Showing posts with label Amazing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazing. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Kelvin Doe at TEDxTeen

This kid is amazing. Ladies and Gentleman, I present Mr. Kelvin Doe aka DJ Focus!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Cops Go Free After Violently Beating Teen (Graphic Image)

Organizations hoping to bury unpleasant or potentially controversial news traditionally release information late Friday, in the hope that many folks already in weekend mode miss the development. A classic example: Justice Department reps chose Friday at 6:30 p.m. to inform Alex Landau that they would not be charging the three Denver police officers who brutally beat him with federal civil rights violations. No surprise that Landau is incensed by this turn of events, as are numerous supporters. Look below for details, the lawsuit and more photos from after the incident.
As Joel Warner reported in detail for his 2011 feature article "Black and Blue," Landau was a nineteen-year-old Community College of Denver student when he was pulled over by police on January 15, 2009, allegedly for making an illegal left turn.

alex landau beaeting photos 3.jpg
Alex Landau's jacket after his beating by police. More photos below. Warning: They're graphic.
Marijuana was subsequently found on Landau's passenger, a fellow student named Addison Hunold, prompting the officers -- identified in the lawsuit as Ricky Nixon, Randy Murr and Tiffany Middleton -- to ask if they could search his trunk. Landau is said to have responded by stepping toward the officers and quizzing them about whether or not they had a warrant -- at which point they began punching him in the face. The attack caused Landau to fall, but the beating continued for several minutes, with one officer yelling, "He's going for the gun." (Landau was unarmed.) Once they finally stopped the assault, one officer reportedly put the following question to him: "Where's that warrant now, you fucking nigger?" A lawsuit over the incident was filed in January 2011, and Landau eventually received a $795,000 settlement from the City of Denver for the damage done to him. But officers Nixon, Murr and Middleton still have not been punished for their actions in the incident. Murr was eventually fired for taking part in another high-profile excessive-force case involving Michael DeHerrera, and Nixon, too, was canned in connection with his role in an alleged assault on four women at the Denver Diner, also in 2009. However, he was later reinstated and remains on the Denver police force, as does Middleton.
Last week, a Denver judge ruled that the city could be put on trial for police brutality over the Denver Diner case -- and the officers who pummeled Landau could still face punishment resulting from a Manager of Safety inquiry whose results were delayed due to the federal investigation. But this prospect offers little solace to Landau.
Look below to see a Landau's statement, included in a release by the Colorado Progressive Coalition, with which he now works; that release also features comments by CPC racial justice and civil rights program director Mu Son Chi. In addition, we've got remarks from Holland, Holland, Edwards & Grossman, the law firm that represents Landau. extremely graphic.
The decision by the Federal Bureau of Investigation not to charge officers with civil rights violations in investigation of the Alex Landau beating by no means lessens Colorado Progressive Coalitions resolve to see officers Tiffany Middleton, Randy Murr and Ricky Nixon removed from the force. While the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to prove the civil rights of Landau had been infringed upon, the decision does not vindicate officers who are still under investigation by the Denver Police Department for the beating that left Landau with neurological damage and in shock was proper.
alex landau beating photos 1.jpg
"What is justice? If the Department of Justice, guided by the FBI probe cannot prove enough evidence in such a blatant case of police brutality, police misconduct, and racial discrimination to produce charges against these officers, then I don't believe our justice system has come far enough.
"In 2009, when I was a 19-year-old college student, I was pulled over by Denver Police. When I calmly asked to see a warrant after officers had already patted me down, I was grabbed, punched repeatedly, brought to the ground, hit in the face with a radio, hit in the face with a flashlight, had a service revolver pressed to my head, my life threatened, and thrown into the gutter. I lost consciousness and I awoke to officers laughing at me. I was asked, 'Where's that warrant now you fucking nigger.' I was dragged across the grass and left on a police jacket to bleed. I wouldn't allow any medical treatment until I got photos and, because of that, went into shock on the way to the hospital. My witness was coerced into writing a false statement. I was falsely charged with felony criminal intent to disarm a police officer. Officers falsified testimony, evidence, and documents to try to cover up their actions. When I went to file a complaint with Internal Affairs, I was told to own up to my actions as a man and that it's not always a good idea to play the race card. My case has been mishandled from the beginning."
"I attended the first day of college with 45 stiches, a broken nose, a concussion, and a brain injury. But none of this is considered sufficient evidence by the Department of Justice or the FBI to bring civil rights violations against these officers who beat me almost to death and then laughed about it. Our community is not laughing. After over 4 years of delay I am concerned that this may be used as a way to overlook officer discipline yet again. In my mind and the eyes of the community, these officers will never be vindicated of their actions. Officers who have assaulted our community need to be taken off the streets."
Mu Son Chi, Colorado Progressive Coalition's Racial Justice and Civil Rights Program Director, explained that the community continues to wait on the Denver Police Department to hand out discipline to the officers involved in Landau's case.
"We have called on the federal government for years to join us in seeking justice for our community. Perhaps they will join us some day. In the meantime, we are not waiting on anyone to continue the fight for justice with Alex Landau and others who have had their lives negatively impacted by racial profiling and police violence.
"We acknowledge the work done by the city to expedite the process for discipline and to streamline the appeals process. However, we are still waiting on discipline in this case. Alex Landau is still waiting after over four years for officers to be disciplined. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the recent rules changes by the city do not change that fact."
CPC is calling on community members to join them on Feb. 16 at 3:30 to attend a meeting in which survivors of police misconduct and brutality, including Landau, will be speaking. During the event, CPC will release its Truth and Justice Report, which details police misconduct data collected through its Racial Profiling Hotline. The event will occur at the CPC offices at 1029 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204.
"Today, we will call on our community to join our members in the fight for justice," said Chi.

