Saturday, August 13, 2011

England riots: The whites have become black says David Starkey


According to England's version of Rush Limbaugh, the riots across the Pond happened because - cue the drums - whites are becoming black.

Not because an unarmed man was shot in the back.
Not because unemployment for urban youth is very high.
Not because England's Austerity Program is floundering.
Not because of an exponentially growing divide between the haves and have nots.

Nope, none of the above factors in his analysis. It's because you black folks got them white folks mimicking your swag.

Watch him break it down...


Friday, August 12, 2011

Ghana schoolboy launches solo famine fundraiser & How you can help


.ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — As international aid agencies scramble for donations for East Africa's famine victims, one multi-million-dollar fundraising drive has come from an unexpected source: a West African schoolboy.

Andrew Adansi-Bonnah is 11. And during his eight-week school holiday, he wants to raise 20 million Ghanaian cedis — or about $13 million — for his cause by walking office to office collecting donations in Ghana's capital, Accra.

Since starting the drive Aug. 1, he has collected about $6,500 in pledges for the fund he started after consulting with UNICEF and the U.N.'s World Food Program. His father, schoolteacher Samuel Adansi-Bonnah, donated his entire July salary of about $500.

Andrew said he was inspired by images of skeletal babies and stick-thin children he saw on television, which led him to name his campaign Save Somali Children from Hunger.

"There are hungry people in Ghana but our situation is not as desperate as the people of Somalia," said the skinny, soft-spoken boy.

The United Nations estimates more than 12 million people across East Africa need food aid because of a long-running drought that has sent more than 100,000 people fleeing to refugee camps. Somalia has been hit the hardest. U.S. officials estimate the famine has killed 29,000 children in the past three months

How To Help

Tens of thousands of starving Somalis have flooded Mogadishu refugee camps in search of food as the nation fights East Africa's worst drought in 60 years and ruling militants who are blocking aid from western countries.


“There was no food, no help. There are kids dying left and right—I'm not exaggerating. They buried 12 on the day I visited,” said Jason Straziuso, a reporter for the Associated Press.

“The most touching thing so far has been when this small child waved at me yesterday. I stuck my head in her tent and she was lying, motionless, flies flying everywhere and she sort of stuck her head up and waved at me,” he said. “That put a lump in my throat because I don't know that she's going to get better, in fact I think she has a good chance of not getting better.”

African Union forces have launched an offensive to keep aid agencies safe as they bring food and supplies to the thousands of refugees in Mogadishu.
Below are organizations that are working on relief and recovery in the region:

International Medical Corps: The group has mobilized teams in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia -- three countries expected to bear the brunt of the drought -- to respond to this growing humanitarian crisis. Donate here.

Save the Children: Save the Children has launched a major humanitarian response in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, feeding tens of thousands of children, providing life-saving medical treatment, and getting clean water to remote communities. Donate here.

World Vision: World Vision has established 6-month response plans for Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Donate here.

American Red Cross: The American Red Cross' disaster relief efforts help those affected by the drought and current humanitarian emergency in Horn of Africa. The group is working to develop community resilience to help mitigate the effects of future crises. Donate here.

US Association for UNHCR: UNHCR is working in Somalia and neighboring countries to provide security, shelter, medical care, food, clean water and basic necessities. Donate here.

Oxfam America: Oxfam has set up water and sanitation facilities in the camps and is providing therapeutic feeding to women and children, and distributing food aid. Donate here.

Roger Ailes and the rise of Fox News


I found this article regarding the rise of FOX News a fascinating read. It brings insight on the unscrupulous and purposely racist creation of this propaganda machine. Make no mistake, Roger Ailes, president and image shaper of FOX, deliberately designed FOX to pander to white racism and white fears.

As I see it, the mission of FOX is to keep middle America deaf, dumb and blind. In this confused state of mind Joe Sixpack will continue to see blacks, immigrants, and progressives as the enemy. Under the influence of this relentless and convoluted propaganda, good ole Joey Sixpack allies with his oppressor instead of forming alliances with groups fighting the corrupt elite vultures.

