A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.So let me get this straight (oops! was that homophobic?) two elected officials in one of the largest metro areas in the nation don't know what the term "black hole" means when used as a figure of speech for things that disappear without a trace? Those two idiots should have to publicly apologize for their stupidity.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.
Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term.
Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" scrolled underneath, are "cute." But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.I guess the only way this could have been worse would be if George were holding a Koran...
One of the "Jena Six" defendants was arrested yesterday for allegedly assaulting a fellow student at a Texas high school. Bryant Purvis, 19, was busted on the misdemeanor charge following an 8:30 AM altercation at Hebron High School in Carrollton, where his family relocated from Louisiana. According to the below arrest warrant affidavit, Purvis assaulted a male student he apparently suspected of vandalizing his auto. Along with choking the 18-year-old victim, the 6' 6" Purvis allegedly slammed the teenager's head on a table. Purvis, pictured in the mug shot at right, was briefly jailed before being released on $1000 bond. Purvis and five codefendants were originally charged with attempted murder in connection with the December 2006 beating of a white high school student in Jena, Louisiana. The case, which triggered protests over the severity of charges brought against the so-called Jena Six, remains pending, with Purvis scheduled for a March trial on reduced charges of aggravated battery and conspiracy. If convicted of those felonies, Purvis could face a maximum of more than 20 years in prison.Who's surprised by this? Anyone? Anyone? Jesse? Al? Anyone?
A firefighter who reportedly found a rope and a threatening note with a drawing of a noose in a Baltimore station house last month admitted to placing the items there himself, it was reported.A disturbingly common incident these days...
The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday that Donald Maynard, a firefighter and paramedic in-training, who is African American, confessed to police.
In a written statement Fire Chief William J. Goodwin Jr. said Maynard wanted to create a "perception that members within our department were acting in a discriminatory and unprofessional manner," the Sun reported.
The noose incident sparked outrage two weeks ago and launched a federal hate crime probe.
In a case that has brought cries of racism from civil rights groups, Renato Hughes Jr., 22, was charged by prosecutors in this overwhelmingly white county under a rarely invoked legal doctrine that could make him responsible for the bloodshed.This sounds like a reasonable legal recourse to me. The killings, which were self-defense and defense of his home and family on the part of the homeowner, would not have happened without the provocation of the home invasion. Mr. Hughes should be tried for murder.
"It was pandemonium" inside the house that night, District Attorney Jon Hopkins said. Hughes was responsible for "setting the whole thing in motion by his actions and the actions of his accomplices."
Prosecutors said homeowner Shannon Edmonds opened fire Dec. 7 after three young men rampaged through the Clearlake house demanding marijuana and brutally beat his stepson. Rashad Williams, 21, and Christian Foster, 22, were shot in the back. Hughes fled.
Hughes was charged with first-degree murder under California's Provocative Act doctrine, versions of which have been on the books in many states for generations but are rarely used. [...]
The district attorney said that race played no part in the charges against Hughes and that the homeowner was spared prosecution because of evidence he was defending himself and his family, who were asleep when the assailants barged in at 4 a.m.
Edmonds' stepson, Dale Lafferty, suffered brain damage from the baseball bat beating he took during the melee. The 19-year-old lives in a rehabilitation center and can no longer feed himself.
A noose was found at Columbia University's Teachers College on Tuesday morning, police said.I'm curious to see how this plays out. If this teacher was the target of this reprehensible behavior, it's shameful and the perpetrator should be punished.
A black female professor found the symbol of hate dangling from her office door in a building on the Teachers College campus, on 120th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam.
Teachers College would not release the professor's name, but students said she teaches a class on social justice and is a vocal proponent of racial equality.
Teachers College President Susan Fuhrman issued the following statement to the Teachers College community:
"The police were here this morning because a hangman's noose was discovered on the office door of one of our African American faculty members. The incident has been reported to the New York City Police Department (Detectives Bureau of Manhattan) and is under active investigation by the Hate Crimes Task Force.
"The TC community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm."
Teachers College officials planned a community meeting for Wednesday to discuss the incident. Authorities said the crime could be prosecuted as a felony.
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