Monday, December 10, 2012

White Supremacists Get Trolled By Clown Protestors

http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/White-supermacist-rally-drowned-out-by-counter-protestors-178461471.html


by DIANA RUGG / NBC Charlotte
Bio | Email | Follow: @
Posted on November 10, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Updated Monday, Nov 12 at 9:10 AM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say no one was arrested during a loud – and very colorful – KKK rally and counter-protest in uptown Charlotte Saturday afternoon.

Members of the National Socialist Movement joined the Ku Klux Klan for an anti-immigration rally at Old City Hall on West Trade Street, but the counter-protesters outnumbered them at least five to one.

Instead of shouting, the protesters used squeaky toys, whistles, and noisemakers to drown out the amplified speeches.  Many dressed as clowns.  

When the speakers talked about “White Power,” the protesters sprinkled white flour.  Another held a sign reading “Wife Power.”

They said they wanted to make a point that racism is ridiculous.

“The message from us is, you look silly,” said Lacey Williams, the youth coordinator for Charlotte’s Latin American Coalition. “We're dressed like clowns and you're the ones that look funny.”

Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based in Detroit, said his organization wants to be an alternative third party to the country’s two-party system.  Its platform is based on white supremacy.

Protester Tom Strini donned his red nose and rainbow wig to take an opposing point of view.         

“Instead of meeting hate with hate, they were going to meet hate with love,” said Strini of the protestors.

“I think it’s really important to have a sense of humor,” added Williams. “What they want is for us to fight them.  They want us to hit them with hate. We can't become them.”

City council member John Autry, who represents east Charlotte’s District 5, also wore a red nose to show his support of the counter-protesters.

“We're just a great big happy melting pot,” said Autry. “I just wanted to come out here and make sure people understood that I did not support the views of the people behind up here with the microphones.”

More than 75 police officers ringed the grassy front lawn during the speeches.  Metal barricades separated the speakers from the protesters.  Police rarely needed to move from their positions.

After two hours, the Klan and neo-Nazis put down their microphone and left with a police escort.  Police followed them back to a parking garage on Fourth Street near the county courthouse, while protesters filled the street behind them.

Strini said it shows the white supremacists are actually the minority, because so many people showed up to protest.

“It just shows that more people in this country are in favor of equal and human rights than there are people who want to kick all dark-skinned people out of the country,” he said.

'Sentenced to Church' Judge vs. ACLU

An Oklahoma teen convicted of manslaughter has sentenced to 10 years of probation, with requirements that include regularly attending church.
Tyler Alred, now 17, had been drinking when he crashed a pickup truck at around 4 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2011, Tulsa World reports. The accident killed Alred's friend, 16-year-old John Luke Dum, who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Alred was not legally drunk, but because he was below the legal drinking age, he was still considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol. The high school student pleaded guilty in August to a charge of manslaughter as a youthful offender.
"I did not want to do what I did," Alred told the court prior to his sentencing. "I want to change my life."
Members of Dum's family did not want to see Alred behind bars, the Muskogee Phoenix reported. "We don't need to see two lives wasted for a mistake," Dum's sister, Caitlin, wrote in a statement.
Instead of sentencing the teen to prison time, Judge Mike Norman gave him a 10-year deferred sentence. In order to stay out of prison, Alred must graduate from high school; graduate from welding school; take drug, alcohol and nicotine tests for a year; wear a drug and alcohol bracelet, take part in victim's impact panels, and attend church for the next 10 years.
This last requirement "raises legal issues because of (the separation of) church and state," University of Oklahoma law professor Randall Coyne told the Tulsa World.
University of Tulsa law professor Gary Allison told KTUL that the church requirement "speaks to maybe forcing people to do religious activities that they would otherwise not do on their own free will … I don't know why a church would want to have someone come to it under the force of government,"
This apparently isn't the case for Alred, though. "My client goes to church every Sunday," defense attorney Donn Baker told the court. "That isn't going to be a problem for him."

