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Electoral Trilogy: The End of the Story

Posted on November 5, 2014 by alphaheel

Yesterday was Election Day in America. Three weeks ago, I challenged my home state, with a directive, “North Carolina Raise Up,” and vote, as the state’s Early Voting process kicked off. My homies responded. The voters of the state recognized what was at stake, and came out in stout numbers throughout a legislatively (I believe vote suppressing) shortened Early Voting session.

I followed up the first week’s primal urging with a clarifying question, “#TURNOUTFORWHAT?” In that post, I explained what was at stake, pointing out a number of clear and pressing reasons for anyone with a moderate-to-progressive outlook to tune out the noise and just go vote.

Disregarding the cacophony of media talking heads that have been predicting for weeks that the Senate would almost certainly transition to a Republican majority, I chose instead to focus on what I believed to be an opportunity for Democrats to control their own destiny. North Carolina, at this juncture in time, is a purple state. Still, in a statewide race, unencumbered by the heavily partisan gerrymandering of a Republican State Legislature, Democrats retained an opportunity to do their part to resist the inexorable push to turn the Senate Red.

As I wrote, it is likely that when the dust settled, the GOP will control the Senate, and conceivable that Senator Hagan would not be able to hold on to her seat. Ultimately, that is precisely how it played out. There are still a few votes to be counted, but the Republicans will control the Senate and NC.

In the final analysis, I observe with bemusement that that the GOP message, intent on tapping into a wave of discontent with President of Obama was not only successful for its base, it was so effective that many Democrats eschewed any attachment with the President. At least one Senate candidate even refused to admit she voted for the President, despite the fact she served as an Obama Delegate…twice. I am not a politician, and I have no desire or inclination to become one. I do admit, I find it dispiriting to see candidates, even in states the President won, in effect, advising the President to stay the heck away.

I voted early, and continuously advised others to vote, either early, or on Election Day. But, while I lamented the GOP’s brazen acts of voter suppression, I confess, it does not surprise me that African Americans and young voters, staples of the Obama Coalition, voted in much lower numbers than in 2012. Yes, it’s true Americans vote less across the board in midterm elections. However, I think yesterday may have been a preview for a systemic issue that may haunt Democrats in 2016.

The famed Obama GOTV (Get Out The Vote) mechanism proved formidable in 2008, and again in 2012. Yet, in 2014, just as in 2010, it proved to be a vastly different tool when Barack Obama was not on the ballot. It is a formula, but I submit, the secret sauce is the President. Without him, it will not be the same. The theory among the candidates who distanced themselves from the President was that the President was toxic. He would have been a burden, not a boon, were he to have campaigned for them. They believed, by shunning the President, white folks would come back to the Party. How’d that work for them?

The truth is, Democrats have one loyal voting block…African Americans. The President has for six years gone out of his way to establish that he is the President of America, not black America. However, despite not catering to them, African Americans voted overwhelmingly for President Obama over two elections, giving him an average of 95% of their votes.

Republicans blame the President for every ill the country experiences, from Wars in the Middle East to Ebola. Simultaneously, they refuse to credit him for the improved economy, the robust Dow, the elevation of the S&P 500, relative GDP Growth, the reduction of the deficit, the increase in consumer confidence…even lower gas prices. Democrats just ran from him. Political Scientists will discuss this for the foreseeable future, but in some of the closest races, Florida, and North Carolina for example, a Presidential presence, versus absence, may have made a difference. There may not have been enough traction to prevent flipping the Senate…but then again, there might have been. So, alas, we’ve come to this…”Electoral Trilogy: The End of the Story!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/04/showbiz/lil-jon-vote/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=NC+election+results&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=2014+midterm+election+results&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

http://www.politico.com/2014-election/results/map/senate/#.VFm0P4e4lPM

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/results/

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Pages/default.aspx

https://plus.google.com/+RollCall/posts/A7JtL6ckFHC

http://www.wbtv.com/category/238619/election-results

http://www.ncsbe.gov/ncsbe/election-results

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/upshot/election-results-2014-the-vote-count.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

#TURNOUTFORWHAT?

Posted on October 29, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Let me begin by stipulating one indisputable certainty. If you are eligible to vote and you do not; YOU…are part of the problem!

Occasionally, I believe a post is so time-sensitive; I follow it up with a discussion or expansion of the same topic, from one week to the next. Voting is that kind of compelling issue.

Without a doubt, I laid the framework for defining this conversation in last week’s post. And, just as with last week, this post is a directive, not simply a narrative. The instruction is still simple. The 2014 General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4^th. In North Carolina, Early Voting began Thursday, October 23^rd, and extends until this Saturday, November 1^stat 1:00 p.m. There are four (3½) days left to vote early. But remember, if for some reason, you miss every opportunity to vote early, you may, and should still do so on Election Day. So, dear readers, your mission, and hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians have already accepted it, is, GO VOTE! It’s just that simple.

Historically speaking, in midterm elections, such as this one, voting levels drop off appreciably. This trend goes back at least as far as 1840. In looking at recent elections, in 2008, a Presidential Election year, 57.1% of the voting age population cast ballots. That number was actually the highest in four decades. However, just two years later, in 2010, only 36.9% voted, a decrease of more than 20 percentage points. In 2012, the turnout rebounded by nearly 17 percentage points to 53.7%. Obviously, these vacillating numbers resulted in generating significant public policy implications.

In 2008, President Obama shocked the world and became the nation’s first African American President. Just two years hence, in 2010, in the aftermath of a low turnout election, Republicans displaced Democrats as the Majority in the House of Representatives. That change led to one Chamber of Congress alternating between reluctance to negotiate with or support the President to acting straight up intransigently, and openly working to deny any policy initiative put forth by this President.

The inside baseball discussion related to this election revolves around whether the GOP will be able to impose Double-Jeopardy on President Obama by supplanting Democrats as a Majority in the U.S. Senate. Numerous polls have suggested that such an outcome is indeed the most likely one. I don’t have a Crystal Ball, and I am certainly not taking bets on the outcome. What I will say is, in a Country in which Democrats outnumber Republicans in most states, the outcome will depend upon turnout.

