The Greene County Democrat

Category: Newswire

  • Newswire: Court orders Trump Administration to extend Census count through October 31

    By JayJuan Jones


    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – The Trump administration has been ordered to continue the 2020 Census count through October. The administration previously planned to end the count earlier than scheduled due to cited concerns about COVID-19 delays. However, on Thursday a federal judge in California ruled that the administration’s revised plan would not solve any delays and instead would result in an inaccurate census count.
    The U.S. Census Bureau, which is directed by President Trump’s appointee, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, announced in an August 3 press release that it would be ending the census count by September 30—a month earlier than originally scheduled.
    “We will end field data collection by September 30, 2020. Self-response options will also close on that date to permit the commencement of data processing,” said the press release. “Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities.”
    The revised plan would have closed census operations by September 30 and population numbers for apportionment of funds and resources would be sent to the President by December 31. Under the Court’s Order, the census count will now continue through October 31 and its data processing will continue under a timeline that will allow full counting and reporting of the total population to the President.
    District Judge Lucy H. Koh issued her ruling after hearing the arguments in National Urban League et al. v. Wilbur L. Ross Jr. This lawsuit was filed by civil rights groups, civil organizations, and tribal and local governments on August 18 in order to block the administration’s attempt to end census counting earlier.
    According to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the plaintiffs sought to stop the administration’s revised plan of the Census Bureau to shorten the 2020 count in the middle of a pandemic. The court had already issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the administration from shutting down its census operations until this ruling last Thursday.
    Lawyers’ Committee President/CEO Kristen Clarke issued a statement applauding the judges decision:  “The court’s decision ensures that our underrepresented and most vulnerable communities will not be disadvantaged by an unfair and incomplete census count. With this directive, the Trump administration was attempting to fan the flames of racial division, further divide our country and exclude communities of color from the final enumeration. The court’s decision repudiates the 11th hour actions of the Trump administration and makes clear that our democracy turns on achieving a full and fair count of all people across our nation.”
    Many in opposition to the administration’s timeline revisions argued that such seemingly last minute changes were an attempt to fan the flames of racial division and further divide the country. Though that may be a potential result in some individual’s view this ruling advocates for democracy and allows for, as any extensions to census counting could, full and fair count of all people across our nation. 

  • Newswire: Alabama AG Steve Marshall announces victory in Alabama Supreme Court, reinstating lawsuits against electronic gambling at White Hall and VictoryLand

    (MONTGOMERY) —Attorney General Steve Marshall announced that the Alabama Supreme Court today ruled in favor of the State of Alabama, allowing its litigation to proceed against electronic gambling machines in Macon and Lowndes counties. The Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings to dismiss the Attorney General’s lawsuits against Epic Tech Inc., doing business in Lowndes County and Macon County; White Hall Entertainment, Southern Star Casino and the Town of White Hall in Lowndes County; and Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson and VictoryLand Casino in Macon County.
    Attorney General Marshall’s lawsuits asserted that the electronic gambling operations in Lowndes and Macon Counties use illegal slot machines and thus are unlawful gambling activities. The Attorney General sought court orders to have these declared an illegal public nuisance and to enjoin their continued operation by the facilities and local officials who have allowed such operations to continue. Both cases were subsequently dismissed by the Lowndes County and Macon County circuit courts in 2019, and the Attorney General appealed the dismissals. 
    Today, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed those decisions and held that the cases should proceed without further delay.  The cases will return to the Lowndes and Macon County circuit courts for further proceedings in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Attorney General Marshall said his office will seek injunctions to permanently halt the illegal gambling practices by these entities. 
    “For too long, these individuals, businesses, and even elected officials have flagrantly violated Alabama’s laws,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Today’s ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court is an important victory for the rule of law.  We will now move forward to uphold the State’s laws and provide justice for the people of Alabama.”
    AG Marshall has filed a similar lawsuit against electronic bingo in Greene County. The Greene County case has been postponed by COVID-19 and may be heard soon.

  • Newswire: Officers in Breonna Taylor case escape indictment

    Breonna Taylor

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
    @StacyBrownMedia


    After 194 days, months of protests, and a $12 million civil settlement, the family of Breonna Taylor did not receive the justice they have desperately sought.
    On Wednesday, Sept. 23, a Grand Jury failed to indict the officers for killing Taylor, while one officer was charged with shooting into an apartment – not Taylor’s. “They didn’t want to charge anyone with the murder of Breonna Taylor,” said Steve Romines, the attorney for Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
    Officer Brett Hankinson was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for his actions on the night of Taylor’s death. Hankinson was charged with shooting blindly inside an apartment and a warrant was immediately placed for his arrest. Judge Annie O’Connell set bail for Hankinson at just $15,000.
    None of the six officers involved were charged with a crime.
    On March 13, Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police officers after a late-night no-knock warrant led to gunfire inside of her apartment.
    Taylor and Walker had watched a movie in bed and, not long after she drifted off to sleep, cops pounded on her door. Walker, according to police reports, yelled, “who is it?”
    Licensed to carry a firearm and armed with Kentucky legislation that allowed him to stand his ground and fire his weapon in self-defense, Walker responded to the late-night break-in by shooting at the officers. He called 9-11 because he didn’t know that the men were law enforcement officers, only that they appeared as intruders who knocked the door off of its hinges.
    Officers unleashed a flurry of bullets from several angles – one officer fired blindly from a window outside of the house – ultimately, striking Taylor five times and killing her.
    Walker’s shot struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. Initially, Walker was charged with attempted murder, but those allegations were later dropped in part because he didn’t know the invaders were police officers and Kentucky’s statute essentially allows for a shoot-first-ask-questions-later when there’s an imminent threat.
    Judge Mary Shaw had signed off on five warrants based on flimsy statements provided by cops who claimed Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was a drug dealer and that they somehow suspected she was involved.
    The Grand Jury decision came as little surprise giving the response this week by Louisville officials, who declared a state of emergency ahead of the reading of the decision.
    Also, all off-duty police personnel was called to work while workers boarded up stores and buildings in downtown Louisville in preparation for the reading of the Grand Jury decision.
    “We live in a racist society, to the extinct that we don’t even acknowledge that we fail in our ability to correct that,” said Sadiqa Reynolds, the president of the Louisville Urban League.
    “To believe that there would be charges against white police officers against this Black woman in this city, this country, is wrong. We don’t have justice in America. We don’t have justice in Louisville,” a tearful Reynolds stated.

  • Newswire : U.S. effort to block Ethiopian dam recalls legacy of British colonialism

    Rev. Jesse Jackson lobbying against aid cut for Ethiopia


    Sep. 14, 2020 (GIN) – Based on guidance from President Trump, the State Department is suspending $130 million in security-related aid to Ethiopia over a nearly-completed dam that would lift Ethiopia from poverty and end the shadow of British colonialism that favored Egypt.
     
    Programs on the chopping block include security assistance, counterterrorism and military education and training, anti-human trafficking programs, and broader development assistance funding, congressional aides said. The cuts would not impact U.S. funding for emergency humanitarian relief, food assistance, or health programs aimed at addressing COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, they said.
     
    When fully completed, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – Africa’s largest hydroelectric project – would be a game changer for Ethiopia where some 65 million Ethiopians – 40-45% of the population – have no access to electricity. Plus it would contribute to transforming neighboring South Sudan, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia and Tanzania with desperately needed electrical power.
     
    The U.S. move has sparked outrage over its apparent interference in Ethiopia’s development strategy. “This action … is more than an outrageous encroachment of Ethiopia’s sovereignty,” wrote economic analyst Lawrence Freeman. “It is an assault on the right of emerging nations to take actions to improve the living conditions of their people.”
     
    Egypt insists that a 1959 Anglo-Egyptian agreement – when both Egypt and Sudan were British colonies – is the legal framework for control of the Nile. That treaty granted Egypt sole veto power over construction projects on the Nile or any of its tributaries which might interfere with Nile waters.
     
    By 2013, Egyptians at a secret meeting were caught on a hot mike proposing to simply destroy the dam altogether.
     
    Officials in Addis Ababa deny that the Renaissance Dam will choke off water to Egypt, saying the dam will benefit countries in the region, including as a source of affordable electric power.
     
    Even the Rev. Jesse Jackson weighed in on the matter. He cited hydro-politics dominated by Egyptian hegemony to control and own the Nile rather than regulate or cooperate.
     
    “The dam was built without help from the World Bank,” he wrote, “but with the pennies and dinars of shoe shiners and poor farmers. They saw the hydroelectric generating juggernaut as a source of Ethiopian independence and pride. Above all, they saw it as the centerpiece of their bid in their fight against poverty.”
     
