Hasta La Gadget!

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (AP) — Ernest Satterwhite was a laid-back former mechanic with a habit of ignoring police officers who tried to pull him over — an act of defiance that ultimately got him killed.

The 68-year-old black great-grandfather was shot to death after a slow-speed chase as he parked in his own driveway, by a 25-year-old white police officer who repeatedly fired through the driver’s side door. Investigators determined that North Augusta Public Safety Officer Justin Craven broke the law. A prosecutor, in a rare action against a police officer, sought to charge him with voluntary manslaughter, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. But the grand jury disagreed, indicting him on a misdemeanor.

The debate over how police use force against unarmed people has become a national issue since an unarmed 18-year-old black man was shot to death in August by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, where unrest still lingers.

But most police shootings make only local headlines, and just for a day or two. The refusal of authorities to release public information about these on-duty actions by taxpayer-paid officials is a big reason why. As with many such killings, Satterwhite’s death in February remains shrouded in mystery.

Video can make a difference: South Carolina gained the national spotlight last week after a dashboard camera showed how in just a few seconds Trooper Sean Groubert went from asking motorist Levar Jones for his license for a supposed seat belt violation, to shooting at him repeatedly without provocation, even as Jones put his hands in the air. Jones was hit once and is recovering.

State Public Safety Director Leroy Smith called that shooting “disturbing,” and Groubert was promptly fired and charged with felony assault.

Sometimes, the video can exonerate officers: In August, a South Carolina prosecutor refused to file criminal charges against a York County deputy who wounded a 70-year-old man after mistaking his cane for a shotgun during an after-dark traffic stop. Using video, the sheriff showed how the cane’s shaft could be mistaken for a gun barrel in the dim light.

So far, 35 people were shot by police in South Carolina this year; 16 were killed. The state is on pace to surpass last year’s total of 42 people shot by police.

In Satterwhite’s case, prosecutors won’t say why they sought a felony charge against Craven, who chased Satterwhite for 9 miles, beyond city limits and into Edgefield County.

Experts say it’s the first time an officer was charged in a fatal shooting in roughly a decade. But the grand jury opted for “misconduct in office,” a charge used for sheriffs who make inmates do their personal work, or officers who ask for bribes. Their single-page indictment, returned in August, contains no details other than accusing Craven of “using excessive force and failing to follow and use proper procedures.”

Black leaders were astonished that an officially unjustified shooting of an unarmed man should merit such a light charge.

“It diminishes the nature of the violation — of the death. This man’s life is only worth a misdemeanor?” said state Rep. Joe Neal, a Democrat who has spent decades speaking out against racism in law enforcement and demanding accountability through data and police cameras.

Neal, who is black, also wants authorities to release evidence more quickly in police-involved shootings. Authorities often say doing so could taint potential jurors. Neal says that doesn’t give people enough credit.

The State Law Enforcement Division denied requests filed by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act to learn what evidence was gathered against Craven. Solicitor Donnie Myers, who is handling the case, didn’t return phone calls. North Augusta Police, the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office and Craven’s lawyer, Jack Swerling, declined to comment.

The few details released raised concerns among law enforcement experts. In the likely 10 to 15 minutes he trailed Satterwhite, Craven should have had time to learn he was headed home and had no violent incidents on his criminal record, said University of South Carolina criminology professor Geoffrey Alpert.

Police records show Satterwhite had been arrested more than a dozen times for traffic violations, most of them for driving under suspension or under the influence. Most of the charges led to convictions. He also was charged at least three times for failing to stop as officers tried to pull him over. But his record shows no evidence he ever physically fought with an officer.

Edgefield County deputies who joined in the chase reported that Craven ran up to Satterwhite’s parked car and fired several shots into the driver’s side door, telling the other officers that Satterwhite tried to grab his gun. The other officers couldn’t get Satterwhite’s door open, so they broke the passenger side window, unlocked that door and dragged him out.

“Why would he run up to the car like that?” asked Alpert. “Why would he put himself in a situation to use deadly force? Why would he put his gun close enough for him to grab it?”

Satterwhite, who worked for years as a mechanic, liked to fish and was remembered by his family as a laid-back man who kept to himself, left behind six children, 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Seven months after the funeral, and eight days after his indictment, Craven was put on administrative leave — with pay.

Satterwhite’s family then sued the North Augusta Department of Public Safety, Edgefield County and its sheriff’s office.

The lawsuit alleges Craven ignored the Edgefield deputies’ orders to stop and let them manage the chase when it entered their county, about 2 miles from Satterwhite’s home. It claims Satterwhite never tried to grab the officer’s gun when Craven fired five times, hitting him with four bullets — two in the chest.

