Tony Mack's Bridge to Himself

In an era of scarce tax revenue, empty city coffers and drastic cutbacks in Trenton, New Jersey, mayor Mack's decision to drop $17,000 dollars on a sign fashioned after the landmark two-lane Warren Street Bridge (the one with the historic "Trenton Makes the World Takes" sign on the side that spans the Delaware River) has come to symbolize his embattled administrations troubled tenure.

Hanging over the entrance to Trenton's Cadwalader Park, (where many puzzled Trenton residents note, there are dilapidated swing sets with no swings for kids to play on) the $17,000 price tag includes a painted blue sign with yellow letters prominently featuring the mayor's name. This while many city libraries, pools and recreational facilities remain closed because of lack of funding.

Allegations of financial mismanagement, the appointment of unqualified cronies and friends to important municipal posts and shady political deals straight out of the HBO series "The Wire" are just some of the low-lights of Mack's administration that bring to mind ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's scandal-ridden tenure in Detroit.

The July 18th FBI raid of Mack's home in the Berkeley Square section of Trenton came the same day Feds searched the Ewing, NJ home of Joseph "Jo Jo" Giorgianni; a convicted child molester, Trenton business owner and prominent financial contributor to Mack's campaign. [Read about Jo Jo]. The next day agents descended on City Hall to question employees and seize boxes of records in response to allegations of bribery, extortion and corruption.

Mack, just back after slipping out of town for a well-timed "vacation" that began when the Feds arrived over ten days ago, denied the FBI allegations as he re-opened another closed city library under the name "Learning Centers"; meaning they are now staffed four hours per day by unpaid volunteers - but no one can check out the books. Sign of the times indeed.

Manuel Diaz: Anaheim Cops Claim Another Victim

With the bulk of national media coverage understandably focused on the horrific mass shooting in a Aurora, Colorado movie theater last Thursday, less coverage was devoted to another victim of unjustified gun violence; 25 year-old Manuel Diaz of Anaheim, California (pictured left).

The circumstances of his death are by now, all-too-familiar to opponents of gun violence and the justified use of excessive police force in poor urban communities from New York City to New Orleans, Houston or Chicago - yet another a young, unarmed African-American or Latino male shot and killed by police. Read the facts.
On the afternoon of Saturday July 21st Diaz was talking with his friend, Jose Gallardo, 30, in the alley behind an apartment building in a working class, mostly Hispanic neighborhood just a few miles from Disney Land. According to Gallardo, two Anaheim police officers pulled up in an unmarked vehicle and Diaz, a known member of a local gang, and others fled. Gallardo heard two shots and ran back to find Diaz laying on the ground bleeding with a bullet in his neck and lower back.

Tensions between police and the local community were already tense, Diaz was the 5th victim to be shot and killed by Anaheim Police this year. Local residents protesting the shooting found themselves attacked by police who fired rubber bullets into a terrified crowd that included women and children. According to the Occupy California blog, one officer at the scene released a police dog that attacked a woman protecting her baby and bit 19 year-old Junior Lagunas in the forearm after he went outside with his girlfriend and 1 year-old child to see what was happening.

Angry protests over the police response and the shooting continued Sunday morning at a police press conference, but after another Anaheim Police shooting on Sunday, the violence escalated into rioting that shook the downtown area on Tuesday.

Outraged local residents watched helplessly as young rioters damaged local small businesses during chaos that lasted for hours. Despite the FBI agreeing to look into the shooting on Saturday and the Orange County DA opening an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the officer's actions leading up to Diaz's death, police are bracing for more protests scheduled for today.

What kind of nation are we living in when "acting suspiciously" or "furtive movements" become abstract legal justifications for using lethal force against young black or Latino males? Manuel Diaz and Trayvon Martin will never get the chance to answer that question haunting the collective conscience of America.

Willard's 'Disconcerting' Foreign Affairs Blunder

If Mitt Romney thought a well-timed international trip to meet with the leaders of England and Israel would bolster his foreign policy cred and give him a welcome respite from the growing calls to release more than two years of his tax returns, he was sorely disappointed. His klutzy efforts to backtrack from awkward comments questioning the state of London's preparedness for the 2012 Olympics have thrust him into the spotlight of the British media, irked millions of Brits including Prime Minster David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson; and given the world a glimpse of how Romney's simplistic worldview makes him seem detached and out of touch. Back on the home front Willard's sketchy off-shore accounts and evasive statements on his taxes recently drew criticism from not-so Mitt-friendly New Hampshire in a recent Manchester Union Leader op-ed. (Read it) 'Disconcerting' performance for someone trying to sell himself as a presidential candidate.