NYPD Partners With Israeli Firm To Monitor Phone Use While Driving

MintPress

Police in the “Empire State” of New York have reportedly proposed the implementation of a new device that would be able to detect when drivers are using their cell phones. The device has become known as the “textalyzer,” and although it will not be ready for several months, New York drivers can likely expect to have their cell phone usage monitored to a degree that drivers have never experienced before.

According to the information released thus far, these devices will only be used when there is an accident, to determine who was actually responsible. If the device is only used for this purpose, then it may not pose a serious threat to privacy and may actually be a useful tool for dispute resolution. However, as we have seen with many government programs in the past, these excuses are used so we will initially accept the program, and then once the door is open the program can be used for more invasive spying.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the Associated Press on Wednesday that authorities were reviewing exactly how the device would be used. [MORE]

Bannon: I want Democrats to talk about racism every day

The Hill

White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon condemned white nationalist "clowns" in an interview Wednesday, but continued to hit Democrats over "identity politics", saying if they talked about race every day he could ensure Republican election victories.

“The Democrats, the longer they talk about identity politics, I got ’em," the former head of Breitbart told The American Prospect in an interview. "I want them to talk about racism every day."

"If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats,” he added.

Bannon's comments came after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. turned violent over the weekend, resulting in one death and at least 19 injuries.

Bannon went on to dismiss the white nationalists who rallied in the college town as "clowns" who had been played up by the media. Bannon conceded that the White House did, however, need to play a bigger role in marginalizing white nationalist influence. [MORE]

Racist ESPN Apologizes Having Slave Auction of NFL Players

First responders in three states under investigation for allegedly mocking Charlottesville violence

WashPost

A Philadelphia firefighter has apologized for an apparently racist photo making light of the protests that turned violent over the weekend in Virginia.

Philadelphia firefighter John Deluisi reportedly tagged an African American colleague in a Facebook photo showing Deluisi wearing a hat emblazoned with the Confederate battle flag and holding a tiki torch. “Headed to VA,” the caption read, according to Fox affiliate WTXF.

“I am very disappointed in myself, and I’m very sorry,” he told the news station.

“I am an idiot. I am very sorry. Maybe I get too carried away on Facebook, and I put something up there that was stupid. I thought he would get a joke about it. I really did. And thinking about it, it was very stupid,” he added.

Deluisi could not immediately be reached for comment by The Washington Post.

[Police officers in two states accused of mocking Charlottesville violence]

Philadelphia Fire Department Capt. William Dixon said the matter is under investigation. He said the fire commissioner is “certainly disturbed” by the preliminary reports but that the department is still working to get to the bottom of it and determine how to best handle the situation. 

Indeed, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said he was “utterly horrified and disgusted.”

“Racist images, symbols, words and actions are contrary to our mission and values and have absolutely no place in our Department,” Thiel said in a statement Tuesday to The Washington Post. “We will take swift and decisive personnel action after a full investigation. The Department will follow-up with intensive and focused workplace conduct training for our more than 2,600 members.

Law enforcement officers in two other states are being investigated for similar incidents.

An officer with the Shively Police Department in Kentucky and an officer with the Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts allegedly made fun of the fatal car crash that occurred during the Unite the Right rally Saturday in Charlottesville, where hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members clashed with counterprotesters. A 32-year-old Charlottesville woman was killed, and others were wounded in the attack. [MORE]

Joint Chiefs close ranks in condemning racism

The Hill

Nearly all of the nation's top military leaders unequivocally condemned racism in public messages Wednesday, posing a stark and unusual contrast to President Donald Trump’s remarks that both white supremacists and counterprotesters were equally to blame for the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.

The brass did not mention Trump specifically but made clear they would not tolerate racism in the ranks, after it was revealed that some former troops attended and helped organize the deadly white supremacist rally that singled out minorities and Jews.

Dillon Ulysses Hopper, who helped to organize the protest in Charlottesville, reportedly served in the Marine Corps, including tours overseas and time as a recruiter. James Alex Fields Jr., who is accused of running over counter protesters with his car, killing one woman, also reportedly washed out of Army basic training. And NBC reported Wednesday that a leading neo-Nazi recently re-tweeted by Trump is an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve whose security clearance has been revoked. [MORE]

How Nazis Use Victimhood to Recruit

From [HERE] As they marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday, the pack of white supremacists chanted “you will not replace us.” Their rallying cry prompted a viral Twitter thread in which the user Julius Goat asked, “Replaced as ... what?”