Friday, November 9, 2012

Conservative Politics, 'Low-Effort' Thinking Linked In New Study

Conservative Politics, 'Low-Effort' Thinking Linked In New

Conservatives and liberals don't seem to agree about much, and they might not agree about recent studies linking conservatism to low intelligence and "low-effort" thinking.
As The Huffington Post reported in February, a study published in the journal "Psychological Science" showed that children who score low on intelligence tests gravitate toward socially conservative political views in adulthood--perhaps because conservative ideologies stress "structure and order" that make it easier to understand a complicated world.
Ouch.
And now there's the new study linking conservative ideologies to "low-effort" thinking.
"People endorse conservative ideology more when they have to give a first or fast response," the study's lead author, University of Arkansas psychologist Dr. Scott Eidelman, said in a written statement released by the university.
Does the finding suggest that conservatives are lazy thinkers?
"Not quite," Dr. Eidelman told The Huffington Post in an email. "Our research shows that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism, not that political conservatives use low-effort thinking."
For the study, a team of psychologists led by Dr. Eidelman asked people about their political viewpoints in a bar and in a laboratory setting.
Bar patrons were asked about social issues before blowing into a Breathalyzer. As it turned out, the political viewpoints of patrons with high blood alcohol levels were more likely to be conservative than were those of patrons whose blood alcohol levels were low.
But it wasn't just the alcohol talking, according to the statement. When the researchers conducted similar interviews in the lab, they found that people who were asked to evaluate political ideas quickly or while distracted were more likely to express conservative viewpoints.
"Keeping people from thinking too much...or just asking them to deliberate or consider information in a cursory manner can impact people's political attitudes, and in a way that consistently promotes political conservatism," Dr. Eidelman said in the email.
The study was published online in the journal "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin."

Amazing Acrobatic Dog - slackline



This video is pretty cool! Check it out and tell me what you think!! :  )




Friday, October 26, 2012

The War On Drugs & Why We Aren't Winning!

 

Today, the United States along with many other countries across the globe are waging an assault on drugs. This assault has taken countless lives, cost billions of dollars but we seem to remain steady in our resolve to continue to wage this war on illegal drugs.  I will admit right now there are smarter people than me right now all over this great planet of ours, but till to this day no one has ever answered me this question, who is the enemy in this war, and are we winning? I believe that being able to answer these two questions are essential to finding a winning strategy in this war much of the globe is engaged in. Unfortunately, I am afraid that nobody has answered my question not because I haven't found the right person but rather that there are no true answers.

The term war is used very broadly especially inside of the United States. Wikipedia declares war as [an openly declared state of organized violent conflict,[1][2] typified by extreme aggression, societal disruption, and high mortality.[1] ] In reality there are quite a few ways that we as a society use the term war, for example during football season my Baltimore Ravens go to "war" with the much hated Pittsburgh Steelers twice during the season, and hopefully once more during the post season. Now that I live in Baltimore, it's hard for me to say that people living in the city do not see this sporting event as a war. Here's my point the term war has various meanings especially today. Yet, despite the various definitions there remains characteristics of war that remain. One being that there is an enemy and two there is a winner and a loser.

I would like to argue that the war on drugs has neither and that calling it a war is incorrect because it truly isn't a war with winners or an identifiable enemy. Though there are no winners there are plenty of losers, with that being U.S. the citizens. Whether you do illegal drugs or not, you pay the price for this war.

Homeless Former Crip Saves Officer in Fight (Video) - YouTube

Homeless Former Crip Saves Officer in Fight (Video) - YouTube



Pretty interesting video! Check it out!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Handcuffed Man Shot, Killed Himself In Cop Car?


