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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 13, 2021
Director Sam Pollard spoke to Salon about breaking the FBI myth and how the investigation relates to racism today
By GARY M. KRAMER
JANUARY 12, 2021 11:19PM
(Salon) The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was called, "the moral leader of our nation." He was instrumental in mobilizing for civil rights with his participation in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, his nonviolent protest in Selma, Ala., and his speech from his March on Washington.
The compelling new documentary "MLK/FBI" recounts these and other key moments of King's legacy. However, filmmaker Sam Pollard ("Atlanta's Missing and Murdered" ) puts these events in the context of the FBI's investigation of King, and director J. Edgar Hoover's efforts to expose the civil rights leader's private life as a way of humiliating and weakening King.
Pollard cannily uses archival footage to tell this fascinating story, and the film features voiceover commentaries by Clarence Jones, an advisor to and speechwriter for King; Andrew Young, who was executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (King was its first President); author David Garrow; historian Beverly Gage; and former FBI director James Comey, among others.
....(snip)....
"MLK/FBI" shows how this King was a threat to white men in power with his nonviolent protests and his ability to mobilize a community, especially during a time of social change. What observations do you have about this, and how things have developed in the last 50+ years?
That attitude about white men in power feeling concerned about losing their power still exists today. It's not King alone; it's the Black Lives Matter movement, and it's other movements. There is still that notion that white men in power are frightened of losing their hold on America, their control of America. There have been changes, obviously — I don't have to sit at the back of the bus anymore if I go down to Mississippi — but as we see daily, Black men are being killed on the street. Breonna Taylor was shot. The notion of white men wanting power, and wanting to stay in power, still exists. The fear of people of color taking over "the notion of America" is still a thing that raises the hackles on many people's necks. That's why (Trump) has had such a presence in America the last four years. It was there underneath when Obama became president, and it burst up. It's amazing that the film, which is a period piece, is still so topical today. The subject matter is still topical today because until America wants to deal with what slavery meant to this country we will keep traveling down this same road. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/12/mlk-fbi-movie-sam-pollard/
"MLK/FBI" director: "White men in power are frightened of losing their control of America"
"MLK/FBI" director: "White men in power are frightened of losing their control of America"Director Sam Pollard spoke to Salon about breaking the FBI myth and how the investigation relates to racism today
By GARY M. KRAMER
JANUARY 12, 2021 11:19PM
(Salon) The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was called, "the moral leader of our nation." He was instrumental in mobilizing for civil rights with his participation in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, his nonviolent protest in Selma, Ala., and his speech from his March on Washington.
The compelling new documentary "MLK/FBI" recounts these and other key moments of King's legacy. However, filmmaker Sam Pollard ("Atlanta's Missing and Murdered" ) puts these events in the context of the FBI's investigation of King, and director J. Edgar Hoover's efforts to expose the civil rights leader's private life as a way of humiliating and weakening King.
Pollard cannily uses archival footage to tell this fascinating story, and the film features voiceover commentaries by Clarence Jones, an advisor to and speechwriter for King; Andrew Young, who was executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (King was its first President); author David Garrow; historian Beverly Gage; and former FBI director James Comey, among others.
....(snip)....
"MLK/FBI" shows how this King was a threat to white men in power with his nonviolent protests and his ability to mobilize a community, especially during a time of social change. What observations do you have about this, and how things have developed in the last 50+ years?
That attitude about white men in power feeling concerned about losing their power still exists today. It's not King alone; it's the Black Lives Matter movement, and it's other movements. There is still that notion that white men in power are frightened of losing their hold on America, their control of America. There have been changes, obviously — I don't have to sit at the back of the bus anymore if I go down to Mississippi — but as we see daily, Black men are being killed on the street. Breonna Taylor was shot. The notion of white men wanting power, and wanting to stay in power, still exists. The fear of people of color taking over "the notion of America" is still a thing that raises the hackles on many people's necks. That's why (Trump) has had such a presence in America the last four years. It was there underneath when Obama became president, and it burst up. It's amazing that the film, which is a period piece, is still so topical today. The subject matter is still topical today because until America wants to deal with what slavery meant to this country we will keep traveling down this same road. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/12/mlk-fbi-movie-sam-pollard/
January 13, 2021
(Guardian UK) A New York City police officer tasked with leading its workplace anti-discrimination office has chosen to retire rather than face a 30-day suspension without pay for posting racist messages to a online platform for police officers.
Deputy Inspector James Kobel had been relieved of his command in November while officials investigated the allegations he penned messages that the New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, Dermot Shea, called “abhorrent” and “utterly disgusting”.
