Random Politics & Religion #00

Demonstrators rallied on Wednesday against what they described as a culture of police brutality in South Carolina in the case of a white officer caught on video killing a black man by shooting him in the back as the man ran away after a traffic stop.

Holding signs that read "The whole world is watching" and "Back turned, don't shoot," dozens of protesters in North Charleston said the death of 50-year-old Walter Scott on Saturday should not be viewed as an isolated incident.

"There is an atmosphere of racism in North Charleston, and we need to get rid of it," said Ramon Roane, 52, one of the speakers who gave examples of what they called unfair treatment by city police and leaders amid chants of "No more! No more!" by the crowd.

Police officer Michael Slager was charged on Tuesday with murder in the death of Scott, the latest among several shootings over the past year, including in New York, Ferguson, Missouri, Cleveland, Ohio and other places. The shootings have stirred debate across the United States about police use of lethal force and race relations, also drawing President Barack Obama into the discussion.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating Scott's shooting. Civil rights leaders have called for calm, and many people praised the courage of the witness who filmed the killing and gave the video to Scott's family.

"When I saw it, I fell to my feet and my heart was broken," Scott's father, Walter Scott Sr., said on NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday.

Without the video, he said, "It would have never come to light. They would have swept it under the rug, like they did with so many others."

The shooting was the 11th involving a police officer in South Carolina this year and the second in North Charleston, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state's law enforcement division. No one was injured in the prior incident in the city in January, he said.

Police said Saturday's shooting occurred after Slager, 33, who joined the department in 2009, stopped Scott for a broken brake light.

The video shows a brief scuffle between the pair before Scott begins to run away. Slager is then seen taking aim with a handgun before shooting eight times at Scott's back. Scott then slumps facedown onto the grass.

According to a police report, Slager told other officers Scott had taken his stun gun from him.

At no point in the video, which does not show the initial contact between the men, does Scott appear to be armed.

Slager is seen placing the victim in handcuffs as he lies on the ground, and then the officer walks back to a spot near where he opened fire.

The video then shows him appearing to pick something up, return to Scott, and then drop it next to him on the ground.

FAMILY PLANS LAWSUIT

Slager is being held without bond on a murder charge that could carry the death penalty, according to court records.

Scott's family plans to file a lawsuit against Slager, the department and the city with allegations that his civil rights were violated, said Chris Stewart, a lawyer for the family.

Meanwhile, the person who filmed the video is speaking with investigators and will come forward publicly "at some point," Stewart said.

The shooting took place in North Charleston, which is home to about 100,000 people, nearly half of whom are black, 2010 U.S. Census data shows.

By contrast, only about 18 percent of its police department's roughly 340 officers are black, the local Post and Courier newspaper reported last year.

Scott's brother, Anthony Scott, said his late sibling, a father of four, served two years in the U.S. Coast Guard and was an ardent fan of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.

According to the Post and Courier, Walter Scott had a warrant out for his arrest from family court. His arrest history, mostly for contempt of court charges for failing to pay child support, included one accusation of a violation stemming from an assault and battery charge in 1987, the newspaper reported.

Slager, also formerly a member of the Coast Guard, had not previously been disciplined by the department, the Post and Courier said. The paper reported that in 2013 a man accused him of shooting him with a stun gun without cause, but that Slager was cleared of wrongdoing by an internal police investigation.

President Obama says that climate change became a personal issue for him when his older daughter Malia, now 16, was rushed to the emergency room with an asthma attack when she was just a toddler.

“Well you know Malia had asthma when she was 4 and because we had good health insurance, we were able to knock it out early….” the president told ABC News’ chief health and medical editor, Dr. Richard Besser, in a one-on-one interview yesterday. “And if we can make sure that our responses to the environment are reducing those incidents, that's something that I think every parent would wish for…”

Global warming isn't just affecting the weather, it's harming Americans' health, President Barack Obama said Tuesday as he announced steps government and businesses will take to better understand and deal with the problem.

Obama said hazards of the changing climate include wildfires sending more pollution into the air, allergy seasons growing longer and rising cases of insect-borne diseases.

"We've got to do better in protecting our vulnerable families," Obama said, adding that, ultimately, all families are affected.

"You can't cordon yourself off from air," Obama said. Speaking at Howard University Medical School, he announced commitments from Google, Microsoft and others to help the nation's health system prepare for a warmer, more erratic climate.

Warning of the perils to the planet has gotten the president only so far; polls consistently show the public is skeptical that the steps Obama has taken to curb pollution are worth the cost to the economy. So Obama is aiming to put a spotlight on ways that climate change will have real impacts on the body, like more asthma attacks, allergic reactions, heat-related deaths and injuries from extreme weather.

Obama said spending on health — such as preventing asthma — can save more money than it costs, as well as alleviate pain and suffering.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy noted that people suffering from an increase in asthma-attack triggers lose time at work and school. Murthy, a doctor, said the problem was especially personal for him because he's seen so many patients struggle to breathe and his own uncle died of a severe asthma attack.

Microsoft's research arm will develop a prototype for drones that can collect large quantities of mosquitoes, then digitally analyze their genes and pathogens. The goal is to create a system that could provide early warnings about infectious diseases that could break out if climate change worsens.

Google has promised to donate 10 million hours of advanced computing time on new tools, including risk maps and early warnings for things like wildfires and oil flares using the Google Earth Engine platform, the White House said. Google's camera cars that gather photos for its "Street View" function will start measuring methane emissions and natural gas leaks in some cities this year.

The Obama administration also announced a series of modest steps it will take to boost preparedness, such as expanding access to data to predict and minimize the health effects from climate change.

Obama's effort to link climate change to health comes as he works to build support for steps he's taken to curb U.S. emissions, including strict limits on vehicles and power plants. The president is relying on those emissions cuts to make up the U.S. contribution to a global climate treaty that he and other world leaders expect to finalize in December.

Whether or not you subscribe to climate change or not I think we can all agree that less pollution and cleaner air to breathe is a good thing for all of us. Find a balance between achieving that goal and not putting too great a burden on companies financially and we can all be happier. Doing nothing though is not an option at this point.

Doing nothing though is not an option at this point.

Whether or not you subscribe to climate change

I would not be surprised if this whole thing with the cop shooting the black guy is a hoax or another episode of "manufactured" news.

yes, but the resolution is to kill anyone conflicting with you.

Are you serious?

Nothing gets ratings like cops shooting blacks !

Well I see the mob has already made up it's mind.

You can't be this stupid can you? It's on video. The police officer has been fired. Murder charges have been brought up against the former police officer. The mayor and chief of police have already addressed the public about it and their intentions. Becuase of this they are going to be enstating mandatory use of cameras by officers.

What is wrong with you? Are you so far gone to the other side that you can't even accept what's in front of your face unless it corresponds with your preferred narrative?

Are you serious?

You can't be this stupid can you? It's on video.

Because in America, every black person is a threat.