Home Blog Page 949

Did Law Enforcement, Media Cover Up Alleged Plan to Burn Christopher Dorner Alive?

Editor, Our Time Press
-
29

By Max Blumenthal

At approximately 7 PM ET, I listened through a police scanner as San Bernardino Sheriffs gave the order to burn down the cabin where suspected murderer Christopher Dorner was allegedly hiding. Deputies were maneuvering a remote controlled demolition vehicle to the base of the cabin, using it to tear down the walls of the cabin where Dorner was hiding, and peering inside.

In an initial dispatch, a deputy reported seeing “blood spatter” inside the cabin. Dorner, who had just engaged in a firefight with deputies that killed one officer and wounded another, may have been wounded in the exchange. There was no sign of his presence, let alone his resistance, according to police dispatches.
It was then that the deputies decided to burn the cabin down.

“We’re gonna go ahead with the plan with the burner,” one sheriff’s deputy told another. “Like we talked about.” Minutes later, another deputy’s voice crackled across the radio: “The burner’s deployed and we have a fire.”

Next, a sheriff reported a “single shot” heard from inside the house. This was before the fire had penetrated deeply into the cabin’s interior, and may have signaled Dorner’s suicide. At that point, an experienced ex-cop like him would have known he was finished.

Over the course of the next hour, I listened as the sheriffs carefully managed the fire, ensuring that it burned the cabin thoroughly. Dorner, a former member of the LAPD who had accused his ex-colleagues of abuse and racism in a lengthy, detailed manifesto, was inside. The cops seemed to have little interest in taking him alive.

“Burn that … house down!” shouted a deputy through a scanner transmission inadvertently broadcast on the Los Angeles local news channel, KCAL 9.

While live ammo exploded inside the cabin, the deputies pondered whether the basement would burn as well – they wanted to know if its ceiling was made of wood or concrete. They assumed Dorner was hiding there, and apparently wanted to ensure that he would be burned to a crisp. “Because the fire is contained, I’m gonna let that heat burn through the basement,” a deputy declared.

SWAT teams airlifted to the location were told to be ready in case Dorner did manage to escape. “Guys be ready on the number four side [the front of the cabin],” a deputy declared. “He might come out the back.”
Just after 7 PM (4 PM PT), right when the orders were given to deploy the “burners,” the San Bernardino Country Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Cindy Bachman hastily gathered reporters for an impromptu press conference. Claiming to know nothing new, she told reporters that she had no idea why the cabin was on fire, or who started the fire. Reporters badgered Bachman for information, but she had none, raising the question of why the presser was convened when it was.

Around the same time, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department requested that all reporters and media organizations stop tweeting about the ongoing standoff with Dorner, claiming their journalism was “hindering officer safety.” As the cabin sheltering Dorner burned, the local CBS affiliate was reportedly told by law enforcement to zoom its helicopter camera out to avoid showing the actions of sheriff’s deputies. By all accounts, the media acceded to police pressure for self-censorship.

The Riverside Press Enterprise, a leading local newspaper, announced on Twitter, “Law enforcement asked media to stop tweeting about the#Dorner case, fearing officer safety. We are complying.” The paper’s editors added, “We are going to tweet broad, non-tactical details, as per the San Bernardino DA’s request.”

Minding Your Business

Robert Bridgers
-
43

We live in a capitalist society. It teaches us that “money” is the true measure of all things. If you got money, then … (fill in the blanks), and if you don’t, well there must be something the matter with you. Unfortunately, very few have not been influenced by this sacred tenet. It would behoove you to keep this in mind when discussing wages with your staff, which brings me back to the topic of personnel management and the establishment of appropriate wages and compensation for your new hire.

Wage and compensation determinants:
Productivity is defined as the comparison between the quantity of goods or services produced and the quantity of resources employed in turning out these goods or services. It is this ratio of output to input expressed as a number that you can gauge the value of a task. By determining the additional value the person brings to your organization as a result of an increase in this ratio you can begin to develop a framework for your compensation program.

By far, the most widely used determinant of setting wages is obtaining “comparables”. Used by unions, the federal government and private companies, this method simply means, “pay the market”. Since wage rates can easily be determined because this data is readily available to both employers and employees, it has become the yardstick.

