0:00

A man who needs no

0:02

introduction.

0:03

The Black Information Network is committed to bringing

0:06

you up to the date news stories that are relevant,

0:08

informative, and inspiring. And while

0:10

news stories are always being updated and others

0:12

are breaking, we understand that you need

0:15

to be in the know all week long. Welcome

0:18

to your midweek memo on the Black Information

0:21

Network Daily podcast with Me your

0:23

host Rams's job.

0:28

Okay first Up.

0:29

A third of young voters said

0:31

they wouldn't want to be friends with someone who

0:33

voted for a different presidential candidate.

0:36

This according to a poll as

0:38

reported by Business Insider, Generation

0:41

Lab and Axios to one thousand,

0:43

seventy three young adults are built at thirty three percent

0:46

of respondents said they would definitely

0:48

not or probably not be open to

0:51

being friends with someone who voted for the

0:53

opposing party's presidential nominee,

0:55

selecting Republican former president Donald

0:57

Trump or Democratic current President Joe

1:00

Biden specifically. Monday

1:02

survey comes around seven years after a

1:04

Monmouth University poll found that seven

1:07

percent of voters said that they ended

1:09

friendships over the race

1:11

between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

1:14

Those friendships ended, the poll

1:16

found as seventy percent of respondents said

1:18

the presidential campaign quote brought

1:20

out the worst in people unquote. Finding

1:23

increased political polarization in the country

1:25

isn't particularly new. Researchers

1:28

have reported the country's rapidly

1:30

increased polarization for decades, with

1:33

one poll even finding in twenty twenty

1:35

two that forty three percent of US adult respondents

1:38

predicted a civil war erupting within

1:40

the next decade. The US also, of

1:42

course, went through an actual civil war between

1:44

the nation's northern and southern regions in the eighteen

1:47

sixties. So

1:50

this is something that we kind

1:53

of all knew. I think on some level

1:57

that we are more

2:01

divided now than we've ever been, and

2:05

I think that we know that

2:08

it's difficult to have the conversations

2:11

that we're always encouraged to have, particularly

2:15

because now because

2:17

of the combination of

2:21

social media and the

2:24

misinformation and disinformation that

2:26

is prevalent on social media, and

2:29

the polarization of

2:32

trump Ism and the MAGA movement, that

2:35

we find ourselves not

2:37

just politically divided, but indeed

2:39

subscribing to entirely separate

2:42

realities. One

2:44

of the things that Qward constantly reminds

2:47

me is that we can't even agree

2:50

on the facts, and

2:52

if we can't agree on the facts, then

2:54

it's very difficult for us to agree on

2:56

how to interpret those facts or to come up

2:58

with a plan to

3:01

deal with the real issues

3:04

that are affecting

3:06

this country. Is

3:09

climate change real

3:11

and man made and affecting

3:15

the balance in the ecology

3:17

of this planet. There's

3:20

a group of people that say no to

3:22

one or more of those conditions

3:25

qualifiers, and

3:29

so getting a consensus

3:32

on what to do about that is extremely difficult.

3:35

And you best believe there's going to

3:37

be a candidate that says,

3:39

yes, this is absolutely something that we need

3:41

to be worried about and we need to

3:43

take divisive action, decisive action.

3:48

And then there's a candidate who will be divisive

3:52

and say, those guys are crazy,

3:54

and there's a they're

3:57

trying to exploit you and get your money,

3:59

and this is a hope, on and on and

4:01

on and so we

4:03

end up again not agreeing on

4:05

the facts. And it's the candidates

4:08

that really exploit

4:13

that gap in between fact

4:16

and fiction that many people

4:18

are not educated enough to even have

4:20

a real valuable

4:22

opinion. They just parrot the opinion of people

4:24

who they agree with three or four other

4:27

things that they feel

4:29

sound like they're going to enhance

4:31

their lifestyle or echo

4:34

their sentiments or their sensibilities

4:37

that they just kind of go along for the ride.

4:40

And because of our

4:42

cognitive bias, all

4:44

of us, I'm not pointing fingers, myself

4:47

included, we have a tendency

4:49

to seek out and consume information

4:53

that confirms.

4:54

What we already believe to be true.

4:57

And I will say that, you

4:59

know, as journalist, I try my best to

5:02

view both sides, but

5:05

I do have a certain sensibility

5:09

when it comes to a given article,

5:14

and I will read it and

5:16

see it through that lens. And

5:19

so while I've become very practiced

5:21

at trying to view things from both sides, I recognize

5:24

that there's

5:26

always going to be a bias. There's always going

5:28

to be a slant somewhere,

5:31

either how it's written or how I

5:33

interpret it. But I

5:35

think, again, the problem is what

5:39

are the facts and why are the

5:41

politicians that we're electing allowing

5:45

these two separate route realities to be

5:47

chronicled on

5:50

both sides of the political

5:52

aisle? And then that leads to a course

5:56

and increase in the block

5:58

button usage. I'm sure that's now an all

6:00

time high, and

6:02

again I believe it's due exclusively

6:04

to trump Ism and the

6:06

MAGA movement and social

6:11

media sites taking center stage with misinformation

6:14

and disinformation being so much more

6:16

prevalent. Moving on, I'll

6:19

share a bit from Newsweek. More than fifty percent of

6:21

Americans now support the construction of a

6:24

wall along the US Mexico border.