The family says the officers yanked the mortally wounded man out of the car, restrained him and left him on the ground unattended until paramedics arrived.

Their lawyer, Carter Elliott, hopes to force authorities to release any video and other evidence.

North Augusta’s Public Safety Department has refused to release any details about Craven’s history. City officials didn’t make him available for interviews, and he didn’t respond to emails.

Police agencies hurt their own credibility when they withhold information, allowing rumors and speculation to fill the void, Alpert said.

“They work for us — the public,” Alpert said. “You need to put as much accurate information out there as you can to get in front of the issue and create your own story.”

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP .

For most people, Lucy Liu needs no introduction; her illustrious film and television career has made her a household name.

As the child of Chinese immigrants in New York City, an acting career was not what Lucy was raised to aspire to. “It was something that I wanted to do from a very young age but it was definitely not on the radar for a Chinese immigrant family” she joked with Deepak in a sit down they had for NEWSWIRE.FM‘s program ONE WORLD. “They were more concerned with education.” But after college, Lucy moved back to New York to begin auditioning and focusing on acting.

On top of the acting projects that Lucy is involved in, she has also made her directorial debut this year with the poignant film Meena, a look into the devastating effects of the sex trade in India. Meena is based on Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn’s bestselling book and movement “Half The Sky” and is a true story. The film focuses on Meena who is kidnapped by her uncle at the age of eight and sold to a brothel. “I’ve been working with UNICEF since 2004…and I had started originally being interested in education and nutrition and I branched out into this other very large and important aspect of what children go through,” which is specifically child protection. She explained to Deepak that her film does not intend to focus on the horrors and fears of child trafficking just to draw a reaction but rather to show the strength of the children involved. “The story is about courage and it’s about bravery and it’s about breaking that fear.” Meena is only twenty minutes long but it packs a punch. The experience is visceral and draws viewers immediately into the world of this young woman and lets them share in her struggles. It’s a visual accomplishment that many directors work for years to master.

While Lucy is exploring directing and her passion for children’s rights, you can still expect to see her gracing big screen. “Acting is still a huge passion for me,” she told Deepak, and there’s no sign of her slowing down any time soon. While her original career choices weren’t one’s on her parents’ radar, her career is on the radar of the entire world. We can’t wait to see what she does next.

Watch Lucy’s ONE WORLD conversation with Deepak Chopra now on WWW.NEWSWIRE.FM.

The full interview is available by clicking on this link!

Colorado’s Latino electorate is growing, and the implications for the state’s politics are profound. Today one-in-five Coloradoans are Hispanic. By 2040, that share will increase to 34% of the state’s population. Currently, 14% of eligible voters and 10% of registered voters in Colorado are Latino, as a report by Latino Decisions and America’s Voice details. As the Hispanic population grows, and as our community works to narrow the registration gap, it will become all but impossible to ignore the interests of Latino voters in future Colorado elections.

As important as Hispanic voters will be in the Colorado of 2040, it is equally foolhardy to ignore or to go against the wishes of the Latino electorate of 2014. In tight races – among them, the extremely close contest for title of Senator being fought between incumbent Senator Mark Udall and Representative Cory Gardner – where the outcome of an election can be decided by a few thousand votes, candidates cannot afford to ignore the Latino vote and the issues that the Latino electorate cares about.

Senator Udall has wisely chosen to court Latino voters by championing an issue that is dear to the electorate – immigration reform. As NPR noted in a recent story on the Colorado Senate race, Colorado Democrats are hoping that the incumbent Senator’s strong support of immigration reform will give him an edge over Rep. Gardner, who neglected to mention immigration on his campaign website. Other news outlets report that on the campaign trail Senator Udall has consistently highlighted his vote for the Senate’s 2013 immigration reform bill, while also associating Gardner with the do-nothing House Republicans who blocked any and all efforts at sensible immigration reform over the past year.

Rep. Gardner, to his credit, voted against the latest effort by the House GOP to defund the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But he also voted to defund DACA earlier in 2014, and he has failed to push for reform within his own party in any substantive way. Rep. Gardner’s slow drift toward matching the interests of his pro-reform electorate and away from his anti-reform past could very well be too little, too late.

As we’ve noted in this space previously, insult and inaction on immigration reform in recent years crippled Republican hopes for control of the Senate. In the 2010 mid-term elections, Hispanic voters catapulted Senator Harry Reid to victory over his challenger Sharon Angle, with over 90% of Latinos voting for Reid – who introduced the DREAM Act in late 2010. Angle, not coincidentally, ran a number of insulting campaign ads portraying undocumented immigrants as violent gang members. In Colorado, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet netted 81% of the Latino vote and emerged victorious over his challenger, the anti-immigrant hardliner Ken Buck, by standing up for the Latino community and not playing into the rhetoric of hate that pervaded in extremist GOP candidates that year.

