Let's be clear: Donald Trump is a major douche. Yes, we know he's full of shit, and yes we know the only people buying his crap are the mindless idiot fans of the Republican party; yep, because the real Republicans don't like his ass. But be that as it may, you gotta give him credit for staying in the limelight. He's a master showman and salesman, and to be honest, he's yet to meet a television camera he didn't like. That said, his latest Vegas stunt is more of the same, hot-air garbage we've come to know him for: very short on substance.
You see, Trump is now playing the tough guy role. He knows America loves the tough guiy president. Guys who bow down on foreign soil to foreign dignitaries and heads of states? nah, America ain't into that so much. Of course lacking any real substance as far as policy, what does he do? He appeals to pretty much any and everybody feeling it at the gaspump with this tough talk. Listen to how they cheered for him; they bought it. Sadly, even Trump knows this is not how the oil industry works. The people on the other hand? Well, let's just say he's playing them like puppets on a string with his tough talk.
You see, if Trump was as tough as the image he's trying to convey right now. Trump would not have dodged the Vietnam war by using deferments like he did. Instead, he would have been there serving the country which all of a sudden he's in love with. But nope, like many a privileged coward, unlike the many draftees who went to war, Trump played sick and sat his ass at home and pretended to be in college. But now all of a sudden he's the guy to run up on OPEC like he's thugged out like that, when he wouldn't burst a grape.
You wanna know the truth? Trump is a media whore; this is how he makes his money; yep, real estate ain't hittin' on shit right now. He also knows that Friday is traditionally a slow news day. Yep, most stories are dumped on a Friday so as to avoid any traction. But Trump knew this, and he also knew the biggest story of the day was the Royal Wedding. So, being the attention whore that he is, he threw this tough guy talk all in attempt to steal the Royal Wedding's shine.
Yep, this is what the media will be talking about all weekend. But somehow, like Trump, they won't tell you no president has any power to influence the price of oil directly as far as OPEC is concerned. This is pure politics, and nothing more, folks. But hey, maybe he's right. Maybe if a Black man were to get gansgta (like they expect him to because he's Black) on Opec, maybe gas prices will go down. After all, as gully as George Bush was, not even he could get it done when he was the man. But Trump knows this; and, he's counting on you being an idiot to buy the horseshit he's selling like the idiots who cheered.
Considering that across the country at Republican townhalls, people are waking up to the idiocy that is the Republican party as they try to sell Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal, comes this bit of good news vis politicususa.com:
A new McClatchy/Marist poll found that Americans still aren’t blaming Obama for the economy. 63% of those surveyed said that Obama inherited the economy, while only 30% blamed him.
The McClatchy/Marist poll found that a majority of registered voters are dissatisfied with how Obama has handled the economy. 57% disapprove of how Obama has dealt with the economy and only 40% approve. Dissatisfaction with Obama’s economic leadership has caused his approval rating on this issue to drop by 12 points among Democrats to 71%. 63% of Independents disapprove of the President’s handling of the economy.
These numbers appear to be bad news for Obama until this little stunner is thrown into the mix. Only 30% of registered voters blamed Obama and his policies for the economy. 63% of those surveyed still believe that he inherited the crisis from George W. Bush. In a nutshell, this one little number explains why the Republicans are going struggle to defeat Obama in 2012 based on the economy.
[...] It is going to be difficult for the Republican presidential nominee to argue against Obama’s handling of the economy when a vast majority of voters still believe that it was the Republicans who got the country into this mess in the first place. The GOP nominee will bash Obama on the economy, but if that nominee goes on to advocate a solution that is nothing more than a return to the Bush era policies, and voters will say, “But that’s how we got here,” and then flock back to Obama.
No matter how much the Republicans try to make America forget, the lingering presence of the Bush years still hangs over the heads of many voters. The dilemma for Republicans is that they must find a way to capitalize on the displeasure with Obama’s economic performance without reminding voters of in any way of George W. Bush. Any Republican solutions that were already tried during the Bush era are going to open up the GOP nominee to comparisons to George W. Bush.
The Republican nominee is going to have to first run against his/her own party’s history of economic destruction before he/she can challenge Obama’s.
So you tell me: where are you on this? Do you approve or disapprove of the president's handling of the economy? And, just how much of this is a factor on your decision to vote for him in 2012? What could he have done differently? Lastly, do you see the GOP controlling the narrative enough to shift blame to the current administration for the current state of the economy?
OK, right now I am sitting in a gourmet Italian deli, and the royal wedding is playing on the television. The deli is owned by a Black man. This is the third business that he has bought and nurtured into a successful local hot spot. He has been working in the food business since he was in middle school, and works long days to make his business a success. And on the television are two privileged young white folks who have had everything handed to them on a silver platter, and who never have to worry about working to earn the money needed to keep them afloat. To me, it seems kind of ironic considering the recent racist remarks by Representative Sally Kern of Oklahoma:
Outspoken Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern has caused outrage by making both racist and sexist remarks during a state House debate on Wednesday night.
The House met to discuss a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate affirmative action from state government.
During the debate, Republican Kern said minorities earn less money than white people because they are not willing to work as hard.....
Speaking about black people she said: 'Is this just because they are black that they are in prison, or could it be because they didn't want to work hard in school.
'I taught school for 20 years and I saw a lot of people of colour that didn't want to work as hard. They wanted it given to them.
'Matter of fact, I had one student who said to me I don't need to study. You want to know why? The government's going to take care of me. That's kind of revealing there.'
Kern also said that women do not work as hard as men, because they want to spend more time with their families and to have more leisure time. Of course, a day later, Kern apologized, obviously in an effort to save face (and her job) :
She said: 'I want to humbly apologize for my statements last night about African Americans and women. I believe that our government should not provide preference based on race or gender.
