Politics
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NYC Mayor Jeered at Police Graduation
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced a tough crowd at Monday’s police graduation ceremony: He was subject to boos and catcalls as he addressed the new NYPD officers, CBS New York reports. According to the report, when de Blasio was introduced at the Madison Square Garden ceremony for the graduating class of more…
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GOP Lawmakers Warm to Loretta Lynch for US Attorney General
Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama’s pick to replace outgoing U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., is reportedly winning over some key Republican lawmakers ahead of what is expected to be contentious nomination hearings early next year, according to Politico. The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York reportedly has met with several…
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Cuba Won’t Hand Over Assata Shakur
New Jersey officials might have been hoping that with warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba, one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals, Assata Shakur, would be extradited to face judgment after fleeing the country. However, according to the Associated Press, Cuba’s head of North American affairs, Josefina Vidal, has reiterated her country’s sovereign right…
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President Obama’s Best 2014 Moments
This is by no means an exhaustive list. And I’m not suggesting that there’s consensus about the positives and negatives of President Barack Obama’s various initiatives—although I’m guessing that folks on both sides of the aisle were tickled by his exchange in October with that overzealous boyfriend in the Chicago voting station—but here are a…
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Medicaid Fight: Why So Many Black Folks Are Stlll Uninsured
It’s no secret that we’re witnessing a reverse black exodus to the South, forced by recession, gentrification, reconnected family ties and hipster racism. Yet while three-quarters of black population growth in the U.S. is happening in the heart of Dixie, the health care numbers show a different story: It’s also home to the highest rates of…
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Obama: LeBron Did the Right Thing Wearing ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Shirt
President Barack Obama gave the nod to the “I Can’t Breathe” protest shirt that basketball player LeBron James wore during a pregame warm-up last week, saying that he wanted to see more athletes stand up and speak out, CNN reports. “You know, I think LeBron did the right thing,” Obama told People magazine in a…
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US Reinterprets Law to Prohibit Workplace Discrimination Against Transgender Workers
The U.S. Justice Department has come to a different understanding of a law that governs whether it can penalize workplace discrimination against transgender people. On Thursday it announced that it will now be able to bring legal claims on behalf of transgender employees who say they’ve been discriminated against “by state and local public employers”…
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Nonviolent Drug Inmates May Be Eligible for Obama’s Clemency Program
In addition to announcing a new chapter in the U.S. relationship with Cuba, the president on Wednesday drastically shortened the prison sentences of eight nonviolent drug offenders and pardoned 12 other convicts who were imprisoned for a variety of nonviolent offenses, the Associated Press reports. AP predicts that the initiative is likely a foreshadowing of…
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Oh, and President Obama’s Request for Police Body Cameras? It Wasn’t in the Budget Congress Just Passed
Late Tuesday, the least productive Congress in history finally finished for the year as the Senate adjourned. There was one large chore lawmakers had to complete before departure—the passage of a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government until January 2015—and they did, in fact, get it done. But the bill may have…
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US to Restore Relations With Cuba After 50-Year Embargo
In a historic move, replete with Republican controversy, the president announced on Wednesday that he is looking to ease up on sanctions—including economic and travel restrictions—against Cuba, effectively ending a 50-year diplomatic freeze with the communist nation, according to CBS News. “I believe we can do more to support the Cuban people and our values…