Enuff of me, read on...


Even Rupert Murdoch is afraid of Roger Ailes, the paranoid boss of Fox News. But 'the Chairman' is using his power to make Americans more rightwing, more ignorant and ever more terrified


The key to decoding Fox News isn't hosts Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity. It isn't even News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch. To understand what drives Fox News, and what its true purpose is, you must first understand Chairman Ailes. "He is Fox News," says Jane Hall, a Fox commentator for 10 years, who defected over Ailes's embrace of the fear-mongering Glenn Beck. "It's his vision. It's a reflection of him."

Ailes runs the most profitable – and therefore least accountable – head of the News Corp hydra. Fox News reaped an estimated profit of $816m last year – nearly a fifth of Murdoch's global haul. The cable channel's earnings rivalled those of News Corp's entire film division, which includes 20th Century Fox, and helped offset a slump at Murdoch's beloved newspapers unit, which took a $3bn writedown after acquiring the Wall Street Journal. With its bare-bones newsgathering operation – Fox News has one-third of the staff and 30 fewer bureaus than CNN – Ailes generates profit margins above 50%. Nearly half comes from advertising and the rest is fees from cable companies. Fox News now reaches 100m households, attracting more viewers than all other cable news outlets combined, and Ailes aims for his network to "throw off a billion in profits".

The outsize success of Fox News gives Ailes a free hand to shape the network in his own image. "Murdoch has almost no involvement with it at all," says Michael Wolff, who spent nine months embedded at News Corp researching a biography of the Australian media giant. "People are afraid of Roger. Murdoch is, himself, afraid of Roger. He has amassed enormous power within the company – and within the country – from the success of Fox News."

Fear, in fact, is precisely what Ailes is selling: his network has relentlessly hyped phantom menaces such as the planned "terror mosque" near Ground Zero, inspiring Florida pastor Terry Jones to torch the Qur'an. Privately, Murdoch is as impressed by Ailes's business savvy as he is dismissive of his extremist politics. "You know Roger is crazy," Murdoch recently told a colleague, shaking his head in disbelief. "He really believes that stuff."

To watch even a day of Fox News – the anger, the bombast, the virulent paranoid streak, the unending appeals to white resentment, the reporting that is held to the same standard of evidence as a political campaign attack ad – is to see a refraction of its founder, one of the most skilled and fearsome operatives in the history of the Republican party. As a political consultant, Ailes repackaged Richard Nixon for television in 1968, papered over Ronald Reagan's budding Alzheimer's in 1984, shamelessly stoked racial fears to elect George Bush in 1988, and waged a secret campaign on behalf of Big Tobacco to derail healthcare reform in 1993. "He was the premier guy in the business," says former Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins. "He was our Michelangelo." Read Entire Article


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Steve Harvey: Tavis and Cornell West are Uncle Toms


Steve Harvey show recap referring to the West/Tavis 16 city Poverty Bus Tour:

The host (Steve Harvey), added his two cents after reading an email from a listener who said that he felt West and Smiley were conducting nothing but a “hustle” with their tour.

“I was a huge fan of Cornel West,” he said. “[But] Tavis, I seen him coming a mile away. His anger started when he had a town hall meeting, President Obama couldn’t come because of the campaign trail and he sent Mrs. Obama. He has held that grudge every since.”

Harvey then performed a skit claiming he was the president of UTLO.org (which stands out for “Uncle Tom Look Out”) and that he spotted an “uncle tom” driving a bus.



Whoa!

I have issues with both Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. I have been a very strong critic of Tavis for his very personal and relentless attacks on President Obama. Candidate Obama failed to kiss the King's (Tavis) golden ring, hence Tavis - feeling scorned - is on a personal crusade against the President.

Obama is not above criticism, however the attacks by West/Tavis do not factor in the legislative reality of our country.

Obama is straddled with the most racist (think Tea Baggers) and obstructionist Congress corporate America could buy. No legislation labeled Black Agenda will pass through this Congress.

