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State Of Rhode Island Will Change Its Name Over Racism Concerns

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Many name changes have been proposed in recent weeks, and now the state of Rhode Island will be changing its official name. Technically, the state’s full name is “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” and this has made Rhode Island the smallest state in the US, with the largest name.

However, the fact that the word “plantation” is in the name has become increasingly controversial amid growing protests for racial equality.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order on Monday taking the “first steps” to change the state’s full name, and shorten it to simply “Rhode Island,” which is what most people know it as anyway. Although, the order does not change the state’s official name permanently, voters will need to amend the Rhode Island Constitution in order for that to happen. This may be a reality soon, because the state’s legislature has indicated it will move forward with the referendum. The bill was introduced by Rhode Island’s sole black senator, Harold Metts.

“Whatever the meaning of the term ‘plantations’ in the context of Rhode Island’s history, it carries a horrific connotation when considering the tragic and racist history of our nation,” Metts said in a statement to the Providence Journal.

This is not the first time that there has been an attempt to change the name, but this is the farthest any of these attempts have gone. In 2010, almost 78 percent of voters opposed a constitutional amendment removing ‘Providence Plantations’ from the state’s name, but the sentiments around the issue have changed in the past ten years.

Just after the recent protests began an online petition began circulating calling for the state to change its name.

“Some Rhode Islanders pride themselves on living in the ‘smallest state with the longest name.’ But, the history of how we got this name is often forgotten,” the petition reads.

Photo: CNN

It currently has almost 8000 signatures.

The original name is derived from the merger of four Colonial settlements. The settlements of Newport and Portsmouth were situated on what is commonly called Aquidneck Island today but was called Rhode Island in Colonial times. Providence Plantation was the name of the colony founded by Roger Williams in the state’s capital of Providence.

The earliest documented use of the name “Rhode Island” for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams. The name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words: “Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island.” The name “Isle of Rodes” is used in a legal document as late as 1646. Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island “Red Island.”

Rhode Island covers an area of 1,214 square miles located within the New England region and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the west by Connecticut, and on the south by Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It shares a narrow border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island.

Rhode Island is nicknamed the Ocean State and has a number of oceanfront beaches.

Rhode Island To Change Name, Citing Racist Connotations

Posted by FISM News on Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Mark Horowitz is a graduate of Brandeis University with a degree in political science. Horowitz could have had a job at one of the top media organizations in the United States, but when working as an intern, he found that the journalists in the newsroom were confined by the anxieties and sensibilities of their bosses. Horowitz loved journalism, but wanted more freedom to pursue more complex topics than you would find on the evening news. Around the same time, he began to notice that there was a growing number of independent journalists developing followings online by sharing their in-depth analysis of advanced or off-beat topics. It wasn't long before Horowitz quit his internship with a large New York network to begin publishing his own material online.

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Victims Of Kyle Rittenhouse File Negligence Lawsuit Against Police

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Attorneys representing the two of the men who were shot by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse during protests this summer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, are suing the city and police department for allowing the teen to roam around the protests with a gun.

The victims have filed damages claims totaling $10 million, insisting that police were negligent in their responsibilities.

Kimberly Motley, an attorney who is representing 22-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, the only person to survive the shooting, says that officers were encouraging Rittenhouse and the other militia members who were out on the streets.

“We’re basically looking to sue different actors within the city of Kenosha as well as the city of Kenosha itself who we believe were negligent in their allowing of Mr. Rittenhouse to indiscriminately run around during the week and protest with a loaded weapon. Officers were giving water to different armed people that were down there including offering it to the shooter,” Motley said.

The suit claims that Grosskreutz has suffered “significant permanent physical damage,” pain and suffering, as well as a loss of income and future earnings.

“People died that night, my client nearly died that night,” Motley told WTMJ-TV.

In addition to the two murder charges he faces, Rittenhouse is also looking at charges of possession of a dangerous weapon while under the age of 18 and felony attempted homicide for injuring a third man.

Rittenhouse’s legal team argued that he acted in self-defense when shooting all three individuals.

However, Keating said that these issues are for a jury to decide, and that the charges can not be thrown out before the trial.

Last month, Rittenhouse was released from prison on a $2 million bond, and will remain free until his trial. It is not clear when his trial will officially begin, but an arraignment in the case is scheduled for January 5th.

In addition to the two murder charges he faces, Rittenhouse is also looking at charges of possession of a dangerous weapon while under the age of 18 and felony attempted homicide for injuring a third man.

Rittenhouse had traveled to the protests with a militia group that organized online and claimed to be assisting police and protecting private property during the demonstrations.

The details of exactly what happened are still being investigated and debated, but at some point during the protest, Rittenhouse shot a protester multiple times.

Rittenhouse then began to try to get away from the area, but protesters who witnessed the shooting chased after him and tried to stop him.

When the group caught up with Rittenhouse, another person was shot and killed after a short scuffle. After that, Rittenhouse was able to walk right past the police and leave the city. In one of the videos taken by witnesses, Rittenhouse can be heard saying “I just killed somebody.”

