[NEWSOBSERVER] State Rep. Cecil Brockman says state troopers accused him of driving a stolen car during a traffic stop, and he suspects the questioning was because he's black.
Brockman, a High Point Democrat, is now facing criticism from Republicans after Charlotte TV station WBTV broadcast video of the incident.
In the video, Brockman tells the troopers he's a state representative and that he's "pissed off" about being stopped. His BMW sedan has a special license plate identifying him as a member of the state House.
Neither Brockman nor the troopers mention accusations of a stolen car in the video.
But one segment of the troopers' conversation with Brockman, totaling about two minutes, isn't audible in the video. That portion carries in-car audio instead of picking up audio from Brockman's car. Brockman says that is when questioning about a stolen vehicle occurred.
The audio does later record Brockman suggesting that his race is a factor in the stop, and the trooper replies "that has absolutely nothing to do with it."
The officers check Brockman's vehicle identification number after he tells them he doesn't have his vehicle registration with him. The trooper says he stopped Brockman because he wasn't wearing a seat belt, and the video ends with the trooper handing him a ticket for that violation.
After the traffic stop, Brockman complained to the State Highway Patrol's liaison at the legislature, Jarrett Burr, and he requested dashcam video of the incident. He says he also contacted the director of the Highway Patrol. Brockman said he never received a reply, and he thinks that the video was "leaked" to WBTV. The station reported that it obtained the video through a public records request.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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"Street Cred"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2015 9:09 Comments ||
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An amazing PC-free wartime video starring none other than Donald Duck. Lots of overt symbolism. And some subtle for those observant enough to pick it out. I think even the folks at Pixar would be proud. ;-)
[NYPOST] Santa Claus is banned. The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited. "Harvest festival" has replaced Thanksgiving, and "winter celebrations" substitute for Christmas parties.
New principal Eujin Jaela Kim has given PS 169 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a politically correct scrub-down, to the dismay of teachers and parents.
"We definitely can't say Christmas, nothing with Christmas on it, nothing with Santa," PTA president Mimi Ferrer said administrators told her. "No angels. We can't even have a star because it can represent a religious system, like the Star of David."
Kim, 33, did not return a call or e-mail seeking comment.
A memo last month from assistant principal Jose Chaparro suggested a "harvest festival instead of Thanksgiving or a winter celebration instead of a Christmas party." He urged staff to "be sensitive of the diversity of our families. Not all children celebrate the same holidays."
So what? A holiday is a holiday. Consider it a learning experience for all the tykes, and an excuse to party...
Ninety-five percent of the 1,600 kids at PS 169 are Asian or Hispanic.
In a recent directive to all schools, the city Department of Education said it permits holiday symbols including Christmas trees, kinaras (candleholders for Kwanzaa), dreidels, Hanukkah menorahs and the Islamic star-and- crescent. Displays that "depict images of deities, religious figures or religious texts" are prohibited.
In a memo to staff this month, PS 169 business manager Johanna Bjorken added: "In case you are wondering about grey areas: Santa Claus is considered an 'other religious figure.'"
But a DOE front man told The Post that Santa is allowed as a secular figure.
Santa was a part of the holidays at PS 169 for years. Joseph Iorio, a longtime assistant principal and the acting principal who preceded Kim, recalled state Assemblyman Felix Ortiz visiting the school dressed as Santa "many times."
Iorio also said he tapped student leaders to lead the Pledge of Allegiance every Monday morning. When Kim arrived, the school-wide pledge ended. A DOE front man said classrooms can recite the pledge "at the teacher's discretion." But PS 169 teachers said that Kim never told them they could do so.
Kim has other wacky priorities, school sources say. Soon after joining PS 169 in May 2014, her first time as a principal, she ordered the faculty to clear their classrooms of "clutter." She moved hundreds of books and loads of supplies into the gym, where parents and other community members took what they wanted. The rest was tossed in the trash. She also dumped boxes of newly purchased reading books in the basement because she preferred another curriculum, staffers said.
Kim bought seven 70-to-80-inch Sharp flat-screen smart TVs, which retail at about $3,000 each. After painting over and removing historic murals, she had the TVs mounted in the auditorium -- three over the stage and two on each side.
"It was ridiculous," Ferrer said. "They have never been used."
I think I could find a use for a couple of them...
Kim holds a lottery for students to get academic assistance after school or on Saturdays. She also started a "professional learning period" in which teachers observe each other in class, but it eliminates one period of core instruction a week for students, staffers said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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little progressive tyrants learn the hard way when exposed to sunlight. Fire this bitch
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/14/2015 8:48 Comments ||
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And so many of her ink can't understand why Trump is so high in the polls.
