Oh my: As a result of a joint investigation between the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office and the WSPD, along with the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office, investigators have charged two Pfafftown residents after finding human remains in their back yard. During the course of a WSPD Missing Person investigation, information was obtained that led Investigators to a home located at … Read More
Who Is Burning Black Churches?
If you could give out an award for under-reported stories these past few weeks, this is it. Granted, it has been a very busy series of news cycles, with gay marriage and confederate flags and mass murder and a million GOP candidates, but this is more important than, say, shark attacks. And to be sure, if ISIS so much as … Read More
Boston: Up Close
This video may not seem remarkable at first…. Boston, U.S.A. from UrtheCast on Vimeo. It’s Boston… and you can see Fenway Park and cars moving on Storrow Drive as well as I-40. Here’s the astonishing, but creepy, thing about this: it was taken from space. From a satellite. You can see the Prudential Center and the Hancock Building appear to … Read More
Charlestown Shooter Was A Product Of The Left Wing: Fox News
Wow, this spin is laughable. Fox News guest Kevin Jackson said today that Dylann Roof — who was photographed sporting white supremacist flags and badges and whose alleged manifesto cited the white nationalist group the Council of Conservative Citizens before killing nine black parishioners in a Charleston, South Carolina church — was clearly “a product of the left” and that his killing spree “absolutely … Read More
SCOTUS Round-up: Three More Five-To-Four Decisions Today
Today is the last day of the SCOTUS term, and so they issued the last of their opinions. The two biggest cases — on Obamacare and sames-sex marriage — came out at the end of last week, so a lot fewer people were paying attention this morning. Here’s what happened: (1) DEATH PENALTY – The 5-4 decision in Glossip v. … Read More
End of Prison Break
Back stories: Prison Break and Richard Matt Shot Well, it looks like they got the other guy. The 22-day manhunt for David Sweat and Richard Matt ended Sunday when the fugitive was spotted just 2 miles from the Canadian border. He made it closer to Canada than Matt, who was found and killed Friday near Malone, New York. Both men had signs … Read More
Unconfirmed [Now Confirmed] Reports Say Richard Matt, One Of Two Upstate NY Prison Escapees Has Been Shot
Breaking: MALONE – Richard Matt has been shot and may be dead near Malone, a source has told The Buffalo News. Tweets from the Plattsburgh Press Republican said that several trooper cars with lights flashing were headed west in Malone of Fayette Road about 4 p.m.. New York Times confirms: Richard W. Matt, one of the convicted murderers who staged … Read More
Supreme Court Rules 5-4 To End The Sanctity Of Marriage
46 years ago this weekend, police in New York City raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. Obviously, this is the end (we hope) of a remarkable civil rights story (despite my snarky headline). Here’s the opinion. Reactions are about what you expect. I will update as the day goes on. But the important thing is that about 3 … Read More
The Other Case: Victory For Fair Housing
It won’t get as much press, but the Supreme Court decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Community Project, Inc., is arguably as important as the Obamacare case. The 5-4 ruling (PDF) found that the housing policies could be deemed discriminatory based on “disparate impact.” This means that plaintiffs could prove discrimination by showing that the impact … Read More
Obamacare Subsidies Upheld By SCOTUS
I’m actually not that surprised at the outcome. The surprising thing was that the Supreme Court ever took this case in the first place. But the US Supreme Court upheld the challenge to Obamacare. The opinion is here. In layman’s terms, the issue surrounded some (arguably) vague language in the Affordable Care Act relating to the federal government providing financial … Read More
Despite Charleston Mass Murders, GOP Doesn’t Want To Address Guns… Or Even Gun Murder Research
A GOP-led panel just blocked a proposal that would have reversed a nearly 20-year-old ban on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to research on gun violence. The House Appropriations Committee voted 32-19 against ranking member Rep. Nita Lowey’s (D-N.Y.) amendment to a bill that would fund health, education and labor programs in the next fiscal … Read More
The REAL Guilty Party Is Located In Charleston Church Massacre
Charles Cotton is a member of the NRA’s board, and he knows who killed those people. No, not Dylann Storm Roof, the alleged gunman who has since confessed, silly! It was Rev. Clementa Pinckney, state senator and pastor at Emanuel AME Church, according to Cotton. How did Pinckney manage that? By voting against a bill that would have allowed people to … Read More
The Prescient NYT Column
Excerpts from “The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat”, in the New York Times, written June 16, 2015, one day before the Charleston church shooting: … But headlines can mislead. The main terrorist threat in the United States is not from violent Muslim extremists, but from right-wing extremists. Just ask the police. In a survey we conducted with the Police Executive Research Forum … Read More
The Gun Problem In One Picture
The front page in today’s Charleston, S. C.’s hometown paper: That purple thing is a sticker that went out with the early edition. It’s a little hard to read, but the sticker that partly obscures the headline about a mass shooting advertises the latest deal at a local gun store. “$30 GETS YOU EVERYTHING” — all the goodies needed … Read More
Deadly History of Attacks on Progressive Houses of Worship
Last night, in a horrific act of hateful violence, a white gunman shot and killed at least nine people at the historically black Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The incident, which is being investigated as a hate crime, immediately sparked outrage, with many wondering aloud how someone could commit such an act — especially in a church, were … Read More