Ethiopian women sterilized in Israel

No country should be held to a double standard regarding human rights abuses. No country should be singled out for blame while we remain mute about another country's abuses.

The American media can be very aggressive in bringing to light human right abuses (and they should be) in Russian, Arab, African, Asian and South American countries.

In our 24/7 news culture, rarely does a State sponsored and administered human right violation occur without a severe rebuke and in-depth commentary. This is why I am absolutely appalled -- but not surprised -- by the American press not going 5 alarm on the immoral and heinous treatment of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Read on:

It isn’t an apology or an acceptance of responsibility. But for the first time, an Israeli government official has admitted what thousands of Ethiopian Jewish women have allegedly known for years – doctors in Israel have been injecting Ethiopian women with long-acting birth control medication known as Depo-Provera without the informed consent of the women. The effect of the shots lasts for months and the practice effectively sterilizes women for that period of time. Many Ethiopian women have reportedly received these shots for years with little or no say in the decision to receive them.

The Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Health Professor Ron Gamzu issued an order to Israel’s four health maintenance organizations to stop routinely administering Depo-Provera to Ethiopian Jews, Ha’aretz reportedyesterday, instructing all HMO gynecologists "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment.” He also ordered the gynecologists and other physicians to use Amharic translators when necessary to make sure the Ethiopian women understood their various treatment options and their side effects.

The Ministry of Health and other government ministries and agencies had until now denied knowledge or responsibility for the practice, which made international headlines when it was exposed by investigative journalist Gal Gabbay on the Israel Educational Television’s Vacuum news magazine in early December but which was first reported in a small Israeli print news publication five years ago.

“They told us people who frequently give birth suffer. We took it every three months. We said we didn’t want to,” one of the Ethiopian women interviewed by Gabbay on Vacuum said. 

Gamzu’s letter to the HMOs was issued in response to a letter from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel. The Association, which is representing several women’s rights and Ethiopian immigrants’ groups, demanded the injections cease immediately. It also insisted that an investigation be launched to determine how and why the near-blanket administration of Depo-Provera shots to Ethiopian women became the standard practice.

There has been an almost 50% decline over the past 10 years in the birth rate of Israel’s Ethiopian community. It is feared that a significant part of this drop has come from coercive administration of Depo-Provera. source

The only thing more shocking and disturbing than this story is the fact I have heard nothing about it in the American press. CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Washington Post, NY Times, Newsweek, Time, TMZ, Huffington Post have all decided to dedicate little or no coverage. 

A black-out?

Ironically, I have found more coverage in the Israeli press than in the American press. Go figure?!

Super Bowl 47: The HarBowl

Next Sunday's Super Bowl has already generated the expected excitement and then some. With all the SB narratives, plots and subplots to fill an encyclopedia -- hopefully it will completely knock Manti Te'o and his hoax girlfriend out of the news.

Wishing for a tie?

First, the dueling Harbaughs: this game matches Jim Harbaugh against his brother John; and as one sports writer  called it, it is The HarBowl. My question: who do the parents root for? One son's biggest victory will accompany the other son's worst defeat. What's a mom and dad to do?

 Well if the past is prologue...here's how the parents handled the first Harbaugh Vs Harbaugh contest.

After the Ravens defeated the 49ers 16-6, Jack Harbaugh said the parental instincts kicked in. He peeked into the Ravens locker room and the guys were jumping up and down. A smile was glued to John Harbaugh’s face.

“I thought to myself, we’re really not needed here,” he said.

Then, he went into the 49ers locker room. It was quiet and somber and Jim was alone in his office.

“That’s where we were needed,” Jack Harbaugh said. “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat and we know we’re going to experience that next week.”

But when Jackie Harbaugh sits down to watch the game next week, she’ll be pulling for the biggest underdog in Super Bowl history.

