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UN Investigator for Human Rights Breaks Down this Horrific Israel Attack-Says They Violated International Law

June 1, 2010 By

Our good friends and station mates at Flashpoints are seriously on the case with the coverage of this horrific attack by Israel.. We will have more material including the interviews we did with Invincible and spoke word artist Remy in the meantime spread the word and watch the creative spins corporate backed media puts on this whole thing…

Leading UN Investigator for Human Rights in Occupied Palestine Says Israeli Commando Raid was “as clear a violation of international humanitarian law… as we are likely to see in the early part of the 21st Century.”

By Dennis Bernstein and Jesse Strauss

original source: http://www.flashpoints.net/?p=969#more-969

Here’s the link to this important radio interview..

http://kpfa.org/archive/id/61469

Professor Richard Falk

In a pre-dawn raid on Monday, in international waters, off the coast of the Occupied Gaza Strip, Israeli commandos seized the six boat fleet of the Free Gaza Movement, which was carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid in another attempt to break the punishing Israeli embargo against Gaza. According to the Israeli military, ten people were killed in the assault and several dozen wounded. There is as of yet no independent confirmation of these numbers nor of the identities of those killed or injured, because Israel has seized the six ships and detained all of their 700 passengers who come from 30 different countries, and has kept the detainees from any contact with the outside world.

In an interview with Pacifica Radio’s Flashpoints show, late Monday, Professor Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories stated that the Israeli commando raid against the humanitarian fleet of unarmed ships was “as clear a violation of international humanitarian law, international law of the seas, and international criminal law, as we’re likely to see in the early part of the twenty-first century”.

What follows is the complete interview with Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories,

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Dennis Bernstein: We are now joined by Professor Richard Falk. Richard  Falk is a distinguished attorney and Special Rapporteur on Occuppied Palestinian Territories for the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is the highest UN official dealing with human rights violations in the occupied territories, that is, occupied Palestine. Professor Falk, we appreciate you coming back and being with us on Flashpoints.

Richard Falk: I’m glad to be back here again.

DB: I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances. We don’t have a lot of detail, but Israel itself is clearly admitting they carried out this raid. We’ve seen pictures. They are saying that there are at least ten people dead. We don’t have any information because Israel is controlling the entire flow of information. Based on what you know and what you’ve seen, what can we say about what happened here in terms of human rights violations and international law?

RF: I think the fundamental reality is fairly clear at this point, namely that these were ships that were carrying humanitarian supplies for blockaded Gaza, that the passengers were unarmed and were situated at the time of the Israeli attacks on the high seas, that these attacks, therefore, were unlawful and by most interpretations would be regarded as criminal. The statement of the Turkish Prime Minister, that the attacks constituted state terrorism, seem to me at least to correspond with the tragic reality that we’ve been witnessing over the past twenty-four hours.

DB: The Israelis say that these commandos who they say were armed with hand guns and paint guns were only defending themselves from armed and dangerous attacks by people on the boat. Your response to that?

RF: There are two lines of response, and this is an area where the facts are contested and difficult to disentangle at this stage. The witnesses on the boats themselves, particularly the Turkish boats where most of the violence took place, claim that the commandos landed shooting, and that it was only after the initiation of that violence that there was some attempt at defense on the basis of very contrived and primitive weapons, as opposed to the kind of weaponry that the Israeli commandos were carrying. Beyond that, it’s fairly clear if unlawful attack of a vessel on the high seas isoccurring, the passengers on that ship have some sort of right to self defense. So that’s one aspect of it. The second aspect is that even if there was some kind of defensive violence on the ship, that’s no excuse for an unprovoked attack carried out in this manner. If Israel didn’t want the ships to go to Gaza, they could have diverted them, and if they did what the other boats did in the Freedom Flotilla, except for the larger Turkish one, it seems pretty clear that this was a deliberate attack designed, I suppose, to punish the effort to carry out this humanitarian mission, which would obviously have disclosed the brutality of the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gone on now for almost three years. The Israeli arguments are not really seriously plausible. Given the overall circumstances it’s very difficult to give them any kind of serious credibility, and this seems to me to be as clear a violation of international humanitarian law, international law of the seas, and international criminal law, as we’re likely to see in the early part of the twenty-first century.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtYnZBKSFgM

DB: Because there are many people from many countries represented on these boats, there are many diplomats from these countries trying to find out what happened. They are not being told anything by the Israelis, they are not being allowed access to their citizens. Is this also some kind of violation of international law? Do these countries have the right, at least, to ascertain the condition of their citizens?

RF: It certainly is a practice that under normal conditions such access would be granted, and here one is dealing with individuals who were part of an international humanitarian mission; the countries involved were at peace with Israel; Israel was maintaining a criminal blockade of the Gaza Strip; and so the political and moral equity strongly would support access. There’s no reasonable basis, however one understands Israel’s motives or situation, for denying access or generating more anxiety than is necessary on the part of the families of these people by shutting them off from any kind of communication. I suspect that Israel’s tactics are designed to prevent testimony by those that experience these attacks, which would presumably deepen the awareness of the world’s public as well as the governments of what in fact did happen.

DB: In terms of the responsibility, you are the UN Special Rapporteur  for the Palestinian territories. What is your responsibility now? What is the United Nations responsibility? What should happen in terms of an investigation?

RF: My responsibility is to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly on the Israeli violations of the human rights of the occupied Palestinian people. This incident is sort of at the edge of my responsibility because it didn’t occur within the occupied territories, but it so directly affects the people within that I treat it as part of my responsibilities. In my judgment, the Security Council, if one takes the UN Charter seriously and avoids double standards, should really do three things: One, it should condemn the attack as a violation of international law; secondly, it should demand a listing immediately of the blockade, of the people of the Gaza Strip, allowing food, medicine, reconstruction materials and fuel to enter freely; and thirdly it should refer the allegations of criminality associated with the attack to the International Criminal Court for investigation and action. Given the geopolitics that exist within the Security Council, it is highly unlikely that this appropriate course of action will actually be followed. Technically the General Assembly could try and do these kinds of things if the Security Council fails to act, and it remains to be seen whether there’s the political will in the General Assembly to do this. If the UN is stymied in this way, it does shift the responsibility and, in a way, the opportunity to civil society to augment the ongoing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, that in any event has been gaining momentum, and presumably this latest incident will create a great deal more strength for that campaign, which has been so effective in opposing the Apartheid regime in South Africa in the early 1990s and late 1980s.

DB: Is there any kind of special protection for the people who risked their lives—and now we see that they really did risk their lives—going into a situation where the world knows that there are terrible things happening, that people are being treated in terrible ways, that they are dying because of that treatment, and because they are being warred against and having bombs dropped on them where they cannot even flee. Is there some sort of role for legal action within the constraints of international law?

Professor Richard Falk

RF: Yes, there is, as you very well expressed. There is a great opportunity to provide protection to people who are courageous and morally motivated, and at the same time are vulnerable to this kind of violence and brutal treatment, but the political will is lacking at the governmental level and at the international institutional level to provide that kind of protection. One has the norms, has the responsibility to protect concept which has been endorsed by the Security Council and has the support of international lawyers, but it can’t be implemented without the requisite political will, and that’s what’s missing. Of course our government is the lynch-pin of what makes effective or futile international initiatives of this sort. If we had indicated a firm desire to establish some kind of protective capability for missions of this sort, individuals like this would be protected. I thought that however little Israel respects international law, they wouldn’t do something as crudely violent and alienating as what they did do with these commando attacks on the freedom flotilla. It was not in my political imagination that they would seek by such means to prevent the delivery of these humanitarian necessities that pose no security threat whatsoever to Israel—it only posed a public relations threat in the sense that it would have revealed the inability of governments to break the blockade and place pressure on them to do something in the future, and at the same time would have added to the willingness of activists around the world to push harder against the Israeli occupation policy so that what was at stake from Israel’s point of view was the delegitimation of their policies, and they apparently, and I think wrongly, calculated that they would lose less from this kind of violent disruption of this humanitarian mission that it would have by allowing it to quietly deliver the humanitarian materials that the ships were carrying.

DB: They certainly could have surprised a lot of people and gained a lot of supporters if they had shifted their policy and let the aid arrive. A final question, as I know you need to leave us: Just before you got on the air we spoke with Shakeed Saed, he’s the Executive Director of the Islamic Shura Council in Southern California, there’s a thousand people gathering in front of the Israeli consulate in LA and there are protests around the world; but he was saying that it’s not only a spiritual thing, but a legal matter because the United States is supplying a good deal of the equipment that Israel uses and that these commandos may have been using. Does that make the US responsible?

RF: We are certainly morally and politically implicit and responsible in these kinds of Israeli tactics and undertakings. Whether we are legally responsible is a trickier question. There are American laws that forbid the equipment that we do provide from being used except in defensive roles. We’ve never taken that legislative restriction seriously in the context of Israel, but it is a definite legal concern, and it could be pursued by those that were eager to test the degree of legal responsibility that the United States government possesses. I personally believe such a test would be beneficial for the American people because it would allow the public to express more of its changing view of the conflict, and send a message to Washington that it has yet to hear that the American people would rather see our government pursue a genuinely balanced law-oriented approach to the conflict than this unconditional partisanship with the kind of criminal tactics that Israel has just employed against the Freedom Flotilla.

DB: Professor Richard Falk, I want to thank you very much for joining us. You are the Special Rapporteur  on the Palestinian territories for the United Nations Human Rights Council, and we thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to speak with us.

RF: It’s been very good to speak with you.

DB: Thank you.

Dennis Bernstein and Jesse Strauss produced this interview for Flashpoints on the Pacifica network, which was broadcast across the US on Monday, May 31st from the KPFA studio in Berkeley, California. You can access the audio archive of that entire show on their website, www.flashpoints.net. From our website you can sign up to the Flashpoints mailing list, and also follow Flashpoints on twitter at twitter.com/FlashpointsNews.

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Arizona Updates: Rebel Diaz Arts Collective Drops New Song-DOJ Visits Ground Zero

June 1, 2010 By


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This weekend over 100 thousand people from all over the country came to Arizona for a Human Rights festival where they protested the unjust immigration law SB 1070.  They also came and protested the cutting of ethnic studies in Arizona colleges and the proposal to criminalize children born to immigrant parents. Thus far lots of songs have been penned addressing this issue. This is the latest cut courtesy of  Marcel Cartier of the REBEL DIAZ ARTS COLLECTIVE….The name of the cut is called Arizona Apartheid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klWoz14bdyU

In other news..Arizona Immigration news…From the ImmigrationProf Blog

DOJ Visits the Valley of the Sun, “Preliminary” Assessment of Arizona Law Released, and SG Kagan

Source: http://bit.ly/cHBUKX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUcxG6j0Jks

News keeps coming from Arizona, including the news of protests over the Memorial Day weekend of the state’s new immigration law..  On Friday, U.S. Department of Justice officials visited the state and informed the Arizona Attorney General and aides to the Governor over grave concerns with the new Arizona law. By the way, four Arizona professors, Jack Chin, Carissa Hessick, Toni Massaro, and Marc Miller, have prepared a “preliminary” assessment of Arizona’s latest effort at immigration regulation.

On Friday, the U.S.  government filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the granting a writ of certiorari in a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA).  The Department of Justice focused on preemption, which is a central issue with respect to the constitutionality of Arizona’s new-if-not improved immigration law..

The U.S. Solicitor General filed a brief as Amicus Curiae in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Candelaria; the Acting Solicitor General,Neal Katyal, and head of the Civil Rights Division, Tom Perez, are the two lead counsel on the U.S. government’s brief — Elena Kagan, now a Supreme Court nominee but formerly the Solicitor General, not listed.  Download Candelaria[1]

There are three questions presented in the petition for certiorari,  The Solicitor General addressed each separately, concluding that the Supreme Court should hear the express preemption issue, but should not hear the E-Verify and implied preemption issues:

(1) Whether 8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(2) — which “preempt[s] any State or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions (other than through licensing and similar laws) upon those who employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, unauthorized aliens” — expressly preempts the provisions of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (Arizona statute), Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. Sec. 23-211 et. Seq., that sanction employers for knowingly or intentionally employment unauthorized aliens.

The U.S. Solicitor General concxluded that this question warrants Supreme Court review. The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the Legal Arizona Workers Act, “at bottom” is not a licensing law, but a law that prohibits the hiring of unauthorized aliens. The DOJ also argued that the Ninth Circuit’s decision violates the maxim “that exceptions should not be permitted to ‘swallow the rule.” A state is prohibited from imposing even a tiny monetary fine, but LAWA allows the State of Arizona to terminate an employer’s entire business license. The Solicitor General also cites case law holding that courts should not give broad effect to the savings clause “where doing so would upset the careful regulatory scheme established by federal law” and argued that LAWA upsets the careful balance in IRCA between preventing discrimination and employer sanctions.

