Mirror On America: December 2006

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Saddam Hussein Executed

Saddam Hussein has been executed

It looks like Bush got a little gift for the Holidays. His sagging ratings will probably go up quite a bit. But what does it mean for Iraq? And why was there such a rush to kill Hussein?

The original plan by the U.S. was to carry out trials on a long list of crimes by Hussein. The purpose was the show the Iraqi people and the world what Hussein was responsible for. However, since the trials were not going as planned due to Hussein stealing the show, and lawyers & judges being killed every few months or so, it appears that the U.S. (and the Iraqis) decided to pull the plug on the show early, after just one case (The Dujail Case), although several cases were originally scheduled.

The Court never got around to the main charges that Hussein faced.

U.S. policy makers also did not want to deal with a situation where they would leave Saddam Hussein still alive in Iraq, if the U.S. eventually decided to leave.

Hussein is now a Martyr, and he will likely haunt the U.S. and Iraq for years to come. This will provide even more fuel for radical Sunni elements in Iraq.

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Monsters and Critics has more information on the legal charges against Hussein.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Remembering James Brown

James Brown

In Articles and In Pictures

image description

James Joseph Brown, Jr
1933-2006

Great Bio from PBS

Information from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

NPR Interviews Bootsy Collins

NPR Interviews Maceo Parker

James Brown- Boston 1968

By Douglas Belkin, Boston Globe Staff December 26, 2006

James Brown will be mourned by millions around the world this week as one of the great musical innovators of the 20th century. But in Boston, he will be remembered by many as the man who helped prevent the city from burning down the night after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

On April 4, 1968, the day before Brown was scheduled to play a concert at the Boston Garden, King was shot to death in Memphis. In Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, rioters set fire to white-owned businesses.

In Boston, Mayor Kevin White, then just 38 years old and four months into his first term, gathered his aides at City Hall and prepared for the worst.
"It was incredibly tense," said John Henning, the longtime television broadcaster who, in 1968, was in the fifth year of his career.

According to a Boston Globe account that weekend: "By noon Friday it appeared that Boston's black community of 80,000 was poised for a violent upheaval. Roving bands in Roxbury, North Dorchester , and the South End inflicted injuries on a dozen persons, set fire to one store , and looted seven others."

Fearful of more violence, the managers at the Garden decided to cancel Brown's concert, and White was faced with a dilemma, according to an account in the book " Common Ground, " by J. Anthony Lukas . If Brown didn't go on, there wouldn't be enough time to get the word out and thousands of angry black teenage fans would be left at the Garden with nothing to do.
Only this time, "it'll be in the heart of downtown," Lukas quoted Councilor Tom Atkins as saying.
In a telephone interview yesterday, US Representative Barney Frank, who was White's aide in the 1960s, said city officials believed Boston could potentially have a citywide riot among blacks and whites.

"You get a bunch of 17-year-olds together you never know what's going to happen," said Frank, a Democrat from Newton.

White made a decision. He would reinstate the concert, but would try to suppress attendance, get a television station to carry it live, and then appeal to youths to stay home and watch it.

But there was a catch. That Friday, Brown taped a television show in New York and was under contract not to appear on TV before it aired. If the concert at the Garden were broadcast live, it would cost him a bundle.

According to Lukas, who reconstructed events from interviews with the participants: Atkins met Brown at the airport, and explained the situation as the pair rode toward downtown in a limousine. "No way," Brown shouted. "They'll sue me in New York."
"James, James," pleaded Atkins. "We'll work this out! But right now you have an opportunity to help save this city."

Finally Brown relented -- at a cost. He demanded $60,000 to cover his expenses. White, now out of options, agreed, Lukas wrote.
Only 2,000 people showed up for the concert -- the Garden held 14,000. When White got on stage, the crowd was subdued.

White, according to a Globe report on the concert, urged the audience at home and in the Garden "to make Rev. Dr. King's dream a reality in Boston. . . . No matter what any other community might do -- we in Boston will honor Dr. King in peace."
"Brown sang and danced, and as usual thrilled his audience. But he also talked to them and for this is being credited with helping to avert potential disaster," according to the Globe.

The concert aired live on Channel 2 and was then immediately rebroadcast, Frank recalled yesterday. Across Boston, people stayed home and watched.
"I remember going through the South End and every window seemed to be watching James Brown," said Peter Wolf , the lead singer of the J. Geils Band.
Brown brought calm to a simmering city.

"It really prevented the city from blowing up," said Henning.
Said Frank: "You never know what might have happened if they all came down."
Globe correspondent Steve Morse contributed to this story.

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James Brown's Political Reach

Here is a great blog entry on James Browns political clout. He was more than just a performer, especially for his people. See Here.

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Amy Goodman's Democracy Now Program covers James Brown. Watch/Listen Here.

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Innovative James Brown was the Most Influential Musician in History
by George E. Curry
NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Originally posted 1/2/2007

AUGUSTA, GA. (NNPA) --When he died early Christmas Day, James Brown, left behind the legacy of having been the most influential musician in history, credited with single-handedly inspiring what was known as soul music, disco, funk and rap over a career that spanned 50 years and produced 800 songs, an average of more than 16 records a year.

Brown died early Christmas at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta of heart failure brought on by complications from pneumonia. He was 73 years old.

''He was an innovator, he was an emancipator, he was an originator,'' said Little Richard.

''Rap music, all that stuff, came from James Brown.''

Brown was buried Saturday on his estate in Beech Island, S.C., just across the state line near Augusta, Ga., following three days of farewells.

The most elaborate was Brown’s final appearance Thursday at New York City’s famed Apollo Theater, where thousands that had marveled at his showmanship in life came to bid him good-bye. Posters of James Brown shows at the Apollo flanked his gold casket and music from his 1962 “ Live at the Apollo” album filled the background. Mourners passed a 6 by 6 floral arrangement that spelled “Godfather” in red carnations.

Brown arrived at the Apollo in a white, painted hearse pulled by two white horses. His golden casket was lined with white velvet. He was decked out in a cobalt, sequined satin suit, white gloves and pointed silvery shoes.

Standing a few steps away, near the orchestra pit, was Al Sharpton, once part of Brown’s road crew before rising to prominence in the civil rights movement.

A private service presided over by Sharpton was held Friday at the Carpentersville Baptist Church in North Augusta, S.C. That service, closed to the public, was attended by relatives and dignitaries, including comedian/social activist Dick Gregory and boxing promoter Don King.

On Saturday, fans in Augusta, Ga., his childhood home, were able to pay their respects at the James Brown Arena.

Celebrities included Jesse L. Jackson Sr. and mega-star Michael Jackson. A tearful Michael Jackson bowed before Brown’s casket in Augusta and then hugged Sharpton.

“James Brown is my greatest inspiration,” the singer told mourners.

“When I saw him move, I was mesmerized. I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of James Brown.”

Aides and relatives say they expect to turn Brown’s home to a museum, similar to Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former estate in Memphis.

In the meantime, members of James Brown band say they will resume touring, probably in February. Spike Lee has signed a contract to do a movie on the singer’s life, expected to be completed by 2008.

While most stars would be happy to be associated with one honorific, James Brown had five, more than any other entertainer in history: ''The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,'' ''Soul Brother Number 1,'' ''Mr. Dynamite,'' ''The Godfather of Soul'' and even ''The Original Disco Man.''

Brown was a spellbinding performer, sometimes playing as many as 350 shows a year. And what a show. In the early years, he leaped from a piano and landed on stage in a split. He was an energetic dancer, doing the camel walk, the mash potato and sometimes would ''back up and do the James Brown.''

In a booklet that accompanied the CD collection, ''James Brown - Star Time,'' long-time friend and performer Bobby Byrd said: ''The dancing y'all seen later on ain't nothing to what he used to do back then. James could stand flat-footed and flip over into a split. He'd tumble, too, over and over like in gymnastics. We'd say, 'What's wrong with you? When it's time to record, you'll be done killed yourself.''

Born outside of rural Barnwell, S.C. on May 3, 1933, Brown was abandoned by his mother at the age of 4 and reared by a great-aunt in an Augusta, Ga. whorehouse. As a teenager, Brown was convicted of stealing and served three years at the Georgia Juvenile Training Institute in Toccoa. There, he met Bobby Byrd, lead singer of a local gospel group. Some accounts say that Brown met Byrd when the latter's group sang at the juvenile correctional facility. But Byrd says they met when Brown's baseball team played against local residents. When Brown was released from reform school, Byrd's family took him in and Brown joined Byrd's group, the Gospel Starlighters.

But gospel would soon give way to rhythm and blues.

Byrd said, ''When we saw all the girls screaming for groups like Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, we thought, 'Oh, so this is what we want to do!'''

And they did. James Brown became the lead singer in a group that called themselves the Flames and, later, the Famous Flames. Little Richard would joke, ''Y'all are the onliest people who ever made yourself famous before you were famous.''

But fame was just around the corner.

In 1956, ''Please, Please, Please,'' was released by Syd Nathan's Federal label, rising to #6 on the R&B charts.

Other hits followed: ''Try Me'' (1958), ''Night Train'' (1962), ''Prisoner of Love'' (1963), ''Papa's Got a Brand New Bag'' (1965), ''I Got You - I Feel Good'' (1965), ''It's a Man's World'' (1966), ''Cold Sweat'' (1967), ''I Got that Feeling'' (1968), ''Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud'' (1968), ''The Popcorn'' (1969), ''Ain't It Funky Now'' -Part 1 (1970), ''Hot Pants'' (1971), ''Get On the Good Foot'' (1972) and ''The Payback'' (1974), the only gold-certified album [500,000 copies sold] of his long and successful career.

At points when his career appeared to be waning, a movie appearance would introduce James Brown to another generation of fans. In 1980, it was his role as a dancing preacher in John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's ''Blues Brothers'' and in 1986, it was performing ''Living in America'' in ''Rocky IV.''

Though his ''Say it Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud'' became a Black National Anthem'' in 1968, later that year, he released a lesser known, patriotic, ''America is My Home,'' causing some fans to boo him. He also supported a couple of conservative presidents, campaigning for Richard M. Nixon at a time when he was an unregistered voter, according to his autobiography, and served on one of Ronald Reagan's domestic abuse panels during a time he was being repeatedly arrested for spousal abuse. A series of problems with the Internal Revenue Service led to his losing Black radio stations in Knoxville, Tenn. and Baltimore, Md.

His low point came in 1988 when a high-speed chase with police in South Carolina and neighboring Georgia resulted in his serving a two-year prison sentence. But as has been the case throughout his life, Brown bounced back, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1992 Grammy Awards and being honored the following year by the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. LL Cool J told the Kennedy Center audience, ''In music there are three B's. There's Bach - I love Bach, there's Beethoven - I love Beethoven. And there's Brown. Doesn't that name make you feel good.''

Other rappers --including Chuck D, Ice-T and the Fat Boys -- also kept James Brown's music alive by liberally sampling his hits. Brown joked that ''the music out there is only as good as my last record.''

He told the Associated Press in 2003, ''Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me.''

James Brown revolutionalized more than rap music. What became known as the James Brown beat was a unique sound when he introduced it.

''What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music,'' said Al Sharpton, who was once part of Brown's traveling entourage.

''This is the guy who literally changed the music industry. He put everybody on a different beat, a different style of music. He pioneered it.''

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Commentary from the Huffington Post

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1968 Olympics: Tommie Smith and John Carlos

1968 Olympics: Tommie Smith and John Carlos

Brown in Vietnam Meeting with the Troops- Late 60's

Brown in Vietnam Meeting with the Troops- Late 60's

Let's Dedicate 2007 To The Spirit of James Brown

By Anthony Asadullah Samad

*It is very rare that one person defines a generation, a movement and a culture, all at the same time-more than once-over the period of their lifetime. Cultural icons are far and few in between.

When James Brown died on Christmas Day of 2006, a little bit of all us died with him. The spirit in him was the spirit in us, Black America. We only became "Black" America because James Brown said so. Before then we were Negro America, or Colored America. And we became "black" kicking and screaming.

When Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael) started shouting "Black Power" during Freedom Summer (1964) in the civil rights protest marches down South, Dr. King and others made their thoughts known on how "uncomfortable" the term made him (and Whites in the struggle) feel. Therein, our struggle for identity became as conflicted as goals for equality. James Brown cleared all that up in 1968 (at least the identity part).

1968 was the most defining year in the history of America, and it was the year, "Black America" declared its identity and James Brown wrote our national anthem, "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." It was the boldest proclamation in an era of proclamations that included Malcolm's "Freedom, Justice and Equality, By Any Means Necessary," Martin Luther King's "We, As A People Will Get To The Promise Land," and who could forget the boldest of the bold, Muhammad Ali, proclamation of "I Am The Greatest." But it was the spirit of James Brown, then "the King of Soul," that was the spirit of Black America. It was a time when Black America came out of its 350 year fog, and for a brief moment in time, we knew who we were. It's time for Black America to find itself again. What better time than in 2007. Let's dedicate 2007 to the spirit of James Brown, a man who despite his foibles, worked damn near every day of his life, overcame massive odds (and constant personal
challenges) to free himself and free the mind of his people-not just for a time but for eternity.

See, while Black America has gone backwards on many fronts over the past forty years, but we never quite went back to being Negroes (at least not officially). Lord knows some of us tried to take us back-and some might suggest that this latest iteration of the new "New Negro" (lost identity, lost ambition, lost cultural principals and lost sense of indebtedness to previous generations) combined with the maniacal behaviors of the new "Nigga" (gangstas, bangas, slangas) has Black America in such a jacked up state, that we need another movement just to get us all back on the same page.

Quiet as kept, as much as we now tend to romanticize the period, we all weren't on the same page in the 1960s. Everybody didn't march with King.

Most people didn't embrace Malcolm (until 25 years after his death, when the movie, "X" came out in 1991). Everybody didn't embrace the radicalism of the Panthers, the Pan-Africanism of the All Afrikan People's Revolutionary Party, the African centered culturalism of US, nor the intellectualism of integrationism (the other civil rights groups promotion of peaceful co-existence as a 'colorblind' society). No matter where you were in the socio-economic strata of the black diaspora, when James Brown said, "Say it loud." nobody insisted on maintaining their current identity. I don't recall anybody abstaining on the new identity by saying, "I'm Negro and I'm Proud."

Nobody was proud to be a Negro in America in 1960s-or any other time. Being a Negro in America had the negative connotation of being a second (or third class) citizen in a society that promoted egalitarian pluralism (society of
equals) but practiced inegalitarian Eurocentrism (a race caste system based on white supremacy). Now check this out; as negative as being a Negro was, being called "black" was even worse in the eyes of the American African.

Black folk would get in fights when somebody called them a "black muthaf***r, not because they were called a muthaf***r but because they called, black. Both terms came from the oppressor, but in our own cultural confusion, we rejected our blackness first. We were, indeed, a confused people. One song changed all that.

James Brown said it was not only okay to be black, but to be proud in that blackness, and if you are really proud of being black, then say it (and don't whisper it either). Say it loud. The knowledge of blackness may have come from Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X and carried forth by Stokely, Angela Davis and the host of young pro-black "radicals" that were considered on the "fringe" of the black intellectual mainstream, but it was James Brown that mainstreamed blackness by taking a new generation perception of themselves and making the whole races perception of themselves. When James Brown came out with an "Afro" and black bellbottoms, suddenly we saw our parents, who we thought we total "squares," wearing Afros and bellbottoms. My father, who forced us get a haircut once a month now let his own hair grow out. A cultural transformation was in full effect (I still remember my mom in her "hotpants"). That might have been the last time black folk was "nappy and happy." It didn't last long, but at least it happened. Thanks to JB.

Of course, James Brown brought back "perms" and long leather coats in the 1970s as blaxploitation took over blackness and the King of Soul became the Godfather of Soul, but James Brown's trendiness didn't takeover his consciousness nor his impact on future "messengers" through the music of future generations. When Black America had been decimated by the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s, with poverty, black unemployment and violence at a 30 year high, when the question was being asked by Public Enemy, "Who Stole The Soul" out of the black community, it was James Brown who spoke up, saying, "Here we are in the '80s, practically the 90s, talking about the same thing we were talking about in the 30s." Brown wondered what happened to the spirit of the black community, but he led us into the 1990s, which served as a period of retroflection and cultural reconnection culminating with the Million Man March. James Brown never lost his spirit, his desire for black progress and was never too far removed from his people.

In 2007, let's remember what James Brown was-bigger than life, iconic in stature (Elvis, Lennon, and no other musical genius star shined as bright for 50 years), but also let us remember what James Brown stood for, a spirit that invigorated a culturally dead people and gave rise to a pride and identity that forever defined our blackness, in a positive way, that Blacks in America had never known. Let's live this year in embracement of cultural consciousness, and proclaim positive values, as James Brown, would say it, one last time; "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."

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Inducted in both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Songwriters Hall of Fame Entry

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Entry

Brown was also inducted in the British Music Hall of Fame

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The Kennedy Center Honors

Click Here for Brown's Kennedy Center Page

Saddam Hussein To Be Put To Death Within Days

Saddam Hussein is to be Executed Soon....within days. I just heard a report that said that some in the U.S. government and Iraqi government feel that this could be the event that could finally calm the insurgency.

What in the world are these people smoking? They are still holding on to this pie in the sky nonsense. How many times have we heard about some big event that was supposed to calm the insurgency? I can count at least 5 events. None of them turned out to be the turning point towards a peaceful Iraq.

In fact, the death of Saddam Hussein will likely have the opposite impact. It will only solidify the insurgency (unfortunately). It will turn him into a Martyr. It has the potential to set off a new wave of sustained violence in Iraq. But the Bush administration seems clueless. Yes I understand that the death of Saddam Hussein is a decision that the Iraqi government is responsible for making....but it is our troops who will pay much of the price for that decision (along with Iraqi troops and citizens as well). Surely the U.S. government has some influence that it could use in this situation.

