Leid Stories

Leid Stories - 02/21/14

Close Out the Week with “Free-Form Friday” on Leid Stories

It would be “Open Forum” if it were Tuesday. But Tuesday was Part 2 of a very important discussion on the Stand Your Ground law that began on Monday. Wednesday was booked and so was Thursday, so the logical thing to do was to do on Friday what we normally would do on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday being out of the question. But should a name associated with a Tuesday program be used for a similar program airing on a Friday? A reasonable mind would say, “No, that would cause confusion.” Hence “Free-Form Friday,” a very clever way to convey that while the Friday program may share some of the features of the Tuesday program, it is not to be expected that it will be the same. If it is, it will vary in exactness.

Now, show your genius at explaining things clearly and concisely, as has been done here.

Leid Stories - 02/20/14

False Profits: Snowden’s NSA Loot Launches Multimillion-Dollar Business

Detroit Update: Major Concerns As City Submits 10-Year Restructuring Plan

 

Let’s see here. A self-righteous Edward Snowden steals an alleged 1.7 million classified files from the NSA and flees the country with them. Soon, a few stories based on the files began to appear—most of them in the London Guardian under the byline of lawyer-turned-reporter Glenn Greenwald who, like his source, becomes an international hero for exposing the dark dealings of the NSA both at home and abroad. Then silence. Then word of a $250-million media operation, financed by e-Bay founder and chairman Pierre Omidyar, with Greenwald in a major role—and Snowden’s looted files as a main draw.

Leid Stories calls out the false prophets and the false profits.  

This week the City of Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, is expected to present to the federal judge overseeing its controversial bankruptcy a plan for restructuring its purported $18-billion debt.

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire and Detroit organizer for the Workers World Parry, reports on the concerns and expectations of stakeholders, especially city workers and retirees, about Orr’s 10-year plan.

Leid Stories - 02/19/14

The IRP6 & the FBI, Chapter 4: Trial & Tribulation

 

Leid Stories continues its report on the case of six executives of a small Colorado City-based software company, Investigative Resource Planning Solutions (IRP Solutions), who inexplicably found themselves and their company targeted by federal authorities just when they were about to land multimillion-dollar contracts with law-enforcement agencies with a case-management system they created.

Twenty-one armed FBI agents raided the minority-owned company on Feb. 9, 2005 under a warrant that said IRP Solutions was a sham and was engaging in fraud. They removed several boxes of “evidence,” including computer equipment and intellectual property. Federal prosecutors on Feb. 6, 2007 sought a grand jury indictment on fraud and conspiracy charges, but the grand jury found no reason to indict. In a highly unusual move, prosecutors convened a second grand jury on June 9, 2009, and obtained a 25-count indictment on each of the six men, charging them with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud.

The legal twists and turns in this case become more and more outrageous and bizarre as the IRP6 come to trial – the focus of our program today.

Leid Stories - 02/18/14

No Safe Ground In ‘Stand-Your-Ground’ -- In Florida & 24 Other States 

Florida was the first state to enact a “Stand Your Ground” law (2005), but 24 other states now enforce statutes similar to Florida Statute 776.013 (3).

“Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr., following yesterday’s discussion of the Michael Dunn case—in which Dunn was acquitted on a first-degree murder charge for killing Jordan Davis, 18, after a heated argument over loud music coming from an SUV Davis and three others were in—discusses the origins of the "Stand Your Ground" law.

Maddox places Stand Your Ground and similar laws in the context of the Slave Codes, Jim Crow law of the Deep South, the duality of natural rights vs civil rights, and racial re-entrenchment.

Leid Stories - Injustice In ‘Stand-Your-Ground’ Florida - 02/17/14

 Injustice In ‘Stand-Your-Ground’ Florida

w guest Alton Maddox

Leid Stories - 02/14/14

It’s All About Love on Leid Stories! A Valentine’s Gift for You!

 

Put the woes of the day and week on hold. Take a well-deserved breather right now, in the middle of the day. Relax and enjoy an all-music program designed just for you, the fine folks who listen to and love Leid Stories.

Here’s some extra love back at you on Valentine’s Day. Enjoy! 

Leid Stories - 02/13/14

Obama: The I-Don’t-See-You, I-Don’t-Hear-You President

 

Five years into his two-term tenure, and President Obama is as indifferent to the harsh realities of life for his core constituencies as any segregationist Dixiecrat or benign-neglect Northern pseudoliberal ever was. He’s got “a pen and a phone” this year, he said, as some sort of threat to Republicans that he’ll bypass their legislative roadblocks either by executive order or extra-skillful schmoozing.

The truth is, Obama cares less about the people who put him in office and more about the big-money corporate interests and a demimonde of ruthless, ambitious political vampires who appear to be high on his list of priorities. They get his personal attention and even guarantees; his repeatedly abused political base gets scripted platitudes.

Leid Stories keeps tabs on the I-don’t-see-you, I-don’t-hear-you president, documenting for those unwilling to do so themselves additional reasons to abandon hope of redeeming the recidivist Obama and, ultimately, to abandon the gutless Democratic Party itself.

Leid Stories - 02/12/14

The IRP6 & the FBI, Chapter 3: A Blizzard of Federal Charges

 

On June 9, 2009, four years and four months after their offices were raided by 21 armed FBI agents, six executives of Investigative Resource Planning Solutions (IRP Solutions)—David A. Banks, Demetrius K. Harper, Gary L. Walker, Clinton A. Stewart, David S. Zirpolo and Kendrick Barnes—found themselves facing 25 counts each on federal conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges.

But it was the second time federal prosecutors convened a grand jury to consider the charges. A grand jury was convened on Feb. 6, 2007, but unanimously found no reason to indict. Bent on a conviction in the case, federal prosecutors convened another grand jury the following month and got what they wanted—an indictment.

Leid Stories delves into the unusual legal maneuverings that produced the charges and that raise serious questions about the possible violation of the defendants’ constitutional rights. 

Leid Stories - 02/11/14

Say It Like You Mean It! It’s Open Forum on Leid Stories!

There’s no point to having a strong opinion about something and keeping it all to yourself. Let’s hear it! Step up and grab some air space on “Open Forum,” where great minds gather to trade information, opinions and ideas.

Dare to share your view of the world and of issues and events that matter. Whether people agree or disagree, the main thing is to buttress your case with credible arguments. Do so and you will be hailed a champion, for there will be no way to challenge you.

Call in! Victory is yours … until it isn’t!

Leid Stories - 02/10/14

De Blasio’s New York—Still A Tale of Two Cities

Early in his turn at the helm, Mayor Bill de Blasio is already showing that any hopes he will break with the business-as-usual, neoliberal political mindset are futile.

Leid Stories examines several cases in which he could have made significant reforms that are long overdue but instead upheld the status quo—policies that historically have been hostile to the city’s distressed communities.

“Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr. explains ways in which de Blasio’s policy decisions already are having major impact on the constitutional rights of Blacks and Latinos in New York City and are sending a disturbing signal that the mayor feels no particular obligation to the constituencies that delivered victory at the polls for him.