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Tatiana Meakens, Sister Charged in Deaths of Her Two Toddlers Killed in Chicago Apartment Fire

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
tatiana meakens and britany meakens 300x168 Tatiana Meakens, Sister Charged in Deaths of Her Two Toddlers Killed in Chicago Apartment Fire

Tatiana Meakens, Sister Charged in Deaths of Her Two Toddlers Killed in Apartment Fire

SHOCK:  Toddlers Jeryiah and Jarvis Meakens died in an Englewood apartment fire in Chicago after their mother, Tatiana Meakens, 23, and her sister, Britany Meakens, 22, left them in the care of their two older siblings, while they went to a party. The two older children were able to get out of the apartment when the fire broke out but were unable to save their siblings.

The two women were each charged with two counts of felony for endangering a child causing death and two counts of misdemeanor for endangering the life and health of a child, NBC Chicago reports. I would venture to say that this wasn’t the first time Tatiana Meakens left her young kids alone at home. She has four kids at 23. Where are the father(s) of these kids? The grown-up thing to have done was to get a babysitter or not go to the party at all. Leaving four young children alone at home is irresponsible and criminal.

Filed Under: Chicago News, Child Abuse Tagged With: , , , , ,

Roland Martin: America Should See Carnage from Newtown Shooting Massacre as We Saw Emmett Till

December 23, 2012 by 1 Comment
newtown school shooting victims 300x226 Roland Martin: America Should See Carnage from Newtown Shooting Massacre as We Saw Emmett Till

Roland Martin: America Should See Carnage from Newtown Shooting Massacre as We Saw Emmett Till

Roland Martin is stoking controversy in his latest column that appeared on CNN.com, saying that America needs to see the carnage from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — an Emmett Till moment. Emmett Till was the black teenager who was killed in 1955 by racists because he allegedly spoke to a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, and her husband and relatives beat the teen to a pulp. His mother decided to have an open-casket funeral service for him, with his bloated and disfigured body in view for the world to see the brutality her son suffered.  Um, no thank you. I don’t want to see those precious children that way.

“One of these mothers from Connecticut should do an Emmett Till moment; show the picture of their child dead in the classroom.”

That’s a text I received earlier this week from my TV One show producer. When I got it, a chill immediately went through my body just thinking about the possibility of seeing the carnage in such a photo.

When taping this week’s edition of my show, “Washington Watch,” Sirius/XM Radio host Joe Madison somberly said the same thing. Joe remarked that Emmett’s mother, Mamie, insisted on an open casket for her son so the world could see what was done to him by racists in Mississippi.

Many Americans may not even remember Emmett Till, a precocious 14-year-old black teenager from Chicago who went to visit his family in Mississippi. He allegedly flirted with a white woman in a store, and the woman’s husband and his brother later went to the home where Till was staying, pulled him out of his bed, took him somewhere and beat him to a pulp, gouged out his eye, blew the back of his head away with a gun, attached a cotton gin with barbed wire around his neck and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. [...]

In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, mass shooting, we have seen numerous photos of the beautiful, smiling faces of the 20 children and six adults slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The images we have become accustomed to include them singing at a piano, sporting the gear of a favorite sports team and others. When we think of them being memorialized it’s in the context of teddy bears, candles and flowers.

Americans want to remember them as vibrant and fun-loving children, but will that actually shake the conscience of America to do something about how they were gunned down in the classroom?

What if one of the mothers or fathers of the Newtown 20 demanded that police give them a crime scene photo of their child and they chose to show it to the world? Can you imagine a modern day Mamie Till Mobley, wracked with pain but filled with resolve to show the nation so they could bear witness to what hate did to their child? Source

Filed Under: Gun Violence, Sandy Hook Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tom Joyner and Donna Richardson Call it Quits After 12 Years of Marriage

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Tom Joyner and Donna Richardson Call it Quits After 12 Years of Marriage

Tom Joyner and Donna Richardson Call it Quits After 12 Years of Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tom Joyner, host of the nationally syndicated “Tom Joyner Morning Show” and Donna Richardson, ESPN commentator,  have called it quits after 12 years of marriage. The New York Daily News reports that the couple parted ways weeks ago in a “mutual but not exactly amicable situation involving other parties.” Sounds like someone may have cheated. Media Take Out is reporting that Donna Richardson believes she is entitled to half of the proceeds from Tom Joyner’s sale of his business to Radio One for $50 million, since it occurred during their marriage. Um, I hope this won’t turn out to be another Steve Harvey-Mary Harvey hot mess.

