Fascinating and informative doc. Be sure to watch the whole thing to see the exchange between the head of Empire Bail Bonds and a man snagged for not reporting to court.
The US is the only first-world country that commercializes bail. The for-profit industry rakes in more than $2 billion annually in revenue. Most criminal defendants can’t pay the full bail amount and must either stay in jail or pay a 10 percent fee to secure a bond, which they won’t recoup even if found not guilty.
Everybody has an opinion but it’s time to listen to the people of Baltimore.
When the incident first aired, many speculated the mother was hitting him out of embarrassment or punishing him for being ‘stupid’. This is partially true. In an interview with CBS News, she says she was worried about his safety since he is her only son; she didn’t want him to a Freddie Gray. She goes on to say she does not support vandalization asserting that, “that’s not justice.” This is definitely a genuine concern for a mother, so her reaction is very understandable. However, I do commend the young man for having the heart to take a stand for what he felt was right, and hope he will continue to channel that energy into positive and productive outlets in his community as he grows.
Hypocrisy at its finest.
A true ride or die.
Nelly speaks to CNN about the status of his city in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Mike Brown and how police officers are rarely if ever given penalties for killing black youth.
The hit is right around :20 into the video and put the video at full screen to really get a good view.
The description title says she was innocent. Regardless, in situations such as this (riot after a loss in a highly contested college basketball game) police officers could care less about gender and frankly anyone can get it, whether you are guilty or not.
“These girls had been trying to get to their car. The girl is on her phone not paying attention and this cop came out of nowhere and just leveled her,” Landolt told the Daily Star. “After that everyone just started yelling and she started crying.” -Phoebe Landolt.
Things don’t seem to be calming down in London and here is a prime example of the sentiment from those causing havoc in the streets.
In other countries they take to the streets when they feel they are being wronged by the government, here we go to Disneyland.
The Greek government has voted in favour of a new round of austerity cuts – securing the next multi-billion instalement of cash from the EU and staving off a default.
Continue reading
via Guardian UK
Police are preparing for a “summer of rage” as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.
Britain’s most senior police officer with responsibility for public order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming “footsoldiers” in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.
Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police’s public order branch, told the Guardian that middle-class individuals who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek to vent their anger through protests this year.
He said that banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become “viable targets”. So too had the headquarters of multinational companies and other financial institutions in the City which are being blamed for the financial crisis.
Hartshorn, who receives regular intelligence briefings on potential causes of civil unrest, said the mood at some demonstrations had changed recently, with activists increasingly “intent on coming on to the streets to create public disorder”. Continue reading
Miracle reports “Worldwide riots & protests due to do the global recession. Riots took place in Greece, Russia, France, Spain, Latvia.” I’m trying to forecast into the future and figure out which region of the Americas will be the first to pop off in unrest? The South, Midwest, or Up North? Spring or early summer? What do you think?
via Times Online
Armed police guarded cinemas in eastern India today after slum dwellers ransacked a picture house showing Slumdog Millionaire because they didn’t like the use of the word “dog” in the title. 
Several hundred people rampaged through the cinema in Patna, capital of the eastern state of Bihar, on Monday and tore down posters advertising the film. They said the title was humiliating and vowed to continue their protests until it was changed.
The protest was organised by Tateshwar Vishwakarma, a social activist who filed a lawsuit over the title last week against four Indians involved in its production – a lead actor, the music director and two others.
“Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights,” said Mr Vishwakarma, who works for a group promoting the rights of slum dwellers. We will burn Danny Boyle [the film’s British director] effigies in 56 slums here.”
The case will be heard in a Patna court on February 5, according to police.
Kishori Das, another activist, said: “We are in touch with like-minded organisations across India to take the issue on a large scale.” Continue reading
DJ Green Lantern feat Avery Storm & Uncle Murda- CRAZY WORLD
CLICK [HERE] for AUDIO
This will officially be the year when a new hydrid of Hip Hop will be born and they will probably try to classify it as POLITICAL/CONSCIOUS/GANGSTA rap but it will become the new voice of a people at WAR and hopefully this will be the jumpstart the game has been looking for. Well, on this Uncle Murda dumps at po-po for the assassination of Oscar Grant in Oakland and reminds whoever is not aware, them folks is “rioting” in Oakland and matters will only get more tense as more bodies drop. What a CRAZY WORLD, and the year is just getting started! RIP OSCAR GRANT.
I turn on the Today Show, and the first run story is on Rev. Wright who is slated to speak publicly on his recent controversies. Cable talkshow pundits are already jumping on the story saying that he does not not need to be speaking at all and this can only reignite negative press for Obama.
Lo and behold I find this story(via Digg)that racist pill popping Rush Limbaugh is calling for riots at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Not one f*ing story anywhere on TV about Rush trying incite violence to ensure that a Republican to be elected. Now if this is not un-american I don’t know what is.
More of the hyprocrisy below:
The Denver Channel
Riots in Denver, the Democrat Convention would see to it that we don’t elect Democrats,” Limbaugh said during Wednesday’s radio broadcast. He then went on to say that’s the best thing that could happen to the country.
Limbaugh cited Al Sharpton, saying the Barack Obama supporter threatened to superdelegates that “there’s going to be trouble” if the presidency is taken from Obama.
Continue reading
One of our favorite shows at STREET KNOWLEDGE is MSNBC’s Lock Up, not because it glamorizes prison life, no because they are highlighting a reality that America shouldn’t smirk from and that is her prisons are swelling with over 2 million bodies, many of them “black” and “brown” folk.
Over in LA the hot-button issue is immigration and as you can imagine their penal system has an influx of immigration cases, with thousands designated to be deported back to some area on the globe that they unlawfully migrated from.
One of those facilities, the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster, CA home to over 900 detainees erupted in riots on Tuesday (4/22) with hundreds of inmates involved in rival gang fighting.
Authorities quelled the riot within minutes, by firing tear gas on rival factions. They continue to study how to stem the problem of “gangs” intermingling in these institutions. Over 45 of the detainees were confirmed to be involved with gang activity. Detainees accused of wrong doing were spread throughout the system to other facilities.
California’s overcrowded prisons have been unraveling at the seams and a new wave of violence this week has prompted Governor Schwarzenegger to push for more immediate prison reform. As we reported yesterday (CLICK HERE) California has proposed to release upwards to 20,000 inmates earlier than designated to relieve some of the swelling in the system that is only designed for 100,000 inmates but is currently housing 170,000 in its 33 prisons. On Thursday two inmates attacked guards at the California Correctional Institute and on Friday a mini-riot broke out between ethnic groups at Chino, in an ovecrowded dormitory.
“This is the beginning of the long, hot summer,” said Gloria Romero, one of the Legislature’s experts on prison reform. “It does take, sadly and unfortunately, something like this to snap people’s necks around to say these are the consequences of overcrowding.”
Even though the Governor is opposing a federally mandated population cap he has declared state emergencies to transfer prisoners out-of-state to private prisons. He is also looking to shave 4,500 C.O.’s off the roster in addition to releasing 22,000 inmates to save $400 million out of a $7.8 billion budget that is ironically designated to build more jails and prisons, thanks to overcrowding! CLICK HERE for the rest of this explosive story.
STREET KNOWLEDGE 