Posts Tagged ‘Featured Video’
‘Dump DeMarco’ housing activists ejected from House hearing
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 14:13
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Housing activists staged a demonstration during a meeting of the House Committee on Housing Finance on Tuesday, disrupting testimony by Ed DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

According to C-SPAN, the protesters were members of several advocacy groups, including City Life/Vida Urbana, New Bottom Line, NEW ROAD, and Right to the City. At first, demonstrators stood up one at a time while DeMarco was testifying before the committee before being ordered out by chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX). (Read more…)

After the second protester is ejected, one person can be heard saying, “I thought Barney Frank had retired,” a reference to the former Massachusetts congressman, who has accused the housing industry of fostering a climate that led to the country’s mortgage crisis.

Shortly after the second ejection, a third person holds up a sign saying, “Dump DeMarco,” leading Hensarling to ask Capitol police to escort a group of about 12 demonstrators out of the hearing.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re not gonna allow you to disturb this hearing as part of the people’s House,” he said as the demonstrators were led out.

Last year, protesters gathered outside DeMarco’s home in Silver Spring, Maryland criticizing his performance.

Watch video of DeMarco’s testimony being derailed by protesters, posted on Tuesday, below.

 
Arizona man guilty of shooting girlfriend in the head with assault rifle
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 13:40
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An Arizona man with a history of domestic violence on Monday was found guilty of killing his girlfriend by shooting her in the head with a military-style assault rifle.

After less than three days of deliberations, a Maricopa County Superior Court jury found Eric Coulter, 20, guilty of manslaughter for the 2011 slaying of 18-year-old Monique Cota, according to the Arizona Republic. Coulter had been charged with second-degree murder, but maintained that the shooting had been accidental.

(Read more…)

Investigators said that Coulter had a history of assaulting Cota in what was described as a “volatile” relationship. Cota had told family members that she had planned to move to California to live with a childhood friend, who she had gotten engaged to shortly before her death.

But on Oct. 15, 2011, Coulter’s father called police to tell them that Cota had been shot and was likely dead. Coulter told his father that he was trying to show his girlfriend that his AR-15 rifle was unloaded when the gun discharged, shooting her just above her left eye.

Police caught up with Coulter the next day in Mesa motel with cash and several fake New York IDs.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other pro-gun lobbying groups had been working to prevent laws that would force firearms to be surrendered in cases where a protective order was issued for domestic violence. In Arizona, people placed under a restraining order can only be forced to surrender their weapons if a judge specifically orders it.

“Over and over again, anti-domestic violence activists and legislators try to make it harder for men who have a hankering to kill their wives from arming themselves to do so, and over and over again, the NRA throws a fit and makes sure the sacred right of a man to control a woman through violence is protected,” Pandagon’s Amanda Marcotte pointed out on Tuesday.

“At stake here is whether or not states should be able to seize the guns of people who have restraining orders filed against them. The common sense answer is yes, as restraining orders aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on if there isn’t any attempt to actually, you know, restrain the violent person from acting violently towards his victim.”

Watch this video from KNXV, broadcast Oct. 17, 2011.

[Ed note: Amanda Marcotte's blog, Pandagon, is hosted by Raw Story Media but maintains separate editorial control from Raw Story.]

 
Budget cuts force Missouri city employees to bring toilet paper from home
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 10:51
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While Windsor, Missouri mayor Justin Brown was quick to admit people liked “potty humor,” the news that city employees had to bring their own toilet paper at work was no laughing matter.

“I was just really incredulous that this was a topic to be brought up at a City Hall meeting, much less have any truth to it,” Brown told KCTV-TV on Saturday. “The number one emotion is embarrassment. We have a lot of good things going on in our little town, and this is the topic. (Read more…)”

The topic was brought to light at a March 12 city council meeting, when a resident, Nancy Dunbar, asked for permission to start a fundraising drive to cover the cost of new toilet paper. Dunbar said she had been told by city administrator Sandra Underwood that male employees at the municipal barn exceeded their budget for tissues and were forced to bring their own.

“Just because they’re cleaning lagoons out doesn’t mean they don’t need to clean their rumps,” Dunbar told the council.

The council voted to restore funding for the barn to provide toilet paper for the male employees.

Underwood denied making such statements in an off-camera interview with the station, saying the city’s public works department told the employees there was a budget shortage. Dunbar, however, said Underwood admitted to issuing the order after the council meeting ended.

Watch KCTV’s report on the case of the missing toilet paper money, aired Saturday, below.

KCTV5