In this atmosphere, where we are in the midst of wolves, it will be wise to follow a biblical proverb:

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16, KJV).


But to call them Uncle Toms is unfair. It is unnecessarily divisive and the ultimate kiss of death in the black community.

Both West and Tavis have a body of work in our community. We may passionately disagree with them, we may rigorously debate them; but, we should not marginalize the pair by calling them traitors.

In saying that, I still am very suspect on the motives off Tavis - especially after he cries about being frozen out by President Obama:

“Prior to his being elected, he came on my radio programs and TV programs with regularity,” Smiley said. “Once he got elected and my critique of him -- about holding him accountable to various things didn’t sit so well with him or the people around him -- he has not, at this point, come on my TV or radio programs one time since he’s been in this White House.”

Smiley said that Obama, whom he's known for years, "is the first president in my professional career that hasn't invited me to the White House."


Uncle Tom? No, more like a jilted lover...

Africa’s middle class – how big is it really?


Results of a new study by the African Development Bank (AfDB) show that the continent’s middle class has increased in size and purchasing power. Robust economic growth over the past 20 years has helped to lift many households out of poverty and into the middle class.

In 2010, Africa’s middle class, defined as those with a daily expenditure of between US$4 and $20 a day, stood at just over 120 million, or 13.4% of the population. The report says that if remittances from Africans living abroad, which usually go to households with per capita income levels of less than $4 per day, are taken into account, a sizeable segment of the poor group is likely to move into the lower middle class category of $4 per day, thus making the estimate of 300 million for Africa’s middle class population more plausible.

North African countries have some of the largest middle classes on the continent. Tunisia ranks top with 45.6% of its population falling into the middle class category, followed by Gabon (37.8%), Egypt (31.6%), Botswana (29.3%) and Algeria (27.3%). At the bottom end, Liberia is the country with the smallest middle class – only 1.9% of its total population earns between $4 and $20 per day.

The study notes that there are a number of characteristics that differentiate Africa’s middle class from the poor and rich. Most of those belonging to the middle class do not derive income from farming and rural economic activities, and are more likely to have salaried jobs or to have small businesses. Africa’s middle class generally lives in urban centres or along the coast. They have fewer children than the poor and spend more on their offspring’s schooling and nutrition. read more

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

USA Credit Downgrade: Ya Been Hoodwinked


The FIX is in!

Check it out.

The same people that caused our recession and economic crisis by:

inflated grades of mortgage-backed investments -- paid for by the banks that created the toxic debt

Have now decided to downgrade the credit rating of USA to AA from AAA. This move has created panic in world markets from Asia to Israel to Europe.

The critics are quick to yell foul:

Standard & Poor’s, the rating company that downgraded the debt of the United States to AA+ from AAA for the first time, now finds itself assailed by investors led by billionaire Warren Buffett for making a political decision that has more to do with Tea Party politics than the financial stability of the U.S.

I am no financial market wiz - and I don't need to be because this was all about politics - but I know game when I see game, and this is game.

This was scorched the earth game. A game when the major players would rather inflict severe pain on our country rather than be healed by the policies of President Obama.

In this game the players want power more than economic stability.

Let's recap this jack move:

1. S&P helped cause the 2008 Economic Meltdown by giving AAA rating to worthless investment packages that were sold to unsuspecting investors in gigantic bundles called hedge funds.

2. These hedge funds, full of delinquent mortgages, went belly up and created a financial crisis that created our Great Recession.

3. Now, this same disgraced, corrupt and fraudulent agency downgrades our credit. Seems to me, they are not happy about causing the Great Recession, they want to create a Great Depression.

S&P is in bed with the GOP/Tea Party and they both want to undermine President Obama and influence the 2012 election; and they don't give a rat's you know what about collateral damage.

I am going to channel my inner Malcolm:

Oh, I say and I say it again, ya been had!

Ya been took!

Ya been hoodwinked!

Bamboozled!

Led astray!

Run amok!