According to investigators, Kobel posted threatening, racist rhetoric on the platform known as Rant, a chat board for NYPD personnel, using the pseudonym “Clouseau”, drawing from the French detective in the Pink Panther film series.
For more than a year he attacked primarily Black and Jewish people, as well as women and the LGBTQ+ community.
“DI Kobel did not see it as possible to get a fair administrative trial,” Chris Monahan, Captains Endowment Association president, told WYNC, blaming “the current political climate and anti-police sentiment” for the 28-year veteran opting for retirement. ............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/12/nypd-james-kobel-retires-suspension
NYPD anti-discrimination chief retires amid inquiry into racist online posts
(Guardian UK) A New York City police officer tasked with leading its workplace anti-discrimination office has chosen to retire rather than face a 30-day suspension without pay for posting racist messages to a online platform for police officers.
Deputy Inspector James Kobel had been relieved of his command in November while officials investigated the allegations he penned messages that the New York police department (NYPD) commissioner, Dermot Shea, called “abhorrent” and “utterly disgusting”.
According to investigators, Kobel posted threatening, racist rhetoric on the platform known as Rant, a chat board for NYPD personnel, using the pseudonym “Clouseau”, drawing from the French detective in the Pink Panther film series.
For more than a year he attacked primarily Black and Jewish people, as well as women and the LGBTQ+ community.
“DI Kobel did not see it as possible to get a fair administrative trial,” Chris Monahan, Captains Endowment Association president, told WYNC, blaming “the current political climate and anti-police sentiment” for the 28-year veteran opting for retirement. ............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/12/nypd-james-kobel-retires-suspension
January 13, 2021
(Salon) Our culture has terms for all kinds of mom archetypes: working moms, stay-at-home moms, soccer moms, wine moms and "cool" moms. But have you ever met a helicopter riot mom?
By now, you've seen the images and videos of a mob of mostly white men violently storming and attacking the Capitol last Wednesday. They broke into the building through windows or forced their way through metal barricades. They bore Trump regalia and urinated on the floors. Some were armed with guns and tasers; one man, whom the internet has dubbed "zip-tie guy," dressed head-to-toe in paramilitary gear wielding plastic hand restraints. Counter-terrorist experts say this resembled the Michigan plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, suggesting there was likely a desire to "conduct vigilante justice against members of Congress." Five people are now dead because of Trump's insurrection, including a police officer and a member of Trump's mob.
Yet if you look closely at the images from last Wednesday, you'll notice that behind some of the more-photographed men, there are women lurking in the shadows. Some of them were mothers, who were supporting their insurrectionist sons on the ground.
"Zip-tie guy" was one of these men who brought his mom. Indeed, in the photo of him above, it is believed that his mom is the woman in the background. According to The Tennessean, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently arrested 30-year-old Eric Munchel, the so-called zip-tie guy. He currently faces charges for knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, without lawful authority, and for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. And according to the affidavit, federal authorities believe the woman he was photographed with in a hotel lobby and at the riot was his mom, Lisa Eisenhart. A Nashville Public Radio report says that his mom even booked the plane tickets for their flight to D.C. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/12/capitol-riot-moms-stand-behind--or-alongside--their-sons/
Capitol riot moms stand behind -- or alongside -- their sons
(Salon) Our culture has terms for all kinds of mom archetypes: working moms, stay-at-home moms, soccer moms, wine moms and "cool" moms. But have you ever met a helicopter riot mom?
By now, you've seen the images and videos of a mob of mostly white men violently storming and attacking the Capitol last Wednesday. They broke into the building through windows or forced their way through metal barricades. They bore Trump regalia and urinated on the floors. Some were armed with guns and tasers; one man, whom the internet has dubbed "zip-tie guy," dressed head-to-toe in paramilitary gear wielding plastic hand restraints. Counter-terrorist experts say this resembled the Michigan plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, suggesting there was likely a desire to "conduct vigilante justice against members of Congress." Five people are now dead because of Trump's insurrection, including a police officer and a member of Trump's mob.
Yet if you look closely at the images from last Wednesday, you'll notice that behind some of the more-photographed men, there are women lurking in the shadows. Some of them were mothers, who were supporting their insurrectionist sons on the ground.
"Zip-tie guy" was one of these men who brought his mom. Indeed, in the photo of him above, it is believed that his mom is the woman in the background. According to The Tennessean, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently arrested 30-year-old Eric Munchel, the so-called zip-tie guy. He currently faces charges for knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, without lawful authority, and for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. And according to the affidavit, federal authorities believe the woman he was photographed with in a hotel lobby and at the riot was his mom, Lisa Eisenhart. A Nashville Public Radio report says that his mom even booked the plane tickets for their flight to D.C. ...............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/12/capitol-riot-moms-stand-behind--or-alongside--their-sons/
January 13, 2021
Tim O'Brien: Trump's brand is 'associated with violence and insurrection and hatred'
January 13, 2021
(Detroit Free Press) LANSING — Reports Tuesday that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will face criminal charges over the lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water supply came as a shock to many.