This also has the potential to bring down, or weaken the Iraqi government. Sunnis could pull out of the Parliament, which is not in the interest of the U.S..... or Iraq.
Now I am not saying that Hussein should not be punished. I am just pointing out that #1). The timing is horrible, and #2). The killing of Saddam Hussein will not improve the situation in Iraq. It is more likely to have a more negative impact on the situation there.

Sidebar Spotlights

Previous Sidebar Spotlights

1. Truthteller- Michael Moore
Crook/Liar- Ann Coulter
Black Hall of Shame- D.L. Hughley
Pride- Cornel West

2. Truthteller- Michael Moore
Crook/Liar- Bill O’Reilly
Black Hall of Shame- Debra Lee
Pride- Geofrey Canada

3. Truthteller- Keith Olberman
Crook/Liar- Hillary Clinton
Black Hall- Beyonce
Pride- Women of Spelman College for BET protest

4. Truth teller - Amy Goodman
Crook/Liar- John McCain
Black Hall of Shame- Reginald Hudlin
Pride- MLK, Dr. Edward Hart, Rev. Joseph Lowery

5. Truthteller- Barbara Ehrenreich
Crook/Liar- Ron Christie
Black Hall of Shame- Jam Donaldson - BET “Hot Ghetto Mess” creator
Pride- Gina McCauley from Whataboutourdaughters.com /W.E.B. Du Bois

6. Truth teller - Jim Hightower
Crook and Liar- Ted Stevens
Black Hall of Shame- Todd Boyd
Pride- Rev. Vernon Johns

7. Truth teller- Jack Beatty
Crook & Liar- Laura Ingraham
Black Hall of Shame- Michael Eric Dyson
Pride - Dr. Ben Carson

8. Truth teller - David Iglesias
Crook & Liar - Karl Rove
Black Hall of Shame - Monique
Pride- Irene Morgan Kirkaldy

9. truth teller - Dr. John Johnson (father of Lavena Johnson)
Crook & liar- Hillary Clinton
Black Hall of Shame - Russell Simmons
Pride- Curtis Mayfield

10. truth teller - Charles Ferguson (filmmaker for “No End In Sight” documentary)
Crook- Alberto Gonzales
Black Hall of Shame- Danyel Smith - Editor Chief for Vibe Magazine
Black pride - Stephen Bantu Biko

11. truth teller- General Paul Eaton
Crook- Rudy Guiliani
Black hall of shame - William Drayton (Flavor Flav)
Pride- Earl Graves- Black enterprise founder…pulled the mic from comedian eddie griffin for his excessive use of the N-word at an event.

12. Truth teller- Robert Greenwald
Crook- Senator Lindsey Graham- for pushing for the continued occupation of Iraq.
Black shame- Hip Hop R&B singer Ashanti
Source of Pride - Ronald Kenneth Noble- Interpol Chief (secretary general).

13. Truth teller - Senator Chuck Hagel
Crook - Bill O’Reilly
Black Shame - The Rap Industry
Pride - Constance Baker Motley

14. Truth teller - Jeremy Scahill
Crook/Liar - Michael Medved - "Slavery Not So Bad"
Black Shame - T. Shakur/Christopher Wallace...and how they are celebrated by Black Americans
Pride - Rev. Delman Coates for leading the "Enough Is Enough" Campaign against BET/Viacom and the negative images of Blacks in media.

15. Truth teller - General Ricardo Sanchez
Crook/Liar- Rush Limbaugh
Black Shame- Janet Jackson
Pride- John Mercer Langston

16. Truth teller - Valerie Plame Wilson
Crook/Liar - Sean Hannity
Black Shame - The Jena 4 (Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis for their flamboyance after the incidents in Jena, Louisiana. And Robert Bailey Jr. and a 4th young man for their bragging about money and fame from the situation.).
Pride - Guion "Guy" Bluford

17. Truth teller - John Edwards - Telling the truth about Hillary Clinton
Crook/Liar - Fred Thompson - lying about not being aware of drug trafficking buddy
Black Shame - The Black Political and Social Elite Establishment for not taking on Rap Culture.
Pride- Ralph Bunche

18. Truth teller - Dennis Kucinich
Crook/Liar - Glenn Beck
Black Shame - Damon Wayans (For comments regarding Rutgers Women's Basketball Team)
Pride - Herbie Hancock

19. Truth teller- Seymour Hersh
Crook/Liar - Dick Cheney
Black shame - Troi Torain
Pride - Kiri Davis

20. Truthteller- Thom Hartmann
Crook/Liar - Senator Bob Kerrey - For Lies about Barack Obama
Black Shame - Christina Milian
Pride - Cora Daniels

Spotlights for 2008

21. Truthteller - John Edwards
Crook & Liar - Hillary Clinton - For her lies (and her campaigns lies) about Barack Obama.
Black Shame - Cordozar Calvin Broadus
Pride - Hubert Henry Harrison

22. Truthteller - Dr. Michael Parenti
Crook & Liar - Lanny Davis
Black Shame - Bob Johnson
Pride - James Lawson

23. Truthteller - Keith Olbermann
Crook & Liar - Harold Ickes - Clinton Operative who wanted to change nomination rules to benefit his candidate.
Black Shame - Julian Bond
Pride - George Benson

24. Truthteller - Samantha Power
Crook & Liar - Geraldine Ferraro
Black Shame - The Congressional Black Caucus
Pride - Sidney Poitier

25. Truthteller- Phil Donahue & Tomas Young - For the documentary "Body of War".
Crook & Liar - Hillary Clinton
Black Shame - NAACP
Pride - Duke Ellington

26. Truthteller - Army Colonel Ann Wright
Crook & Liar - John McCain (for his love of lobbyists).
~~Black Shame~~- (no longer a regular spotlight item. Although i'll bring it back for those who really deserve being spotlighted). Last spotlight was Kwame Kilpatrick.
Pride - Dr. Beth Brown

27. Truthteller - Keith Olbermann
Crook & Liar - Roger Ailes
Pride - Acia Johnson. Read the Acia Johnson story from the Boston Globe. Listen to story here.

28. Truthtellers - Stephen Walt & John Mearsheimer
Crook/Liar - Monica Crowley of FOX News for her smears (and her networks smears) of Barack Obama.
Pride - Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II

29. Truthteller - Air Force Col. Morris Davis for taking a stand and speaking out on tribunals and habeas corpus rights of gitmo prisoners.
Crook & Liar - Republican Spokesman Michael Savage, for autism comments
Pride- Neil deGrasse Tyson

30. Truthteller - Ron Suskind, for the book "The Way of the World".
Crook & Liar - Republican operative Jerome Corsi - For spreading lies and smears about Barack Obama and his family.
Pride- Morgan Freeman

31. Truthteller - Campbell Brown of CNN... for challenging Palin's so-called foreign policy experience (which turns out to be none at all).
Crook & Liar - Bill Kristol
Pride - Dr. Errington Thompson

32. Truthteller - Dr. Cornel West - For sticking to his principles... although I don't agree with all of his positions. But I do fall in line with most of his basic philosophy... I particularly like his worldview. You can say i'm a student of the man. I wish Obama's worldview and foreign policy were being shaped by brilliant minds like Dr. West, Stephen F. Cohen, Bruce Hoffman, and StephenVan Evera, Ian Lustick, Juan Cole, Ivan Eland, Stephen Walt and others. Instead, Obama's foreign policy is being shaped by hardliners like Zbigniew Brzezinski- WT_!!!?. Why don't these prominent thinkers have a place in Obama's campaign? Why is Obama allowing himself to be influenced by more pro-war establishment thinkers (the same people and same old philosophies that got the U.S. into the foreign policy mess that it's currently in)?
Crook & Liar - Sarah Palin
Pride - Louis Gossett Jr.

33. Truthteller - John Lewis
Liar/Worst Person- Congress Woman Michelle Bachmann
Pride - Dr. Mae Jemison

34. Truthteller - Dr. Kenneth F. Warren - A Political Scientist at St. Louis University - for Telling the truth about why Obama lost the State of Missouri by less than 4,000 votes (a small fraction of a percent of votes cast)- The reason... the racist vote in Rural Missouri. It in fact made the difference. Obama lost, while White Democrats in the State won all major offices by wide margins.
Liar/Worst Person - (Two entries) Georgia Congressman Paul Broun & Republican Radio host Michael Savage - Paul Broun for comparing Obama to Adolf Hitler. And Michael Savage for suggesting that Obama somehow orchestrated or arranged the death of his Grandmother. (nuts!!!!). Savage has one of the more popular Conservative radio programs in the Country ....no wonder Republicans are so crazy.
Pride - Federal Appeals Court Judge Theodore McMillian. McMillian (d.2006) was one of the first Black Americans to rise to such a high level in the Federal Court system. Learn more about McMillian.

35. Truthteller - Amy Goodman
Liar - Rod Blagojevich & Bernard Madoff
Pride- Paul Laurence Dunbar

Spotlights for 2009

36. Truthteller - Linda Bilmes- For putting the cost of Bush into perspective. Hear a recent interview with Linda Bilmes from NPR‘s “On Point“.
Liar - Bill Cunningham, Dick Cheney & Ann Coulter
Pride - Branford Marsalis

37. Truthteller - Bill Moyers-- For taking a stand and telling the truth about Israel
Liar - Bernard Goldberg
Pride - Dr. Merville Marshall

38. Truthteller(s) - Aaron Glantz and Dr. Cornel West
Liar (Worst Person) - G. Gordon Liddy
Pride - Frederick D. Gregory

39. Truthteller - Rachel Maddow
Liar (Worst Persons) - Tammy Bruce & Joe Cassano
Pride - Dr. John Hope Franklin

40. Truthteller - William Greider
Liar - Dennis Miller
Pride - Myron Rolle

____________________

The Angry Independents "Wives of the Moment" List

* Alyssa Milano

* Scarlett Johansson

* Essence Atkins

* Tamera Mowry

* Anna Kournikova

* Rachel True

* Jurnee Smollett

* Leona Lewis

* Rachael Ray

* Robin Meade

* Bianca Lawson

* Nicole Lyn

* Carmen Ejogo

* Idalis DeLeon

* Rachel Stuart

* Kellie Williams

* Kaley Cuoco

* Evelyn Ng

* Hayden Panettiere

* Michelle Kwan

* Natasha Curry

* Sharon Carpenter

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

More On James Brown - Funeral Arrangements Set

James Joseph Brown, Jr
1933-2006

Great Bio from PBS

Information from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

NPR Interviews Bootsy Collins

NPR Interviews Maceo Parker

Funeral Arrangements Set and More

James Brown- Boston 1968

By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff December 26, 2006

James Brown will be mourned by millions around the world this week as one of the great musical innovators of the 20th century. But in Boston, he will be remembered by many as the man who helped prevent the city from burning down the night after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

On April 4, 1968, the day before Brown was scheduled to play a concert at the Boston Garden, King was shot to death in Memphis. In Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, rioters set fire to white-owned businesses.

In Boston, Mayor Kevin White, then just 38 years old and four months into his first term, gathered his aides at City Hall and prepared for the worst.
"It was incredibly tense," said John Henning, the longtime television broadcaster who, in 1968, was in the fifth year of his career.

According to a Boston Globe account that weekend: "By noon Friday it appeared that Boston's black community of 80,000 was poised for a violent upheaval. Roving bands in Roxbury, North Dorchester , and the South End inflicted injuries on a dozen persons, set fire to one store , and looted seven others."

Fearful of more violence, the managers at the Garden decided to cancel Brown's concert, and White was faced with a dilemma, according to an account in the book " Common Ground, " by J. Anthony Lukas . If Brown didn't go on, there wouldn't be enough time to get the word out and thousands of angry black teenage fans would be left at the Garden with nothing to do.
Only this time, "it'll be in the heart of downtown," Lukas quoted Councilor Tom Atkins as saying.
In a telephone interview yesterday, US Representative Barney Frank, who was White's aide in the 1960s, said city officials believed Boston could potentially have a citywide riot among blacks and whites.

"You get a bunch of 17-year-olds together you never know what's going to happen," said Frank, a Democrat from Newton.

White made a decision. He would reinstate the concert, but would try to suppress attendance, get a television station to carry it live, and then appeal to youths to stay home and watch it.

But there was a catch. That Friday, Brown taped a television show in New York and was under contract not to appear on TV before it aired. If the concert at the Garden were broadcast live, it would cost him a bundle.

According to Lukas, who reconstructed events from interviews with the participants: Atkins met Brown at the airport, and explained the situation as the pair rode toward downtown in a limousine. "No way," Brown shouted. "They'll sue me in New York."
"James, James," pleaded Atkins. "We'll work this out! But right now you have an opportunity to help save this city."

Finally Brown relented -- at a cost. He demanded $60,000 to cover his expenses. White, now out of options, agreed, Lukas wrote.
Only 2,000 people showed up for the concert -- the Garden held 14,000. When White got on stage, the crowd was subdued.

White, according to a Globe report on the concert, urged the audience at home and in the Garden "to make Rev. Dr. King's dream a reality in Boston. . . . No matter what any other community might do -- we in Boston will honor Dr. King in peace."
"Brown sang and danced, and as usual thrilled his audience. But he also talked to them and for this is being credited with helping to avert potential disaster," according to the Globe.

The concert aired live on Channel 2 and was then immediately rebroadcast, Frank recalled yesterday. Across Boston, people stayed home and watched.
"I remember going through the South End and every window seemed to be watching James Brown," said Peter Wolf , the lead singer of the J. Geils Band.
Brown brought calm to a simmering city.

"It really prevented the city from blowing up," said Henning.
Said Frank: "You never know what might have happened if they all came down."
Globe correspondent Steve Morse contributed to this story. Douglas Belkin can be reached at dbelkin@globe.com

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Funeral Arrangements Have Been Set

NEW YORK -- James Brown's music career comes full circle Thursday when his body is brought to rest on the stage of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, where he made his explosive debut, and the world changed to his beat.

The public will be permitted to visit the Apollo to have one more look at a man who steered modern music toward the rhythm-and-blues, funk, hip-hop, disco and rap beats popular, said the Rev. Al Sharpton on Tuesday. The reverend has been a close friend of Brown for decades.

"It would almost be unthinkable for a man who lived such a sensational life to go away quietly," Sharpton said in an interview from Georgia, where he was making funeral arrangements with Brown's children.

Sharpton said he and the children viewed Brown's body Tuesday.

"I looked at his body. I was walking in half disbelief and sadness but proud," he said. "I couldn't even begin to describe it, to walk around his house and he not be there."

Sharpton said the public Apollo viewing will be followed by a private ceremony Friday in Brown's hometown, Augusta, Ga., and another public ceremony, officiated by Sharpton, a day later at the James Brown Arena there.

"His greatest thrill was always the lines around the Apollo Theater," Sharpton said of the 125th Street landmark. "I felt that James Brown in all the years we talked would have wanted one last opportunity to let the people say goodbye to him and he to the people."

Brown, known as the Godfather of Soul, died of congestive heart failure on Christmas morning in Atlanta at age 73. He had been scheduled to perform on New Year's Eve in Manhattan at B.B. King's blues club.

Sharpton said he and Brown's children talked Tuesday about the moment after the Rev. Martin Luther King's assassination when Brown stepped to a microphone and told gathering crowds of angry people to go home.

"And they went home," Sharpton said. "For them to riot for a man who lived a life of peace would send the wrong message. He always said he was surprised and humbled that he had that influence."

Sharpton said Brown was "always very sensitive as to how people could be remembered."

The Apollo began recruiting and showcasing talent in 1934. Early acts included "Pigmeat" Markham and Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Before long, Lena Horne, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin and Brown were making their debuts. Audiences cheered the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Michael Jackson, Fats Waller, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr. and Nina Simone. Comedians such as Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor performed, too.

Sharpton said he had been like a son to Brown since they met in 1973, introduced by Brown's son, Teddy, shortly before the teenager died in a car crash.

He said the son had wanted to encourage his father's support for Sharpton's youth organization, leading Brown to begin a lifelong commitment to Sharpton's civil rights projects.

"I became the son he lost," Sharpton said.

Sharpton said Brown always knew his place in history.

"He used to tell me, `There are two American originals, Elvis and me,"' Sharpton said. "'Elvis is gone, and I've got to carry on."'

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Amy Goodman's Democracy Now Program covers James Brown. Watch/Listen Here.

Monday, December 25, 2006

James Brown Dead at 73

James Joseph Brown, Jr
1933-2006

THANK YOU JAMES BROWN!!!!!!!

James Brown- The Godfather of Soul- Truly one of the most influential figures in American music of the last Century.

One of the Founding Fathers of Soul Music, along with Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, although Sam Cooke & Ray are more directly credited with the "Father" title. James Brown branched off and took American music in another direction, giving us Funk, R&B and to a large extent Hip Hop. His influence on Rock and Roll was also considerable. Without James Brown, American music would sound completely different.

There are few artists still around who are even close in terms of impact. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Dylan, Aretha Franklin, McCartney, and Clapton are all certainly in the vicinity.

With over 50 years of work.... he had a long a fruitful career. His music will live on! But he was much more than just a performer.

I think the Stadium in Soul Heaven is definitely sold out today with its newest legend making his entry. They now have their new President.

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Hear A James Brown Christmas Day Special Here. 6 Hours of James Brown- A Great Mix of rare James Brown material... despite the goofy DJ's. View Playlist Here. This Mix is from a few years ago.

I am cooking my own James Brown Funk Stew as well.

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From The Associated Press

ATLANTA — James Brown, the legendary singer known as the Godfather of Soul, has died, his agent said today. He was 73.

Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia on Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital and died around 1:45 a.m. today, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles A. Bobbit was by his side, he said.

Copsidas said that Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.

Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the last 50 years. A generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.

If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.

"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told the Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."

His hit singles included such classics as "Out of Sight," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Say It Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud," a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.

"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."

He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (best R&B recording) and for "Living In America" in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male). He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.

