Goodir

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Posts posted by Goodir


  1. Arrested, Police Accused Of Racial Profiling

     

     

    BOSTON — Police responding to a call about "two black males" breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there – Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.

     

    Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed, his lawyer said. Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.

     

    Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing "two black males with backpacks on the porch," with one "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

     

    By the time police arrived, Gates was already inside. Police say he refused to come outside to speak with an officer, who told him he was investigating a report of a break-in.

     

    "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" Gates said, according to a police report written by Sgt. James Crowley. The Cambridge police refused to comment on the arrest Monday.

     

    Gates – the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research – initially refused to show the officer his identification, but then gave him a Harvard University ID card, according to police.

     

    "Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the officer wrote.

     

    Gates said he turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID – both with his photos – and repeatedly asked for the name and badge number of the officer, who refused. He said he then followed the officer as he left his house onto his front porch, where he was handcuffed in front of other officers, Gates said in a statement released by his attorney, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, on a Web site Gates oversees, TheRoot.com

     

    He was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior." He was released later that day on his own recognizance. An arraignment was scheduled for Aug. 26.

     

    Gates, 58, also refused to speak publicly Monday, referring calls to Ogletree.

     

    "He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification," Ogletree said.

     

    Ogletree declined to say whether he believed the incident was racially motivated, saying "I think the incident speaks for itself."

     

    Some of Gates' African-American colleagues say the arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge.

     

    Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.

     

    "We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."

     

    The Rev. Al Sharpton is vowing to attend Gates' arraignment.

     

    "This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."

     

    Ogletree said Gates had returned from a trip to China on Thursday with a driver, when he found his front door jammed. He went through the back door into the home – which he leases from Harvard – shut off an alarm and worked with the driver to get the door open. The driver left, and Gates was on the phone with the property's management company when police first arrived.

     

    Ogletree also disputed the claim that Gates, who was wearing slacks and a polo shirt and carrying a cane, was yelling at the officer.

     

    "He has an infection that has impacted his breathing since he came back from China, so he's been in a very delicate physical state," Ogletree said.

     

    Lawrence D. Bobo, the W.E.B Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met with Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and "emotionally devastated."

     

    "It's just deeply disappointing but also a pointed reminder that there are serious problems that we have to wrestle with," he said.

     

    Bobo said he hoped Cambridge police would drop the charges and called on the department to use the incident to review training and screening procedures it has in place.

     

    The Middlesex district attorney's office said it could not do so until after Gates' arraignment. The woman who reported the apparent break-in did not return a message Monday.

     

    Gates joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious "university professors" positions at the school. He also was host of "African American Lives," a PBS show about the family histories of prominent U.S. blacks, and was named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

     

    "I was obviously very concerned when I learned on Thursday about the incident," Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust said in a statement. "He and I spoke directly and I have asked him to keep me apprised."

     

    The Root


  2. Staff at a design and marketing company in Newcastle spent a day working together naked after being told it would improve their morale.

     

    David Taylor, a business psychologist, told workers at design and marketing onebestway, in Newcastle upon Tyne, that a Naked Friday idea would boost their team spirit.

     

    He was called in to help the firm after six staff members were forced into taking redundancies at the start of the credit crunch.

     

    Mr Taylor told them that, by stripping off their clothes, staff could also strip away inhibitions and talk to each other more openly and honestly.

     

    He said: "Inviting an organisation to go naked is the most extreme technique I've used. It may seem weird but it works. It's the ultimate expression of trust in yourself and each other."

     

    Despite some initial reluctance, nearly all the staff took off all their clothes – except for one man, who wore a posing pouch, and one of two female workers, who kept on black underwear.

     

    Sam Jackson, 23, the house manager, was the only woman to go fully naked. She said: "It was brilliant. Now that we've seen each other naked, there are no barriers.

     

    "We weren't put under pressure. If we wanted to come in clothed or in our underwear, we could. But I love my body and wasn't ashamed.

     

    "We're all beautiful, whether we've got big bodies or small ones."

     

    Miss Jackson, who suffers from cerebral palsy, said: "It took a week of David being in the office for us to build up courage. The first few steps were very nerve-racking but, once I got to my desk and got used to it, I felt totally comfortable.

     

    "It was emotional but we found we were much more able to talk to each other honestly – and have been since. The company has improved massively."

     

    The experiment in April was filmed for a one-off TV show, Naked Office, to be screened on July 9 on cable channel Virgin 1.

     

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  3. ^You are the first Oromo I come across who is agruing Ethiopia favorably. Not to mention an Oromo being from Greater Somalia. Most Oromos I meet don't identify as Ethiopians let alone speak highly of it. You must be one unique Oromo. :D

     

    Let me come back to the Shabaab argument later but your claim Ethiopia saved Islam is a distorted piece of historical reference. Ethiopia could not have saved Islam if Islam need a savior. Because Islam was born way before Ethiopia named itself Ethiopia. Back in those days when some Muslims were fleeing prosecution and migrated to the Land of Habasha, modern day Ethiopia, out of fear of harm, they were taking up a journey to safeguard their own protection and practice their religion freely. This migration was not about saving Islam, nor about Ethiopia or Ahmara or Tigre saving Islam. The label Ethiopia did not exit yet. They were encouraged to go for the possibility of finding a just Christian King who lets them practice their religion freely. This was the sole purpose of their trip, not about saving Islam. If that was not the case, the founder of islam, prophet Mohammed scw and all his followers would have fled [to Ethiopia] too. :D

     

     

    That Christian king did not send them back and simply let them stay in his kingdom to practice their religion without any fear. The founder of Islam, Mohamed scw stayed in Makkah and so were most of his followers. What you misunderstood was this was a time when armed struggle was not permitted in Islam. So Muslims had no option but to flee. Islam was not anywhere close to extinction. If those migrated were to vanish, you still had plenty Muslims living in Makkah.

     

    Najashi may have saved few fleeing Muslims from sending back to prosecutors way but he did not save religion of Islam. If you want to give Ethiopia the credit of this king's lifetime achievement, I am sure you can find other greatness of the king other than giving refuge to fleeing minorities. That does not say much about the kingdom's contribution to humanity.


  4. ^Too graphic there. Save same for later.

     

    This is not a culture collide. Whoever came up that title has some bias or don't understand what it means. Kids will always be kids. The private armed security in the video would not have ignored the kids if anything criminal were taking place. Supposedly they left alone the gay guy and walked off. He kept laughing at them most of the time.


  5. The Holy Quran became a political tool for Al Shabaab to advance suicide attacks against their Muslim brothers. I come across this image of a teenage suicide bomber killed over hundred Muslims in Beledweyne. To galorify and honor this heinous, sinful, haram, criminal act and agression against fellow Muslims, they used an ayah from Quran to paint this young misguided, uninformed boy as shahiid. Only if they knew the true meaning and historical reference that lies behind this particular ayah and the following ones. Look it up.

     

    Al-Shabaab are evil militia that brought suicide bombing to this small nation of 99.999% Muslims and now waging a religious war and utilize the Quran as a tool to achieve political goals. Somalis never knew suicide bombing before this militia set a foot in the country. It is foreign to our culture, tradition and religious values. It must be condemned in strongest form as described in Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet.

     

    Xaraam for them to dissect the quranic ayat to satisfy their evil hawaa.

     

     

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  6. Regardless of his ethnicity, I wouldn't characterize him as legendary in terms of his ranks. He is good for business and that's all he is good for. He is as legend as the founder of GoDaddy. Jobs takes a back seat when it comes to people who makes this world a little better place to live for everyone. Buffett and Gates beat him to it.