The lesson is crystal-clear, whether in Nevada or Colorado: when politicians fail to support comprehensive immigration reform, they not only lose Hispanic voters – they also increasingly lose elections.

While we flip our radio dial here in NYC, or walk the streets entering countless stores or barbershops hearing the constant, heavy and highly repeated rotation of Drake, Jeremih & YG, Iggy Azalea, Drake again, of course Nico & Vinz and you get the point, it makes me wonder why aren’t some truly inspirational and clearly soulful music — like that of UK’s Rudimental, only ‘subjected’ to SOLD OUT shows touring the nation? Ironic isn’t it. Makes you wonder why, or who and what runs our radio today! While you’d probably have to depend on the internet radio, or hearing snippets of their song “Not Giving In” introduce a couple sports-action clips on ESPN’s SportsCenter or catch a live performance, their debut LP HOME has enough potential hit songs to last us into 2016! Luckily we won’t have to wait that long, because even as they’ve just finished-up ‘officially’ touring various cities throughout the U.S. for the first time, there’s an untitled album in the works, slated with a Feb. 2015 release date.

Rudimental are four close friends from Hackney — Amir Amor, Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon Rolle, all having different ethnic backgrounds, yet similar musical tastes ranging from UK Grime, Hip-Hop, American Soul, House, Drum + Bass, Reggae influences and more, all encompassing UK rave culture of the early 2000s. “It’s not just about one person on stage, it’s a family,” says Amir who was born in Iran, but grew up in the UK during the 90s. “That’s why people are drawn to us ’cause we have so much fun up there. We’re lucky to be with friends that grew up with each other; we’ve known each other for such a long time,” he laughs! Somehow, through songs such as “Feel The Love” feat. John Newman, “Hell Could Freeze” feat. Angel Haze and “More Than Anything” feat. Emeli Sandé, they’ve found the key with the right chemistry to unlock the limited boundaries of (NOT just using) one genre, yet drawing in a fanbase the world over that’s as massive as ever. Hence, their sold out shows and YouTube videos with views into the tens of millions! U.S. radio, are you listening? Clear-ly not. A few hours before another SOLD OUT show — this time at Terminal 5 on Manhattan’s westside, I had a very engaging conversation backstage with half of Rudimental’s foursome — Amir and Piers, who were casually kicking back in their dressing room. Discover how UK’s biggest electronic music buzz since Massive Attack, creates and blends such a universal sound, leaving listeners: ‘SOULED’.

Q. So, are you familiar w/New York enough to say, both NY and London have similar styles or international influences that shape such great music?

Rudimental (Amir): Yes, I think there’s definitely a resemblance between the two. We grew up in East London, which is a very mixed area. We grew up with a lot of cultures, dance music, rave culture and with soul music we got from America. We bring it all together. I think the difference here is you guys have massive areas which is one race and other areas which is like another race (he smirked). In the UK, it’s more like you got ONE STREET which is Asian, another street which is black. It’s a lot MORE mixed. It’s a lot more condensed. This has a lot to do with Rudimental, our music – ah mean look at us, it’s all four different guys (he laughs out)! We grew up together, we played football together, did pirate radio together.

Q. I’ll admit, there’s a lot of music out there nowadays. When I first came across your songs, style + video for “Feel The Love”, something hit me. It hit all of us. I think it’s how you bridge so many genres in a melting-pot style. What’s the key?

R (Amir): I think it’s how we grew up. We’re quite individual people and we brought a different ingredient into Rudimental. For me, I came from listening to hip-hop, to then, getting into the guitar music and brought that to the live side of it. Piers again, he’s a keys player. He’s got the Blues influence, the really Bluesy type of music. Leon is a DJ — DJ Locksmith, came from pirate radio, which was something that all of us were involved in setting up. DIY or illegal radio. Getting ya records taken, ya equipment taken! It happened all the time. Kesi, especially I think has the hip-hop influence as well, talks about Lauryn Hill being his biggest musical influence. That (pirate radio) was a big part of our culture actually. Early 2000s. It was around the time of grime music, garage music. There was a real culture there (in pirate radio), which influenced us because it felt it was away from your parents, away from school (he laughs). Pirate culture in the UK was really cool. I’ve written a documentary script about it, so I’d like to make something about it.

Q. The USA isn’t so up on y’all as the UK n’ Europe is. Maybe that’s gonna change but selfishly, I wouldn’t even care. Your music is mind-blowing. What influences from U.S. artists — of yesteryear and today, give Rudimental that edge?

R (Amir): Influences, ah mean, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is an album that we’d still go back to. We listen to a lot of soul music from America, really. We go back to Sly & The Family Stone, P-Funk.