From the 1950s, when Brown had his first R&B hit, "Please, Please, Please" in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs. He earned the nickname the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.

With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.

And rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.

Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers. "The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

"Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90% of their music is me," he told the Associated Press in 2003.

Born in poverty in Barnwell, S.C., in 1933, he was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an "ill-repute area," as he once called it. There he learned to wheel and deal.

"I wanted to be somebody," Brown said.

By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Ga., for breaking into cars.

While there, he met Bobby Byrd, whose family took Brown into their home. Byrd also took Brown into his group, the Gospel Starlighters. Soon they changed their name to the Famous Flames and their style to hard R&B.

In January 1956, King Records of Cincinnati signed the group, and four months later "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B Top Ten.

UN Security Council Approves Sanctions On Iran

The UN Security Council has approved watered down sanctions against Iran.

This is unlikely to resolve the issue. It is most likely the beginning of a series of events that will eventually lead to a military confrontation....either with the Bush administration or with the next U.S. President.

The dispute also has the potential to start a shooting war between some of the worlds major powers within the next few years.

The UN Security Council will likely have to return to this issue within the next year for tougher sanctions. However, Russia and China (members of the P-5) are unlikely to support tougher sanctions. The only reason that they supported the current sanctions was because the sanctions were watered down.....it's more symbolic than practical.

Republican Bigot Attacks Black Congressman Keith Ellison

Racist Americans Are In A Frenzy About Keith Ellison, A Muslim U.S. Congressman from Minnesota

Republican racists are having a fit because of Ellisons desire to use the Quran in an unofficial private swearing in ceremony (after the official ceremony is done).

Ellison is under attack from well known Conservative racists, such as Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge and others. However, one particular Republican Congressman stands out-- Virgil Goode. Goode wrote a letter to his supporters expressing his displeasure about having a Muslim like Ellison in Congress. Goode also stated in the letter that he supports limiting immigration to prevent the U.S. Congress from being overrun by all of these Muslims.

But there is one big problem with Goodes argument. Keith Ellison is not an immigrant and he's not Middle Eastern, as Goode suggests. This guy is truly showing his ignorance with this one. He also seems to have no clue that most Muslims are actually from Asia, not the Middle East. And as for Ellison?.... Keith Ellison was born in Detroit....an African American.... An American citizen. Not an immigrant.

Secondly, no Congressmember has the right to tell anyone what holy book they can use (and this is Ellisons own private ceremony). No member of Congress should criticize another member based on their religion. Radical Christians desperately want to establish Christianity as the official State religion.... when the Constitution states that government shall not establish ANY religion. However, radical Christians deny that freedom of religion (or not establishing a particular religion) is what the nations founders wanted, despite all of the clear historical evidence that says as much. (As I have mentioned a few times on this blog....Radical Christians like to create their own reality).

Conservatives are always talking about other cultures being intolerant of Christians, but here is one of many examples of their hypocrisy. Deep down, many folks from the Religious right (Republicans), like Congressman Goode and his followers, dislike anyone who isn't Christian and White.

Despite putting his foot in his mouth, Congressman Goode has refused to clarify or retract his statements. According to Goode, he has received mostly positive comments from his supporters.

Below is a copy of the letter Goode sent to his supporters. However, at least one copy was sent to the wrong person. That person took the letter to the Press.

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Dec. 7, 2006
Mr. John Cruickshank
7— S— Dr.
Earlysville, VA 22936

Dear Mr. Cruickshank:

Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and "In God We Trust" are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, "As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office." Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

Virgil H. Goode, Jr.
70 East Court Street
Suite 215
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151

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Lashawn Barbers Corner supports Virgil Goodes Bigotry. See here. I can't say I was surprised.

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A Brief Commentary

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Previous Topics and Blog Entries on This General Subject

Interview with Michelle Goldberg, who discusses (and warns about) the rise of Christian Nationalism.

New Right Wing Religious Video Game Condones Killing non-Christians in the Name of God. Scary and Looney at the same time.

Dr. Robin Meyers Talks About the Dangers of the Right Wing Christian Movement.

More Lunacy From the world of Radical Christianity

Jesus Camp. Read Comments Here and View Video

Bill Moyers Speaks on this Issue in his documentary Capitol Crimes.

The Strange and Infamous Patrick Henry College

Professors Quit Patrick Henry College in Protest

American Theocracy

Very Good Documentary About the History of Jewish Radicals in Israel. View Program Online.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Bush Says He Cares About U.S. Troops Dying in Iraq

But Does He REALLY???

Let's not forget that he joked about the sacrifices of U.S. Troops in Iraq back in 2004, when U.S. soldiers faced some of their fiercest battles and heaviest casualties.

THE SOLDIERS SPEAK!!!

U.S. Soldiers- Veterans of the War in Iraq- speak their minds on the On Point Public Radio program.

Summary

"We're not winning, but we're not losing," is the new formulation embraced now by President Bush on Iraq. But where does that leave the troops, the American men and women in the field, in the streets, in Iraq, where the frontlines are everywhere and the way home is always a season away?

President Bush is saying today that we need more troops overall in the US armed forces, and we'll hear a bit of that. But 25,000 American service men and women have already been killed and wounded in Iraq. Today, we hear from those who serve on the war, the daily battle, and the way ahead.

This hour On Point: we're going to the ground level, talking to the troops on Iraq".

Source Page

Listen to Program Here (direct link)

The Sarah Palin Information Page

A Repository of Sarah Palin Information

The Sarah Palin Resume

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION

Age 44; born Feb. 11, 1964; Sandpoint, Idaho

EDUCATION

Bachelors Degree, University of Idaho: 1987 (journalism)

Aspired to be a sports reporter for ESPN

-Academics were apparently a challenge for Palin. She could not seem to deal with the rigors of a University education. She attended 5 schools in 6 years, hopping from one institution to another.

The Institutions Are (in order):

-The University of Hawaii

-Hawaii Pacific University

-North Idaho College

-University of Idaho

-Matanuska-Susitna College- Alaska

-Then returned to the University of Idaho

Source- the LA Times

EXPERIENCE

Beauty Queen/Model. Miss Wasilla, 1984

TV Sportscaster: 1987-1989 see here

City Council; Wasilla, Alaska: 1992-1996

Mayor; Wasilla, Alaska (population: approx 6,000 at the time): 1996-2002
-- Although Palin hired an administrator to handle day to day operations

Chair, Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: 2003-2004

Governor, State of Alaska: Dec 2006-Present (one full year as Governor at the time of VP selection)

FAMILY

Husband, Todd; five children

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Blog Links

John McCain/Sarah Palin Get KO'd on MSNBC (Keith Olbermanns Special Comment)

Keith Olbermann Special Comment on Palin's Dirty Politics, and her connections to an Anti-American group.

L.A. Times endorses Obama - See the reasons why

Obama Effigy Hung from a Tree in Ohio...as part of Halloween display.

More sickness from another Rally - Man Holds up racist Obama Monkey effigy at McCain/Palin Rally

More ignorance from a McCain/Palin Rally.

See the Hostility, Ignorance, and Xenophobia at a Palin Rally in Strongsville Ohio.

Palin Supporters Now Calling For The Death of Obama

Troopergate Investigation Complete - Concludes Palin Broke the Law and Abused the Powers of Her Office

7 Witnesses Have Now Agreed To Talk About Troopergate.

Did Sarah Palin Lie About Darfur?

A Great Commentary By one of our bloggers, entitled "Surviving Is Not Winning" (regarding Palin's Debate performance).

Review of the VP Debate

One Brave Witness in Troopergate Scandal Agrees to Talk

Preview of the Palin-Biden VP Debate - My analysis Turned Out to Be Pretty Close

More from the Katie Couric Interview- Plain Unable to Name One Newspaper She Reads

Palin Image Slipping Now That She Has Been Vetted

Saturday Night Live Takes On Palin Again

Palin Crashes and Burns Again in an interview with Katie Couric- Palin Caught Unprepared for a question about McCain advisor who turned out to be a major Lobbyist for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...in fact, he was taking their money while working for the McCain campaign- A huge conflict of interest. She was also caught off guard by questions about McCain's background as a supporter of less oversight of Banking system. He has been a staunch supporter for less regulation, not more.

Keith Olbermann Tallies Up The Palin Lies (there have been many more lies since our earlier list)

Palin Gets Special Treatment for VP Debate with Biden

Obama camp finally responds to the Lie Campaign of McCain/Palin designed to fool voters

NPR helps Knock Down Palin's Bridge to Nowhere Claim

Palin caught unaware of The Bush Doctrine during interview with Charlie Gibson - A major theme of the Bush Administrations foreign policy. The Bush doctrine = mainly the idea of preemtive war...that the U.S. can use its military to attack any Country before that Country or its actors can attack the U.S. It also spelled out the idea that nations were either with the U.S. or against it. This was an illogical (now largely failed) policy that was thrown together as a response to September 11th... and it helped the U.S. with establishing the excuse to go into Afghanistan and laid the groundwork for the invasion of Iraq a year later.

DNC Sets up a McCain Lie Page

Palin Connected to Right Wing anti-American Fringe Group

Palin Recently Praised Obama’s Energy Plan

Palin Almost Recalled and Removed as Wasilla’s Mayor

Palin Made Rape Victims Pay For Investigations

Palin - Is She A Racist?

According to Karl Rove, Palin Isn’t Qualified to be Vice President

Palin’s Religion is outside of the mainstream - Should a Fundamentalist Have the Power to wage war?

AIP official mentioned Sarah Palin as a former member on video at Secessionist event last year

If Sarah Palin Where Black....

Palin The Sports Reporter - Ready to be President?

Republicans Belittle Community Organizers

The Lies Told By Sarah Palin
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Outside Links

More on Palin and Rape Kits

Walt Monegan, the former Alaska Public Safety Chief, Talks About Why He Was Fired By Palin

Sarah Palin's Not So Hidden Extremism

Palin caught lying already.... Did she really lead the effort to Kill The Bridge to Nowhere?

Palin's own former colleagues don't believe she is qualified
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Troopergate

Palin Not Cooperating with Troopergate Investigation

Palin Warned By Judge to Stop Abuse of Mike Wooten and his Children

ABC Reports on Troopergate

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Click Here To See An Updated Rolling List of Palin Posts and Articles

(Label Search)

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Useful Palin Posts

The Lies Told By Sarah Palin

Post Link

The lies just kept coming during the Republican Convention....

Below are some of the lies told by Sarah Palin

Sidenote: Palin didn't write the speech....it was prepared for her by Republican handlers.

Lie/Distortion #1: She claimed to be an advocate for Special needs children and presented the McCain/Palin Ticket as Shepards for Childrens health.

Fact: John McCain voted against expanding Schip to millions of American children. Remember the 12 year old boy who Republicans attacked last year? Here's a link to refresh your memory.

Republicans don't have much of a track record supporting the needs of children or the healthcare of Americans.

Lie/Distortion #2: She compared herself to Harry S. Truman (as a way of saying that he was from a small town too....and as a way to deal with the experience question).

Fact: Yes, Truman was from a small town in my home State. But before being nominated for Vice President, Truman had years of experience as an Army officer and Veteran of World War I, was a Judge, and was a U.S. Senator for a decade.

This woman can't be serious.

Lie/Distortion #3: Claimed extensive experience to be VP based on her time as Mayor of Wasilla Alaska, and her one full year as Governor. She claimed in the speech that she would explain what her daily duties were as Mayor... but she never got around to explaining.

Fact: The town of Wasilla had a population of about 6 or 7 thousand when she was Mayor. This is hardly proper preparation to run a Country of 300 million and to deal with a $3 Trillion annual budget....the biggest budget in the World. Pat Buchanan (who Palin once supported) and other respected commentators, and former officials agree....she's not ready. Even Karl Rove agrees; Palin does not meet the qualifications for Vice President.

Lie/Distortion #4: She stated that she has a track record of governing with integrity and goodwill.

Not quite, Mrs. Britney Spears of politics.

Fact: She is currently under investigation in Alaska for ethics violations...(also known as Troopergate) for the wrongful firing of her Public Safety director. Palin wanted the Public Safety director to illegally fire a State Trooper, Mike Wooten, who happened to be Palin's brother in law. Wooten was involved (and still is) in an ugly divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.

As if that's not bad enough, before becoming Governor, Palin was involved in the firings of several Wasilla City officials... who she did not agree with politically. These city officials were not fired because they were not doing their jobs...they were fired for petty political reasons. Sarah Palin was also nearly recalled as Mayor of Wasilla.

Lie/Distortion #5: She is a reformer...and she killed the Bridge to Nowhere.

The "Reformer" title is a stretch...and the Bridge to Nowhere story is a lie.

Fact: In Alaska, Palin took full advantage of wasteful earmarks (when she was on the receiving end of the money). She also initially supported the Bridge to Nowhere...and was a big supporter of her mentor Ted Stevens... who was indicted recently on corruption charges. Palin was in cahoots with the same corporate donors who sent money to Stevens. See more on the Bridge To Nowhere from the Huffpost.

Lie/Distortion #6: Claimed that her efforts to develop Alaska's oil industry would lead the nation to energy independence.

Fact: We can't get that much oil out of Alaska...not enough to free us from foreign oil dependence. And even if Alaska had half the oil that would be needed for energy independence... it would take at least a decade before we would see any benefit...and even then, it wouldn't be a significant savings for Americans. The Republicans keep framing the debate...and making voters believe that more drilling today will lead to lower prices at the pump next week. That's not going to happen.

The best way to achieve energy self sufficiency is to use a broad mix of sources (including some additional drilling)... but the main focus should be to move from oil as a mainstay of our energy policy. That's old thinking. Breaking dependence on outside oil will eventually require an energy policy built around new forms of energy....alternative energy... wind, solar, hydrogen vehicles, new battery technology, ethanol, natural gas, nuclear, and limited clean coal resources.

Palin is looking out for Alaska when she is talking about boosting the oil industry there...she's not looking out for the U.S.

Lie/Distortion #7: Obama never wrote or sponsored one piece of reform legislation.

Well....she was partly right... he didn't write or co-sponsor just one piece of legislation on reform... he helped write/ or co-sponsored at least 3. All significant.

This woman is going to be worse than Cheney.... we will have fond memories of Dick Cheney by the time Palin settles in as VP.

Fact: Obama co-sponsored ethics reform legislation as a Senator in the State of Illinois. After entering the U.S. Senate... Obama co-sponsored a Bill curbing gifts and gratuities for members of Congress... He also supported laws that require more transparancy (supported a Federal Website for the public) so that voters can see how Congress is spending their tax money. There have also been other ethics Bills supported or sponsored by Obama.

Highlights:

Honest Leadership & Open Government Act of 2006

Legislative Transparency & Accountability Act of 2007

The Coburn-Obama Bill (Federal Funding Accountability & Transparency Act of 2006)

Obama's Work in Illinois Senate

Obama's work with Russ Feingold

See Obama's Page on Ethics and Lobbying reform.

Obama has been applauded for his work on ethics and lobbying reform.

Lie/Distortion #8: Obama is against producing energy.

Fact: No response really needed here. But Obama has been the leading candidate (since early in the Campaign), along with John Edwards, for reforming U.S. energy policy and breaking U.S. dependence on foreign oil. McCain didn't become the Alternative Energy guy until he stole Obama's message about 3 months ago. And he only became the "change" candidate about a month ago.

Lie/Distortion #9: McCain will show compassion to the powerless.

Fact: McCain's record simply does not match the infomercial that the Britney Spears of politics was trying to promote.

From SCHIP (healthcare for poor/needy children) to his lack of support for a better GI Bill for Veterans... and his 19 votes against raising the minimum wage; (and so many other issues) McCain's record just doesn't match the rhetoric.

Lie/Distortion #10: She stated she received more votes as Mayor than Joe Biden received during his latest run for President.

Fact: She wasn't even remotely close to the truth on this. As a matter of fact, she wasn't close to the truth on hardly any of her major claims.

The plane she sold on Ebay?

ANOTHER LIE

The above list represents lies that I caught myself... Fact Check may have more. See here.

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Sarah Palin Would Make A Great Vice President

...of her local PTA

Post Link

Sarah Palin as Miss Wasilla

Sarah Palin's Secessionist Background

Sarah Palin - A former Secessionist. Learn About Her Secessionist Connections. (Let's see how long it takes the Mainstream media to really look into this). hat tip to the Jed Report.

Clearly Unqualified

This woman is not qualified to be dogcatcher. The idea that we can have the Paris Hilton of politics half a heartbeat away from the Presidency should scare the Hell out of anybody with a brain….regardless of Party affiliation. The idea that she could become VP is just as troubling. Yes I said half a heartbeat…. Not the cliché of “one heartbeat away“. We are dealing with a man who is half dead already. Let’s not beat around the Bush. The man is the cousin of Frankenstein.

"Oh Angry Independent, you are just being a sexist pig about this". The Hell I am. The Presidency and Vice Presidency are serious business…. This is not Wasilla Alaska…a town of six, seven, or eight thousand with a budget of a few million dollars. Being a beauty pageant girl, the Mayor and City Council member for a very small town, Being the Governor of Alaska - one of the smallest States by population- for only one full year does not make you ready for the second highest office in the land. It doesn’t come close to making you ready.

This is not about gender for me. I have no problem at all with a female Vice Presidential candidate or even a female Presidential candidate. I have no problem with that whatsoever. In fact, I would like to see one elected in the near future, it has been long enough. But don’t send me the Paris Hilton of politics. Give me a woman who is actually qualified for the job. I guess Kay Bailey Hutchison was unavailable. Was Elizabeth Dole unavailable as well? What about Olympia Snowe (A damn political giant….regardless of what you think about her Party or her politics)? But Olympia Snowe is not Conservative enough. There are at least 2 or 3 other powerful Republican women I could name…. But the 3 I mentioned pretty much make my point. These are Margaret Thatcheresque Stateswomen who, without any doubt, could handle the job of Vice President or President. But McCain is off his rocker. He couldn’t do any better than give us a beauty pageant contestant?

