Category: CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

Baltimore Is Spending $66M in Federal Grants This Year

Baltimore Mayor Bernard "Jack" Young speaks during a news conference announcing a new collaboration in an effort to reduce homelessness in Baltimore City, Tuesday, July 2, 2019, in Baltimore. Through the initiative, eligible Medicaid participants will receive permanent housing and services they need to prevent a return to homelessness. (AP …

By Joshua Caplan and Ezra Dulis

Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young (D) said Monday that President Donald Trump should send federal assistance to the troubled Maryland city instead of criticizing its management — though the mayor’s budget is already spending $66 million in federal grants this year alone.

“If he really wants to, he needs to send us the federal assistance — not only to Baltimore, to cities around this country that are in the same situation that Baltimore is in — but he’s so interested in childish tweets,” Young (pictured) said in an interview with CNN New Dayco-host John Berman.

Young’s remarks follow a string of fierce criticisms from President Donald Trump directed at Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), whose district encompasses Baltimore. Over the weekend, the president blasted the 13-term congressman for the Maryland city’s worsening conditions, calling it a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” and a “very dangerous & filthy place.” He also said conditions in the city are “far worse” and than those at the U.S.-Mexico border detention centers.

“I mean, if you want to help us, help us. Don’t talk about it, send the resources we need to rebuild America,” Young stated. “He’s talking about he wants to ‘make American great again.’ Put the money in the cities that need it the most and that way you can make America great again.”

According to the official copy of the city’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget, Baltimore is already spending “$66.3 million in federal grants,” and its “federal fund operating appropriation is budgeted at $165.9 million.”

“In Fiscal 2019… the Federal government is providing a combined $30 million for the renovation of City streets, highways, and traffic engineering projects,” the document reads on page 185.

Several line items of “Federal Fund Appropriation” include $1 million for “general services,” $2.38 million for “Youth Violence Prevention,” $8.77 million for “Housing and Community Development,” and a whopping $29.19 million for “HIV Treatment Services for the Uninsured.”

The city’s budget was finalized under former mayor Catherine Pugh, who resigned just months ago amid a scandal alleging “self-dealing” arrangements, where entities seeking to do business with the city reportedly bought thousands of copies of a children’s book by Pugh to boost its sales numbers. Young, who was city council president at the time of her resignation, became acting mayor and will potentially face his first election for the position in 2020.

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If President Trump were to send federal assistance to Baltimore, he would not be the first president to do so in the last decade. In 2009, Baltimore received $1.8 billion from then-President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — however — the Democrat-controlled city has yet to see its fortunes turn around despite the massive investment.

As the Washington Free Beacon reported, the Obama administration allocated $1.8 billion of its 2009 stimulus to Baltimore. Of the investment, $26.5 million was aimed at crime prevention, $26 million to revitalize vacant buildings, and $9.5 million to tackle homelessness.

Despite receiving considerable aid, violence continues to plague Baltimore with homicides on track to pass 300 for the fifth consecutive year. A Breitbart News analysis of 2018 homicide rates shows Baltimore’s homicide rate, which stands at 51 per 100,000 residents, was, in fact, “higher than Honduras and nearly the same as in El Salvador.”

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O’Rourke debate guests are black men who kneeled for anthem

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By Errin Haines Whack

When Democrat Beto O’Rourke takes the stage in the second round of presidential primary debates on Tuesday, three young black men from Michigan who were inspired by ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem before their high school football games will be in the audience as guests of the former Texas congressman.

O’Rourke reached out to ex-Lansing Catholic High School football players Michael Lynn III, Matthew Abdullah and RoJe Williams and spoke with them by phone last week. Teammate Kabbash Richards is away at college and unable to attend the debate.

O’Rourke, whose defense of NFL players who chose to take a knee to protest police brutality and racism went viral in 2018, learned of the men’s story and found them through “general local outreach,” his campaign said.

In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday, O’Rourke said the four “have served their community in one of the most American ways possible.”

As a Democratic primary candidate, O’Rourke has been outspoken on issues of race, particularly white identity and privilege. Earlier this month, he revealed that he and his wife, Amy, recently discovered they have ancestors who owned slaves.