“I would so love to see these people get all the oppression they insist they receive, just for a year. Just to see,” he wrote.

It may seem puzzling that the racism of these white men—the most powerful group of people in the world—is motivated by a sense that they’ll be wiped away somehow. But according to research on white supremacists, a sense of victimhood is exactly what groups like these use to grow their cause.

In a 2000 article, the sociologist Mitch Berbrier examined dozens of white supremacist media appearances and publications and discovered a pattern of carefully crafted victim ideology. Victimhood, it seemed, is how the groups assured themselves they weren’t being racist—the excuse being that, hey, they’re suffering too.

1) that whites are victims of discrimination

White supremacists seem aggrieved by their sense that civil rights movement has tipped the balance in favor of minority groups. Here, Berbrier cites David Duke’s organization, the National Association for the Advancement of White People, as positioning itself as a counterpoint to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People:

The NAACP promotes racial discrimination by seeking discriminatory policies against white people in employment, promotions, scholarships, and in college and union admittance, while the NAAWP seeks equal opportunity for all, with preference for the hardest-working, most talented, and best-qualified ... The NAAWP seeks greater racial understanding and goodwill by showing that when all things are considered, blacks have enjoyed far more benefits from whites than they have endured privation. American blacks have the highest standard of living, the greatest educational and employment opportunity, and by far the most democratic and civil rights of any blacks anywhere in the world. (NAAWP News, 1980)

The group’s newsletter, the NAAWP News, ran items with headlines such as "Anti-White Discrimination Accelerates,” Berbrier notes. Today, this sentiment survives as the myth that affirmative action, for instance, constitutes “reverse racism.”

(2) that their rights are being abrogated

As a corollary, white supremacists believe whites are denied the right to their own publications and advocacy groups—a right enjoyed by minority groups. As the KKK leader Thom Robb put it in 1992, according to the study: “The issue isn't who's superior ... Even if we [whites] were nothing but a race of cavemen, we still have a right to preserve our heritage and culture and give that to our children. Nobody has the right to deny that from us. And that is the attempt that's being done today.”

(3) that they are stigmatized if they express "pride”

Berbrier points to the following quote in a 1991 issue of The Populist Observer, the newsletter of the Populist Party: “Blacks, Orientals, Indians and Hispanics are taught to love their history, while whites are being taught to hate their own.”

According to Berbrier’s analysis, these supremacist groups feel that if whites do express pride in their heritage, they are branded racists and bigots. He writes that their euphemisms, like “heritage preservation” are so-called “ethnic affectations designed to destigmatize white supremacists and separatists alike by implying that they are just another ethnic group with similar needs.”

This is reflected in the obsession with Norse culture and mythology among some of today’s white supremacists. Since this paper was published, at least six domestic terror plots were conducted by so-called “Odinists”—racist adherents of an ancient religion, as Reveal News reported. The rituals of the Odinists—using Germanic phrases and drinking mead from horns—seem like attempts to recapture a bygone time in an all-white land. [MORE]

Marshawn Lynch sits during national anthem following Charlottesville

From [HERE] The Raiders running back remained seated on a cooler while eating a banana as his teammates and coaches stood during the national anthem prior to the team’s Saturday night preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. Lynch’s decision came in the wake of a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. earlier in the day where three people, including two police officers, were killed.

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DNA collected at arrest often not removed from crime databases for those not convicted

Cleveland.com

Ohio is among more than 30 states in recent years that have expanded their reach to collect DNA samples from people when they are arrested, rather than convicted, of serious crimes.

But for those who are never convicted, removing a DNA profile from state and federal databases used to solve crimes, is rare and, some say, burdensome.

Cuyahoga County officials recently have made a push to make sure all DNA samples are collected in all arrests for a felony offense, which has been required by Ohio law since 2011.

The Plain Dealer reported in June that thousands of DNA samples -- often on cheek swabs -- were going uncollected here, a problem identified by the prosecutor's office as it reinvestigated thousands of old rape cases. The office since has worked with the Common Pleas court, the Sheriff's office and others to close gaps that led to the oversights.