“I know one is going to win and one is going to lose,” she said. “But I would really like it to end in a tie. Can the NFL do that?”  source

Ray-Ray's swan song

Future Hall of Famer, Ray Lewis is hanging up the cleats win or lose. Going out in a blaze of victory would put an exclamation point on the legendary career of Lewis. Lewis was a boy-man that had it all and seemed to lose it all in that infamous post-SB party of 2000 that left two men dead. 

The fact that Mr. Lewis has redeemed and transformed himself into a solid man, father, team leader, league ambassador and mentor is a remarkable feat. His tale needs to be told to all aspiring young athletes with big money, lot's of time and a menacing entourage of boys from the hood.

Rising stars: The New QB's on the block

In next week's SB we are sans a Brady, Manning, lil Manning, Rogers, Brees or Big Ben. We have fresh, upcoming QB's leading their respective team: The Ravens have the strong arm of Joe Flacco and 49ers have the exciting double threat (running and passing) of Colin Kaepernick. A new star will be born!

I will be tuned in.

Side-Bar: Is it me or does Tom Brady seem very average if you can put consistent pressure on him? He appears to tap, tap, tap like Mr. Bojangles when faced with a raging defensive rush. One other note, ever since spygate  the Pats have not hoisted the SB Vince Lombardi trophy in the air. Take nothing away from coach Belichick, Brady and team but, I am just saying...

GOP: If you can't beat them cheat them!

Once again, let the games begin. 

Apparently, the Republican national brand is so tarnished, bruised and unpopular these days -- they lost 5 out of the last 6 presidential popular votes -- some of them have decided to pursue rigging elections over refining their message:

Taking its cue from the likes of Lance Armstrong, dozens of Atlanta Public School teachers and Bernie Madoff, the Republican Party is embracing a bold new solution to its political problems:

If you can’t compete, cheat.

And cheat big.

In Virginia, for example, Barack Obama has carried the state and its 13 electoral votes in the last two elections, becoming the first Democrat to carry the state back-to-back since Franklin Roosevelt. But rather than work harder to win back the state, or adopt policies more relevant to the needs of its voters, Republicans are advancing another solution.

Under a bill passed out of a state Senate subcommittee this week, Virginia would no longer award its electoral votes to the candidate who won the most votes. Instead, the state’s electoral votes would be allocated by congressional district, which are heavily gerrymandered to favor the GOP.*

Had the bill been law in November, Barack Obama would have been awarded just four of the state’s 13 electoral votes, even though he carried the state.

Mitt Romney, who lost the state, would have won nine electoral votes, more than twice as many as the winner. As one observer put it, Virginia is in the process of moving from a winner-takes-all system to a loser-takes-most system. source

Larry Saboto, well respected (by Republicans and Democrats) political scientist and analysist, stated:

Republicans are struggling to right their ship after the defeat of 2012. The unfavorable demographic trends for the GOP that we describe in our new book, Barack Obama and the New America, have sunk in, and the party knows it must do something. 

We have solicited ideas ourselves, believing that it is vital for America to have vigorous party competition. You will see some of those ideas, offered by our readers and Twitter colleagues, here. But nestled among the constructive ideas is a truly rotten one, the proposal to fix and game the Electoral College to give a sizable additional advantage to the Republican nominee for president.

We have asked Crystal Ball Senior Columnist Alan Abramowitz, Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory University, to examine the proposal and outline its likely effects. As we suspected, it would permit a GOP nominee to capture the White House even while losing the popular vote by many millions. 

This is not a relatively small Electoral College “misfire” on the order of 1888 or 2000. Instead, it is a corrupt and cynical maneuver to frustrate popular will and put a heavy thumb — the whole hand, in fact — on the scale for future Republican candidates. We do not play presidential politics with a golf handicap awarded to the weaker side.

Republicans face a choice that can best be characterized by personalizing it. A healthy, optimistic party is Reaganesque, convinced that it can win the future by embracing it, and by making a positive case for its philosophy and candidates to all Americans. A party in decline is Nixonian and fears the future; it sees enemies everywhere, feels overwhelmed by electoral trends, and thinks it can win only by cheating, by subverting the system and stacking the deck in its favor. 