In 2008, and again in 2012, Senator, and then President Obama executed flawless Get Out The Vote (GOTV) campaigns. There can be no doubting the skill or facility of the operation. Nonetheless, in 2010, that apparatus remained largely on the sidelines, and Democrats suffered a huge setback. Much has been made of the President’s low poll numbers during much of his second term, up to and including this very moment. Partly as a result of his anemic polling, the President, arguably the Party’s biggest asset, has been reduced to fundraising in “safe” states, and a few campaign appearances in places where the contending Democrats have no doubts about getting elected.

That begs the question, “Will the turnout machinery work on auto-pilot?” After today, we have roughly six days, four for voting, to find out. Here in North Carolina, Early Voting has been attracting a brisk pace. Early indications are Democrats are turning out at a higher rate that Republicans. Given that trend, it is likely to come down to turnout on Election Day. To that end, somewhat akin to the adage, “The job is not complete until the paperwork is done.” This job will not be complete until everyone who is going to vote today through Saturday, and on Tuesday, November 4^th, has done so, and the ballots are counted.

I voted last Thursday afternoon during the first Day of Early Voting. I have checked-in with countless friends to ensure they have, or that they at least have doing so on their schedules and/or calendars. As for you, if you are registered and you have not voted already, I implore you to vote too. It doesn’t have to be today, but if you can, why not? And while you are at it, remind, encourage, and do whatever you can to persuade as many others as you can to vote, as well. In 2008, and again in 2012, Americans responded as though it were a Presidential Election year…because it was. This year is not, but if you vote like it is, it could change everything! We are facing a grave challenge today. How will you respond?

There are many reasons to vote. A few of the ones I care about include, in no particular order:

The Environment
Education
Healthcare
Reproductive Rights
Marriage Equality
Racial Equality
Human Rights
Prison Reform
Women’s Rights
Global Warming Awareness
Immigration Reform
Gun Law Reform
Student Loan Reform
Drug Law Reform
Worker’s Rights
Voting Rights
Fairer Sentencing
Increasing the Minimum Wage
Reduction of Police Brutality
Elimination of Gridlock in Washington

I am herewith urging you to Rock The Vote. If anyone happens to ask you, why, or #TURNOUTFORWHAT? Refer them to the list above, or…urge them to pick their own reason.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rijpU5yD55I

http://vote.forwardnc.com/?voteEarly

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/10/27/4270185_democrats-up-in-ncs-early-voting.html?rh=1

http://vote.forwardnc.com/?voteEarly

http://www.ncvoterguide.org

http://ncelectionconnection.com/voting-in-nc/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/28/1339821/-North-Carolina-turns-blue-Early-voting-data-deep-dive-10-27-Edition#

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/10/28/both-parties-are-happy-with-early-vote-data-theyre-worried-too/

http://www.jdnews.com/news/local/early-voting-continues-through-nov-1-for-registered-voters-in-north-carolina-1.391379

http://www.wncn.com/story/27024591/nearly-400000-early-votes-already-cast-in-nc

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29766398

http://elections.mytimetovote.com/dates/north_carolina.html

http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/24/dems-dominate-day-1-of-early-voting-in-nc/17860349/

http://www.hpe.com/news/x532298771/Early-voting-at-fast-pace-so-far

“North Carolina Raise Up:” Early Voting Starts Tomorrow

Posted on October 22, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

This post is a straightforward matter. It will be brief.

While most weeks I endeavor to tell a story though the blog, today’s edition is really more of a directive than a than a narrative. The instruction is quite simple. The 2014 General Election Day is Tuesday, November 4^th. In North Carolina, Early Voting begins tomorrow and extends until November 1^st. Absentee Ballots may be requested by mail until Tuesday, October 28^th. Your mission, and I know you will choose to accept it, is, GO VOTE! It’s really that simple.

The deadline for registration for the November Election was October 10^th. So, if you’ve yet to register, you’re too late for this election. However, as I like to say, if you ARE eligible, and do not vote, YOU, my friend, are part of the problem.

I am reminded of the expression, “Think globally; act locally.” In a very real sense, we can apply that sagacious advice to voting. We all want our world to be a better place. Often in contemplating that wanting, we think of all the faraway implications of that desire. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, most people’s truth is, it is controlling the nearby, mundane, and readily manageable details that make the greatest impact on our lives, and the lives of those we love and care about most.

Voting is like that. For sure, it is important to ponder for whom you will cast your ballot. Moreover, in the best-case scenario, you’ll learn what they stand for, and the kinds of things for which you can…and should…hold them accountable.

Here in Charlotte, my ballot will include a seat for the U.S. Senate, a seat for the U.S. House of Representatives, a NC State Senate seat, a NC House of Representatives seat, a District Attorney seat, three at-large seats and one District seat for the Board of County Commissioners, a seat for County Sheriff, three seats for Associate Justice of the NC Supreme Court and one for Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court, four seats for the NC Court of Appeals, two seats for NC Superior Court, eight seats for NC District Court, two seats for Soil & Water Conservation District, and Referenda on: a Constitutional Amendment to allow any person accused of a crime in a non Death Penalty case to forego a jury trial, a local sales tax of .25%, Public Improvement Bonds, Housing Bonds, and Neighborhood Improvement Bonds. There you have it; local infrastructure, and elected officials who will make policy that will affect matters in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Raleigh/Statewide, and Washington/the Nation/and the world.

Your and my local actions will have repercussions all the way to global boundaries, as in when our U.S. Senator potentially exercises his vote on our next war. I will not tell you for whom to vote. What I will say is there is one Party that has systematically tamped down, some say suppressed, voting opportunities. That same Party has opposed healthcare reform, defeated an attempt to increase the minimum wage, and refused allow an extension of unemployment benefits, as well as consistently opposed a number of other matters generally deemed to be progressive public policy. I will not be voting for individuals in that Party!

As for you, I implore you to vote. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow, but if you can, why not? And while you are at it, remind, encourage, and do whatever you can to persuade as many others as you can to vote, as well. In 2012, Americans responded enthusiastically to the challenge posed by those who attempted to discourage voting. We are facing a similar challenge today. How will you respond?