This story is shocking and I don't have the words to describe the injustice that I feel is being perpertrated on this poor family. Based on the little evidence we do know about what happened that day, it seems that something does not quite add up with the polices recolection of the incident. I do not see how a man handcuffed behind his back, manages to shoot himself near the front of his head. Not only does that defy physic, it defies common sense. Not all the facts are evident yet, but so far it seems like this police department has not even bothered to make up a credible story in defense of their actions. The spokesperson was so nonchalant about how his  police department routinely miss contraband during pat-downs. To begin, that is nothing to be proud of and as a police department, I would hope those in charge would realize that it is not an excuse but a liability.   If does turn out that the officer did miss a firearm during a so called routine pat down, and it turns out that the police were correct in their recollection of that day's event they are still somewhat culpable due to their failure to do an insential and now in hindsight life saving aspect of their duties as Police Officers!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

National Database Planned to Combat Cellphone Theft - NYTimes.com


National Database Planned to Combat Cellphone Theft
By EDWARD WYATT
Published: April 9, 2012

WASHINGTON — The soaring popularity of smartphones has produced an unwelcome, if predictable, side effect: an epidemic of smartphone thefts.

Now, police departments, the Federal Communications Commission and the wireless phone industry have devised a plan to fight back: the creation of a central database to track stolen phones and prevent them from being used again.

On Tuesday, Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the F.C.C., is scheduled to join police chiefs from New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and representatives of a wireless industry trade group to announce the new plan, which will allow wireless providers to disable and block further use of a device once it is reported stolen.

The groups are also working with members of Congress to write legislation that would make it a federal crime to tamper with a phone’s unique identifiers in an attempt to evade the blocking process.

“It’s just too easy for a thief to steal a phone and sell it on the black market,” Mr. Genachowski said. “This program will make it a lot harder to do that. And the police departments we are working with tell us that it will significantly deter this kind of theft.”

Over the last year, roughly one out of three robberies nationwide have involved the theft of a cellphone, according to an F.C.C. summary of the new plan. The thefts have grown most rapidly in urban areas; cellphones are stolen in more than 40 percent of all robberies in New York City and 38 percent of robberies in the District of Columbia, according to the groups.

Read More At The New York Times Here

National Database Planned to Combat Cellphone Theft - NYTimes.com

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Black Policeman Shot 28 Times by 4 Chicago Cops and Lived


s much of the country follows the Trayvon Martin case, activists in Chicago are hoping to bring some of that attention to Howard Morgan, a former Chicago police officer who was shot 28 times by white officers -- and lived to tell his side of the story.
Morgan was off-duty as a detective for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad when he was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street on Feb 21, 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. While both police and Morgan agree on that much, what happened next is a mystery.
According to police, Morgan opened fire with his service weapon when officers tried to arrest him, which caused them to shoot him 28 times. His family, however, very much doubts those claims.
“Four white officers and one black Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad police man with his weapon on him — around the corner from our home — and he just decided to go crazy? No. That’s ludicrous,” Morgan's wife, Rosalind Morgan, told the Sun-Times.
She was not the only person to doubt CPD's side of the story. A Change.org petitionsigned by more than 2,600 people called for all charges against Morgan to be dropped, and now Occupy Chicago is getting involved.
"After being left for dead, he survived and was then charged with attempted murder of the four white officers who brutalized him," Occupy wrote on their website, adding that Morgan was found not guilty on three counts, including discharging his weapon. The same jury that cleared him of opening fire on the officers, however, deadlocked on a charge of attempted murder -- and another jury found him guilty in January.
That jury was not allowed to hear that Morgan had been acquitted of the other 

Friday, March 9, 2012

This Is Sort Of ALARMING! TSA FAIL!

 


This video is here to demonstrate that the TSA's insistence that the nude body scanner program is effective and necessary is nothing but a fraud, just like their claims that the program is safe (radiation what?) and non-invasive (nude pictures who?). This video is not intended to teach anyone how to commit criminal acts, nor is intended to help "the terrorists" -- if I could figure this out, I'm sure they've long figured it out, and by exposing it to the public, we now have an opportunity to correct it. The scanners are now effectively worthless, as anyone can beat them with virtually no effort. The TSA has been provided this video in advance of it being made public to give them an opportunity to turn off the scanners and revert to the metal detectors. I personally believe they now have no choice but to turn them off.

Please share this video with your family, friends, and most importantly, elected officials in federal government. Make sure they understand that your vote is contingent on them fixing the abuse that 200,000 passengers face from the TSA on a daily basis.