(2) Whether a state or local government may require employers to enroll and participate in the federally created and administered E-Verify program.

After making several statements suggesting that the Ninth Circuit holding regarding the E-Verify requirement in LAWA was incorrect, the Solicitor General nonetheless concludes the Supreme Court review of the E-Verify question is not warranted. In support of this conclusion, the Solicitor General pointed out that there is no enforcement mechanism if employers fail to use E-Verify. The DOJ then suggested that due to the evolving nature of E-Verify and the potential for federal Congressional action, that the Court allow the possibility that political action will address the E-Verify question.

(3) Whether the Arizona statute is impliedly preempted because it undermines what Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137, 147 (2002), describes as a “comprehensive scheme” to regulate the employment of unauthorized aliens.

The Solicitor General concluded that the implied preemption issue does not warrant Supreme Court review, arguing that Hoffman is irrelevant because it did not involve preemption or state regulations. But more importantly, the Solicitor General stated that addressing implied preemption was not necessary because IRCA expressly preempts the employer sanctions provisions of IRCA.

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Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

May 31, 2010 By

Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza:

People of the U.S. and the world must end Israeli impunity now!

by Cynthia McKinney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSFwyWyVo74

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZenysNLAfc8


I am outraged at Israel’s latest criminal act. I mourn with my fellow Free Gaza travelers, the lives that have been lost by Israel’s needless, senseless act against unarmed humanitarian activists. But I’m even more outraged that once again, Israel’s actions have been aided and abetted by a U.S. political class that has become corrupted beyond belief due to its reliance on Zionist finance and penetration by Zionist zealots for whom no U.S. weapons system is too much for the Israeli war machine, and the silence of the world’s onlookers whose hearts have grown cold with indifference.

I recently visited the offices of IHH, the Turkish humanitarian organization that sponsored one of the Freedom Flotilla boats, and that was targeted by the Israelis for its murderous rampage. Reports are still coming in as to the full extent of the senseless Israeli violence. Of course, I expect Israel’s apologists in the press and in the United States government to shift into high gear to support Israel’s lying machine. Take note of their names. The 12,000 internet squatters/written word grenade throwers, hired by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to defend Israel and attack peace activists online, are already busy spreading their orchestrated disinformation in cyberspace. Be very careful what you read and believe from special interest press and the internet. You could be reading one of Israel’s hired hacks. As a news diversion from what Israel has just done, I suspect that we can also expect to see a lot of historical footage of war’s atrocities on television: today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day long ago set aside to remember the sacrifices of U.S. war dead.

I encouraged and supported U.S.S. Liberty veteran Joe Meadors’s participation in the Freedom Flotilla. Unfortunately, the fate of the U.S.S. Liberty innocents on the high seas, while in international waters, has now been visited upon the participants in the Freedom Flotilla, in large measure because of the Congressional- and Presidential-level cover-up of the 1967 Israeli attack on that U.S. surveillance ship. Combined with the failure of just about every other effort to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against the peace. Belgium and Spain changed their domestic laws of universal jurisdiction after Israeli appeals to do so. The entire musical chairs gang of rotating Israeli leadership are war criminals. During my imprisonment in Israel for attempting to take crayons to the children of Gaza, I called Israel a failed state. If Israel is threatened by unarmed, humanitarian activists to the point of massacring them, then Israel is a failed state. Israel is a failed nuclear state.

Obama’s most recent granting of an additional $205 million for Israeli “missile defense” is unconscionable, when in the same week, reports revealed for the first time, Israel’s offer of nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa. Just last week, a paper bearing the signature of former Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, was released by South Africa, revealing that in 1975, Israel could offer South Africa nuclear weapons “in three sizes.” South Africa’s then-Minister of Defense, P.W. Botha, was South Africa’s signatory to the letter. This information would make the entire Obama Administration look sadly farcical as it points an accusing finger at Iran, except that U.S. obeisance to the Israeli bloodthirst is deadly serious. With deadly outcomes.

Earlier this month, Israel was granted admission to the Organization of Economic and Community Development (OECD), a direct affront to ongoing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) efforts across the world. Once again, Israel has thumbed its nose at the global community–with bloody results–because it can.

I am proud to serve on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Its next sitting will be in London, where we will examine corporate complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestine. The Tribunal will sit from November 5 – 7. Please put this on your calendar. We all must do what we can, where we are to end wars against the people at home and wars against human rights abroad.

Finally, a friend just sent a message to me saying that the Israelis had lost their minds. Sadly, based on the past, the Israelis could very well conclude that they can do anything–imprison me for trying to take love to the children of Gaza and kill humanitarian activists trying to do the same–because they know, in the end, they’ll get away with it. Instead, I would suggest that we are the ones who have lost our minds, our souls, our spirits, and our human dignity if we allow the Israelis to get away with murder–again–and we do nothing.

I am calling on the people of the United States to change course now.

On this Memorial Day 2010, I am stunned and outraged beyond belief while mourning the dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Essential videos to peep, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , ,

BP Needs to Write Hefty Checks & President Obama Needs to Give Back BP Campaign Money

May 27, 2010 By

Woke this morning to ‘Breaking news‘ that the Gulf Oil Spill has been capped. Call me skeptical but that seemed a bit too good to be true. Now of course a few hours after this initial assertion, everyone is backpedaling and as President Obama is fond of saying, they are ‘re-calibrating’ their remarks. In other words-Here comes the corporate spin. But that’s either here nor there.

What all of us need to be watching for is to how BP which has had its third so-called accident in 5 years will start compensating people and businesses it destroyed. BP needs to be underwriting every single animal rights and rescue organization that are feverishly plucking oil soaked birds and mammals to clean and care for them and keep them out of harms way. We should all be treated to a breaking news story showing BP CEO Tony Hayward cutting lots of hefty checks to those operations.

Next we should all be treated to Hayward cutting large checks to fishermen and all businesses including tourism impacted by his company’s blunder. Someone suggested that we should take this a step further and make sure all Gulf businesses own a part of BP. That just might be the move. We should also see similar checks written by the other companies involved in this disaster including; Haliburton and Transocean Limited.