I say, “North Carolina Raise Up:” Early Voting Starts Tomorrow!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHnA94-hTC8&sns=em

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/voter/Pages/Voting-Info-Lookup.aspx

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Early+Voting+in+Mecklenburg+County&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/midterms-Democrats-Senate-black-voters/2014/10/20/id/601773/

http://www.ncvoterguide.org

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Pages/default.aspx

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Documents/G14%20early%20voting.pdf

http://ncelectionconnection.com/voting-in-nc/

http://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina_elections,_2014

http://www.ncvotered.com

A Look Back at the MMM: My Generation’s March on Washington

Posted on October 15, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Tomorrow will mark the 19^th Anniversary of the Million Man March (MMM). Before moving to the narrative, I know there are those who are disturbed that I would deign to conflate or equate The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the March of A. Phillip Randolph, of Bayard Rustin, and of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I understand completely, and that is not what I’m doing.

On August 27^th and 28^th, 1963, I was nine years old. My participation came courtesy of my vantage point, seated in front of our 19-inch Black & White TV. It was informative, and inspiring, but it was not in-person (for me). Rustin, Randolph, King, and their co-participants and contemporaries, through their actions, reframed the trajectory of the landscape of American society, as we knew it. All of us are forever in their debt…each and every one of us. If you are an American today, whether you were born by then, or lived here at that time, if you are here now, you are obliged to credit, or blame if you choose, them for the country we have become.

By October 16, 1995, I was forty-something. I had been aware of the planning and development of the Million Man March from its early stages. From the outset, I was committed that this time, I would be fully present and accounted for. This time, timing was on my side. I actually had a job that made it not only acceptable, but also desirable to be there. I went, on my own aegis, not for work. But with a job title, Minority Affairs Director, I had no doubt; it was meant for me to be there.

Most of the rest of this post will be devoted to a verbatim recounting of an essay I wrote about my first person experience attending the March. The essay was one of three that appeared in the November 1995 Edition of OUTLOOK (Vol. 26 No. 11), the Newsmagazine for employees of Mecklenburg County, NC. All three were captured under the broad heading, “Reflections on the Million Man March.”

Here’s my essay:

For me, this event was at once a culmination and a commencement.

Nearly a year ago Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke here in Charlotte and announced plans for a Million Man March to be held in Washington, D.C. I left the Convention Center that evening committed to be at the March. My interest and enthusiasm culminated with my participation on Monday, October 16, 1995.

The March also was the point of commencement for the strategies and action to create positive and deeply rooted change in the social fabric of our individual communities and in the entire nation.

Though estimates of the actual attendance are in dispute, whether the number was 400,000 or more than a million, the turnout was epic. By the former measure, it is the largest civil rights rally in the history of this country; the latter would make it simply the largest gathering ever on the Washington Mall.

Being there was to be engulfed by the spirit of the moment; surrounded by a sea of positively focused humanity. It was an endeavor whose moment had come. It had to be done!

The day was characterized by its organizers as a time for collective atonement, reconciliation, responsibility, and absence: atonement for having been AWOL from familial responsibility; reconciliation to the women, children, families, and communities that had been abandoned; responsibility for our own actions and the consequences of those actions; and absence from normal daily employment and consumption (buying) patterns. These steps underscore the seriousness of our circumstances, and provide a vehicle to penetrate the nation’s consciousness. (Mission accomplished).

Minister Farrakhan and the Reverend Benjamin Chavis are correctly viewed as principal symbols of “The March.” They played central roles in conceiving and organizing the effort. In the final analysis however, “The March” belonged to THE PEOPLE. No one, two, or twenty individuals could adequately represent the total spectrum of this undertaking. It spanned wide ranges of economy, geography, religion, politics, ideology, age, gender, disability, and general point of view. African-Americans united to respond to the beleaguered condition of people…not against anyone.

Speaker after speaker – Maya Angelou, Charles Rangel, Kwaisi Mfume, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Jawanza Kunjufu, John Conyers, Stevie Wonder, Tynnetta Muhammad, Kurt Schmoke, Marion Berry, Benjamin Chavis, and Louis Farrakhan – in their own way, challenged and urged those in attendance, those watching at home (or at work) and those who would later hear about it, to work together to heal our society.

Minister Farrakhan specifically outlined several steps that participants should take, including:

Register to vote and actively work to make sure others do;
Affiliate with an organization(s) focused on improving the Black Community;
Join a church, synagogue, mosque, etc., and put your religion to work in the community;
Adopt one of the 25,000 black children waiting for adoption;
Develop a relationship with a prisoner and help that person in their transition to life after prison;
Establish a black United Fund to help our communities.

These steps alone will not alleviate all the problems we face. But if these measures are adopted, we will have taken one giant step forward.

Those of us assembled on the Mall on Monday, October 16, 1995 were prayerful, powerful, respectful, and reverent. More importantly, we were inspired by having been there, and we left committed to begin, continue, or accelerate our personal efforts to implement solutions to the trenchant social problems we face in our communities. I’m ready to do my part.

Peace!

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Arguably, a dozen years before I conceived and introduced The Sphinx of Charlotte/Break It Down, this essay was my very first blog. Who knew? Now, you do. I hope you enjoyed this narrative version of Throw Back Thursday (remember, tomorrow is the anniversary), brought to you on Wednesday. So there you have it, “A Look Back at the MMM: My Generation’s March on Washington!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_march_on_washington_for_jobs_and_freedom/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/382949/Million-Man-March

http://www.noi.org/about-million-man-march/

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/million-man-march-1995

http://www.c-span.org/video/?67630-1/million-man-march

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8UB-shmJfQ

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/million-man-march-black-history-photo_n_2774778.html

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2010/10/the_million_man_march_15_years_later.html

The United States Secret Service: The President’s Vest

Posted on October 8, 2014 by alphaheel

Break It Down!

The United States Secret Service (USSS) is a federal law enforcement agency that is currently part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time, the Secret Service was created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Today, the agency has two specific areas of responsibility:

Financial Crimes, covering missions such as prevention and investigation of counterfeiting of S. currency and U.S. treasury securities, and investigation of major fraud
Protection, which entails ensuring the safety of current and former national leaders and their families, such as the President, past presidents, vice presidents, presidential candidates, visiting heads of state, and foreign embassies (per an agreement with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) Office of Foreign Missions (OFM), etc.