For some, charging Snyder would be a long overdue legal reckoning for the man who was Michigan's top decision-maker when the catastrophe began in April 2014.
To others, charging Snyder, who was Michigan's Republican governor from 2011 through 2018, is just one more costly misstep in a criminal investigation that has been mismanaged from the get-go.
Snyder has apologized for the Flint crisis many times, but has never taken ultimate or full responsibility for it. ............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2021/01/12/flint-water-rick-snyder-criminal-charges/6645359002/
Former Gov. Snyder and the poisoning of Flint's water: Where he could be vulnerable
(Detroit Free Press) LANSING — Reports Tuesday that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will face criminal charges over the lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water supply came as a shock to many.
For some, charging Snyder would be a long overdue legal reckoning for the man who was Michigan's top decision-maker when the catastrophe began in April 2014.
To others, charging Snyder, who was Michigan's Republican governor from 2011 through 2018, is just one more costly misstep in a criminal investigation that has been mismanaged from the get-go.
Snyder has apologized for the Flint crisis many times, but has never taken ultimate or full responsibility for it. ............(more)
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2021/01/12/flint-water-rick-snyder-criminal-charges/6645359002/
January 12, 2021
A foreseeable fire: A steady diet of red meat turned the Tea Party into Trumpism
I could have joined my colleagues and survived, even thrived, in the Tea Party era. But instead I lost an election rather than fan the flames.
Bob InglisOpinion contributor
A House Republican colleague returned to Washington circa 2009 to tell us how he was going to survive the Tea Party. He was just back from holding a series of Obamacare town halls in his deep red part of Georgia. He said that he had learned how to handle the rabble-rousing crowd from a meeting that had gotten off to a bad start. The people were mad at him and mad at the world. Halfway into the meeting he found a pivot. He told the crowd that he got it — that they just want him to go to Washington and 'raise some hell."
The crowd roared their approval. He became an active Tea Partier that day and, subsequently, a full-throated Trumper.
Perhaps I should have learned from my friend’s example. It might have saved my seat in the United States Congress. I had had one of those raucous meetings. A man had risen in great anger to tell me that, President Barack Obama is so unpatriotic, he doesn’t put his hand over his heart when the national anthem is played or the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. (Apparently, he’d been surfing on some isolated internet island.)
....(snip)....
Had I taken that advice, I suppose I might have joined my House colleague from Georgia in surviving, even thriving, in the Tea Party. As it was, I was uninvited to the party. The Tea Party didn’t want to hear civility, and they sure as hell didn’t want to hear my message about climate change in the 2010 cycle. (Thankfully, that latter part has changed. As the sea level rises and septic tanks stop working, even the most ardent disputer of science realizes that he or she has a problem!)
....(snip)....
Oh, that my party had taken a path illuminated by truth rather than one darkened by useless conspiracy theories. Oh, that my party had chosen more leaders of character willing to speak truth to our own people. Oh, that we might learn from our mistakes and bear the fruit of repentance. ............(more)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/10/tea-party-protests-trump-bob-inglis-column/6594986002/
A foreseeable fire: A steady diet of red meat turned the Tea Party into Trumpism
A foreseeable fire: A steady diet of red meat turned the Tea Party into Trumpism
I could have joined my colleagues and survived, even thrived, in the Tea Party era. But instead I lost an election rather than fan the flames.
Bob InglisOpinion contributor
A House Republican colleague returned to Washington circa 2009 to tell us how he was going to survive the Tea Party. He was just back from holding a series of Obamacare town halls in his deep red part of Georgia. He said that he had learned how to handle the rabble-rousing crowd from a meeting that had gotten off to a bad start. The people were mad at him and mad at the world. Halfway into the meeting he found a pivot. He told the crowd that he got it — that they just want him to go to Washington and 'raise some hell."
The crowd roared their approval. He became an active Tea Partier that day and, subsequently, a full-throated Trumper.
Perhaps I should have learned from my friend’s example. It might have saved my seat in the United States Congress. I had had one of those raucous meetings. A man had risen in great anger to tell me that, President Barack Obama is so unpatriotic, he doesn’t put his hand over his heart when the national anthem is played or the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. (Apparently, he’d been surfing on some isolated internet island.)