More of the Same Sinister Republican Politics

This was a sinister choice designed for 2 purposes: #1. To exploit the weaknesses within the Democratic Party and to steal some of the female Hillary Clinton supporters who are still upset about the Primary and who are reluctant to vote for a Black candidate…and simply needed an excuse to jump to the other side (even if it means voting against their own interests). And #2. To inject some energy into his Conservative political base. It has been reported that the McCain campaign received $10 million or more in the 2 days that followed the Palin announcement, despite the fact that she isn’t even close to being qualified. Her Conservative credentials trump everything else.

So yes… it was a sinister choice….and tactically, it was brilliant. I will admit that. It was clearly a ploy to fool voters. And unfortunately, it may work for McCain. Why? Because American voters are woefully stupid when it comes to politics, current events, world affairs, history, understanding why at least some qualifications are important for President and Vice President, knowledge of candidates and the issues, etc. Most voters couldn’t tell you who their local members of Congress are. So yes, it appears as though voters are taking the bait on Sarah Palin. And McCain understood this woeful ignorance among the American electorate…and took advantage of it, like only Rovian Politics could.

The Hillary supporters have been rejoicing about the Palin choice…. Giving credence to the McCain approach….showing why and how it just might work…and why it may have been a brilliant move. Only time will tell for sure. But on the same token I think that the rejoicing of the disgruntled Hillary supporters says a lot more about them than it does about McCain’s choice… a choice that some are calling “inspired”… inspired my ass…. Inspired by Karl Rove tactics… that’s about all the inspiration I see behind this choice. This was a calculated, sinister move…. Period! What does this say about the disgruntled Hillary supporters who are now celebrating the Palin pick and will vote for McCain? It shows one of two things (or both). #1. That these women were primarily concerned about gender all along, and were not really Progressive Democrats concerned about their greater interests and the best interests of the Country. They are willing to vote against their own best interests to put a women into the Presidency or Vice Presidency. Or #2. These women (especially White Female Hillary supporters) were so full of racial prejudice that they were looking for an excuse not to vote for a Black candidate. Some probably were not going to vote for Barack Obama anyway. It also shows that many of these women were more Conservative than some may have believed…which might explain Hillary’s Conservative campaign tactics in the Primary, and her support among so many White Moderates and Independents in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Many of the Hillary Clinton/Palin supporters are women who are new to politics and have never really followed events closely before. This may be all new to many of them. These women were attracted to the current political cycle when Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy. So some of this erratic behavior on the part of Hillary supporters should not be all that surprising. It's troubling....but it shouldn't necessarily be surprising. Their main concern all along (this is what I noticed) seemed to be gender...not policy. Gender was Hillary Clinton's appeal to many of these women... not much else. That is why they saw any attack on Clinton's positions as an attack on her womanhood....because for them, it was all about getting a woman elected. So far, women's views of Palin seem mixed.
Some women seem to like her, while others are not being fooled by the Republican tricks.

Sarah Palin as Miss Wasilla

And it turns out that McCain didn’t even know this woman. How do you offer the #2 spot to a person that you don’t even know? It appears that this may have been more of a spur of the moment move. Definitely not a good thing when you are talking about the Vice Presidency. Despite this, Republicans seem to be overjoyed by McCain's choice- not surprising. They are already spinning it to their advantage, and the mainstream media (as usual) allows the Republicans to frame the discussion on their terms. This is a person who essentially becomes President the moment John McCain is incapacitated (the swearing in nonsense is for the cameras…to promote confidence in the Nation if the unthinkable happens). The VP has authority over nuclear forces (they have their own football unit that travels everywhere with them), they can control the armed forces…if something catastrophic were to happen and the President can’t be reached, and he has his own National Security Advisor, military attaché, and on and on. This is not the PTA. But McCain didn’t think this was important. This is a person who he only talked to briefly once or twice…and offered the job after meeting her once. Good Lord!!! What does this say about the man’s judgment in general terms? Is this the kind of man who should be in charge during a crisis with Russia, China, Israel, Iran, or Pakistan or any other significant geo-political crisis? I know I don’t want McCain chairing these crisis meetings in the situation room. I definitely don’t want McCain in charge of the nations armed forces, especially the nuclear arsenal.

I have not had time to post about Palin over the last few days because I have been swamped…. But another reason is that I keep finding out more and more interesting things about this woman that are blowing my mind. I feel like a bloodhound … I keep digging things up and I’m not even looking hard. Details keep emerging about this woman faster than I can adjust and wrap my brain around them. And she was vetted? Vetted by who? She certainly wasn’t fully vetted by the McCain camp. But the blogosphere will certainly have a field day doing what the McCain camp was too lazy to do. Now even the usually lazy mainstream media is finding that Palin is a Gold mine. Hopefully there are a few real investigative journalists who won’t let McCain and Palin off the hook.

This choice shows that McCain is a gambler….and is subject to making rash decisions. Is this the kind of person who should be in the White House? I mean, the Bush administration is full of evil bastards…. Perhaps a few crazy evil bastards… but even they have a certain level headedness, despite being arguably the most reckless Administration in American history. McCain seems to lack this important trait.

If McCain was really inspired to choose a woman…. If McCain genuinely wanted to put a woman on the ticket and make history, there were qualified women available. This was not about making history… this was about the Republicans doing what they always do… doing whatever it takes to win, no matter how dirty the tactics. They are a cutthroat bunch… and quite frankly, the Democrats could learn a thing or two about their aggressiveness and “go for the throat” approach to politics. I have stated several times that Democrats should stop fooling around and get just as serious about winning as the Republicans are. With the Palin decision, the McCain camp has been able to erase any Convention "bounce" that Obama could have gotten. It is amazing that in a year that Democrats should be leading by double digits, we are looking at a horse Race. And the election will ultimately come down to Obama being a Black man and whether White America will be comfortable with that or not. We could be looking at the Bradley Effect on steroids.

Women, including the disgruntled Hillary supporters, should be insulted by McCain’s ploy, which was nothing more than an effort to fool them. It shows that McCain thinks that women are stupid. It’s the same thing that George H.W. Bush did with his nomination of Clarence Thomas. He thought Blacks would appreciate the choice…and he assumed that there was some sort of comparison between Thomas and Marshall. Palin is the same Trojan Horse candidate. McCain has revealed what he really thinks of women with this pick. He assumes (and it may be partially true among some segments of the electorate) that women are not doing their homework, that they are not knowledgeable enough about politics to understand what is really going on…and that they are stupid enough to vote against their own best interests…choosing gender over policy. I hope this doesn’t describe most Hillary supporters. But then again they did tend to represent the less educated women. They also made up a good portion of the 15-20% of people in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and elsewhere who stated that Race was a factor in their decision to vote for Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. But again, McCain and his people understood this very well…so tactically, it may have been a smart move. But morally it was sinister…one of the most sinister political moves that I can recall.

What kind of responsible national leader (who claims to care about the Country) puts such an unqualified person in the #2 spot, especially considering the fact that he could kick the bucket from natural causes at any moment? The VP spot is supposed to inspire confidence among Americans of all political stripes- confidence that there is a proper Shepard in place for the nation if/when they are needed. The Palin choice doesn’t even come close.

Palin recently disrespected the office of Vice President… not only that, but she recently stated, in pure Britney Spears/Paris Hilton style, that she didn’t even know what the Vice President does on a daily basis.

In an interview just a month ago, she said that the VP job didn’t seem “productive.”
From The Huffpost and Politico.

Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain's ticket mate.

Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?

Amazing! You can’t make this stuff up.

I guess she doesn’t understand the responsibility of being ready to launch a counter-attack against foreign enemies if the President is taken out, as I mentioned above. I guess she doesn’t understand the role of the VP as a chief ambassador for the U.S. around the World. I guess she doesn’t understand that the VP has to have the same situational awareness that the President does….which requires the VP to deal with a grueling schedule…to read/and listen to intelligence reports, and maintain his or her own intelligence staff (the VP gets his own daily briefing- just like the President, has his own national security advisor, his own travel staff, has his own military liaisons, etc…almost like a shadow government, so that a possible transition would be seamless). I guess she doesn’t understand the VP’s responsibility as an advisor to the President, Or as the leader in the White House's Situation Room or Emergency Ops Center (if an incident occurs when the President is out of Town). I guess she doesn't understand the VP's official role as the President of the Senate… albeit much of it is ceremonial… on the same token, much of the work with Congress is not merely ceremonial in nature. The VP has been known to push the Presidents agenda through Congress. The VP also sells the Presidents agenda to the American people… with constant appearances on the major political programs (that’s not done so that they can look pretty on TV). In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq… who did we see more than anyone else? Dick Cheney (right or wrong…that will be debated until the end of time… the point here is… that was his role). And I guess meeting with World leaders is a joke to Palin as well. I doubt that she could even name 10 world leaders. Scary!!!! George W. couldn’t name half that number of World leaders when he ran… but stupid American voters put him in office anyway… with the help of shenanigans in Florida. This woman doesn’t seem to have an understanding of any of this.

Here is even more evidence that Sarah Palin is not Presidential or Vice Presidential material. Palin is not even in the same galaxy as a qualified VP candidate.

Had enough yet? If not, there’s more….

Troopergate

Palin is currently the subject of an ethics investigation for abuse of power stemming from the firing of her Public Safety director, Walt Monegan. Monegan apparently didn't agree with Palin's effort to get her brother-in-law fired from his job as a State Trooper. The Trooper is involved in a bitter divorce from Palin's sister. Since Monegan didn't want to go along with the illegal efforts to fire the Trooper, he himself was fired by Palin.

Palin has now had to hire attorney's to defend herself. This is yet another debacle for the Republicans. But it seems that they are so used to political scandal....that they did not see this as a big deal. Corruption seems to be part of the Republican Party's culture. Now I know what the pundits meant when they said that Palin is a "good fit" for John McCain and the Republican Party.

Read the Story of Trooper Mike Wooten, and Why Walt Monegan was Fired.

(Do we really want a woman like this in charge of our government?)

Palin Chooses Oil Industry over the Environment

Palin has also aligned herself with the oil industry in Alaska, fighting for Big oil interests over the States environmental interests. In fact, she even has more extreme right wing views about climate change and the environment than the Bush Administration does… she is in the hip pocket of the Alaskan oil industry. She even threatened to sue the Bush Administration over its decision to list the Polar Bear as threatened, because the decision might harm the oil industry. (Now if the Bush Administration lists the Polar Bear as endangered… then to me, it shows the seriousness of the climate situation and the threat to the Polar Bear’s habitat…which is Sea Ice).

From the Anchorage Daily News:

The State of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, Gov. Sarah Palin said.

She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts.

Palin argued there is not enough evidence to support a listing. Polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation, she said.

Climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice, the main habitat of polar bears, during summers are unreliable, Palin said.

The announcement drew a strong response from the primary author of the listing petition.

"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Alaska deserves better."
Siegel said it was unconscionable for Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to sea ice, the polar bear's habitat.

"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."

As marine mammals, polar bears are regulated by the federal government, not the state. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne last week made the listing decision and said it was based on three findings.

"First, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival. Second, the polar bear's sea-ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades. Third, computer models suggest sea ice is likely to further recede in the future," he said.

Summer sea ice last year shrank to a record low, about 1.65 million square miles, nearly 40 percent less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000.

Palin’s Connections To Other Corruption Scandals

There are also questions about Palin’s connections to the VECO Corporation, the same company at the center of the Ted Stevens corruption case. She has apparently been in bed with these folks for a number of years. Reformer? I don’t think so. She’s playing the game of wagging her finger at the oil industry with one hand, and taking their money with the other.

The Iraq Study Group Already Losing Steam

Bush appears to be rejecting the last hope that he had for saving his Presidency (if there is anything left to save). The Iraq Study Group report seems to be quickly losing support.

It looks like the Bush Administration is back to STAY THE COURSE.

Will a Congress run by Democrats be able to do anything with the stubborn Bush Administration?

Bush Seeks Increase In Size of Military

Bush recently called for an increase in the size of the military, particularly for ground forces.

He may have finally recognized complaints from military leaders who argued that the military was stretched too thin. The Bush administration finally had to come to terms with the fact that the U.S. military was too small to carry out an expansionist pro-war foreign policy. Any foreign policy mission (big or small) has to have a military large enough and effective enough to meet that mission.

The problem with this late change of position by the Bush administration is that it comes too late. But better late than never. It will take years for the Army and Marines to add 100,000 to 200,000 or more troops. The U.S. military can only add about 10,000 troops (or less) per year, according to its own estimates.

Meanwhile, Bush & Co. wants more troops for Iraq, hoping that more soldiers will save their failed (and already doomed) adventure there. However the nations top Generals are discouraging that idea.....and they are probably right for doing so. More troops at this point would just provide insurgents, eager for American blood, with more targets to attack. Plus, this comes at a time when the U.S. is trying to get the Iraqi's to become less dependent on U.S. help, so that they can fight on their own. If the U.S. is viewed as coming to the rescue everytime things get tough, then it will be harder to get Iraqis to take care of their own security. Iraqis will have no incentive for taking over.

It would have been better if there were more troops at the beginning of the war (although I didn't support the war in the first place....). But if you are going to fight it, fight it correctly from the start. The Generals were calling for a more robust force (about 400,000 to 500,000 troops) before the war, but their requests were turned down by Bush & Co. Instead, the White House wanted a much lighter force (which ended up being approximately 100,000 at the start of the invasion). The White House thought the war would last only a couple of months and U.S. troops would be gone. So again, this call for an increase in soldiers for Iraq is too little too late.

Many observers, myself included, thought that the idea of going in at all, and especially going in with such a small force, was a looney idea and that it would never work. I predicted that there would be a heavy insurgency.... Saddam had prepared Iraqi paramilitary for this for years, because he always thought that the U.S. would invade. Add Al Qaeda and other militant groups in the mix, plus a disinfranchised and marginalized Sunni minority, and you have all the ingredients for a Quagmire. The U.S. can't leave, and it can't stay. This is one of the biggest political and military blunders in U.S. history.

An Excellent Commentary on this issue.

Report from NPR

8 Marines Charged in Haditha Iraq Massacre

4 of the 8 Marines Are Being Charged with Murder.

Listen to audio report from NPR.

Report from The Guardian.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

The Return Of The Minstrels, Part 2

When Will African Americans Reject The Poison Coming From Hip Hop?

Snoop Dogg Walking Women On Dog Leashes

Rapper Snoop Dogg Walking Black Women on Dog Leashes (like animals) on National Television
And judging by the lack of protest coming from Black women, it could easily be assumed that they were o.k. with this horrific scene. This is one of the big problems in the "Black Community"- especially the youth. They will mobilize and protest for the release of a child molester (R. Kelly), but they won't protest against the Hip Hop that is poisoning their communities, or against genocide in Darfur. Where is the Black Leadership? Where is the shame? Where is the Justice? And where is the outrage?

I'm surprised that they stuck together long enough for the recent protest against the NYPD over the shooting of Sean Bell. (although I would love to see that same energy also aimed at protesting against the Black on Black brutality that is going on in urban communities across America).

What a wonderful sight for Black youth to see. *shaking my head* These images & the negative messages that go with them, are doing more damage to the "Black community" than anyone has really been able to fully calculate. And we wonder why our women are internalizing these images? This nonsense is basically celebrated within the so-called "Black Community".

Snoop Dog was recently arrested (again) for drug charges, among other things. The latest arrest took place right after he was glorified on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Another clown who calls himself "The Game" was recently arrested for impersonating a Police officer.

Every other day one of these clowns does something stupid. In the Rap world, stupidity has become the norm. And the sad thing is, there are millions of youth in this country who want to emulate these so-called Black men.

When will this madness stop?

James Buford- President of the St. Louis Urban League, recently wrote a commentary on this issue for the St. Louis American newspaper.

Just Say No to Gangsta Rap

Columnist James H. Buford

African-American music has always been the underlying theme of any civil rights movement. From the old Negro spirituals that were used to help deliver us from slavery to “We Shall Overcome” being the main song of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to James Brown’s “Say it Loud (I’m Black and Proud)” anthem, our music has always motivated us to do better, achieve more and have pride in ourselves.

Strangely enough, the African-American anthem for justice has come to a screeching halt with the proliferation of rap music in our community. My problem is not with the beats, but with the damaging images and messages portrayed in gangsta rap.

Juan Williams’ point about African-American youth being destroyed by hip-hop culture is well taken in his book Enough. On too many of our airwaves, young black men and women are being depicted by their own people as nothing more than two-bit hustlers and prostitutes.

In my opinion, gangsta rappers should be compared to minstrel shows - characters like Amos ‘n Andy, Stepin Fetchit and Mammy - in that they insult our race and show stereotypes as the norm of Black America.

There has been some minor uproar about hip-hop, such as Spelman College denying Nelly a fundraising event on campus due to his dehumanizing portrayal of a woman getting a credit card run through her behind in a video. Essence magazine has also spoken out against the sexist aspects of this music. However, more needs to be done.

A scripture states that “our people perish for a lack of knowledge.” Many people think gangsta rap is harmless entertainment. They may state that most consumers of violent, sexist rap music are young white males. But even in this case it is dangerous, because the music reinforces negative stereotypes about black people. To African-American teens, gangsta rap is dangerous due to the absence of fathers and the inherent need for male role models. Promiscuous sex, violence, drugs and alcohol abuse are often glamorized in hip-hop.

A recent study published by the American Journal of Public Health stated that girls aged 14-18 who watched rap videos were three times more likely to hit a teacher, two and a half times more likely to get arrested and two times more likely to have sexual relations with multiple partners.