It would be nice to see the Drill Baby Drill crowd which includes miscreants like; Michael Steele, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich etc, all apologizing for their gross miscalculations and misplaced advocacy for off shore drilling. Obama was right to put a moratorium in place. It needs to be permanent.

Speaking of which, we also need to see a press conference with President Obama and every other federal and state politician who took campaign money from BP, giving it back. They should publicly return the money let all of us know they are in no-way beholden to the oil giant.  Obama says he didn’t take any money, but here’s what’s being reported:

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html#ixzz0p9e1qXmw

BP CEO Tony Hayward needs to hold press conferences with him writing hefty checks for all the people who's lives he ruined

All the key folks involved and rightly so made it a point to be constantly be on TV to give us around the clock information and updates. We should all demand that they continue this process when it comes to recovery and compensation. After all, it’s when the cameras are off and our collective attention is redirected elsewhere that big companies start to toss-up all sorts of red tape and road blocks and pull all types of shenanigans resulting in people not getting their money…

These companies should do the right thing and not hide behind caps limiting what damages can be collected. Their should be no shortchanging the people. We’ve heard way too many Rush Limbaugh type pundits brag about how ‘private’ should be left to their own devices and they will do right by the American people. Well, here’s their chance. BP needs to handsomely compensate everyone. It’s the ethical thing to do..

Failure for these companies to properly compensate people will be an indication that this so called ‘free market, unregulated business environment that conservatives and Tea Party types crow about is a complete failure. We should also keep in mind that almost every single Gulf Coast state Senator is against removing or raising the 75 million dollar liability cap.All those Rush Limbaugh/ Glenn Beck types who claimed the market can take care of itself need to be leading the charge making sure all those private businesses involved are stepping it up BP, Haliburton andTransocean Limited and don’t hide behind their political friends.

Something to Ponder.

-Davey D-

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Oakland Gang Injunction? Maybe We Should Have One Against Out of Control Police?

May 27, 2010 By

Update: This is footage from the rally just before yesterday (May 27th hearing) in which a temporary injunction was issued…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b4kJG5WIXQ

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Today at 2Pm a hearing will be held at the Oakland Courthouse to see if the City of Oakland should have a gang injunction. There will be a rally at 12:30 opposing the injunction in front of the court house

.This measure is being pushed by the City attorney John Russo who doesn’t exactly have the most exemplary record in town. Translation, many feel dude is shady. He’s trying to push an Oakland version of Arizona’s racial profiling law..which is what gang injunctions ultimately wind up doing.. How about getting competent officers on the streets who respect the community and  know’ the residents of that community? Can we do something like that?

What’s even more shady than this proposed gang injunction which seems to be motivated by extra money coming into police coffers more than granting us safe neighborhoods, is that this gang injunction won’t apply to the city’s biggest gang. Many feel an injunction needs to handed down to out of control members our police department. And before folks start making excuses and rushing to their defense, take a look at this video showcasing their behavior the other night.. Members of the department decided to handle business by throwing blows and acting a fool at a boxing match in Sacramento.. and we wonder why are kids are out of wack. If those who we pay to protect and serve act a fool, what do we expect the rest of us to do.?

Something to ponder

-Davey D-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8edsNXKT2Y&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7OFJST-LmE&feature=player_embedded

Oakland PD banned from police boxing matches after melee Friday night

By Mike Taugher

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_15144729?nclick_check=1

A boxing match for law enforcement officers turned chaotic when supporters of an Oakland Police Department fighter escalated trash-talking into what turned into a shouting and shoving match that involved dozens of spectators.

Fight fans and organizers were harshly critical of off-duty Oakland police at the Sacramento Radisson during Friday night’s “Badge vs. Badge” fights, and while fans said they were unsure whether those rooting for Oakland police fighters were officers or simply friends and relatives, event organizers said the troublemakers were police.

As a result of the fracas, Oakland police officers are banned from fights sanctioned by the International Association of Boxing until a review of video footage is complete, said Steve Fosum, the association’s president.

“It was totally instigated by Oakland PD, no doubt in my mind,” said Fosum, who was in the ring Friday night. “They chose to be jerks instead of law enforcement. This was not an embarrassment to Badge versus Badge. This was not an embarrassment to law enforcement. This was an embarrassment to Oakland PD.”

According to organizers and witnesses, the fights went off without a hitch until the end of the main event, a heavyweight title bout between Larry “Psycho” Ward, who works at the California Medical Facility, a state prison in Vacaville, and Casey Johnson, a police officer in Oakland.

A section with a few dozen supporters of Oakland fighters — there were three fighters from the department on the fight card — were particularly loud and taunted Ward throughout the night, according to Fosum and others.

After Ward and Johnson fought, Ward returned to his corner, which happened to be near where the Oakland fans were sitting.

Fight promoter Tom Gaffney said he took out a second mortgage and spent five years planning the event. He said three fans stood up and started yelling and pointing at Ward and things quickly got out of control.

Witnesses said no punches were thrown but there was a lot of yelling as well as some pushing and shoving. About 10 people were at the center of the action, either shoving each other or trying to pull antagonists apart, Gaffney said.

A YouTube video of the skirmish shows dozens of spectators scuffling. The scene includes a tossed chair.

Gaffney said he was told the three fans who started the disturbance were Oakland police officers and that at least one of them served on the SWAT unit. He said Johnson apologized to Gaffney after the fight and confirmed they were from his department.

“He was embarrassed. I said, ‘Man, you work with those guys?’ He said, ‘Yeah,’ ” Gaffney said.

“I was shocked,” he added.

“I didn’t think they were officers, the way they were acting.”

Johnson told Gaffney that the three apologized to Johnson for their behavior.

When contacted Saturday evening, Oakland’s brass said they were unaware of the incident but promised they would investigate.

“Any time we are in the public eye, we need to conduct ourselves in a professional manner,” Oakland police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason said. “At this time there is not enough information to comment on what may or may not have happened last night, but we will conduct our own internal investigation.”

Oakland mayoral spokesman Paul Rose expressed confidence the department would handle the incident properly.

“We are going to work with the Police Department to investigate the matter and the mayor is confident that the chief is going to deal with this matter appropriately,” Rose said.

An Oakland police officer who was at the fight, but who did not want to be identified, said Ward started it by making a throat-slashing gesture toward the Oakland fans.