Whose presidency was more successful, Reagan’s or Nixon’s? Which man made the Republican brand more appealing? read entire article

Well stated, Mr. Sabato. It is most interesting to note, GOP plans in Virginia overlapped (and maybe overshadowed) a passionate appeal by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. In a Republican National Committee meeting in Charlotte, Jindal implored his fellow party members to stop being the party of  stupid.

In his own words:

Criticizing both his party's leadership and specific politicians, he said Republicans need to "stop being the stupid party" and "stop insulting the intelligence of voters."

"It's no secret we had a number of Republicans that damaged the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments and I'm here to say we've had enough of that," Jindal said. "We need to trust the smarts of the American people. We've got to stop dumbing down our ideas and stop reducing everything to mindless slogans and tag lines for 30-second ideas." source

Let the church say amen!

But I fear -- even with big Republican elephant ears -- they a severely tone deaf. This condition results from living in the echo chamber that was created by the Conservative Entertainment Complex. And until this huge propaganda apparatus is dismantled/defeated the party faithful will continue to accept lies and distortions that peddle to their fears, hatred and prejudices.

President Obama 2013: "Bolder and Smarter"

President Obama will be sworn in for a second term on Monday, January 20th. He will take the oath of office in 2013 with a starkly different perspective than 2009.

He is less the president of unbridled hope -- "we are not a collection of blue states and red states, we are the United States." He is much more grounded and wiser: universal optimism has been replaced by pragmatic realism.

To say he understands the duplicity, intransigence and the unmitigated wackiness of his opposition (GOP) would be the understatement of the decade. The only finger lifted by the GOP during his first term was the middle finger to Obama, Democrats, middle/working class, immigrants and the poor.

The party of no wanted nothing more than to sabotage all things Obama!

What has emerged: Obama has become more bold, uncompromising and steadfast. He refused to blink or bat an eye in the fiscal game of chicken played by the leverage challenged Republican congress. He is rejecting the inside game by taking his agenda to the American people -- a la Ronald Reagan. He is no longer reluctant to use the bully pulpit.

Will Obama reboot pay more dividends? CNN contributor David Gergen asks the same question:

All of this has added up for Obama to one of the most effective transitions in modern times. And it is paying rich dividends: A CNN poll this past week pegged his approval rating at 55%, far above the doldrums he was in for much of the past two years. Many of his long-time supporters are rallying behind him. As the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to score back-to-back election victories with more than 50% of the vote, Obama is in the strongest position since early in his first year.

Smarter, tougher, bolder -- his new style is paying off politically. But in the long run, will it also pay off in better governance? Perhaps -- and for the country's sake, let's hope so. Yet, there are ample reasons to wonder, and worry. source

Many looming issues face our country from immigration to climate control to almost record high unemployment of young African-Americans -- not to mention a still some what fragile economy. These issues require a determined and resolute leader who stakes the higher ground instead of trying to appease the fringe right-wing crowd. Obama appears ready to fit the bill.

Now this is hope I can believe in!

NRA shouts fire in a crowded theater

NRA peddling fear: Obama wants your gun.

Governor Chris Christie on the NRA;

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday condemned the new National Rifle Association Web ad that invokes President Obama’s children, the latest move by the prominent Republican to sharply criticize a group closely aligned with his own party.

“To talk about the president’s children or any public officer’s children who have — not by their own choice, but by requirement — to have protection and to use that somehow to try to make a political point I think is reprehensible,” Christie, a potential 2016 White House contender, said at a Thursday news conference. “My children had no choice that I wanted to run for governor. I pretended that they did. I asked them what they thought. But in the end, they had absolutely no choice in whether I ran for governor or not. And they knew that, by the way, when I was asking them, which is why they didn’t spend a whole lot of time answering.”

“But the effects on their lives are significant,” he continued. “And they’re a full couple of steps down from the effect that it would have if, you know, when your father’s president of the United States, and the security concerns that go along with that.” source

The powerful and obviously reprehensible NRA insists on shouting fire in a crowded theater with intent of whipping their fan base into a raging frenzy. They want some of their fringe and unhinged members (individuals with powerful weapons) to feel threatened by any gun control proposed legislation. They are doing their best to provoke the "loose cannons" to take their anger to the streets. So the NRA continues to shout...

"Obama wants your gun!"

Any attempts to legislate common sense gun laws is met by great resistance. They spend millions and millions of dollars annually to buy support -- mainly in the GOP -- from congress. They issue congressional report cards to de facto threaten elected leaders who fail to properly pass their litmus test.

And the height of NRA influence over congress: The congress during the 1990's banned the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from using federal funds in studying gun violence and its root causes.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other scientific agencies will be allowed to study the causes, effects and prevention of gun violence, after President Obama lifted a de facto ban on such research.

The move was one of 23 executive directives issued by President Obama yesterday in the aftermath of last month’s shooting rampage at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school.

Gun violence kills more than 30,000 Americans every year — almost as many as die in car accidents. Last year, no federal funding was used for research on gun violence, while $62.4 million went to vehicle and highway safety research. source

It's time for more politicians, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents to break the strangle hold of the NRA and legislate the sensible gun laws that over 80% of the American public want. And there is hope:

WASHINGTON -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants the nation's mayors to pressure members of Congress to support President Barack Obama's gun violence proposals and take their cue from the hardball tactics often used by the gun lobby.

Bloomberg said in a speech Friday to the U.S. Conference of Mayors that mayors remain on the front lines and deal with gun violence on a daily basis, often comforting families of shooting victims. The billionaire said mayors need to band together and make clear that members of Congress could lose their jobs if they don't support tougher gun laws.

"We need to tell our members of Congress that they've got to stand up for sensible gun laws, and if they do that, we will stand up for them, and if they don't we will stand up for whoever runs against them. Because that's exactly what the NRA is trying to do," Bloomberg said.

"The NRA says, 'You don't support us, we're going to make you lose your job. We're going to support your opponent.' Well, we can do exactly the same thing," he said.

Bloomberg urged his fellow mayors to mobilize behind a sweeping set of proposals offered by Obama after last month's deadly shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The big-city mayor, who leads Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has often used his own money to push gun-control causes.

"We need every mayor to go to their congressman and their congresswoman and their senators and say we've got a problem in our city, and you're the one who is responsible if that problem continues," Bloomberg said.

He said the National Rifle Association and members of the gun lobby's ability to influence elections is "vastly overblown," noting that the NRA had tried to unseat Obama during the 2012 and failed. "I think you'll find they weren't terribly successful at doing that," he said, days before Obama's Inauguration.

Obama's plan faces uncertain prospects in Congress, where lawmakers have been hesitant to support tougher gun laws in recent years. The issue of gun control has been a major topic during the three-day meeting of the national mayors' organization.  source

Colin Powell: GOP has a "dark vein of intolerance"

After decades of being the quintessential "team player" or loyal soldier for the GOP, Colin Powell has opened up to express his current concerns regarding the Republican party.

So, Mr. Powell, please tell us what you really think.

Colin Powell did more than defend Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel on Sunday morning TV. The former secretary of State also strongly condemned his Republican Party, calling it out for a "dark vein of intolerance."

"There's also a dark – a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party. What do I mean by that? I mean that by that that they still sort of look down on minorities," Powell said. "When I see a former governor [Sarah Palin] say that the President is 'shuckin' and 'jivin,' that's racial era slave term. Another former governor [John Sununu] after the president's first debate where he didn't do very well, says that the president was lazy … now it may not mean anything to most Americans, but to blacks, the second word is shiftless and then there's a third word that goes along with that


Why do senior Republican leaders tolerate this kind of discussion within the party?” he asked.

"I think the Republican Party right now is having an identity problem and I'm still a Republican," Powell said on NBC's Meet the Press, as he lamented a "significant shift to the right" that has resulted in losing presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.

