ‘no blacks allowed’ signs came down, we don’t want to see ‘no gays allowed’ signs in this country.”
But Lowry said that the law should have been signed because it didn’t apply to all businesses, just businesses that could potentially serve same-sex weddings.
“Evangelical Christians or Catholics who say, ‘I don’t have any problem with gay people, but I don’t want to participate in a gay wedding because I have conscientious objections to it,’” Lowry remarked. “And there have been cases where people have been punished, Van, for that.” “This idea that you can blame religion for bigotry, I heard that growing up,” Jones recalled. “I had white adults tell me, ‘God separated the races, after the flood, after Noah’s Ark. So, therefore, it’s a religious obligation for us to maintain segregation.’”
“You can’t — look, if you want to be a bigot on your own time, that’s fine,” he continued. “But if you want to extend that to your LLC, to your business that you own and hold it out the public, you can’t point to God to excuse your bigotry. Not in America.”
Lowry replied that discrimination against LGBT people was different than Jim Crow because there was no governmental interest in making sure that businesses serve same-sex weddings.
“You’re dealing with the occasional baker or florist who has a genuine conscientious objection,” he insisted. “And if they do, you can find another baker of florist.”

Watch the video below from ABC’s This Week, broadcast March 2, 2013.

<iframe src="http://videos.rawstory.com/video/Van-Jones-to-Rich-Lowery-You-ca/player?layout=&read_more=1" width="416" height="321" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer expected to veto 'religious freedom' bill - CNN.com

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer expected to veto 'religious freedom' bill - CNN.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
All signs indicate Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will likely veto politically-charged legislation that supporters say promotes religious freedom and opponents contend discriminates against gays and lesbians.

Brewer did not signal her intention either way in an exclusive interview with CNN on Monday at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. "I can assure you, as always, I will do the right thing for the state of Arizona," she said.

But some Arizona Republicans who know her well say they are confident those comments mean Brewer will almost surely reject the bill that is generating nationwide controversy.

The Republican-led measure would allow Arizona business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers as long as they assert their religious beliefs.

Brewer is scheduled to return to Arizona on Tuesday, and a source tells CNN those familiar with her thinking say she will likely spend at least one full business day in the state before acting. "I'm going to go home,

and when I receive the bill, I'm going to read it and I'm going to be briefed on it. We have been following it. And I will make my decision in the near future," Brewer told CNN.

She has until Saturday to sign or veto the bill. If she does nothing, it automatically becomes law. Arizona GOP sources say Brewer considers herself a pro-business governor -- someone who above all else wants to protect and promote Arizona's economic interests. They say she knows full well there will be economic consequences for the state if it has a law on the books perceived to effectively codify discrimination.

"I have a history of deliberating and having an open dialogue on bills that are controversial, to listen to both sides of those issues, and I welcome the input, and information that they can provide to me. And certainly I
am pro-business, and that is what's turning our economy around, so I appreciate their input, as I appreciate the other side," Brewer said.

Business leaders in Arizona and around the country, including the chief executive of American Airlines, have urged Brewer publicly and privately to veto the bill. Approval also is likely to trigger lawsuits. The bill was pushed by the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative group opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The group argues the proposal protects people against increasingly activist federal courts.

Brewer vetoed a similar bill last year, arguing that the state legislature should focus on more pressing issues, such as a Medicaid expansion plan she was promoting. Sources say she is concerned about this bill taking away from other issues she is now pressing, such as overhauling Arizona's child protective services

system.

Obamacare Enrollment Reaches 4 Million

Obamacare Enrollment Reaches 4 Million

Main Entry Image

JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Approximately 4 million individuals have now signed up for healthcare plans under the newly created Obamacare insurance exchanges, asenior administration official told The Huffington Post on Tuesday.

The numbers mean that roughly 700,000 people have signed up for health care plans since the end of January. And with five weeks before the enrollment period deadline at the end of March, they put the administration on pace to come close to the Congressional Budget Office's initial projection that 7 million
individuals would sign up for insurance coverage during the period.