6:26

This according to a survey that showed a

6:28

dramatic increase in public concern over

6:30

illegal immigration. According

6:32

to the Monmouth University poll, fifty three

6:34

percent of American adults say they favor building

6:36

a wall along the southern border, against

6:39

forty six percent who are opposed and

6:42

one percent who are unsure. The

6:44

figures represent a stark turnabout from

6:46

April twenty nineteen, during Donald

6:48

Trump's presidency, when fifty six percent

6:50

were opposed and only forty two percent

6:53

in favor. On Mouth University

6:55

has been pulling American voters on the construction

6:57

of a border wall since twenty fifteen, when

6:59

the idea was popularized by Trump, then

7:02

a twenty sixteen Republican presidential

7:04

candidate. The only previous Mondlath

7:06

survey to find a plurality in

7:08

favor of the border wall was conducted

7:11

in September twenty fifteen during the Obama administration

7:13

when forty eight percent were in favor and forty

7:16

three percent were against it. I

7:18

legal immigration over the southern border has

7:20

surged in the past few years, with two million,

7:22

four hundred and seventy five thousand, six hundred

7:24

and sixty nine encounters between

7:27

migrants and law enforcement recorded in the

7:29

twenty twenty three fiscal year, according to US

7:31

Customs and Border Protection. Trump,

7:34

the clear favorite for the twenty twenty four Republican

7:37

presidential nomination, has made cracking

7:39

down on illegal immigration a centerpiece for

7:41

his bid for a second White House term.

7:46

So I

7:49

believe that these numbers

7:51

aren't shifting as

7:54

significantly as the boldness

7:56

of the headline would

7:58

indicate. Somewhere between

8:02

the mid forties and the mid fifties are

8:04

either for a border wall or against a

8:06

border wall at any point in time. Now,

8:09

that ten percent shift is,

8:12

that's not nothing. But it's not like it was

8:15

ten percent against a ninety percent in favor

8:17

ever, Nor was it, you know,

8:20

ten percent in favor and ninety percent against,

8:22

you know. So I

8:25

looked at that and I felt like, Okay,

8:27

maybe this headline is it

8:30

might be a little misleading. Also,

8:34

you know, Republicans have admitted to

8:36

a passing a border deal so that Trump

8:39

could campaign on it. So

8:42

or rather they've admitted to tanking

8:45

a proposed border deal and

8:47

not passing it so that Trump could campaign

8:50

on it. So at

8:52

present, Trump and Republicans

8:54

are actively stoking fears

8:57

of a southern invasion and that

8:59

very well could impact these numbers. Now, I'm

9:01

not going to ignore that there has been

9:03

an increase in encounters

9:06

on our southern border and

9:09

that that could factor

9:11

into this very

9:13

easily. But I

9:17

think that for

9:19

people to now

9:22

favor a wall as

9:24

a potential solution more than

9:27

they did under Trump presidency,

9:31

I think that there's a there's a convergence of

9:33

a few factors there, and a

9:35

lot of that probably has to do with again

9:38

Republicans

9:41

playing to the fears that we are being invaded

9:44

and you know, the great replacement theory

9:46

and you know, the Jews are

9:48

replacing us and all that sort of stuff

9:50

that is really

9:53

found on the far right, and

9:57

for people that are on the right who might

9:59

have some of so unciations with folks who end up

10:01

being on the far right, is very easy

10:03

for this misinformation to diffuse through

10:05

those communities. So something

10:08

else to keep in mind.

10:09

The black Information Network.

10:11

I think it's caused us really to focus on the equity

10:13

and inclusion piece and not just the diversity

10:16

piece celebrating black history.

10:18

Then the die is class.

10:19

As I said, we're not asking, We're saying, this is the way it's

10:22

going to be. And now making sure

10:24

that Yeah, that was a first, but

10:26

it won't be the only time that that's happened.

10:28

We want to make sure that we can continue to do.

10:30

Things because our story continues.

10:42

This is your midweek memo on the Black

10:44

Information Network Daily podcast with me

10:47

your host Ramses Job. All

10:53

right, this from TMZ. Diddy has just been

10:55

sued by a man claiming the

10:57

Moguls sexually assaulted him, and

11:00

legal docs obtained by TMZ.

11:03

Rodney Jones, a former producer and

11:05

videographer for the Mogul, claims he was repeatedly

11:08

sexually assaulted by Ditty and subjected

11:10

to unwanted advances

11:12

by associates of Ditty at his direction.

11:16

Huh all right.

11:18

Jones claims, Ditty, among other things, would grope

11:20

Jones's genitals and touches anus.

11:24

Jones goes on to alleged Ditty would parade

11:26

around naked in front of Jones. There are more

11:28

allegations. He says a female

11:30

cousin of Ditty's girlfriend Young Miami also

11:33

sexually assaulted him, allegedly attempting

11:35

to have sex with him in front of Ditty and members

11:37

of his staff. And there's more.

11:40

Jones says Diddy brought prostitutes to his

11:42

house in Miami, and

11:44

on one occasion, Jones says he was present

11:46

at the house and was drugged and possibly

11:49

raped. Jones claims

11:51

Didty directed Stevie j and his son Justin

11:53

Comes to recruit prostitutes, and in Justin's

11:56

case, he was instructed to find underage

11:58

girls to attend the parties. Jones

12:00

claims did He introduced him to Cuba Gooding

12:03

Junior on Diddy's yacht, and Cuba

12:05

allegedly began touching, groping, and fondling

12:07

mister Jones' legs, his upper inner

12:10

thighs near his groin, the small of his

12:12

back, near his buttocks, and his shoulders.

12:16

And I'll spare the rest of the details of this

12:18

because you can read

12:20

it for yourself, but

12:25

I do want in the interest of

12:27

you know, sharing the other side of this. There's

12:30

an update to the story. CBJ tells

12:33

TMZ. These allegations are false,

12:35

and my lawyer will be handling this going forward,

12:38

and a representative

12:40

for Justin Comb's tell TMZ Justin

12:42

Combs categorically denies these absurd

12:44

allegations their all eyes. This is a

12:46

clear example of a desperate person taking

12:49

desperate measures in hopes of a payday. There

12:51

will be legal consequences for all defamatory

12:54

statements made about the Combs family.

12:56

So Rodney Jones

12:59

is suing for thirty million dollars

13:02

and he's saying.

13:05

All of these.

13:06

Things that there were these repeated

13:09

unwanted sexual advances.

13:12

Because of the lack of like firm

13:14

language here, I'm alleged

13:19

possibly attempting

13:22

to have sex, allegedly attempting to have

13:24

sex, this sort of stuff. It feels like

13:27

using the type of language to get people

13:30

fired up, to get

13:33

the support you might need to win thirty million

13:35

dollars. And when you look

13:37

at what happens with Cassie and you think back,

13:39

oh, there was that one time when he was he

13:41

said that little weird and he you know, he was

13:44

saying this stuff and whatever, you

13:46

know, who's to say, you

13:48

know, but I don't want

13:50

it to seem like again that I

13:52

don't believe that these things happen. I

13:56

would like to see the documentation that is provided

13:58

in court that says, hey, you know, I've asked for

14:01

this to stop, or you

14:03

know whatever I ask repeatedly,

14:05

you know, anything like that, where I can say, okay, So

14:07

there there is now a clear violation

14:10

of a person's personal boundaries

14:12

and that it was sexual

14:16

in nature. Before I condemn

14:18

any black man to being

14:21

written off completely, it just

14:23

feels like, you

14:25

know, the court of public opinion moves differently

14:28

than the court of law, and the burden

14:30

of proof is certainly a lot higher. In the court

14:32

of public opinion. People can just make up

14:34

stuff and say it. And

14:36

if two or three other people make

14:39

up some stuff that is plausible

14:42

and say it as well, then now you start

14:44

to notice a trend. But

14:48

again, having a having proof

14:50

and having a burden of proof, I

14:53

think that changes the optics quite a bit. And

14:57

for me, that is kind of what I'm waiting

14:59

on. So we'll see what

15:02

happens. But you

15:05

know, they all deny this stuff, you know, Diddy

15:07

and steviej and Justin Combs and

15:10

this individual Rodney Jones says

15:12

it happens. So again,

15:15

we'll see finally

15:18

in sad

15:20

news. Something came across

15:24

my desk on Monday after

15:26

we recorded the weekend recap, and

15:28

it's been on my heart ever since. There

15:33

was a video of a

15:36

young soldier who decided

15:41

to protest the war in

15:44

Gaza by setting

15:47

himself on fire, a fire

15:49

that ultimately cost.

15:50

Him his life.

15:53

His name was Aaron Bushnell, and

15:57

I'm gonna share a bit with you of his final

16:00

moments.

16:00

Now, I

16:02

am an active duty member of

16:05

the United States Air Force, and

16:08

I will no longer be complicit in

16:10

genocide.

