Roland S. Martin's Blog, page 200

Abused, Almost Murdered, Yet WGN’s Merri Dee Made Choice To Live Her Best Life

Source:  Maudlyne Ihejirika / Chicago Sun-Times What has always stood out since that day in 1971 is the light behind Merri Dee’s eyes. Sure, her trademark is that million-dollar smile. But even more striking, the face of the longtime broadcaster, a civic leader, practically radiates light. It could be from surviving being kidnapped, shot twice in [...]

House Passes Defense Bill With Tough Sexual Assault Provisions

Source: Lucy Madison / CBS News The House of Representatives on Friday passed a wide-ranging annual defense spending bill, authorizing appropriations for 2014 with an additional focus on the recent controversies surrounding sexual assault in the military. The bill, which authorizes all manners of funds toward keeping the Defense Department functional for the 2014 fiscal [...]

Democratic Convention Organizers Inflate Prices Of Lost Electronics, Claim $500K

Source: Garrett Bruno / ABC News The Democratic National Convention may be long over, but its organizers have not forgotten the almost half a million dollars worth of electronics they seem to have lost. Organizers of the Charlotte, N.C., convention have filed an eyebrow-raising police report for lost and stolen electronics, some of which they have valued at [...]

ESPN: Paul And Howard Want To Be Teammates (VIDEO)

Chris Broussard discusses the reports that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are talking about the possibility of becoming teammates next season.

Emergency Financial Manager: Detroit Won’t Pay $2.5B It Owes

Source: AP / theGrio ROMULUS, Mich.  — Detroit’s emergency manager says the city is defaulting on about $2.5 billion of debt. Kevyn Orr said Friday that Detroit is asking creditors to take about 10 cents on the dollar of what they’re owed. Underfunded pension claims will get less. Orr spent about two hours Friday morning [...]

Experts Warn Eyeball Licking Trend Can Injure the Eye, Damage Sight

Source: Gillian Mohney / ABC News A new trend among Japanese teenagers called oculolinctus, also known as “eyeball licking,” or “worming,” is currently sweeping across the internet in videos and photos. The bizarre trend has started popping up on Youtube, Tumblr and Twitter. The practice, in which teens show affection by licking their partner’s eyeballs, may have started with [...]

IMF Says Sequester Hurting U.S. Economy, Delaying Recovery

Source:  Shahien Nasiripour / The Huffington Post As much as half of U.S. economic growth this year has been slashed due to tax increases and indiscriminate federal spending cuts known as sequestration, according to a sobering new forecast by the International Monetary Fund, which urged lawmakers to repeal the cuts. Risks to U.S. growth are “modestly [...]

Eric Holder: NSA Leaker Will Be Punished

Source: AP / The Huffington Post WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder says national security has been damaged as a result of leaks about a pair of government surveillance programs and that the U.S. will punish the person who is responsible. The attorney general made the comment in Dublin, Ireland, when asked by reporters why [...]

Senate Democrats Discuss Need For ‘Black Agenda’

Source: Suzanne Gamboa / AP / theGrio WASHINGTON — The sole Democratic African-American senator cast doubt on the need for a “black agenda” from the president and on its chances of passage in Congress during a Democratic forum with largely African-American reporters Wednesday. Massachusetts Sen. William “Mo” Cowan said the issues that black Americans are [...]

NSA Leaker Snowden Not Welcome In UK

Source: AP / Yahoo! News LONDON — The British government has warned airlines around the world not to allow Edward Snowden, who leaked information on top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, to fly to the United Kingdom. A travel alert, dated Monday on a Home Office letterhead, said carriers should deny Snowden boarding because “the individual is highly likely [...]