Q. Soul always seems to be an integral part of UK artist’s appetite, whether they’re punk rock or pop or electronic, right?

R (Amir): For some reason it seems to be a big part of the culture, especially up north, up north of England. (Piers has just walked in): Yea, Sly & The Family Stone…Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, I love Otis Redding, Ray Charles. (Amir): Also, a lot of modern soul and music too like I was saying, Lauryn Hill and hip-hop music, Wu Tang, newer cats like Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar. America’s definitely influenced us, hip-hop and soul. (Piers): Also the 90s era of hip-hop, Nas, Dre. West coast hip-hop. (Amir): When all this came over to England, we all bought the albums. We already did one song with Nas. We can’t wait for that one to release. We get to work with our heroes. We’ve worked with Steely Dan, and George Clinton. He’s been switched on to us man. He came to the UK and we got two songs on our new upcoming album. (Piers): Musicians attract each other. It’s great to have that ability these days where legends that we grew up with are checking our music too. Like, I was emailing DJ Premier. I had to pinch myself and be like, ‘I’m casually emailing DJ Premier!’ (he laughs)! He’s a lovely guy as well, he’s cool. (Amir): We’re also hoping to work with The Specials as well, ’cause they influenced us big time!

Q. In such a hectic schedule as yours, how has it affected your ability to create? Because your songs seem to absorb such richness, soul and meaningfulness w/a story. How do you draw on life to create, when life’s so non-stop w/touring on the road?

R (Piers): You don’t get to see your family much and that’s something that, whenever you go back to, they bring you back down to earth. (Amir): Your friends — true friends, don’t give a shit about what you’ve been doing, basically (he laughs)! (Piers): Yea (laughs) and that’s one of the experiences that our emotions get drawn from, especially on this new album, of missing home and family. (Amir): The first album as you know is called Home obviously as you know, and we were writing that at a time where we were half at home, the other half once things blew up, we were writing away from home. I think with this new one, we’ve been traveling so much and met so many people, we miss our families, there’s a different tone to it, it feels a bit more deep to me. (Piers): I think before it all, we were always conscious people, we try to stay away from the obvious obnoxiousness in front of you. It’s about, it’s about, for us — it’s about spreading positivity and spreading love. Love is the most powerful tool. There’s so much going on in the world right now, and when you’re on tour, for a week, you can not have a clue on what’s going on. (Amir): The theme of this new album is also a bit more worldly.

Q. OK, so here are some fun, hypothetical questions to tap into your psyche: what would you eradicate from the earth, if you had the magial powers to, especially if it’d make more people aware of your music and sound?

R (Amir): Wow. Damn. I mean I’m gonna be a little trivial about it, not too serious about it but, I wish people would stop looking at their bloody mobile phone all the time (he laughs out loud)! I mean I could ask for world peace but just stop looking at your bloody phone man (laughter fills the dressing room backstage area)! I mean when you’re doing a gig and everyone’s phone is in the air it’s cool, but it’s like, take it in but you’re really not taking it in ’cause you’re just looking at it through just this little square. Pay attention to the things and people around you. Social media is making people LESS social. (Piers): Ahmm…ummm…(thinks for a long time) it’d be great to, it’d be great to…take away money. See what happens, see what happens if money is not there anymore. (Amir): Money is the biggest fucking religion now, bigger than Jesus (he laughs)! If people stopped having faith in money for one minute and we realized the value of it is nothing, then things would be quite different. (Piers): It’ll be worth a lot less than things you can’t see, or hear, like music. For me, music is worth so much more, the value of it. (Amir): That’s a deep one (everyone pauses and breaks into a relief of laughter)!

Q. Lastly, and this is tough — since you’re a result of such a melting pot of music. Name the one ONLY genre you’d be satisfied listening to, if stuck on an island for God knows how long!?

R (Amir): Genres are a big pop of so many different things so you can’t have one genre in there without really having other different genres in there, you know what I mean? Cause they’re all influenced by each other. But if I chose one though, it’ll be SOUL. And soul’s such a wide thing, but…

Q. That’s a great way to wiggle your way out of this one (I jab).

R (Amir): Soul man, so it could be anything (he laughs)! (Piers): Soul too (he bursts out laughing)! Any type of soul music, it could be old, modern. Yep, soul.

(Photos used by permission from Big Beat/Atlantic | photo credit: Danny North)

When the five members of Denmark-based band Bottle Boys get their hands on beer bottles, they don’t drink; they play.

The Bottle Boys have been re-imagining pop songs like Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” using beer bottles as instruments.

So it was only a matter of time before they got their hands on a Bruno Mars song.

Here’s their impressive rendition of “Locked Out of Heaven.” It gives the original a run for its money.

H/T Laughing Squid