Transcript Call Regarding Trayvon Martin Killing

The Trayvon Martin Killing, Explained

How did a kid armed with Skittles and iced tea get gunned down by an overeager neighborhood watch captain? And will justice be served? (FREQUENT UPDATES.)

This is being continuously updated; click here for the latest. Or read on for a primer.
On the evening of February 26, Trayvon Martin—an unarmed 17-year-old African American student—was confronted, shot, and killed near his home by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman has not been charged with a crime. Since Martin's death and the revelation of more details, the case has drawn national outcry and sparked hot debate over racial tensions, vigilantism, police practices, and gun laws.

Brazil bars Chevron executives from leaving over spill

A federal court in Brazil has issued an order barring 17 executives from U.S. oil giant Chevron and Transocean Ltd. from leaving the country while it mulls criminal charges against them for an oil spill last year.
Among the 17 who were ordered Saturday by a federal judge in Rio de Janeiro to give up their passports is an American: George Buck, the chief operating officer of Chevron's Brazil division.

Who killed Trayvon Martin?

George Zimmerman may have pulled the trigger, but he didn't act alone - he was aided and abetted by Florida's lawmakers.

George Zimmerman was obviously responsible, of course. Nothing hidden there at all, except from the willfully blind police. Zimmerman didn't just murder Trayvon in cold blood, he had tracked him down like dog. The 911 tapes released so far include Zimmerman talking of "suspicious" black men: "These a**holes always get away."

Because the police dispatcher expressly told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, because Neighbourhood Watch guidelines forbid the carrying of guns, as well as the pursuit of suspects - requiring Watchers to call the police to the scene - not to mention the fact that Zimmerman wasn't actually part of a registered Neighborhood Watch group, and was a failed, wannabe cop who'd actually been arrested for attacking a real police officer - because of all that, it is perfectly obvious that Zimmerman's "Neighborhood Watch" activities were nothing but a ruse and a fantasy. Murdering a black teenager had arguably been Zimmerman's underlying (if perhaps unconscious) motive for everything he'd done for at least the past year, if not for wanting to be a cop in the first place.

US could bring hate charge in Fla. teen shooting

MIAMI—The U.S. Justice Department could bring a hate crime charge against the shooter in the killing of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin if there is sufficient evidence the slaying was motivated by racial bias and not simply a fight that spiraled out of control, legal experts and former prosecutors say.

So far, only one such clue has surfaced publicly against 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot the 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 in the central Florida town of Sanford. On one of his 911 calls to police that night, Zimmerman muttered something under his breath that some listeners say sounds like a racial slur. Zimmerman's father is white, and his mother is Hispanic.

"It sounds pretty obvious to me," said Donald Tibbs, a Drexel University law professor who has closely studied race, civil rights and criminal procedure. "If that was a racial epithet that preceded the attack on Trayvon Martin, we definitely have a hate crime."

Student shot to death on Mississippi State campus

A student was shot to death at a Mississippi State University residence hall late Saturday night, prompting campus-wide alerts as authorities searched for suspects who fled the scene.

University spokeswoman Maridith Geuder said police received a call about the shooting at Evans Hall around 10 p.m. Saturday. The victim was taken to a hospital where he subsequently died.

Three male suspects fled the building in a blue Crown Victoria. As of early Sunday, no arrests had been made and the campus remained under emergency conditions.

Shortly after the shooting, the university began sending a series of text message alerts to students. Geuder said a team of university officials and police was meeting early Sunday. The team is automatically convened in emergencies under a school policy.

State laws crimp booming growth in home beer brewing

About the only thing Kevin Flynn enjoys more than drinking his home-brewed beer is sharing it with fellow beer club members at festivals and tasting competitions. So Flynn and his buddies were shocked to discover that Wisconsin law prohibits sharing homemade suds anywhere outside the brewer's home.

he law could "pretty much be the end of competitions in Wisconsin," he lamented. "At least legal ones."

An explosion of interest in home brewing is forcing lawmakers across the country to review long-forgotten alcohol laws, some of which date back to Prohibition (1920-1933). Although the old rules have rarely been enforced, beer enthusiasts fear they could criminalize a rapidly growing hobby and kill scores of annual tasting events that bring tourists to small towns and cities.

********************************

At least 17 states have ambiguous laws on whether home brewers can transport beer or wine outside the home, according to the American Homebrewers Association in Boulder, Colo.

The patchwork of rules can be frustrating for hobbyists who would prefer to spend their time exchanging recipes for pale ale or rhapsodizing about varieties of hops, barley and yeast.

