Tag Archives: Trayvon Martin

History should reward all research —George Boston Rhynes

Received yesterday on Georgia Governor Nathan concerning this alleged suicide. -jsq

Ms Barbara Stratton!

Thanks for the info along the lines of

"getting beyond racial bias and discussing issues honestly as friends, respect each other's opinons and not be afraid of reprisal from racial antogonists?"

History should reward all all research and to better understand or overstand the racial bias in America one only need to study what happened in our world before todays religious belief systems infected hate under the name of religion and the elites.

-George Boston Rhynes

Doing what I do because its all about us; collectively as we travel the righteous path in and among those that does not want for their neighbor; the same things that they want for themselves and their own families. It is what it is…

ALEC “covers the spectrum in terms of bad policy for people” –FL news

ALEC will no doubt try to tar WCTV as “liberal media.” That will be amusing!

Troy Kinsey wrote for WCTV Monday, themselves as members of ALEC. Damien filer with ‘progress florida’ says its time for them to break their ties with a group that’s taking national heat over ‘Stand Your Ground’.

“This is not just about ‘shoot first’ laws; this is about everything from the so-called ‘parent trigger’ law that we saw during the last legislative session, the prison privatization schemes that we’ve seen crop up. It really covers the spectrum in terms of bad policy for people, and policy that’s really aimed at padding the pockets of the corporations that fund this organization.”

Hm, I wonder who in the Georgia statehouse are ALEC members?

-jsq

No Gates for ALEC: who’s next to jump off the crony capitalism ship?

Apparently the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave more money to ALEC than Pepsi, Coke, Kraft, and Intuit combined, but no more. Who’s next?

Jessica Pieklo wrote yesterday for care2, Bill And Melinda Gates Dump ALEC,

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation became the latest high profile backer of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council to withdraw financial support after pressure from groups opposed to ALEC’s support of “stand your ground” laws and Voter ID.

And private prisons, such as the one CCA wanted to build in Lowndes County, and “anti-immigrant” bills that creat many new crimes to fill those private prisons. And charter schools, such as the referendum for charter school tax credits on the ballot in Georgia in November. Some of our local “white fathers” pushed school consolidation a few months ago and charter schools are yet another attack on public education, backed by ALEC.

Roll Call reports that a foundation spokesperson said it does not plan to make any future grants to the organization. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed more than $375,000 to ALEC in the past two years.

Meanwhile, according to ALEC Watch:

ALEC’s more than three hundred corporate sponsors pay annual membership dues ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to advance their agendas, plus additional fees of $1,500 to $5,000 a year to participate in ALEC’s various task forces, where, according to an ALEC publication, “legislators welcome their private-sector counterparts to the table as equals.”

That’s the very model of a bad public-private partnership and crony capitalism. (More detail by ALEC Exposed.)

So what excuse does the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have? Jessica Pieklo’s article says:

Continue reading

ALEC, Trayvon Martin, CCA’s private prisons, and charter schools?

What’s the connection between the Florida law that’s letting the killer of Trayvon Martin hide, the private prisons CCA runs in Georgia and other states, and HB 797, the Georgia charter schools bill that’s on the floor today for Senate debate today? ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Paul Krugman wrote yesterday for the NYTimes, Lobbyists, Guns and Money,

ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.

What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism.

And in case you were wondering, no, the kind of privatization ALEC promotes isn’t in the public interest; instead of success stories, what we’re getting is a series of scandals. Private charter schools, for example, appear to deliver a lot of profits but little in the way of educational achievement.

Same as private prisons. The only real benefit goes to private prison company executives and shareholders.
Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesn’t just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from a Birmingham jail in 1963:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
And today we have an organized threat to justice everywhere. That threat is called ALEC.

-jsq

Hoodies and skittles suspicious? WCTV @ SCLC 2012 03 22

That’s WCTV reporter Greg Gullberg leaning over in the picture on the right. Here’s his report Friday, Protesters Rally For Trayvon Martin At Valdosta’s Old Courthouse,

Several protesters wore hooded sweat shirts, held boxes of Skittles and cans of iced tea. They asked if those items made them appear suspicious as well.

More excerpts:

“That this community and every community in this country will continue to press for Mr. Zimmerman’s arrest and conviction,” Rev. Rose told Gullberg.

The news that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped down sparked new life into the rally.

“We all know that he botched the investigation. He did not even arrest Mr. Zimmerman, which would have been standard practice,” said Rev. Rose.

“I think the story is still kind of broad right now, people want to know what’s happened. So I’m actually happy about the crowd that came out today,” Valdosta State University NAACP Chapter President DeAndre Jones told Gullberg.

LAKE videos of the rally.

-jsq

Rally “Justice for Trayvon Martin” @ SCLC 2012 03 22

Videos of the rally on the courthouse steps Thursday.

Please join me and SCLC at the Courthouse in Valdsota at 6:30 for a “Justice for Trayvon Martin” rally Thursday, March 22nd. Thousands of people all over the United States will be gathering, including thiousands in Sanford Florida where 17 year Trayvon was murdered, and the killer has not been arrested.

Come let your voice be heard: 6:30 Thursday, March 22nd.

Floyd Rose, President

Here’s a playlist:


Rally “Justice for Trayvon Martin”
Floyd Rose, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 March 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq