Home Blog Page 700

Info Wars: United States Justice Department Indicted 13 Russians for Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. by Interfering in the Elections

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0
Info Wars: United States Justice Department Indicted 13 Russians for Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. by Interfering in the Elections

Excerpts from the Indictment are below.

From in or around 2014 to the present, defendants knowingly and intentionally conspired with each other (and with persons known and unknown to the grand jury) to defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing and defeating the lawful functions of the government through fraud and deceit for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the presidential election of 2016.

  1. Beginning as early as 2014, Defendant ORGANIZATION began operations to interfere with the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
  2. Defendant ORGANIZATION had a strategic goal to sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Defendants posted derogatory information about a number of candidates, and by early to mid-2016, defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump (“Trump Campaign”) and disparaging Hillary Clinton. Defendants made various expenditures to carry out those activities, including buying political advertisements on social media in the names of U.S. persons and entities. Defendants also staged political rallies inside the United States, and while posing as U.S. grass-roots entities and U.S. persons, and without revealing their Russian identities and ORGANIZATION affiliation, solicited and compensated real U.S. persons to promote or disparage candidates. Some defendants, posing as U.S. persons and without revealing their Russian association, communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.
  3. The ORGANIZATION sought, in part, to conduct what it called “information warfare against the United States of America” through fictitious U.S. personas on social media platforms and other Internet-based media.
  4. By in or around April 2014, the ORGANIZATION formed a department that went by various names but was, at times, referred to as the “translator project.” This project focused on the U.S. population and conducted operations on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. By approximately July 2016, more than eighty ORGANIZATION employees were assigned to the translator project.
  5. By in or around May 2014, the ORGANIZATION’s strategy included interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with the stated goal of “spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general.”
  7. Certain ORGANIZATION-produced materials about the 2016 U.S. presidential election

used election-related hashtags, including: “#Trump2016,” “#TrumpTrain,” “#MAGA,”

“#IWontProtectHillary” and “#Hillary4Prison.” Defendants and their co-conspirators also

established additional online social media accounts dedicated to the 2016 U.S. presidential

election, including the Twitter account “March for Trump” and Facebook accounts “Clinton

FRAUDation” and “Trumpsters United.”

Excerpt of Advertisements

“You know, a great number of black people support us saying that

#HillaryClintonlsNotMyPresident.”

“I say no to Hillary Clinton / I say no to manipulation.”

“JOIN our #HillaryClintonForPrison2016.”

“Donald wants to defeat terrorism … Hillary wants to sponsor it.”

“Vote Republican, vote Trump and support the Second Amendment!”

“Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote.”

“Trump is our only hope for a better future!”

“#Never Hillary, #HillaryForPrison, #Hillary4 Prison, #HillaryForPrison2016.

#Trump2016, #Trump, #Trump4President.”

“Ohio Wants Hillary 4 Prison”

“Hillary Clinton has already committed voter fraud during the Democrat Iowa

Caucus.”

“We cannot trust Hillary to take care of our veterans!”

“Among all the candidates, Donald Trump is the one and only who can defend

the police from terrorists.”

“Hillary is a Satan, and her crimes and lies had proved just how evil she is.”

 

  1. In or around June and July 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators used the Facebook group “Being Patriotic,” the Twitter account @March for Trump and other ORGANIZATION accounts to organize two political rallies in New York. The first rally was called “March for Trump” and was held on June 25, 2016. The second rally was called “Down with Hillary” and held on July 23, 2016.

On or about June 5, 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators, while posing as a U.S. grass-roots activist, used the account @March_for_Trump to contact a volunteer for the Trump Campaign in New York. The volunteer agreed to provide signs for the “March for Trump” rally.

 

 

  1. After the rallies in Florida, defendants and their co-conspirators used false U.S. personas to organize and coordinate U.S. political rallies supporting then-candidate Trump in New York and Pennsylvania. Defendants and their co-conspirators used the same techniques to build and promote these rallies as they had in Florida, including: buying Facebook advertisements; paying U.S. persons to participate in or perform certain tasks at the rallies; and communicating with real U.S. persons and grass-roots organizations supporting then-candidate Trump.
  2. After the election of Donald Trump in or around November 2016, defendants and their co­conspirators used false U.S. personas to organize and coordinate U.S. political rallies in support of then president-elect Trump, while simultaneously using other false U.S. personas to organize and coordinate U.S. political rallies protesting the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. For example, in or around November 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators organized a rally in New York through one ORGANIZATION-controlled group designed to “show your support for President-elect Donald Trump” held on or about November 12, 2016. At the same time, defendants and their co-conspirators, through another ORGANIZATION-controlled group, organized a rally in New York called “Trump is NOT my President” held on or about November 12, 2016. Similarly, defendants and their co-conspirators organized a rally entitled “Charlotte Against Trump” in Charlotte, North Carolina, held on or about November 19, 2016.

 

On or about August 31, 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators created and purchased Facebook advertisements for a rally they organized and scheduled in New York for September 11, 2016.