"If it's just going to represent the far right wing of the political spectrum, I think the party is in difficulty," said Powell, who said he voted for a GOP presidential candidate seven times in a row before voting for President Obama twice. "I'm a moderate, but I'm still a Republican."  source

Powell could not be more correct: The far right wing, via a coup de etat, has overthrown the mainstream GOP establishment. In an effort to resurrect the party of Ron Reagan they have morphed into the party of Rush Limbaugh. And since the GOP controls the House of Representatives, by default, the Tea Party wackos are driving the House agenda.

The far right is obstructing or blocking sane gun control legislation, economic recovery, Wall Street regulations, immigration reform, American infrastructure investment and the list goes on. And with these truly morally and mentally imbalanced folks calling shots (just think Allen West and Michele Bachmann types) America's future remains in a tenuous position -- up the creek without a paddle.

Even as we speak, Tea Baggers are calling for another economic shut down unless President Obama and the Democratic congress concedes to GOP demands that were soundly rejected in the 2012 election.

Hopefully, the GOP grown-ups can restore order in their asylum. If not, my fellow Americans, we have 2014 (mid-term elections) to show these clowns our collective disgust and rage.

Romney and his 47% electorate base

The 2012 presidential election was officially certified today by the Electoral College. And the results were anti-climatic: President Obama was officially re-elected by a margin of 332 to 206 electoral votes.

Mr. 47%

But the poetic justice and odd ironic twist of fate was: Romney received 47% of the vote. Romney, of course, made that infamous 47% speech in which he stated:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims. … These are people who pay no income tax. … and so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” source

Many would argue that the bulk of Romney's 47% base includes voters that consistently fail to elect representatives that are interested in responsible governing. These far-right folks are more interested in making protest statement votes, maintaining an extreme conservative agenda, passing ideological purity test and subverting anything Obama -- even if he adopts their policy -- than governing. As posted on The Political Carnival:

Is there anything of worth that the House GOP won’t block? Immigration reform  (DREAM Act), health care improvements, employment opportunities in education and other public sector jobs, campaign finance reform, help for Hurricane Sandy victims, civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights… read more

In the name of promoting federal government economic prudence, the Tea Party coalition is willing to drive our economy (and by extension the world economy) over the cliff, thus triggering another recession. In the name of austerity, the far right wants to make major cuts to medicare, medicaid and Social Security in order to absolve the super rich from paying their fair share of taxes.

Fortunately, Romney's 47% agenda was rejected by Obama's 50 plus percent. Now, the task at hand is to flush the remaining extreme Tea Party loyalist out of congress in 2014 mid-term election. To accomplishment this goal we have to remain as engaged and strategic in the political process as we were during the 2012 election. 

Dominique Wilkins' touching tribute for former teammate

We know the drill: Each time a former athlete or current professional athlete falls from grace, his/her story is headline material.

Our 24/7 media monster is forever waiting to pounce on the athlete du jour and their hiccups.

Bad news sells good and salacious news sells even better.

Trending against the norm, here is an incredible (and heroic) story of former NBA star Dan Roundfield who died this year during a successful effort to save his drowning wife. Roundfield's story flew under the media radar until former teammate Dominique Wilkins wrote a touching tribute about "Dan the selfless leader, the husband, the father and the fearless teammate and friend.”

Human Highlight

Now to my youngins, Wilkins -- affectionately called Nique the freak -- was the orginal human highlight reel -- sorry Blake Griffen fans, the template was already established by Nique and co. 20 some years ago. Here's the link for proof: Nique the freak.

That being said, this is no doubt one of  Wilkins' best and classiest move. Read on:

When one looks at this image, they instinctively think of Dan the Atlanta Hawks player, the tenacious defender and the NBA All-Star. He was certainly all of those things, but for those of us who knew him, we look at this image and think of Dan the selfless leader, the husband, the father and the fearless teammate and friend. Dan lost his life this year at the age of 59 saving his wife of 37 years from drowning on the beaches of Aruba while on a family vacation. In his last moments, as he himself was fighting for his life, Dan fearlessly lived and died for his family, which is all he ever really wanted.  source

Link: The Lives They Loved

Lincoln or Django?