There is some correlation between the pay scale of a company and the quality of the business enterprise, even if it is only perceptive. Therefore, they tend to attract better employees and it becomes a self -fulfilling prophecy. This higher compensation also improves recruitment and aids in retention, especially in those hard-to-fill positions. In-N-Out Burger pays their lowest-paid employees starting out at $10.00 per hour and on their Web site they clearly state that and go on to say, “You are important to us and this is one way we show it”.
A popular concept in the labor movement is “ a living wage”, partly echoed by President Obama at the State of the Union Address when he referenced raising the minimum wage to nine dollars per hour. As Paul Krugman, Nobel prizewinning economist ( a must-read columnist) for the NY Times clearly states, “The preponderance of evidence points to little, if any, effect of minimum wage increases on employment”.

Most businesses say the major factor in what they pay is determined by the market but quickly add “if we can afford it”. However, upon further analysis, it is clear that this becomes a dubious claim when these same employers are asked to provide their methodology for determining this amount. They quickly retreat and start mumbling about their “willingness” to pay more if circumstances dictate it. Clearly, it is a mixture of both.
One major consideration is the supply of available potential employees in which to select from. Changing economic conditions can drastically affect this reality and force you to reconsider your initial projected wage levels. In declining industries you tend to have more flexibility than in industries that are either stable or experiencing rapid growth. Since wages is such a key component on your expense side and will largely dictate what you must charge for your goods or services, you must be extremely careful in setting these rates.

Stock incentives are utilized in many young entrepreneurial ventures and are sometimes used to attract and hold key personnel. Some small firms have created employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), which give employees a share of ownership in the business. When coupled with a commitment to employee participation in the actual running of the business, it can motivate your employees and result in dramatic improvement in productivity.
Employee benefits include all payments by the employer for such items as Social Security, vacation time, holidays , health insurance and retirement compensation. Though terribly expensive, as much as 40 percent of wages in some firms, you must also consider them especially if you are in a highly competitive field. Some small firms have adopted what is referred to as “cafeteria plans”, which allows the employee to select the types of benefits they will receive on a limited basis therefore reducing the overall cost.

In conclusion, I strongly advise you not to be reluctant to paying remarkable employees spectacular compensation which inevitably will pay dividends and always remember, as primitive as it may seem, “you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”.

Eddie Castro
-
16

Today is the trade deadline for the NBA, which marks one of the most interesting days for some of the up and coming or elite teams in the league as they look to add some key players to their roster. Both the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks are among the top teams in the East, and it is expected that both franchises will try to make a splash to revamp their rosters in hopes of keeping up with the Miami Heat. However, the past couple of years, both teams have been very quiet around this time, and neither have not made major trade the last couple of years.

The New York Knicks are looking like a playoff-caliber team in the Eastern Conference sitting in the #2 seed. However, the team looked to have run out of fuel as the All-Star break came closer. Sure Carmelo Anthony is playing out of his mind right now and is 2nd in the league in scoring and perhaps is having his best year as a pro, but Melo wouldn’t mind some help in the scoring department. The Knicks organization necessarily need to make a big move. Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby are both expected to return from injuries giving the Knicks another defensive and offensive tool. Wallace was probably the 2nd most productive player on the team before he went down with a foot injury. Those players alone should be all the key additions the Knicks would need to compete in the East. If the Knicks were to make a move I think it would only be if Camby or Wallace were unable to stay healthy. One name to throw out there would be Kenyon Martin. Martin was not signed by any team this year, however, he can still be productive coming off the bench for a team like the Knicks.

Across the river, it appears to be a little more interesting for the Brooklyn squad. Once again the Dwight Howard rumors have emerged, however, it does not seem to bother Brook Lopez. On Sunday night Lopez made his first All-Star appearance for the East team. If there’s a move the Nets should make it would be to acquire a player who will mesh well with Lopez. There have been on-going talks with the Nets and Charlotte Bobcats about a potential trade involving Bobcats shooting guard Ben Gordon. Even though the Nets could use another player that can knock down the 3-ball, I think they should think big and when I mean big I’m not talking about Hawks’ forward Josh Smith. Here’s a name that’s been under the radar, how about a trade of Kris Humphries and Marshon Brooks to the Bulls for Carlos Boozer. Deron Williams and Boozer played 7 years together in Utah, and reuniting those two together will be awesome. Both Boozer and Williams’ family are close and hung out together during All-Star break, not to mention they were one of the best tandems at execution the pick-n roll. It is unlikely that those 2 players alone will be enough for Chicago to unload Boozer.

For now, there are no trades to report, but rest assured by the end of the day, some team will be giving the league different looks going as the push towards the playoffs begins.

Sports Notes: (baseball): spring training is here! The Yankees open up Spring Training baseball as they battle the new-look Toronto Blue Jays Sunday afternoon. There have been many reports that the Yankees have engaged in serious talks with second basemen Robinson Cano. With Jeter towards the end of his career and A-Rod expecting to miss the 1st half of the season, Yankee management is looking towards the future and are trying keep Cano in pinstripes. If there was a deal in place for Cano, it could be perhaps be for 8 years around the $200 million dollar range. Cano is entering the last year of his current contract.

Parent's Notebook

Aminisha Black
-
0

The formula “input plus process equals output” is used in monitoring everything from baking cakes to managing corporations. It’s also a valid formula for rearing children. When a cake turns out too hard or too soggy we know that something went wrong, either in the mixing of the ingredients or in the process (in the case of baking – time or temperature). It’s pretty straightforward. Bakers know to check the ingredients and the time/temperature relationship. They don’t defend the ruined cake. Neither do they blame or punish it. They simply go back to the recipe and the oven to find where the change is needed. When a gardener buys a plant, he finds out what type of soil, the amount of light and water the plant needs. Should the plant die the gardener would rarely have to guess the cause. The answer lies within the realm of soil, water and light, the same as when used for house plants.

I’m sure that many who would not dispute the soundness of the formula when used in the examples given here will frown skeptically on the suggestion of its value in rearing children. The formula works but it requires understanding of the important role emotional well-being plays in our lives. Where are we told that parents, teachers, family members are shaping the future chances are when we look at financial status, achievements and the like and adopt those as the norm and determine the goals to aim for. Where do we examine or learn the values of the African villages and the contributions made by all villagers including the children? We could then observe the behaviors formed as a result of the brutal practices of slavery – practices that instilled competition and disunity, lack of trust and severe feelings of inferiority. And ultimately, when do we realize and take responsibility for transforming a system where material wealth (possessions of objects) defines success. While we have adapted African names and attire, traveled to the continent and participate in African religions, where are we told of the importance of the lessons learned in the home and in schools – lessons that impact the child’s sense of self and emotional well-being.

Today is the time to rescue ourselves and our children from this system whose highest-held value is possession of objects (remember, slaves filled a need at the time for producing wealth for the masters). As technology fulfills that need we witness other countries being invaded, human life destroyed. Our youth are filling positions for the profit-motivated capitalist available before being replaced by immigrants who’ll work for lower wages or happening more frequently move the site of production to a country where lower wages are paid. In the final analysis, the path leads ultimately to profit , no different than our ancestors who were taken from African villages, stripped of fulfilling their purpose in life by contributing to villages in which their needs were met, living their lives with a purpose and that resulted in the dismal statistics witnessed today. Do we want to pass this on to the next generation?

The 3Rs standing for Reading wRiting and aRithmetic were synonymous with the foundation of schools and education. If you’re looking for a platform to revolutionize parenting in the African-American community, that’s a good place to start. Just add: Responsibility, Relationship and Resources. Responsibility is necessary for any endeavor to succeed. Having a goal and choosing actions that moves toward the goal and taking responsibility for choices already made. Remember, we’re always choosing. Talking about the problem, pointing finger of blame, etc. are choices. We’ve been trained in not taking responsibility for fear of blame. In the coming weeks we’ll be moving into building our children’s relationship with self and others, we’ll set the agenda for home.

PN Alerts!!
***Banking on Youth Competition for youth 13-22 years old showcasing ideas for benefiting society and creating positive social change. Entry until March 15 for the chance to win one of thirty $1,000 seed money prizes, and two grand prizes of $5,000 and $15,000. Visit www.bankingonyouth.org
*** Winter/Spring Internships (credit and noncredit) at WBAI radio – in audio engineering, marketing, accounting, graphic design, social media networking, and event
Planning, general station support and business organization. E-mail resume, days/hours of availability and areas of interest to internship@wbai.org
*** Sat., Feb. 23 – Last Chance for teens 13-19 to audition for Vy Higgensen’s Gospel for Teens Free Program, 149 W. 126th St., Harlem. For further info call 212-280-1045.

Comptroller John Liu, The People’s Frontrunner for NYC Mayor (Pt. Two)

David Mark Greaves
-
0

OTP: The case of the Central Park Five. Why hasn’t the city settled that?
Liu: For no good reason. It’s just stubbornness, perhaps an unwillingness to admit or confront the reality that a mistake was made. A really big mistake. It should be settled. I’ve offered all the resources of my office, the legal experts who conduct these settlements. Even my boardroom where they can sit around the clock and not leave without a settlement. It’s been ten years. There is no acceptable reason why there is no settlement. And the longer the time, the more it’s going to cost the taxpayers. It’s not going away. Let’s recognize that a mistake was made and settle to allow these men to move forward for the city to heal and put this behind us. It’s got to be done.
OTP: Where does the buck stop? What is the office or authority that’s saying, “No, we’re not going to go forward.”
Liu: The Corp. Counsel. The Corporation Counsel. Also known as the New York City Law Department. It’s in their hands because it’s in litigation. But at the end of the day, it’s my office that has to approve any settlement. We’re encouraging the settlement. Even though we can’t force the Law Department to come to a settlement, I’m encouraging them to do that. Their position right now just seems to be unreasonable, let’s move on.
OTP: Is this something that the mayor could step into?
Liu: The mayor can and the mayor should end this on his own. He still has eleven more months of his administration.
OTP: And if you were mayor?
Liu: Short of Mayor Bloomberg bringing closure to this, if I were in a position to do so, I would do it very rapidly.
OTP: I saw you had big ups from Alton Maddox, he was the attorney for one of the then-Central Park 7, and he was also the attorney for Tawana Brawley.
One of the panels in Jesse Jackson’s upcoming Wall Street Project is looking at “best practices for accomplishing parity in public procurement, construction projects and management of public pension funds. What would the best practices of a Liu Administration look like?
Liu: I’d like to think they’re already there. I am the steward of the public pension fund and we’ve vastly expanded the portfolio for minority- and women-owned managers. We’re up to about $8 billion, up from five-and-a-half billion when I first took office. So it’s a much larger piece of pie for minority managers to invest. The minority managers have invested and gotten good results so it makes sense for us to invest even more.
In regard to overall procurement, there has to be a change in attitude. For the last decade, there has not been any thrust or drive or motivation to ensure there was more minority participation in city contracts. Whether they be pension investment or construction or selling children’s clothing. There hasn’t been the drive for it. And you can see that in the shameful results. As comptroller, I’ve brought transparency to the actual spending with minority entrepreneurs when I first unveiled my MWBE report card; we were showing a paltry 2% of the city’s business going to minority entrepreneurs. It’s inching up. It’s now a little over 3%, which is still disgraceful.
There needs to be changes: first in attitude and some of the rules of procurement have to be updated. For example, some of the bonding requirements are too onerous for small businesses. The retainage, where the city keeps a certain amount of money from the business even after all the work is done, is also a killer for some of our small entrepreneurs. So there are rules that need to be changed but first and foremost there has to be a change in attitude. And that attitude has to have the direction from the top. The agencies tend to do what is easiest, the same old-same old. It’s always easiest to go back to the same suppliers over and over again. But then it’s hard for minority entrepreneurs to get their feet in the door.
You guys did a big story on what I did with the bond sales. Where the city rotated between big investment banks, and it was always the same investment banks so one time we had a billion-dollar bond sale, and instead of taking the next in line I said, “Let’s have a competition. Anybody who wants to sell these billion dollars worth of bonds should submit a proposal.” We got many more proposals than the companies that always take turns. We evaluated all of the proposals fairly. The four big banks, Citibank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, submitted their proposals, none of them were near the top. The firm with the top evaluation was a firm very few people had heard of. It turned out to be an African-American firm. But if we had done the same old, the usual bureaucratic approach and not change the process, then they never would have been able to compete. I saw the head of the company a year later at Reverend Jackson’s Wall Street Summit, and he said to me that because of the bond sale they increased their presence in New York City and hired an additional 75 people.
Not only do we level the playing field and this was not a giveaway they competed for the business. It shook up the big players who were getting a little too comfortable and created jobs for the city and the taxpayers were saved the most amount of money.
The more we diversify and expand our set of suppliers, including many more minority entrepreneurs, not only is it good for the entrepreneurs but it’s good for our taxpayers.
OTP: Technology has changed how people work so much. Folks are coming out of their apartments and running businesses sitting in cafes and parks. Working anywhere. How would a Liu Administration use the new technology to help reshape the city?
Liu: That’s a great question. I have a lot of ideas about how to use technology to enhance not only the workday but the ability of people to find work. We need to reduce unemployment disparities as well as reduce unemployment rates. I’ve called for the large telecommunication companies to provide free broadband to certain neighborhoods, where there is a certain percentage of people who are eligible for assistance. The “digital divide” actually separates people from economic opportunity. So that’s one we have to eradicate. So it’s not just someone’s ability to do their work, but also the ability to find work and retain work in the first place.
I’d like to make broadband universally available to everybody, and the economy will be stronger for it.
OTP: I saw where Mayor Bloomberg’s failure to come to terms with the teachers union about an evaluation process is going to cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars. What is that about and how would you handle the whole evaluation situation?
Liu: The governor and the state legislature last year put in stipulations that all the school districts in the state of New York had to put in place a teacher evaluation system. By January 17th, 2013, 995 of the school districts in the state of New York made the deadline. New York City did not make the deadline and the reports are there was an agreement between the United Federation of Teachers and the Department of Education and then at the eleventh hour, the mayor scuttled the deal and we lost out on a quarter of a billion dollars in school funding.
The mayor didn’t like the evaluation plan that had been agreed upon. He considered it a sham. I believe the mayor of the city should be fighting for every penny from the state and federal governments and not be an ideologue and forgo significant amounts of funding. It’s not the mayor’s responsibility to second-guess what the legislature, the governor, the state Education Department and what 99% of the other school districts were able to accomplish.

OTP: Your State of the City Address, what would you say were the main points?
Liu: I talked quite a bit about the wealth divide and how we need to correct that by growing the middle class by uplifting the working poor. Raising the city’s minimum wage to $11.50/hr. Which actually has a sound economic basis, it’s not a seemingly random number like other numbers that have been thrown out. I also talked about the need to increase the number of New Yorkers with college degrees. And one way to do that would be to offer free tuition to the top 10% of high school graduates in the city. I think that would be an extremely smart investment in the city’s future. We’re falling behind other major American cities in terms of the proportion of our population that have college degrees. In the 21st century economy, college degrees are almost a must at this point.
OTP: CUNY used to be free for everyone.
Liu: Yes and I would like to say, although it seems difficult over the next few years, I have an aspiration to restore the days of free CUNY tuition.
We need to enhance safety for communities across the city and that includes abolishing stop-and-frisk, which is a tactic I don’t believe works. And, in fact, harms communities by creating a deep rift between the police and the community they are responsible to protect.
OTP: Along with that, the stop-and-frisk, we see they have over $180 million in legal claims.
Liu: Yes, in fact, claims against the NYPD are growing faster and at this point are greater, than against any other city agency.
OTP: That $180 million sounds like a lot of money. That does not come out of the police budget does it?
Liu: No it doesn’t. It comes out of the general revenues.
OTP: So they’re held harmless in effect.
Liu: One of the recommendations I’ve made in the analysis of these claims is to have each agency responsible for their own claims cost. That way, if it hurts a little bit, we can align the interests a little better.

1...948949950...1,292Page 949 of 1,292