As players at Lansing Catholic, the four took a knee together in 2017. Lynn, the team captain, said he decided to kneel after watching Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, and thinking about the racism he dealt with as one of a handful of black students at his high school.

“I was a senior. I was getting to the age where I wanted to say something,”said Lynn, who recalled trying to speak up when his white teammates would make inappropriate jokes or comments.

Lynn and his teammates were benched for their protest, and eventually Lynn and Abdullah transferred to other high schools.

It was nearly a year later that Lynn’s mother sent him the video of O’Rourke’s remarks, in which the then-Senate candidate explained to a mostly white crowd that Kaepernick’s protest was about focusing attention on the killings of unarmed black men by law enforcement.

“I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up or take a knee for your rights anytime, anywhere or anyplace,” O’Rourke said to applause at an August 2018 campaign event that quickly went viral, thrusting the obscure O’Rourke into the national spotlight and propelling him to a 2020 presidential run.

Lynn recalled feelings of affirmation after watching the video.

“People on the other side of it make us feel like we’re not as American as them,” Lynn said. “The fact that he said that and feels that way, from his heart, that was really powerful. That’s what put Mr. O’Rourke on my radar.”

The three men have reached voting age and will meet O’Rourke for the first time Tuesday night.

Lynn said he is undecided about whom to vote for but looks forward to shaking O’Rourke’s hand and seeing all the candidates in person.

“That’s going to be cool,” Lynn said.

___

This story has been corrected to show O’Rourke found the men through local outreach, not after one of their families donated to his campaign; the teammate’s name is spelled Kabbash, not Kabbalah; and the teammate was not on the phone call.

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GERMAN SWIMMING POOL FORCED TO INTRODUCE ID CHECKS TO STOP HARASSMENT BY MIGRANT YOUTHS

German Swimming Pool Forced to Introduce ID Checks to Stop Harassment by Migrant Youths

“Those who do not comply, will not be let in.”

By Paul Joseph Watson – JULY 30, 2019

A swimming pool in the German city of Düsseldorf has been forced to introduce mandatory ID card checks in an effort to stop sexual assaults and rowdy behavior by migrant youths that has required the police to be called out on numerous occasions.

Following a crisis summit between administrators, the mayor and the police chief, an online ticket system linked to people’s IDs has been established to control who is allowed to enter the pool.

“In Rheinbad we have introduced an identity card for all visitors,” said Düsseldorf Mayor Thomas Geisel. “Those who do not comply, will not be let in. It is absolutely unacceptable and inconceivable that families who want to spend their free time here are harassed by youth gangs.”

As we reported earlier this month, the pool had to be closed twice after hundreds of male migrants harassed a family, prompting a huge police deployment.

Last Friday, the pool had to be cleared again as around 60 North African migrants began engaging in aggressive beahvior. Outnumbered, the six security guards on patrol had to call police for backup. 20 officers arrived and the pool was closed.

“It should be known, that before the migrant crisis, German swimming pools didn’t need six security guards to maintain order. It’s likely that they didn’t need any at all,” comments Voice of Europe.

It remains to be seen how authorities will prevent the kind of people who cause mayhem from using the pool. They could only really do so by barring people from North African countries, which would set off a nationwide controversy and lead to widespread accusations of racism.

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Foreigner pushes 8yo boy in front of train in Germany, reigniting migration debate

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A chilling incident in which a young boy and his mother were pushed in front of a high-speed train by an Eritrean man has sent shock waves across Germany and seemingly rekindled anti-migrant sentiment.

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The tragedy took place on one of the platforms of the central railway terminal in the German city of Frankfurt – the nation’s second busiest railway hub. An eight-year-old boy and his mother were waiting for a train when they were suddenly attacked by a 40-year-old Eritrean. The assailant grabbed the woman and the child and threw them on the rail tracks right as the high-speed intercity express (ICE) was pulling into the station.

The 40-year-old woman managed to escape near-certain death as she made it to the pathway between two tracks. She tried to reach out to her son when the train ran over him, a witness told German media. The boy died at the scene.

