The Black Informant

Senator Obama, its called ILLEGAL immigration (and ‘Yes’, that was the race card you just played)

(cbsnews.com) LOS ANGELES — Barack Obama told a predominantly African-American and Latino crowd at a Los Angeles technical college that the government is designed for all people and said there is an “anxiety” among voters that it is not.

“They feel like the education system isn’t designed for people like us, and the job market isn’t designed for people like us. And trying to get a mortgage isn’t designed for people like us. And health care is not designed for people like us,” Obama shouted.

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So voting for a *cough* Black *cough* president this will change all of that?

In the next sentence, he makes that connection–
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“Well let me tell you something, this is our country. America should be designed for people like us. That’s why I am running for president of the United States of America, for all people, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight all people,” said Obama.

[snip]

Obama campaigned in south central Los Angeles this morning, and directed his message towards the predominantly minority crowd. He spoke at length about the economy and immigration reform.

“We have to stop letting those in power turn us against each other. No place do I see this more than in our immigration debate. I am tired of people of people using this as a political football,” Obama said. “We need to solve this problem.”
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1- Who are the “those” he is referring to?
2- Any animosity between Blacks and Hispanics existed long before the immigration debate. Moving on…
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[snip]

“My father when he came here, he didn’t look like you know - he didn’t look like he stepped off the Mayflower. But we have to remember the history of immigration in this country. When the Irish first came, people were anti-Irish, when the Italians first came, people were anti-Italian and so we’ve got to remember our own past history,” Obama said, “And let me remind everybody that not everybody who came in through Ellis Island had their papers in order.” (more…)

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“And let me remind everybody that not everybody who came in through Ellis Island had their papers in order.”

But there was a legal process in place that was enforced a majority of the time including sending folks back. Also, those who did not have “their papers in order” were not given free health care, free education, free college tuition, etc.

The McCain express

McCain Takes the GOP Lead
By JACKIE CALMES and ALEX FRANGOS

For the first time in a presidential campaign already a year old, Republicans have a clear front-runner in Arizona Sen. John McCain. By nearly all accounts, he is the candidate many Democrats least want to face, the one who would best remake his party’s battered image and draw independent voters needed to win in November.

But Sen. McCain still confronts a problem both in the remainder of the nomination race, and, if he wins, in the fall: He is simply loathed by many fellow Republicans, often for the very bipartisanship and maverick streak that attracts independents. His biggest, and perhaps final, test comes Tuesday, when 21 states hold contests — most of them open only to Republican voters.

[snip]

Even if Sen. McCain gets the nomination — as “the last man standing,” in his own words, in a flawed Republican field — he could be hobbled in the general-election race if his party fractures over his candidacy. Conservatives may stay home, or even seek a third-party alternative, offsetting whatever independent votes the senator might get.

For all the criticism among conservatives, Sen. McCain is no liberal — and he has modified some of his stands during the campaign to make himself more palatable to the Republican base; he now favors making the Bush tax cuts permanent, after voting against them in 2001 for being too skewed to the rich. Like mainstream Republicans over the decades, Sen. McCain favors lower taxes, smaller government and a strong military.

Sen. McCain has long battled against the maverick rap in a party that prizes orthodoxy — except when he’s reveling in it or exploiting it. During his Florida victory speech, Sen. McCain painted himself as the true Ronald Reagan conservative that Republican voters are pining for, an original soldier in the 1980s “Reagan revolution.” (more…)

As most analysts are pointing out, it is his appeal to independents that has really helped him make up some of his deficit with conservatives. I think that once Democrats pick their candidate, more conservatives will eventually come around and support him–while holding their nose.

The ‘experience’ issue

Next to JFK, Obama’s a newbie - but that’s beside the point
By ROBERT DALLEK
nydailynews.com

Ever since Edward Kennedy threw his support behind Sen. Barack Obama, there has been no shortage of comparisons between the junior senator from Illinois and the young President who inspired a generation.

As one who has spent many years studying JFK, let me make this much clear: When it comes to experience, Obama is no John Kennedy. (Indeed, when distilled into the crudest terms, Obama is no Dan Quayle - who was famously branded “no Jack Kennedy”; as of 1988, Quayle had spent more than a decade on the national stage.)

