It continues to be fast and furious here at COP 24/7. The keyboard is literally almost in flames as we pump out the latest updates, breaking news, commotions and what have you that going on in the city and the world at large. How in the world can we get it all in is any body's guess, but we are firing all pistons then some to keep you in the know and loop of what's really going on. So let's dive in head first shall we...
HRC Bus Commeth
In an earlier post we served up the news that the Human Rights Campaign bus tour will be rolling through the city. However, we didn't realize how much rolling the bus will be doing in Little Rock this weekend. After reviewing the schedule, COP 24/7's eyes almost rolled back in our head with the dizzying array of activities that have been planned from one end of the city to the other. I applaud organizers for such a variety but I can't imagine trying to make them all or what it will take to find volunteers to facilitate, man tables or any of those other things it takes for successful events. However, you can give a grand try. Below is the link to the listing with it's "reservation system". Check it out and let's show them that Little Rock is rocking with true diversity. http://www.hrc.org/roadtoequality/arkansas.html
The Tax Vote Recap
Now that the all the precincts have reported and the final tallys have been totaled, its being reported by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that the "affluent" carried the measures to a Tuesday victory. Its all in the data gathered and assessed by those who do that type of bean counting and have determined that those living above I-630 turned out to the polls to vote for the tax while folks in Ward 2 and communities south of the interstate nixed the idea of an increased sales tax. When reviewing the numbers one could spin out many theories and conspiracies if you wanted to, however the bottom line is the fact that a vote has occurred and a new tax will arrive come 2012. Ward 2 Director Ken Richardson, speaking to the ADG stated that he felt that people in his ward were not supportive of linking what they perceived as non-essential items to essentials such as fire, police and infrastructure. So what I find puzzling about this ward and other wards in that area that had only 10 to 20 percent turnout. What should be alarming the electorate in that ward is the fact 80 percent of the voters in the area didn't bother to make the effort. We can only speculate at the rhyme and reasons for this lack of engagement. Meanwhile even though this area failed the measures they will still benefit from a proposed Mid-town police station and other items such as updating an 27 year old communications system. How appropriate in Emergency Preparedness Month. Let's face it, the city has needs and with needs comes those who must assists with funding those coffers to full fill those needs. Its not always pretty but its the reality of trying to keep a city progressive while safe.
Beyond A Shadow of Doubt
Georgia's Troy Davis case which has gained international attention through Amnesty International, Former President Jimmy Carter, U.S.Congressional delegation, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and even the Vatican have rallied to the defense of Mr. Davis. At the core of the controversy is the use of the death penalty and the issue of capital punishment in general. But what fuels organizers of his defense is the fact of a lack of physical evidence connecting him to the crime as well as witness who have recanted their testimonies. Mr. Davis 41 is charged with the 1989 killing an off duty police officer in Savannah.
The Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous will lead a 6 p.m. march from Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta to Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. There, they will pray and hear from death row exonerees, former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, and folk duo the Indigo Girls, among others. Other rallies are also taking place in New York, San Francisco, Austin and points across the globe. COP 24/7 couldn't find any such activities being coordinated locally.
Davis is to be executed Wednesday. This week, Amnesty International said it delivered more than 500,000 signatures to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, which will hold a clemency hearing for Davis on Monday. In a report from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, as of 2008 there were roughly 846,000 black men in prison in this country. Author Michelle Alexander said in a speech recently that “more African-American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began.”
Obviously stats from 1850 are not very accurate, and there are many more black men in the United States today than in 1850, but the comparison illustrates the immense toll our drugs laws are taking on the black community; especially marijuana laws.
The parole board declined to grant Davis clemency at a hearing in 2008. (Picture/content credit: latimes.com / 420Times.com)
HRC Bus Commeth
In an earlier post we served up the news that the Human Rights Campaign bus tour will be rolling through the city. However, we didn't realize how much rolling the bus will be doing in Little Rock this weekend. After reviewing the schedule, COP 24/7's eyes almost rolled back in our head with the dizzying array of activities that have been planned from one end of the city to the other. I applaud organizers for such a variety but I can't imagine trying to make them all or what it will take to find volunteers to facilitate, man tables or any of those other things it takes for successful events. However, you can give a grand try. Below is the link to the listing with it's "reservation system". Check it out and let's show them that Little Rock is rocking with true diversity. http://www.hrc.org/roadtoequality/arkansas.html
The Tax Vote Recap
Now that the all the precincts have reported and the final tallys have been totaled, its being reported by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that the "affluent" carried the measures to a Tuesday victory. Its all in the data gathered and assessed by those who do that type of bean counting and have determined that those living above I-630 turned out to the polls to vote for the tax while folks in Ward 2 and communities south of the interstate nixed the idea of an increased sales tax. When reviewing the numbers one could spin out many theories and conspiracies if you wanted to, however the bottom line is the fact that a vote has occurred and a new tax will arrive come 2012. Ward 2 Director Ken Richardson, speaking to the ADG stated that he felt that people in his ward were not supportive of linking what they perceived as non-essential items to essentials such as fire, police and infrastructure. So what I find puzzling about this ward and other wards in that area that had only 10 to 20 percent turnout. What should be alarming the electorate in that ward is the fact 80 percent of the voters in the area didn't bother to make the effort. We can only speculate at the rhyme and reasons for this lack of engagement. Meanwhile even though this area failed the measures they will still benefit from a proposed Mid-town police station and other items such as updating an 27 year old communications system. How appropriate in Emergency Preparedness Month. Let's face it, the city has needs and with needs comes those who must assists with funding those coffers to full fill those needs. Its not always pretty but its the reality of trying to keep a city progressive while safe. Beyond A Shadow of Doubt
The Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous will lead a 6 p.m. march from Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta to Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached. There, they will pray and hear from death row exonerees, former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, and folk duo the Indigo Girls, among others. Other rallies are also taking place in New York, San Francisco, Austin and points across the globe. COP 24/7 couldn't find any such activities being coordinated locally.
Davis is to be executed Wednesday. This week, Amnesty International said it delivered more than 500,000 signatures to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, which will hold a clemency hearing for Davis on Monday. In a report from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, as of 2008 there were roughly 846,000 black men in prison in this country. Author Michelle Alexander said in a speech recently that “more African-American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began.”
Obviously stats from 1850 are not very accurate, and there are many more black men in the United States today than in 1850, but the comparison illustrates the immense toll our drugs laws are taking on the black community; especially marijuana laws.
The parole board declined to grant Davis clemency at a hearing in 2008. (Picture/content credit: latimes.com / 420Times.com)
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