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Miranda Warning Revision

narmer — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:24:33 +0000

Miranda Warning Revision| Obama Administration| Domestic Terrorism | The Atlanta Post

http://atlantapost.com/2011/03/28/miranda-warning-revision-may-be-bad-news-for-blacks/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bossiprss+%28Bossip.com%29

March 28, 2011

March 28, 2011 11:59 AM

Last week, news broke that the Obama administration created a new policy that allows investigators to waive Miranda warnings for domestic-terror suspects, even when there is not an “immediate threat,” thus giving the FBI more leeway to question terrorist suspects.

As pointed out by many commentators, this new approach to fighting terrorism is an about-face for the president, who once criticized the Bush presidency for its “ad hoc” approach to fighting terrorism. According to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained a copy of a FBI memo, the move is one of the Obama administration’s most significant revisions to rules governing the investigation of terror suspects in the U.S.

The Miranda warning, also known as Miranda rights, was created in 1966 as a result of the United States Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. While the warning does not shield against self-incrimination, it does require law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to inform those suspected of criminal activity of their constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent or to have an attorney present, before being placed into police custody or undergoing custodial interrogation.

This isn’t the first time the Miranda warning has been altered. In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement could delay reading someone their Miranda rights if there is an immediate public safety concern involved. However, what’s so troubling about this recent revision is that it not only removes the immediate threat clause but clearly targets those who are considered a domestic terrorist – whatever that is.

The term “domestic terrorism” is partly defined by the U.S. Patriot Act as “activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State.” As such, the definition of domestic terrorism is broad enough to encompass the activities of several prominent activist campaigns and organizations. Over the years, reports have surfaced about how certain activist groups have been targets of secret Homeland Security investigations that have claimed to act under the guise of tracking “domestic terrorists.”

Even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized the formation of the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 as a result of the vagueness of the term, “domestic terrorist.” The ACLU expressed concerns that portions of the Patriot Act II could “create a federal crime that could link drug dealers to terrorism without proof of any connection to a Terrorist organization.” Basically, under the new designation, acts related to the manufacture, distribution or possession with intent to sell any amount of controlled substance could be directly or indirectly linked to aiding a terrorist organization.

Just three short years after the passage of the Patriot Act II, a document released by the U.S. Senate showed that in fiscal year 2008, 62 percent of sneak-and-peek searches—also known as delayed-notice warrants—that were conducted under the protection of the Patriot Act were in cases having to do with illegal drugs. By comparison, only 0.4 percent of the Patriot Act sneak-and-peek searches in fiscal year 2008 had to do with terrorism.

During that same period, it had been discovered that the FBI had abused other portions of the Patriot Act, including illegally acquiring phone records, IP addresses and portions of credit histories on thousands of Americans from 2003 to 2005 through the use of self-issued subpoenas based on fake emergencies.

While the revision of the Miranda warning will likely please conservatives, who over the last few years have criticized the Obama Administration for being too soft on terrorism, this revision also serves as a very dangerous slippery slope that could have unintended consequences down the line for American citizens, particularly black and brown people, who have been adversely effected by drug laws. Despite the threat of global terrorism, there is no real cause to give neither the executive branch nor law enforcement agencies carte blanche to roll back rights, including the Miranda warning, especially when those same agencies still have quite figured out who or what constitutes as a terrorist or imminent threat.

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.

African-American – News

narmer — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:05:46 +0000

African-American – News March 28, 2011

See African-American Weather

Some Women Worry Too Much About Breast Cancer Returning (MediLexicon)
Most women face only a small risk of breast cancer coming back after they complete their treatment.

African-Americans And The Reverse Migration (WBUR-AM Boston)
In the past decade, the African American population of the Atlanta, GA metro area grew by half a million.
Bam makes long-awaited return to Harlem (NY Daily News)
President Obama will return to Harlem after his last visit with former President Bill Clinton before he was elected to the nation’s highest office.

Get outraged over black men’s deaths (The Journal News)
Re “Friends hold vigil at site of White Plains slaying to mourn a life cut short,” Wednesday article: Tragedy strikes the City of White Plains again.