#3
I thought Hispanics were mostly Christian, as are some (?) Asians, but not Principal Kim, I guess.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/14/2015 11:19 Comments ||
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So they'll have class on Thanksgiving and Christmas and Kwanzaa, and Eid (whatever), too?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/14/2015 11:20 Comments ||
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#5
I could be wrong but I think Santa are not actually in the Bible. So now they are banning non-religious messages of giving and being nice to each other?
I can't wait for the day when we Progressives get us to the point of Government Issued Late December presents. I'm sure they'll be a hoot. Probably an extra food ration of veggies.
#6
Students saying "merry Christmas" or "happy Hanukkah" is protected as both freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Banning it is a violation of both. So I say "lucrative lawsuit" to that principle.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
12/14/2015 11:29 Comments ||
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Posted by: Sloluth Protector of the Weak7539 ||
12/14/2015 15:17 Comments ||
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#14
No, from the South Korea that would have wound up as protein supplements in the North Korea if there weren't a USA that didn't follow her value system to keep it free.
At least 17 people were killed and around 30 others injured in bloody tribal clashes in Sudan's South Darfur State, Xinhua reported with the reference to Sudan Tribune.
Not WoT but just a reminder that the Darfur region, a big part of the WoT in the past, is still a hell-hole...
"Violent clashes broke out between Rizeigat and Miseria tribes in South Darfur state which resulted in the killing of at least 17 people and injuring of around 30 others, some of them in serious conditions," the report said.
The main hospital in Nyala, the capital city of South Darfur state, has received people injured in the clashes which took place at Um Zi'aifa area of the state's Bilail locality, according to the report.
"The security authorities have sent military reinforcements to Bilail locality to prevent renewal of the clashes, particularly after the two tribes mobilized their fighters for a probable battle," the report added.
The two tribes have been disputing over land ownership and pastures. Local authorities previously held several reconciliation conferences between the two sides, but all agreements reached have not sustained. During the past three years, clashes repeatedly erupted between the Rizeigat and Miseria tribes in East and South Darfur states, leaving dozens killed and injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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Wonderful news. The two Arab tribes are the most despicable, disreputable and dangerous tribes in all the Sahel. Cattle nomads who have run out of space, they usually save their bullets for the African tribes. One can only hope that the struggle will continue with improved results.
[NEWSINFO.INQUIRER.NET] The United States on Sunday ordered non-emergency US government personnel and dependents to leave violence-torn Burundi and warned other Americans to get out "as soon as it is feasible to do so."
The State Department warning followed some of the worst violence in months of political unrest in the capital Bujumbura on Friday that left nearly 90 people dead.
"The US Department of State warns US citizens against all travel to Burundi and recommends that US citizens currently in Burundi depart as soon as it is feasible to do so," it said in a statement.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] At least five Saudi women have won seats on local municipal councils a day after women voted and ran in elections for the first time in the country's history, according to initial results released Sunday.
The five women hail from vastly different parts of the country, ranging from Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's second largest and most cosmopolitan city to a small village near Islam's holiest sites.
Though not many women are expected to win seats, even limited gains are seen as a step forward for women who had previously been completely shut out of elections.
The mayor of Mecca, Osama al-Bar, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Sunday that candidate Salma al-Oteibi won in a village called Madrakah, about 150 kilometers north of the city which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which Muslims around the world pray.
Al-Bar also confirmed through election officials in Saudi Arabia's second largest city of Jeddah that another female candidate, Lama al-Suleiman, had won a seat there.
The official Saudi Press Agency, meanwhile, quoted the head of the election committee in the northern region of al-Jawf as saying that female candidate Hinuwf al-Hazmi won along with 13 men in that district. The news agency also reported that Mona el-Emery and Fadhila al-Attawy had won in the northwestern region of Tabuk.
Overall results from the capital Riyadh and other major regions were expected to be announced Sunday by the General Election Commission.
Many women candidates ran on platforms that promised more nurseries to offer longer daycare hours for working mothers, the creation of youth centers with sports and cultural activities, improved roads, better garbage collection and overall greener cities.
In October, the Saudi Gazette reported that harsh road conditions and long distances to the nearest hospital had forced some women in the village of Madrakah, where one female candidate was elected, to give birth in cars. The local newspaper reported that the closest hospital and the nearest university were in Mecca, prompting some students to forgo attending classes. The article said residents were also frustrated with the lack of parks in the village.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] China commemorated victims of a historic massacre by Japanese troops in the city of Nanjing for the second time on Sunday, holding a sober official memorial that contrasted with a much grander ceremony last year.
Beijing says 300,000 people were killed during the "Rape of Nanking," a period of mass murder and rape committed after the city fell to soldiers in 1937 following Japan's invasion of China.