The Secret Service assumed full authority for presidential security in 1902. In the area of protection, the President’s security is his security detail’s number one priority. As the saying goes, any member of his security detail is prepared to take a bullet for him.

This situation has happened twice. On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican Nationalists opened fire on Private Leslie Coffelt at Blair House in Washington, DC, in an attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. Private Coffelt was mortally wounded, but also killed one of the attempted assassins, Griselio Torresola. The other accomplice, Oscar Collazo, was wounded, but he survived his injuries, and spent 29 years in jail before returning to Puerto Rico in 1979.

On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan as he was leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Special Agent Tim McCarthy stepped in front of President Reagan and although he took a bullet to the abdomen, he later made a full recovery. To date, Private Coffelt is the only member of the Secret Service to be killed in a Presidential assassination attempt.

In addition to the two failed attempts in during which Secret Service agents were shot, four Presidents have been assassinated:

President Abraham Lincoln – 1865
President James A. Garfield – 1881
President William McKinley – 1901
President John F. Kennedy – 1963

There have been a number of other attempts, including:

January 30, 1835 – A man pointed two guns at President Andrew Jackson and pulled the triggers. Miraculously, neither fired
October 16, 1909 – Texas Ranger Private C.R. Moore and private security specialist Frederick Russell Burnham captured and disarmed a would be assassin within a few feet of President William Howard Taft, who was in El Paso, Texas to attend a Summit with Mexican President, Porfirio Díaz
October 14, 1912 – three years after President Theodore Roosevelt left office, he was running for President again as a Third Party candidate, and was shot while running for re-election. The bullet remained in him until his death in 1919
November 19, 1928 – while in Argentina, President Herbert Hoover escaped an assassination attempt by Argentine anarchists, led by Severino Di Giovanni. He was arrested before he could place the explosives in President Hoover’s railcar.
February 15, 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at President Franklin Roosevelt, killing Chicago Mayor, Anton Cermak. The attempt occurred less than three weeks before the President would be sworn in for his first term
In the summer of 1947 – shortly prior to the creation of the state of Israel, the Zionist group Stern Gang sent a number of letter bombs to President Harry S. Truman and high-ranking cabinet members. The letters were intercepted in the White House mail room, and the Secret Service diffused them
April 13, 1972 – Arthur Bremer carried a firearm to an event, intending to shoot President Richard Nixon. After being repelled by security he left. Several weeks later he shot and seriously injured Alabama George Wallace
February 22, 1974 – Samuel Byck, planning to kill President Nixon by crashing a plane into the White House, hijacked a plane by force. He shot the pilot and co-pilot, but could not take off because the wheels were blocked. An officer shot him through the window; he in turn committed suicide with his pistol.
September 5, 1975 – Lynnette (Squeaky) Fromme, a Charles Manson follower, drew a pistol on President Gerald Ford when he reached to shake her hand at the California State Capitol (Sacramento). She had four bullets in the magazine, but none in the chamber. She was quickly detained.
September 22, 1975 – Sara Jane Moore fired a revolver at President Ford from 40 feet away, in San Francisco, California. A bystander grabbed her arm, and the shot missed the President. She was sentenced to life in Prison, and paroled in 2007, a year after President Ford’s death by natural causes.
May 5, 1979 – Raymond Lee Harvey was arrested by the Secret Service 10 minutes before President Jimmy Carter was scheduled to give a speech at the Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles. Harvey claimed to be part of a plot to assassinate President Carter, and named Osvaldo Espinoza Ortiz as a co-conspirator. Officials eventually dropped charges against the pair due to lack of evidence
April 13, 1993 – Fourteen men believed to be working for Saddam Hussein smuggled bombs into Kuwait to assassinate President George H. W. Bush during a visit there to speak at Kuwait University. Kuwait police foiled the attempt when they found the bombs and arrested the suspected assassins.
January 21, 1994 – Ronald Gene Barbour plotted to kill President Bill Clinton while he was jogging. Mr. Barbour returned home to Florida after a week without having fired a shot, as the President was on a state visit to Russia. He was later arrested and spent 5 years in prison.
September 12, 1994 – Frank Eugene Corder flew a stolen single engine Cessna into a tree on the White House lawn. He was killed in the incident.
October 29, 1994 – Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots with a semi-automatic rifle at the White House. He thought he was shooting at President Clinton. The President was inside the White House. Three tourists, Harry Rakosky, Ken Davis and Robert Haines tackled Duran before he harmed anyone. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
1996 – During a visit to Manila to visit the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Lewis Merletti, Director of the Secret Service re-routes the President’s motorcade before driving over a bridge, after intercepting a message that an attack was imminent. An investigation determined later that there was a bomb under the bridge. Later, intelligence briefs revealed that the mastermind behind the bomb was a terrorist living in Afghanistan named Osama bin Laden
May 10, 2005 – In Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live Soviet-made grenade toward the podium where George W. Bush was speaking. Because the device was wrapped tightly in a handkerchief, it did not detonate immediately, even though the pin was pulled. Arutyunian escaped that day, but was captured after killing an Interior Ministry agent in July 2005. He was sentenced to life in prison.
August 2008 – Cousins Tharin Gartrell and Shawn Adolf and their friend Nathan Johnson allegedly planned to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. However, officials insist there was no substantial threat.
October 22, 2008 – Paul Schlesselman and Daniel Cowart, two white supremacists, plotted to drive their car toward nominee Obama and raise their guns and open fire. They were arrested before acting to execute the plot. They pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the plot in 2010, and were sentenced to 10 and 14 years in prison, respectively.
April 2009 – A man of Syrian origins plotted to kill President Obama at the Alliance of Civilizations Summit in Istanbul, Turkey in April 2009. The man confessed of his involvement in the plot, and that of three alleged accomplices.
April 2013 – Another attempt was made when a letter laced with ricin was sent to President Obama

And I hasten to add, these are just those attempts that have been reported. It is clear, that the Secret Service has many challenging jobs. Protecting the President is just one of them; though likely the most high profile.

Taken in that light, it is no surprise that Julia Pierson, the Director of the Secret Service until last week, resigned under bi-partisan pressure. The organization has had a long and mostly distinguished history of providing Presidential protection. Yet, it’s been a difficult, and scandal-filled few years.