When you look at the effects of gangsta rap on crime, the numbers are even more staggering. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that the popularity of gangsta rap has caused an increase in violent crime in urban areas and that interviews with offenders revealed that acts of violence were easier to commit when being stimulated by the lyrics of certain rap songs. Since 1989, one year after pioneer gangsta rap group NWA became popular, juveniles committing murder increased by 50 percent and black-on-black crime has steadily increased.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that gangsta rap is destroying the African-American community. With 70 percent of all black children being born out of wedlock, 40 percent of all African Americans living in poverty and one million black men populating our nation’s prisons, the time has come for the black community to say no to self-destructive behavior. Instead of degrading our self-image with criminal mindsets, we need to remember our rich heritage of civil rights leaders such as Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall and teach these messages to our children.

It is crucial that African-American parents monitor what their kids are listening to. Do you want your kids looking up to a gangsta rapper such as 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg or Lil’ Jon? It is truly time to march to the beat of a different drummer.

James H. Buford is president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

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Part 1 of Return of the Minstrels

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Fewer People Getting Married - An Issue Of Economics

Marriage: What's Love Got To Do With It?

I have seen several reports over the past few months that say that fewer Americans are getting married. In fact, married people are now the minority. The prospects are even worse for Black women, with all the problems with finding "suitable" Black men. Furthermore, Americans who do decide to marry are generally waiting longer. But few of the reports dare to mention the real reason behind the decline.

Fewer marriages are no surprise. It basically comes down to economics. Few news outlets look at the relationship between marriage and money. What is marriage really??? Marriage is basically an arrangement or contract of economic convenience….and it’s been that way for Centuries. This was especially the case up until the 1950’s and 60’s, when fewer women worked (right before the Nuclear Family began to fade). Women were more dependent on men for financial security at that time.

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Today, women are able to (& are encouraged to) make their own money. As a consequence, dating and marriage options for men are getting tougher, especially over the past 10-20 years. Women have generally had more options in terms of being more picky about who they choose. But in the last decade or so, with the cost of living increasing, women are once again seeking financial security. So now we have a situation where women still have options, but when they do settle on a mate, it is usually after a longer and more scrutinizing process. Why? Because women are looking for men who have reached a certain level financially. Women can now afford to be more picky on the question of money, and they are taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Now, what do women primarily look for in a mate? Good careers, & success (financial prowess)- these are the primary benchmarks, despite anything else you hear. It basically comes down to money. Women seek men who can provide “Security”, and for many women, “Security”= financial security. Women judge men & determine who they want to date based on a guys financial worth. Everything else is secondary to this pre-condition. A mans success with women is ultimately tied to his career or how well he is doing financially. Generally, the more money he has, the more successful he will be with dating. The less money he has, the worse off he will be in terms of opportunities with women. A "well-off" man is often the ideal. Look at all of the TV shows that reinforce this norm. Most women will say "financially stable", but this is just code for a very steady & "comfortable" income.

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Women are checking a mans ability to provide a home & steady income for her and the children. The Bread Winner role, has been the role of men since the beginning of time. But in today’s economy it is becoming harder and harder for men to play this role. In fact, I think it’s harder now than ever.
Studies show it time and time again. About half of marriages end in divorce. And the #1 reason for most of these divorces????? You guessed it. MONEY. When men hit hard times....get laid off, fired, etc, usually the next thing to go is the wife and family. That's why so many men go postal when they lose their jobs or source of income. They know that the loss of their job and income will probably lead to the loss of their wives and children (not in all cases of course...but it many cases, this is often the eventual result). So I can understand why these men snap. I don't condone it.... but I understand it. Men today are under enormous social and economic strain to prove that they are "worthy". In decades and Centuries past, if a man owned a little land, if he could farm, if he could hunt and live off of the land, or if he had some sort of manufacturing or industrial job.... that was considered enough. He was considered worthy and viable as a date, boyfriend, husband, etc. Today, this is no longer good enough. So in many ways, we are under more strain than our forefathers, despite the Civil War, WWII, the Depression, Social Injustice (civil rights era), Vietnam, etc.

In the last several years, it has become harder for men to find meaningful employment (emphasis on the word meaningful). This is leading to a situation where 90% of available women are competing for the same 10-20% of available men…. (the men who happen to be the top wage earners in this country). Women are less willing to “settle” for the other 80-90% of men. That’s right, women who don’t get the Attorney or CEO hunk, or the Entertainer type, consider the hardworking guy who earns $25,000 or $30,000 busting his ass at some bull---- (Republican economy) service job, as something that they “settle” for. This is what is leading to fewer marriages. Women are waiting longer and longer…. Hoping to get something more than the $25,000 per year loser. It’s becoming a common situation to find 30 something and 40 something women who are single, waiting to run across a high wage earner (that means at least $50,000-$60,000 per year).

So what is a guy to do? On one hand there is this economy where it is harder to get a good paying job, with the job security and benefits that people need. In fact, employers are decreasing the amount of benefits that they offer and are looking at more ways to cut their payrolls (I work for one of these dreadful companies). Yet on the other hand, there is this Oprah, Bachelor & Bachelorette TV show, Who Wants To Marry a Millionaire female culture that tells women that they should marry into wealth. In fact, women are taught this from the time that they are old enough to play with dolls…. It comes from their mothers, from society in general, where it is reinforced by what they see on Television. Now i'm not blaming women.... I say go for it. I'm just pointing out that for men, it is becoming harder to meet these requirements.

Sure, jobs are plentiful, but as I have suggested, that’s misleading. Jobs are not good enough anymore…. What men need today are careers, not jobs. Jobs are plentiful, but careers are harder to obtain. There is a big difference between “jobs” and “careers”. If you’re lucky you can find a job that pays $25,000-$30,000 per year ($13-$15 per hour) with decent benefits. If you’re lucky. But this amount of income is not enough to provide for a family. Soon, there will be no meaningful benefits provided at all, as companies cut back. A man is hard pressed to find a woman, marry and raise a family on that kind of income. It’s hard to even date and meet someone when you are in that Socio-economic class.

Careers on the other hand, pay considerably more and usually require AT LEAST a Bachelors Degree and more often require a graduate education….or some special skill learned through Trade school. But competition for “career” employment is becoming more fierce. There are more people coming out of college and more people being laid-off & re-entering the job market than there are good jobs or careers opening up to absorb them. This leaves more good workers in the workforce each year and thus increases competion. Bush keeps touting his employment figures, but they don’t tell the American people what kind of jobs are counted in those figures. Seasonal work, Part-time work, Temp Agency work, certain internships, and low paying service jobs are all included in those figures. In fact, low wage jobs and Temporary Agency jobs make up the majority of the monthly jobs figures that are put out by the Department of Labor. With good paying manufacturing jobs being outsourced overseas or eliminated due to global competition, and with slow growth in other industries in this country, good paying work is harder to come by.

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In other words, the pool of “viable” men is limited. “Viable” meaning men with incomes (at least) at or near $50,000 per year. Women have a narrow definition of what “viable” means to them. But it is this economic reality that is creating this social condition. Some call these women Gold Diggers… There is some truth to that. Who can really blame women these days? Hell, if I had the opportunity to marry money, I probably would. Not saying that this is the moral or virtuous thing to do. I would personally want to have a genuine relationship above all else. But economics dictate a lot of these relationships. Women will act based on what will benefit them & their children financially in the long run. Others might say that this is a casualty of modern capitalism, with the fierce global competition that is sucking jobs out of the U.S. Both are probably correct. All of it is related and connected.

But I see this problem continuing to get worse. I don’t see the prospects for College graduates improving….unless they go into a field such as Medicine, or the legal profession, or obtain a rare special skill that will be in demand (I should have gone into Computers....by the time I realized this, it was too late for me to change college majors. But my dumb ass wanted to go into the Social Sciences to save the world....That decision- I am convinced- has led to my single status and financial struggles.).

I am one of those Americans who busts their asses for the lower yearly incomes mentioned above. Let’s just say that women are not exactly knocking down my door for dates, lol. My life experience has proven a lot of this to be true. If I do meet someone and marry, I will be well into my 40’s or 50’s when my financial status has improved (when my stock rises so to speak). I have yet to reach the level of “viability” that is required.

White House Censors Mideast Advisor

The White House is censoring an advisor who is a critic of U.S. policy towards Iran.

Listen to report here.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

U.S. To Send More Naval Forces To Persian Gulf

Move Is Seen As A "Warning" To Iran

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I Guess This is the Bush Administrations version of "Diplomacy"

The U.S. is going back to its old ways.... using its military strength (the only strength that the Superpower has left) to solve disputes. They should know by now that this does not work.

It's interesting that the Iraq Study Group just called for the U.S. to reach out diplomatically to Iran, and within days, the Bush administration rejects that idea and is instead deciding to rely on the military to deal with Iran.

I am convinced that the Bush administration is a lost cause.... perpetually hopeless, and a danger to Peace. Nothing that has happened over the past few months has changed the direction of the White House. Bush and his crew have decided to Stay The Course.... a doomed course, with a dead end.

This Navy buildup will be more than just an Aircraft carrier.... that's a misleading part of the report. What the report leaves out is that the buildup will also include all the the ships that go with that Aircraft carrier- Called a "Battle Group". A Battle Group= roughly 10-15 ships or more depending on the Mission.

However, the number of ships is far less than what would be needed for an actual attack against Iran. That would require at least 4 or 5 Carrier Battle groups. So an attack is probably unlikely anytime soon.

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US to warn Iran with naval buildup in Gulf
19 Dec 2006 03:28:31 GMT
Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is planning a major buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Gulf as a warning to Iran, CBS News reported on Monday.

A senior Defense Department official told Reuters the report was "premature" and appeared to be drawing "conclusions from assumptions." The official did not know of plans for a major change in naval deployment.

Another Defense Department official called the report "speculative" and a Pentagon spokeswomen declined to comment.

Citing unidentified military officers, CBS said the plan called for the deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier to join the one already in the region.

The network said the buildup, which would begin in January, was not aimed at an attack on Iran but to discourage what U.S. officials view as increasingly provocative acts by Tehran.

The report said Iranian naval exercises in the Gulf, its support for Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Iran's nuclear program were causes for concern among U.S. officials.

SOURCE

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This report is right in line with previous reports on Iran.

Previous Blog Entries

Scott Ritter Discusses Possible U.S. Attack Against Iran

Iran Given Deadline

Earlier Report from Seymour Hersh

U.S. Moves Closer to an Attack on Iran

U.S. Seeking Confrontation

Monday, December 18, 2006

Divide and conquer was always U.S. Plan in Iraq

Divide and conquer (derived from the Latin saying Divide et impera) can refer to:

Divide and rule, in politics, sociology and economics, a strategy to gain or maintain power.

African American Political Pundit says: Enter the United States into Iraq, to shock and awe, divide and conquer.

Is it possible? Is blogger Ben Frank’s on to something when he writes about outside forces working this strategy in Iraq today? Ben Franks writes, “Perhaps rogue elements inside some government(s) would like to conquer Iraq for the oil, permanent bases, strategic position, etc.”

Hey Ben, you're right. But there are some other people that saw the writing on the wall. Check out, an article in The New York Times, 25 November 2003, which refers to the plan for Iraq by Leslie Gelb of the Council of Foreign Affairs.

The objective for the USA according to Gelb:

“To put most of its money and troops where they would do the most good quickly - with the Kurds and Shiites. The United States could extricate most of its forces from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad…. American officials could then wait for the troublesome and domineering Sunnis, without oil or oil revenues, to moderate their ambitions or suffer the consequences.”

Now, Colin L. Powell, says the United States is Losing what he described as a “civil war” in Iraq and that he is not persuaded that an increase in U.S. troops there would reverse the situation.

The situation he, Condi, and Rummy and the Bush band of neo conservatives created and supported.

Colin Powell “troop surge”–”The army is broken.”

Video-WMP Video-QT

Divide and Conquer has always been the name of the game

in the United States.

You remember COINTELPRO, to keep Martin Luther King and Malcolm from coming together The Trail of Tears, Japanese American internment, The Black Panthers, and the FBI efforts against The American Indian
Movement (AIM), and hollywood.

Now on an international level (since the creation of Israel) the Unites States continues to do the bidding of Israel.

For those of you that are reading this and saying this is not true, well, get this. Let me remind you that in 1982, Oded Yinon, an official from the Israeli Foreign Affairs office, wrote: “To dissolve Iraq is even more important for us than dissolving Syria. In the short term, it’s Iraqi power that constitutes the greatest threat to Israel. The Iran-Iraq war tore Iraq apart and provoked its downfall. All manner of inter-Arab conflict help us and accelerate our goal of breaking up Iraq into small, diverse pieces.”

Divide and conquer was always U.S. Plan in Iraq, or should I say, it was always the plan of… Israel. Still have doubts? Read:

Israel:US attack on Iraq is coming; Israel and US interests in lock step

Iraq-Israel, Politics, 2/12/2003

The Israeli army chief of staff Gen. Moshe Yaloun expected yesterday evening that the US will launch a military attack against Iraq “within the coming weeks,” as expressed in an interview with the private Israeli TV.

He said “I will be surprised if such an attack will not take place within the next weeks,” refusing to reply a question on the set date for this attack.

He added ” I do not want to talks about dates. This is not important.” He explained that the American attack to be launched by the USA will make fundamental changes in the Middle East. Yaloun continued “the region as a whole is waiting for this attack. It will have the power to make a change in the geo-political structure of the region, describing the effect of the American attack as ‘an earthquake.’” Link

AAPPundit says: Great work Colin L. Powell, now you say the United States is losing. I say you and the Bush Administration knew what you were doing all along. Divide and Conquer. Unfortunately, for America, it may not work in the long term. I’m going to say Thanks for nothin’ Colin,.... John H. of Pros and Cons, but clearly for different reasons. The real unfortunate thing is Black folks voted Democrats back in, and they now control the U.S. House and Senate. Here is the kicker, now some of those gutless old snakes are going to screw other democratic voters, who voted for us to get out of Iraq But guess what, Divide and Conquer has always been the name of the game. Mission accomplished Maybe. Or maybe the U.S. is stretched too thin. In more ways than one.

African American Political Pundit is a regular contributor to Mirror On America

The Real Impact of the Corporate Based Economy on Working People

A tough story about a senior citizen dealing with the cost of prescription drugs (this is happening all over the country).

Here is a short documentary about the struggles of low wage workers. (scroll down when you reach the page). Most of the video involves low wage workers at a major American University. The documentary is entitled “Where There is a Will, There Will Be A Living Wage”.

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An elderly man recently robbed a bank in order to get arrested, because he did not have enough money to take care of himself.

Remember Melvena Cooke? She's the 79 year old woman who tried to rob a bank in Chicago a few months ago. Why? Because she could not pay her rent.

And remember the Chicago fire a few months ago, where 6 children from one family perished? The fire was caused by candles which were being used because there had been no electricity in the apartment for several months. Chicago Mayor Daley reacts.

Poverty kills!

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A great discussion about poverty and healthcare, particularly in the Bellweather State of Missouri. What has the Corporate Republican economy meant for working people in the Midwest?

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Previous Blog Entries on This General Subject

1. Is the American Dream Still Possible? A Discussion with Barbara Ehrenreich.

2. Recent discussion about Poverty in America.

3. A report on Infant Mortality rates.

4. The need for a living wage.

5. The struggle for families to keep food on the table.

John Edwards To Enter Presidential Race

John Edwards will enter Presidential Race. He joins Dennis Kusinich, and Tom Vilsack in the "officially running" category.

Other Democrats likely to run are Sen. Christopher Dodd, Sen. Joseph Biden, Sen. John Kerry, and Wesley Clark.

Democrats who are making a lot of noise, but are still in the hype stage, include Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Barak Obama.

The strongest candidates for the Democrats will likely be John Edwards, Joe Biden (unfortunately), John Kerry, Tom Vilsack, and Christopher Dodd. I'm not completely sold on the Clinton, Obama hype. In the corrupt American political process, the news media always attempts to choose the favorite- making the decision for the public, before the voters have a chance to weigh in. The years and months leading to 2008 will be no different. Remember that in the months leading up to the 2004 Pres. election, Howard Dean was receiving the same hype that Clinton and Obama are getting now... frontrunner status, courtesy of CNN & Fox Entertainment News. In fact, Fox Entertainment News would love for the Democrats to choose Clinton or Obama.... that would basically guarantee a Republican victory in the general election. These so-called "News" networks have to spice up their stories for ratings....it's all about entertainment for these people. The real Democratic contenders are just too boring for the major news networks, so they play this game until we get closer to election time.

This will all begin to naturally sort itself out when Americans begin to size up the candidates and decide on things such as- who is the most experienced, who is most electable, etc. Based on these things... Obama and Clinton will begin to look more like novelties (which they are) than serious contenders.

Edwards and Vilsack (& others) are the real deal IMO....and that will become clear once the debates begin. In fact, it's actually a good thing that the true contenders are not getting the media attention right now. All the media attention is focused on Obama and Clinton, increasing the chances that they will goof up at some point and ruin their chances. Meanwhile, the real contenders are sitting back waiting for the real showtime to begin, without the burden of having any bad media attention leading up to the campaign. That's one of the real positive things about having Obama and Clinton all over the news. In that sense, Clinton and Obama serve a useful purpose.

Beyond that, they are really all hype at this point. (although that could change....but I doubt it).

Meanwhile, Evan Bayh takes himself out of contention. This was a little disappointing, because the Democrats needed a fresh face in the race. He could have been the dark horse candidate, like Clinton in 1992.

But Bayh is not completely out for the count. He will be a strong contender for the VP spot, along with Obama, Clark and Edwards (if Edwards does not get the nomination).

View my list of Presidential contenders here. Originally posted in June.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

White staff control U.S. Congressional Committees

African American Political Pundit says: Finally, someone is speaking up and out about the lack of black folks in the house. Yes, the house, the big house, the U.S. House of Representative staff.

Hat Tip to incoming CBC chair Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) for bringing this issue to the forefront of discussion on the hill. Also Hat Tip to Jack and Jill Politics and conservative newspaper the Washington Times, for reporting on this issue. Let’s see what the leadership of the House of Representatives does about the need to hire black folks in the people’s house. There are fewer than 50 minorities are among the hundreds of committee staffers.