Hundreds of soldiers, schoolchildren and survivors gathered in the eastern city to pay their respects on the massacre's 78th anniversary, according to footage broadcast by state-run news channel CCTV, which also aired victims' testimonies.
In February 2014 the National People's Congress made the anniversary an official day of remembrance as tensions with Japan over a maritime territorial dispute and rows over history intensified. Ten thousand people attended the December ceremony later that year, where President Xi Jinping told the crowd anyone who tried to deny the massacre would "not be allowed by history."
Xi was absent for Sunday's ceremony, which was officiated by mid-ranking party cadre Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the NPC's standing committee, who struck a more conciliatory tone.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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The Sack of Manila should be covered on the anniversary of Hiroshima by the usual suspects. The Philippines were an occupied American territory that was already scheduled for independence before the war in '41. Go sell you hate elsewhere.
#2
There are those in Japan who will tell you that those who were "massacred" were Chiang Kai-shek's boys in civilian clothes, having ditched their uniforms in a cowardly attempt to avoid fighting.
The far-Right Front National was thwarted in its bid to clinch a historical electoral victory in France on Sunday after failing to secure power in any of the country’s 13 regions, early results suggested. The ruling Socialists of President François Hollande appeared to have fared better than expected, taking five regions, while the opposition centre-Right took seven, including the Paris region for the first time since 1997.
Voting had taken place under high security with France still under a state of emergency exactly a month on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that claimed 130 lives – a climate that helped the FN reap historic gains in round one a week ago.
But in a major upset, Marine Le Pen, the FN leader, failed to take power in the northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, losing heavily to Xavier Bertrand, the candidate of Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-Right party The Republicans (formerly the UMP). She had hoped to use a regional win as a “foundation stone” for a run at the presidency in 2017, where she is polled to reach round two. In the event, Mr Bertrand won almost 58 per cent to Ms Le Pen’s 42 per cent.
“History will remember that it was here in that we stopped the advance of the Front National,” said Mr Bertrand, a former labour minister, who had laid into “the English” in the tail end of his campaign, blaming David Cameron for the migrant crisis in Calais.
The same fate befell Marion-Maréchal Le Pen, Marine’s niece, who failed in her battle for the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, losing out to Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, by 45 per cent to his 55 per cent.
The FN had high hopes of clinching at least three regions after the first round vote coming top in six and taking the largest slice of the national ballot – some six million votes. But it fell foul of higher than expected turnout – more than 50 per cent - and tactical voting by Socialist sympathisers who plumped en masse for the mainstream Right to keep out the FN.
Ms Le Pen placed a positive spin on her defeat, saying the FN had maintained political momentum by winning a historically high number of votes, and was now “the first opposition force in many regional councils of France” – tripling its number of councillors. She added that the result would not stop the "inexorable rise, election after election, of a national movement" behind her party.
But analysts suggested the outcome suggested that the “glass ceiling” preventing the FN winning in major elections when the mainstream Right and Left cooperate still holds – even if the cracks in that strategy are increasingly wide.
The analysts, of course, are terrified of the National Front and of course will say this.
The outcome was relatively disappointing for Mr Sarkozy, whose party only won four regions without the support of Left-wing voters. A landslide victory would have boosted his chances in upcoming party primaries. Critics said his hard-Right line failed to woo FN supporters, a sizeable chunk of whom had voted for him in 2012.
But Mr Sarkozy reportedly told aides: “My strategy was the right one. The results have shown that France has never been so Right-wing. And when I see that it is in regions where we fielded centrist candidates that we fared the worse, you’d have to be mad to think centrism is the way forward.”
The results will come as a major relief to the Socialists, who had controlled all but one of France’s regions before the elections and had expected a pendulum swing to the opposition.
President Hollande clearly hopes his party’s decision to pull out of two regions where the FN stood a chance of winning will give it the moral high ground ahead of 2017 presidential elections and bolster its claim to being the “only rampart against the far-Right”.
Manuel Valls, the prime minister, who had warned of future “civil war” should the FN take power, said: “Tonight there is no relief, no triumphalism. The extreme-Right threat has not been averted. I have not forgotten the first round results.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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The left is terrified of the conservatives but not so much of the jihadists.
#2
Well, too over simplify, it looks like the left did a "cross over vote" and used technicalities of election laws to screw The National Front, that had the popular majority. Of course this will piss off the National Front and the left may not like the reprisal coming their way. Burn Baby.
Posted by: Chaith Oppressor of the Lutherans1517 ||
12/14/2015 10:03 Comments ||
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Looks like the two brands one party cartel "choice" the french people were allowed is going to backfire.