The terrible scene left everyone at the station shaken. The ambulances that arrived shortly had to hospitalize some who were suffering from shock. The boy’s mother was also hospitalized, though there has been no information on her condition.
The perpetrator also tried to force another person onto the railway tracks but his third would-be victim escaped. The attacker then attempted to flee the scene but was pursued by a group of passengers and eventually detained by police outside the terminal.

The motive of the attack remains unclear. Police say the suspect deliberately assaulted the woman and the boy, and they are treating the incident as a homicide. The assailant had no personal connections to his victims, and little is known about him besides his Eritrean citizenship. According to some reports, he moved to Switzerland in 2006, and has lived there since.

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The incident appalled the nation, as people turned to social media to express their shock and grief over the tragedy. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer interrupted his vacation and called an emergency meeting with security officials.

Seehofer said he was “deeply upset” by the attack and vowed that justice would be served “to the full extent of the law.”

‘Absolute no go’: German police officers injured in clashes with BICYCLE-THROWING asylum seekers

While Germany is united in sorrow over the child’s death, the incident also appeared to reignite the simmering tensions over immigration that have gripped the nation ever since Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany’s borders for hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants at the height of the 2015 refugee crisis.

While most people online expressed their condolences to the boy’s family, some also blamed Merkel for what happened. Others vented their frustration over what they see as leniency towards foreign criminals, saying the suspect will likely be declared “traumatized” and eventually “acquitted.”

Politicians from the right-wing Alternative for Germany party also linked the incident to faulty immigration policies. The party’s parliamentary faction chief, Alice Weidel, denounced the attack as an “unprecedented act of cruelty.”

“What else has to happen?” she asked, while calling on the authorities to “finally protect the citizens of our country instead of [promoting] the limitless welcome culture.”

As the public anxiety grew, Seehofer had to call for calm. The interior minister said that “some parts of the public” already formed an opinion on the matter and said that any conclusions could be made only after “all the details are cleared.”

Merkel has not yet issued any statements on the matter.

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TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME: The Wire Creator Calls Trump a Racist

By Jose Nino

David Simon, the brains behind the HBO series “The Wire”, lashed out at President Trump by calling him an “empty-suit, race-hating fraud” for his comments about Congressman Elijah Cummings and the district he represents.

Simon specifically said, “If this empty-suit, race-hating fraud had to actually visit West Baltimore for five minutes and meet any of the American citizens who endure there, he’d wet himself.”

The creator of “The Wire” added that the “president is ‘literally’ a simplistic, racist moron.”

The HBO series was set in Baltimore and gave a lurid portrayal of inner-city life in one America’s most dangerous urban centers.

Simon said in a tweet, “I am ‘literally’ the guy writing stuff about the last century of U.S. policy, about the drug war and mass incarceration, about Brown v. and white flight, about all of modern U.S. history to which your kind stays mute.”

The show creator’s attacks against Trump came right after the president described Cummings’s district as “dangerous” and a “rodent infested mess.”

Trump tweeted, “Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous.”

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Additionally, the President called Cummings’s district the “Worst in the USA”. He expanded:

His district is considered the Worst in the USA as proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place.

Various Democratic lawmakers, criticized Trump’s comments as racist. Cummings, the House Oversight and Reform Committee chairman, responded to Trump’s attacks by detailing his role as a lawmaker.

Cummings wrote, “Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors. It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.”

The Maryland Congressman has been a strong critic of President Donald Trump.

He labeled the Trump administration’s treatment of migrant children at the southern border as “government-sponsored child abuse.”

Maryland is a state with some of the worst gun control laws in the nation. It is ranked 44th according to Guns & Ammo magazine.

This has not helped cities like Baltimore, which has some of the highest murder ratesin the country.

No matter how much the media try to shame him, Trump always finds a way to expose his critics.

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Somali Socialist Ilhan Omar Endorses Violent Attack Against Rand Paul on Twitter

This came days after Paul called out Omar for her lack of patriotism.

By Shane Trejo

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has been frequently called a terrorist sympathizer for her strange remarks about Al Qaeda, her request for leniency for an ISIS recruit, and other troubling behavior, but now she has outright endorsed violence against a sitting government official on her Twitter account.

Donald Trump Jr. pointed to an Omar re-tweet of unhinged anti-Trump comedian Tom Arnold from earlier today. The washed-up former husband of Roseanne Barr tweeted in celebration of the assault against Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) outside of his own home in 2017.