Ms. Pierson was hired to clean up and repair the agency’s muddied reputation. After 17 months, the consensus on Capitol Hill was, she failed. In the end, a recent fence jumper, made his way all the way across the White House lawn, into the facility, all the way to the vicinity of the Green Room. This was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back. But that was by no means the only issue.

A man stopped his car near the White House and fired several shots at the structure, some of which hit the building. There was considerable confusion about what actually happened, and as a result, it took several days to confirm there had actually been shots fired. One of the Obama’s daughters was at home at the time, yet the Obama’s were not told until even later.

Add to that an instance in which the President while visiting Atlanta was on an elevator with an individual who was found to be carrying a gun. All in all in a world filled with anxiety over terrorists and others who would do harm to Americans in general, and the President, in particular, these gaffes and lapses were rightly deemed too much to bear. So Ms. Pierson paid a steep price. Hopefully, the chance will help ensure that the President does not pay the ultimate price. After all, it’s important to remember, “The United States Secret Service: The President’s Vest!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/barack-obamas-safety?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyemail&mbid=nl_100214_Daily&CUST_ID=23617046&spMailingID=7172006&spUserID=MzQ0Nzk4MjUwNjMS1&spJobID=540193138&spReportId=NTQwMTkzMTM4S0

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/long-list-breaches-scandals-secret-service-under-obama-n215751

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gaffes-testing-special-bond-between-president-and-his-protectors/2014/10/01/120cf84c-4972-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20141002_Secret_Service__not-so-secret_gaffes.html

http://www.securityinfowatch.com/news/11709098/secret-service-chief-julia-pierson-resigns-in-wake-of-security-gaffes

http://time.com/3468764/joe-clancy-secret-service/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/01/353043411/secret-service-director-julia-pierson-resigns

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/julia-pierson-resigns-as-secret-service-director/2014/10/01/ea39a396-499f-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/us/julia-pierson-secret-service.html?_r=0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_who_died_in_office

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/uspresidents/f/faq_assassinat.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_assassination_attempts_and_plots

http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_vice_presidents_have_been_assassinated

http://timelines.latimes.com/us-presidential-assassinations-and-attempts/

Coming To America: Actually, Ebola is Here…and Now!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

It has taken a while for the current epidemic of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which is centered in West Africa, to reach America. The current outbreak of the disease was discovered in March 2013. Subsequently, it was determined to have started in Guinea in December 2013. Since then it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

It took nine months, but yesterday, the first case was confirmed in the United States. It was bound to happen; just a matter of time. It’s a small world; frequent transcontinental travel heightens exposure and ensures elevated instances of that exposure to persons carrying the virus. This is especially true in countries experiencing an outbreak. The disease, while not highly contagious, is exceptionally infectious.

The disease is caused by the Ebola virus (EBOV). It may be acquired via contact with blood or bodily fluids of infected animals. There are no documented cases of the disease spreading through the air. Once human infection occurs, the disease may spread between people, as well.

Male survivors may be able to transmit the disease via semen for nearly two months. To make the diagnosis, typically other diseases with similar symptoms such as cholera, typhoid fever, malaria, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fevers are first excluded. To confirm the diagnosis, blood samples are tested for viral antibodies, viral RNA, or the virus itself. Ebola causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which can affect multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding. Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat

Previously, two high profile cases of American exposure and contraction occurred when American health missionaries, Dr. Kent Brantly, of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Charlottean, Nancy Writebol, were infected with the virus in July while working with the Charlotte-based SIM missionary group to treat Ebola patients in Liberia. Both were treated with an experimental drug, and then transferred separately to Emory Hospital in Atlanta. Both have subsequently been determined to be Ebola-free.

Now comes word from U.S. health officials (yesterday) that a yet-to-be-named American man is the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. This person is being treated in Dallas, Texas.

The unidentified man left Liberia September 19^th, and arrived in in the United States September 20^th, according to Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the time of his arrival in the U.S., the man did not have symptoms. However, four or five days later, he began to exhibit them. He has been hospitalized and isolated at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital since Sunday. Health Officials, pointing to privacy concerns, declined to release any details about how the patient contracted the virus, what he was doing in Liberia, or the parameters of his treatment plan. Dr. Edward Goodman, of the hospital said, “I can say he is ill. He is under intensive care.”

Because of the nature of spreading the virus, authorities do not suspect that passengers on the patient’s flight are at risk. However, the patient did indicate he had direct contact with several people after he became symptomatic. Medical officials are contacting those people for follow-up. The crew that transported him to the hospital is being held in isolation. None had shown symptoms of the disease as of yesterday.

Dr. Frieden downplayed the risk to public health. No other suspected cases of Ebola have been identified in Texas. He noted, “It’s a severe disease, which has a high-case fatality rate, even with the best of care, but there are core, tried and true public health interventions that stop it. The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely in this country.”

For months we have watched as the news of this disease has been discussed, primarily as though it were just another African malady. Well, those days are over. Coming To America: Actually, Ebola is Here…and Now!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/health/ebola-us/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/North-Texas-Patient-Tested-for-Possible-Ebola-277529961.html

http://www.wsoctv.com/ap/ap/ebola-test-results-expected-on-dallas-patient/nhYR8/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease

http://www.wsoctv.com/ap/ap/ebola-test-results-expected-on-dallas-patient/nhYR8/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/05/health/ebola-us-patients/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/09/16/349012693/dr-kent-brantly-ebola-survivor-gives-testimony-on-the-hill

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/charlotte-ebola-survivor-hopes-raise-awareness-dis/nhYfY/?__federated=1

Take This Job & Shove It; Or Words To That Effect

Posted on September 24, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

If you are a regular reader, you know the range of topics I cover in this space runs the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. Be forewarned, today’s post is closer to the latter than the former.

The post itself will be relatively short. There really is not much to say, but I wanted to say it anyway.

On this past Sunday evening, Charlene Egby, A.K.A. Charlo Greene, either quit, or was fired by her employer, KTVA TV News, in Anchorage, Alaska. In the event you have neither seen, nor heard about the pyrotechnics that ensued regarding Ms. Egby/Greene, this is how it went down. At the end of her Sunday evening news segment, she uttered an expletive, and strode off camera. But not before she revealed that she was a principal in the Cannabis story on which she had just reported.