The officer said Ward came out of the ring, but another fan said Ward simply opened up the ropes and invited his taunters into the ring. The Oakland officer said his colleagues were only defending themselves after Ward taunted them and backers of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confronted them.

Fosum said he would not have blamed Ward, whom he described as cocky, for parting the ropes, though he did not see that happen.

“I guess they wanted to be a tough guy,” Fosum said. “Whenever I see stuff like that, I think, if you guys really thought you were tough, you have a chance to be in the ring. All they did was heckle.”

A Sacramento-area police officer called the incident “a disrespect to the badge.”

The officer did not want to be identified.

“I don’t want to tell on my brothers,” he said. “On the other hand, I think they should be held accountable.”

Although a couple of witnesses said they thought there were more fights on the card, Fosum said the heavyweight bout was the last of the night.

Alcohol was served at the fights, but Fosum said he thought it was passions in support of their fighter and not alcohol that fueled the raucous behavior.

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Hip Hop & Political News: Freeway Rick Set to Sue Rick Ross/ Latina Professor Booed at Arizona Graduation

May 25, 2010 By

Like everyone I’m watching this Gulf Oil Spill and seeing all the dead oil slicked animals and hearing endless pronouncements about how BP is going to try one failed method after another to cap the leak. Of course nothing is working, everyone is pointing fingers and at the end of the day, I see more political posturing than I do genuine concern for the destruction of the environment and the Gulf Coast Economy.

Nowadays everyone seems to be pointing a finger at President Obama, accusing him of being too cool, too relaxed and not moving fast enough. I agree Obama needs to be putting the smash on BP in a big way even if they have given him lots of money in the past.  After all, this is bigger than one’s relationship with campaign contributors. At the same time I hear a deafening silence from the wing nuts who showed up in New Orleans a little more than a month ago talking all that ‘Drill Baby Drill‘ nonsense. For those who don’t remember take a look at this… http://www.srlc2010.com/

That was the Southern Republican Leadership Conference where you had all sorts of folks not only championing off shore drilling, you also had folks talking about how we needed less government and how Obama was right up there next to ‘socialism‘ as if that’s really a bad thing. Of course now that we have this catastrophe we have many of those same people including Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal damn near crying on TV demanding the government step up and do something. He needs to be smacked upside the head and told made to take his words back that Drill Baby Drill mantra. I haven’t forgotten while serving Congress Jindal was riding hard for H.R. 4761: Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act of 2006 which would’ve lifted the moratorium on off shore drilling. The bill never passed, but Jindal was a still a rider along with just about every other Gulf Coast State governor. I wonder if they’d be pushing for those off shore drillings now?

Big shout out to Talib Kweli and Public Enemy for stepping up and dropping songs dealing with the immigration bill in Arizona. Talib has a new song called ‘Paper’s Please‘ and Public Enemy and DJ Johnny Juice who had already released a song addressing the issue remixed it.  ‘Tear Down That Wall’-(Aztlan remix) .They join other artists who released songs like Swindoe-(Roadrunner vs the Coyote), Toki Wright- (By the Time I Get to Arizona 2010) and a coalition of Arizona artists who dropped the song ‘Back to Arizona Rappers Against SB 1070‘ .

Its good to see artists stepping up and using their talents to address these important issues. We had a slew of artists ranging from Jasiri X to Beeda Weeda, Mistah FAB & Jennifer Johns and Zion I aka the Burnerz who all came with songs after  an unarmed Oscar Grant was murdered by a BART police officer in Oakland.

Prior to that we had everyone from David Banner and DJ Shadow to Juvenile to Jay-Z step up to address issues around Hurricane Katrina. It’s just a matter of time before we start hearing songs around the killing of 7 year Aiyana Stanley Jones.

-Davey D-

Here are some stories to peep..

Rick Ross To Sue Rapper Rick Ross Over Name

The real Rick Ross could face off against the rapper Rick Ross (William Leonard Roberts II) in court this summer, over the usage of the name “Rick Ross.”…Ross claims that Miami rapper Rick Ross (William Leonard Roberts II) signed a multimillion dollar deal in 2006, based on his image and likeness as a drug dealer.

Rick Ross claims that he protested the use of his name in 2006 by sending cease-and-desist letters to Def Jam, which were allegedly ignored.

Sources told AllHipHop.com that Ross’ lawsuit will claim that the rapper stole his identity and based it on Rick Ross’ real drug dealer image in the black community.

According to sources, Ross is planning to sue Def Jam, Universal, William “Rick Ross” Roberts II and others.

continue reading here http://bit.ly/dhTR15

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Latina professor jeered, threatened for speaking against immigration laws….

Arizona Professor Sandra Soto

Last week, Arizona University’s professor of Latina studies Professor Sandra Soto took the stage to address 2010 graduates of the school’s Social and Behavioral Sciences program. Naturally, her words were timely and touched upon the state’s recently passed immigration laws that allow police to question and detain anyone who they suspect of being an illegal immigrant.

Then, she called the measure “the strictest anti-immigrant legislation in the country” that is “explicitly intended to drive undocumented immigrants out of the state.”

Her summary, while quite accurate, elicited a wave of boos and insults from the audience.

In a video of her speech published to YouTube, either the camera man or someone close by seems amused at her characterization.

That’s right!” he said. “This is ‘merica,” leaving out the ‘A’. “Cut your hair!”

“…to a whole lot of people, myself included, it appears to not only invite but require the police to engage in racial profiling,” she continued, eliciting another wave of boos.”

“Bitch!” a man near the camera shouted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSppVDbEZkg&feature=player_embedded

continue reading here  http://bit.ly/d6TPlM

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Hip Hop Wisdom: Bambu Speaks on Filipinos in Hip Hop & Gang Life in LA

We caught up with Bambu at SxSW last year  and he spoke to us about the Filipinos in Hip Hop and gang life in LA. He noted that he doesn’t say gang life is wrong.. He says it needs to be redirected and folks need to use their talents and intelligence to really owning their blocks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYgW5h95wuw

In our other clip Bambu talks to us about the gender politics and deeper meaning behind his song and video the ‘Queen is Dead’

continue reading here: http://bit.ly/dkAtge

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Wall Street Reform Turns Out Great for Wall Street — Why Aren’t the Big Banks Being Punished?

You would think as this 1,500 page “reform” went through (anyone want to bet if its strongest provisions will survive the reconciliation process?) the banks would be quaking in their boots. After all, they funded what President Obama called swarms of lobbyists to kill it at birth. They denounced it with doomsday language with their rhetoric helping to drive the market down. Oh, the fear! Oh, the consequences!