But here’s the much bigger question: What does it matter? An examination of Kennedy’s own record - and of the broader sweep of history - leads us to this critical conclusion: Obama’s lack of experience shouldn’t be considered a liability. Many of our most experienced Presidents have made disastrous choices. In the long life of the republic, judgment trumps experience, almost every time.

First, some context. When Kennedy ran for President, he had already served in the U.S. House and the Senate for 13 years (into the start of a second Senate term) and had traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In the Second World War, he had commanded a P.T. boat - and emerged a hero. He had written a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on political courage.

Put that alongside Obama’s record of public service: seven years in the Illinois State Senate, half a term in the U.S. Senate and assorted other positions of debatable relevance to the presidency.

But all of Kennedy’s knowledge and experience, especially in matters of war and peace, did not insulate him from the blunder at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, which initially undermined his standing as a foreign policy leader. There, Kennedy simply exercised bad judgment; it strains credibility to believe that he would have made the right decision if only he had spent one more term in the Senate. (more…)

Elnora D. Daniel steps down as CSU’s President

After a decade of marked leadership, Daniel to leave CSU
by Wendell Hutson
chicagodefender.com

Since 1998 Elnora D. Daniel has been president of Chicago State University. But Wednesday, Daniel announced that she will retire following a one-year sabbatical which begins June 30.

“CSU in 2008 stands prepared to compete and define the nature and quality of urban education on the national landscape within, yet well beyond, the South Side, city of Chicago and the State of Illinois,” said Daniel. Most recently CSU had three consecutive years of balanced budgets under her leadership following four previous years of deficits.

Additionally, the university increased federal funding from $17 million in 1998 to $23 million in 2001 and secured funds for five new buildings. The new buildings include a $35 million library; a $32 million 7,000-seat convention center; a new $5 million conference center; a $5 million child care center; and a $5 million financial outreach center. (more…)

Being able to turn a budget around in of itself is a great accomplishment. Good for her and the school!

There is a silver lining in this story

It looks like this is another category we are no longer leading.

Fat epidemic hits Asian kids, too
State campaign aims to curb growing obesity among young Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.
By MOMO CHANG
McClatchy-Tribune

Despite the stereotype that Asians are petite and skinny, studies show this population is rapidly becoming overweight – so much so that a state agency in California is targeting Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in a campaign.

Asian Americans have the fastest growing rate of overweight and obese children, according to the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training.

“Asian American families tend to be less physically active, more home-oriented and more screen-oriented than other groups, which can create obesity issues,” said Kris Perry, executive director of First 5 California, a state agency that recently launched an awareness campaign.

[snip]

Asian teens consume more fast food than their white counterparts, according to a California Health Interview Survey, or CHIS, 2005 survey. Forty-three percent ate fast food daily, compared to 35 percent of white teens.

Asian and Pacific Islander children compared to other ethnic and racial groups are also least likely to get their daily portions of fruits and veggies, according to a CHIS survey from 2001-2003.

And Asian and Pacific Islander children are the least physically active of all racial and ethnic groups. Only 57 percent of Asian Americans between 11 and 17 had vigorous physical activity in a week, according to a 2001-2003 CHIS survey. (more…)

The hair question making its rounds again

Why do black women fear the ‘fro?
Cheryl Thompson
Special to the Star

As a black woman living in Canada, I often feel invisible when it comes to my natural hair. The television series da Kink In My Hair (which just wrapped up its first season on Global television) taps into a lot of the issues black women have with hair, but on the streets of Toronto, it’s a whole other story.

Some people might be offended by what I have to say, and others might think: “It’s just hair. Get a life.” Fair enough. But, since freeing myself from the dependency of chemically relaxing my hair every eight weeks, I feel it important to use my voice.

Too many black women can’t remember what it’s like to feel their natural hair. I know several, who have not felt their scalp since Bobby Brown was a member of New Edition. And I have sat in hair salons with women who spend more money on their hair than their education.

I also know a lot of black women who secretly want to go natural, but fear the reaction at work, what their family will say, even that their partner will leave them. If hair is just hair, you’d think going natural would be just as easy as processing your hair.

Then there are weaves, a process by which synthetic or real hair is sewn into one’s natural hair to give the appearance of long, flowing, straight hair. While many women, irrespective of race, wear weaves (they’re common in Hollywood), black women wear them to cover up, not merely enhance, their natural state. (more…)

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I am either way on this just as long as it’s not nappy (our ‘bed hair’ ain’t cute–put a comb to that mug!).

…and another

Hate Crime Not Ruled Out In Vandalism
ODENTON, Md. (AP) ―

Anne Arundel County police have changed their minds about the racial slur spray painted on the home of a black Odenton family.

Investigators initially didn’t consider the vandalism a hate crime because the teenage suspects are black. Police reversed themselves Monday, saying the possibility that the incident might be classified as a hate crime had not been ruled out. (more…)

Other similar incidents:

For you noose trackers out there, here’s another one
Be careful of what you wish
You had to see this one coming
…and WHITE t-shirt day is when?

Why the ‘Z’?

Word of advice: Stay away from any business that intentionally misspells its name by ending it with a ‘Z’ unless you realize that you might get what you paid for (ex. Playaz, Stylez, Jewelz, etc.)

R&B Singer Ruben Studdard Takes Peachez to Court
Singersroom News

Ruben Studdard can’t catch a break. The R&B singer and former American Idol winner has reportedly filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court, claiming that a marketing company owes him $45,000. The breach of contract suit is against the Dallas based company Peachez, who describes itself as “a specialty marketing company.”

[snip]

Last month Studdard was reportedly dropped from his record label, J Records, after fallen victim to lackluster sales. Studdard delivered three albums to J before he was bumped off the roster. (more…)

She naked! She naked!

TV chat queen Oprah gets a less than flattering tubby bronze statue cast in her honour
thisislondon.co.uk

She has famously battled with her weight - but according to this tribute to the queen of daytime television, it appears to be a battle lost.

Controversial American sculptor Daniel Edwards latest work ‘The Oprah Sarcophagus’, is a very full-figured sculpture of Oprah Winfrey - and that’s where the likeness begins and ends.

The work casts Miss Winfrey in bronze, as a nude, full-breasted woman with generous child-bearing hips. (more…)

Now come on! Oprah is not that big (or maybe she just does a good job strapping her stuff down).

Hmmmm. This reminds me of another picture (enter harp music here). And yes I am rubbing my chin!

“Several prints dating from the early nineteenth century illustrate the sensation generated by the spectacle of “The Hottentot Venus.” A French print entitled “La Belle Hottentot,” for example, depicts the Khosian woman standing with her buttocks exposed on a box-like pedestal. Several figures bend straining for a better look, while a male figure at the far right of the image even holds his seeing-eye glass up to better behold the woman’s body. The European observers remark on the woman’s body: “Oh! God Damn what roast beef!” and “Ah! how comical is nature.” (an excerpt I used in the post ‘We humans are so inventive‘)

Flashback (1/30/08)

Who said the following?

“The ’sistah’ vote is paying off handsomely for Hillary Clinton,..It’s not only getting her the women’s vote. It’s also getting her the black vote.”

Alan Keys on the economy

Taken from the website alankeyes.com

Taxation / government spending

Tyrannical taxation, and excessive government spending and borrowing, are not only threats to our economy — they erode the resource base of our freedom and our moral responsibility.

The income tax is a twentieth-century socialist experiment that has failed. Before the income tax was imposed on us just 85 years ago, government had no claim to our income. Only sales, excise, and tariff taxes were allowed. We need to return to the Constitution of economic liberty that our Founders intended to be a permanent bulwark of our political liberty.

The income tax in effect makes us vassals of the government — the politicians decide how much income we can keep. No mere “reform” of this slave tax, such as flattening the rate, can correct its fundamental denial of control over our own money.

Only the abolition of the income tax will restore the basic American principle that our income is both our own money and our own private business — not the government’s.

Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax would rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens. True economic liberty and moral revival go hand in hand.

A national sales tax would also put the American citizen back in control of fiscal policy. The best way to curtail government spending is to cut taxes, because they can’t spend what they don’t get. With a sales tax, we could deny funds to a spendthrift government — and give ourselves a tax cut — whenever we make the private choice to alter our spending and saving habits.

But we must also take away the government’s credit card. With limits on both tax revenue and borrowing, the Federal government would finally be forced to get serious about spending cuts. That’s why a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, with barriers to both borrowing and spending, is the best way to secure budget discipline.

Fair trade

American “free trade” policy in recent years has increasingly involved grants of excessive authority to international organizations of questionable political legitimacy. The GATT/WTO agreement was a big mistake. The World Trade Organization undermines America’s sovereign international economic interests.