The prosecutor's office, along with researchers from Case Western Reserve University's Begun Center, is formulating a plan to collect some of the missing or "owed" samples from people with active court cases or on parole or probation.

However, there is a flip side to the issue.

It is just as important to make sure that people who are found not guilty, have charges dropped or dismissed, or who never end up being charged after an arrest, can easily have their DNA removed -- or expunged -- from the crime databases, said Cuyahoga County Chief Public Defender Mark Stanton and Deputy Chief Public Defender Cullen Sweeney in a recent interview with The Plain Dealer. [MORE]

Obama Tweets "No one is born hating another person b/c of the color of his skin or his background or his religion"

The Hill

Former President Obama tweeted a Nelson Mandela quote condemning racism just hours after a white supremacist rally in Virginia turned deadly.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." Obama tweeted, featuring a photo of him talking to small children of different ethnicities through a window. 

The quote comes from Mandela's 1994 inaugural address, when he became the first black president of South Africa.

Obama’s message was in response to a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. A car plowed into a crowd of anti-fascism protestors, killing one person and leaving more than a dozen others injured.

Two Virginia State police officers were also killed when their helicopter crashed, which authorities linked to the rally. [MORE]

Ivanka Trump tweets “there is no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.”

From [HERE] The day after deadly protests that occurred in Charlottesville, Va. following a “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally, Ivanka Trump issued a more pointed assessment of blame than her father, saying there is “no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.”

Ivanka Trump calling out “racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis” is the most specific language used by a member of the Trump family. Following an eruption of violence in the college town where one person was killed and 19 people were injured after a car hit protesters leaving a rally.

On Saturday afternoon, President Trump condemned the violence but blamed “many sides.”

The White House issued a statement Sunday saying "The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups." But the president has not used those words himself.

Republicans and Democrats criticized the president for not being more forceful in calling out white nationalists groups. [MORE]

Peter Joseph says 83% of all Stocks are Owned by 1% of the Population

Keith Ellison Walks Back Comparison of Stupid Maniac Trump to Maniac Kim

WashPost

Rep. Keith Ellison, the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, told activists at the progressive Netroots Nation conference that President Trump was acting less responsibly than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that antiwar activism needs to ramp up as the president’s rhetoric has.

“You have this guy making bellicose threats against somebody else who has very little to lose over there,” said Ellison (D-Minn.). “Kim Jong Un — the world always thought he was not a responsible leader. Well, he’s acting more responsible than this guy.”

There were murmurs of agreement in the room before Ellison described what would need to happen before a “missile launch” become a reality.

“The time for cranking up the antiwar machine is right now,” he said. “If you don’t want to be a deer in the headlights, start calling for diplomacy immediately.”

In a short interview after the speech, Ellison dialed back the Kim-Trump comparison.

“That was one of those I wish I’d not said,” Ellison said. “It’s tailor-made for somebody to misuse. I’d say he’s being incredibly irresponsible and he’s putting us in a situation where you could have an accidental launch. I mean, his rhetoric might make Kim Jong Un think that he needs to strike first. What we need is someone bringing calm to the situation, not spiking it.”

Washington Supreme Court upholds Seattle gun tax

[JURIST]

The Washington Supreme Court [official website] upheld Seattle's tax [ordinance, PDF] on guns and ammunition sales on Thursday. The two individual gun owners and organizations bringing the suit argued [opinion, PDF] that the tax was actually a state regulation on guns, which is prohibited by a Washington state law [official website]. The six-justice majority [materials] affirmed the lower court's decision in favor of the city. The majority opinion said, "While courts should be dubious of regulations masquerading as taxes (and vice versa), in this case Watson [the plaintiff] offers no convincing evidence that the Ordinance has a regulatory purpose or intent." The court also cited the fact that the revenue from the sale of guns was used for public services as evidence that the ordinance was a tax. The dissenting justice argued that since Seattle passed an ordinance that relates to firearms, it is invalid, because the state law prohibits the city from doing exactly that.

Gun control remains a controversial domestic issue. In July a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] against California's controversial gun ban. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed legislation [JURIST report] in April expanding gun rights in the state. South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard in March vetoed a a pair of bills [JURIST report] that would have loosened the state's regulations on concealed carry laws. The US House of Representatives approved [JURIST report] a bill in March making it easier for certain veterans to obtain firearms.