But then, what happened? Were bankers jumping out of windows like their predecessors did when the market crashed in ’29? No way.

WSNS reported what happened:

Bank stocks soared on Friday, with the share price of JP Morgan Chase, one of the biggest finance houses, surging 5.9 percent and helping drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 125 points. Other bank stocks rose sharply: Bank of America up 4.7 percent, Goldman Sachs up 3.3 percent, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. The S&P financial sector index was up 3.6 percent overall.

The Wall Street Journal reported the rise in prices under the headline, “Financial Stocks Turn Higher After Senate Passes Reform Bill.”

continue reading here: http://bit.ly/9wcSHL

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Essential videos to peep, Political articles Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s More Than Just Money: When Capitalism Hits the Fan (The True Story of this Economic Meltdown)

May 24, 2010 By

This is an incredible lecture that everyone needs to peep that breaks down the current state of affairs with our economy. This cat Professor Richard Wolff is a beast when it comes to this as he lets us know that what is going down goes beyond money.. The quality on these clips aren’t all that great.. You can get better qualities at his website..http://www.capitalismhitsthefan.com/

Below is a more detailed description of what’s on these clips…They come in 9 parts

With breathtaking clarity, renowned University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today’s economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s, when wages began to stagnate and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government “bailouts,” stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis – in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes. Richly illustrated with motion graphics and charts, this is a superb introduction designed to help ordinary citizens understand, and react to, the unraveling economic crisis.

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 1-Three Things the Economic Crisis is Not

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOD7RFpOGI

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 2-How We Got Here: American Exceptionalism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x_qnazVW_U

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 3-History Interrupted: The Trauma of Flat Wages

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHL_jEY2LIw

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 4-Coping with Trauma: The People’s Response

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-4Ot3SlyUU

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 5-The Meaning of the Trauma for Business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqwp37sHYg

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 6-Bust and No Boom In Sight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guHnKFQUeVo

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 7-What Won’t Work: Re-Regulation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpDYuXOOd8g

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 8-So What Might Work?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAAxzI_ZPRM

Capitalism Hits the Fan pt 9-Beyond Free Markets and Regulati

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Afs7VxlBU

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , ,

Rand Paul Is a Dangerous Man and Not Just Because He Hates Civil Rights

May 21, 2010 By

This interview with Rand Paul is interesting on a number of levels. The way its being spun is that he handed ABC host George Stephanopoulos his ass. I can see that being the case only in the sense that Paul was prepared for the inevitable questions on his controversial stances around Civil Rights. Up to now a lot has been made about his take on things in this arena and to be honest it’s more than obvious what conclusions you can draw from them-dude is smooth, but anyway you slice it-He simply wasn’t down for the advancements of the Civil Rights Movement.

In this ABC interview Paul skillfully deflects the questioning by simply saying he would not repeal Civil Rights legislation. He then flips the script and asserts that the Civil Rights discussion is a ‘red herring’ and Stephanopoulos is using Democrat talking points, even though George was quoting from Paul’s own writings. Paul concludes by saying Stephanopoulos would be better off by going after Senator Robert Byrd who actually filibustered Civil Rights legislation.

Because many people don’t have a sense of history and truly understand the emotions and the fight and the scars and born during the Civil Rights Movement, its easy for Paul to dismiss it reduce it down to ‘democratic talking point’. Stephanopoulos would’ve been better off asking Paul his position on modern-day scenarios like:

1-Did he agree with Bush extending the 1964 Voting Rights act and should it be permanent?

2-Did he agree with Arizona banning ethnic studies?

3-should our government being monitoring hate groups which are on the rise and be concerned that they may commit acts of domestic terrorism?

4-Should Latino organizations like MeCHA and La Raza should be monitored by our government?

5-Who he liked and would’ve confirmed for Supreme Court?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uktkn1BGU54

Congressman Ron Paul has lots of contradictory views-Is his son rand the same way?

Questions like these would’ve quickly revealed Paul’s stances on Civil Rights, race and glaring contradictions that folks like him and his dad Texas Congressman Ron Paul tend to have. For example, they may talk all this  stuff about ‘less government’ until it comes to what’s taking place on the border. Suddenly they feel we need to go all out and enforce laws even if the border communities disagree.  Case in point the Texas Border wall, Paul’s dad voted for it even though many along the border weren’t feeling it.

Rand Paul wants to build underground electric fences, have helicopter ports and damn near set up army bases on the border…Here’s his take.

My plan includes an underground electric fence, with helicopter stations to respond quickly to breaches of the border.  I would include satellite and increased aerial surveillance, and a boost of funds and training to the border agents.   Finally, instead of closing military bases at home and renting space in Europe, I would advocate for more strategic location and construction of some of these bases to protect our border.

It would be interesting to have seen if Rand is a strict constitutionalist and agrees with his dad in amending the constitution to take  away birthright citizenship. We could go on and on.

I interviewed Rand a couple of years ago and what I recall was he defended his father for taking money from the KKK. Nothing more needs to be said.

Moving along what I found most fascinating and even more disturbing is Paul’s take on the BP Gulf Coast Oil spill. It’s here that I thought either he’s a deep in the pocket of the oil giant or he’s just woefully ignorant. Most people’s jaws dropped when he said it was Un American for Obama to go after BP Oil. My jaw dropped when he classified this catastrophe as merely an accident. At first I thought I mis-heard him, but he repeated a couple more times by saying things like ‘accidents happen’ ..

It’s at that point Stephanopoulos should’ve smashed on him and reminded Paul of BP lengthy track record of ‘accidents’, deaths and fines in the past 5 years. A recent Newsweek article lays a lot of these so-called accidents..

The company’s most recent effort at damage control—before the spill—occurred after a 2005 explosion at the company’s Texas City refinery (the third-largest oil refinery in the country). That was among the most deadly disasters to befall the U.S. oil industry in modern times. The blasts and subsequent fires killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and sent 43,000 people fleeing to indoor shelters. The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board later concluded that the explosions were caused by company deficiencies “at all levels of the BP Corporation”—including repeated cost cutting that affected maintenance and safety.

source: Newsweek May 7th

Here’s another accident

In 2006 the EPA and the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into two massive BP oil leaks in Alaska caused by corroded pipelines. One of the leaks spewed 200,000 gallons onto the tundra. Once again, EPA investigators pushed to charge company officials with a crime. “Everybody was convinced we had a humdinger of a case,” says Scott West, the EPA special agent in charge of the probe, who has since retired. Witnesses—including workers on the pipelines and midlevel managers—had told investigators how BP executives had ignored repeated warnings about corrosion. “There was a corporate philosophy that it was cheaper to operate to failure and then deal with the problem later rather than do preventive maintenance,” West told NEWSWEEK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLhyPnZgKgg

We can pull up a lot more examples, but the point here is that Paul’s lasse faire philosophy is the type of thing that would embolden corporations even more. He seems to be giving them a pass by saying it was accident and Bush who was an oil man actually had his people at the EPA hit them with fines. Up till now no one including Obama and the current congress has reigned in companies like this and make them adhere to strict standards so all of us won’t be severely impacted by ‘accidents’.

Yes, we know BP will ‘pay for the accident’..probably by raising gas prices-so in effect we’ll be paying for it sooner or later.  My question is who’s gonna pay for our fish? Who’s gonna get the wildlife restored? How many accidents is BP allowed to have? My drivers license gets suspended after a 3 tickets in a year. Also who’s gonna help out the fishermen which consists of about 40% people of color?..Mostly Vietnamese who just barely survived the setbacks of Hurricane Katrina..

Paul asked where his honeymoon was with the media? I say it’s happening now. Not a whole lot of folks heard of him till 3 days ago and now everyone is chatting him up. He’s rapidly becoming a hero because he’s smoothly defiant. I say pay attention not just to his stance on race, but his take on regulations and oversight thats where he’ll do major damage as a Senator. That man’s a beast.

-Davey D-

Click the link Below to read article and more importantly click the link to watch the video exchange between: Rand Paul and George Stephanopoulos

Rand Paul Says He’s Being ‘Trashed Up and Down’ by ‘Democratic Talking Points’

Kentucky GOP Senate Nominee Responds to Critics After Civil Rights Act Comments

By JONATHAN KARL and DEVIN DWYER

Rand Paul, the Tea Party’s rising star from Kentucky who won the state’s GOP Senate primarythis week, says criticism of his views on the Civil Rights Act and other pieces of anti-discrimination legislation are “red herrings” and Democrats’ attempt to “trash” his campaign.”When does my honeymoon period start? I had a big victory,” Paul toldGeorge Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America” today. “I’ve just been trashed up and down and they have been saying things that are untrue. And when they say I’m for repealing the Civil Rights Act, it’s absolutely false. It’s never been my position and something that I basically just think is politics.”

Paul’s comments came amid a firestorm of criticism sparked earlier this week when he appeared to question the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which he said went too far in banning discrimination by private companies.

In an interview Wednesday with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Paul was asked whether he believed private businesses should have the right to refuse service to African-Americans.

“Yes,” Paul said. “I’m not in favor of any discrimination of any form. … But I think what’s important about this debate is not written into any specific ‘gotcha’ on this, but asking the question: what about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?”

His comments drew a range of criticism, including a rebuke from the White House Thursday, with press secretary Robert Gibbs telling reporters, “a discussion about whether or not you support those I don’t think has a real, shouldn’t have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”

Republicans also seemed to distance themselves from Paul’s views. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steelemade it clear the GOP supports the Civil Rights Act, whatever its Senate nominee in Kentucky says.

Paul has said he doesn’t believe the government has the right to tell a private business who they have to serve but insists he has not — and has never — called for a repeal of the law.

“If you want to bring up 40-year-old legislation, why don’t you bring me on with Sen. [Robert] Byrd, and we’ll talk about how he filibustered the Civil Rights Act,” he said of the 92-year-old West Virginia Democrat. “Make him, call him to task for something he actually did as opposed to calling me to task for something they insinuated that I might believe that’s not true.

“What is going on here is an attempt to vilify us for partisan reasons. Where do your talking points come from? The Democratic National Committee, they also come from Rachel Maddow and MSNBC.

Paul’s political philosophy, which is shared by many members of the Tea Party movement, emphasizes a more limited role of the federal government in U.S. business and society.

Earlier this year, for example, Paul told the Fox Business Channel that he believes government agencies should reduce their regulation of the energy industry. “Get theEPA out of our coal business down here, get OSHA out of our small businesses. We need to restrain government to let small businesses create jobs,” he said.

Paul affirmed the comments on “Good Morning America,” saying that he finds the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent regulatory initiative on greenhouse gas emissions, independent of Congress, “particularly galling.”

“I think that’s a regulatory commission run amok and I think we need to have congressional oversight,” he said. “I don’t think regulatory agencies should write regulations without approval of the people through their representatives. And I stick to that and that’s absolutely my point of view.”

The Kentucky Senate candidate also criticized the Obama administration’s treatment of BP in the wake of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Attack on Young Black Girls Continue-13 Year old Honor Student Charged w/ a Felony

May 20, 2010 By

The attack on young black girls continue. Tomorrow the nation will mourn as we bury 7 year old Aiyana Stanley Jones who was shot to death by a Detroit cop who went into the wrong house looking for a murder suspect after he they threw a flash grenade and in ‘showed off’ for a reality TV show filming the crew…What took place in Detroit is horrific.

In the Chicago suburb of Elgin we have the sad case of 13 year old Olivia Raymond an honor student who found her teachers glasses, grabbed hold of them to return them, but wound up being arrested and charged with a felony by her heartless teacher.. here are two stories outlining what took place…

When I first read this story about Olivia, my mind went back to the young sister 14 year old Shaquanda Cotton in Paris, Texas who several years ago was sentenced to 7 years in jail for shoving a hall monitor. She had no prior arrest record and many felt her harsh sentencing was in retaliation to her mothers activism where she spoke out about problems within the school. National attention got Shaquanda released after a year in jail.

-Davey D-

8th grader arrested, suspended over missing sunglasses

By Kerry Lester

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=380353

Rochelle Raymond and her daughter, honor student Olivia who has charges levied on her by some ruthless teacher

An Elgin mother believes her daughter’s efforts to do the right thing caused her rights to be violated by Elgin police and school officials.

Olivia Raymond, a 13-year-old Ellis Middle School student, is facing a felony theft charge after a teacher accused her of stealing her pair of sunglasses last week. Elgin Deputy Police Chief Cecil Smith confirmed Raymond’s arrest but declined to comment further because the case involves a juvenile.