    Jackson concluded: “All people of conscience and justice around the world need to condemn the neo-colonial treaty that the US government and the World Bank are imposing on Ethiopia, a peaceful nation whose only desire is to harness its natural resources to elevate its people out of poverty.” w/pix of Rev. Jackson lobbying against aid cut to Ethiopia
     

  • Newswire: Black Votes Matter: what eliminating the Electoral College would mean for African Americans

    The electoral college has the effect of diluting the Black vote.
    By: Nigel Roberts, NewsOne


    Scrutiny of the Electoral College got was a top trending topic Tuesday morning after CNN’s Don Lemon called for “the entire system” to be overhauled. Lemon’s argument centered on the fact that the United States’ population is increasingly becoming non-white but the Electoral College has resulted in two of the past five presidents being elected without winning the popular vote.
    “We’re going to have to blow up the entire system,” Lemon said Monday night on his show before continuing later: “The minority in this country decides who the judges are and they decide who the president is. Is that fair?”
    Conservatives were mocking Lemon on Tuesday for what they described as his inability to understand the Constitution and the Electoral College body of state electors. But the CNN pundit is not alone in his belief that the Electoral College needs to be reckoned with — especially in the cultural and racial contexts in which Lemon stated his argument.
    To put it simply, Black voters have plenty to gain from replacing the electoral college — a system built originally to protect the interest of white, male slave owners — with selecting presidents through a popular vote.
    Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a 2020 presidential candidate, last year endorsed ending the electoral college during a town hall meeting at Jackson State University, a historically Black college in Mississippi.
    “You know, come a general election, presidential candidates don’t come to places like Mississippi. They also don’t come to places like California and Massachusetts, right? Because we’re not the ‘battleground states,’” Warren said at the time. “Well, my view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting. And that means get rid of the electoral college, and everybody counts. Everybody. I think everybody ought to have to come and ask for your vote.”
    Looking to 2020, Democratic voters were working to avoid a repeat of 2016, in which Hillary Clinton won nearly 3 million more votes than Donald Trump but lost the electoral college vote.
    In our system, voters do not elect the president directly. Instead, they choose which candidate receives their state’s electors.
    The electoral college is made up of 538 electors who technically cast votes to decide the president and vice president. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the presidency.
    The number 538 is the sum of the nation’s 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors given to the District of Columbia. Electors are apportioned to states based on their population, meaning that larger states have more electoral votes than smaller states.
    It’s a winner takes all system. A candidate gets all the electoral votes of a state whether they win it by one vote or one million votes. In 2016, Clinton won huge majorities in racially diverse states like California and New York that ran up her popular vote count but meant relatively little in the electoral college count.
    “In addition to the problem of this winner take all logic, there is also the issue that people in large states are explicitly underrepresented in the electoral college,” according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
    The smallest states are guaranteed at least three electoral votes. Consequently, a small state like Wyoming has one elector for every 195,000 residents. By contrast, California has the most electoral votes (55), but each elector represents every 711,000 residents.
    “White people tend to live in states where their vote counts more, and minorities in places where it counts less,” CEPR noted.
    Wyoming is 84 percent white, compared to California’s 38 percent white population.
    That dynamic means that Black votes count less because they tend to live in large states. African Americans are also many times clustered in large urban communities that are in Republican-leaning states.
    “[The electoral college] dilutes our power,” Rep. Emilia Sykes, an Ohio state lawmaker who has been a leading voice against it, told PBS in 2018. “And we recognize that, and we get it, and we don’t want it. We want our power to be used to its fullest potential.”