Indian Man [Ameya Pawar] Running for Illinois Governor says He’ll Commute All Low-Level Drug Sentences

From [HERE] Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, one of several Democrats vying for his party’s nomination to run for Illinois governor against incumbent Republican Bruce Rauner, doesn’t think the drug war was a failure.

“The war on drugs was a success,” he said in a speech on criminal justice reform given last month. “Because the war on drugs was never actually on drugs. It was against black people.”

Pawar used that address to explain the true history of the modern drug war, which former President Richard Nixon utilized to crack down on the anti-war left and African-Americans.

As part of his campaign, he’s vowing to end Illinois’s participation in that drug war through a battery of policies: making minor possession of controlled substances no longer a felony, legalizing and taxing marijuana, expanding addiction treatment, establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to air police-community grievances, and, most radically, using his commutation powers as governor to simply commute the sentences of nonviolent low-level drug offenders.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Intercept, Pawar put his views on politics into a larger context. His campaign targeting the drug war is part of a larger philosophy of fighting what he says is a divide-and-conquer approach by the nation’s elite to turn people of different races and classes against each other.

Pawar, who is the son of Indian immigrants who were active in the now-opposition Congress Party, was spurred to run partly by Gov. Rauner’s 2015 decision to pause the acceptance of Syrian refugees to the state.

“My background is in the connection between disaster and poverty policy; my wife used to run a refugee resettlement program, my first graduate internship in social work school was working with refugees,” he explained. “The idea that you would ban a group of people who literally walked across continents, who are fleeing persecution … is un-American. This is consistent with what Rauner has been doing in Illinois over the last years, which is pitting communities against one another, using the economic anxieties that exist in communities as sort of a catalyst to pit them against one another.”

He cited the example of Rauner going to poor, white communities in Illinois and complaining about the level of school funding in Chicago, a sort of racial dog whistle. “He’s done a very good job of dividing and ruling,” Pawar cited. “When I give my stump speech, I talk about how that is the same tactic the British used in India. You know, the British pit Hindus and Muslims against one another. Pit people against one another based on class and geography, caste … this is no different. Chicago versus downstate. Downstate versus Chicago. Black, white, brown against one another. All poor people fighting over scraps. So that’s why I jumped into the race. I’m going to call this stuff out.”

Pawar’s convictions about ending the divide-and-conquer strategy inform his views on the drug war. He pointed to the very different public policy response to the crack-cocaine epidemic, which was concentrated among African-Americans, and today’s opiate epidemic, which is concentrated among white Americans (black and brown people have also seen soaring rates of overdoses, though on a smaller scale).

“The opiate crisis means we need to provide treatment. Today we’re calling it a public health issue, but it was a public health issue 40 years ago,” he said.

He explained to The Intercept why he is willing to take the step of using commutations to get Illinois’s low-level, nonviolent drug offenders out of prison.

“If you were jailed for low-level drug offenses, nonviolent drug offenses, the basis for commutation is, well we are talking about preventative treatment, so why are we letting people whither away in jail for the same issues we are wiling to provide treatment for today?” he asked. “The drugs are different, but the underlying circumstances that led people to addiction, or created the addiction issue, is the same. So you can create a rubric and say, ‘Look, low-level drug offense, nonviolent, commute the sentences; create an automatic expungement program.’ You pair that with workforce development or social supports. That is still cheaper than 35 or 40 grand a year of jailing that person.”

Keith Ellison: It's 'an outrage' that Trump hasn't condemned mosque bombing

StarTrib

Democratic National Committee deputy chairman and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison on Wednesday called it "an outrage" that President Donald Trump has not condemned the weekend bombing of a Minnesota mosque as a terrorist attack.

The explosion at Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington happened early Saturday just before morning prayers and caused extensive damages to the imam's office but did not injure anyone. The FBI is investigating.

Ellison represents the Minneapolis area — though not the site of the explosion — and is the nation's first Muslim elected to Congress. He issued a statement through the national Democratic Party Wednesday joining the chorus of Muslim organizations and Democrats calling on Trump to label the bombing as a terrorist attack.

"The President's failure to condemn the terrorist attack on the Bloomington Islamic Center is an outrage. It suggests that his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, including the right to equal protection under the law, only extends to people who meet certain racial and religious criteria," Ellison said. [MORE]