Some states — including Georgia and South Carolina— have restrictions similar to Wisconsin's. In Kansas and Minnesota, home brewers can only make beverages for themselves or family members. Other states permit homemade beer and wine to be consumed by guests,

Aretha Franklin celebrates 70th, talks new music

NEW YORK (AP) — Aretha Franklin has a lot more than her 70th birthday to celebrate: She's reuniting with one of her musical mentors, Clive Davis, for a new album.

In an interview at her swanky birthday party on Saturday, Franklin said she and Davis, who helped engineer her comeback in the 1980s, would be working on new music.

"I have re-signed with Clive Davis, so I'm recording with Clive again," said Franklin of the music mogul, who is associated with Sony Music Entertainment.

Franklin said that after Davis' birthday next month, "we're going to sit together and decide what it is we're going to record."

Miami Heat Players Don Hoodies For Trayvon Martin

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were only a few miles away from Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, participating in the NBA All-Star game on the night the unarmed black teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt was shot to death by a neighborhood crime-watch volunteer.

SEE ALSO: Geraldo Rivera Implies Trayvon Martin Responsible For His Death


They never knew the teenager, but on Friday they decided it was time to speak out – as did many others around the NBA.

Wade posted a photo of himself from a previous photo shoot wearing a hooded shirt, otherwise known as a hoodie, to his Twitter and Facebook pages on Friday morning.

A couple hours later, James posted another photo – this one of 13 Heat players, all wearing team-logo hoodies, their heads bowed, their hands stuffed into their pockets. The photo was taken at the team hotel, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called it “a powerful statement.”

“As a father, this hits home,” said Wade, who has 10- and 4-year-old sons.

Oprah in Orangeburg to interview Duley

Oprah visits Orangeburg mother who killed her kids

Small earthquake reported near S.C. coast

Police: 5 people found dead in San Francisco house

APNewsBreak: Tourism spending up $1 billion in SC

Gingrich Calls Obama’s Trayvon Remarks “Disgraceful”

Urban League: DC Is Best City for Black Firms

With the national black unemployment rate hovering at 16 percent, it has been tempting for some job seekers to consider hanging up their own shingle. Believe it or not, some small black business owners are thriving in this precarious economy, and it's all about location, location, location.

This week the National Urban League Policy Institute released a study ranking the top metro areas that are conducive to black-owned businesses and recommends ways to replicate successes. The top ranking goes to the D.C. metropolitan area, second to Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, while the Chicago metropolitan area tied for third place with the Detroit metropolitan area (go here for complete list).

"We found that cities with strong diversity supplier policies and which allow easy access to business-to-business and government contracts were the best environments for black-owned businesses," Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said in a prepared statement. "Not surprisingly, we also found that of the top areas for black-owned businesses, five included cities where the National Urban League operates Entrepreneurship Centers.

Opinion

Simply My Take On Things

It never cease to amaze me how ignorant and downright simple-minded some folks get when an opportunity to be in the [media] spotlight come along to shine upon them, such as in the case of Geraldo Rivera, who've obviously forgotten his roots.  

Although I believe Rivera was trying to be sincere in explaining why Trayvon was killed by Zimmerman, his wordings were detrimental and very careless.  

In fact, I cannot help to think that perhaps he is trying to defend the shooter since he has Hispanic roots, but somehow, Geraldo realized quickly that an attempt to make 'distinctions' between Blacks and Hispanics will be a career suicide because he knows deep down that both Blacks and Hispanics are actually each others brothers and sisters, and as a native Bronxite myself, I'm not falling for the hokey doke, and neither of my black and hispanic brothers and sisters will not fall for it!

So, as an end result, he tried to skirt it, use the 'hoodie' as an excuse, and ultimately his reasoning became thwarted and hateful.
 
So, I sincerely hope that Rivera was not going in that direction   

I just watched "Drive" the movie starring Ryan Gossling (a fantastic movie I might add) yesterday, and he wore a hoodie in the film.  

During the Winter months, millions of people wear a hoodie to help keep their head warm, and from becoming blistered from the sharp blows of wind.  

Hell, the Ku Klux Klan have been wearing hoodies for decades killing Black folks, and somehow no one had the guts to gun any one of them down because of them wearing hoodies.  

In fact, there are numerous online stores that sell 'hoodies' for racists, non-racists, and so forth, such as "Redneck" Sweatshirts & Hoodies, for example, yet no brow raising is being done in this case.

It's not the nutty neighborhood who killed Trayvon.  It was George Zimmerman.  It was not the hoodie who killed Trayvon.  It was George Zimmerman.  It wasn't because Trayvon had some Skittles on his person.  Young Trayvon was followed and murdered because George wanted to follow and murder Trayvon.  Plain and simple!
 
