32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
But the fact is, you have to want to know the truth. Those who don't know the truth will never be free. They will be nothing more than captives of their own naïveté, crippled by their ignorance.
"Lest we get on our high horse and think this [violence in the name of religion] is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ...Michelle and I returned from India, an incredible, beautiful country, full of magnificent diversity, but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have on occasion been targeted by other peoples of faith...acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhi."
Above is a direct quote from President Obama made in reference to the ongoing characterization of all Muslims as terrorists. This statement drew fire from both his critics and supporters alike. But the fact is, what the president said was not a theory, a wild accusation or a false assertion. It is a historical fact.
So called Christians have used Christianity as a tool to keep slaves in line for hundreds of years. These evil slave masters would give their slaves a little touch of Jesus to "cure" their desire to free themselves. They gave them Christianity as a way of pacifying them and they believed that the only way that they would and could be free was if it was God's will. They never knew the truth, and they were never taught the truth. The greatest gift that God had given them was freedom of choice, so they never exercised their option to fight for what they deserved. Freedom and bondage are polar opposites. Millions of African's were enslaved, tortured and murdered all while Jesus' name was being used in vain.. This is fact, not fiction.
With that being said, labeling people and making broad generalizations about their culture or religion is dangerous. Notice, in this piece I never said that all Christians have killed, or will kill. But there were some whom I assume we're Christians in name only due to the fact that they used Christianity as a tool for evil, who have misused our faith to oppress an entire race of people. This oppression included murder.
This week in Chapel Hill, North Carolina 3 Indian American students who just happened to be Muslin were murdered by a man just because of his perception who he thought they were. But his assumption turned out to be false. As it turns out, he was the terrorist!
One of my favorite quotes is by Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change that you seek in the world." This doesn't require some grand gesture or financial support. It can be something just as simple as taking a moment out of your day for an exercise in benevolence. Doing so can change someone's life forever.
Turns out, talking to strangers is not so bad after all. SOMETIMES!
At least not for a North Carolina teen, who went to Target to look for a clip-on tie for a job interview. Instead, he became the subject of a touching moment and a viral photo.
Audrey Mark said that she was shopping at a store in Raleigh on Wednesday when she noticed something unusual.
"I see this young teen being hovered over by this Target employee," Mark said.
Curious, she got closer to see what was going on. The employee was not just tying the teen's tie, he was imparting some wisdom as well.
"I hear him peppering him with all this advice on interview skills and handshakes," she told the local media.
Employee Cathy Scott said the teen walked into the store looking for a tie.
"I asked him if he needed help, and he told me he needed clip-on ties," Scott told the affiliate. "We didn't have any."
She turned to her co-worker, Dennis Roberts, and asked him if he knew how to tie a regular tie. He said yes, so the teen bought one and handed it to Roberts.
But Scott and Roberts went a step further and prepared the teen for his interview.
"We said, 'Make sure you look him in the eye.' I'm saying, 'Make sure you give him a firm handshake,' and she showed him ... he tucked his shirt in," Roberts said.
Mark snapped away.
"It was a very quiet, simple moment, but it was very profound," she told the affiliate. "He leaves and all these Target employees are screaming 'Bye! Good luck! Tell us how it went.' I got so emotional. I got teary."
But it didn't just end there.
A day later, a Target team went to a nearby Chick-fil-A, where the teen interviewed.
Though they didn't know his identity, they shared their experience with the restaurant's manager.
The teen appears to have had a good initial interview at the restaurant.
He's 15 and "definitely left a memorable impression," said David Langston, operator of the Chick-fil-A.
"We have a three-part interview process, and we are inviting him back to have his second interview," Langston said. "He's a really nice kid. We hope to talk to him today (Friday), but we have to wait until he gets out of school and check his availability to set up the second interview."
I'll be honest, and I won't ask you. But I will admit that some days are harder than others. Some days I find it hard to hold on, and I end up hanging on. I feel like the edge of the cliff is crumbling beneath my fingers, and I can feel the chill of the cold wind whipping around my head beackoning me to let go. The weight of the world pulls my body like faithful hands dedicated to my demise. But I'm hanging on. I try to devise new strategies to pull myself up. But it's only Tuesday and I just don't have it in me. My hands start to slip and I close my eyes and let go. As I wait to feel my fall, I realize that I am not moving. I'm afraid to open my eyes because it might ruin my relief. But I felt his hands stop me from falling. In the midnight hour 12:01 am when all seemed lost, I found myself, safe in his hands.
Some people have absolutely no business being around children. But the scary part is finding that out after they've already hurt a child.