Consumers need to be more aware of the salt in processed foods (Hackettstown Weekly News)
Nicholas Gatti, executive chef at Alpine Country Club in Demarest , is just thinking out loud during a conversation about salt and high sodium levels in foods when he hits upon the crux of the problem.
‘A Dream Still Deferred’: Historian examines Detroit census, race and suburban inequality (MLive)
Published: Sunday, March 27, 2011, 9:27 AM Updated: Sunday, March 27, 2011, 9:36 AM A street sign showing Detroit’s city limits is shown near where a former Chrysler McGraw glass plant is being torn down along Ford Road in Detroit, Tuesday, March 22, 2011.

MOSS: The census delivers good news (NY Daily News)
The Census Bureau counted 8.175 million New Yorkers in its once-in-a-decade count last year.

Multiracial population growing (Augusta Chronicle)
Sheronda Smith crossed the color line for love in her first marriage. So when she did it again, she and her husband, Joshua, expected the disapproving looks they sometimes got from strangers.

Bomb Shelters Going Up In Washington Square

narmer — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:34:21 +0000

Bomb Shelters Going Up In Washington Square

If you spot some bomb shelters and hear sirens in Washington Square Park tomorrow don’t panic, but take a moment to immerse yourself in the new multi-media installation, titled The Bomb Shelter. It’s meant to connect New Yorkers to what Israelis went through last week during the bombing of a Jerusalem bus stop and repeated rocket strikes. [ more â€º ]

Anne Frank Center moving across street from Ground Zero mosque – NYPOST.com

narmer — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:12:46 +0000

Imams’ girl next door

By ANNIE KARNI

Last Updated: 8:21 AM, March 27, 2011

Posted: 12:38 AM, March 27, 2011

They’re strange neighbors.

A museum commemorating the world’s most famous Holocaust victim is planning to move across the street from the proposed Ground Zero mosque, The Post has learned.

The nonprofit Anne Frank Center USA, a partner of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, offers educational programs about the Holocaust and the history of World War II. The group is poised to sign a lease in the 20-floor, glass-and-steel tower at 100 Church St., sources involved in the negotiations confirmed.

The windows of the 1 million- square-foot office tower overlook Park 51, the planned 16-story, 125,000-square-foot Muslim community center and mosque at 45 Park Place, two blocks from Ground Zero.

The museum, which currently rents loft space at 38 Crosby St. in SoHo, took out ads last year seeking a larger home in order to re-create the “secret annex” where the doomed Jewish teen wrote her famous diary while hiding from the Nazis with her family in Amsterdam between 1942 and 1944.

The move would be more evidence that lower Manhattan is becoming a Mecca for religious and cultural groups of all stripes. There are already more than 20 houses of worship below Canal Street and 13 museums south of Chambers Street, according to the Downtown Alliance. A nondenominational Christian church recently opened in 7 World Trade Center.

“It’s appropriate to have a mix of diverse organizations as a part of the lower Manhattan community,” said Julie Menin, chairwoman of Community Board 1. “We want it to reflect the melting pot that is America.”

Board members at the Anne Frank Center said they harbored no concerns about their odd juxtaposition with the mosque, whose proximity to the 9/11 site has sparked outrage.

“We’ve been working very hard to find a new location that will be more accessible to our exhibits,” said board member Hyman Enzer. “I like the idea of the new location.”

Board member Sam Fredman said, “I don’t know that the mosque was or would be a factor of any kind.”

In January, the new imam of Park 51, Abdallah Adhami, was fired after it was discovered that he preached that homosexuals were abused as children and that people who leave Islam should be jailed. The first imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, stepped down after clashing with developer Sharif El-Gamal.

The Anne Frank Center is in negotiations with SL Green Realty Corp. to rent 2,500 square feet of ground-floor space, according to Steven Durels, SL Green’s director of leasing for the building. Asking rent is $50 a square foot, which would be $125,000 a month for the exhibition center.

“We’re in advanced negotiations with them and, hopefully, we’ll sign a deal in the next few weeks,” Durels said. “We think the Anne Frank Center is a good use for the building.”

A broker representing the Anne Frank Center declined to comment.

akarni@nypost.com

Anne Frank Center moving across street from Ground Zero mosque – NYPOST.com.