Given the current plunge in the global supply of oil, energy analysts expect demand will outstrip supply as early as April 2016, leading to a recovery in oil prices that have been plummeting as much as 60 per cent over the past several months. Energy experts at the Euromoney Qatar Conference argued that oil supply continued to fall as less economically viable projects are postponed and cancelled.
For example, the US rig count (the number of rigs searching for oil and gas) declined to the lowest level since 1999 in December, with 737 rigs engaged in exploration and production - less than half the 2014 level of 1,920. Given the current dip on the supply side, global oil demand will outstrip supply as early as April 2016, leading to a recovery in oil prices, analysts predicted.
In the Energy Strategy session, speakers focused on falling demand from industrial powerhouses around the world, such as China and the Brics, which has driven oil prices down in 2015.
According to experts, global investment in exploration and production has fallen from $700 billion last year to $550 billion this year. With US crude prices having slid below $40 per barrel again, investment will sink even further in 2016. US shale output declines are projected to account for 400,000 barrels per day of an anticipated 500,000 bpd drop in non-Opec production.
The International Energy Agency, or IEA, expects oil prices to remain low through 2016, but forecasts a rebound to begin in 2017 as the current oil glut recedes and demand rises.
The low price of oil has led the energy industry to slash investments in drilling and exploration, which could lead to a tighter supply. Oil companies have cut such spending by about 20 per cent so far this year, and may spend even less in 2016. The spending decline, combined with continued growth in demand, eventually could lead to "some surprises" in pricing, the IEA said.
However, with global demand expected to remain weak in the first half of next year, senior executives from leading asset managers and energy companies agreed that the disruption of the last 15 months is likely to continue.
Experts predicted that the gas market would also likely to begin to recover in 2016, as nations around the world look to reduce emissions and introduce cleaner energy sources. Gas demand globally has grown at a better rate than oil in recent years - averaging 2.5 per cent - and is likely to increase as more nations look to phase out coal and other "dirty" fossil fuels.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/14/2015 00:00 ||
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Now we get to test the theory that fracked shale oil puts a price ceiling on the price of oil- and indirectly on gasoline at the pump.
Guess the saudi oil ticks need some new limos, or jihadi armies or something.
#2
I'd wager that, rather than US shale, it will be lower cost overseas projects (H/T to the Citi analyst who compiled that chart) that cap oil prices for the foreseeable future. It's tough to imagine the finance crowd, having been so recently burned by US shale, coming back while there are much lower cost alternatives that can supply the world's needs for a few years overseas. Financial instability or political instability, pick your poison.
#4
The surplus supply still exists but it has been shrinking the last three months. The surplus seems to have been driven as much by decreased Chinese demand as by increased fracked supply. Historically, the faster prices fall - and they have fallen at record rates - the harder the bounceback once the supply is short of the demand.
#6
as of this post, WTI is at $35 and Brent is a $37
I doubt that many fracking operations are profitable at these prices.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/14/2015 10:16 Comments ||
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Time to add to the strategic petroleum reserve?
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
12/14/2015 11:18 Comments ||
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I wonder, Is there a "Fix" In on the gallons used by CHEVROET, A "PRICE FIX', for yeas now I've wondered about the miles driven per gallon.
My Toyota gets 39MPG and for years the standard was 20, I'm a master mechanic, and I wonder about collusion, between "BIG OIL' and the "BIG THREE ' carmakers.
It seems easy to add overdrives to the cars, and slow the engines (Buns less per mile) with the interstates you have flatter (Smother) travel.
I hear (Rumor) Caddy is testing 7 and 8 speeds (YES overdrives) bet we never hear of these again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/14/2015 11:32 Comments ||
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redneck jim
the next big thing in vehicle gas mileage is in hybrid trucks, VIA Motors will likely be going IPO in Feb or March and will probably sell 30k to 60k in 2016 -- vehicles will get 40+ mpg and the ones used for local delivery will probably use only electricity
of course electricity isn't free either and the tax expenditure is high ($7k to $10k per vehicle)
within a few years, this will actually make a difference in the total US consumption
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/14/2015 11:46 Comments ||
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#10
If you calculate the Fed and Treasury printing a lot more money without backing, the subsequent resultant inflation will be reflected in higher prices.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] China commemorated victims of a historic massacre by Japanese troops in the city of Nanjing for the second time on Sunday, holding a sober official memorial that contrasted with a much grander ceremony last year.
Given the current plunge in the global supply of oil, energy analysts expect demand will outstrip supply as early as April 2016, leading to a recovery in oil prices that have been plummeting as much as 60 per cent over the past several months. Energy experts at the Euromoney Qatar Conference argued that oil supply continued to fall as less economically viable projects are postponed and cancelled.