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Paul was attacked by socialist Democrat Rene Boucher in an attack that broke the Kentucky Senator’s ribs and bruised his lung. Boucher had to pay up $580,000 in a civil suit and was sentenced to 30 days in federal prison for his vicious actions against Paul.

Omar’s retweet comes days after Paul called the bitter refugee out for her socialist anti-American beliefs, saying that he would pay for her ticket back to Somalia if it meant giving her an appreciation for the liberties that the United States provides to her.

“I’ve met people who have come here from behind the Iron Curtain,” Paul told Breitbart News last week. “They got away from communism, they’re some of the best Americans we have, because they really appreciate how great our country is, and then I hear Representative Omar say America is a terrible place.”

“Well, she came here and we fed her, we clothed her, she got welfare, she got [schooling], she got healthcare, and then, lo and behold, she has the honor of actually winning a seat in Congress, and she says we’re a terrible country? I think that’s about as ungrateful as you can get,” he added.

“And so — I’m willing to contribute to buy her a ticket to go visit Somalia, and I think she can look and maybe learn a little bit about the disaster that is Somalia — that has no capitalism, has no God-given rights guaranteed in a constitution, and has about seven different tribes that have been fighting each other for the last 40 years,” Paul explained.

After Omar’s apparent endorsement of domestic terrorism against Paul, perhaps it should be a one-way ticket back to her country of origin as she clearly does not appreciate or understand the Bill of Rights and Constitution.

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“I AM ANTIFA” TRENDING IN GERMANY IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP

"I Am Antifa" Trending in Germany in Response to Trump

German leftists back terror group to own Trump

By Deutsche Welle – JULY 29, 2019

“I am Antifa” began trending in Germany after Trump said he might label the group a terror organization.

Left-wing politicians hit back at the US president, while far-right politicians expressed support for the proposal.

The hashtag #IchbinAntifa (“I am Antifa”) began trending on Twitter in Germany on Sunday after US President Donald Trump said he was considering labeling the group a terrorist organization.

Antifa, which is short for anti-fascists, is a loose network comprised of radical left-wing activists that confront right-wing extremists, neo-Nazi groups and white supremacists.

On Saturday, the US president said that the new classification “would make it easier for police to do their jobs,” and dubbed the anti-fascist group “gutless radical left wack jobs.”

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In response, German social media users and some politicians pushed back against Trump’s remarks, with the “I am antifa” hashtag taking the number one spot on Twitter’s trending list.

“I am Antifa always and every time. German history compels us to stand up against racism and fascism. On the street and in parliament,” wrote Bernd Riexinger, co-chairman of the Left party.

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Sven Lehmann, a Greens MP and the party’s spokesperson for social and queer policy, wrote on Twitter that he supports Antifa because the group “often looked closely when people were devalued or attacked, where others looked away.”

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The hashtag sparked ire among politicians of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, several of whom expressed support for Trump and called for a similar measure in Germany.

“If Antifa is finally classified as a terrorist organization in this country as well, then the currently popular hashtag ‘I am Antifa’ offers up a very rich pool of investigative leads in the fight against terrorism,” AfD parliamentarian Jürgen Braun wrote on Twitter.

“Donald Trump is making it possible, thank you very much!” the far-right politician added.

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The Hamburg branch of Germany’s police union also criticized Antifa, posting pictures of black-clad protesters holding signs calling for violence against police.

“Violence as a means of political conflict must be prohibited and criminally prosecuted — this must be a democratic consensus that transcends party and ideological boundaries,” the union wrote.

Although many Antifa members participate in peaceful protests, they have been criticized for believing violence is justified to combat racist or fascist groups.

The Anti-Defamation League, a leading Jewish group in the United States focused on hate crimes, describes Antifa as “a loose collection of groups, networks and individuals who believe in active, aggressive opposition to far right-wing movements.”

Early anti-fascist groups in Europe fought against Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The modern Antifa movement began to take shape in the 1960s and became active in the US in the 1970s.

Recent clashes between left-wing and right-wing protesters in the US prompted conservative Republican lawmakers to propose classifying Antifa as a terrorist organization.

 

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