Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Sheriff-elect sues city after being detained by police.

Do you think that it's a conflict of interest for Williams to be suing the city he should be serving?  Furthermore, do you think that Williams identified himself as a former law enforcement officer when he interfered with officer safety procedures?  Don't say you weren't warned, Philly...with the sexual harassment claims and anecdotal evidence of unethical behavior in the state house, should Williams be the man to clean up our elected law enforcement agency? 

Read more by clicking here.

There's something unsaid here that needs to be looked at further by the voters of the city. An ex-cop in good standing usually carries a retired shield or ID and would never step in between an officer and a frisk (as they wouldn't want a fellow cop getting hurt). So why did Williams get between the cops and the suspects to the point where the officers detained him so they could investigate the situation?

Putting myself in this situation, it stinks.

A beat cop wouldn't be in that position, so a four-star law enforcement executive should never have been in the position to be detained in the first place.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Publically-Owned Space is NO Place for those who Preach Racism & Violence

Tonight, on the 30th anniversary of the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, the National Constitution Center, which is federally subsidized and sits on National Parks Service land, has rented a room to a group that advocates the VIOLENT overthrow of the U.S. Constitution for the purposes of giving a convicted cop killer, Mumia Abu Jamal a forum to call in from his prison cell.
Not only is this yet another insult to widow Maureen Faulkner, but the fact that the staff at the NCC doesn't realize that it is not obligated to rent space to an organization that actively advocates for the overthrow of our society, shows you just how far we have fallen as a nation of laws and decency.  As many know, Mumia's supporters, as seen from the below link, stem from the National Black Panther Party, New Black Panthers, and MOVE; which advocate racism and are directly responsible for the murders of two Philadelphia Police Officers as well as the 2008 voter intimidation case.   
Please call Governor Corbett at (717) 783-1116 to tell him that, as a PA voter and taxpayer, you are OUTRAGED by this racist group being hosted on public space on the land that our forefathers used to build this great nation. 
Also, you can contact Ms. Ashley Berke of the National Constitution Center at (215) 409-6693 to ask her why they would rent this room to a group supporting cop-killers and racists.
A link to this offensive gathering can be found at:
www.freemumia.com
Join Cornel West, Immortal Technique, Vijay Prashad, Michelle Alexander, Ramona Africa, Mark Lamont Hill and many others on the 30th year of Mumia's wrongful imprisonment.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

30 Years: Justice for P/O Daniel Faulkner

On December 9, 1981, young Police Officer Danny Faulkner was murdered in the line of duty by Mumia Abdul-Jamal.   Thirty years and multiple court appearances later, Abdul-Jamal's conviction still stands; yet his sentence has yet to have been carried out.  Mumia's cause has been championed by celebrities and activists from as far as California and France, yet those of us in Philadelphia are still angrily awaiting justice in the name of Officer Faulkner and the thousands of men and women from all racial backgrounds who take the low-paying, at many times thankless job of Police Officer in the city of Philadelphia. 

Thursday night, December 8, 2011 at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA; there will be a showing of Tigre Hill's critically acclaimed documentary "Barrel of a Gun" followed by a panel discussion hosted by WPHT radio's Michael Smerconish to discuss the Faulkner case and the many political and social issues associated with it over the last 30 years.  The discussion panel includes:


mas1 Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel DiscussionMichael Smerconish
Talk Show Host and Co-Author of Murdered By Mumia
maureen faulkner Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel DiscussionMaureen Faulkner
Widow of Daniel Faulkner and Co-Author of Murdered By Mumia
seth williams Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel DiscussionSeth Williams
Philadelphia District Attorney
joseph mcgill Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel DiscussionJoseph McGill
Attorney with the Lock Law Firm in Philadelphia, former Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia
96 hughburns Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel DiscussionHugh Burns
Chief Assistant District Attorney, Appeals Unit, District Attorney’s office, Philadelphia
tigre hill Michael Smerconish presents Tigre Hills <em>The Barrel Of A Gun</em> & Panel Discussion Tigre Hill
Documentary Filmmaker, Barrel Of A Gun


Tickets are just $20 and can be purchased by clicking here.  I will be in attendance because I believe this case represents a notable piece of Philadelphia history, yet the story has still not concluded. 

Please join us to mark the 30 year anniversary of Daniel Faulkner's murder; and to show the world that Philadelphians stand behind those who protect us.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

When did public housing get so luxurious?

Question: Is it an effective use of space for PHA to build green, single family public housing with public funds?

As someone who works hard to afford my first single family home, which I bought just three years ago after renting apartments over my whole adult life - it bothers me to think that my tax dollars are going for single family homes with island kitchens and lawns when there are many more needy people who'd be happy (and warm) living in apartments that could have been built on the same space.

The idea with low-income housing is to give poor people a home while they work to improve their circumstances to the point where they can buy or rent a home of their own, that they can choose and modify to fit their needs and tastes - to participate in the American dream of home ownership.  Therefore, what does it say of a Public Housing Authority who builds homes that exceed the expectations of many non-section eight first-time home buyers?  If the public housing is better than what can be afforded otherwise, why would anyone leave public housing to open it up for the next needy family? 

Coming from New York, home of the high-rise housing project; I've seen many crime and public health problems involving public housing, but one has to recognize that a cluster of 10 to 20-floor apartment buildings puts a roof over far more heads than a cluster of 3-bedroom single family homes.  Isn't that the objective of public housing?

One has to wonder why our Public Housing Authority fails to see why that objective is so important when building properties with OUR MONEY.