Rittenhouse turned himself in at a local police station in Antioch the morning after the shootings, where he apparently admitted to shooting protesters, according to records from the Antioch Police Department.

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Donald Trump’s Lawyer Says Epstein Is Still Alive

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Lin L. Wood is an extremely controversial attorney.

In addition to representing US President Donald Trump in his mission to overturn the 2020 election results, Wood has also volunteered to represent Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.

Wood has made headlines again this week by claiming that the notorious billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is still alive.

It all began when Wood claimed that Chief Justice John Roberts had something to do with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Wood made the claim about Epstein still being alive, hinting that Epstein somehow knew about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Photo: Ben Margot/Associated Press

“I am fully aware of the onslaught of attacks being made against me based on my revelations about Chief Justice John Roberts. Before attacking me, maybe fair-minded people would first ask Roberts to tell the truth. Or ask Jeffrey Epstein. He is alive,” Lin tweeted on Thursday.

Lin also suggested that Justice Roberts was discussing Scalia’s successor prior to his death, insinuating that Justice Roberts knew that Scalia was going to die.

However, at the time, Justice Scalia was nearly 80 years old and had a history of high blood pressure and heart problems.

Lin also suggested that the chief justice was a member of a “club or cabal requiring minor children as an initiation fee.”

Lin said that Justice Roberts arranged for the “illegal adoption” of two children from Epstein.

In other controversial tweets, Lin Wood suggested that Trump supporters should stock up on “Second Amendment supplies” ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden.

In February, a judge in the Virgin Islands questioned the lawyers of Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, after an old bank account registered to Epstein received millions of dollars from the estate in the months since his death.

The account was opened by Epstein in the Virgin Islands in 2014 and was reportedly intended to be used for an international banking firm that he planned to develop.

When questioned by Judge Carolyn Hermon-Purcell, the lawyers for Epstein’s estate said that the payments were made “in error,” but the judge was not satisfied with the explanation and demanded that the lawyers provide a full accounting of the payments made from the estate.

While there is no evidence that Epstein is still alive, his cause of death remains a mystery.

The autopsy performed on Epstein found that he broke multiple bones in his neck, including the hyoid bone, which in men is near the Adam’s apple.

Epstein’s death has been disputed by private pathologist Michael Baden who was hired by Epstein’s brother Mark. Baden has stated that the autopsy photos and Epstein’s broken hyoid bone, prove that Epstein didn’t kill himself.

The last prisoner to share a cell with the notorious billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein reportedly died last month after catching COVID-19 in prison.

The prisoner, Efrain “Stone” Reyes shared a cell with Epstein in August 2019 before he was transferred to Queens Detention Facility, according to the New York Daily News.

Epstein’s mysterious death took place the day after Reyes was transferred.

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Scientology Church To Mediate Danny Masterson Witness Intimidation Suit

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The four women who accused “That 70’s Show” star Danny Masterson of rape, also brought charges of stalking and intimidation against the actor and the Church of Scientology.

Agents of the church reportedly harassed the women after they made the accusations against the actor, which is the type of behavior that the church is notorious for.

Any critics of the church or its members quickly find themselves the target of harassment and intimidation by the agents of the church.

Now, a judge has ruled that the victims must settle privately with the Church of Scientology, since all of the victims, except for one, were also members of the church.

The ruling comes just days before Masterson’s scheduled arraignment on three charges of rape between 2001 and 2003. In early November, that hearing was set for Jan 6.

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1344773340234350592

On Wednesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Steven Kleifield ruled that the harassment complaint from Chrissie Carnell Bixler, her husband, musician Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Marie Bobette Riales, and two Jane Does must be settled by the Church in “religious arbitration,” since an arbitration agreement already exists between the parties that compels disputes to be handled by the Church of Scientology, according to NBC News.

The August 2019 lawsuit says that the women were stalked and intimidated by members of the church after going public with their allegations against Masterson. Agents of the church reportedly went so far as to poison one of the victim’s dogs.

Masterson’s attorney Andrew Brettler said, “This was absolutely the correct result. We look forward to arbitrating the claims, as the Court directed.”

In March 2017, four women filed sexual assault allegations against Masterson, sparking an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Through his agent, Masterson denied the allegations. In response to the accusations, Netflix fired Masterson from its comedy series “The Ranch” on December 5, 2017, saying in a statement, “Yesterday was his last day on the show, and production will resume in early 2018 without him.”

Masterson stated that he is “obviously very disappointed in Netflix’s decision to write my character off of The Ranch.”

A fifth woman who dated Masterson made similar rape accusations in December 2017.

He was dropped as a client by United Talent Agency.

A planned 2019 episode of Leah Remini’s show Aftermath, focusing on the Masterson rape allegations, was delayed due to what one of Masterson’s accusers characterized as pressure from the Church of Scientology. The episode eventually aired on August 27, 2019.

On June 17, 2020, Masterson was charged with raping a 23-year-old woman in 2001, a 28-year-old woman in early 2003, and a 23-year-old woman in late 2003.

The three counts come after a three-year investigation beginning in 2017. If convicted, Masterson faces up to 45 years in prison.

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