  • Newswire: Supreme Court decision jeopardizes CFPB’S

    By Charlene Crowell, NNPA Newswire Contributor



A June 29 U.S. Supreme Court split decision represents a major setback to both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the consumers who have come to rely upon the agency. Since 2010, more than 25 million consumers were helped by the agency’s efforts that returned over $11 billion.
Although the case known as Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was argued on March 3 of this year, its origins date back to 2017 when Seila Law, a California-based debt relief firm, asked the CFPB to set aside a civil investigative demand (CID) that sought information to determine whether it was engaged in illegal debt relief practices.
CFPB declined to set aside the CID and turned to a California federal court to pursue its interests. In response, Seila Law restated its challenge of the independence of the agency’s Director who could only be removed by a President for cause, seeking to have the entire agency abolished as unconstitutional.”
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision refuted CFPB’s hallmark: its independent Director. By allowing for an agency Director to be removed for any reason, it now becomes possible for partisan interests to influence whether or not a full, 5-year term of office enshrined in the law will occur, or that powerful corporations will be held accountable.
The Court majority argued that CFPB is “unique.” “The CFPB Director has no boss, peers, or voters to report to,” wrote Justice Roberts in the majority opinion and was joined by Associate Justices Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.
“Yet the Director wields vast rulemaking, enforcement, and adjudicatory authority over a significant portion of the U. S. economy. The question before us is whether this arrangement violates the Constitution’s separation of powers…“We therefore hold that the structure of the CFPB violates the separation of powers,” continued the Chief Justice …The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by the President at will.”
The creation of an independent consumer agency was the legislative intent defined in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Enacted in the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since that of the 1930s Great Depression, CFPB assumed direct responsibility for financial oversight and enforcement on a range of consumer issues that included mortgages, small dollar loans, student debt, credit cards and more.
This agency authority included the rights to conduct investigations, issue subpoenas and civil investigative demands, initiate administrative adjudications, prosecute civil actions in federal court, and issue binding decisions in administrative proceedings.
The dissenting opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan was joined by Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonya Sotomayor.
“Throughout the Nation’s history, this Court has left most decisions about how to structure the Executive Branch to Congress and the President, acting through legislation they both agree to. In particular, the Court has commonly allowed those two branches to create zones of administrative independence by limiting the President’s power to remove agency heads… If precedent were any guide, that provision would have survived its encounter with this Court—and so would the intended independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
“The Court today fails to respect its proper role,” continued the dissenting opinion. “It recognizes that this Court has approved limits on the President’s removal power over heads of agencies much like the CFPB. Agencies possessing similar powers, agencies charged with similar missions, agencies created for similar reasons… Congress and the President established the CFPB to address financial practices that had brought on a devastating recession and could do so again. Today’s decision wipes out a feature of that agency its creators thought fundamental to its mission—a measure of independence from political pressure.”
It is noteworthy that while the case was under Supreme Court review, the current CFPB Director, made no effort to explain or defend the agency.
In the remaining few months in the current Congress, consumer advocates must now heighten their watchful role to ensure that as many other agency responsibilities can be preserved and pursued as legislatively intended.
“The CFPB was created after the Great Recession to protect Americans from unscrupulous businesses that have too much power to wreak havoc on the public,” said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s Senior Director of Federal Consumer Programs  “Now, the Supreme Court has agreed with the CFPB’s director, who actively worked with the Trump administration and a debt collection law firm, of all things, to undermine the Bureau’s independence from politically-connected special interests.”
“The Seila decision therefore leaves the CFPB intact but weakens the Director’s independence, making it more likely that the Director will hesitate to cross the financial industry players that have the ear of the President — as has happened repeatedly under the current leadership of the CFPB,” noted Lauren Saunders, the Associate Director of the National Consumer Law Center.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to defang the CFPB’s for-cause removal provision will render the agency less effective and leave consumers vulnerable to bad actors on Wall Street,” said Will Corbett, Litigation Director with the Center for Responsible Lending.
“Predatory lenders and their allies in Congress have consistently tried without merit to weaken CFPB’s independence for political reasons. Today, the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has joined in that effort, ensuring financial damage for consumers for years to come,” Corbett concluded.
Charlene Crowell is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org. 

  • Newswire : Judicial battle looms with Ginsburg passing, Black leaders fear loss of civil rights gains