"With individuals and families enrolling in coverage every day, we continue to see strong demand nationwide from consumers who want access to quality, affordable coverage," reads a statement from the administration, passed in advance to The Huffington Post. "Consumers are shopping and enrolling in plans on HealthCare.gov every day; system error rates are low and response times are consistently less than half a
second. Our call center has handled more than 12 million calls so far and is open 24/7 to assist consumers in English, Spanish and more than 150 languages."

But with the good news remain some questions. The number of people who have signed up for plans and paid their first month's premium remains unknown, though insurers have suggested about 20 percent
of individuals have not paid. Moreover, it is unclear how many of those individuals who signed up in February were young and healthy -- the population demographic that the administration needs to ensure that the exchanges have a stable balance of healthy and sick consumers. A senior administration official said that a more detailed report about the enrollees would be released in mid-March.

Nevertheless, supporters of the law will cheer the news that 4 million people have now signed up for the Affordable Care Act, after having watched the botched launch in October in horror. Back then, it was unclear if the enrollment period would have to be delayed in order to accommodate the slow start. There
is little such talk today.

The new enrollment number does not include the millions of individuals who have signed up for Medicaid,
though it's not known how many of those individuals renewed their prior coverage or how many are new Medicaid recipients.

The news seems likely to get better for supporters of the law in the next month as well. With a looming enrollment deadline, the administration anticipates a rapid increase in people signing up for coverage. They also expect the number of young enrollees to rise rapidly. That was what happened when the state of Massachusetts implemented similar reform in 2007.

According to Bloomberg News:
"By November of that year, the last month to sign up to avoid a penalty, the portion of enrollees age 35 or younger had more than doubled to 36 percent from February, one analysis showed."

UPDATE:
6:28 p.m. -- This article has been updated to note that the enrollment number does not include people who have signed up for Medicaid.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Some Republican Governors Say Obamacare Is ‘The Law’ and Here To Stay Despite Problems | TheBlaze.com

Some Republican Governors Say Obamacare Is ‘The Law’ and Here To Stay Despite Problems
|TheBlaze.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Some Republican governors suggest that President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is here to stay — despite their opposition to it and problems with Obamacare.

“We’re just trying to make the best of a bad situation,” Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, of Iowa, who calls the health care law “unaffordable and unsustainable,” yet something he has to implement by law. “We’re trying to make it work as best we can for the people of Iowa.”

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad participates in the morning session of the National Governor’s Association Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014. (Image source: AP/Cliff Owen) Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, said many governors still have concerns about the program, but that outright repeal would be “complicated.”

National Governor’s Association (NGA) Chair Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin during the NGA’s Winter Meeting in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014. (Image source: AP Photo/Cliff Owen) As governors from both parties gathered in Washington this weekend, some GOP governors echo Fallin, reporting that a full repeal of the law would be complicated at best, if not impossible, as states move forward with implementation and begin covering millions of people — both by expanding Medicaid rolls for lower-income residents or through state or federal exchanges that offer federal subsidies to those who qualify.

Republican opposition to the law is the centerpiece of the GOP’s political strategy ahead of the midterm elections.

Despite a troubled rollout, nearly 3.3 million people have signed up through Feb. 1 for health care coverage under the law. The White House reported that 1 million people signed up nationwide for private insurance under the law in January alone. It remains unclear that the administration will reach its unofficial goal of 7 million people by the end of March, but it still expects several million enrollees by then.

A recent Associated Press analysis of the sign-ups found that six Republican-led states — Florida, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin — were on pace or better than the states had initially
projected.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is among several Republican governors who expanded their state’s Medicaid laws under the law.

“The whole dialogue on the Affordable Care Act is about people fighting, causing gridlock and a mess, instead of working on something important like wellness,” Snyder said, adding that he still has “a lot of issues” with the overhaul. “But it is the law, so I’m trying to work in that context.”

Gov. Rick Snyder downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. (Image source: AP/Grand Rapids Press, Cory Morse)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, said governors spent about half of their private lunch session on Saturday discussing the health care law and the tone was much different than in past years.

“Before the election, it felt like a cock fight,” Shumlin said, describing the debate over the law during the 2012 campaign. “Down there we were talking about ways to we could cooperate.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Republicans have accepted that as millions of people sign up for it and finally get the health care they have been dreaming of for their families, nobody’s going to take that away,” he said.

Yet Republican governors here described circumstances that would hardly befit a dream.

Democrats and Republicans alike complained about major problems with the Medicaid eligibility data that they are receiving from federal exchanges. The 36 states in the federal exchange have noted often incomplete data with the Medicaid information they are receiving.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican who is among his party’s most vulnerable incumbents in the fall election, said he’s working to expand his state’s Medicaid program, but the process had been cumbersome and difficult. He said it still remained unclear, from a fiscal standpoint, if the health care law would be functioning in two years.

Gov. Tom Corbett in Harrisburg, Pa. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. (Image source: AP/Matt Rourke)

“There are a lot more unknowns than there are knowns,” Corbett said.

Republican campaign officials, meanwhile, plan to make the health care law the overwhelming focus of the coming midterm elections.

From coast to coast, conservatives are attacking Democrats who supported the overhaul, seizing on problems with the program’s website and news that some Americans were forced to change insurers once the law took effect. The conservative group, Americans For Prosperity, has spent more than $20 million on anti-Obamacare television ads in several key states since last August.

The stakes are high for parties battling over control of the House and Senate, while there are also 36 elections for governor, most of them for governors mansions currently held by Republicans. The coming
elections also offer prospective 2016 presidential candidates an opportunity to boost their political standing.

Leading GOP figures in the Senate like Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida have been vocal critics of the health care law. Cruz mounted a 21-hour Senate speech against Obama’s health law and was tied to the partial government shutdown while Rubio was an early proponent of defunding the health law although he distanced himself from the shutdown.

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a first-term Democrat up for reelection in November, said her state would soon expand its Medicaid program to cover 50,000 uninsured residents.

George W. Bush sheds a tear over vets suffering from his wars: ‘I’m in there with them’ | The Raw Story

George W. Bush sheds a tear over vets suffering from his wars: ‘I’m in there with them’ | The Raw Story

George W. Bush speaks to ABC News

JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Former President George W. Bush described himself as “emotional” recently when he talked about how he was trying to make a difference for the veterans who are trying to put their lives back together after serving in the wars waged by his administration.
At a Military Service Initiative Summit last week, the former president had explained that his institute was going to take steps to assist the veterans who were trying to transition into civilian life after coming home from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In an interview that aired on Sunday, ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked the former president if the new initiative helped him cope with the 6,800 service members killed, and 51,000 wounded. “No question it helps,” Bush stuttered. “I have a duty.”
“I obviously get slightly emotional talking about our vets because I’m in there with them,” he added with a single tear spilling down his right cheek.
“But my spirit is also uplifted when I visit with vets. As I say, there is no self-pity… They don’t say, ‘Woe is me.’ They say, ‘What can I do to continue to serve?’”

Brooklyn Nets To Sign Jason Collins, NBA’s First Openly Gay Player | News One

Brooklyn Nets To Sign Jason Collins, NBA’s First Openly Gay Player | News One

jason-collins1

JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Jason Collins, 35, is expected to sign a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets today and will be available to play with the team when they meet the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in the Staples Center, reports Yahoo Sports.
RELATED:
Michael Sam: NFL Prospect Announces That He’s Gay
Jason Collins: NBA Player Comes Out As Gay In Sports Illustrated