'I misspoke while trying to convey this point last night during debate. Women are some of the hardest workers in the world. My husband is a pastor of a diverse inner-city church and the way that my words came out last night is certainly not my true spirit.'
By now this should be pretty familiar to everyone. A law maker makes some outrageous racist statement, showing their true colors, the quickly tries to put out the firestorm they created with their bigoted remarks. Ironically, though, this time Kern possibly provided the best evidence possible in favor of affirmative action. I mean, really, what better than a blatantly racist statement to prove that hatred is alive and well, and that affirmative action is needed now more than ever??
The Oklahoma Democratic Party took the opportunity to retaliate and use her comment against Republicans as a whole by saying: ''Rep Sally Kern's comments on the House Floor this evening in regards to SJR15 shows that discrimination is far from dead and affirmative action is still necessary in our great state.
'It saddens and angers me that the women and minorities of Oklahoma are represented by such bigotry and outright ignorance.
'This rhetoric will drive new businesses and new jobs from our state. All no votes on this bill will stand on the right side of history.'
Unfortunately, while Kern actually came out and stated her feeling regarding Black people, apparently many other Oklahoma legislators silently agree with her sentiments. The proposed ban on affirmative action passed in the house 59 - 14, and has already been approved by the Senate.
Of course, while Oklahoma lawmakers are passing laws against affirmative action, they are totally neglecting the fact that most of them have benefited throughout their lives from being part of the group that receives the most widespread race and gender based preferences: white males.
Representative Kern needs to look at her own statement. While she is complaining about a single Black student saying that he didn't need to study because the government would take care of him, how many white students run around every day firm in the belief that they do not have to work hard or study because they have "the right connections" needed for success and that "Mommy and Daddy will take care of me"?
Recently, while catching up on some interesting flicks, one film of note I'd seen several times before, was the comedic-horror flick, Teeth. A seemingly feminist manifesto of sorts (written and directed by a man, no less) about a young virgin named Dawn with a mean case of Vagina dentata, whose delicates snap, bite, and dismember any man trying to violate its orifice without her consent, including a male gynecologist who tries to molest her upon learning it's Dawn's first experience being examined. I started imagining the power every woman would have if her vagina were able to reject unwanted penis forced upon her during an attack or wayward penis that played games and whispered sweet nothings and lies to it while nestled inside of her... Interesting concept when told from the perspective of the movie.
I'm really bothered by the fact that our political discourse right now is being dominated by this racist Birther garbage. Seriously, I wish the media spent more time discussing the CPC's "The People's Budget" than Trump and the rest of the wack-jobs. I mean birth certificate or not, the fact still remains: the economy is kicking our ass! But I could understand why MSNBC has covered this crap more than CNN or even Fox. The truth is, it's better to focus on the most polarizing subject that is race in America, rather than the fact that your parent company (General Electric) laid off 21,000 employees, and closed 20 plants in recent years, and also didn't pay a dime in taxes last year though posting a $14.2 billion profit. Yep, talking about this birth certificate thingy happens to be a pretty good distraction. But not like the distraction of releasing the birth certificate some say it is, or would have you believe.
Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND, the only news agency that has waged a relentless investigative campaign on questions swirling around the Obama's eligibility for nearly three years, was elated at the turn of events.
"We're gratified that our work has begun to pay off," he said. "The certificate of live birth is an absolutely vital foundation for determining constitutional eligibility of any president. We look forward to reviewing it like so many other Americans do at this late date. But it is important to remember there are still dozens of other questions concerning this question of eligibility that need to be resolved to assure what has become a very skeptical public concerning Barack Obama's parentage, his adoption, his citizenship status throughout his life and why he continues to cultivate a culture of secrecy around his life." (source: WorldNetDaily)
But anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about president Obama producing his "long form" version of his birth certificate yesterday. A part of me feels that it was a good move because from here on out those clowns will not be able to say another word about it. Which is total bullshit because even with the birth certificate produced, the loons are still of the opinion that he was born in a Kenyan manger to a virgin white mother (yeah, his daddy didn't have sex with her; she was pure), and the Three Wise Men showed up and gave little baby Barack the gift of gab, a fake-ass birth certificate, and a basketball, because being on the court is just the thing "the Blacks" do; and do much better then running the greatest imperial nation on the planet.
Then there's the other side of me that thinks him producing the birth certificate yesterday, isn't a win. Instead, it's actually a sign of weakness or bowing down in submission to the ideologically and intellectually bankrupt citizens of the United States. I mean I've shown you videos on this site before; you've heard them in their own words. Above and beyond being racist, they're indeed a bunch of ignoramuses. And for me, for my president to bow down - if even symbolic - seriously pisses me off. Yes, so much so that I'm seeing shades of 2008 all over again when they "made him" leave his church of twenty years. I'm not the most religious person in the world, but if a man can be leave his church to appease racist reactionaries who still think he's Muslim, then...
If I was Barack Obama, before speaking publicly anywhere, I'd walk out to the tune of "Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud" by James Brown. But then again that might piss off his white side enough to lose votes Still not a bad idea since he had to produce his "long form" slave... oops, I mean freedom papers.
Checkout the reactions of conservatives to the release of the "long form" birth certificate here and here. But in the mean time I gotta ask the following questions: was the release of the "long form" birth certificate a good or bad move? How exactly does this benefit Barack Obama politically? Who won?
I just got the word on this, and though it's been done before for Mumia Abu-Jamal, it's still good news; he never got a fair trial; and was wrongfully convicted not to mention the racist judge who presided over the case.