It’s 2006 and black folks are still begging for jobs that rightfully should be made available, to all, through affirmative recruitment at HBCU’s and other outreach venues. I remember in the late 60's, 1970’s and 80’s thousands of black folks majored in political science.

There is no excuse, that there are no qualified blacks to fill the positions. After black folks acting as the swing vote to get Democrats elected to control the U.S. House, Nancy Pelosi and U.S. House Democrats owes black folks key jobs as House committee staffers, as they become available.

Anything less, should cause black folks to vote for other candidates next election. In other words vote for those who support…. US

It’s really time to hold democrats accountable.

Congresswoman Pelosi wants to hear from you. You can email her at sf.nancy@mail.house.gov. Or you can go to her website Here. Please note that the rules of Congressional courtesy prevent Rep. Pelosi from replying to emails if she cannot determine that you are a constituent, so remember to include your full name, address, and zip code.

Thanks again, Jack and Jill Politics.

Other Links to this story:

Minority hiring on Hill pushed

Minority hiring on Hill pushed (Brian DeBose)

African American Political Pundit is a regular contributor to Mirror On America

A New Middle East Conflict Heats Up

Civil War In Palestine?

Hamas clashes with Fatah

This is not what the U.S. or the Middle East needs right now

I mentioned several months ago that an internal conflict (civil war) was possible in Palestine. First there was a war of words, with a few minor clashes. Now the 2 main factions in Palestine are going to blows, with tit for tat killings taking place.

Report from USA Today

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Story also covered by Independent radio program Democracy Now

Hear an audio report from NPR

The African American Roundtable, December 14th

Hear another great Roundtable discussion from NPR's News and Notes Program.

Thursday, December 14th

Summary

At the roundtable today we discuss Americans' lack of trust in Congress, the declining number of executions in Texas and the apology of conservative journal at Tufts University for publishing a Christmas carol titled "O Come All Ye Black Folk."

Farai Chideya is joined by Julianne Malveaux, CEO of Last Word Productions, Walter Fields, CEO of the North Star Network, and Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at NYU.

Listen to Program

Bush Administration Rejects Key Iraq Study Group Recommendations

The Bush administration is rejecting key parts of the Iraq Study Group report. It appears that Bush & Co. has decided to find its own way to deal with Iraq. Stubborn ideology may be getting in the way of rational policy.

However, I never really believed that reaching out to Iran and Syria would have that much impact on what is happening in Iraq. The Iraq situation is too complex, and involves too many factions inside and outside the country. Iranian and Syrian governments probably have limited influence at the moment. The mess in Iraq seems to be creating its own fuel.

BUT...The Iraq study group clearly stated that the U.S. should reach out anyway, in the hopes that it could have a positive impact. The ISG also stated that the Iraq issue should not be tied to the Iranian nuclear issue.

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The Whirled View is also covering these events

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Update on Senator Tim Johnson

Senator Johnson in critical condition after surgery.

Zweibrucken High School

I found a great site the other day with pictures of one of my High Schools. It brought back a lot of memories.

I was not in any of the pictures, and did not graduate with any of the particular senior classes shown, but I was at the High School during the years that the pictures were taken. 1987, 1988, 1989-90.

I was amazed by the hairdos, the clothes, and seeing folks that I saw in the hallways everyday. It was like looking through a time capsule from 50 years ago.....even though it hasn't been quite that long. I was just a Freshmen & Sophmore during that time.... And I graduated in the States.

I feel really old. Pictures: Page 1,..... Page 2,...... Page 3,...... Page4, .... Page 5, ........ More Pictures

Main Picture page

I wasn't crazy about being a DOD kid overseas.... there was never much to do. Then again, that probably ended up being a plus, because it left fewer opportunities to get into trouble.

The High School had about 800-1000 students, and was located on Zwiebrucken Air Force Base. It served Air Force kids and Army kids from 2 nearby Army facilities. I was an Army kid.... w/both parents serving. My father was a career soldier with almost 30 years of service.

image description

This Airbase held F-4 Phantom Reconnaissance jets- part of the 26th Tactical Recon Wing, and 38th Tactical Recon Squadron. These were usually 2 seater jets, with a pilot in front, and a technician in the back who operated high powered cameras located in the belly of the plane. This was at a time when the Cold War was still going strong....and these planes flew missions all over Europe. The base also held small transport planes. The base closed in the early 1990's, a year or two after I left. Old Photos of the F-4's from Zweibrucken Germany. Click here for more History and photos of this airbase.

Most of my time there was routine....except for the exercises and jet noise. The school was located right next to the airfield.... If you've never heard the engines of an F-4....it can be deafening.

And the exercises.... When the sirens would scream.... we usually knew ahead of time when it was just a Cold War drill. But sometimes you didn't know.

image description

I would like to go and visit Europe again someday (although I hate air travel). Being a DOD kid is something that is hard to explain to people who are not familiar with the military family experience. It's a world all its own.

A movie/documentary was recently released about the experiences of DOD kids. The film is entitled Brats: Our Journey Home. Visit the official website for the film, which is only available on DVD.

Here is an interview with the filmmaker Donna Musil.

There is also a major museum being built for DOD children who went to school overseas.

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See Clip of Documentary About Life For U.S. Military Children.

I was born in Europe and I lived in 6 different places growing up (including 2 countries). This had both good and bad aspects depending on how I look at the experience. But I most often think that it was more bad than good....because I never stayed in one place long enough to develop a good social network. All the moving was a pain....

Senator Tim Johnson Has Brain Surgery

Democratic South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson Has Brain Surgery. Condition Not Yet Known.

This is why you can never trust the initial reports from the media (at least not the first few hours).

First I heard that he had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. A few hours after that NPR and CBS radio reported that he did not have a stroke or a heart attack and was resting in intensive care under observation. They reported that people were relieved because it was not as serious as first thought. Now at that point I knew something was not right about the story because I knew that if everything was alright, he would not be in intensive care.

A few hours after that report, I hear that he was having brain surgery. That is the latest information at this point.

Either someone in Johnsons staff screwed the reports up from the beginning to avoid releasing the accurate information, or the media just got the story wrong.

But it appears that he is very ill. Hopefully he will be able to pull through.

In Americas undemocratic process, the Governor of South Dakota (A Republican) will be able to appoint a Republican to take over the seat if Johnson is unable to recover. The right way to do it (in accordance with actual Democracy) would be to:

1. Allow Johnson to choose his replacement if he survives but cannot or does not want to finish his term.

2. Allow State Democratic leaders to choose his replacement.

3. Hold a special election to fill the seat.

But in Americas brand of Democracy.... this will not be done. He will likely be replaced by a Republican, which will go directly against the will of South Dakotas voters who put Johnson (A Democrat) in office.

This is the same kind of Bullshit paper thin Democracy that the U.S. is trying to export to Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Right now, i'm just hoping for a fast recovery for the Senator. I didn't expect the Senate to be in Democratic hands anyway after the Mid-Term elections. The Senate victory was extra.

Hearings by the House of Representatives and efforts to block the neo-conservative nuts is good enough for me.

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BlogHer is also blogging on this story.

Impact of U.S. Corporations On Agriculture In The Developing World

Here is an interesting report from Democracy Now describing the impact of U.S. Corporations on the Agriculture industry in India.

Amy Goodman speaks with writer and ecologist Vandana Shiva.

India's Farmers are fighting for their livelihoods....battling companies such as St. Louis based Monsanto. Monsanto, with the help of the U.S. and Indian governments, is engaging in vicious business practices (such as requiring farmers to use seed that is not renewable....forcing them to buy seed each year at a higher cost). Monsanto is also attempting to establish an economic and political monopoly in Indias Agricultural market, making it difficult for traditional Indian family farmers to compete. Several farmers are committing suicide because of these practices that force them out of the market. (This is a report you won't see on FOX or CNN).

India's culture will also be challenged by the increased presence of Wal-Mart.

Watch/Listen to program

Over 1200 Arrested In Immigration Raids

Over 1200 Have Been Arrested In Immigration Raids On Meat Packing Plants

All of the Meat Plants Are Owned By Swift & Co.

The Suspected Illegal Immigrants Were Involved In Identity Theft As A Way To Obtain Genuine U.S. ID, And Government Services.

WHEN WILL THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION GO AFTER THE BUSINESSES WHO ATTRACT, AND USE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?????

The Meat Processing Company- Swift & Co.- Claims that it didn't know about the illegal immigrants. 1200 people detained? And they didn't know?

GIVE ME A BREAK!!! THEY WERE IN ON IT!!! They have an economic interest in it. They at least were complicit by turning a blind eye to it.

Story from the Houston Chronicle

Audio Report from NPR. Additional Report from NPR.

Report from CNN

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

More Death and Destruction In Iraq

A truck bomb kills seventy, and injures more than 200 others. More deaths reported in other incidents, as the disaster in Iraq continues.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Tensions Grow Between The U.S. and Saudi Arabia

Is the Marriage Over? Say It Ain't So!

Does that mean no more hugging, kissing, or holding hands between Bush and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah?

The Saudi Ambassador has abruptly left the U.S.; usually a strong sign of diplomatic trouble. Washington Post Report.

The Saudi King recently expressed his displeasure at the possibility of a U.S. pullout from Iraq and he has threatened to fund the Sunni's in any conflict with Shi'ites. He wants to make sure that Sunni's are not slaughtered without a fight by Shi'ites who might try to get revenge for what they see as the evils of Sunnis, both under Saddams reign and during the U.S. occupation. This will undoubtedly get a harsh reaction from Shi'ites, particularly from the Shi'ite led Iraqi government.

This would clearly be against U.S. interests, and it could be the lowest point in relations between the two countries since the oil crisis of the 1970's under President Carter.

This would not be the only time that Saudi Arabia has acted against U.S. interests. Many believe that they turned a blind eye to terrorism before 9/11 and immediately afterward. Many of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, and part of the paper trail developed from the FBI investigation led back to Saudi Arabia. Not proof of direct Saudi involvement, but it raised some questions.

How will the Bush'ites get out of this jam? I hope not with more pro-war chest beating. Even the neo-conservative Apes must realize at this point that the pro-war routine probably would not be the best way to handle problems like this one.

Hopefully common sense will prevail. However, with Bush & Co. making the decision, I don't have much confidence (and have no reason to believe) that they will do what is sensible. Rational thought and common sense have not been a part of the Bush team since their first day in office.

This combined with a an upcoming vote on Iran sanctions in the UN Security Council??? Not to mention another war in the Middle East that could happen at any time on 1 of 3 different fronts. Americans better prepare for $4, $5 & perhaps $6 per gallon gas in 2007.

The truth is..... due to the U.S. governments policies over the past decade that have kept much of the Western world dependent on foreign oil, the U.S. will remain a slave of countries in the Middle East and other OPEC regions. U.S. energy dependence has crippled its foreign policy. The U.S. has no leverage to do much of anything.

This is why energy independence is the most important issue for the U.S. As long as the White House is being pimped by the oil companies, nothing is going to change.
And this is the fault of both Republicans and Democrats. The U.S. should have launched a massive effort to achieve energy independence after the 1973 oil crisis. If the U.S. had made such an effort then, we probably would not be in such a vulnerable position now.

What About the U.S. - Russia Nuclear Threat?

While we are fixated on Iran and N. Korea, we ignore the threat that still exists from the worlds two main nuclear powers.

The U.S. and Russia (especially the U.S. with its antagonizing anti- Russian policies) have not done enough to reduce the threat of nuclear war, or to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in particular. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a perfect opportunity to begin a serious decrease in these weapons (down to just a couple hundred on each side..... and the eventual elimination of them altogether). That window of opportunity has now passed....wasted while the U.S. has been beating its chest in so-called victory since 1991; telling Russia and the world every chance that it got that the U.S. won the Cold War.

A Russian Arms control expert paints an ugly but plausable scenario about what the future could bring. His analysis is based on a wargame scenario.

This is especially troubling since Russia is a criminal State, still unstable. The country is run by a group of KGB thugs who handle their affairs like mafia groups do. Anything can happen there.

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A previous blog entry on Russia

70% Of Americans Disapprove of War

70% of Americans Disapprove of War in Iraq. This is Part of An Overall Trend That Shows Bush's Poll Numbers Dropping Fast.

Story taken from Truthdig

Nephew of Saddam Hussein Escapes From Prison

The Nephew Of Saddam Hussein Escapes From Prison In Northern Iraq, With The Help Of Iraqi Police

He Was a Key Leader Involved With The Fedayeen. He Was Responsible For Supporting The Original Insurgency.

This Is Another Blow For The Bush Administration In Its Quest to Westernize and Democratize Iraq

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Saddam’s Nephew Escapes From Prison
December 11, 2006

A nephew of Saddam Hussein serving a life sentence for financing insurgents and possessing bombs has escaped from prison in northern Iraq with the help of a police officer, officials say.

The escape came as sectarian attacks killed at least another 20 people, including five who died in a suicide car bombing outside a Shi'ite shrine in Karbala, police said.
Officers also found 39 bullet-riddled bodies in Baghdad that apparently were victims of revenge killings by Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites.

The escape by Saddam's nephew underlined one of the problems facing the US military as it tries to train enough Iraqi security personnel so US troops can go home: the ability of Sunni Arab insurgents and Shi'ite militiamen to infiltrate Iraqi police forces.

Ayman Sabawi, son of Saddam's half brother Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, escaped from a prison 70km west of the northern city of Mosul in the afternoon with the help of a policeman, said a local police commander, Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Jubouri.
Brigadier Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, confirmed the escape but declined to discuss any details.

Sabawi, who was arrested in May 2005 by US and Iraqi forces near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, 130km north of Baghdad, was convicted of illegally crossing the border from Syria and sentenced to 15 years in prison late last year by an Iraqi court.
He was sentenced to life in prison in an earlier case for possession of illegal weapons and manufacture of bombs.

He "played a particularly active role in sustaining the terrorism by providing financial support, weapons and explosives to terrorist groups," Iraq's government said.
In July 2005, the United States froze Sabawi's assets along with those of five other Saddam nephews, accusing them of providing funds to Iraq's Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency.

Sabawi's father was captured in February 2005. Formerly the head of Saddam's intelligence service, al-Tikriti was No. 36 on a US list of the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's ousted regime.

Source With More Details Here

Dennis Kucinich Announces He Is Entering Presidential Race

I like this guy. I don't agree with every position that he takes (i'm a little more moderate/conservative, and practical), but I like his fighting spirit.

We know that he does not have a chance to win. But he believes that his presence will be important, and it will. With the mainstream Democrats competing with one another to see who can be the most conservative and who can be the best Republicrat, someone has to be there to keep them honest. Lie Patrol is an ugly job, but somebody has to do it. The job doesn't pay well, will not win an election, and is bound to bring criticism. But when you are a warrior fighting for what is right, you have to accept those things as being part of the job. It comes with the territory.

He will likely be the only candidate in the race (from either party) who voted against the war in Iraq and was against the war from the very beginning. That will give him a certain level of moral authority on Iraq and other related issues.

Story here.

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Skeptical Brotha also covered this story

Monday, December 11, 2006

White men deciding the future of an arab nation - Not

WAPO reports Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday strongly rejected a U.S. bipartisan panel’s report on American war strategy in Iraq, calling some of its recommendations “dangerous” and a threat to his country’s sovereignty.

“The report does not respect the will of the Iraqis in dealing with their problems,” he said in a statement released by his office. Link

AAPPundit says :

I guess the Iraqi people, and the new government are not having any of this embed thousands of U.S. troops with Iraqi security forces to train and advise them garbage. Soon they (the government) will be asking Americans to get to stepping, all because a few white men think they know what is best for an Arab country (All white Baker Says Study Group Committed to Democracy in Iraq). It will be interesting to see if The Worst President in American history, follows aging and elderly Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who wants the administration to deploy more troops into Baghdad, without the support of the Iraqi government or it’s citizens, the congress or the American people, to stop the Iraq civil war. Old white men deciding the future of an arab nation. These folks need to get a grip.

African American Political Pundit is a regular contributor to Mirror On America

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Cool Idea or Exploitation of a Serious Inner City Problem?

I was listening to the radio the other day and came across a report about a St. Louis resident who has decided to highlight the City's recent crime rating- as the most Dangerous city in America. How is she highlighting this dubious rating? By making t-Shirts and selling them on e-bay. Listen to brief report from KMOX radio in St. Louis.

Front of T-Shirt
Normally this may not be a big deal. But in this case, it just doesn't seem right. Here you have a well-to-do middle class white woman, Joan Metzler, making money off of the suffering, poverty, and other social/economic conditions of folks who live in St. Louis' dreaded rundown ghetto areas (mostly in North St. Louis) where most of the violent crime is taking place. That entire area (of which I used to live and where my family still lives) is severely blighted. Click Here to see photos of North St. Louis. Click on the various neighborhoods from the map, and click the "tour" button at the bottom of the page to begin. There is an extensive photo tour for each area. There is no investment, few jobs (other than run of the mill fast food), almost nothing positive for Black youth to get themselves involved in, few programs, etc. But there are plenty of liquor stores. In fact, some of the hottest businesses in North St. Louis are liquor establishments (on every other block), fast food restaurants (on every other block), black radio (to maintain ignorance in the community), and plenty of thriving funeral homes. In other words, you have a "full circle" type of deal going on. The full cycle of poor Black life.... Plenty of drugs and liquor (to kill Black folks or lead to quicker death), plenty of bad food (again, contributing to poor health conditions & killing black folks faster), Black radio (which is 100% anti-intellectual and helps perpetuate bad lifestyles, and maintains a culture of ignorance in the "community", working together with the previous two factors), and to complete the cycle, you have plenty of funeral homes which all thrive in North St. Louis (there to make big bucks from the social, economic, political, and health conditions that exist in North St. Louis). It's like the mopping up operation of the whole cycle. And somewhere in there we could also throw in a Public School system that is an absolute disaster. The clowns are not just in the classroom in this school district. In this district, the clowns run the school board. Lord Have Mercy!!! My blood pressure rises just thinking about it, even though I no longer live in the city and I have no children....still the shenanigans are pretty outrageous (you have to be from this area and aware of the news reports to understand). Things are so bad that the State of Missouri is considering an extraordinary move to take over the St. Louis School system, and firing the thugs who are currently running it. I hope there is a State takeover (and the mayor also supports a State takeover).