Tom Joyner and Donna Richardson Call it Quits After 12 Years of Marriage
Filed Under: Celebrity Divorces Tagged With: , , ,

Gun Violence: Man Killed Outside Beverage World Liquor Store in Shively KY, Teen Killed in Poughkeepsie NY

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

GUN VIOLENCE: A black male was fatally shot in the parking lot of Beverage World in Shively, KY, Sunday evening. Police said the victim, in his early 20s, was shot in the chest in the 4000 block of Dixie Highway. No suspects have been arrested nor has the victim’s identity been released. I guess Wayne LaPierre and the NRA would like to see a police officer outside every liquor store in the U.S. as well. The gun violence continues.

Separately, a 17 year old was killed was killed on Main Street in Poughkeepsie NY shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday. His name has not been released pending notification to his family. Police believe the shooting wasn’t a random act and several people were present.

 

Filed Under: Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Navy SEAL Team 4 Commander Job W. Price Dies in Afghanistan, from Apparent Suicide

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Commander Job W. Price 300x168 Navy SEAL Team 4 Commander Job W. Price Dies in Afghanistan, from Apparent Suicide

Navy SEAL Team 4 Commander Job W. Price Dies in Afghanistan, Apparent Suicide

MILITARY TRAGEDY:  Navy SEAL Team 4 Commander Job W. Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pa., died in Afghanistan, but not in combat, Defense Department officials said in a prepared statement. His death is being investigated though it is believed that he committed suicide. Commander Job W. Price was in Afghanistan supporting stability operations in Uruzgan Province. The Department of Defense reports he was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit based in Virginia Beach, Va.

Filed Under: Breaking News, U.S. Politics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

10 Most Memorable Images from 2012 Include Newtown Shooting & Paul Ryan Soup-Kitchen Photo Op

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

10 Most Memorable Images from 2012:  We couldn’t close out 2012 without looking back at how memorable a year it has been, both good and bad. From President Obama and NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s bromance in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, to the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, to Clint Eastwood’s bizarre empty-chair skit at the Republican National Convention, to Gabrielle Douglas becoming the first black American to win an individual gymnastics gold medal at the London Olympics. Here’s our slideshow on the “10 Most Memorable Images from 2012:”


Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Alcohol Suspected in Wrong-Way Collision Caused by Joshua Nkansah Killing Four, Including Scott and Michele Barhorst

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY:  Joshua Nkansah and his seven year old son David Nkansah, were killed in a head-on collision on Interstate 75 in southwestern Ohio when he went the wrong way. He crashed into another minivan killing its passengers Scott and Michele Barhorst, of Madisonville, Tenn., who were taking their four children to see their grandparents for the holidays. Police suspect that alcohol was a factor in the crash after they found a bottle in the vehicle that went the wrong way.

Joshua Nkansah was returning from a Christmas party when the accident occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Two other children were critically injured in the accident — Darius Nkansah, 4 and Haley Barhorst, 9. Joshua Nkansah’s wife was at home at the time of the accident.

 

Filed Under: Drunk Driving, Latest News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gun Advocates Start White House Petition to Deport Piers Morgan for “Attack” on Second Amendment

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Deport Piers Morgan petition: Gun advocates started a new petition  on the White House website to deport Piers Morgan for his “effort to undermine the Bill of Rights.” Piers Morgan has been a staunch advocate of increased gun control in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre that left 20 children and six adults dead. Morgan has been targets for deportation by gun rights advocates who believe he is engaging in a “hostile attack” against the Second Amendment. Um, whatever. I guess they want to go after Joe Scarborough too.