Anyway, checkout the following from Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! at democracynow.org via truthdig.org; also, do share your thoughts below:
The death penalty case of Mumia Abu-Jamal took a surprising turn this week, as a federal appeals court declared, for the second time, that Abu-Jamal’s death sentence was unconstitutional. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Philadelphia, found that the sentencing instructions the jury received, and the verdict form they had to use in the sentencing, were unclear. While the disputes surrounding Abu-Jamal’s guilt or innocence were not addressed, the case highlights inherent problems with the death penalty and the criminal justice system, especially the role played by race.
Early on Dec. 9, 1981, Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner pulled over a car driven by William Cook, Abu-Jamal’s brother. What happened next is in dispute. Shots were fired, and both Officer Faulkner and Abu-Jamal were shot. Faulkner died, and Abu-Jamal was found guilty of his murder in a court case presided over by Judge Albert Sabo, who was widely considered to be a racist. In just one of too many painful examples, a court stenographer said in an affidavit that she heard Sabo say, in the courtroom antechamber, “I’m going to help them fry the ni—-r.”
This latest decision by the Court of Appeals relates directly to Sabo’s conduct of the sentencing phase of Abu-Jamal’s court case. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering separate arguments surrounding whether or not Abu-Jamal received a fair trial at all. What the Court of Appeals unanimously found this week is that he did not receive a fair sentencing. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has decided to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying, “The right thing for us to do is to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear this and to make a ruling on it.”
As a result of this ruling, Abu-Jamal could get a new, full sentencing hearing, in court, before a jury. In such a hearing, the jury would be given clear instructions on how to decide between applying a sentence of life in prison versus the death penalty, something the court found he did not receive back in 1982. At best, Abu-Jamal would be removed from the cruel confines of solitary confinement on Pennsylvania’s death row at SCI Greene.
John Payton, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which is representing Abu-Jamal in court, said: “This decision marks an important step forward in the struggle to correct the mistakes of an unfortunate chapter in Pennsylvania history ... and helps to relegate the kind of unfairness on which this death sentence rested to the distant past.”
His other attorney, Judith Ritter, a professor at Widener University School of Law, told me: “This is extremely significant. It’s a life or death decision.” I asked her if she had spoken to Abu-Jamal yet, and she told me that the prison failed to approve her request for an emergency legal phone call. I was not surprised, given my many years of covering his case. (Read More)
Birth Certificate? No, we wanna see his test scores!
I didn't catch this live yesterday, but I happened to peek in on Twitter, and a lot of people were pissed. Of course whenever paleoconservative Pat Buchannan speaks on the matter of race in America, it pumps life into the Klan. Can you believe this garbage? It's bad enough that president Obama's citizenship is questioned, but now this asshole is asking for Obama to provide his college test scores? Peckerwood please! When in the hell has that ever been an issue for any president of these United States of America? Now they wanna know just how he was able to get the education he did, because, well, Negroes ain't smart.
But somehow, Jorge the C-average dummy from Yale, was a genius!
Yeah, there's no way "the guy" formerly known as "that one," is capable of scoring well enough to get into some of the most prestigious schools in America. I mean after all, it's not like he was on an athletic scholarship or anything like that, right? Listen up racist assholes: Affirmative Action worked. Your gandpappy n'em was able to bring Black folks to America to work for free. So yeah, Affirmative Action was successful like a muthafucka. But if you don't like it, you can always cut us a check... BITCH! Yup, freedom and racism ain't free.
Over the past few days I've been wondering why has the above story yet to catch on in the mainstream media. Honestly, outside of Rachel Maddow covering it, I don't hear much. But then it hit me that this story involves the already embattled city of Detroit, and a group of twelve students arrested for peacefully protesting the potential closing of their school. Yes, a story about kids fighting to keep a school open just isn't as "sexy" as say, a story highlighting the dysfunction of one hundred pregnant teens at a Memphis, TN. school. A story which caught national attention and had the blogosphere ablaze, black people hanging their heads in shame, and even a local mayor defending the school.
Oh well, if only the students and teachers at Detroit's Catherine Furguson Academy could be so lucky to garner some much needed media attention. The school is designated as one scheduled for closure by Detroit's Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb. It is still to be determined if the school itself would be transformed into a charter school. But Bobb with powers granted by the governor's Financial Martial Law otherwise known as Public Act 4, ultimately hods the trump cards in that decision; right now, there's a fifty-fifty chance that the school stays open; that is, unless it's profitable.
You see, good Ole Robert Bobb, like a dictator, has sweeping powers to modify contracts, fire officials, and disregard public input. As a matter of protocol, he has already issued lay off notices to some 5,466 public teachers. Some of whom he hopes to rehire to work at for profit charter schools of the forty one proposed closed schools which would house some 16,000 Detroit students, Before this proposal, Bobb did the media tour crying about having to reduce the public school system to an average of sixty kids per classroom. An announcement which I think set the stage for the privatization of Detroit schools.
Well damn RiPPa, why err'thing gotta be a conspiracy with you?
Well, it turns out per Forbes that Bobb is a recent graduate of the Broad's Foundation Superintendent Academy. Here's what E,D. Kain has to say about Bobb, the Broad Foundation, and what I see as motive:
The Broad Foundation, along with the Kellogg Foundation, pays Bobb $145,000 a year on top of his $280,000 government salary. For those of you not familiar with Broad, it is one of the leading foundations promoting school choice and privatization across the country. One might almost think that paying a public official hundreds of thousands of dollars a year might amount to nothing short of bribery, especially given the very specific agenda of a foundation like the Broad Foundation.
Now, Bobb is proposing to create charter schools for 16,000 students from 41 schools slated for closure. He argues that this will save millions of dollars. I have to wonder, however, at the conflict of interest.