Back of T-Shirt
Then comes this white woman, who just light-heartedly decides (from her white world) that she will also make money off of the same conditions that I just described. It all seems too weird to me. Why? Because this woman has no idea what it is like to live in the conditions where most of the violence is taking place. Believe me, North St. Louis is another world apart from the rest of the St. Louis area; a place where most Whites in the City do not venture (under any circumstances). This woman lives in a part of St. Louis called Wydown (in West St. Louis).... part of a larger area referred to as the "Central West End". Yes, racially mixed in some areas, but it is probably the most affluent part of the City. The area is dotted with homes that go for half a million to a million dollars or more, with a few gated communities. It is where Washington University is located (one of the top Universities in the World). It is where Barnes Hospital & Wash. U Medical Center are both located... (one of the top Hospitals in the U.S. and top research Med Centers in the U.S. respectively). This is where Forest Park is located....the St. Louis Zoo, our major nationally recognized Museums, the St. Louis Science Center, and it is where many other St. Louis institutions are located. What I am getting at is that this part of West St. Louis is more like the suburbs. Crime happens in these areas as well, but it is limited in these places because they get plenty of Police attention (and money for investment and up-keep). So she doesn't live in the high crime areas, and therefore really cannot claim the "brave" label. It's misleading to say the least. How is she being "brave" by going home everyday to her generally upscale neighborhood?

She stated in the Post Dispatch article below that she thinks that it's Cool to live in the most dangerous city. But I doubt that the law abiding people who live in the communities that are most impacted by the crime & violence (like North St. Louis) think that the devastation of their neighborhoods is "Cool". I don't think they enjoy the suffering brought on by blight, poverty, drug infestation and the gangs in their midst.

Does she feel that it is o.k. ....do middle class whites in general feel that it is o.k. to make money from the poverty and suffering of others? Are they that blind or insensitive to the situation in Americas inner cities? It seems to me that they just don't get it. This woman may be a few miles away from where most of the violence is occurring, but theoretically she is thousands of miles away from it. Is she exploiting this situation- a complex social & economic situation that she does not understand? Or is she right for doing this? Some may say it's her right... sure I agree that it's her "right".....but is she right? That's the question here. Just because she has "the right" doesn't make it right. Wouldn't it be better if her efforts were aimed at dealing with some of the socio-economic and political issues that have helped to create the "Most Dangerous City" label? Wouldn't it be better is she worked to put together some programs to help? I'm not attacking Metzler.... I am just raising some pertinent questions. The story shows the economic and cultural divide between the different classes of people who live in St. Louis (the city also ranks as one of the most racially and economically segregated cities in America.... go figure).

Below is a more detailed report from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The Joan Metzler story is near the bottom.

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Trio of cities is out to shake image problem
By Jake Wagman
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/27/2006

When St. Louis begrudgingly assumed the title of "Most Dangerous City" last month, officials in New Jersey were cheering.

It's not that the people of Camden, N.J., have anything against St. Louis: They were just happy to pass the torch.

Camden is a depressed urban enclave across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. About the only thing it has in common with St. Louis is that both are part of a fraternity of cities that have had the notoriety of being named the most crime-ridden in the United States by Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kan., publishing outfit with a knack for publicity.

The dubious distinction — which has gone to either St. Louis, Camden or Detroit every year since 1999 — has left the cities scrambling to protect their public images, striving to prove they are in fact better places than their crime figures would indicate. Advertisement

In St. Louis, the president of the Convention and Visitors Commission has described the most-dangerous title as "the story that won't die." The mayor has called it a "good gimmick" backed by "some questionable methodology."

After Camden was named most dangerous in 2005 — the second straight year it earned the title — city leaders urged people to say "No to Quitno" and organized a trolley ride to show off the city's development progress.

This year, when Camden dropped off the top spot, city officials called a news conference in front of police headquarters to celebrate.

"Was I happy? Absolutely," Camden Mayor Gwendolyn A. Faison recalled last week.

The most-dangerous title was not all bad, Faison said. It helped the city confront its crime problem and get funding to hire more police officers, she said.

Faison has a message for St. Louis: "Tell them to be encouraged. If Camden can overcome that stigma, so can they."

But acting Camden County Prosecutor James P. Lynch, who believes the ranking system is deeply flawed, has another message: "I feel sorry for St. Louis now."

Lynch says the ranking invites national scorn and undermines the genuine efforts of struggling cities such as Camden to shed crime and spark rebirth.

"It's embarrassing and humiliating and does nothing to restore pride in the community," Lynch said.

Those thoughts are echoed in Detroit, which had the most-dangerous title three years in a row, from 1999 to 2001, and was second to St. Louis this year.

"We don't like it either," said James Canning, a spokesman for Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick. "For too many years, people have beat up on the city of Detroit."

Every major city has crime, Canning says. For Morgan Quitno to label one the most dangerous is unfair, he said.

Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno, disagrees. The firm calculates the most dangerous city by examining 2005 FBI crime statistics in six categories — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft — for each major city and comparing them with the national average.

The chief criticism of the methodology is that it compares a city such as St. Louis, with fixed borders close to the urban core, to places such as Houston, where the city limits sprawl far beyond downtown.

A better way, some say, to determine crime in a particular area is to look at crime statistics for the entire region. By that measure, according to a separate Morgan Quitno list, the St. Louis area ranks closer to the middle of the pack among 344 metropolitan areas.

Even with its flaws, Morgan says, the most dangerous city list reveals troubling figures in St. Louis, such as 131 murders last year.

"It isn't like we make this up — point us out as frauds in our pajamas, or whatever it is," Morgan said. "The murder rate is still seven times the national average."

A guy "who's working in his pajamas and his bare feet in his mother's basement" is actually how the mayor's outspoken chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, described Morgan, though not everyone would agree.

"I have to say they are pretty accurate," said Joseph C. Scarpelli, mayor of Brick Township, N.J.

Brick was on the same list as St. Louis — just on the opposite end. The city earned the title of "Safest City" in the United States for 2006.

The ranking has brought some prestige to the beachfront Jersey town, Scarpelli said, as well as helped property values.

"Let me just say this," Scarpelli said. "The real estate people are very happy."

Garden State real estate agents aren't the only ones hoping to profit from the city rankings.

Joan Metzler, who lives in the Wydown/Skinker neighborhood of St. Louis, is selling shirts that boast "Brave Enough to Live in America's Most Dangerous City." On the back, the shirt also brags that St. Louis has bested Detroit in both "baseball & crime."

Metzler has sold more than 300 shirts, most of them at area bars. She says those who live in the city already know it has a crime problem; why not embrace the title?

"It's kind of cool to be living in the most dangerous city in America," she said. "You've got to be made of a little sterner stuff."

jwagman@post-dispatch.com 314-622-3580

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Here is a Featured Article from the Riverfront Times Newspaper from a few months ago, entitled Battle Lines. It focuses on the senseless violence in St. Louis and the gang problem in particular. The author also describes a young man who was a victim of the North St. Louis streets.... He was gunned down (ambushed) while exiting a Metro Bus earlier this year. Article is long but worth the read (click the "next" tab at bottom of each page).

Congressional Ethics Committee Issues Report on Foley Case

The House Ethics Committee Has Reported that Republican Leaders Were "Negligent" in Foley Case.... Failed to Act to Protect Students Working As Pages.

Report Here

William Jefferson Wins Runoff Election

Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Congress Must Act Swiftly To Remove Jefferson Once The 110th Congress Begins.

William "Cool Cash" Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana, defeated challenger Karen Carter in a runoff to retain his Congressional seat. The Congressional Black Caucus, (a group that has lost its integrity) heavily supported William Jefferson in the runoff. Jefferson is under investigation by the FBI in connection with a major bribery scandal, in which Jefferson is on video taking a bribe. Most of the money was later found hidden in a freezer in Jeffersons home. A Grand Jury is also part of the Jefferson investigation. Most believe (including Jefferson himself) that he will be indicted soon.

I have stayed away from the William Jefferson issue over the past few months, hoping the he would go away. But now I have to weigh in. I happen to think Jefferson is a crook, and is probably guilty in this case, but a court will have to settle that. He has been heavily connected to lobbyists (like most of the members of the Black Caucus), which lends even more weight to the allegations.

A grand jury typically does not bring indictments on flimsy evidence. Usually the evidence is strong in these kinds of corruption cases. He should not have been allowed to hold his seat or run for re-election in light of the scandal, knowing that an indictment was likely; although he was technically allowed to do so. Usually members of Congress in such situations will resign, for the sake of their Party. But no, not Jefferson. Jefferson, like the rest of the CBC, is concerned with himself.

The Congress (under Republicans) was hounded earlier this year about the indictment of Republican Leader and gangster Tom "The Hammer" Delay. Democrats raised enough hell to get Republicans to ask Delay to step down. Now, faced with the same scenario for a member of their own Party, Democrats are not saying much of anything.

Considering that Pelosi and the Democrats went into the Mid-Term elections under the banner of cleaning up corruption and "Draining the Swamp", they have no choice but to take action in this situation. This situation makes the Democrats look terrible. It makes them look weak on corruption and makes it easy to paint them as hypocrits. Republicans will waste no time jumping on this situation for whatever political gain they can get....and rightfully so.

When the 110th Congress begins in January, Nancy Pelosi must immediately take the steps necessary to impeach Jefferson; with or without a Grand Jury indictment. Jefferson has not only damaged his own career, but has damaged the image of the CBC. He also has the potential to damage the Democratic Party. A corruption scandal at the start of the new Congress, for which the campaign theme was cleaning up corruption, is the last thing that Democrats need. This is why they must act quickly to deal with this situation.

Yes, the voters of Louisiana (New Orleans area) voted for Jefferson, but I cannot believe that they voted in favor of scandal. I suspect they voted for Jefferson because they did not have enough confidence in the challenger, at a time when Louisiana needs a veteran Congressmember in office who they believe will look out for their interests in the Post-Katrina period. While others have been ignoring them, Jefferson has been someone who has listened and has carried the torch, so to speak, for the people South Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Katrina, particularly people in poorer areas. They need someone who can put pressure on Congress and the White House to keep resources flowing to that region, to keep their promises (which they have already broken) and to not forget them. They felt that Carter was not the right person. However, the good of the nation and the good of the Democratic Party has to outweigh the immediate concerns of these particular voters. Democrats must make sure that they help the people of Louisiana find a worthy replacement for Jefferson. This search must begin right away.

Within the next few days, (if it hasn't already happened) the Democratic leadership in the Congress must talk to Jefferson and give him two choices. Either resign his seat before the 110th Congress begins, or face removal proceedings.

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Our friend Skeptical Brotha has been covering this political race for weeks.

He never pulls any punches, whether it is with corrupt Confederate Republicans, or whether it has to do with Black Democrats. See Skeptical Brothas commentary on the Jefferson win.

Amy Goodman Examines Iraq Study Group Report

Amy Goodman Provides Some Insight on The Iraq Study Group Report on Her Democracy Now Program.

Watch/Listen to Entire Program

She looks at the report from an interesting angle. In the last segment, she interviews author Antonia Juhasz, who states that there is language in the ISG report that suggests oil was a factor in getting the U.S. involved in Iraq. The ISG clearly states that the privatization of oil should be a key goal of the U.S. Currently, Iraq's oil is under National control.

Now you have to put that into perspective. James Baker runs a consulting firm that has many dealings with oil companies trying to do business in the Middle East and other parts of the world. The demand that Iraq privatize oil appears to be a move to provide an opportunity for an American oil company (or other foreign oil company) to get contracts to enter Iraqs oil industry.

Even with this criticism, I still support the general effort of the Study Group because it forces the Bush administration into a corner, where they will HAVE TO do something.

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Related Link

Senator Russell Feingold Also Criticized the Iraq Study Group. See His Response Here.

Senate Hearing On The Iraq Study Group

George Bush has hinted that he will not listen to the Iraq Study Group or that he will only Cherry Pick and adopt some of the recommendations. However, James Baker stated that the recommendations should be accepted together as a comprehensive plan. Taking only parts of the plan won't work.

View Hearing Here

Thursday, December 07, 2006

The Iraq Study Group Presents Its Report

The Baker-Hamilton Commission- The Iraq Study Group, Has Presented Its Report. The 142 Page Document Offers 79 Recommendations For Improving the Situation in Iraq.

FULL VIDEO BELOW
Report from ABC News

Report from the BBC

The Group dropped a bomb and shattered all of the previous Bush administration claims and delusions about Iraq.... (that things have been going well there, the media has been making things up, that their plan has been working, and that the U.S. should stay the course). That has been a bunch of nonsense all along.

This is a day of reckoning for the Bush administration. They must let go of the fantasy that they have been living in since March of 2003 (when the U.S. invaded Iraq). This is official confirmation coming from within the U.S. establishment that says that the White House policy regarding Iraq has failed.

"The Situation in Iraq is Grave and Deteriorating"

"Staying the course, no longer viable"

This situation is so much more complicated than the Iraq Study Group makes it out to be. With all of the religious divisions, Muslim radicalism, economic problems, political factions, historical context, U.S. soldiers not knowing who the enemy is, a weak host government, a lack of international support, etc.... this is probably the most complicated wartime situation that the U.S. has ever been in. BUT, this is a start.... hopefully the start of a new approach.

Also, they did not provide a timetable.... a timetable (in any enterprise) is key for any strategic plan. That's Management 101. How long is all of this supposed to take? You have to have time limits of some kind.... But benchmarks may be enough.

Also.... I think there will be troops in Iraq for many many years. I'm still wondering when they will finally level with the American people and tell them the truth. They keep getting Americans hopes up about a troop withdrawal. True, there will be a reduction of U.S. troops.... but there will have to be troops (10,000-30,000) in Iraq for many many years...perhaps decades (If they indeed want some kind of success there). This will be needed to sustain and equip any kind of Iraqi military that somehow rises from the dust of all this mess.

Some of the main recommendations are:

1. Engage in robust regional diplomacy with Iraqs neighbors, including Iran and Syria, with the hopes of reducing the violence and increasing stability.

2. Increase the number of embedded U.S. trainers for the Iraqi military and speed up the training of Iraqi security forces.

3. Put pressure on Iraqs political leaders to take responsibility for improving the situation and taking charge of their own future.

4. Deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is one of the main underlying and festering conflicts fueling Jihadist movements throughout the Middle East and around the world.

Even if all of the recommendations are accepted and implemented by the Bush administration, there is no guarantee that the mission in Iraq will be successful.

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Many of the recommendations are not new. Others, including myself, have made many of these recommendations before. But there are a few new ideas that are mentioned in the report.

Watch Video of the Full Press Conference

Hear audio with analysis from public radio program On Point. (choose audio option from top of page)

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RESPONSE

Congress responds to the Iraq Study Group Report

The Bush administration is considering response to Iraq Study Group Report. A major speech is coming soon within the next few days or weeks, with the possible theme of "A New Way Forward".

Commentary

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View & Download Full Report

This is my apple

(3 Sources Provided for Download. Download in pdf format)

Download #1 USA Today

Download #2 U.S. Institute of Peace

Download #3 Baker Institute

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Previous Blog Entries on the Iraq Study Group

Iraq study group to suggest diplomacy with Iraqs neighbors

Baker does not see "victory" in Iraq

Additional articles

Report from the BBC

Report from The Voice Of America News

Important Links

The U.S. Institute of Peace

The Baker Institute

Capturing Jonathan Pollard

Hear an Interview with the author of a new book entitled Capturing Jonathan Pollard: How One of the Most Notorious Spies in American History Was Brought to Justice.

In the Interview, author Ronald Olive (Former Federal Agent), discusses the various bunglings by the U.S. Intelligence Community (then and now), and talks about todays vulnerabilities.

The main topic of discussion was Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. intelligence official, who turned into one of the biggest double agent spies in U.S. history, doing serious damage to U.S. interests. Pollard spied mainly for the Israeli government (And the U.S. government continues to pander to Israel.... even against our own interests. Unbelievable to me).

Listen To Interview Here

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Related Article

See Here

Tavis Smiley Interviews Natalie Cole

Tavis Smiley Interviews Soul Legend Natalie Cole.

Interview from December 5th.

Listen Here (Click on name from PBS page)

Senate Confirms Robert Gates As Secretary of Defense

Robert Gates was quickly confirmed to be the next Secretary of Defense. During the confirmation hearings, Gates stated that the U.S. "was not winning the war in Iraq", and that a new course was needed.

He stated that he would examine the report from the Iraq Study Group (a group that he was a part of), but he did not commit to supporting all of the recommendations.

Amy Goodman reported on the confirmation and provided analysis on her Democracy Now program. Watch/Listen here.

U.S. Troops Not Getting The Mental Health Assistance They Need

U.S. soldiers battling mental illness as a result of their deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting the help that they need. Even those who try to seek help are often turned away, isolated by their peers and left to get worse. This situation is leading to an increasing number of suicides and other problems.

Listen to Report From NPR

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Related Links

Report From Democracy Now Regarding a Marine Who Served in Iraq

A Very Good PBS Documentary About Soldiers With Mental Wounds

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Just Say No To Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton appears to be gearing up for a run for President in 2008.

I have stated many times that if Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, it would be the greatest gift for Republicans. Republicans would love nothing more than to see Hillary somehow get the nomination. Why? Because it would guarantee that Republicans will retain the White House in 2008. Hillary Clinton has conisistently polled lower than ANY Republican....including any unamed Republican, for the last few years. John McCain or any other top Republican candidate would defeat her easily.

