BREAKING: Board of Elections data reveal voter registration irregularities under NC Gov. Pat McCrory – DailyKos

Exclusive to Daily Kos:

A data-mining analysis of information publicly available from the North Carolina State Board of Elections has uncovered apparently systematic irregularities in voter registration efforts which are required of the state by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA; the so-called ‘Motor Voter Act’). These irregularities, potentially disenfranchising tens of thousands of poverty-level North Carolina citizens, have all occurred during the Republican administration of North Carolina’s current governor, Pat McCrory (R).

Under McCrory (who took office in January of 2013), North Carolina has become the tip of the GOP’s spear in efforts to suppress voting by demographic groups which typically do not lean Republican (blacks, Latinos, youth, and the economically disadvantaged). McCrory’s efforts culminated in 2013 with his signing into law of the nation’s single most draconian voter suppression bill, The Voter Information Verification Act (VIVA; detailed in this diary). Legal challenges to VIVA have been filed by numerous organizations including the North Carolina NAACP, the ACLU, the League of Women Voters, and the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Oral arguments in NC-NAACP v. McCrory will begin in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, in Winston-Salem, on July 6th. But while many of those suits argue, in part, that VIVA may have been intended to suppress minority voting, evidence of such malicious intent has been hard to come by.

Until now. (Source: Read more)

If The Some Church Folks Would Stand For Something Then The Young Folks Would Do Better

It is my opinion that if some church folks would stand up against unrighteousness of this world then the young folks will do better. Some church folks say they have the faith and they put on the armor of God but when the time come you will see where their faith is. They are afraid to stand up. So are the church folks living the word or living a lie? If you are scared, say it!

Let’s look at what has been in the news over the past several years because I would be ignant to say let’s look at what has been going on recently. This stuff has been going on for years but because of cell phones and the media playing a major role now, people are beginning to see what is going on.

I strongly feel that the young folks feel they have no hope because they see the racism and other being so wide open in all walks of life. When the young folk begin to do ignant stuff because they don’t think like the church folks suppose to think, then we get what we get. The church folks suppose to pray before they making decisions but the young folks ain’t thinking that way and just do stuff without thinking about what they are going to face be it death and/or jail time.

Looking at the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and how the young folks began to riot and then afterwards the church folks came out. Well where were the church folks when Gray was killed? Were the young folks the only folks whom felt that Gray’s death was not right and the church folks got the message after the young folks began to riot?

Freddie Gray’s life is gone and those whom will be charged with serious crimes because of the rioting, these young folks will be gone from the community as well. These young folks may will have committed some crimes and will go to jail for a long time. But some would say who gains from these young folks tearing up their own community? First of all is that a community the young folks love to call home? If we love something then the majority of the time we value what we love. So obviously these young folks do not value the community they are living in.

Now although I don’t live in Baltimore but this is who I see will gain. Someone said that they burned down the CVS so where are the folks going to get their meds? Someone said the CVS needed to be remodeled. Some folks say the living conditions are just ugly so these young folks that committed the crimes may have done those left behind a favor if the community is rebuilt and rebuilt better than it was before. Now I don’t know if it will get rebuilt. Well if the church folks whom say they care, I would hope they will do all they can to make sure it is rebuilt.

When the church folks begin to lead by example of what they say they stand for, then and only then will the young folks do better.

Now I ain’t there yet when it comes to being a church folk but one thing about it long before I joined a church, my family taught me to help other other folks. I became a community activist, joined the NAACP and other organizations in the late 80’s and the early 90’s and have been faithful to the cause since that time. I have done things on an individual note and then collectively with some others.

So church folks will you continue to allow the young folks to continue to lead or will you take a stand? If you are scared, say it and get out of the way! But I hope you know that if you ain’t going to try to live by the bible you say you read, then your living is in vain. Nope ain’t saying you gonna do all things right but when it comes to us not speaking out against unrighteousness and trying to save our young folks then our living is in vain.

More young black men in criminal justice system than college, presidential hopeful Ben Carson says – PolitiFact Wisconsin

The Political Agitator response: “Ignorance will never end. Even those with money can’t buy SENSE!!” Author: Curmilus Dancy II The Political Agitator However my friend Sheria Reid said it better:

Dear Dr. Carson,
You have had a remarkable career as a surgeon; however, that doesn’t mean that you are prepared to be President of the U.S. Perhaps you should start with something less challenging like city council member or county commissioner or dog catcher. It would also be a good idea to hire some competent fact checkers to run the numbers and check the data before you assert any claim as factual.

I find it disturbing that you believed this “fact.” More young black men, ages 18-24 in the criminal justice system than in college? Ben, you should know better. Your ignorance is dangerous. You are held up by the Tea Party as an enlightened black man. They believe that you speak truth. Sadly, you believe your own misinformation and disparage our young black men with your misinformed assertions.

We’re close to the same age Ben, so I know that you grew up under Jim Crow, the U.S. version of apartheid. You are right to be proud of your accomplishments, but Ben, you need to be quiet and listen to the voices of our people, and learn your own history before you start sharing “facts.” Sheria Reid

Ben Carson — who along with fellow Republicans Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee announced their candidacies for president this week — made a provocative claim about young black men during a speech in Milwaukee on April 22, 2015..

Keynoting a fundraiser for an organization that tutors inner-city children, the retired Johns Hopkins Hospital neurosurgeon told the audience how schools and a strong mother helped lift him from poverty and brushes with crime.

“Many have said the young black male in America is an endangered species. Why do they say that?” Carson continued. “Because of the high homicide rate, particularly in our large, inner cities; because there are more young black males involved in the criminal justice system than there are in higher education.”

Are there more young black males involved in the criminal justice system than in college? (Source: Read more)