[...] What we have in Detroit is an Emergency Manager appointed by the previous governor who was facing a challenge from the School District which was frustrated by his top-down approach to school reform. That challenge was effectively crushed by the passage of Public Act 4. This same Emergency Manager was a graduate from a foundation that promotes corporate school reform and also pays around a third of his six-figure salary. The Emergency Manager has the power to break union contracts, layoff teachers, and open charter schools that benefit the same foundation that is so heavily invested in the Emergency Manager’s career.
This is nothing short of a coordinated effort between the billionaire foundations pushing school reform and Tea Party conservatives intent on slashing benefits and ending collective bargaining rights. Public schools are under assault by the forces of privatization, and public school teachers face benefit and salary cuts while the very rich are promised tax cuts. Similar efforts are underway in Florida and Wisconsin.
I couldn't agree with Kain's assessment anymore than I already have. Clearly we've already seen how this is working out for the residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, a small town with a 90% Black population where as it stands their votes no longer matter. I know, this type of stuff isn't supposed to happen in the great democratic experiment that is America. But as the saying goes: when there's blood on the streets, buy property. In the case of Detroit, charter schools seems to be the profit model, while in Benton Harbor, it's about a building a golf course and executive resort of the wealthy power brokers of Michigan.
Hopefully somebody's paying attention to this. Because it would be a damn shame if a school for which boasts of a 90% graduation rate and 100% college acceptance is closed for good. Or handed over to corporatists whose only concern at the end of the day is the profit margin, and not the students.
If you believe, as I do, that all politicians and the majority of "common" people in this country just do not give a fuck about the poor, then you should recognize how important it is for us to raise awareness to issues which impact the poor. The truth is, politicians, no matter what party they belong to, simply will not do the right thing, unless they feel significant pressure to do so from the electorate.
Earlier today, this story was brought to my attention:
Under a new budget proposal from State Sen. Bruce Casswell, children in the state’s foster care system would be allowed to purchase clothing only in used clothing stores.
Casswell, a Republican representing Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and St. Joseph counties, made the proposal this week, reports Michigan Public Radio.
His explanation?
“I never had anything new,” Caswell says. “I got all the hand-me-downs. And my dad, he did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army, and his comment was — and quite frankly it’s true — once you’re out of the store and you walk down the street, nobody knows where you bought your clothes.”
Under his plan, foster children would receive gift cards that could only be used at places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other second hand clothing stores.
The plan was knocked by the Michigan League for Human Services. Gilda Jacobs, executive director of the group, had this to say:
“Honestly, I was flabbergasted,” Jacobs says. “I really couldn’t believe this. Because I think, gosh, is this where we’ve gone in this state? I think that there’s the whole issue of dignity. You’re saying to somebody, you don’t deserve to go in and buy a new pair of gym shoes. You know, for a lot of foster kids, they already have so much stacked against them.”
Caswell says the plan will save the state money, though it isn’t clear how much the state spends on clothing for foster children or how much could be saved this way. SOURCE
I did a little research into the story, and found out that foster parents and parents who are on welfare in Michigan receive $80 a year as a clothing allowance for their children. This lawmaker wanted to limit the ability of foster parents to spend the allowance in thrift stores.
I wasn't exactly sure how much of a saving this would be for the state; he was not putting forth the idea of a reduction in the allotment of funds. Instead, he was trying to distinguish where the money could be spent; and, it seemed kind of like an attempt to punish kids in the foster care system.
Well, after looking online for more information, I found an article on NPR that indicated that Caswell apparently changed his position. He is now putting forth a proposal that would have the state issue the clothing allowance in the form of gift certificates to major retailers. He also proposes that the state work with stores such as Walmart or Target to allow discounts for children on assistance so that the clothing dollars will go further. He has now changed his tune, and says that the reason for his proposal is not to save money, but rather to insure that the clothing allowance actually goes towards the purchase of clothing.
OK Black people, more specifically Black women, um, let's talk. Yeah, we got some things to sort out or discuss quick fast in a hurry. I can't operate this blog pointing out the silly shit that white folks do and ignore y'all; if I did, I'd be a hypocrite like the fools we put on blast here. Besides, some of the stuff I've been seeing y'all do lately actually makes it harder for us professional racism chasers to do our jobs; as such, our community loses as the conversation never gets past how some of us act in public. Or how much of a scourge upon society we are.
22yr Old Stacy Mattews
OK, now that I got that out of the way, lemme ask: what the fuck is up with all these Black women fighting in McDonald's restaurants all of a sudden? Oh, yu noticed that too? Good, because I didn't wanna be the only one bewildered by this new phenomenon. Not that Black women fighting in public, pulling out weaves, ripping each others shirts off and having wardrobe malfunctions is anything new. Hell, they post that shit on YouTube all day err'day (do a search). But lately - actually in recent weeks - McDonald's seems like the spot for sistas to pop off.
Now I'ono if all this is happening because y'all are taking Steve Harvey's book, "Think Like A Thug, Act like A Nigga" seriously. Or, if the it's just that the word is finally out that most female reality show stars are secretly found at fast food restaurants acting a fool (that last option I'm not sure of, but I'm waiting on the folks at Bravo to get back to me on it; yes, RiPPa cares about the stereotypical images of white women in reality shows so he called with many soon to be answered questions 'cuz that's how he rolls). But at any rate, something's gotta give because, well, frankly the shit is ridiculous.
Recently deceased scholar Manning Marable is stirring up controversy posthumously with the pending release of his book that looks at the life of Malcolm X.
There is one claim by Marable that shocked me the most. He states that at least two of Malcolm X's assassins walk freely on the streets of Newark today and never spent a day in jail even though the FBI knows the culprits.
Also in the book, Marable makes several historical postulations regarding Malcolm X that have some people not excited about its release, while others are using it to discredit X's work.
Some of the information is the following:
Malcolm X was involved in a homosexual affair with a white businessman prior to his life-altering transformation as a Muslim while incarcerated.
