A woman told Fresno, CA police on Saturday that she was kidnapped by two African-American men who forced their way into her vehicle and held her at gun point. She said the men told her to drive west. Once in west Fresno, the woman says she thinks she was pistol whipped because she blacked out and awoke hours later in her backseat. She was bruised, bound, and gagged. The $9,000 she had with her to pay two subcontractors who drove for her trucking company had been stolen.
NBC News chairman Andy Lack responded Monday to accusations included in a damaging report published last week by The Daily Beast, which claims the network "threatened" former NBC reporter Ronan Farrow if he continued to report on Harvey Weinstein, and suggests that NBC News President Noah Oppenheim had ulterior motives for suppressing Farrow’s story.
The majority of network and cable newscasts ignored or downplayed the presence of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan at Aretha Franklin’s funeral celebration on Friday, with some even cropping him out of photos despite his presence on the stage.
Farrakhan, who has made a series of rabidly anti-Semitic and anti-white statements in his career, sat alongside Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and former President Bill Clinton at the service. The latter three all gave eulogies at the lengthy celebration.
MSNBC and ABC News posted photos of just the trio of Sharpton, Jackson and Clinton on Twitter, cutting out Farrakhan even though he was seated directly to Sharpton’s right.
Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and former Pres. Bill Clinton seated next to one another at the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit for Aretha Franklin’s funeral service. All three are expected to deliver personal remarks on the iconic singer. https://t.co/GsAKjngPBBpic.twitter.com/Z4dnVb3iT4
Farrakhan’s presence was mostly ignored by networks covering the funeral, and the only mentions of him were muted in tone.
MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell called him “very controversial” but noted his presence there as proof it was an “inclusive group.”
“We see Reverend Al, we see Reverend Jackson who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease but was so close to Aretha Franklin and is part of that legacy. Bill Clinton of course there, and is going to give one of the eulogies,” Mitchell said. “And also the Reverend Farrakhan, a very controversial leader from the Nation of Islam who is also there. So it’s an inclusive group.”
On CNN International—CNN’s prime network was covering a U.S. Capitol ceremony for the late Sen. John McCain at the time—Michaela Angela Davis called Farrakhan’s presence on the stage alongside Clinton a symbol of American “complexity.”
“What is striking, I think, for the world to see, is Aretha Franklin is the closest to an American queen as you can get, where you see the American cars, the American style, the American complexity,” she said. “We have a former president, Bill Clinton, and Louis Farrakhan on the same stage. So this is really what Aretha Franklin in particular embodies: the complexity and the brilliance and the innovation and the duality of being an American.”
Fill-in Headline News (HLN) anchor Lynn Smith merely said, “We saw Louis Farrakhan,” while listing off a series of famous people in attendance.
“Inside Edition” briefly covered Farrakhan’s attendance, saying it “did not go unnoticed” that he was “given a front-row position of honor at the service.”
Fox News discussed and criticized Farrakhan’s attendance at the funeral in several segments over the ensuing days. Attorney Alan Dershowitz said on “Fox & Friends Sunday” he couldn’t believe Clinton allowed himself to be seated near him, comparing Farrakhan to white supremacist David Duke.
Searches using the media monitoring services TVEyes.com and IQ Media Corp showed there were no other media mentions of Farrakhan’s attendance.
via Washington Free Beacon
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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee clearly have no desire to see Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings proceed in a professional manner; before the man even introduced himself at Tuesday morning’s kickoff, Democrats had managed to interrupt proceedings more than 40 times, move for adjournment, harass each other, and encourage protests, apparently all part of a Sen. Chuck Schumer-organized "demonstration."
An attempt by California Democrats to boycott In-N-Out Burger over a reported donation to the state’s Republican Party ended quickly on Monday, as the Democratic Party leader who called for the boycott backed down in the face of a backlash.
Feelings continue to matter more than anything else on college campuses. Officials at Grand Valley State University in Michigan are now asking students to report to the school’s bias response team if they feel “belittled, disrespected, or isolated based on their identity” and it’ll be investigated.
Forbes magazine contributor Lorenzo Montanari notes in a recent op-ed that President Donald Trump’s tweet about South Africa’s new policy of "expropriation without compensation" has exposed that land reform policy as a Venezuela-style scam.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the firebrand former president of Iran who questioned the Holocaust and said the U.S. government was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks, tweeted his support for ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Monday.
“The #NFL season will start this week, unfortunately once again @Kaepernick7 is not on a NFL roster,” Ahmadinejad wrote on Twitter. “Even though he is one of the best Quarterbacks in the league. #ColinKaepernick #NFL.”
The #NFL season will start this week, unfortunately once again @Kaepernick7 is not on a NFL roster. Even though he is one of the best Quarterbacks in the league.#ColinKaepernick#NFL
Ahmadinejad’s tweet came three days before the 2018 NFL season begins. Kaepernick—who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016, his last year in the league—is currently a free agent after no team chose to sign him.
Kaepernick became a national figure and embroiled in controversy in 2016, when he chose to kneel, rather than stand, while the national anthem was played before the start of games. The move, which he described as a protest to draw attention to police brutality and other examples of racial injustice, became a league-wide controversy that made national headlines, especially after President Donald Trump criticized players who participated.
A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that a majority of Americans believe it is inappropriate for NFL players to kneel during the national anthem.
Kaepernick is currently suing NFL owners, claiming they “have colluded to deprive [him] of employment rights in retaliation for [his] leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.”
Despite the controversy surrounding Kaepernick, Nike announced Monday a multi-year deal with the quarterback and released an ad featuring him as part of the company’s “Just Do It” campaign.
Ahmadinejad, who served as president of Iran from 2005 to 2013, became notorious during his time in office for calling for Israel’s destruction, denying the Holocaust, and ramping up Iran’s nuclear program. He has also said that the United government, not al Qaeda, was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The State Department designated Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism throughout Ahmadinejad’s presidency, and continues to do so today.
via Washington Free Beacon
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