The two huge cinematic buzzes this holiday season -- Lincoln and Django Unchained -- were movies dealing with race and slavery.

I saw Lincoln and I was utterly in awe of the acting, dialogue and the authenticity of the setting. Steven Spielberg's master piece has Oscars written all over it. His depiction of the 1800s was so detailed that the viewer felt like a time-traveler.

We saw a cagey, warm-hearted, somber and political realist Lincoln portrayed. The main plot centered on how Lincoln -- in the midst of the Civil War -- used all his folksy willing and dealing skills to ratify the 13th Amendment ending de jure American slavery.

I plan to see this film again.

The other movie Django Unchained, I do not plan to see.

Tarantino has created a black superhero in Jamie Foxx’s Django. He’s a freed slave who is good at killing callous white people, exacting vengeance for their specific folly of brutalizing him and his wife, but also living out the fantasy of being the one black man who couldn’t be dehumanized by slavery. source

Director Quentin Taratino is known for his (excuse the pun) pulp fiction like films. His films are usually very gory and lurid. I am not a Spike Lee type Taratino hater, in fact, Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favorite films.

I just believe that slavery and race period films require a certain sensitivity and scholarship that I have yet seen from Taratino. There are too many unhealed wounds to be glib and sensational in presentation.

Being a history buff, I enjoy Hollywood movies that have both entertainment and educational value. We are definitely lacking movies that push us to think on higher levels. Movies with race issues and slavery imagery are far too often shunned in Hollywood.

Taratino and Spielberg have the courage, clout and track record to have their films green lighted. Both directors have a diverse audiences that support their films. But do diverse audiences support black directors who attempt to tackle these same themes. In other words, if Spike Lee makes the exact same film as Taratino would non-blacks support him? Or, would the film be marketed as just a "black movie"?

Apparently, I am not alone in asking the above questions. David Siroto asks and answers the rhetorical question:

Could a black director have made “Django”?

Tarantino's daring film would have been received differently by the media -- or never made -- if he wasn't white.

He reasons:

Film critic Eric Deggans alluded to White Privilege in his terrific Salon piece on “Django Unchained” earlier this week. Noting that ”studios know white audiences will show up for (Tarantino’s) movies,” he concluded that Tarantino is “a white man who gets to do what black artists should also get to do” — but too often do not get the opportunity to do. Why not? Because of the way films by different directors are inevitably portrayed in the media and interpreted by White America.

The best way to illustrate this form of White Privilege is to imagine ”Django Unchained” being released as a production from an African American writer and director. Under those circumstances, in the media and among white audiences, the film most likely would be perceived not merely as a mass-audience entertainment product with some underlying social commentary by a single director, but as a niche political film allegedly from a whole community with an axe to grind. That is, it would probably be met in the media and among potential viewers not in the way it has been met, but instead as a divisive “black movie” — by, and allegedly only for, black people. read entire essay

Related Links: Taratino is the baddest black filmmaker working today.

Payback! Hundreds of Homeowners Associations Threaten Banks with Foreclosure

In the spirit of the holiday, here's a man bites dog story. Read and relish how the big banks are feeling the pinch from the little guy. This story was reprinted from Alternet.com

In Florida, banks who slack on maintaining their properties are getting a taste of their own medicine.

December 26, 2012  |  

It’s payback time—literally. In Florida, hundreds of homeowner and neighborhood associations are foreclosing on banks that have failed to upkeep their repossessed properties, according to—of all things— a CNN Money report.

Florida is one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures, and there are nearly a half-million foreclosed houses now standing vacant and often slowly deteriorating. When a bank forecloses on a house, evicts the family and then repossesses the property, it also assumes responsibility for maintaining the home and yard and paying homeowner or condo association fees. Yet, some of the nation’s largest and richest banks have been unable or unwilling to upkeep their properties—prompting neighbors across Florida to declare enough is enough.