    By Barrington M. Salmon and Hazel Trice Edney

    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Civil rights leaders are alternating between sadness over the death of Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and deep concern about what her death could mean to the composition of the US Supreme Court – and ultimately what it could mean for freedom, justice and equality for Blacks, women and other historically oppressed people.
    Ginsburg reportedly told her granddaughter on her deathbed, Sept. 18, that “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” But shortly after news of Ginsburg’s death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his intention to try to confirm Ginsburg’s replacement before the presidential election in 44 days. And within minutes of learning of the open seat Arizona Sen. Martha McSally jumped out as the first senator to declare that she will vote for whoever McConnell and Trump instruct her to as soon as possible. 
    “Justice Ginsburg performed a great sacrifice by not allowing herself to rest and selflessly stay and fighting to the very end,” said Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, a political commentator, public speaker and author. “Her dying wish was for her seat to not be filled. It was on her mind. What this means largely, is that we’re up the creek without a paddle. We know this because Trump is unscrupulous, has no principle, no integrity.”
    She added, “We’re in perfect storm. We have the most unscrupulous president that we’ve known in recent history. The very same things can be said about McConnell who is even more dangerous. These two individuals are in power and have the power to shape the court. I would expect them to go ahead and try to put another conservative Republican on the court.”
    As legal minds expressed some of their worst fears, national civil rights representatives recalled the contributions of Ginsburg and what might now be lost.
    “Justice Ginsburg’s 27-year tenure on the Supreme Court was marked by a passion for justice and the rule of the law,” said Derrick Johnson, president/CEO of the NAACP in a statement. “Her long, remarkable record includes her legendary opinions involving disability rights in Olmstead v. LC, and gender equality in the military, the United States v. Virginia. She was also known for her powerful dissents, many of which she delivered from the bench. These include dissents in the voting rights decision of Shelby County v. Holder, the gender equity case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Company Co., and the affirmative action case of Ricci v. Stefano…Our nation has lost its north star for justice tonight. As we move forward in the weeks and months ahead, we must honor Justice Ginsburg’s memory and extraordinary contributions and remember that the Supreme Court is the ultimate guardian of all of our civil rights and liberties.”
    Melanie Campbell, president/CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convenor of the Black Women’s Roundtable, pointed out how Ginsburg’s arguments will remain alive and provide groundwork for future civil rights battles.
    “Justice Ginsburg’s powerful and foretelling dissent in Shelby County v. Holder laid bare the majority’s flaws in the decision that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was no longer needed as a deterrent to voter suppression,” Campbell wrote in a statement. “In her dissent, Justice Ginsburg warned that ‘Race-based voting discrimination still exists’ and cautioned that gutting the Act’s protections against voting discrimination was like ‘throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.’”
    Campbell concludes, “As a result of the Court’s decision, voter suppression tactics have escalated in states across the country. The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation will honor the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by continuing the fight for civil rights, social justice and equity for all.”
    The National Bar Association (NBA), with its membership of thousands of Black lawyers, called Ginsburg “A truly great American” and “one of the most outstanding, compassionate crusaders for justice to ever sit on the Supreme Court of The United States.”
    Florida-based Attorney Kelly Charles-Collins fears that a far-right court which would boast a 6-3 majority is going to tear down established law in the form of Brown v Board and the Voting Rights Act. Civil Rights and LGBTQ issues are not their favorites either, she said; also expressing concern for abortion rights.
    “There’s a balancing, a cost-benefit analysis,” Charles-Collins said. “It’s power versus their word. Do you think McConnell cares? They play chess all day long every day. We have to respect them for that.”
    The Rev. Graylan Hagler said he thinks it’s not a certainty that McConnell will have the room to execute his plan to get another Republican on the high court. But if McConnell is successful, Hagler theorizes, it will also be “bad news” for immigration and labor unions, which will suffer as will American workers who the Supreme Court already votes against routinely.
    Critics say a 6-3 conservative court would further eviscerate voting rights by turning its back on extreme partisan gerrymandering, erasing corporate and environmental regulations and further bolstering the rape of the economy and American lives by plutocrats who are benefiting by the removal of limits to the role of dark money and the avalanche of cash that has overwhelmed campaigns and American politics.
    McConnell has earned Democrats’ ire because of the stunt he pulled in March 2016 when he blocked Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia who had died one month earlier. McConnell’s argument then was that he would not allow any of consideration of Obama’s pick because Americans should be allowed to vote and the president choose. So he placed a blockade around the vote but now he’s rushing to push the vote through, a move that some view as the ultimate hypocrisy. 
    Attorney Elva Mason of Charlottesville sa“We have lost a warrior and I don’t think a lot of people realize it,” she said. “She had a very shy demeanor but was tough as nails.”
    Mason reflected on an what she views as an important scenario outlined by political analyst and pollster Dr. Larry Sabato of UVA. He said if Republicans push this, the best scenario for those who oppose the move is a Biden win. And then Democrats could expand the court by two to offset the far-right members of the Court.
    “There are just all kind of ideas. Minds are already running at 100 miles an hour,” Mason said. “The thing that always bothers me is Republicans have always been motivated in terms of elections and who’s on the Supreme Court. It’s always second for Democrats. Now we see consequences. These nine people can make decisions to affect our children and children’s children.”