16:13

I'm about to engage in an extreme, active

16:16

protest. But compared

16:18

to what people have been experiencing in Palaesine

16:20

at the hands of their colonizers, it's

16:23

not extreme at all. This

16:26

is what our ruling class has decided will

16:28

be normal.

16:35

So now he's walking up to the Israeli

16:37

embassy in DC. He's

16:40

doused himself with a fluid. That's

16:43

his hat on. It's taking out it

16:45

was to be a match, and he's trying to strike the

16:47

match and light

16:50

himself on fire.

16:51

Will be assess.

17:20

I'll spare you the rest of

17:23

that, but

17:27

he's in case it was unclear he was

17:30

yelling out free Palestine,

17:37

and that was live stream to Twitch.

17:42

So that's how the video started

17:44

to make its its rounds,

17:49

and there's you know, there's it's been interesting to see people's

17:51

reaction to it. You know, of

17:53

course, there's been some facets

17:56

of the pro

17:59

Isra, pro Israel's

18:01

response side of things.

18:08

That have like kind of made light

18:10

of this. No.

18:13

I remember seeing a post that said, our

18:17

enemies are they kill themselves.

18:20

But then you know, there's a whole other side of things where

18:23

there's mostly people

18:25

who are in support

18:27

of a ceasefire, people who are in support

18:30

of a you know, free Palestine,

18:33

who are looking at this young

18:36

man as having

18:38

made the ultimate sacrifice.

18:41

And I know that there's

18:43

a lot of sadness in the world, and

18:45

I know I could see

18:48

how a person could just

18:50

not want to be here anymore.

18:54

Why are we so cruel to each other? What

18:58

gives me the right to condemned

19:00

someone else? What gives someone else the right to condemn

19:03

me? Was I just lucky

19:05

to have been born where I was born, or

19:07

I don't have to worry about bombs falling

19:10

on me or picking my children's legs

19:12

and arms out of rubble. And

19:20

when that sadness wells

19:24

up and you feel like there's no end in sight, and

19:28

you know, what value do I have over

19:32

you know, these other folks? Where

19:34

do I belong? What is my place in all of this? What

19:37

can I do to matter? To make some sort of meaningful

19:39

change. A person might end up at

19:43

a place like this and

19:45

it's really sad. You know, a lot of people

19:48

are looking at his mental health, of

19:50

course, and obviously we need to question that.

19:53

You know, how was he doing mentally? But he

19:56

seemed pretty sure about what he was trying to

19:58

do. You heard him talking, seem pretty

20:00

sure he knew what Palestinians

20:02

were going through. He said, what I'm about

20:05

to do is nothing compared to what they're going through.

20:08

And you know that that all consuming sadness,

20:12

you know, and his words is what caused

20:15

him to take that action. I'll

20:18

share a bit from TMZ, the Air

20:20

Force said in a statement on Monday. The individual

20:22

involved in the incidents that come

20:24

to his injuries and passed away. And

20:27

then I want to share a bit more. This

20:31

comes from Data for Progress dot oreg. Around

20:33

two thirds of voters sixty seven

20:35

percent including majorities of Democrats, which

20:37

is seventy seven percent, Independence

20:40

sixty nine percent and Republicans fifty six

20:42

percent support the US calling

20:44

for a permanent ceasefire and de escalation of

20:46

violence in Gaza. And I

20:49

also think it's important to mention that in

20:52

December, more than three quarters of the one hundred

20:55

ninety three member you and General

20:57

Assembly voted

20:59

to demand and an immediate humanitarian

21:01

ceasefire. General Assembly resolutions

21:04

are not binding, but carry political weight reflecting

21:07

a global view on the war. Of course, that

21:09

was in December, and

21:12

to date, the

21:18

only country that voted

21:21

against the

21:23

UN resolution is the United States,

21:25

and they voted against the resolution on October

21:27

eighteenth, December eighth, and

21:30

February twentieth. It's

21:32

important to note that the

21:34

UK abstained from voting three times

21:37

and that Russia abstained from

21:39

voting on October eighteenth.

21:41

Every other vote from the

21:44

other countries in the chart have

21:47

voted in favor of a ceasefire. And

21:50

this the source I'm getting is from Al

21:52

Jazeera dot com. So

21:56

that is a very troubling thing.

21:59

And yeah,

22:03

I wanted to make sure that I shared that with you so that

22:05

you know kind of how people

22:08

in the country and people in the world are feeling and

22:12

Aaron Bushnell as

22:14

now brought

22:16

this conversation back up, so I'd imagine I'll

22:18

be talking about it more in the coming

22:21

weeks.

22:21

So we'll leave it right there, so don't forget.

22:23

These and other stories can be found at BioNews dot com

22:26

and we'll talk again soon

22:28

right. This

22:31

has been a production of The Black Information Network.

22:34

Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson.

22:37

Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use the

22:39

red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio

22:41

app. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe

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22:45

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22:50

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22:52

from our perspective right here on the

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