Jonathan Hardin was reportedly fired from his post as a school resource officer at the Olmstead Academy North in Louisville, Kentucky, after he was arrested and charged with assault, official misconduct, wanton endangerment and false swearing charges.
As of Friday, it’s the fifth complaint against officer Hardin, and amazingly no corrective action was taken before this incident.
The 31-year-old "law enforcer" is accused of punching a 13-year-old boy in the face with a closed fist, after he spotted the child cutting a lunch line, of all things! The alleged incident took place on January 22 of this year. After striking and injuring the boy, Hardin the "super cop" cited the child for menacing and resisting arrest which according to police procedures was not warranted.
Five days after the punching incident, Hardin was involved in yet another altercation at the school. But the question is, why was he still on duty 5 days later. Hardin allegedly placed a boy in a dangerous chokehold that momentarily cut off his blood flow and caused him to lose consciousness. Instead of seeking medical help for the child, Hardin reportedly placed the boy in handcuffs, drove him home and failed to alert his parents as to what took place. The child was taken to a medical facility and this week it was determined that he did suffer a brain injury and could have died as a result of Hardin’s alleged bully tactics.
It was discovered that Hardin had been involved in another case last year, involving his allegedly assaulting a student at an academy that is run by the University of Louisville. A 14-year-old boy accused Hardin of yanking him by the neck, dragging him out of bed at 3:00 am and demanding that he do sit ups for an hour, without water. The youth is reportedly suing the school and Hardin, along with two other officers, who also worked at the facility.
Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conradreleased a statement shortly after Hardin was brought into custody:
“A Public Integrity Investigation was immediately initiated as soon as the allegations of criminal wrongdoing by Officer Jonathan Hardin were brought to our attention by JCPS. Further investigation determined the allegations to be egregious and necessary to present to the Jefferson County Attorney’s office for review. The County Attorney’s Office presented the case before a judge who issued an arrest warrant for Officer Hardin charging him with Assault 1st, Wanton Endangerment 1st, Official Misconduct 1st & 2nd, Assault 4th, and False Swearing.
Based upon the nature of the conduct which is clearly documented in the on-going criminal investigation, I have determined to exercise my authority under KRS 15.520 and suspend Officer Hardin without pay. Officer Hardin is afforded due process and we will await the results of this case in court. In the meantime, I have also initiated a Professional Standards investigation into this matter and, therefore, in accordance with KRS 15.520 we are prohibited from speaking further on this particular case.
Allegations of our officers involved in criminal wrongdoing are very concerning and something we take quite serious.”
Hardin was initially held on a $25,000 bond, and on Friday morning, pleaded not guilty to punching and choking two students at Olmsted Academy North. Hardin was removed from that school on January 28, 2015 and has since been suspended without pay from LMPD.
Attorney Thomas Clay plans to file a motion this week to join all civil claims against Officer Hardin into one lawsuit.
To say that Hardin is a public menace is an under statement. He should be either prosecuted or left alone in a room with the parents of the children that he assaulted.
A Beaver Dam police officer says he's quite certain he's never responded to a call like the one he handled recently at a McDonald's restaurant.
Officer Rich Dahl responded to an anonymous complaint about a woman who brought a kangaroo into McDonald's. Dahl said Tuesday the woman had the baby kangaroo wrapped in a blanket and tucked in an infant car seat. Dahl says when he confronted the woman she explained the kangaroo was a service animal to help her cope with emotional distress and she produced a letter from a doctor. The officer says the woman was upset at first, but then agreed to leave the restaurant. The three month old kangaroo's owner, Diana Moyer, tells 27 News it was "...no big deal" to be forced to leave McDonald's with the pet named "Jimmy."
It's a good thing she didn't need an elephant to cope with her emotional distress. But then again she probably would have rode him through the drive through.
This story gives the phrase "falling in love" a whole new meaning.
A vacationer in Ibiza died when she fell off a cliff while celebrating her engagement.
Dimitrina Dimitrova, 29, suffered a heart attack brought on by injuries after falling 65 feet from a cliff on Ibiza's west coast. Dimitrova had just accepted her boyfriend's marriage proposal and was jumping up and down in excitement when she lost her balance and fell.
The incident occurred on last Tuesday around lunchtime. Local authorities are calling the woman's death "the result of a tragic freak accident." Dimitrova had arrived two days earlier to visit her boyfriend and look for work.
Let this be lesson to you. Never jump up and down anywhere near a cliff. That should go without saying. But apparantly......
One word......LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!
Never has a single haircut caused such a fuss.
Some call it the "Benjamin Button Special;" others the "old man" cut.
In either case, it's supposed to be the cure for a misbehaving boy. A little bit of shame to get him back on track.
"So you wana act grown...well now you can look grown too," Russell Fredrick posted on the Facebook page for his A-1 Kutz barbershop in Snellville, Georgia, near Atlanta.
Hands raised as if in church, YES!!!
The mother of a 10-year-old took Fredrick up on his offer. The 'after' photos show a boy who looks like a little old man with a pronounced bald spot.
Fredrick's post has gone viral on Facebook and Instagram, generating worldwide media coverage both cheers and jeers.
"If my kid's grades fell, I'd do this to him, too," said a Facebook post by Marla-Eyvette Massie.
But Samuel Thomas Duncan was not amused. "I'd rather punish a child at home and keep it a private matter than let someone else humiliate that child publicly," he said.
If there is one thing I can't stand, it's a PUNK parent! Especially a FATHER!!!
Fredrick said he's not surprised by all the attention the new coif is getting.
"Because a lot of people are at a loss of how to discipline kids, you can't whup 'em anymore, like we used to, as children," the barber said. "It works."
The inspiration came from Fredrick's own life, when he was having trouble last year with his 12-year-old son.
The frustrated dad told him to quit acting up in school "like an old foolish man."
Fredrick shaved his son's head bald and then showed him a picture of an old bald man, like the character in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
"I showed him and I told him, this is your next one if you keep it up," Fredrick told him. "He didn't want it, so he got his act together."
Learning a lesson?
Not familiar with the plot of "Benjamin Button?" Benjamin begins life as an old man and ages in reverse.
A-1 Kutz offers the "Benjamin Button Special" for free, but usually it doesn't come to that. One look at the picture of the first recipient of the "old man" cut is enough to do the trick.
As for the young man who got "the special," he says he's learned his lesson, according to Fredrick, and has a nice new cut to go with his new attitude.
Okay, I promise. Today is FRIDAY! No bad news today. At least, not from me!
A few days ago in Detroit, James Robertson couldn't afford a car to drive to work. His job is more than 20 miles away from his home. But fortunately today, because of the kindness and benevolence of a Good Samaritan he can afford a small fleet.
After the Detroit Free Press told of Robertson's arduous 21-mile trek to and from his suburban factory job, the story inspired thousands of donations from across the nation. A day later, the soft-spoken machine operator got to meet the computer student from Wayne State University who launched an Internet crowd-funding site to gather more than $230,000 a figure expected to continue to climb today.. I have
At Mr. B's Food & Spirits bar in downtown Rochester, the two hugged and were interviewed Monday night for national television shows and People magazine. The weathered factory guy, munching on pizza and wearing heavy work boots in which he's made countless walks to work, sat beside Evan Leedy, 19, of Macomb Township, a fresh-scrubbed techie who conceived the cash-churning GoFundMe web page in support of Robertson.
"I'm always going to be in your debt — I will never forget this," Robertson told Leedy, as the younger man in a sweater-hoodie shook his hand.
"I want to show you all the comments people are saying about you," Leedy replied, as the two bent over the teen's cellphone. Leedy read aloud samples of more than 3,700 posts whose writers made donations from $1 to hundreds of dollars to give to Robertson. His initial goal was $5,000.
Many of those who saw the Free Press story were so impressed with Robertson's work ethic — he has a perfect attendance record in years of factory work — "that they say you earned this money," Leedy told Robertson, 56. Another crowd-funding effort, launched by 31-year-old Chrysler-Fiat communications manager Jiyan Cadiz, raised nearly $6,000 before GoFundMe administrators asked Cadiz to redirect future donors to Leedy's page, Cadiz said in a text Monday night.
Robertson said he was only half surprised by the outpouring of aid because, "I gotta say, this is Detroit, this is how people are in Detroit. They say Los Angeles is the city of angels. That's wrong. Detroit is the real city of angels."
The meeting and interviews were arranged by banker Blake Pollock, 47, of Rochester, who brought Robertson's story to the Free Press after seeing the intrepid walker trudge by in every sort of weather, mile after mile, through areas in Troy and Rochester Hills that no metro Detroit bus serves.
Robertson starts his daily commute by riding a SMART bus from Woodward near Holbrook in Detroit to a bus stop near Somerset Collection, an upscale mall in Troy. From there he walks about 7 miles — regardless of the weather — to the factory. At the end of his 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. shift, he foots it back to the mall and catches the last bus in to Detroit, taking him to the State Fairground at the city's border. From there he walks home in the dark, about 5 miles.
His story has sparked conversations in the Detroit region about the challenges low-income workers face in getting to work in a region that has spotty public transportation and some of the highest automobile insurance in the nation.
His story also touched Leedy and thousands of others who have commented on the Free Press' Facebook page, called the newspaper or sent e-mails. People such as Gene Bowen of Las Vegas, who wrote: "Dedication and pride obviously drives this man to do what most everyone else would simply conclude was not worth $400 before taxes a week. He is a very special human being."
Referring to Robertson and Leedy, Pollock said: "I thought these guys should meet because this (fund-raising) is really going to change James' life." The UBS banker's commuting route in Oakland County overlaps with Robertson's commute, and so the banker has given Robertson lifts dozens of times this winter, ferrying the older man to his job at a plastic molding plant 23 miles from Robertson's home in central Detroit.
Now, Pollock is assembling a board of advisers to take charge of the rapidly mounting donations earmarked for Robertson, including offers of new and used cars. Robertson is not in a rush to receive any money because "he sees the need to manage this," Pollock said. Robertson is single but has a girlfriend, as well as sisters and other relatives in Detroit, some of whom had been out of touch until the flurry of publicity, the lifelong Detroiter said.
The board will set much of Robertson's windfall aside for future expenses, including auto insurance, gasoline, maintenance, and some of the cash likely will help him with medical and dental care, Pollock said.
A big step is deciding what kind of car would be best, Pollock said. Through the Free Press, dealers, including Rodgers Chevrolet, have offered free new cars.
Robertson's last car was an aging Honda that he told the Free Press quit in 2005, after which he couldn't afford a car on his hourly wage, now $10.55. With donations piling up, Robertson sounded ready to visit Ford country.
"I'm a Ford fan. I remember the Taurus. They look comfortable, nothing fancy. They're simple on the outside, strong on the inside — like me," he declared.
"I'm 6-foot and I think the Mustang's a little tight," he added, explaining that "I got in quite a few cars" during his annual visit last month to the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center.
"I mostly stay with Americans cars — Lincoln, Fords, GM, Dodge."
With the business-suited banker and hip-styled college junior looking on, Robertson peered calmly into the television lights of a cameraman filming for "Good Morning America" show and put his sudden abundance and celebrity into perspective.
"I have to be careful how I act about this. The same God who brings you all these blessings can take them away," he said.
When I came across this story this morning, it disturbed me. Although it did not take place in the country, the very idea of government over stepping outs bounds can have a profound effect world wide.
The UK government may soon be all set to forcibly sterilize a mother of six with learning disabilities, according to shocking news reports. But don't worry, they say it's for her own good.
Social Services have requested that a judge approve of them forcibly entering her home, dragging her to the hospital, and sterilizing her. Sounds like a scene out of a horror movie or Nazi Germany. But they say it has nothing to do with eugenics.
Eugenics is thestudyoforbeliefin the possibility ofimproving the qualities ofthehumanspeciesor a humanpopulation, especially by suchmeansas discouraging reproduction bypersons having genetic defectsorpresumed to have inheritable undesirable traits.
But according to social services, no It's nothing like that.
Health and social services officials want the judge to declare:
" the woman lacks capacity to make decisions under the terms of mental capacity legislation; a "therapeutic" sterilisation is in her best interests – and authorise medics to sterilise her; to authorise her removal from her home to a hospital; to authorise deprivation of her liberty; and to authorise the use of forced entry and "necessary restraint". Mr Justice Cobb was told the woman and her partner had repeatedly refused to co-operate or engage with medical and social services staff and a legal representative."
She had said she wanted to be "left alone". The judge has seen evidence from psychiatrists, an obstetrician and gynaecologist plus social workers. Details of a number of gynaecological problems the woman had were detailed in the report. Specialists have said the issues would pose a grave risk to her health if she became pregnant again. The judge was also told professionals had faced difficulties in trying to persuade the woman to use contraception and in administering contraception. Barrister Michael Horne, who is representing the interests of the woman, said the issues raised had nothing to do with "eugenics". He said sterilisation was "therapeutic" and the most effective way of mitigating "grave risks" to the woman's health and life
This is just flat out dangerous. And the reports I've read say things like "the woman has health problems that could be exacerbated by another pregnancy."
I don't know the particulars of this case but I know how people react to a woman who've had many pregnancies. Many people have a passionate disdain for them because these woman always seem to be receiving some kind of assistance at tax payers expense.
The woman in this case has resisted advice from "professionals" to use contraception. Well, that solves it, as for as UK social services is concerned. She needs to be sterilized. After all, what kind of nutcase refuses contraception?