Protest Barack Obama’s Visit to Harlem, N.Y.

narmer — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:34:58 +0000

African-American – News

narmer — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 12:59:02 +0000

African-American – News March 27, 2011

See African-American Weather

Preserving history as population changes (The Washington Post)
Census data released Thursday said fewer blacks and far more whites live in the U Street neighborhood in northwest D.C. Than ten years ago.
Brave Old World Going to Brave New World on a Sunday night… (Philadelphia Weekly)
Going to Brave New World on a Sunday night is like stepping into a time warp. Between 7 and mid-night every Sunday at Brave New World , Erich “E-C LaRock” Coston spins real 45s by artists like Mary Wells, Archie Bell and the Drells and James Brown.

Hudson Valley African-Americans are focus of Nyack Library exhibit (The Journal News)
An exhibit opening Wednesday will use video, exhibits and discussion to explore the history of African-Americans as both laborers and entrepreneurs in the Hudson Valley.

Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan Speaks At JSU (WAPT)
Controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was at Jackson State University Friday night to speak at a Civil Rights Symposium on campus, but his presence wasn’t welcomed by everybody.

Seeking economic parity: Black Chamber will have statewide agenda, chief says (Detroit Free Press)
Ken Harris, 37, of Detroit is the president and CEO of the newly formed Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce.
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Popular Music and Race Relations in America

narmer — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:41:46 +0000

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Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St | New York, NY 10029
212.534.1672 Phone | 212.423.0758 Fax
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African-American – News

narmer — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:39:03 +0000

African-American – News March 26, 2011

See African-American Weather

Planned Parenthood Responds to Allen West (Broward-Palm Beach – News)
West doesn’t want the clinics in black neighborhoods. – At a town hall meeting this week, U.S. Rep.

Farrakhan defends Gadhafi, pans US role in Libya (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan says the United States lacks the moral right to attack the forces of embattled Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
This Sunday Is Black Marriage Day (WDBZ-AM Cincinnati)
This Sunday is the ninth annual Black Marriage Day, and activists in hundreds of communities around the country will gather to “strengthen and promote marriage in the black community,” which has been in sharp decline.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Flight With The First Black Aviators (NPR)
Eleanor Roosevelt and pilot C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson, primary flight instructor at the Tuskegee Institute, 1941.

Leffingwell proposes to reorganize City Council districts in 2012 (Community Impact Newspaper)
City Council has not had representation from a Northwest Austin resident for more than a decade, and the legislature as well as Mayor Lee Leffingwell said it may be time to consider single-member districts for the city to represent communities that may feel a disconnect with City Hall.
Video: The sharp decline of Detroit’s population (The Globe and Mail)
The flight of middle-class African-Americans to the suburbs fueled an exodus that cut Detroit’s population 25% in the past decade.

More African-American News…

African-American News

narmer — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:44:58 +0000

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U.S. Hispanics expected to exceed 50M (CNN)
The data are expected to show that Hispanics have accounted for more than half the nation’s growth since 2000.
Harlem Hellfighter, who fought under Nick Fish’s grandfather, may get … (Oregonlive)
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 1:17 PM Updated: Thursday, March 24, 2011, 2:56 PM Sgt.

Groups blast planned speech by Farrakhan in Miss. (WEHT-TV Evansville)
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is scheduled to speak Friday at an annual conference of Mississippi civil rights veterans, drawing criticism for his past comments about Jews and Roman Catholics, both instrumental groups in the struggle for equality in the 1960s.

Baltimore Mayor Leads Citywide Fight Against Breast Cancer (Black Voices)
From Baltimore ABC2 : This coming weekend is a special event in the Baltimore region.
What is the population of the black community in Gordon County? (Calhoun Times)
The Hispanic/Latino population in Gordon County more than doubled over the past decade, newly released Census figures show.. According to the 2010 Census, the Hispanic population now accounts for 14 percent of Gordon County’s population.

Census: Minority communities grow in N.B., Fall River, suburbs still overwhelmingly white - (SouthCoastToday)
The populations of SouthCoast’s suburbs remained overwhelmingly white during the last decade, while minority communities in New Bedford have grown since 2000, according to 2010 U.S. Census statistics released earlier this week.

