The Black Informant

Another one of our babies is missing (9/24/06)

Dearrelle Steven Black
Case Type: Missing
DOB: Sep 17, 1989
Sex: Male
Missing Date: May 27, 2006
Race: Black
Age Now: 17
Height: 5′7″ (170 cm)
Missing City: VIRGINIA BEACH
Weight: 160 lbs (73 kg)
Missing State : VA
Hair Color: Black
Missing Country: United States
Eye Color: Brown
Case Number: USVAVA06-302
Circumstances: Dearrelle had a fresh bruise on his left eye, wears braces, wristbands and a ring on his pinky finger.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
Virginia Missing Children’s Clearinghouse
1-800-822-4453
Virginia Beach Police Department (757)385-8175

Further proof that Black men do step up to the plate

(news8austin.com) “…The African American Men and Boys Conference helps students find the information and mentors they need to succeed better in life. But it isn’t just aimed at young men. Organizers want to help single moms find support systems.

“If they’re looking for tutors for their kids, if they’re looking for mentors, as you can see, we have tons of men here today who are willing to step up to the plate. I’m just asking the single mothers to come and share whatever your concerns are because we have the men, we have the brothers in the house today,” organizer Michael Lofton said.” (more…)

Good for them! I just pray that these men stay consistent with these young men.

Sign People #1

I was in the car today when I happened to catch this guy on the corner. Fortunately I had my video camera with me. The music is actually coming from the car next to me, so he was not dancing to the music that you hear (notice, he is wearing headphones).
There was another guy I saw earlier that was humping his sign. Yes, I said humping…and slapping it.

Quicktime video (click on image)

Ol’ skool brothas–my kind of crowd

This is how you do it.

DALLAS — About a dozen residents of a Dallas neighborhood beat a man after reports that he had been showing pornographic pictures to children on a playground, police said…
When one of the mothers saw him and asked Burke what he was doing, he tried to run and the woman started screaming, said Elizabeth Williams, the mother of another child. According to a police report, Burke said about 15 men “jumped him and hit him repeatedly on the face with their fists.” He suffered minor injuries, police said. (more…)

Yes! This how you handle bidness. No sensitivity training, no “let’s understand why he did what he did”. They just toe dat (you know what) up!

 

Knowing what’s best for you

First the news:

(chicagotribune.com) In an aggressive move to win over consumers that also threatens to shake up the $250 billion pharmaceutical business, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it plans to test the selling of many generic prescription drugs for the unusually low price of $4 per month…

Health care is also a politically charged issue for Wal-Mart, which has been criticized for not offering enough insurance to its employees. That prompted some analysts to question whether the company’s motive for promoting discounted generic drugs is tied to efforts to polish its corporate image…

The $4 price for a wide selection of drugs would be available to everyone, whether they have health insurance or not. (more…)

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It never ceases to amaze me how Liberals will hammer Conservatives for not caring enough for the “underclass”. Then when they make a move like this, the suspicion INCREASES (Okay, why are they REALLY doing this?).

I think the biggest thing that pisses me off about this anti-Wal-Mart movement is that it is often lead by folks who can afford to pay higher prices at most grocery stores. Talk to most people in low-income areas (and middle class areas as well) and they will tell you that price and quality are what matters. My family was finally able to find a grocery store that met that criteria, but we have to drive a little over 20 miles to get there. Funny how you will never hear this scenario being repeated by those who claim to care for poor folks with no transportation. If we were to do our full grocery shopping at the grocery store down the street, for the same amount of groceries that we purchase at the other grocery store, we would walk out paying AT LEAST $100 over.

The few Wal-Marts that we have in our area are ALWAYS full of shoppers. Why? Because that is their choice. They choose to go for the better deal and get it. And guess what? There are more businesses STILL moving to the area. More »

Free Jazz MP3s

Go to the website of Jazz Times magazine. There you will find a list of free MP3s (updated regularly) that you can download. Just fill out the two-part registration and enjoy.

Jazz Times Mp3 page

Is ethanol all what its cracked up to be?

From Consumer Reports:

“…after putting a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe FFV through an array of fuel economy, acceleration, and emissions tests, and interviewing more than 50 experts on ethanol fuel, CR determined that E85 will cost consumers more money than gasoline and that there are concerns about whether the government’s support of FFVs is really helping the U.S. achieve energy independence. Among our findings:

• The fuel economy of the Tahoe dropped 27 percent when running on E85 compared with gasoline, from an already low 14 mpg overall to 10 mpg (rounded to the nearest mpg). This is the lowest fuel mileage we’ve gotten from any vehicle in recent years.