  1. On or about September 9, 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators, through a false U.S. persona, contacted the real U.S. person who had impersonated Clinton at the West Palm Beach rally. Defendants and their co-conspirators sent that U.S. person money via interstate wire as an inducement to travel from Florida to New York and to dress in costume at another rally they organized.

David Mark Greaves
-
0

 

Black Panther

What is interesting for me about the film is that it is not so much a fantasy as a remembrance of a world that might have been. Not built with vibranium, but with the natural resources that the African Continent is known for. If used for the benefit of the people, the gold, diamonds, oil and all the resources of the earth could have been used to build great societies and been a source of power for the people.

Without the European theft of people during the slave trade and ongoing transfer of resources, we could believe that empires such as Mali might have become the Wakanda of today.

Dereliction of Duty

It is ironic that the talk of mentally ill is being confined to the ban on assault weapons. It clearly should be expanded to include our president, whose behavior and words, and seeming detachment from reality, pose a clear and present danger to the republic. By his refusal to acknowledge what Russian operatives themselves called “warfare on the United States,” he has abdicated his sworn duty to protect the nation against all adversaries, foreign and domestic. The nation was attacked, and the response of the Commander-in-Chief is to not fight back but to whine and condemn us to an era that will live in infamy.

Assault Weapons Ban

There’s a good chance there will be an assault weapons ban with this session of Congress. Much credit will be given to the children’s crusade and the extraordinary young people emerging from the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, but there will be others playing their part as well. Republican fundraiser Al Hoffman, Jr., who has raised “well over $600 million” for Republicans when he was the fundraising chair, said in a CNN interview that he was closing his wallet to Republicans who do not support an assault weapons ban. Told that the NRA spends tens of millions itself and that candidates may go to other sources, Hoffman replied that he’s opening his “little Rolodex” and contacting other donors, urging them not to support those Republicans who do not support an assault weapons ban. I would not be surprised at a Republican change of heart.

Information Wars

Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team have just bagged thirteen Russians for interfering with the election process by sowing discord and the creation of false events to be covered by local and national news.

Some of those events took place in New York and are detailed in excerpts from the 37-page indictment on page 3. If you are engaged in activism for Clinton or Trump, you may find you were an “unwitting” pawn playing a part in a real-life spy novel. For ourselves, it was with dread that we searched our e-mail history here at Our Time Press for the addresses used by the Russians. Thankfully, we came up empty and also did not have coverage of the staged rallies. We stayed under their radar in 2016 and we had stayed away from their Blacktivist group because we recognized it was a fake. But we cannot expect to remain unnoticed in 2018 and rhetoric will be refined.   One lesson that comes out of the reading of the indictment, and if you like a page-turner, this is it if you see e-mails or Facebook posts and ads that are divisive, strident or mean-spirited, notices that speak to the gut rather than critical thinking about issues, then imagine a red circle with a red line through it and move on.

These Russian trolls and their bot programs that infect the Internet gravitate to emotional situations and exploit any divisions they can.   With the Florida shooting, they immediately began posting messages to create fear of an AR-15 ban.

They’re going to be back, they’re going to be sharper, and when the next explosive event in the Black community happens, they will be all over it, and the social media-obsessed and poorly educated are their easiest prey and violent demonstrations in urban areas will be their goal. The midterms are the prize and “vigilance” must be the watchword. They are coming for us!

 

 

DOE Rep: It May Not Be Too Late to Support PS 25 Neighborhood is Mobilizing in Support of School

Priscilla Mensah
-
0
DOE Rep: It May Not Be Too Late to Support PS 25 Neighborhood is Mobilizing in Support of School

While many schools have closed in various school districts across the nation under the familiar premise of low academic performance, there are other schools that close on a lesser known basis: under-enrollment. District’s 16’s Public School 25, also known as the Eubie Blake School, is one of the latest schools to be potentially impacted by such a phenomenon.

As recommended by the Community Education Council (CEC) of District 16, PS 25 is set to close its doors sooner, rather than later. In an official statement from the CEC as articulated by CEC Chair NeQuan McLean, “the CEC does not have the authority to close schools. We make recommendations which is covered under New York State Education Law s2590-e (18. Provide input, as it deems necessary, to the Chancellor and the city board on matters of concern to the district.) Our recommendations are based upon the information provided by the DOE and community feedback.”

As evidenced by the District 16 CEC meeting held on Valentine’s Day at The Brooklyn Brownstone School, there are community members who are not okay with such proposals or are willing to sit idly by as the idea of closing PS 25 floats around. An important takeaway from both that meeting and the power of community feedback as expressed in the CEC statement, is that there still may be time to stop such a closing. This is important because, rightfully so, not everyone agrees that PS 25 should be closed, and just as the CEC’s recommendation is being heard, so should the voices of those who are against the closing on PS 25.

Some Statistics

More than half of the 175 students currently enrolled in PS 25, perform well on standardized testing as listed on insideschools.org. Statistics such as these make sentiments of parents and other community stake holders who don’t want PS 25 to be closed understandable. After all, if a school is delivering on its promise to educate children, why close it?