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Haitian Teens Need $15,000 to Travel to Robotics Competition

narmer — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:29:04 +0000

Haitian Teens Need $15,000 to Travel to Robotics Competition

Filed under: News,

They watched their friends and family die in last year’s devastating earthquake and they have survived the rigors of being an immigrant in a new land to excel in school.

Now a group of Haitian teens from Brooklyn, N.Y. who have won an invitation to a prestigious robotics competition in St. Louis need just $15,000 to make it there.

The mostly Haitian students from the It Takes a Village Academy in East Flatbush beat out kids from 63 other area high schools, including some of New York City’s most prestigious, to earn the invitation. It was something many of the kids on the team did not think was possible.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Margely Saint-Pierre, 17, who saw 10 friends die and his high school destroyed in the devastating Haitian earthquake, told the New York Daily News.

The school is just one of two from the city to be invited to the FIRST Tech Challenge next month where they would participate in a competition to build the fastest and most precise robot.

“What their victory shows is how a little bit of money in the right place can accomplish a lot,” Marilyn Gelber, president of the Brooklyn Community Foundation, told Aol Black Voices in an interview.

The foundation, in conjunction with Polytechnic Institute of New York University, sponsors the Central Brooklyn Robotic Initiative. Graduate students from the university travel to 18 schools in Central Brooklyn to work with the kids on robotics programs. The program is working so well that it will double to 36 schools next year.

“To travel from Brooklyn to St. Louis to compete on a national level would be an extraordinary experience and show these kids that you can be written off as one who is not going to succeed but come out on the other side as champions. We want them to be champions and represent all kids in that situation,” Gelber added.

For many of these kids, participating in the robotics program has brought a world of benefits.

Closing the Gap with Robotics from NYU-Poly on Vimeo.

“They’re like brothers and sisters, sharing experiences,” Yvon Morin, a computer science teacher who serves as the team’s coach, and who’s also a Haitian immigrant, told the News.

It takes math, physics and computer programming to build these robots. And they are learning about cooperation and being creative as well. Many of the kids also see this as another opportunity to add an impressive attribute on their resume as they strive to go to college.

“We’re going to show that we’re Haitian and we’ve accomplished something really important,” said Christopher Leveille, the 17-year-old team captain who immigrated from Port-au-Prince just two years ago.

And more children of color should be involved with math and the sciences. It’s about these kids serving as role models for future generations.

In a piece a few weeks ago about Benjamin Alvin “Al” Drew Jr., the only black astronaut on the last mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery, I shared how my sister was laughed at by her own high school teachers in Brooklyn when she shared her goal of becoming a doctor.

It’s one of the reasons black children are not as involved in math and science professions as they should be. Luckily, my sister had the encouragement of my family. Today, Dr. Mays, as my mother loves calling her (She earned it, my mother says.), is rated as one of the top practitioners in her field in the region of the country where she lives.

That’s what I want for these kids and for all of our kids. This program may produce the next Benjamin Alvin “Al” Drew Jr., Bill Gates or Dr. Mays.

“Science and math education is important to the future success of students. We want to emphasize math and science but do it in a way that is engaging to young people,” Gelber told Aol. Black Voices. “Young people love math and science but too may are just consumers of technology. We want to let them know that you can be a creator and an inventor. You don’t have to be just a consumer of technology. Robotics makes that idea very real to kids.”

As this country heads toward a more technologically advanced future, we need to make sure our kids have a chance to compete at the highest levels and to be the next great inventor.

I know that $15,000 seems like a lot of money in these tough economic times but it’s not. If each person reading this story contributed just $5 or $10 we could help these teens reach their goal in no time.

For many of these children, Gelber said, their families simply aren’t able to produce the amount of money needed to go on the trip this quickly.

“Fifteen thousand dollars is a lot for these families and these kids but they they are out their working at raising the money,” said Gelber.

Think about the amount of money we waste on coffee or junk food in a single day and then make the decision to send that money along. All of the donations are tax deductible. This is the type of endeavor that the community, the diaspora, should be able to make quick work of.

“These are children who were deeply affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Some arrived here after the earthquake but others had family members affected. Just a year later these kids are competitive on such a high level,” said Gelber. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that going to this competition would mean the world to them.”

Call (718) 260-3524, (718) 629-2307 or visit the Brooklyn Community Foundation at www.bcfny.org to get more information or to make a donation.