As previously reported by NewsOne, in April of last year Collins became the first pro-athlete of any sports organization to come out as gay.
In an Sports Illustrated interview with writer Franz Lidz, Collins declared: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” Read more about Collins’s signing with the Nets from the Associated Press:
The 35-year-old center played in 38 games for Boston and Washington in 2012-13. He has a number of former teammates on the Nets, including coach Jason Kidd. General Manager Billy King said earlier this week the Nets had worked out Collins and he was a candidate to fill the team’s need for a post player. King said the Nets wouldn’t be concerned about any extra attention the signing of Collins would provide. “We’re going to bring in a basketball player,” King said. “It’s not about marketing or anything like that.”
Collins’ twin brother, Jarron Collins, tweeted the following:
Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. Today should be a pretty cool day!— jarron collins (@jarronctwin) February 23, 2014
The Nets’ deal with Collins comes on the heels of former University of Missouri lineman Michael Sam, 24, revealing that he’s gay.
As previously reported by NewsOne, the 6-3, 260-pound defensive lineman and NFL prospect swiftly gained the support of the league after he made the announcement

German FM calls on Israel to make tough decisions - Yahoo News

German FM calls on Israel to make tough decisions - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
A day before German chancellor Angela Merkel and nearly her entire Cabinet arrive in Israel, her
foreign minister published an op-ed in an Israeli newspaper Sunday encouraging Israel to take the "difficult but necessary decisions" to allow U.S.-led peace efforts to succeed.
Germany is Israel's closest European ally and the two governments hold a joint Cabinet session each year. But Israel has seen tensions rise of late with Europe, and also Germany, over its West Bank settlement policies.

In her weekly video message, Merkel made clear over the weekend that she would be pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the peace talks.

The European Union has been outspoken in its criticism of the settlements, saying Israeli construction of homes in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians is undermining hopes for a negotiated peace settlement. Merkel's government has echoed the sentiments.

A small, but growing number of European businesses and investment funds also have cut ties with firms involved in West Bank settlements, and the EU's ambassador to Israel has warned the Jewish state faces increased isolation and threats of economic boycotts if peace talks collapse. In his column, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that while Germany did not see eye-to-eye with Israel on all issues, it would stand by it.

He praised Israel's decision to enter negotiations with the Palestinians about the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"We support that vigorously and encourage Israel to make the difficult but necessary decisions," he wrote.
"Israel sometimes feels isolated and misunderstood. The current debate about Europe's policy toward Israel has once again brought those feelings into the foreground. But Israel does not stand alone," he added.
Asked about the threat of boycotts and sanctions, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Sawsan Chebli, who is of Palestinian descent, said: "There are no sanctions against Israel and Germany would be the first country to oppose them."
Netanyahu said the peace talks, as well as international efforts to quell Iran's nuclear program, would figure
prominently in his meetings with Merkel. Germany belongs to the group of nations that are currently negotiating with Iran.
The German delegation accompanying Merkel will be the largest German one ever to Israel and comes a year before the countries will mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
In March 2008, Merkel and her Cabinet marked the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. During
that three-day visit, Merkel addressed the Israeli parliament in German, and expressed shame over the Holocaust. The 20-minute speech earned Merkel a standing ovation.
Earlier this month though, lawmakers from a nationalist Israeli political party stormed out of parliament to
object to comments by the visiting president of the European Parliament, who is German.
Martin Schulz enraged the lawmakers when he asked whether claims he had heard from a young Palestinian about Israel's control over water resources were true.
Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, demanded an apology. "I will not accept untruthful patronizing of the people of Israel in our parliament, certainly not in German," he said.

The figures cited by Schulz were indeed erroneous, but his general concern — that Israel consumes far more water than the Palestinians — was accurate, according to environmental groups. The annual joint Cabinet meetings highlight the strong bond between Israel and Germany seven decades after the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews. The countries only established diplomatic relations in 1965, nearly two decades after the Holocaust. Germany has paid billions of dollars in reparations to Holocaust survivors, is a key trade partner and is now Israel's closest ally in Europe.