Here’s the petition:

petition to deport piers morgan 2nd amendment 300x225 Gun Advocates Start White House Petition to Deport Piers Morgan for Attack on Second Amendment

Gun Advocates Start White House Petition to Deport Piers Morgan for “Attack” on Second Amendment

Piers Morgan’s response:

Filed Under: Gun Violence, Latest News, U.S. Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre Continues Lunacy on “Meet the Press” Dodging Questions About High Capacity Magazines

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
300px Wayne LaPierre by Gage Skidmore NRAs Wayne LaPierre Continues Lunacy on Meet the Press Dodging Questions About High Capacity Magazines

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre Continues Lunacy on “Meet the Press” Dodging Questions About High Capacity Magazines. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association continued his “lunacy” on “Meet the Press” dodging David Gregory’s questions about gun legislation, instead, continuing to blame everyone else. He basically dug in on his hardline stance against backing any new gun legislation. Gregory asked, “if it’s possible to reduce the loss of life, you’re willing to try [gun control],” holding up a high capacity magazine of ammunition, adding, “isn’t it possible that if we got rid of these, isn’t it just possible that we could reduce the carnage in a situation like New Haven?” Wayne LaPierre’s response was, as I expected, “I don’t think that’s going to make one difference.” He gives a whole new meaning to the word “evasive.”

Wayne LaPierre said there was no chance new gun control will pass in the Congress and made it clear that he was unmoved by the critics who attacked his train wreck of a press conference on Friday, 90 minutes after the country observed a moment of silence for the victims in the Newtown school shooting massacre. He said, “If it’s crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our schools to protect our children, then call me crazy.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham seemed to back his assertion that an assault weapons ban wouldn’t work, saying that he was stopped by people in his state of South Carolina, who begged him not the allow the government to take away their guns. I wonder if Wayne LaPierre or Lindsey Graham had lost a child or grandchild in the Sandy Hook shooting massacre if their position would be the same? I don’t think so, which makes their arguments so hypocritical.

As for the issue of the mentally ill getting their hands on guns, I am afraid some of the same Republicans saying something must be done, voted against Obamacare, which would cover mental illness. There is no way a mentally ill person should be able to get a gun, but Adam Lanza didn’t purchase a gun. he used his mother’s Bushmaster to carry out his shooting rampage, so how do you stop someone like that from getting his hand on a gun? His mother was his enabler. There was no reason why James Eagan Holmes was able to purchase hundreds of rounds of ammunition, though he was getting psychological counselling. No-one asks questions or the right questions, that is. Money talks and that’s all that matters for some people. A red flag should have gone up when Holmes purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition with no questions asked.

Wayne LaPierre’s position is that the government must lock up more people and not deal with the question of whether a high capacity magazine is necessary. He dodged David Gregory’s question about the possibility that a smaller magazine, say one that held five rounds of ammunition, as opposed to 30, would mean more lives would be spared. The reality is that it would. Adam Lanza didn’t have a criminal record nor did James Eagan Holmes, who emptied a drum holding 100 rounds of ammunition on innocent moviegoers in Aurora, Colo. Wayne LaPierre didn’t offer any credible solutions, but hid behind the Second Amendment, which should be revisited, considering that when it was written, high capacity magazines and assault weapons didn’t exist. I guess what Wayne LaPierre wants to see is the Wild, Wild West brought into the 21st century.

Here’s what Connecticut school officials had to say about Wayne LaPierre’s proposal to add armed guards to every school:

Hartford Courant: Politicians, Public Say Armed Presence In Schools Isn’t The Right Tack

Norwich Bulletin: Superintendents: NRA plan for armed school guards short-sighted

Record-Journal: Local officials scoff at NRA’s stance on armed guards in all schools

Watch Wayne LaPierre on “Meet the Press” continuing is lunacy:

NRAs Wayne LaPierre Continues Lunacy on Meet the Press Dodging Questions About High Capacity Magazines
Filed Under: Gun Violence, Sandy Hook, U.S. Politics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

20-Year-Old Hakeem Walton Dies After Being Shot While Riding in a Car in South Chicago Neighborhood

December 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

GUN VIOLENCE:  Hakeem Walton, 20, died after being shot early Saturday morning while he rode in a car in the 2700 block of East 84th Street in a South Chicago neighborhood. According to the Chicago Tribune, Hakeem Walton, who lived in Hammond, Ind., was struck in the head when a bullet shattered the back window. He was pronounced dead Saturday evening after being transferred from Advocate Trinity Hospital to Advocate Christ Medical Center, the newspaper reports.

We will continue to focus on gun violence and the gun culture that have this country under siege, notwithstanding the National Rifle Association’s position that more guns, not less, should be on the streets, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre.

pixel 20 Year Old Hakeem Walton Dies After Being Shot While Riding in a Car in South Chicago Neighborhood
Filed Under: Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , ,