NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is turning to rather unorthodox measures to weed out prejudice in his department. He&#8217;s making new recruits <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/10/20/bratton-wants-police-recruits-to-see-play-about-prejudice/">go to a play</a>. 
The play, hopes Bratton, will be an antidote to the spread of prejudice throughout the department.
&#8220;I lived a lot of it, and I think that&#8217;s why it touched me,&#8221; the commissioner said during an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday.
&#8220;I grew up in the 50s in Boston, a very segregated city at the time,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t interact with blacks in any large numbers until I joined the Boston police force. And as a young 23 year old white kid, I was patrolling on foot in an all-black neighborhood. And that experience was really, as you can imagine quite awakening; this seems to me a way of introducing my police recruits into the reality of racism, the reality of religious persecution.&#8221;
The new recruits will be required to see the play Janet Langhart, which is an imaginary conversation between Holocaust victim Anne Frank and Mississippi lynching victim <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515">Emmett Till</a>.
Along with the focus on <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/10/20/bratton-wants-police-recruits-to-see-play-about-prejudice/">the issue of prejudice</a>, the commissioner also attended the &#8220;Women Inspiring Women&#8221; seminar, which included sessions titled &#8220;Break Your Barriers,&#8221; &#8220;Facing Life with Laughter,&#8221; and &#8220;Meditation for Well-Being.&#8221;
That Mayor Bill de Blasio had a hand in encouraging Bratton&#8217;s anti-prejudice initiatives would be surprising. The issue of prejudice among the NYPD was further inflamed by de Blasio in December of last year, when he <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-details-talk-son-dealing-cops-article-1.2036870">said</a> in reference to talking to his bi-racial son Dante, &#8220;you have to train them to be very careful when they have an encounter with police officers.&#8221;
Bratton&#8217;s interview took place as the NYPD lost its 4th officer in the last eleven months due to a shooting. NYPD officer Randolph Holder was murdered by Tyrone Holder, a drug dealer who shot the officer after getting into a gun battle in East Harlem.

Image (via AP): New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, right, speaks during a media briefing in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015. New York Police Department Officer Randolph Holder died Tuesday night after being shot in the head in a gun battle while pursuing a suspect following a report of shots fired, police said. Police on Wednesday named 30-year-old Tyrone Howard as the man they believe killed Officer Holder.

NYPD Commish Requiring Recruits to See Play About Prejudice, Religious Tolerance

Bill de Blasio

During an interview with Fox News&#8217; Sean Hannity Wednesday night, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/10/21/clarke-obama-pushing-get-out-of-jail-free-program-for-criminals-low-level-offenders-graduate/">slammed</a> the Obama administration for pushing a &#8220;get out of jail free&#8221; program in furtherance of one of the left&#8217;s favorite agenda items: criminal justice reform.
Mr. Clarke continued in his statement by saying that though many prisoners &#8220;don&#8217;t start with felonious conduct,&#8221; they &#8220;graduate&#8221; from prison to commit higher level crimes. 
&#8220;This guy who is in custody for the slaying last night [Tuesday], when I look at his record, it is littered with drug arrests, things like assault, things like criminal trespass,&#8221; said Clark, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/10/21/clarke-obama-pushing-get-out-of-jail-free-program-for-criminals-low-level-offenders-graduate/">regarding</a> the murder of NYPD officer, Randolph Holder, who was shot and killed by a &#8220;low level&#8221; offender, Tyrone Howard.
&#8220;This is what the left likes to call nonviolent low-level. What they fail to understand about criminal behavior is they fail to understand that these creeps graduate to felonious assault,&#8221; Mr. Clarke continued.
Meanwhile, Obama continues his efforts to release as many low-level &#8220;nonviolent&#8221; drug offenders as possible before he leaves office. <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/07/13/obama-lets-46-convicted-criminals-out-of-prison-in-push-for-justice-reform/">On July 13th, president Obama</a> commuted the sentences of 46 &#8220;low level&#8221; offenders in his effort to push his efforts forward on prison sentence reform. Many of those who were released in the group of 46 were serving time for drug-dealing offenses. &#8220;These men and women were not hardened criminals,&#8221; Obama said in a statement following the announcement of the commuted prison sentences in July, continuing,&#8220;Their punishments didn&#8217;t fit the crime.&#8221; 
<blockquote>
&#8220;This is what the left likes to call nonviolent low-level. What they fail to understand about criminal behavior is they fail to understand that these creeps graduate to felonious assault.&#8221;
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke
</blockquote>
The sheriff has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration as well as the anti-cop protest movement that has been spreading across the United States. Hostility toward police officers has cropped up in communities all over the country, with some <a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Eric-Garner-Manhattan-Dead-Cops-Video-Millions-March-Protest-285805731.html">openly calling for the death of cops</a>. One of the more publicized moments was at a protest in New York City, where there were chants of &#8220;What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!&#8221; Another infamous moment took place during a Black Lives Matter march in Minnesota, where protesters chanted &#8220;Pigs in a blanket, fry &#8216;em like bacon!&#8221; Over the last year, several instances of what appear to be the deliberate targeting of officers has increased the pushback from Clarke and other supporters of law enforcement personnel against the anti-cop sentiment and policies like Obama&#8217;s &#8220;get out of jail free&#8221; program that will only encourage criminal activity.

<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yvdwWsepYTs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Sheriff Clarke Blasts Obama&#8217;s &#8216;Get Out of Jail Free&#8217; Program

Barack Obama

Sheriff David Clarke

ESPN, the self-described worldwide leader in sports, is set to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/disney-s-espn-said-planning-to-eliminate-as-many-as-350-jobs">announce as early as Wednesday that it will be cutting 350 jobs</a> due to falling revenues and viewership.
&#8220;Beginning today, we will be enacting a number of organizational changes at ESPN to better support our future goals,&#8221; ESPN president John Skipper <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/20/media/espn-layoffs/">said in a memo</a> Tuesday. &#8220;That will include the elimination of a number of positions impacting friends and colleagues across the organization,&#8221; he warned, though he did not provide details about what departments and positions would be cut. 
The job cuts are expected to represent 4.3% out of 8,000 employees the network employs worldwide. According to insiders, the cuts could be officially announced this week. 
The reason for the massive layoffs appears to be <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/10/20/report-espn-plans-cut-350-jobs/74297916/">declines in advertising revenues and ratings</a> amid the increase of other sports viewing options. The network has suffered a four-year downward trend which has seen <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/disney-s-espn-said-planning-to-eliminate-as-many-as-350-jobs">the channel lose four million subscribers in the last four years</a>, in part due to the network being one of the highest priced on the cable circuit. 
The move also comes after a failed attempt 3D venture world that failed in part because of technological development problems. 
Over the last few months, ESPN made a few high-profile cost-saving moves, including cutting ties with <a href="http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/07/08/keith-olbermann-out-espn-contract">Keith Olbermann</a>, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/espn-bill-simmons-breakup">Bill Simmons</a>, and <a href="http://thebiglead.com/2015/07/16/colin-cowherd-leaving-espn-whats-next/">Colin Cowherd</a>, all of whom made a habit of emphasizing cultural and political commentary at the expense of sports commentary.
Officials from the company have thus far declined to comment on the matter.

ESPN Laying Off 350 Employees As Revenues Decline

ESPN

In an <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/chelsea-clinton-react-hillary-clinton-benghazi-testimony-214949">interview</a> on CBS This Morning Tuesday, Chelsea Clinton predicted that her mom &#8220;will be remarkable&#8221; during her testimony in front of the House committee investigating the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya. 
&#8220;I think every opportunity my mom has, she proven again and again why she should be our next president. I know I&#8217;m very biased, and I actually think I&#8217;m even more biased now as a mom then as a daughter because I feel like I have a different stake in the future because of my daughter Charlotte,&#8221; Chelsea said during the interview with CBS.
The attacks, which took place on September 11th, 2012, eleven years after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, were a coordinated set of attacks <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/timeline-how-the-benghazi-attack-played-out/2014/06/17/a5c34e90-f62c-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html">orchestrated by</a> Islamist militants, who were largely in control of the country following the overthrowing of longtime dictator, Muammar Gaddafi. Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, died as a result. 
&#8220;And so, I have no doubts on Thursday she will be remarkable and that Americans will really see why I so strongly believe she should be our next president,&#8221; Chelseae <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/chelsea-clinton-react-hillary-clinton-benghazi-testimony-214949">continued</a>.
Hillary, who was secretary of state at the time, has been under fire since the Benghazi attacks because she was ultimately <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/15/obama-bungled-benghazi-could-have-prevented-attack/?page=all">responsible</a> for the safety of the ambassador and the American personnel stationed in Libya. Many argue that Ambassador Stevens was not provided with enough security at the complex at a time when revolution was spreading all around the Arab world (&#8220;the Arab Spring&#8221;) which included widespread Anti- American and Anti- Western sentiment.
Mrs. Clinton made things worse by the way she <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/23/top-quotes-from-hillary-clintons-benghazi-hearings">acted during her first testimony on Benghazi</a>, when she lost her cool during the testimony. &#8220;With all due respect, we had four dead Americans. What difference at this point does it make?&#8221; said Clinton, referring to whether the attack should have been characterized as a terrorist attack or a spontaneous attack. 
The committee hearing at which Clinton will testify is intended to find out what really happened that night in September and learn how we can prevent something like this from happening again. Clinton, however, maintains that it is all a partisan scheme to undermine her chances in 2016.

Chelsea: My Mom&#8217;s Testimony Will Be &#8216;Remarkable&#8217;

In what can only be described as a strange alliance of sorts, the big oil industry is promoting its own resource (oil, which is seen as an evil in some spectrums of Americans society) by using an ardent critic of the resource and industry, <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-oil-rolls-al-gore-154141706.html">Al Gore, to help promote the use and increase in drilling.</a>
&#8220;Mandating corn ethanol doubles greenhouse-gas emissions compared to gasoline over 30 years,&#8221; a new television ad boasts regarding the use of ethanol, which is used as an alternative to gas in fueling vehicles and other machines. The ad is run by <a href="http://smarterfuelfuture.org">The Smarter Fuel Future Coalition</a>, which fights against the use of ethanol.
&#8220;First generation ethanol was a mistake,&#8221; the ad continues, using Al Gore&#8217;s An Inconvenient Truth to promote gasoline. The attempt to increase the influence of gasoline comes after numerous moves by the Obama administration <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_28283645/offshore-oil-drilling-banned-along-new-stretch-california">to restrict drilling</a> on the United States mainland and also off the coast.
On June 9, the Obama administration doubled the size of Northern California&#8217;s marine sanctuaries off the coast stretching 50 miles from the Sonoma coast to Mendocino, prohibiting any type of oil exploration or drilling.
&#8220;This is a response to a growing chorus reminding President Obama that his position on the renewable Fuel standard is inconsistent with his positioning going into the Paris climate talks,&#8221; Brock Coleman, the executive director of the Advanced Biofuels Business council, commented.
The Paris climate talks Mr. Coleman refers to are set to take place from late November until mid-December and will feature numerous countries communing about supposed climate change.
<a href="http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/about/westcoast.html">The new restriction guidelines that</a> were announced in June now bring the total square miles off the West Coast to 12,843 labeled as marine sanctuaries.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a recognition of what the president cares about most. And the argument is patently absurd,&#8221; Mr. Coleman continued in his statement.
<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/better-biofuels/truth-about-ethanol#.ViUvmjiFPIU">Ethanol is seen as a good alternative</a> to gasoline because it is made out of corn and does not require the drilling necessary for the extraction of oil out of the ground.
<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_28283645/offshore-oil-drilling-banned-along-new-stretch-california">Under the new set of rules,</a> oil drilling off the coast of California is prohibited and other activities with the drilling are also prohibited, although boating, fishing and the dumping of raw sewage by cruise are all allowed under the restrictions.
The Smarter Fuel Future Coalition is planning for a mid-November television blitz of ads, the same time as the next Democratic debate is scheduled to take place (the next Democratic debate is scheduled for November 14).
It is odd that the Obama administration would prohibit the exploration and drilling of oil off the shores of its own country when <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/23/lawmakers-execs-slam-obama-boosting-brazils-offshore-drilling/"> back in March 2011,</a> the President offered to support Brazil in its own attempt to start oil drilling off of its own shore.

Climate Change Brings About Strange Alliances

Ethanol

California Governor Jerry Brown has been accused of &#8220;noble cause corruption&#8221; by climate change scientists for attempting to connect the latest string of wildfires in the state to climate change.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a new normal,&#8221; the governor <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-ca-brown-wildfires-20151019-story.html">said </a>at a press conference in August about the fires that have arisen around California this wildfire season. &#8220;California is burning,&#8221; adding, &#8220;The fires are changing, the way this fire performed; it&#8217;s not the way it usually has been. Going in lots of different directions, moving fast, even without direction.&#8221;
California has seen one of its most active and deadly years on record vis-a-vis wildfires. The last fire started on September 27, in Monterey, just south of San Jose. In 2015, California has seen 46,005 acres burned as of September 12 (the number of fires, however, is actually <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/09/just-how-bad-is-the-2015-fire-season/405439/">down from recent years</a>). Seven people have died in the latest flare-up of fires in September.
The governor attempted to connect the situation with climate change by saying that the drought, which started in the fall of 2011, has escalated the situation, along with an increase in carbon. 
&#8220;This is a wakeup call. We have to start coming to our senses,&#8221; the governor said at a <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Gov-Brown-set-to-tour-Rocky-Fire-that-s-now-40-6428627.php">press conference</a> in early August. &#8220;This is not a game of politics. We need to limit our carbon pollution. These are real lives and real people. This problem cannot be solved year by year.&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;That is the nature of politics, but the science really has to matter.&#8221;
climate change scientist Roger Pielke
</blockquote>
Though the governor maintained that his remarks were not intended to be political, University of Colorado climate change scientist Roger Pielke <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-ca-brown-wildfires-20151019-story.html">accused the governor</a> of participating in &#8220;noble cause corruption&#8221; by propping up a favorite cause of the left and Democrats even though the facts might not be on their side.
&#8220;That is the nature of politics, but the science really has to matter,&#8221; said Pielke.
&#8220;There is insufficient data,&#8221; U.S Forest Service ecologist Matt Jolly said, referring to the connection between climate change and the fires.
While Brown is using tragedy and pseudo-science to push his political agenda, experts are trying to come to evidence-based conclusions and offer some solutions.
Richard Halsey, of the Chaparral institute, a nonprofit organization in San Diego which studies the ecosystem in California, has <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-ca-brown-wildfires-20151019-story.html">proposed</a> a series of changes in response to the wildfires. They include, 1) understanding fire risk, 2) controlling development, and 3) making existing homes safer with fire-rated roofs and ember-resistant vents.

Menu

Thomas Manning

Articles by Thomas Manning

NYPD Commish Requiring Recruits to See Play About Prejudice, Religious Tolerance

Sheriff Clarke Blasts Obama’s ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Program

ESPN Laying Off 350 Employees As Revenues Decline

Chelsea: My Mom’s Testimony Will Be ‘Remarkable’

Climate Change Brings About Strange Alliances

California Governor Accused of Lying on Climate Change