What the DOE Says

According to Michael Aciman, a Department of Education representative, parents and the public are informed of school closings through a “comprehensive process.” Such a procedure involves sending out literature to parents with detailed information about the school’s closing. Additionally, information about meetings where parents can voice their concerns are also included in such packages. If there are people who feel as if their questions were not answered, they can contact d16proposals@schools.nyc.gov says Aciman. Aciman also delineated a major problem that he feels comes along with low enrollment. In essence, he suggests that if a school’s enrollment is on the lower end of the spectrum then it follows that the school would also have less resources which would make getting the most of an educational experience difficult.

When to Act

It is in the best interest of concerned parents, educators, and community members in general to email whomever it may concern as soon as possible as the Panel for Educational Policy’s final vote date is fast approaching. As the Black Panther movie proves, as a people we are more than capable of banding together and affecting change when change is needed.

Bed-Stuy Inside

An official dedication of the Eubie Blake Museum inside the P.S. 25/The Eubie Blake School, is on hold pending the decision of the Panel for Educational Policy to close the school or keep it open. PS. 25 was named after the late composer who lived for decades In District 16 on Stuyvesant Avenue, across from historic Bridge Street Church where he sometimes played on the church’s piano alone in the sanctuary. Mr. Blake died at home on February 12, 1983. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Broadway musical Eubie! 

Priscilla Mensah covers topics related to improving health, wellness, and overall community empowerment. She is also a former Health Reporting Fellow at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and can be reached at pmensahbrooklyn@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Teens Use Technology to Combat Bullying

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0
Teens Use Technology to Combat Bullying

Earlier this month, HITN, a leading Spanish language network, and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office hosted a screening of films produced by teenagers on bullying. The “youth by youth” event centered around the empowerment of young people through technology and advocacy with a focus on crime prevention through media literacy and creative expression.

DA Gonzalez receives signature caricature from HITN executive, Mike Nieves.

It also introduced the new partnership between the DA’s office and HITN in giving youth a voice on pressing issues that impact their world.  The groundbreaking initiative encourages young people to tell their stories by producing their own short films using their smartphones.

“This is a terrific opportunity to turn the tables on bullying and teach our children how to use their technology to make a positive impact. It has become all too clear that bullying has stepped out of the schoolyard and into cyberspace, which allows bullies the chance to post anonymous online taunts that are devastating to our children. This app is a great tool for helping kids help each other,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

Of note, last summer, August 2017, DA Gonzalez introduced with Councilmember Robert Cornegy an initiative directed at parents on the issue of bullying.  Over the course of the year, the DA’s office also has been sending ADAs into classrooms to talk to students about bullying, its effects and how to stop it.

 

Following Ambush of Rikers Guard, BP Adams and COBA President Husamudeen Call on City to Reform Corrections Policy for Disciplining Violent Offenders

Editor, Our Time Press
-
0
Following Ambush of Rikers Guard, BP Adams and COBA President Husamudeen Call on City to Reform Corrections Policy for Disciplining Violent Offenders

BROOKLYN, NY, February 14, 2018: Today, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and Corrections Officers Benevolent Association (COBA) President Elias Husamudeen called on the City to reform its corrections policy for disciplining violent offenders, specifically asking for a reexamination of its approach to ending punitive segregation for all inmates 21 years old and under, including non-violent and violent inmates alike.

This call came in the wake of Saturday’s brutal ambush of Jean Souffrant, a guard at the George Motchan Detention Center on Rikers Island, by four inmates who are all under 21 and are awaiting trials on charges including a number of violent crimes; Souffrant suffered bleeding on his brain and a fractured spine near his neck. Borough President Adams, a 22-year veteran of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), discussed the need to advance both justice and safety as dual imperatives, just as Raise the Age legislation achieved on the state level last year in carving out violent offenders.

“I refuse to accept an either-or proposition between justice and safety; the same people who try to make us choose between these two imperatives in our jails are the same who said we can only have better policing or safer streets,” said Borough President Adams. “We have to make jails safer for both corrections officers and non-violent offenders. We must combat gangs on our cell blocks with the same fervor as we combat gangs on our city blocks.”

Borough President Adams and COBA President Husamudeen, joined by more than a dozen union members outside the Brooklyn Detention Complex in Downtown Brooklyn, noted the security risk that jail violence poses to corrections officers, inmates, as well as the general population; inmate-on-inmate slashing and stabbing incidents were up 26 percent last year compared to 2016.

“I applaud Borough President Adams for taking a firm position on this issue on behalf of our corrections officers,” said COBA President Husamudeen. “Punitive segregation is a jail within a jail — it gives us the ability to segregate the violent inmates from the rest of the inmates by removing them from the general population, so that they do not have the ability to assault the officers or other inmates. If this was happening on the city’s streets, it would not be tolerated. As corrections officers, we deserve the same respect as all other officers in the NYPD.”

1...699700701...1,289Page 700 of 1,289