• With the retail pump price of E85 averaging $2.91 per gallon in August, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks petroleum and other fuel prices, a 27 percent fuel-economy penalty means drivers would have paid an average of $3.99 for the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. (click here for more)

Dumb political plays of the week

>From the Republican camp:

A national black Republican group is running a radio advertisement accusing Democrats of starting the Ku Klux Klan and saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, a claim challenged by civil-rights researchers…

…The spot begins with one woman telling another, “Dr. King was a real man. You know he was a Republican.”

…In the ad, the woman goes on to say, “Democrats passed those black codes and Jim Crow laws. Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan.” Her companion replies, “The Klan? White hoods and sheets?” (more…)

Democrats were wrong to go here in the last elections and were called out for it.  Apparently some Republicans didn’t get the memo. Fortunately Steele distanced himself from this mess.

>From the Democrat camp:  More »

Islam is a religion of peace…in the west

Anytime I hear someone state that “Islam is a peaceful religion”, something in me just does not get it. I mean, I think that it is safe to say here that most of the terrorist activity that is currently taking place today around the globe (intentional activity against civilians) is being committed by the hands of those that profess Islam as their religion. If a person in just about any Muslim-based country voices out opposition in any way, shape or form towards Islam, that person is oftentimes met with threats on his or her life–threats that are often carried out. Just recently, the Pope made a couple of critical remarks regarding Islam and its recent trend of violence around the world. The response? Rioting in the streets, images of the Pope being burned by angry mobs, the murder of a Catholic nun, and death threats on the Pope himself. In short, they did nothing but proved his point.
More »

Handing out condoms in prison: What do you think?

First the news:

Congresswoman Barbara Lee announced Saturday, September 16 new legislation she is proposing that would allow condoms to be distributed in prisons in an effort to prevent sexually transmitted infections…

…Lee welcomed the panelists and organizations present, and spoke about her two new pieces of HIV/AIDS legislation – H.R. 2553, the Responsible Education About Life Act, and the Stop STIs in Prisons Act.

H.R. 2553 will create a grant program that allows states (currently prohibited from receiving federal funding for sexual education and prevention programs that do not adhere to the Bush administration’s mandated abstinence-only-until-marriage doctrine) “to implement a comprehensive approach to sex education that includes information about both contraception and abstinence.”

The Stop STIs in Prisons Act will allow community organizations to distribute condoms in U.S. prisons, where the rates of HIV and hepatitis C infections are on the rise.(more…)

This is one of those few topics that I feel free to discuss here, but I know how raw (graphic) I can be with it. While I’m still thinking this one over, if you have an opinion please share.

Get involved: Stop government from jacking up your cell phone bill!

From Citizens Against Government Waste 

===

(Links are provided for you below to write your senator in minutes)

The Senate has an opportunity right now to place a three-year freeze on all new state and municipal taxes on your cellular phone and other wireless services!  Ask your Senators today to support the Senate Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform Act! 
States and cities across the country have taken advantage of the rapid growth of wireless communications as an opportunity to raise revenue.  They are increasing the cost of your cell phone and other wireless services by imposing a whole host of excessive taxes and fees to fund unrelated spending.  Average cell phone users pay about 17 percent in taxes every month, while wireless taxes are well over 20 percent in several states.  Wireless taxes have increased 10 times faster than taxes on other goods and services!

In addition, states and cities have enacted hundreds of inconsistent and overlapping laws and regulations that threaten to drive up wireless prices further, reduce consumer choices, and slow the introduction of new products and services. 

The Senate telecommunications bill would provide one consistent national wireless policy and impose a three-year freeze on new state and local taxes on wireless services.  

Please tell your Senators today to support the Senate Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform Act! 

Shaq launches real estate venture

(EURWeb.com) NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has announced the launch of his own real estate and development company that will pursue partnerships and joint ventures to acquire, develop and promote select projects across the U.S.

“The O’Neal Group,” announced Tuesday during a press conference in Miami, has set as its first project a partnership with MDM Development in the building of Metropolitan Miami (The Met), a billion-dollar mixed-use development anchoring downtown Miami’s urban renewal. (more…)

BLACK ENTERPRISE Announces List of 75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street

NEW YORK, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ — BLACK ENTERPRISE (BE) today announced its “75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street,” as featured in the October 2006 cover story. The list includes 30 top-tier professionals, including cover subjects Raymond McGuire, managing director & co-head, global investment banking, Citigroup; and William M. Lewis Jr., managing director & co-chairman, investment banking, Lazard Freres & Co., L.L.C. Another 33 are entrepreneurs who head the largest black-owned investment banks, asset management companies, and private equity firms. Whether they are heading major departments, managing core businesses, or running their own firms, the executives highlighted have a significant impact on their companies’ bottom lines. (more…)

Black Entrepreneurs “winning”

(businessweek.com) “In some deeply empowering good news, the U.S. Census Bureau recently informed Americans that black-owned businesses are among the fastest-growing segments of the nation’s economy—up 45% from 1997 to 2002—and that these businesses currently generate a healthy $89 billion in revenue, up 25% over the same period. And while the geography of this trend shows no surprises—African-American businesses tend to be concentrated in cities such as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Chicago—it’s instructive to look a little beneath the surface.