I have been against this idea for the past couple of years, when the buzz first began.
Why? For one, I don't like her.... she's a phony. She has embraced George Bush, and never challenged the policies of his administration.... She's a Bush Democrat. In fact, she has expressed her support for Bush on more than one occasion.

She also voted for the war in Iraq. And she's a pro-war Democrat in general. We don't need another pro-war politician in the White House, regardless of Party... although most politicians from both parties are Pro-War. (An interesting commentary about the Pro-War Democratic Party).

Secondly, she is not electable....especially not in a general election against a strong Republican.

African American Roundtable, December 5th

Another great roundtable discussion from the NPR program News and Notes.

Summary

Tuesday's topics include the resignation of U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and the presidential aspirations of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Farai Chideya's guest are Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition; social sciences professor Glenn Loury of Brown University; and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington.

Listen To Program

Monday, December 04, 2006

Pelosi Refused to Appoint Alcee Hastings to top Intelligence Committee Post

Nancy Pelosi skipped over Alcee Hastings last week for the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee. Report Here.

Pelosi gave the position to Silvestre Reyes- a very strong choice for the top spot. Reyes is a Combat Veteran and former Border Patrol officer. He also opposed the war in Iraq.

Black members of Congress (the Congressional Black Caucus) were pushing for Alcee Hastings to get the Chairmanship of the Committee, and are now upset because he did not get the job.

This just shows how useless and incompetent these folks in the CBC are. Did they really believe that Hastings could be appointed to such a sensitive position? The intel Chairman, often has greater access to sensitive information. It is a position that requires a clean background with no issues concerning trustworthiness. Of course this was not the case with Hastings, who was impeached as a Federal Judge.

Appointing Hastings would have raised all sorts of questions. It would have been a major issue for Pelosi and a Democratic Party that campaigned on a pledge to clean the corruption out of Capital Hill and "Drain the Swamp". Such a move would have been a jackpot to the Republicans.... an even bigger gift than the Foley scandal was to the Democrats.

This shows the shortsightedness of the Black Caucus. They are more concerned about their own individual or group interests instead of the wider interests of the Party long-term. Yes the CBC has legitimate issues, but right now it is more important to solidify the Mid-Term election victory so that the CBC will have a chance to deal with the issues that they are concerned about (besides lining their own pockets).
At some point, i'm sure that they will want to do something for the people. The point is, they have to realize that this won't be possible if this Mid-Term election victory is just a temporary victory for Democrats.

Pelosi is playing things smart by dealing with big picture issues for the time being, and taking away as much ammunition as possible from the Republicans.

So far the CBC has not been much help.

The CBC must also face the fact that racial politics may be coming to an end. This is especially true in light of Centrist, Conservative Democrats winning elections in Republican territory all across the country. The Party will not (and cannot afford to) pander to left wing CBC causes...and race based issues. The CBC must change its strategic thinking. They are stuck in a 1970's and 80's state of mind. Now this doesn't mean that issues important to Black Americans cannot be addressed. I am simply stating that the CBC must find more creative ways of addressing those issues and must do so without alienating other groups. Most issues impacting Black Americans are not exclusive to us. We must turn Black issues into American issues.... just like MLK and others did (MLK recognized the importance of this back in the 50's and 60's). Once you reframe problems and put them into a wider context, then the CBC will be able to push for effective policies that indeed help African Americans (and others).

The CBC must look more at economic issues and must tie African American concerns with concerns of poor White Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc. About 85-90% of the issues are shared amongst poor folks from various walks of life. The poor elderly Caucasion in the Trailer Home in Indiana or Virginia who is having trouble paying for health insurance or medicine is not that much different from the grandmother in inner-city Chicago or Philly with the same problem. That is the only way for the CBC to be effective. Therefore the CBC must find a way to broaden its voice.... as ironic as it seems...the group has to realize that it doesn't just speak for African Americans anymore. It has to be the voice for a wider group of folks with common problems and common interests. This is why they must change their strategic position in order to be effective and relevent.

This is similar (although not exactly) to what Juan Williams was talking about a few months back when he was talking about the Civil Rights Movement as out of touch and out of date. He described some movements as "dead end movements".... and he was basically talking (in some ways) about the CBC. The CBC is part of that old African American establishment that he was referring to. I have to say that I agreed with most of what he stated on that issue. The recent CBC actions regarding the direction of the Democratic Party and its tussle with Nancy Pelosi are good examples of what Juan Williams was referring to in terms of ineffective Black leadership.

U.S. Ambassador to UN John Bolton Resigns

Another Neo-Conservative Bites The Dust

And as Bolton falls, so does the grand plan of the White House to reshape the UN in Americas image. Bolton was supposed to be the key figure in that reshaping.

But Bolton had to face reality. This was all part of the aftermath of the Mid-Term elections. There was no way that Bolton was going to be confirmed by the new Senate. Even the Republican Senate (of the 109th Congress) was reluctant to put his nomination up for a vote by the full Senate. He was an unnacceptable choice to Democrats, unnacceptable to millions of American citizens, and unnacceptable even to some Republicans.

Hopefully Bush will select a more sensible moderate for the position. The U.S. needs a more personable, pragmatic, & visionary figure who knows how to do real diplomacy and who can establish good contacts and good relationship with other diplomatics around the world. Someone who has a reputation for strong diplomacy. Firm, but friendly. Someone who could cut a deal over lunch....just by being on good terms with other diplomats (as is often part of custom in some Cultures around the world).

Bolton was the exact opposite of what the U.S. needs in terms of a top diplomat. He was a Neo-Conservative extremist; someone sent to the UN to weaken & undermine the organization and to block its work. The White House wanted someone who would be a constant critic of the organization, rather than someone who would strengthen it and offer practical solutions.

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See Report from the BBC

UPDATE TO PREVIOUS BLOG ENTRY

The N Word Post has been updated.

New Interview added. Find Here.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Robert McFerrin Sr Remembered

Robert McFerrin Sr.
1921-2006

Great African American Classical Singer Robert McFerrin Sr. Recently Passed Away. Great Classical Singer PERIOD.... regardless of race. He was of the same spirit as Paul Roberson.... keeping that legacy going. And he was one of St. Louis's own.

See Report From The Washington Post.

Listen To A Remembrance From National Public Radio.

Even Rumsfeld Thought Iraq Needed A New Approach

Rumsfeld Supported Major Changes in the Iraq Strategy, According To a Memo Leaked To The New York Times

This begs the question.... was Rumsfeld actually a detractor late in his term? Had he actually become a critic? And therefore was he forced out for not sticking to the script and staying the course? Because Bush did not want to be forced to change strategy and admit that the "stay the course" approach was a disaster all along.

I wish Rumseld would have been more skeptical of his own planning (or lack thereof) a lot earlier.... perhaps we wouldn't be in this mess. I personally thought the guy was a robot, incapable of being flexible, making adjustments, admitting mistakes, or listening. He was incapable of critical thinking and being skeptical of his own ideas and those of his neo-Conservative colleagues (All of whom were Chicken Hawks).

This lack of careful planning, flexibility, and thinking ahead....and the lack of consideration for the views of seasoned Veteran leaders in the Pentagon, was the reason why the Generals didn't like him. He allowed stubborness and loyalty to a Political Party to get in the way of good policy and what was best for the U.S. (A Defense Secretary should never be a partisan political figure).

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Rumsfeld urged big changes in Iraq strategy

By Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud
The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld submitted to the White House a classified memo that acknowledged the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.

"In my view it is time for a major adjustment," wrote Rumsfeld, a symbol of a dogged, stay-the-course policy. "Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough."

Nor did Rumsfeld seem confident that the administration would readily develop an effective alternative. To limit political fallout, he suggested a campaign to lower public expectations.

Continue Reading from The Seattle Times.

Great Interview With David Crosby

Listen to a great interview with David Crosby (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young). Interview conducted recently on the Public radio program 'On Point'. (Link below).

The discussion centers around Crosby's career, his latest work, war, and the relationship between music and politics.

They don't make em like this anymore. What happened to the concept of consciousness in music? What happened to musicians who stood for something?

Today, musicians are much more concerned about record deals, and making sure their music is as dumbed down and non-political as possible so that it can get played on MTV. (Empty V tends to ban anything that carries a political or social message).

I think about Crosby doing his thing in the 60's and 70's and then I think about the musicians out there today. It's depressing. We have gone from musicians like Dave Crosby, Curtis Mayfield, & Marvin Gaye, (regardless of genre) to Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Snoop Dog and the gangster rap culture. Music in general has definitely fallen a mighty long way....

Listen to Interview Here. (choose audio option at top of page).

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Chuck D Interviews Bro J From X Clan

I typically do not write on Rap News or Information, unless i'm in a rage, lol.
But this is an exception.

Two Legendary Rap Groups, Public Enemy & X-Clan, Join Forces For Tour

These two groups are from an era when Rap was still vibrant and uplifting. Black pride was still a main topic for discussion for these groups. And they were around during a time when it was cool to be Black and smart.

Today, the opposite seems to be true. In terms of so-called "Hip Hop" culture today, Black degradation has taken the place of cultural pride.

Chuck D. came to the forefront during a time when cultural and political Consciousness was still an important part of rap music. Public Enemy was the soundtrack to some of my High School days for sure. That was a time when we used to wear our Africa symbols around our necks and we would boycott Coca Cola for its support of Apartheid in South Africa. And Public Enemy, X-Clan and others were the soundtrack.

These kinds of causes are no longer a part of the current "Hip Hop" culture. The only protest that I have seen them get excited about was a protest calling for the release of singer R. Kelly.... a child rapist. They don't seem to have any concept of political consciousness, pride, or any social uplift whatsoever. Today it is all about sex, mindless material pursuits, and who is the bigger thug, womanizer, or deadbeat. It's as if the thug rappers are in competition for some coveted award... with categories like who is the nastiest, the can write the most ignorant and pointless rap lyrics, who is the biggest a-hole, who is the toughest gangster or biggest criminal, and who is the most creative when it comes to degrading women--- for example: The Clown Snoop Dog put Black women on leashes and paraded them on National TV as his dogs (literally) .... Nelly has used a womans backside as a credit card reader on a cash register....so very uplifting for Black folks.... and Black folks celebrate these people as heroes. That's the sickening part. It's all a race to the bottom. (This is why the Black race is imploding right now).

I no longer listen to rap music (with the rare exception of some old Chuck D./ Public Enemy). However, it's good to see two of my favorite groups getting together for a tour. This should have happened back in the late 80's/early 90's.

Chuck D Interviews X-Clan's Bro. J
Listen Here.

Would the current generation even know what X-Clan was talking about 15+ years ago? I doubt it very seriously. That kind of rap was far more complicated & nuanced than the Hip Hop heard today. It's like Pre-school Vs. College. Not much of a comparison. Anything that doesn't mention a womans anatomy within the first line would probably be of no interest to the current generation.

"We have gone from Let Freedom Ring... to the Bling Bling.... What A Monumental Drop" -- Dr. Cornel West Speaking about the present state of Hip Hop Culture.

Some X-Clan

(Right Click- Open in new window)

Funk'in Lesson

In The Ways of the Scales

Lord Have Mercy!!!

Heck No, this Hip Hop generation would not understand or be interested in this stuff at all! LOL X-Clan would not even get radio airplay today because the radio stations would not allow it. But we definitely need this back again.

The N Word

UPDATE: Interview from KMOX Radio, with Boston College Professor Lawrence Watson. He is an African American educator and anti- N word advocate.

Listen Here (Interview is on the second part of this audio segment. Fast forward to the 20 min, 15 second mark if you want to skip the first segment)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Original Post

Listen (below) to a great debate about the N Word from NPR's News and Notes program. This has been an ongoing debate among African Americans for some time now, however, the current debate seems to be more urgent. It was brought on by the recent tirade from Comedian & Actor Michael Richards, which was caught on video at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.

Paul Mooney, a well known African American Comedian who often used the word in his performances, says that the Michael Richards episode cured him forever. He will never again use the N Word. He said that it was like shock treatment for him, and that the incident made him more introspective.

In this first segment, Paul Mooney is in a debate with Rapper KRS 1.

It is no surprise that the often despicable Rap community is STILL attempting to justify the use of this word so that they can continue to use it in their lyrics. (I should point out that my anger goes out to most of the Rap culture....definitely not all of it). And why would they want to give it up? They have made millions while using the word and Black leaders have allowed them to get away with this nonsense for so long.... why stop now?

But of course this is a position that raises my blood pressure quite a bit. It is one of the many things about so-called "Hip Hop culture" that aggravates me to no end.

There is one priceless moment in the first segment where KRS 1 (who often gets too big for his pants) gets checked by Paul Mooney....in an indirect way. It's a rare event to see African Americans stand up to rappers these days. It's about time.... The coddling and excuse making must stop!

Listen to Segment Here

In this next Segment, The African American Roundtable Continues with the N Word debate. Other issues are also covered. As usual, the Roundtable sets things straight!

Summary

Topics include the debate over the "N" word, Ford's attempt at a financial turnaround and a pray-in in Washington, D.C., held to protest racial profiling of passengers. Farai Chideya's guests are economist and author Julianne Malveaux; Ron Christie, vice president of DC Navigators; and Walter Fields, CEO and Publisher of the NorthStarNetwork.com.

Listen Here

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Related Links

Black Leaders Call For An End To The Use of the N Word

Abolish The N Word Website.

The Freedom of the Press in the USA

How Does The U.S. Measure Up When It Comes To Press Freedom?

Jim Hightower gives the lowdown...

Listen to Audio from his December 1st Commentary.

View Text Here.

Tom Vilsack Enters Presidential Race

Tom Vilsack Enters Presidential Race as the First Democrat to Officially Declare Candidacy.

Story Here

Could Vilsack be the leader that the U.S. so desperately needs? I think it's possible.

So far, he is talking my language, especially when he talks about breaking our dependence on foreign energy. I'd like to see the U.S. become 100% energy independent in 10-15 years (or sooner). Sounds impossible, but if we had a President and a Congress that made it a top priority, it could get done.

This is one of the most important issues of our time and it is also part of a wider strategy for securing the country and putting us in a better position to deal with the Middle East.

A few months ago I posted a list of potential candidates from both parties. Vilsack was one of only a handful of candidates who got a good overview from me. See List Here.

A few names on the list have already dropped out.... Feingold (D) and Frist (R).

While Baghdad explodes and Iraqis Die; We Shop

Commentary By Writer Bob Herbert

November 28, 2006

The competing television news images on the morning after Thanksgiving were of the unspeakable carnage in Sadr City in Baghdad — where more than 200 Iraqi civilians were killed by a series of coordinated car bombs — and the long lines of cars filled with holiday shopping zealots that jammed the highway approaches to American malls that had opened for business at midnight.

A Wal-Mart in Union, N.J., was besieged by customers even before it opened its doors at 5 a.m. Friday. "All I can tell you," said a Wal-Mart employee, "is that they were fired up and ready to spend money."

There is something terribly wrong with this juxtaposition of gleeful Americans with fistfuls of dollars storming the department store barricades and the slaughter by the thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, including old people, children and babies. The war was started by the United States, but most Americans feel absolutely no sense of personal responsibility for it.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., recently proposed that the draft be reinstated, suggesting that politicians would be more reluctant to take the country to war if they understood that their constituents might be called up to fight. What struck me was not the uniform opposition to the congressman's proposal — it has long been clear that there is zero sentiment in favor of a draft in the U.S. — but the fact that it never provoked even the briefest discussion of the responsibilities and obligations of ordinary Americans in a time of war.

With no obvious personal stake in the war in Iraq, most Americans are indifferent to its consequences. In an interview last week, Alex Racheotes, a 19-year-old history major at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, said, "I definitely don't know anyone who would want to fight in Iraq. But beyond that, I get the feeling that most people at school don't even think about the war. They're more concerned with what grade they got on yesterday's test."

His thoughts were echoed by other students, including John Cafarelli, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of New Hampshire, who was asked if he had any friends who would be willing to join the Army. "No, definitely not," he said. "None of my friends even really care about what's going on in Iraq."

This indifference is widespread. It enables most Americans to go about their daily lives completely unconcerned about the atrocities resulting from a war being waged in their name. While shoppers here are scrambling to put the perfect touch to their holidays with the purchase of a giant flat-screen TV or a PlayStation 3, the news out of Baghdad is of a society in the midst of a meltdown.

According to the United Nations, more than 7,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in September and October. Nearly 5,000 of those killings occurred in Baghdad, a staggering figure.

In a demoralizing reprise of life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, the U.N. reported that in Iraq "The situation of women has continued to deteriorate. Increasing numbers of women were recorded to be either victims of religious extremists or 'honor killings.' Some non-Muslim women are forced to wear headscarves and to be accompanied by spouses or male relatives."

Journalists in Iraq are being "assassinated with utmost impunity," the U.N. report said, with 18 murdered in the last two months.

Iraq burns. We shop.

The Americans dying in Iraq are barely mentioned in the press anymore. They warrant maybe one sentence in a long roundup article out of Baghdad, or a passing reference — no longer than a few seconds — in a television news account of the latest political ditherings.

Since the vast majority of Americans do not want anything to do with the military or the war, the burden of fighting has fallen on a small cadre of volunteers who are being sent into the war zone again and again. Nearly 3,000 have been killed, and many thousands more have been maimed.

The war has now lasted as long as the American involvement in World War II. But there is no sense of collective sacrifice in this war, no shared burden of responsibility. The soldiers in Iraq are fighting, suffering and dying in a war in which there are no clear objectives and no end in sight, and which a majority of Americans do not support.

They are dying anonymously and pointlessly, while the rest of us are free to buckle ourselves into the family vehicle and head off to the malls and shop.

Bob Herbert is a New York Times columnist.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Monday, December 25, 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Monday, December 18, 2006

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Monday, December 11, 2006

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Monday, December 04, 2006

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Saturday, December 02, 2006

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