....(snip)....
Had I taken that advice, I suppose I might have joined my House colleague from Georgia in surviving, even thriving, in the Tea Party. As it was, I was uninvited to the party. The Tea Party didn’t want to hear civility, and they sure as hell didn’t want to hear my message about climate change in the 2010 cycle. (Thankfully, that latter part has changed. As the sea level rises and septic tanks stop working, even the most ardent disputer of science realizes that he or she has a problem!)
....(snip)....
Oh, that my party had taken a path illuminated by truth rather than one darkened by useless conspiracy theories. Oh, that my party had chosen more leaders of character willing to speak truth to our own people. Oh, that we might learn from our mistakes and bear the fruit of repentance. ............(more)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/10/tea-party-protests-trump-bob-inglis-column/6594986002/
January 12, 2021
Just checked out my Twitter account looking at posts I've responded to......
Lots of "This Tweet is from a suspended account." in the response trails. They really have been weeding out the people spreading the Qanon nuttery.
January 12, 2021
U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted that “trade wars were good, and easy to win” in 2018 as he began to impose tariffs on about $360 billion of imports from China. Turns out he was wrong on both counts.
Even before the coronavirus infected millions of Americans and sparked the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, China was withstanding Trump’s tariff salvos, according to the very metrics he used to justify them. Once China got the virus under control, demand for medical equipment and work-from-home gear expanded its trade surplus with the U.S. despite the levies.
While trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economic powers didn’t start under Trump, he broadened the fight with the unprecedented tariffs and sanctions on technology companies. The tougher approach, according to the scorecard that follows, didn’t go as he hoped. But he’s leaving his successor Joe Biden a blueprint of what worked and what didn’t. .........(more)
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/how-china-won-trumps-trade-war-and-got-americans-to-foot-the-bill
How China won Trump's trade war and got Americans to foot the bill
U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted that “trade wars were good, and easy to win” in 2018 as he began to impose tariffs on about $360 billion of imports from China. Turns out he was wrong on both counts.
Even before the coronavirus infected millions of Americans and sparked the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, China was withstanding Trump’s tariff salvos, according to the very metrics he used to justify them. Once China got the virus under control, demand for medical equipment and work-from-home gear expanded its trade surplus with the U.S. despite the levies.
While trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economic powers didn’t start under Trump, he broadened the fight with the unprecedented tariffs and sanctions on technology companies. The tougher approach, according to the scorecard that follows, didn’t go as he hoped. But he’s leaving his successor Joe Biden a blueprint of what worked and what didn’t. .........(more)
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/how-china-won-trumps-trade-war-and-got-americans-to-foot-the-bill
January 12, 2021
(NBC) From country clubs to entertainment shows, President Donald Trump's business empire could face heavy pressure after his involvement in last week's violence at the U.S. Capitol.
While consumer mass-market merchandise deals for Trump ties and steaks, as well as his daughter Ivanka's clothing line, largely evaporated years ago, Trump still holds millions of dollars' worth of real estate development and name licensing deals.
The New York mayor's office said it was looking at its legal options to end agreements with Trump Organization properties.
The Trump Organization develops and manages the Trump Golf Links golf course at Ferry Point in the Bronx in an agreement with the city, and it licenses and operates three facilities in Central Park: the Wollman skating rink, the Lasker Rink and the Central Park Landmark Carousel. ...................(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/after-capitol-violence-trump-brand-partners-eye-dumping-toxic-asset-n1253780
After Capitol violence, Trump brand partners eye dumping toxic asset: The president
(NBC) From country clubs to entertainment shows, President Donald Trump's business empire could face heavy pressure after his involvement in last week's violence at the U.S. Capitol.
While consumer mass-market merchandise deals for Trump ties and steaks, as well as his daughter Ivanka's clothing line, largely evaporated years ago, Trump still holds millions of dollars' worth of real estate development and name licensing deals.
The New York mayor's office said it was looking at its legal options to end agreements with Trump Organization properties.
The Trump Organization develops and manages the Trump Golf Links golf course at Ferry Point in the Bronx in an agreement with the city, and it licenses and operates three facilities in Central Park: the Wollman skating rink, the Lasker Rink and the Central Park Landmark Carousel. ...................(more)
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/after-capitol-violence-trump-brand-partners-eye-dumping-toxic-asset-n1253780
January 12, 2021
Susan Collins is full of sh**.......
... says her first thought was "It was the Iranians"
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/01/11/opinion/contributors/democracy-prevailed-over-the-rioters-who-sieged-the-capitol/
She's either a liar, an idiot, a clueless asshole or some combination of the three.
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,064