Elgin Area School District U-46 also declined to disclose details of the case, citing student privacy. But on a school discipline referral form, orchestra teacher Linda Szybeko wrote about Raymond, “She stole my prescription sunglasses, threw them in her purse.”

Raymond’s mother, Rochell Raymond, said Olivia was just trying to find the owner of the expensive sunglasses. The charge against Olivia is a felony because the prescription Ray-Ban glasses were valued at more than $300.

“This teacher, she looked at my daughter and she saw African-American and saw a criminal,” Rochell Raymond said.

Szybeko, who is white, did not return calls from the Daily Herald seeking comment.

Raymond said she got a call at her workplace in Niles about 11:30 a.m. last Thursday from Elgin police, informing her that her daughter – an honors student who plays the snare drum in the school band, is active in the Elgin Bible Church and hopes to join the armed services one day – had been arrested.

Panicked, she raced to meet her daughter at the station and found her “slumped over in a chair in an interrogation room in tears.”

The girl had been fingerprinted and photographed by police, suspended from school and stripped of her privileges to attend eighth-grade activities.

Rochell Raymond said Olivia told her she found a pair of sunglasses on top of her book bag, asked around and couldn’t find whose they were.

She didn’t want to be late to her next class, so she took the glasses with her, planning to put them on a table in front of the main office before lunch, a few periods later, the mother said.

But just a few minutes into second period, Rochell Raymond said, Szybeko came into Olivia’s class, said the sunglasses were hers and accused Olivia of stealing them.

After being called down to the main office, Olivia was told she would be suspended for theft and Szybeko might want to file criminal charges.

Olivia signed a school “behavior improvement form,” indicating that she had stolen the glasses. When asked to explain why, she wrote “I don’t know.”

Rochell Raymond contends Olivia was not allowed to contact her and her daughter was forced to sign the admission.

Citing student privacy laws, U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders said the district is unable to share any details about the incident.

“We are aware of it,” Sanders said. “We’ve been in discussions with the parents and are working on it and currently investigating.”

Rochell Raymond has asked for a meeting at the school with Szybeko, but that has been postponed. After the family spoke with Superintendent Jose Torres, Assistant Superintendent Greg Walker and Chief of Staff Barb Bonner, the suspension was wiped from Olivia’s record and her eighth-grade privileges were reinstated.

What remains are Olivia’s criminal charges. The family has hired both a defense attorney and private investigator to look into the incident, in hopes of getting the charges dropped. They’re also contemplating suing the district.

“In one respect as a taxpayer and a homeowner, I understand the financial difficulties (U-46) is under right now. But at the same time, that’s what civil litigation was created for,” Rochell Raymond said. “She has to know and understand her rights were violated. … What other options are they leaving me?”

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Mom: Honor student facing felony charge for good deed

http://www.thegrio.com/video/chicago-honor-student-facing-felony-charge-for-good-deed.php

NBC Chicago reports on a 13-year-old Chicago honors student facing felony theft charges based on a teacher’s accusation.

Rochell Raymond says her daughter Olivia was just trying to do the right thing and says the whole situation is all a misunderstanding.

Olivia Raymond last week found a teacher’s pair of expensive prescription sunglasses lying around unprotected. Not wanting to be late for her next class by taking the time to stop at lost-and-found immediately, she said she put them in her purse with the intention of turning them in later.

But before she could do so, she was confronted in class by the teacher who “yelled at her [and] embarrassed her in front of the class,” Rochell Raymond recounted.

The girl was later arrested, accused of felony theft and suspended from school, according to a report in the Chicago Suburban Daily Herald.

“I’m angry because children have rights, and hers were violated in so many different ways. To have your assistant principal and a police officer sit you down in a room and tell you that you are guilty of theft, you’re going to believe the authorities,” the tearful mother said. “Where are the adults in this situation and why weren’t they thinking? In her 13-year-old mind, yes she will be in trouble for being late to class.”

Ellis Middle School later rescinded the disciplinary action and the teacher, Linda Szybeko, dropped the charges when Rochelle Raymond extended an offer to replace the glasses that at some point became scratched.

“I don’t know that Olivia scratched them, but at that point, it doesn’t matter.” Raymond said.

Upset with the media attention, however, Szybeko apparently changed her mind and moved forward to press charges.

That, the family fears, could have big ramifications on the teen’s future.

“Even if the criminal charges are dropped, to my understanding of the law, she will still have a record of arrest that we cannot do anything about until her 17th birthday,” Rochelle Raymond said.

Olivia Raymond, an honors student, plans to join the armed services and worries the felony record will hurt her career prospects.

Raymond’s lawyer, Steve Fagan, said the case now lies in the hands of the police department, which is reviewing the case and whether charges are necessary.

As for the teacher, Rochelle Raymond says she feels sorry for her.

“In my opinion, as an educator, she didn’t make wise decisions and she placed a value of sunglasses over the value of a child.”

Szybeko has not returned a call requesting comment.

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Do I Look Legal? Kobe’s Wife Weigh’s In on Arizona Immigration Law

May 18, 2010 By

LOS ANGELES
The wife of Kobe Bryant wore a black t-shirt to Monday’s game with the words “Do I Look Legal?”, a clear reference to Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

Vanessa Bryant, who is part Hispanic, wore the shirt on the game night that approximately 40 demonstrators rallied against Lakers coach Phil Jackson for refusing to criticize Arizona’s new immigration law.

In comments made two weeks ago about state Senate Bill 1070, Jackson said, “Am I crazy, or am I the only one that heard (the legislature) say ‘we just took the United States immigration law and adapted it to our state.’ “

original story:http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/17/kobes-wife-takes-on-immigration-issue/35853/

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Phil Jackson isn’t going to talk about it. Kobe Bryant won’t go near it. The Lakers aren’t going to talk about it or wear their Los Lakers jerseys. While there was a small protest outside, inside Staples Center the Arizona Immigration law discussion was dead.

Except for Kobe Bryant’s wife.

Vanessa Bryant is part Hispanic and she wore a shirt that said, “Do I look illegal?” to the game.

The reference was clear.

She — and often the couple’s daughters — are regulars at Lakers games. They tend to stay out of the limelight, as much as that is possible for a high-profile family. But she gets noticed, and used that to make a statement at Game 1 against Arizona.

original story: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/05/kobes-wife-wears-do-i-look-illegal-shirt-only-one-talking-immigration.php

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