Trayvon was murdered by a "Wanna Be" because he 'Couldn't Be,'  and now he's 'Totally Free' to repeat the same with a gun that hasn't been taken away him!  What's up with that?

Young Mr. Martin was tested for drug use, but not George Zimmerman.  Young Trayvon did not have a gun, yet George is somewhere in the world with a gun by his side.
  
I say to everyone "Stand Your Ground" and hunt to find George Zimmerman, and bring him back to the public forefront, so that he can get locked-up to face murder charges against young Trayvon Martin.

And for the record, there are many more instances such as this tragic event that happens daily.  To date, there is still no justice for a man who was 'murdered' in the town of Eutawville, S.C. last year by an local police officer, whose whereabouts is also questioned.  

Every day there are injustices being made based on, and against, the hue of a person's skin, their religious affiliation, age, gender, life style, education, class, and/or origin of birth.  

Geraldo Rivera: Hoodie Is As Responsible For Trayvon’s Death As Zimmerman

“When you see a Black or Latino, particularly on the street, you walk to the other side of the street to avoid that confrontation. Trayvon Martin, God bless him, an innocent kid, a wonderful kid, a box of Skittles in his hand, he didn’t deserve to die, but I’ll bet you money that if he didn’t have that hoodie on that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way.”

5 Deadly Threats to Our Precious Drinking Water Supply

 

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Dragana Gerasimoski

If you brushed your teeth this morning or flushed the toilet or had a cup of coffee, consider yourself lucky. Actually, if you turned on your tap and potable water freely came out, consider yourself truly blessed. 

Because so many of us in the United States are in this situation it can be easy to forget that nearly 900 million other people aren't so lucky. It can be easy to forget that globally we face a frightening water crisis. And it can be hard to notice that even here in the US there are dire threats to our water supply right now.

The people hardest hit by the water crisis are in developing countries -- places it is easy for many world leaders (and the rest of us) to overlook. And even the number of those without clean water -- last tallied at 884 million -- can be hard to grasp. Here's another way of looking at it: if you take that number and translate it into the population of developed countries, the people living in the world today without access to clean drinking water would equal all the people living in the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia and Norway.

Like our economic, food, health and climate crises, if you're a person of color and/or poor, you'll be hardest hit. According to the United Nations, if you are a poor person living in a slum you're likely to pay five to 10 times more for water than wealthy people living in the same city. And so too, are women disproportionately affected because they are the ones responsible for getting water each day in most developing countries -- work that often means hours of difficult labor under dangerous conditions. 

Rape and Red Tape on the Reservation: Why Native American Women Are Fighting For Plan B

China Vows to Stop Using Executed Prisoners as Main Source for Organ Transplants

The World Water Forum and the Resistance Against the Corporate Takeover of Water

Activists held an alternative to the corporate World Water Forum in France.

While boasting several UN agencies as partners, the World Water Forum is criticized for posing as a multi-stakeholder body. The overarching message of activists protesting the World Water Forum is that there is a need for international policy and multilateral cooperation when it comes to water resources, but a trade show run by water multinationals cannot be the space for these discussions.  

You don't have to know anything about the World Water Forum to know something is wonky when a forum that claims to provide solutions for the world's water crisis shuts out vast segments of the public. With a heavy police presence surrounding the Forum, activists attempting to register on the first day were detained before even entering the Forum. There was no apparent reason other than the fact that many were young and not garbed in business attire. Some had slogans like "water is a human right" on their clothes.

5 Freedom-Killing Tactics Police Will Use to Crack Down on Protests in 2012

Across America many cities and police forces are eyeing new ways to crack down on protesters.

The First Amendment right to assemble and protest is going to get a black eye in 2012—as it has every time there has been an upsurge in America’s social justice movements.

Already in city after city, protesters and civil rights lawyers are troubled by proposed and newly enacted anti-protest rules, many of which are likely to be found unconstitutional if they have their day in court. In the meantime mayors, police and in some cases federal agencies are making detailed plans to thwart protests at local and national events.

Thousands rally for US teen Trayvon Martin

Activists are calling for justice in the 17-year-old’s death.

 

Thousands participated in the "Million Hoodie March" in New York for Trayvon Martin, the US teenager whose death sparked a national uproar.

On Feb. 26, Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain who alleges that Martin was acting suspiciously.

Florida police say there’s no evidence that disproves Zimmerman’s self-defense claim. However, the Justice Department has now opened an investigation into the killing.

Martin was unarmed and wearing a hoodie while walking in his father's gated community, where Zimmerman was on duty. 

Video of the Moment