- A detailed investigation by The Smoking Gun has uncovered details about Rev. Al Sharpton, Jr., who purportedly worked as an informant for a joint organized crime task force comprised of FBI agents and NYPD detectives. In an interview Saturday, Sharpton denied working as a confidential informant, claiming that his cooperation with FBI agents was limited to efforts to prompt investigations of drug dealing in minority communities, as well as the swindling of black artists in the recording industry. When asked specifically about his recording of the Gambino crime family member, Sharpton was noncommittal: “I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no.” Many ask, if true, why he agreed to become an FBI informant? TSG reports Sharpton was secretly recorded in meetings with an FBI undercover agent posing as a wealthy drug dealer seeking to promote boxing matches. The FBI agents reportedly confronted Sharpton with the undercover videos and warned that he could face criminal charges if he didn’t cooperate. http://goo.gl/Zpce35
- Congressman Vance McAllister Sr. a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 5th congressional district and a resident of Swartz in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana, was captured in a video recording passionately kissing and embracing a member of his congressional staff two days before Christmas; a video first reported by The Ouachita Citizen. The West Monroe, La., newspaper said it received the grainy video from an anonymous source. http://goo.gl/yGmkt4
- AP-GfK Poll: The battle for control of the U.S. Congress is tilting toward the GOP. 36 percent in last month’s poll said they would rather see the Democrats in charge of Congress compared with 37 percent for the Republians. Favorable views of the GOP, moreover, have improved, with 38 percent overall now saying they hold a favorable impression of the Party. “Republicans’ positive view of their own party has increased from 57 percent in January to 72 percent now.’’ http://goo.gl/wfuUVj
- WP: About one in six (16 percent) Americans correctly located Ukraine on a map. Most thought that Ukraine was located somewhere in Europe or Asia, but the median respondent was about 1,800 miles off — roughly the distance from Chicago to Los Angeles — locating Ukraine somewhere in an area bordered by Portugal on the west, Sudan on the south, Kazakhstan on the east, and Finland on the north. http://goo.gl/S5h2GY
- Carnegie Europe: Russia is carving up Ukraine. On April 6–7, pro-Russian protesters occupied key government buildings in the Eastern cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk.
“Both NATO and the EU are now witnessing Russia’s division of their big Eastern neighbor. “The EU will be slow to impose tough sanctions. NATO will protect its borders, but that’s about all. Meanwhile, the post–Cold War dividing lines will be redrawn—indeed, they already are. European countries are not coming together to stop this because they don’t think it’s worth the effort. That is shameful. Europe, and later Russia, will pay a high price.’’ http://goo.gl/Dr84JA
This and STAT:
- UConn was 10-for-10 at the free throw line in Monday night’s NCAA championship game, while Kentucky was a dismal 13-for-24
- ESPN: UConn is the first team ever to make all of its free throw attempts in the National Championship.
- ESPN: Connecticut is the first 7 seed ever to win the National Championship.
- Of 11 million ESPN Tournament Challenge brackets, only 0.3 percent (27,203) correctly picked Connecticut to win the national title.
- UConn is now 12-0 all-time in Men's and Women's title games.
- Forbes Magazine: According to a 2010 survey, 13.7 million adults reported being bullied at work.
- World Bank: Nearly 2 billion lack access to energy.
- USA Today: The IRS paid more than $53 million in 2013 to 122 whistleblowers who turned in friends, family and co-workers.
- Market Watch: The U.S. ran a budget deficit of $36 billion in March, according to the Congressional Budget Office:
- Dirty power plants emit 40% of US carbon pollution.
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