In all honesty this woman is not a runner up for the mother of the year award. That's for sure. And perhaps she has some health issues. And mental issues. But do we really want a government sterilizing those it believes require contraception? The question we must ask ourselves constantly is, if it starts there where does it end? The truth is it won't. Don't think that just because this story takes place in the UK that it can't happen here.
The family of slain Bronx, N.Y., teen Ramarley Graham agreed Friday to accept $3.9 million from the City to settle their wrongful lawsuit.
“This was a tragic case,” City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said “This was a tragic case. After evaluating all the facts, and consulting with key stakeholders such as the NYPD, it was determined that settling the matter was in the best interest of the city.”
It was really the best way for the NYPD to admit culpability without admitting guilt.
New York City Police Officer Richard Haste, who fired the fatal shot after chasing Graham, 18, from the street into his home, was initially indicted by a Bronx grand jury on a charge of manslaughter, but a judge threw out the case on a legal technicality, the News writes. A second grand jury declined to indict the officer, who said he fired because he thought the teen had a gun.
The settlement arrives in the midst of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, into possible civil rights violations against the NYPD officers involved in the Feb. 2, 2012, shooting, the report says.
The suit accused the department of trying to cover up the shooting, failing to properly train officers and engaging in racial discrimination through the stop-and-frisk policy.
The teen’s estate will receive $2.95 million; his brother will receive $500,000 and his grandmother $450,000 because they were in the home at the time of the shooting, sources said, according to the report. Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, will receive $40,000, the sources told the News.
Graham’s death sparked numerous protests in the Bronx and other parts of the city by demonstrators calling for justice. But is it enough? Is it ever enough?
When I was growing up, at 10 pm every night before the news came on, a ticking clock would show up on the screen and an announcer would say "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where you children are?" I'd think to myself, who doesn't know where their children are? At the age of 11 or 12, I was naive and pretty well cared for, so being the child of careless parents was inconceivable to me. But the question, "Do you know where your children are?", has a much deeper meaning than the physical where abouts of your child. Do you know where your children are mentally? Do you know where your children are emotionally? Another question we might want to ask ourselves is, do we know who our children are?
A Wake County District Court judge here in Raleigh refused to lower a $75,000 bond for a 16-year-old girl accused of robbing twin sisters at a bus stop, saying she could face more charges.
Raleigh police arrested Jade Paulina Brown Thursday on serious charges, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Investigators are looking for possibly three other people in the alleged crime, which happened shortly after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near the North Hills area of north Raleigh.
Twin sisters, age 15, reported they had just gotten off a school bus at the intersection of Hardimont Road and Sara Lawrence Court when three girls around their age approached them after getting out of a small dark car and robbed them of one of their cellphones.
An arrest warrant alleges that someone used a stun gun on one of the sisters and that another one pointed a gun at her before "the victims were ordered to 'give what you got.'"
"Jade's a nice girl, a sweet girl," her mother, Mansah Thompson, said, following her daughter's first court appearance Friday afternoon. "I don't know what happened, maybe the wrong crowd, but my daughter is a nice girl." Thompson obviously has no idea who her daughter is, and it's always easier to blame the ever popular "wrong crowd" when somebody acts like a fool.
According to court records, police arrested Brown Jan. 7 at Knightdale High School on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and having a weapon on school grounds.
A warrant in that case accuses the teen of pulling away from a police officer during an argument in the school cafeteria then having a box cutter and small can of pepper spray.
Yep, she sure sounds like a sweet girl to me!
Brown was expected back in court yesterday on the misdemeanor charges. Although I have a tendency to be somewhat sarcastic, this story is really quite sad, for both the victims and Jade Brown because until her mother acknowledges that she's done something wrong and gets her the help she needs she will continue on a downward spiral. In a state like North Carolina in which the criminal justice system considers 15 to be the age of adulthood, a child's opportunities to mature and develop into a productive citizen are limited unless their parents quickly recognize that there is an issue at the first sign of trouble, and does whatever they have to do to save their children from both the system and themselves.
February is Black History month. The one and only month in the year in which Black people as a collective, remember, reflect on, and acknowledge where we have come from. While this month is the designated time for us to observe and honor who we are and where we've come from, it is important to remember that there can be no American history without Black history. Trying to separate one from the other is like trying to separate water from rain. But because most school curriculum abridges Black history to include only minute details about slavery and The Reverand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is more than necessary for us to take time to both acknowledge, and in some cases expose the triumphs, victories, and accomplishments of Black people in America.