  • SOS continues protests to demand Medicaid Expansion for Alabama

    Montgomery, AL – Peaceful protestors – many in wheelchairs and walkers – gathered at the state Capitol to demand Medicaid expansion and were met by at least 32 armed law enforcement officers, not counting those in Montgomery City Police vehicles. The nearly three dozen armed police remained standing while speakers, including several young activists, continued to plea for Medicaid expansion in Alabama
    Attorney and Civil Rights Activist Faya Toure said: “It is regretful that such a scene is taking place week after week at SOS events to save lives in a city with a Black Mayor and a Black police chief. Montgomery is known for its historic civil disobedience, which led to Montgomery’s having its first ever Black Mayor elected last year.”
    Those present included leaders of SOS, the Save OurSelves Movement for Justice and Democracy, and other human rights and civil rights groups. They met at the historic King Memorial Dexter Avenue Baptist Church at 11:30 a.m. and marched up the street to the Alabama State Capitol facing a sea of armed city police officers for a noon press conference to continue to push for Medicaid expansion. Individuals with physical limitations participated in the march and the press conference and stressed the critical need to expand Medicaid to save lives, now more than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Young leaders from across Alabama also participated in today’s events at the Church and the Capitol, including two who were previously arrested and jailed for civil disobedience misdemeanors or “good trouble” as Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed likes to quote the late Congressman John Lewis.
    SOS and LGBTQ leader Judson Garner called out state leaders for finding money to build private mega prisons while refusing to move to save lives and save hospitals with Medicaid expansion. “We will be paying for these private prisons long after the Governor and other elected leaders have died. They can find billions to warehouse Alabamians in private facilities, but they can’t find a pittance to save lives, build our economy and improve every corner of our state with Medicaid expansion. This is wrong, and all young Alabamians – and all Alabamians – should be outraged.”
    Kumasi Amin with Black Lives Matter and SOS said: “This movement consists of people of all ages, and we will not stop until Medicaid is expanded. We will continue to stand side by side, recognizing that the issues that affect our elders also affect us intergenerationally. Just as we watch our Black brothers and sisters being murdered at the hands and knees of law enforcement across this country, we also see people needlessly dying and suffering in Alabama because of the failure to expand Medicaid and the lack of health coverage and healthcare. I myself will lose my health coverage when I turn 26 this year. And Black people are dying throughout this city, state and nation because of policies at all levels of government.”
    Alabama remains one of only 12 states in America that has taken no action to expand Medicaid. Because of the state’s ongoing failure to act, thousands of Alabamians have needlessly died in Alabama since Medicaid expansion was made available to all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. “This is unforgivable,” said Law Professor Emerita Martha Morgan.
    Travis Jackson with Black Lives Matter and SOS who is also a veteran of the Iraqi War said: “How can the State of Alabama find billions of dollars for private prisons and yet can’t find a penny to expand Medicaid? How can leaders of good faith justify such actions? There is no justification, and Alabama must expand Medicaid now.”
    SOS leaders John Zippert and Johnny Ford, who have been a part of the movement to expand Medicaid from day one, also made remarks as well as brought individuals with physical limitations to participate in today’s events. Eutaw resident Gus Richardson urged the state, “Expand Medicaid NOW!”
    Zippert said, “More than 340,000 Alabamians fall in the gap between current Medicaid eligibility and ability to qualify for subsidized health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. These uninsured Alabamians are placing financial pressure on all hospitals and causing many smaller rural hospitals to close. Expanding Medicaid in Alabama will save 700 lives a year of people dying because they lack health insurance coverage. With the coronavirus, many more people with underlying health conditions like asthma, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and others, which go untreated because they lack insurance, are suffering higher death rates from the pandemic.”
    Ford said, “We welcome persons directly affected by the lack of Medicaid Expansion in the State of Alabama, to join us in our SOS weekly protests to urge Governor Ivey to do the right thing. We want more people directly impacted by the lack of health insurance in Alabama to testify at our SOS rallies and press conferences to put more pressure on the Governor.”
    Annie Pearl Avery who was on the bridge in Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday in 1965 said: “I have been part of the Civil Rights Movement for six decades. From Birmingham to Montgomery to Selma to Atlanta to Jackson to D.C. and more, I have been on the front lines fighting for civil and human rights. Our fights directly led to Black mayors and other Black elected officials as well as Black police officers, including the nearly three dozen lined up in front of us now. I have also been fighting for Medicaid expansion from the beginning, and I’ll be here fighting for it until Alabama leaders do the right thing and save lives instead of taking lives.”
    Persons interested in joining or supporting the SOS Movement for Justice and Democracy may contact SOS through the Internet and Facebook. Support can also be sent to the SOS Survival Fund, 838 South Court Street, Montgomery, Alabama 36104; phone 205-262-9032.

