Researchers at The Ohio State University have completed a study on the correlation between the race of the victim and death penalty convictions have come to a conclusion that should surprise none.

While it has long been known that the killing of a white person is more likely to result in a death penalty sentence in America, researchers went one step further to look at those on death row to determine the racial dynamics at play for those actually executed. In the end, researchers were left with one conclusion — white life is more highly-regarded than black life.

They discovered that blacks convicted of killing whites were the most likely to be executed. Even more interesting was the fact that blacks convicted of killing other blacks were the least likely to be executed. Thus, in the words of one researcher, David Jacobs:

“Examining who survives on death row is important because less than 10 percent of those given the death sentence ever get executed…The disparity in execution rates based on the race of victims suggests our justice system places greater value on white lives, even after sentences are handed down.

This was the first study to look at how race plays into whether or not an execution actually gets carried out. Sadly, I am not shocked by its conclusions.

Popularity: 22% [?]

This, apparently, is the face of terror.

66-year-old Sarah Weiss is “responsible”, in part, for the recent terror scare in which we were told that terrorists were trying dry runs of terrorist attacks. A search of her bag yielded 2 old icepacks (The TSA identified them as ‘clay’), which she used for her bad back and a report from a survey of Muslim Americans, which she was reading for her outreach work for her faith-based group. This was July 5, 2007. Weiss was detained and questioned for three hours and was asked, among other things, if she knew Osama bin Laden. You can see the video here.

But, this is not a story about who the local TSA detained. They are tasked with looking into suspicious luggage, even if we don’t necessarily agree with what’s to be considered “suspicious” and they should not make assumptions about who could be involved in acts of terrorism.

No, there is another story here. Weeks later, as the Bush Administration is catching heat over the Attorney General, this report is leaked and a terror warning is issued. We were told about an incident involving clay (the incident above) and another one involving blocks of cheese, supposedly with wires and a cellphone near them. What we were not told was that these incidents, and two others, were explained away and no charges were filed in any of them. In other words, we get another bogus terror alert. In the end, this blew some of the heat off the AG story as we have yet another phony terror alert surfacing at a convenient time form Bush and Co.

Keith Olbermann has a series called The Nexus of Politics and Terror. The latest installment breaks it down quite nicely.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Back in 2003, I found myself traveling between Cincinnati, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio a couple of times a week. Our first child had just been born and I wanted to be home as much as I could. However, I was doing some consulting work in Columubus so, I would go back and forth twice a week.

The drive between the two places provides for a lot of boring radio and, as a news/talk radio junkie, I needed more than music. I decided to go for satellite radio. I had two choices, Sirius or XM. Since XM had a black talk channel (The Power), I chose them. I was exposed to hosts such as Joe Madison, Bernie McCain and Matsimela Mapfumo (Mark Thompson). I really enjoyed listening to all three. A couple of years back, Bernie McCain’s show was yanked and that was a blow to me. He came across as a very wise man who offered a lot of historical insight into what we, a black folks, experience in this country. However, his replacement, Ambrose I. Lane, was very accomplished and insightful in his own right so, I was able to grow to like him.

Now, though, I am not so sure about the latest lineup changes. The parent company of the Power, Radio One, has axed two of my favorites, Lane and Mapfumo. They have replaced them with their Syndication One programming so, we’ll now get the Rev. Al Sharpton’s talk show and a sports show called “The 2 Live Stews”. No offense but, I’ve heard these shows and they don’t appeal to me. I particularly liked listening to Mapfumo’s show (Make It Plain), on my drive home. Sorry but, hearing the latest sports news, instead of the political/social commentary doesn’t appeal to me. Furthermore, as far as I know, you can catch this online. I didn’t listen to most of this lineup when it was “free” so, why would I want it now that I have to pay for it? So, I don’t know. But, one thing is for sure, Radio One took a big step backward with me today.

Popularity: 53% [?]

Let’s talk voting today.

Well, it’s been proven, once again, that electronic voting machines, as they exist today, should not be trusted with our votes.

A recent test of voting machine security was conducted in California and most of the electronic voting machines tested failed miserably.

State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California’s voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems’ electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.

The researchers “were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the “top to bottom review” of every voting system certified by the state.

Neither Bowen nor the investigators were willing to say exactly how vulnerable California elections are to computer hackers, especially because the team of computer experts from the UC system had top-of-the-line security information plus more time and better access to the voting machines than would-be vote thieves likely would have.

“All information available to the secretary of state was made available to the testers,” including operating manuals, software and source codes usually kept secret by the voting machine companies, said Matt Bishop, UC Davis computer science professor who led the “red team” hacking effort, said in his summary of the results

Despite the team having access to the source code, I still see this as a big issue because in general, a state does not get access to this software so, its IT (information technology) has no way of auditing to determine if a program is working as it should. Therefore, if a hacker was able to alter a program on the voting machine, it would likely not be caught by people at the state level and elections could be altered.

With the 2008 primaries and general elections around the corner, we need a safe, reliable method of voting.

Popularity: 38% [?]

After three years, a case that has further strained relations between police and Milwaukee’s black community has come to an end. Three police officers have been found guilty in the brutal beating of Frank Jude Jr. and Lovell Harris at a party at one of the officers’ house.

After deliberating about 30 hours, the federal jury of eight women and four men found Jon Bartlett, 35, Andrew Spengler, 28, and Daniel Masarik, 27, guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Jude and his friend Lovell Harris and of assaulting Jude while acting as officers. The assaults happened outside an off-duty officers’ party at Spengler’s house in October 2004.

…

On Oct. 24, 2004, Jude, Harris and two women had gone to the party in Bay View, where they were accused of stealing Spengler’s badge. No badge was ever found, and no one was charged with theft.

Harris was cut in the face before he escaped. Jude was punched and kicked repeatedly in the head and body, threatened with a knife and gun, injured by objects jammed in his ears and by his fingers being yanked back, witnesses said.

Jude, who is biracial, and Harris, who is black, both said their white attackers used racial slurs

Perhaps cases like this will put officers on notice that this will not be tolerated. Doing your job and brutalizing people are not the same thing.

Popularity: 40% [?]

A while back, I shared with you the story of the “Jena 6″, a group of young men facing ridiculously-long sentences for beating up a white teen, in retaliation to a series of racial incidents going on in that community. Instead of assault charges, most were charged with attempted murder and, now, face sentences that would carry them into old age.

We have seen miscarriages of justice and this is one most egregious. Right now, there is a petition started by the NAACP, calling for a new trial of one of these young men, Mychal Bell because:

Mychal Bell, who is African American, was convicted by an all white jury in a racially charged case. Mychal Bell’s public defender did not put on any evidence and did not call any witnesses. Moreover, the aggravated battery charge was unwarranted since the alleged assailant did not use and dangerous weapon. A tennis shoe is not a deadly weapon. There was conflicting testimony regarding whether Mychal Bell was involved in the incident in question. Mychal Bell’s parents were not allowed in the court room during the trial. Mychal Bell faces a potential 22 year sentence in prison.

You can sign the petition here.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Fascism:

1. a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
   
2. extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice. The term fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy (1922-43), and the regime of the Nazis in Germany were also Fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.

Some, like myself, fear that this country drifting more to a fascist form of government. You don’t think so? How many of us are scared to used certain combinations of words in public or even on the phone for fear of who might be listening?

So, the question today should be, is Bush starting the job his grandfather started? What am I talking about, you say? Well, in the 1930’s, Bush grandfather, Prescott Bush, was closely tied to the financial backers of the Nazi war machine.

As report by the U.K. newspaper, the Guardian, in 2004:

His business dealings, which continued until his company’s assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy.

Now, more details are coming out about Prescott Bush’s involvement with other U.S. corporatists who sought to topple the U.S. government and turn it into a fascist state based on the policies of Hitler and Mussolini.

The BBC did a radio program on it’s investigation into this and it’s eye-opening. I have included a link below (you’ll need RealPlayer to listen to the program).

The White House Coup

Popularity: 22% [?]

It’s glaringly obvious that an overwhelming majority of Americans don’t support Bush and his policies. In fact, he may be the most unpopular president of all time. Bush’s disapproval rating stands at a shocking 66%. A person of more integrity would read the writing on the wall and step down but, we know that he lacks such a thing. Of course, we have a Congress of lapdogs and cowards who won’t push for impeachment so, this is where we stand.

To put these numbers in perspective, MSNBC had a special report on them. A clip of this report is below.

 

 White House in Crisis: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 21% [?]

Do we, a black people, really get to exercise our constitutional rights? Well, over the last several years, it seems that Americans, in general, are seeing their rights chipped away but, is it even more so for black folks?

What is our relationship to the Constitution and what does it really mean to us and for us? A few days back, columnist Alton Maddox pondered this question and came up with a profound response.

I won’t spoil it but, I will share a little of it with you

Blacks are allowed to enjoy legal and political presence but are punished for exercising rights under or similar to the Speech and Debate Clause. Only white people are allowed to engage in free speech and free debate. This is why Sen. Hillary Clinton recently trumped Sen. Barack Obama at Howard University.

You’ll just have to read the rest for yourself.

Popularity: 30% [?]

Some of you know how I feel about the whole “stop snitching” thing. It’s used as a means to allow criminals to go on conducting criminal activities in the “hoods” they claim to love. These same fools tell us that it’s selling out black people to have black criminals in jails but, apparently, it’s not selling out black people to kill or sell dope to your brothers and sisters.

Whatever.

Now, a web site along these lines has been launched. Whosarat.com, for a fee, offers subscribers a list of “snitches”. The site uses public records (sentencing documents and plea agreements) to get the names of police informants. This has judges scrambling to get access to this information limited. To date, the site lists som 4,300 informants.

This site is the brainchild of Sean Bucci, a former Boston dj who, himself, is now serving a 12-year sentence for being part of a drug ring. Bucci was convicted due, in part, to the testimony of informants.

My personal take: people are going to get killed because of this site and potential witnesses, who are already reluctant to come forward, will not do so now because their names will be splashed all over the internet. While what Bucci is doing may be legal, it is definitely intimidation and a big help to criminals in our community. Sadly, rather than trying to become a better citizen, Bucci is more interested in providing better tools for criminals.

Popularity: 43% [?]