Russia says Ukraine opposition has flouted deal and seized power - Yahoo News

Russia says Ukraine opposition has flouted deal and seized power - Yahoo News
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday opponents of
Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovich had failed to abide by a peace deal they signed on Friday and had seized power, the ministry said.
In their second telephone conversation in two days, Lavrov told Kerry "the most important thing now is to provide for the complete fulfillment" of the agreement brokered by three top European Union diplomats, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "The Ukrainian opposition is deviating from the agreement, having in effect seized power in Kiev, refused to disarm and continued to place its bets on violence," Lavrov told Kerry, according to a ministry statement. Lavrov "drew attention to the fact that the document bears the signatures of representatives of several Western states, and that the United States officially welcomed its conclusion," it said.

A Russian envoy sent by President Vladimir Putin to participate in mediation efforts did not sign the peace deal. Since its signing, Yanukovich has fled the capital and lawmakers have voted to oust him and name a temporary replacement. The dramatic events followed a deadly two-month standoff that began when Yanukovich shelved plans to sign political and trade deals with the EU and said Ukraine would seek closer ties with Moscow, which swiftly offered a $15 billion bailout.

Friday, February 21, 2014

UNC Chapel Hill hires outside attorney to probe academic scandal involving athletes | abc11.com

UNC Chapel Hill hires outside attorney to probe academic scandal involving athletes | abc11.com

JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:

UNC Chapel Hill announced Friday it has hired an outside attorney to do a new independent probe of academic irregularities.

UNC has been embroiled in a wide-ranging scandal involving
student athletes since 2010 - when more than a dozen football players
had to sit out all, or part of, the season after allegations of improper
benefits surfaced.

Five people have been indicted on charges
alleging they gave cash and other benefits to players to encourage them
to sign with certain agents when they turned pro.

Click here to read more.

Separately,
there were allegations athletes got improper academic help, including
plagiarism, tutors who violated rules, and athletes taking no-show
classes for credit.

After an SBI investigation, Orange County
District Attorney Jim Woodall announced in December the indictment of
the former chairman of the African and Afro-American Studies program,
Julius Nyang'oro, on a charge of obtaining property by false pretenses
in December. Woodall alleges the professor took $12,000 for a class he
did not teach. Nyang'oro has pleaded not guilty.

A UNC review of
classes within the department found 54 department classes that had
little or no indication of instruction along with at least 10 cases of
unauthorized grade changes for students who did not do all the work.

The
classes were popular with athletes. They made up about 45 percent of
enrollments. Nyang'oro stepped down from his chairmanship shortly after
UNC began investigating the classes in 2011. He retired in 2012.

In a joint news release
Friday, University of North Carolina President Tom Ross and UNC-Chapel
Hill Chancellor Carol L. Folt said they intend to address any questions
left unanswered during previous reviews with the new probe.

"We -
the UNC Board of Governors, UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees,
Chancellor Folt and I - have said all along that we would re-evaluate
next steps once the SBI had completed its investigation," Ross said.

They've retained Kenneth L. Wainstein, a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Justice Department, to do the probe.

In
addition to the criminal probes of the scandal, in 2012, UNC
commissioned former Gov. Jim Martin to investigate the academic
irregularities.

Click here to read more.

Martin
said his investigation found no link between the school's athletic
department and the alleged academic fraud. He said there was no evidence
coaches knew what was going on.

In the wake of the scandals,
former UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp stepped down. UNC also fired former
head football coach Butch Davis and former athletics director Dick
Baddour resigned. Both men have said they were not aware of - or were
involved - in any of the irregularities.

After conducting its own
investigation, the NCAA said the school was "responsible for multiple
violations, including academic fraud, impermissible agent benefits,
ineligible participation, and a failure to monitor its football
program."

Penalties imposed by the association included a
one-year postseason ban, reduction of 15 football scholarships, vacation
of records, and three years probation.

UNC also recently made national headlines when CNN reported that too many of its student athletes read poorly.

Click here to read more.

UNC challenged the accuracy of the report and said it was conducting its own investigation