…t’s thrilling to see the creativity, determination, and resourcefulness black people bring to creating wealth. Less thrilling, but still necessary, is a dash of reality. African Americans’ entrepreneurial businesses led in the number of bankruptcies. And even when they’re successful as entrepreneurs, African Americans too often choose to go it alone because they’re shut out of other routes to the top.” (more…)

Website: Afrocentric Learning Tools

“The mission of Afrocentric Learning Tools is to highlight products and services that aim to educate Black Students and promote the development of Multicultural educational tools. The site includes lesson plan ideas, product reviews, news and resources for Black parents, Educators of Black Students, and African American Homeschoolers. As well as entertainment and online activities for young black boys, girls, and older teens .”

[Click here to visit website]

HBCU sponsors health fair for community

(macon.com) As the coordinator for Fort Valley State University’s annual “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day,” Shirley Ellis embraces her task of ensuring that those who attend take full advantage of the services offered that day.

For Ellis, it’s personal. Last year’s event had a profound impact on her own life when a blood pressure check indicated prehypertension - a surprise to the woman who regularly visits the doctor and exercises every day.

“I would’ve never known if I hadn’t taken the test at the health fair that day,” Ellis said.

Now, Ellis shuns salt and sugar and continues to exercise after she visited her personal doctor in January. And she supports the awareness event more than ever. (more…)

The slap line begins behind me

I heard this on the radio today and I became paralyzed for about 10 minutes:

Question on BBC1’s Test the Nation: “Who was Winston Churchill

- A rapper, US President, The PM or King?”

Teddy Sheringham’s (a soccer player in the U.K.) girlfriend, Danielle Lloyd: “Wasn’t he the first black president of America? There’s a statue of him near me - that’s black.” (source)

I know this has nothing to do with good news in the Black community, but I just had to tell somebody.

Yeast extract: MSG in sheep’s clothing

Excerpted

(newstarget.com) Yeast extract was one of the first replacements for MSG — it has the same effect on taste, and it contains a concentration of free glutamic acid, just like MSG. The difference is that it doesn’t look as bad on the label, and food manufacturers can actually claim that it’s all-natural. You’ll see yeast extract in many products, even so-called natural products like veggie burgers. But now that the word is getting out about yeast extract, food companies are switching to yet another hidden form of a chemical taste enhancer. (more…)

Many Black churches opt out of the Faith-Based Initiative program

Excerpted

(WashingtonPost.com) The national survey of 750 black churches by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that fewer than 3 percent are participating in the program, which funnels at least $2 billion a year in federal social services spending to religious organizations.
Black churches in the Northeast and those with self-identified progressive congregations and liberal theologies were most likely to be taking part in the program, a finding that surprised the researchers, who concluded that the White House has not used the program as a political tool as some critics have suspected.

…the survey found that, overall, liberal-leaning churches were more likely to apply for and receive the grants, even though they tend to view the program more skeptically than their conservative counterparts do. (more…)

I say that overall, this is very good news. As I have mentioned on this site many of times, Federal money does not need to go into the hands of the religious sector. There are many churches out there that generate a lot of money on their own–it is just that in many cases they lack the financial understanding on how to best invest it. Building multi-million dollar complexes that are only used once/twice a week is not a wise investment in my book. Think about this for a moment–if a church had to resell that property, do you think they would ever get back the full value? Probably not. Church buildings are designed for Church which means that whoever else bought that property, they would more than likely have to tear it down for their own purposes.

“…and he does the dishes!”

(EURWeb/Reuters) LL Cool J will co-develop, produce and star in a new CBS drama under the rapper/actor’s new talent deal with the network.

Born James Todd Smith, the artist will team with “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker for “The Man,” which will star the actor as an undercover LAPD officer who works nights in various sting operations and spends days raising his three adopted children: an abused boy with an aggression problem, a former streetwalker girl he put in community college and a skateboarder boy who is a recovering drug addict, reports Reuters. (more…)

Uhhhh, this might be a bit much for it to be believable.