Her actions, apparently, were tied to her role as the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, and as an advocate for passing a pot initiative that appears on the upcoming November ballot in Alaska. She has since made her own videos, explaining why she quit on camera, as she did. Interestingly, KTVA released a statement after her dramatic exit indicating they terminated her.

The Alaska Marijuana Legalization, Ballot Measure 2 (2014) is on the November 4, 2014 ballot in Alaska as an initiated state statute. If the voters of Alaska approve the measure, people age 21 and older would be allowed to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and up to six plants. The approved measure would also make the manufacture, sale and possession of marijuana paraphernalia legal. While these changes would be implemented at the state level, as in other states with approved marijuana laws, all these acts and items would still remain illegal under federal law.

Alaska is often thought of as the last frontier. The issue of marijuana has had an interesting and circuitous history in the state. In 1975, the state legislature approved a bill to decriminalize private possession of up to one ounce of marijuana in public, as a result replacing the possibility of jail time with a civil fine of up to $100. In response, the State Supreme Court eliminated all penalties for possessing up to four ounces of marijuana and up to 24 plants in one’s home, ruling that the prohibition of marijuana possession violated the right to privacy guaranteed by the state constitution. This ruling led to dropping the $100 fine for possessing up to four ounces in 1982.

Fast-forward to 1990, and all this was undone by the approval of the Alaska Marijuana Criminalization Initiative, which made all marijuana possession in Alaska illegal and punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or up to a $1000 fine. But hold on; the Alaska Court of Appeals overturned the law established by the Initiative, and upheld the previous law.

Again in 2006, legislators attempted to overturn the law, but were unsuccessful. Medical marijuana was legalized in the state in 1998 with the approval of Measure 8.

This is the third attempt in 15 years to decriminalize marijuana in Alaska. Voters defeated Measure 5 in 2000. That initiative sought to eliminate civil and criminal penalties for persons 18 years or older, who use marijuana or other hemp products. The legalization of recreational marijuana was defeated again in 2004 when Measure 2, which would have removed civil and criminal penalties under state law for persons 21 years old or older who grow, use sell, or give away marijuana or hemp products, failed.

Supporters of marijuana use in Alaska viewed 2012 marijuana ballot measures as an emerging trend that boosted hopes for future initiatives. The 2012 elections yielded a number of successes by legalization support groups. In the state of Washington, voters approved Initiative 502, legalizing recreational marijuana use. Coloradans approved Amendment 64 in the same election. While a similar measure failed in Oregon, Alaska supporters believe the trend line is favorable.

If you have seen or hear about the segment, you already know. But, if you haven’t, Ms. Greene (her news reporter name) said:

“Now everything you heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all of my energy toward fighting for freedom and fairness which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska.

And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice but, f**k it, I quit.”

To that end, she issued the quintessential resignation statement. “Take This Job A Shove It; Or Words To That Effect!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29315827

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hAAgw_Fwf4

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2014/09/22/erin-pkg-moos-alaska-reporter-quits.cnn.html

http://www.akcannabisclub.com

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/charlo_greene_cannabis_club_weed_marijuana_benefits_ktva_alaska.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09/22/charlo-greene-ktva-news_n_5861592.html

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/charlo-greene-explains-why-she-quit-on-live-tv-with-f-word-watch-2014239

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/reporter-charlo-greene-quits-on-live-tv-after-cannabis-segment-video-2014229

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/lists/fck-it-i-quit-tv-reporter-charlo-greene-quits-live-on-air-in-spectacular-fashion-9748394.html

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/09/alaska-tv-reporter-charlo-greene-quits-on-air-after-admitting-ownership-of-medicinal-marijuana-compa.html

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/alaskan-journalist-charlo-greene-quits-live-on-air-20140922-10kl9j.html

http://www.buschleaguesports.com/index.php/charlene-egby-a-k-a-charlo-greene-true-american-hero/

http://www.musictimes.com/articles/10662/20140923/charlo-greene-charlene-egby-alaskan-cannibas-club-pot-weed-tv-reporter-f-bomb-quit-on-air.htm

http://www.celebstoner.com/news/marijuana-news/2014/09/23/why-i-quit-charlo-greenes-weed-rant/?ref=2&ref_type=tab

http://www.celebstoner.com/news/marijuana-news/2014/09/22/fuck-it-reporter-speaks-volumes-for-marijuana-cause/?ref=1254&ref_type=tab

http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/22/alaskan-fck-it-i-quit-reporter-posts-a-new-video/

http://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Marijuana_Legalization,_Ballot_Measure_2_(2014)

Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins: A Real American Hero

Posted on September 17, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

Created in 1861, the Medal of Honor is the United States of America’s highest military honor, awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U.S. Congress to U.S. military personnel for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. There are versions of the medal designed uniquely for the Army, for the Navy, and for the Air Force. Members of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard receive the Navy version.

Put in short descriptive terms, the Medal of Honor is established to recognize American service men and women who distinguish themselves through their heroic service. Let us posit from the outset that in no uncertain terms, Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins is the epitome of an American military hero. On Monday of this week, President Obama conferred the award upon Adkins.

I’m reminded that when the President of the United States is introduced, it is a simple and direct matter. “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. The thought behind that is at least in part, after having reached the pinnacle of global power and national acclaim, at least politically, an extensive introductory preamble is redundant. Everyone knows and understands “he or she is all that.”

To that end, I should be able to write, “Ladies and gentleman, Medal of Honor Recipient, Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins,” and the rest would be imputed. Alas, for most that is not the case, so I will take a moment to provide the background that will help you appreciate the incredible exploits of Sgt. Maj. Adkins, and the conditions under which he undertook his valorous deeds.

First, let’s set the time and place:

The then Sergeant First Class Adkins was working with the troops of the South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group at Camp A Shau when the camp was attacked by a large North Vietnamese and Viet Cong force on March 9, 1966.