Betty & Malcolm had serious marriage issues due to his frequent absences and what is said to be Betty's claim of sexual incompatibility.
While married, Malcolm X engaged in extramarital affairs after he discovered his wife, Betty Shabazz had started an affair with a family friend by the name of Charles Kenyatta.
Malcolm X's criminal life was exaggerated and he simply engaged in petty theft and smaller acts of crime as opposed to his suppositions of being heavily involved in a criminal world.
Malcolm's ultimate departure from the Nation of Islam came when he found out that Elijah Muhammad fathered a child with a woman he deeply loved for many years.
I read this information and I don't feel any way different from how I feel and still admire Malcolm X and his wife Betty. I do understand two of his daughters resentment of the book, but they have gone through enough since childhood and should not allow a book to define their parents' legacy. They just have to write their own to counteract the claims.
But still when you compare them to Martin King, he is a simple Disney tale.
And both of these men have nothing on John F. Kennedy, and black folk would cut you if you say something about Kennedy or any of his murderous, dick-slinging brothers.
As I was looking up black women in the military who have fallen I began to notice a trend. Not every woman has "fallen" in the sense of valor as may we may associate with soldiers. In the two dozen that I have discovered, a disproportionate amount have died in non-combat circumstances.
This got my conspiracy nose to twitching. "Is this another case of those who serve and protect, but are not being protected?" I asked. And yep, my gut was right in some instances.
The military sounds good and may look good in the commercials, but it is a very hard profession and one that trains ordinary folk into killers. And many times, the soldiers kill their own. And in many instances, the women who are in the military are the first target before any enemy.
As one who studies gender, I remember a professor giving out an article regarding the high percentage of rapes against female soldiers. And the culture of violence that permits and silences rapes and other acts of violence.
Then I ran across this news clip of one solder who died in a non-combat case. Her name is LaVena Johnson. She was only 19-years-old at the time. Her parents declare that her death was a murder, and not a suicide as the military documents point out.
Then I found another video of Seaman Genesia Gresham who was shot in her bunk along with her roomate. The shooter is still an active Seaman.
Then I read a clip of a Cherie L. Morton whose body was found in her off-base house in 2008. Her death is still under investigation. That means she was murdered.
Goddamn America, even when we are fighting for you, we get violated.
I wanted to highlight the black women who have fallen because these are human beings with lives other than a death certificate and a body bag. And my initial conjecture is that some of their deaths were hidden.
One day the truth will set their souls free. Check out this list after these videos.
Since we are a Christian nation and it's the Easter weekend and all. I figured you'd get a kick out of the following Christian America-loving Tea party patriot in the following clip. I don't have much to say aside from the known fact that Jesus died for our sins, and for the American right to free speech afforded by the constitution per the founding fathers who were in attendance at the last supper.
Even more important to note, is that Jesus loves all the litle children of the world; yes, even the innocent Muslim children killed by U.S. Drone Strikes in Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan. That's right, Jesus is/was a tough guy; he'd so support water-boarding and torture. But how tough is/was he actually? Dude couldn't even survive one measly cricifixion, while Negroes survived the Middle Passage and Slavery? Oh, he must've been light-skinned. Anyway, God Bless America; and, big ups to this Christian nation of ours.
Last week I'm talking to this lady who identifies as a lifelong Democrat, and supporter of president Obama. I tell her that I too am a supporter, but I didn't like the idea of him extending the Bush Tax Cuts, and now having to propose cutbacks at the expense of the poor. She then told me that I'm really a Republican because I hate the president and probably believes he's Kenyan. After that conversation I came to the conclusion that it's hard to call right-wingers idiots when there are dummies on your side as well.
But hey, closet Republican or not, I know I'm not as blissfully ignorant as some of these fine Republican voters from South Carolina in the following clip.These people would make Preston Brooks proud. And to think that these are the descendants of people who seceded and wanted to have their own country(?). I could be wrong, but something tells me that they should have cut these fools loose back on December 20th, 1860. Hell, one of them even said the gov't spends too much on education! Can you believe that shit? OK, don't answer; instead, watch the following and have a good laugh on me.
Do you remember when Obama was the bad guy who wanted to push through his socialist agenda with his redistribution of wealth idea? You know, that whole "slavery for white people," thing, which doubles as "reparations" for his fellow African-descended-Negroes in America, otherwise known as closet Marxism? Yeah, remember that shit? Oh how much difference a couple years, a great recession, and a mid-term election referendum make for Teapublicans.
Hell, they even have Donald Trump talking job creation...
Well yesterday, bold and courageous Rep. Paul Ryan (R), held a townhall meeting back in his Wisconsin district (from what I heard Facebook wasn't available). He was asked a particular question which involved a suggested tax hike for the rich, or people with an annual income of $250,000 or more. You know, that same bad idea my beloved president had and campaigned on back in 2008? Yeah, I'm sure you remember now; the Tea Party fought it.
A central piece of Obama's deficit reduction plan calls for raising taxes on annual income above $250,000. Though tax hikes are generally thought to be unpopular, both a Washington Post/ABC News poll and a McClatchy-Marist survey found that a majority of Americans supported that proposal. What's more, even a majority of Republicans in the Washington Post/ABC News poll said they favored raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
In addition, both polls found Americans overwhelmingly opposed to a deficit reduction plan pushed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) that would ultimately privatize Medicare, the federal healthcare program for the elderly. Taken together, those findings show that in the looming deficit debate, Obama may hold an edge in public opinion.
