What’s interesting in the news today?
UPDATE!
Looks like we’ll have the answer this afternoon.
From MSN/WaPo “A grand jury has reached a decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson, Mo. police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager sparked days of turbulent protests, sources close to the process said.
Sources said that press conferences are being prepared by the county prosecutors’ office and the Missouri governor. Those press conferences will likely come later today.
The announcement gave no indication of whether Wilson, 28, will face state charges in the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, which triggered a frank conversation about race and police interaction with African-Americans.”
UPDATE 2 – NO CHARGES
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1. Fact checked and found lacking. What they say, and what they are really doing, rarely match up.
From TheAP “President Barack Obama made some notable omissions Thursday night in his remarks about the unilateral actions he’s taking on immigration. A look at his statements and how they compare with the facts:
OBAMA: “It does not grant citizenship, or the right to stay here permanently, or offer the same benefits that citizens receive – only Congress can do that. All we’re saying is we’re not going to deport you.”
THE FACTS: He’s saying, and doing, more than that. The changes also will make those covered eligible for work permits, allowing them to be employed in the country legally and compete with citizens and legal residents for better-paying jobs.”
“OBAMA: “Although this summer, there was a brief spike in unaccompanied children being apprehended at our border, the number of such children is now actually lower than it’s been in nearly two years.”
THE FACTS: The numbers certainly surged this year, but it was more than a “brief spike.” The number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the border has been on the rise since the 2011 budget year. That year about 16,000 children were found crossing the border alone. In 2012, the Border Patrol reported more than 24,000 children, followed by more than 38,800 in 2013. In the last budget year, more than 68,361 children were apprehended.”
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2. Judge Janine (an actual legal scholar, doesn’t just play one on TV like Obama) skewers Obama’s plan.
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3. If you missed it, SNL had an updated version of schoolhouse rock. Funny, but true.
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4. Surprisingly (not really) the IRS has no comment on the newly found Lois Lerner emails.
From Forbes “If you are an American taxpayer, the idea that your political (or other?) views could impact your taxes is pretty frightening. When you consider the power to tax—which includes the power to destroy—the mere suggestion of targeting is abhorrent. It’s one reason all the denials–including President Obama’s ‘no smidgen of corruption’ remark to Fox News in February–inflame rather than quell debate.
First, there was no targeting by the IRS. Then there was, but only by those rogue IRS employees down in Cincinnati. Then, there was a spontaneous uprising from a youtube video (oops sorry, wrong lie scandal). There was confusion about how to apply the tax law, but not political, and not from above. Then, top IRS Official Lois Lerner refused to testify.
IRS Commissioner Miller seemed defiant too and was sacked. Then, there was a year-long Congressional investigation before the IRS finally admitted the 2009-2011 Lois Lerner’s emails ‘disappeared.’ Then, the backups didn’t work were recycled. Then, the new IRS Commissioner said the IRS needs a bigger tech budget.
Now, not the IRS but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has found the 30,000 missing lost destroyed emails. They aren’t sorted yet, and who knows what they will reveal. Numerous IRS officials testified that the backup tapes were recycled and the emails were gone. Turns out they were misinformed mislead mistaken. It isn’t only Congress that was asked over and over to buy the IRS “we have nothing” mantra. The IRS has said it in court too.”
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5. The prison to Islam pipeline?
From TheDailyCaller “Back in 2006, then FBI director Robert Mueller prophetically described the radical Islamist conversion machine operating throughout U.S. prisons, to a Senate committee. He said that prisons were a “fertile ground” for Islamic extremists, and that they targeted inmates for introduction to the militant Wahhabi and Salafist strains of Islam.” “The statistics are staggering, and woefully out of date. One out of three African-American inmates in U.S. prisons convert to Islam while incarcerated.”
“This statistic is no longer limited to African-Americans in prison. The Huffington Post reported an estimated 35,000 – 40,000 inmates convert to Islam each year, and that 15 percent of the total U.S. prison population or 350,000 inmates are Muslim.
This is more than 18 times the national representation of Muslims in America, reported to be 0.8 percent. Prisons are churning out converts to Islam who are taught they are righteously entitled to control the religion, speech, and dress of family, co-workers and strangers.
The key to conversion success is clear. Our government has been contracting and paying Muslim Brotherhood front groups, such as GSISS (The Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences) and ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) to screen and assign Muslim prison chaplains for at least 8 years.
While Egypt and Saudi Arabia have banned the Muslim Brotherhood, classifying it as a terror group, the White House, U.S. prisons, and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security continue to work with Muslim Brotherhood groups.”
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Wandering Views 
Just couldn’t get with the program.
“Unhelpful.”
Hagel = gone.
” … (Hagel) raised the ire of the White House in August as the administration was ramping up its strategy to fight the Islamic State, directly contradicting the president, who months before had likened the Sunni militant group to a junior varsity basketball squad. Mr. Hagel, facing reporters in his now-familiar role next to General Dempsey, called the Islamic State an ‘imminent threat to every interest we have,’ adding, ‘This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.’ White House officials later said they viewed those comments as unhelpful, although the administration still appears to be struggling to define just how large is the threat posed by the Islamic State.”
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“Clown Car”
I searched my fertile mind for a descriptive term for the Obama Administration. “Clown Car” popped into mind.
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I watched a few minutes just now of Obama’s speech, hoping against history that he would use wisdom and speak about the goodness in our justice system’s care . . . but no, of course he wouldn’t do that. Does he realize that people might die tonight if he speaks of distrust for the law and pushes racism as the reason for this decision, instead of the reality that the facts simply didn’t support an indictment?
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This is all very odd — it’s like a planned riot for TV. Don’t know what to think about all of that, but it is just surreal.
Pop some popcorn, what’s on TV tonight? Should we watch NCIS, a movie or the riot?
I didn’t hear all of the president’s remarks, only the first portion on the car radio as I drove home — but I reached my house while he was still talking so I missed some of it along with the Q&A.
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There did seem to be something in the tone & words of the president that made you know how he personally felt about the decision.
A number of FB friends, including one African-American who is a “prosperity gospel” Christian, are very upset by the lack of an indictment, posting profusely tonight …
Bothers me that so much of the response is pure emotion.
I’m sympathetic in some ways, my first response to the story last summer was that it sounded like a clear case of excessive force by the cop. But I also have to believe that the grand jury carefully considered months and months of testimony and came to this decision based on reason, evidence and the law.
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Getting hit in the head hard enough to break bone, having someone reach through the window and try to grab a pistol out of your holster, doesn’t sound like “a clear case of excessive force by the cop” to me. I know that police or sherifs who work in a neighborhood like Ferguson are very aware of getting caught up in a confrontation with locals.
I once saw a Sherif’s car stopped in front of my Middle School in South Central L.A. They had put several beer bottles on top of the car to let everyone know that it was a stop for DUI. Now why would they do that?
I have been accused of being prejudiced. I have long ago learned to wait for the wheels of justice to grind, slowly but grind fine.
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Bob, I’m speaking of the initial incident in which an unarmed youth was shot 6 times by an officer at fairly close range. On the face of it, something did seem very wrong with that scenario.
What the grand jury was given were the facts, the witness testimonies and physical evidence that led up to the incident — and it is on those things that the case must be judged.
But the initial impression is what has stuck with those in the community who are upset (on top of a history, many have said, of uneasy racial relationships between the community and police).
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