What he did:

He rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position defending the camp
He continued to mount a defense even while incurring wounds from several direct hits from enemy mortars
Upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of the camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier while he ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety
When the hostile fire subsided, he exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire and carried his wounded comrades to a more secure position
Under enemy fire, some coming from South Vietnamese allies who defected to the North during the battle, Adkins took wounded troops to an airstrip outside the camp for evacuation and drew enemy fire away from the evacuation aircraft
He went outside the camp again to retrieve supplies from an airdrop that fell into a minefield…all on day one of what would become an 86-hour ordeal.
The fighting, and Adkin’s heroism continued on the morning of March 10^th when the North Vietnamese hit the camp with their main attack.
Within two hours, SFC Adkins was the only defender firing a mortar weapon.
When all mortar rounds were expended, Adkins began placing effective rifle fire upon the enemy as they infiltrated the amp perimeter and assaulted his position.
Despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds exploding on his position, Adkins fought off relentless waves of attacks by the North Vietnamese soldiers.
After falling back to a smaller bunker in Camp A Shau, Adkins killed more enemy troops with small arms fire, destroyed equipment and classified documents to prevent them from getting into North Vietnamese hands.
He led a group of soldiers in digging their way out of the rear of the bunker and escaping the besieged camp.
Carrying a wounded comrade and unable to get to the evacuation helicopters, he and the band faded into the jungle, avoiding their North Vietnamese pursuers for 48 hours.

Helicopters finally rescued Adkins and the rest of his group on March 12^th. According to the Army, Adkins killed 135 to 175 enemy soldiers during the Camp A Shau battle. He suffered 18 wounds during the 86-hour ordeal. After 48 years, those are not the numbers Adkins cites. Instead, he views the metrics this way:

“I’m just a keeper of the medal for those other 16 (U.S. troops) who were in the battle, especially the five who didn’t make it. I can tell you every man who was there and the five who lost their lives. I can tell you how that happened. It diminishes, but it does not go away.”

He also remembers the South Vietnamese who stuck by him:

“There were about 410 indigenous Civilian Irregular Defense Group soldiers there with us, and of those, only about 122 survived, and most of those were wounded. It was a horrible, horrible battle. There was valor on all sides, not only Americans, but from the CIDG soldiers also.”

In summary, when discussing his experience at Camp A Shau, Adkins stated, “The bottom line is that it was just not my day to go.”

With the foregoing prologue, I can now write, “Ladies and gentleman, Medal of Honor Recipient, Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins.” Now, you may be better able to appreciate the exploits of “Sergeant Major Bennie Adkins: A Real American Hero!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/15/us/adkins-medal-of-honor/index.html

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/adkins/?from=hp_spotlight

http://ktla.com/2014/09/15/latest-medal-of-honor-recipient-killed-up-to-175-enemies-risked-his-life-to-save-comrades/

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/green-beret-veteran-bennie-adkins-to-receive-medal-of-honor/article_7e16db3c-371e-58d7-b202-c029f0dc1442.html

http://yellowhammernews.com/faithandculture/incredible-story-bennie-adkins-alabamas-medal-honor-recipient/

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/obama-awards-medal-honor-bennie-adkins-n203836

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/dispatch/2014/09/14/medal-honor-will-go-opelika-man/15640761/

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/medal-of-honor-given-to-two-vietnam-heroes/

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/recognition_48_years_in_the_ma.html

Free At Last: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

Posted on September 10, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

In three decades, there are thirty years, 360 months, 1565 weeks, 10,957 days, 262,992 hours, 15,724,800 minutes, and 946,707,779 seconds. No matter how you slice it, that’s a long time. Especially when looked at in the context of a lifetime. The median age of African Americans in the United States is thirty-one.

A week ago, two men were released from prison. Henry McCollum, 50, had spent more than thirty years in Central Prison in Raleigh, NC. His half brother, Leon Brown, 46, was in Maury Correctional Institution, in Maury, NC. Both men were initially convicted for the September 1983 murder and rape of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie, and sentenced to death. They were re-tried in 1991. At that time, Brown’s murder charge was dropped, but he was re-convicted for the rape and sentenced to life in prison. Charges against McCollum were sustained.

McCollum was 19 at the time of the conviction; Brown was 15. They were exonerated and NC Superior Court Judge Douglas Sasser vacated their sentences after DNA evidence linked the crime to another man, Roscoe Artis, 74, already serving time in a NC prison. An investigation by the NC Innocence Inquiry Commission found no evidence tracing the crime back to the brothers.

Recent events have resulted in a great deal of attention being drawn to America’s legal system. Much of that attention has centered upon the propensity for white police officers to kill unarmed black men. This case unleashes an entirely different kettle of fish, as it were. Both McCollum and Brown are intellectually disabled. Moreover, there were a number of key and obvious inconsistencies with the process that led to their convictions, including:

The Red Springs Police Department consistently denied having any evidence in its possession related to the convictions of McCollum and Brown. Yet, just last month the Innocence Inquiry Commission found a box of physical evidence being held by the police that had been in the department’s possession since the early 1990’s.
The Red Springs Police Department failed to disclose to lawyers for the two men or to the local District Attorney’s office that detectives had requested a critical fingerprint test just days before the 1984 McCollum-Brown trial. Neither the request for the test, nor the fact that it was cancelled before being completed was ever revealed. The test would have compared a fingerprint on a beer can with those of Roscoe Artis, a convicted sex offender who lived just a few feet away from the field where Sabrina Buie’s body was found.
The crime scene investigator, who knew all the details of the crime scene and of the autopsy, was involved in the investigation, thereby risking the possibility that the investigation would be contaminated.
The detectives wrote out confessions for both McCollum and Brown and asked them to sign them, knowing that their confessions were incriminating, and that both boys were intellectually disabled, and interrogated in the absence of legal representation.
The police continued to pursue McCollum and Brown; even their stories were inconsistent with each other.

Thirty years is a long time. These young men were separated from their family and friends for three decades and counting. McCollum and Brown recanted their confessions numerous times. McCollum did so at least 226 times.

Priscilla McCollum, Henry’s stepmother, noted, “We have not touched our son Henry in over 30 years. We are so grateful that it’s over.” Mrs. McCollum recalled putting her hands against the glass that separated them when they visited.

Both men endured a grave injustice; both had 30 years of their life stolen. McCollum, who was on Death Row, spent three decades watching other inmates being carried off to the execution chamber. He became so distraught during executions that he had to be placed in isolation so he wouldn’t hurt himself.