The Washington Post/ABC News survey asked American adults whether they supported or opposed a list of proposals to reduce the deficit. Seventy-two percent of all respondents said they supported raising taxes on annual income over $250,000, including 54% of respondents who said they "strongly" supported that position. Democrats were most supportive of that proposal (91%), but so too were a majority of independents (68%) and Republicans (54%.) (source)
Well anywhichaways, mister bold and courageous yet slightly radical budget proposer Paul Ryan, was met by boos from members of his own constituency (most of whom were republicans) who balked at his idea that teh wealthy needing tax cuts so as to spark job creation and economic growth; yeah, that trickle down crap that never happens. Uh huh, looks like some Republicans are waking and smelling the turds that has long speweth from the mouteth of the ideologically bankrupt Republican party elected officials and enablers.
Check it out via MSNBC's The Ed Show:
Yep, shared sacrifice, bitches!
Hopefully Democrats realize the political capital they have with this issue; utilize it, and act in the interest of "we the people"; and no, that doesn't mean compromising Democratic/Progressive principles. It's time to do something bold and courageous, like remembering the working poor as opposed to corporate oligarchs when it comes to legislative public policy for a damn change. Yep, put that in your pipe and smoke it, Paul Ryan, you bold man you.
White America remains unable to believe that Black America's grievances are real; they are unable to believe this because they cannot face what this fact says about themselves and their country. -- James Baldwin
C. Wright Mills spoke of racism as an epistemology of ignorance. Not the ignorance usually thought of as the passive opposite of knowledge, but an ignorance that is resistant and aggressive and not confined to the illiterate and uneducated, but disseminated at the highest levels and presenting itself as knowledge. This is how racism is maintained and cultivated in our society.
My fellow race-card-playing racist/ bootleg video-selling Nigerian co-conspirator, Rippa, recently wrote about the California Republican official, Marilyn Davenport, who thought circulating an email with a photo attached of president Obama pictured as the offspring of apes as totally appropriate. This is apparently the implicit birther punchline to questions about the president’s authenticity. Of course, most conservatives deny racism, either dismissing this incident as an aberration and not an accurate depiction of US conservatism; or (as in the case of Ms. Davenport), express bewilderment/ shock at the reactions to what is (to them) a harmless joke, in the process playing the “PC Police victim” card.
These same hypocrites, however, will understand what you’re about to read as proof that yours truly is a racist. Interesting times, indeed...
Not a day goes by the United States without a racial incident. From the overtly racist savage beatings and murders of people of color, to the more subtle job and housing discrimination, and the countless petty insults that actually mock the “founding principles” all Americans are faced with the reality and consequences of racism. With the election of an African American as president, however, cries of a postracial America was heard, not only from the racist conservative side, but also from what is considered the moderate (and in some case, liberal) voices. In reality, what many white people were saying was that Blacks and other people of color couldn’t complain anymore because the election of a black man to the highest office meant that racism was over. In many ways, the election of Obama served to vindicate the conservative voices of race deniers. Or, as I heard a white person state (without irony) immediately after the election, “If I ever hear another black person complain about racism, I’m just going to tell them to shut the fuck up.”
This view, repeated incessantly even before Obama was elected obscures the reality that color still matters in a society born from an economic system based on human bondage. A system supported by social and theological assumptions that rationalized the treatment of human beings as chattel.
Incidents of blatant racism appear regularly in the United States. Some of the more recent and memorable include the legal system of Louisiana which uncovered the unequal treatment of six teenage African-American boys; the portrayal of the first African-American President of the United States as a bug-eyed Sambo selling waffles and as a primitive medicine man complete with a bone through his nose; the countless public gaffes ranging from the racist macaca remark of former Virginia senator George Allen; to the numerous and astonishing racist pronouncements of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh (take your pick); the banishment of African-American children from a country club pool in Pennsylvania; the ill-tempered “You lie” [boy]! outburst by Congressman Joe Wilson during president Obama’s Congressional health care speech, and the almost nightly depictions of brown-skinned immigrants as vermin -- disease carriers infiltrating a vulnerable, pure, lily-white American society in order to leech off of it.
If a gun-slinging action cowboy in Western movies can be president of the US, a steroid-toting killing machine in Sci-Fi flicks can be governor of California, a wrestler can be Governor of Minnesota then I think Uncle Luke, the grand-daddy of pussy-poppin', booty-poppin', free speech music should be the mayor of Miami. White men can't have all the power and fun.
If anyone can wake a sleeping giant in Miami, I do believe Uncle Luke will at the very least stir something up.
Let's hope his candidacy is more than a one might stand and a $1 lap dance.
And since Luke has been immersed in some of the raunchiest environments that has come out of rap music, he doesn't have much to hide.
We've seen so many sex scandals that make Luke appear, well, somewhat normal, at this point, let's allow him to direct his energy to another avenue of productive citizenship.
But what would Miami look like if he'd win:
Inauguration night will be an all-white, bass music, booty shaking, Reggaeton carnival in Dade County.
Real Housewives of Miami would cast more than Cuban chicks who have too much plastic surgery and look like they've been around the Florida peninsula too many times.
Strip clubs would be tax exempt and churches would be taxed as "for-profits".
Fidel Castro would be in the front row of the inauguration, waiting for Latina video vixens ready for la revolucion!
Every one of Luke's baby-mama's and dancers would go straight to child support.
All I gotta say is, don't stop get it, get it!
I had to go back to my high school days when I was in shape and could pop, lock it drop it.
So today is the day that McDonald's has pledged to hire 50,000 workers. With the unemployment rate lagging in our slow economic recovery, this might actually be a good thing; but then again, it might not. From where I'm sitting McDonald's hiring 50,000 applicants means a few things: 1) they're about to start accepting Food Stamps, 2) my 17yr old daughter can't afford to be late to work anymore, 3) the McRib is here to stay, and 4) those "real jobs" people have been waiting on are not coming back. But I could be wrong; maybe they'll get rid of the McRib. Then again, 50,000 more employees may be needed to get orders right, remember my straw, and serve the occasional warm fries for a change. At any rate, check this out via Slate, and tell me what you think:
The National Employment Law Project took a closer look at employment and jobs-growth data in February. What it found wasn't encouraging. The advocacy group says that just 14 percent of recent job growth comes from high-wage industries. About half comes from low-wage industries. According to NELP's report, restaurants and food services businesses, "especially" fast food outlets, comprised 7 percent of hiring. And most gigs, NELP found, came "from rapid hiring by the temp industry," meaning the positions that often come without benefits, health care, or much income security.