  • Newswire : Zimbabwe grants coal mining rights to Chinese company in its biggest wild game park

    Lion resting in game Park


    Sept. 7, 2020 (GIN) – Wildlife and the environment will be at risk in Zimbabwe’s biggest game park now that the government has given the green light to several Chinese companies seeking to launch polluting coal-mining activities in the fragile animal preserve.
     
    Zimbabwe is already on the hook to explain the deaths of 22 elephants just as the mining concessions were awarded to several Chinese companies in Hwange National Park.
     
    Environmentalists now fear the mining activities will harm the environment and worsen human-wildlife conflict as animals move to get away from disturbances to their habitats.
     
    Zimbabwe uses hydro-generated electricity but recent droughts, worsened by climate change, have meant less capacity for the country as well as neighboring Zambia from the Kariba Dam.
     
    Even as China’s investment in renewable energy projects has soared, making them one of the world’s leaders in solar, for example, Chinese companies have been building hundreds of coal plants abroad, some in countries that currently burn little or no coal.
     
    Last year, Kenyan judges stopped a Chinese-backed scheme to build Kenya and East Africa’s first coal plant because the owners had failed to conduct a thorough assessment of the plant’s impact on Lamu, an idyllic archipelago in the country’s northeast.
     
    The Hwange National Park is home to elephants, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, giraffes and other rare species. Zhongxin Coal Mining Group and Afrochine Smelting received permission from the government to begin environmental impact assessments for drilling, land clearance, road building and geological surveys at two proposed sites inside the park, which is home to almost 10% of Africa’s remaining wild elephants.
     
    It could devastate safari tourism, which is a vital source of income for local people.
     
    The mysterious deaths of the elephants in Zimbabwe appear similar to the deaths last month of more than 275 elephants in neighboring Botswana. Scientists are still investigating the deaths of the elephants in Botswana’s Okavango Delta area and poaching, poisoning and anthrax have been ruled out.
     
    Botswana has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated at 156,000 and Zimbabwe has the second largest, estimated at 85,000. Last year about 200 elephants in Zimbabwe died of starvation as a result of the country’s drought.
     

  • Newswire: Lou Brock, Cardinals Hall of Famer, dead at 81

    Lou Brock stealing a base and Lou Brock signed baseball card

    By Associated Press
    Hall of Famer Lou Brock, one of baseball’s signature leadoff hitters and base stealers who helped the St. Louis Cardinals win three pennants and two World Series in the 1960s, has died. He was 81.
    Dick Zitzmann, Brock’s longtime agent and friend, confirmed Brock’s death Sunday, but he said he couldn’t provide any details. The Cardinals and Cubs also observed a moment of silence in the outfielder’s memory before their game at Wrigley Field.
    Brock lost a leg from diabetes in recent years and was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.
    “Lou Brock was one of the most revered members of the St. Louis Cardinals organization and one of the very best to ever wear the Birds on the Bat,” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a release.
    “He will be deeply missed and forever remembered.”
    The man later nicknamed the Running Redbird and the Base Burglar arrived in St. Louis in June 1964, swapped from the Cubs for pitcher Ernie Broglio in what became one of baseball’s most lopsided trades.
    Brock stole 938 bases in his career, including 118 in 1974 — both of those were big league records until they were broken by Rickey Henderson.
    “Lou was an outstanding representative of our national pastime and he will be deeply missed,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a release.
    Brock’s death came after Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver died Monday. Brock and Seaver faced each other 157 times, the most prolific matchup for both of them in their careers.
    The Cards were World Series champions in 1964 and 1967 and lost to the Detroit Tigers in seven games in 1968. Opposing teams were warned to keep Brock off base, especially in the low-scoring years of 1967-68 when a single run often could win a game. But the speedy left fielder with the popup slide was a consistent base-stealing champion and run producer.
    A lifetime .293 hitter, he led the league in steals eight times, scored 100 or more runs seven times and amassed 3,023 hits.
    He was so synonymous with base stealing that in 1978 he became the first major leaguer to have an award named for him while still active — the Lou Brock Award, for the National League’s leader in steals. For Brock, base stealing was an art form and a kind of warfare. He was among the first players to study films of opposing pitchers and, once on base, relied on skill and psychology.