That the confessions of both men were obtained through dubious means is shameful. That evidence was suppressed, and a number of law enforcement representatives conspired to deprive two innocent men of their freedom, and possibly their lives is a travesty of the highest order.

Thanks to the work of a dedicated team of lawyers, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown regained their freedom. However, they will never get justice. “Free At Last: Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied.”

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_delayed_is_justice_denied

http://www.wral.com/after-30-years-in-prison-for-murder-half-brothers-walk-free/13946572/

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/09/06/boyle-column-gop-apologies-nasty-mccollum-ad/15221163/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/02/scalia-death-penalty_n_5756362.html

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-death-row-inmates-released-mccollum-brown-20140903-story.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/04/henry-mccollum_n_5764354.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/us/north-carolina-death-row-dna.html?_r=0

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-overturns-murder-rape-convictions-for-2-who-served-30-years/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Freeman_Britt

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/03/inmates-released-30-years-five-questions-police-henry-mccollum-leon-brown

http://time.com/3259208/dna-exoneration-north-carolina-freed/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/henry-mccollum-leon-brown-freed-after-30-years-in-prison-1.2753737

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/09/henry_lee_mccollum_cleared_by_dna_evidence_in_north_carolina_after_spending.html

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140906/ARTICLES/140909809?Title=Kenneth-Rose-How-many-more-Henry-McCollums-are-waiting-for-help-that-will-never-come-

http://www.innocencecommission-nc.gov

http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/statistics/blacks-u-s-demographic-snapshot-20120516

Labor Day – Three Years Later

Posted on September 3, 2014 by alphaheel

It’s time to Break It Down!

(This post appeared originally in this space on August 31, 2011. It has been edited to reflect the most recent unemployment data.)

Monday was Labor Day. At its core, According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day in the United States was designed to commemorate the creation of the labor movement; dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday focuses on contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well being of our country.

First observed in September 1882, the event has always been observed on the first Monday of the month. Initiated by the Central Labor Union of New York, the celebration became a federal holiday in 1894.

In addition to its formal structure and purpose, Labor Day has a number of symbolic associations. It is considered:

The unofficial “End of Summer”
The last 3-Day warm weather weekend for vacationers
By High Society standards, the last day for which it is appropriate for women to wear white
The beginning of the College Football Season (the preceding Saturday)
The start of the NFL Season (typically the following Thursday; this year, the previous)
The conventional kick-off of hard core political campaign season
Back–to-School shopping

On the formal side, while the Labor Department’s blurb omits any reference to it, Labor Day also validates and recognizes an often controversial mechanism that frequently divides American opinion; the labor union. Scorned by many who fancy themselves as Free Enterprise Capitalists, unions and their members have not only been actively involved historically, in debates that framed public policy for American workers, they have won or forced hard-earned concessions that in the shimmering glow of reflective perspective, must be considered to have fundamentally altered the playing field (known as the workplace), including:

Pensions
Health Care Benefits
Paid Vacations
Equal Pay to women
The Development of Child Labor Laws
The 5-Day Work Week
The 40-Hour Work Week
The 8-Hour Work Day
Worker’s Compensation benefits
Female Flight Attendants permitted to marry

These and many other important cherished and effective employee rights are attributable to the efforts of the American Labor Movement. But, this is not an ode to Labor Unions. Unions also have downsides. They create or contribute to:

The potential for strikes
Additional costs to all employees (membership dues; whether a member or not)
Loss of individuality (ability to represent one’s self in a grievance)
Subject to fines & discipline by the Union
Disincentives to productivity and competition
Lack of promotions
Burdensome salary demands (relative to the market)
Loss of profits (and/or pay) due to strike
Inefficient & ineffective contracts
Increased unemployment due to failure to reach agreement w/management

The first Labor Day celebration was led by a Labor Union. The history of the Day has been linked, inextricably, with Labor organizations, ever since. But if it is the American Worker the Day was intended to commemorate, Labor Day 2011 was set in an auspicious and trenchant backdrop:

The Unemployment Rate in the U.S. was reported to be 9.1% in July 2011
The economy added only 117,000 jobs in July (154,000 in the private sector, -37,000 government jobs lost); better than expected, but still a dismally low number
Businesses are stockpiling $2 trillion in cash

Three years hence, the picture, thankfully, was much improved:

The Unemployment Rate in the U.S. was reported to be 6.2% in July 2014
The economy added 209,000 jobs in July 2014
(August 2014 employment data will be released Friday of this week)

In 2011, President Obama, announced after the Debt Ceiling Deal on August 2^nd, that he would present a jobs proposal for Congress to consider, and was set to do so after Labor Day (September 8th). The proposal included a combination of tax cuts, spending on infrastructure, and measures designed to assist the long-term unemployed, while bolstering certain sectors of the economy. This potion sounds eerily similar to the ideas Democrats proposed when negotiating the Debt Deal.

Republicans were lined up to oppose the plan, suggesting instead, among other things, a Balanced Budget Amendment; a balm the GOP/Tea Party also suggested during the Debt Deal negotiation. In short, there was little expectation for significant movement, or the adoption of sweeping legislation to address the lack of jobs in America…and there wasn’t. What we had instead was, déjà vu…all over, again! Then, I was compelled to ask, “Labor Day: Where Is The Celebration?” Fast forward three years, and the truth is the labor dynamics in this country have improved appreciably. However, our country is still beset by challenges.

Each day we are faced with a series of old, and it seems developing challenges abroad. Syrian, Iraq, the Ukraine, Russia, North Korea, China, Somalia, are all global hot spots, just to name a few. Then of course, there is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the burgeoning by ISIS/ISIL, also known as the Islamic State. And oh yeah, we are still winding down in Afghanistan.

Unlike in 2011, Monday did, in my opinion, bring a day of respite and reflection in honor of our country’s Labor Movement. On top of all that don’t forget, as the sixth bullet from the top advises, the conventional kick-off of the hard-core political campaign season is upon us. Primaries are right around the corner and the General Election is just 62 days away. By all means be sure to exercise your franchise; vote.

But, it’s “Labor day – Three Years Later,” and we’ve got plenty of issues to temper our celebration. I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.