The picture contributes to a larger, yet equally depressing, labor-market story: The country has produced far too few good, stable, middle-income jobs over the past 10 or 20 years, not just the past three. One of the most prominent economists making this case is David Autor of MIT. "Two forces are rapidly shifting the quality of jobs, reshaping the distribution of earnings and job opportunities," he writes in a recent paper. One is educational stagnation among men and gains among women. The other is "employment polarization, whereby job opportunities are increasingly concentrated in high-skill, high-wage jobs and in low-skill, low-wage jobs." Thus comes the frightening possibility of a "barbell" shaped economy, with jobs at places like fast food joints and universities—but not a lot of jobs in between.
There are more optimistic economists (though the discipline's nickname is no accident). Harry Holzer, a professor at Georgetown and former chief economist for the Labor Department, says that the recession has distorted the jobs picture, and that present trends are not permanent. "Early on in a recovery, a lot of the hiring is temporary and low-end," he explains. "In an uncertain labor market, it's easier to hire those workers. Those jobs don't entail a big commitment—no training, no paying a lot of benefits." As the recovery strengthens, he expects the economy to add more and better middle- and high-income positions.
But for the time being, the economy will take any jobs it can get. Besides, those McJobs might be nothing to mock. SeveralofMcDonald's currentexecutives startedbehind the counter, as did half of the company's owner-operators and 75 percent of its restaurant managers. A low-paying job need not stay a low-paying job forever. And a low-paying job is decidedly better than none at all.
Oh well, so much for, "there's always work at the post office." But hey, if Ole boy "Calvin" could do it, surely grown men and women can. Besides, I'm pretty sure "Calvin" owns a franchise by now, and is no longer on fries. And you know, that's when the big bucks start rolling in, right?
QUESTION(S):If you were unemployed, could you see yourself applying for one of those 50,000 jobs? How many weeks of unemployment would it take to break you, and is it worth it?
Damn, can a sista catch a break in America anymore? I don't know what's going on, but I have a hard time believing that municipalities are so strapped for cash that they would arrest a homeless woman for sending her kid to the wrong school district. Um, hello, when someone's homeless, they don't actually have a school district to call their own, do they? Help me understand this shit because obviously it's above my pay-grade just a tad bit. Yep, I'm gonna need one of youse people in Connecticut to 'splain this one here:
NORWALK -- A homeless woman from Bridgeport who enrolled her 6-year-old son at a Norwalk elementary school has become the first in the city to be charged with stealing more than $15,000 for the cost of her child's education.
Tonya McDowell, 33, whose last known address was 66 Priscilla St., Bridgeport, was charged Thursday with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for allegedly stealing $15,686 from Norwalk schools. She was released after posting a $25,000 bond.
McDowell's babysitter, Ana Rebecca Marques, was also evicted from her Roodner Court public housing apartment for providing documents to enroll the child at Brookside Elementary School.
The police investigation into the residency began in January after Norwalk Housing Authority attorney Donna Lattarulo filed a complaint alleging McDowell registered her son at Brookside, but actually lived in an apartment on Priscilla Street in Bridgeport.
As part of the evidence presented in the complaint, police received an affidavit of residency signed by McDowell and dated last September attesting that she lived in the Roodner Court public housing complex on Ely Ave.
When she was interviewed by police in the case, McDowell admitted to living in Bridgeport at the time she registered her son in Norwalk schools.
She said she knew a man who owned a home on Priscilla Street and he allowed her to sleep at the home at night, but she had to leave the home during the day until he returned from work.
She also acknowledged that she stays from time to time at the Norwalk Emergency Shelter when she has nowhere else to stay.
McDowell also admitted that Marques was her son's babysitter from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. after the boy got out of school.
After the Norwalk Housing Authority became aware that Marques helped McDowell by providing documents needed to get McDowell's son into Brookside, Marques was evicted from her apartment in January.[...]
Sounds like somebody at the housing authority was mad "somebody" was sleeping on someone's couch. Hell, it's a wonder they're not trying to get back-rent. Surely they can get blood from a tunip so that in itself shouldn't be a problem, right? If only everyone working for the city saw it that way.
As of late, we've seen a resurgence of the labor movement of sorts. Unionized workers all across the country have banded together in a show of solidarity. As they fight to maintain not only their collective bargaining agreements, in most cases, they're also fighting to maintain their dignity hearkening back to Martin Luther King Jr's show of support for Memphis sanitation workers. As these various movements across the country grows, the story of one particular group of workers paramount to the success of our future isn't being heard.
Hundreds of teachers from the Caribbean claim that New York's Department of Education (DOE) lured them to city schools with false promises of green cards and financial aid. In a massive rally on the steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan on Sunday, the teachers, supported by the New York-based Association of International Educators (AIE) and the Black Institute, demanded immediate action and response to what they described as "the lack of support from the DOE, which has resulted in the 10-year uphill battle to get on the right path to permanent residency."
AIE chair, Judith Hall, said that the teachers have been treated as "indentured servants."
"How is this possible when we were chosen because we were the best and brightest our countries had to offer?" she asked.
"This is an egregious situation, and we are demanding redress on the city, state, federal and international levels," she added.
A report released on Sunday by the Black Institute on behalf of the AIE, entitled, Broken Promises: The Story of Caribbean International Teachers in New York City's Public Schools, claimed that the Caribbean teachers were first lured to New York by promises of continued educational opportunities, housing assistance, and a path to permanent residency in the United States.
It said the teachers "uprooted their families in the hopes of redefining a better future."
Recruited by New York City Public Schools, beginning in 2001, the AIE said it was formed by Caribbean teachers, "who continue to feel victimized."
The association provides them with a support group, as well as the opportunity to combine efforts to find a solution.
The AIE said, in early 2001, when the U.S. economy was booming and there was a teacher shortage, more than 500 teachers from the Caribbean came to New York City schools to work.
After almost 10 years, the AIE said most of the teachers still lack green cards, adding their immigration status "makes it impossible for their spouses and children to work."
The teachers are, therefore, demanding a meeting with Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and legal assistance from the Education Department.
President and founder of the Black Institute, Bertha Lewis, said the Broken Promises report highlights the "hidden nexus of education and immigration reform.
"These teachers were recruited to teach in some the most difficult and poorest school districts. They did what was asked of them, and they deserve to be treated fairly and humanely," she said, adding, "promises were made, promises were broken; this report calls upon the DOE to keep its promises."
Trinidad-born Antoinette Nesbitt, who came to New York in August 2001, said she is frustrated and outraged by the lack of respect shown to Caribbean teachers.
"Teachers are professional role models for school children every day in the classroom, yet this process of our teachers obtaining green cards has been drawn out over many years because the Department of Education chosen attorneys have classified us as unskilled workers," said Nesbitt, who has been teaching special education at Public School 276 in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn ever since her arrival here.
"This classification is costing us financially. We have to pay visa-related fees annually, and we experience lost income because our spouses and dependents are unable to work," she added, fearing that she and her colleagues would be deported back to the Caribbean if they are laid off because of a lack of green card. (source)
In any discussion centered on education or education reform, it is always noted that our teachers are undervalued. Which is a shame in itself here in these United States of America, supposedly in the wealthiest nation in the world. But to recruit teachers from other countries - the best of the best in their field of occupation - and not hold up on your end of the bargain, only to have them existing pretty much as undocumented workers is just down right ridiculous. It's especially ridiculous in this supposed land of opportunity and the free.
Yet in 2011, these teachers are treated like slave labor, fresh off the Middle Passage. The difference being, they were invited here, and are actually card-carrying union members. It's a shame they're good enough to educate children, but not worthy of being respected as professionals. Instead, by virtue of being from third world countries, they're treated like migrant agricultural workers. As a son of the Caribbean, and also of Caribbean educators who came before me, this is truly disappointing. What's next, undocumented doctors and nurses? One has to wonder, were they recruited from Europe would this be an issue?
Last week I got involved in a nice discussion with my brothers over at The Urban Politico. Central to the discussion was the question: What exactly can president Obama do about the job crisis faced by Black people? It was a nice exchange, one where I learned a thing or two. However, I was left with the impression that, well, there is absolutely nothing the president can do beyond passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
Yeah RiPPa, the prez can't make them folks hire people, nor can the gov't create jobs; that's up to Wall Street! Besides, Negroes are lazy and they ain't trynna find work; yep, they love Welfare and that ain't finna change!
Now of course you know I'm not of that belief or opinion; and yes, there is something the president and by extension the gov't can do; yeah, how's that $26 billion in tax cuts for small businesses of a jobs bill working out while Wall Street sits on $1 trillion in cash? But at any rate, I think it's pretty sad that while we're in the midst of economic recovery, that we're talking about deficits and not job creation, which is needed to boost the economy. As opposed to a discussion of necessary but painful budget cuts to help in deficit reduction.
Folks, that's ass-backwards and here's why:
BIO: Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research centers on macroeconomics, conditions for low-wage workers in the U.S. and globally, the analysis of financial markets, and the economics of building a clean-energy economy in the U.S. Most recently, he co-authored the reports Job Opportunities for the Green Economy (June 2008) and Green Recovery(September 2008), exploring the broader economic benefits of large-scale investments in a clean-energy economy in the U.S. He has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa on policies to promote to promote decent employment expansion and poverty reduction in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and as a member of the Capital Formation Subcouncil of the U.S. Competiveness Policy Council.
News Flash: Hosting a class room "slave auction" is NEVER a good idea!! I wrote about this a few weeks ago, when a teacher at a school in Ohio decided to have the children in her class role play as slaves and slave owners/traders. It was a bad idea then, when students were chosen randomly to be designated "slaves" and "masters". I felt it would have been a bad idea even if all of the students in the class had been white, because turning such a horror into a fun classroom activity totally dismisses the seriousness of the issue of slavery.
Now, a teacher in Virginia has decided that a classroom slave auction is a good lesson plan for her fourth graders. And, she took the exercise a step further by assigning roles to students based on their race.
On April 1st, Jessica Boyle separated students in her class and put the black and mixed race students up for sale, according to WVEC News, apparently in a well intentioned, but ill-advised attempt to demonstrate the injustices of the slave era
Mary B. Wrushen, Principal of Sewells Point Elementary School, sent a letter home to parents on April 6 following the incident, saying: "Although her actions were well intended to meet the instructional objectives, the activity presented was inappropriate for the students.
"The lesson could have been thought through more carefully, as to not offend her students or put them in an uncomfortable situation," she added. SOURCE
Of course, the teacher's blatant disregard for the feelings of her students AND for the historical reality of chattel slavery and its horrors is described as "well intended" by the school principal. Frankly, I do not buy that crap.
There is no way in hell you can set up a situation where you assign students to play the role of a subjugated "slave" and then get to run around and say "Well, I meant well!" No, No, No!!!
“He who warned uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.” -- Sarah Palin on Paul Revere
