The AP story that Hillary Clinton used a “homebrew email server” for State Department emails is coming apart at the seams. @BobCesca_go, @Shoq and I went back and forth on Twitter, digging into this story for most of the afternoon because it just didn’t seem plausible that HRC had her email server in her house as the AP article claimed, and it now looks very likely that we’re seeing another case of journalists who have just enough technical knowledge to get it drastically wrong.

Here’s Bob’s write-up, with the details of what we discovered: The AP’s Bombshell Hillary Clinton Email Story Fails to Prove Existence of “Homebrew” Server.

To sum it up: the Associated Press story assumed that because these emails were sent from clintonemail•com, they had to be coming from that domain. What they apparently didn’t realize (but any competent web developer could have told them) is that the ISP that hosts these emails, Cablevision, lets business customers configure their accounts to route email through Cablevision’s email server, but still use the customer’s domain name.

[Live event concluded]

The Seven Racist E-Mails the Justice Department Highlighted in Its Report on Ferguson Police

Although the Justice Department did not identify the people who sent or received these e-mails, it said that the officials involved are all still employed and that several police officers, court supervisors and commanders were involved.

Here is a rundown of these e-mails, with all descriptions taken directly from the Justice Department’s report:

November 2008: An e-mail said President Obama would not be president for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years.”

March 2010: An e-mail mocked African Americans through a story involving child support. One line from the e-mail read: “I be so glad that dis be my last child support payment! Month after month, year after year, all dose payments!”

April 2011: An e-mail depicted Obama as a chimpanzee.

May 2011: An e-mail said: “An African-American woman in New Orleans was admitted into the hospital for a pregnancy termination. Two weeks later she received a check for $5,000. She phoned the hospital to ask who it was from. The hospital said, ‘Crimestoppers.’”

June 2011: An e-mail described a man seeking to obtain “welfare” for his dogs because they are “mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can’t speak English and have no frigging clue who their Daddies are.”

October 2011: An e-mail included a photo of a group of bare-chested women dancing, seemingly in Africa, with the caption, “Michelle Obama’s High School Reunion.”

December 2011: An e-mail included jokes that are based on offensive stereotypes about Muslims.

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The Republican presidential race is off to a smashing start, as one of the current frontrunners, creationist neurosurgeon Ben Carson, goes on CNN and says homosexuality is a choice. How does he know this? Because look at all those people who go into prison, and come out gay.

Oh brother.

“A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight and when they come out, they’re gay,” Carson said. “Did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”

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Directed by Manson
Music by Shannon Ferguson
Sound Production by Brandon McFarland
Special Thanks to Kevin Ferguson

California Inspires Me is a collaboration between Google Play and California Sunday

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In case any of our readers need a sleep aid tonight, I dare you to make it through Ben Carson’s dour announcement of his “presidential exploratory committee” without dozing off.

The Washington Post has details on the Justice Department’s investigation into racial bias among Ferguson police and other municipal officials, and the bottom line is exactly what most of us suspected: Justice Dept. Review Finds Pattern of Racial Bias Among Ferguson Police.

As part of its findings, the Justice Department concluded that African Americans accounted for 85 percent of all people stopped by Ferguson police officers and 90 percent of all citations issued.

The Justice Department plans to release evidence this week of racial bias found in e-mails written by Ferguson police and municipal court officials. A November 2008 e-mail, for instance, stated that President Obama could not be president for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years.”

The Justice Department did not identify who wrote this and other racist e-mails and whom they were sent to. Officials at the department spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the review and its findings before a planned release this week.

The review concludes that racial bias and a focus on generating revenue over public safety have a profound effect on Ferguson police and court practices and routinely violate the Constitution and federal law.

Another disgusting email from #Ferguson police joked that a black woman got an abortion and later received a check from Crimestoppers.

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) March 3, 2015

After months of pretending to really enjoy living in Russia, Edward Snowden is reportedly blinking.

“With a group of lawyers from other countries, we are working on the question of his return to America,” Kucherena said.

“Snowden is ready to return to the States, but on the condition that he is given a guarantee of a legal and impartial trial,” he said.

The lawyer said Snowden had so far only received a guarantee from the US Attorney General that he will not face the death penalty.

I wonder why Ed thinks he needs to receive special guarantees for something every American is guaranteed under the US Constitution? Maybe he’s been living in Russia a bit too long.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi made it very clear how she felt about Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech today.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hammered Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, saying the Israeli prime minister’s speech to Congress was an “insult” to the country.

“The unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests,” Pelosi said in a statement just after the speech.

“That is why, as one who values the U.S. — Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.”

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Good for Elizabeth Warren.

Warren announced she would not attend the speech in a statement issued by her office Monday evening.

“I strongly support Israel, and I remain deeply concerned about the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon, which I discussed in detail with Prime Minister Netanyahu when we met in Jerusalem last November,” the Democratic senator said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that Speaker Boehner’s actions on the eve of a national election in Israel have made Tuesday’s event more political and less helpful for addressing the critical issue of nuclear nonproliferation and the safety of our most important ally in the Middle East.”

I’m also a supporter of Israel who’s appalled at this nakedly political move by the Republican Party, obviously intended to undermine President Obama. And I sincerely hope it backfires on them, as it should.