The American people must repudiate the policy of establishing unelected international bodies that act like the Supreme Court of the United States, striking down our domestic laws. We must repudiate disgraceful, profit-driven alliances with the despots in Beijing. And we must refuse to permit our representatives in Congress to volunteer for constitutional impotence by granting “fast track” authority to the president to strike back room trade deals without the advice and consent of the Senate.

I have always been a staunch defender of free enterprise and an opponent of the domineering bureaucracies, both national and international, which try to suffocate it. But I cannot stand with those so-called conservatives who believe that “free trade” is more important than free government, or the “fiscal conservatives” who seem to believe that money and economic advantage matter more than our right to constitutional, elective self-determination. Trade socialism must be defeated root and branch, even when it is called
“free trade.”

I think we gave away a portion of our sovereignty that we should never have surrendered when we entered the WTO. It violates the fundamental principle of our way of life: no legislation without representation. I’m not interested in protectionism or withdrawal. But folks ought to be paying a premium price to enter this market, or else giving us something concrete in return that’s of tangible benefit to the American people.

I believe we need to move away from negotiating multinational trade agreements, and ought to focus instead on cutting better deals by bargaining one-on-one with individual countries. I also believe we should impose tariffs on countries that undercut American farmers and manufacturers with cheap products.

I am actually okay with this

Lou Dobbs alert: Illegal immigrants may get rebates
politico.com

In their bipartisan zeal to quickly cut a deal on an economic stimulus bill, GOP lawmakers overlooked something that will certainly inflame the conservative base _ illegal immigrants could receive a tax rebate check from the government.

The text of the House passed bill contains language making “non resident aliens” _ illegal immigrants _ ineligible for the tax rebates. But every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants use individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, to file income tax returns with the IRS. These ID numbers are used instead of Social Security numbers. There are no exact statistics for how many illegal immigrants file tax returns, but this New York Times story from last year details the significant increase in use of ITINs. This story also lays out the issue.

Immigration advocates point out that many legal immigrants use ITINs, so it would be impossible to outlaw rebates for everyone who uses this form of ID in tax returns.

Republicans who were involved in negotiating the bipartisan economic stimulus package would like to avoid the illegal immigration debate as the $146 billion bill comes to the Senate this week. Congressional aides say the problem is that the IRS is not a law enforcement agency, so it doesn’t check immigration status when people file tax returns.

“The reality is that those who filed a tax return will be eligible” for tax rebates of $600 to $1,200, said Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). “This [issue] has not been addressed” by the senators writing the bill. (more…)

If a person works here and pays taxes, they should get a rebate. The bigger issue here is will the proposed stimulus package work? I say “no”.

On NPR today

I will be on NPR’s ‘News & Notes’ today talking about the Presidential race among other things. I will be joined with Gina McCauley of the website ‘What About Our Daughters‘.

It’s going to be a very busy morning for me, so blogging will be light for the first half of the day.

Moving back the goal post

I thought Cobb brought up a very good point regarding the recent Florida primary and the fact that their delegates currently do not count:

“So what does it mean? It means that the Democrats have 210 delegates in its pocket which it can arbitrarily use at its convention without any regard for the way people actually voted in Florida. Think about that for a while.”

Remember all the references to Jim Crow when it was believed that the GOP was suppressing the Black vote?

Not going, but coming

Empty nesters flocking to inner city
National trend toward urban living is resettling downtown

By PAULA WOLF

LANCASTER, Pa - Jane Phillips is a grandmother five times over, but you won’t find her living at Homestead Village or Willow Valley.

The retired president of Family Service is perfectly content in her East Frederick Street row house in Lancaster.

“I consciously chose the city because of its diversity,” said Phillips, who moved here from Hawaii. “I love all the different ages and the families around me,” she said.

She also loves Lancaster’s walkability.

“I walk all over,” Phillips said, whether it’s to Central Market, to neighborhood stores, or to the outdoor track at Franklin & Marshall College.

Phillips is part of a growing national trend increasingly evident in Lancaster — older baby boomers, empty nesters and retirees choosing urban living because of the amenities and atmosphere.

Tired of being dependent on cars, many are leaving suburban sprawl for the attractions of living in a traditional neighborhood.

Some are buying older homes. And others are helping create the demand that Lancaster developers are finding for upscale condominiums and apartments. (more…)

While Lancaster isn’t hardly what I would consider the inner-city, I have been seeing this trend over the years in cities like Atlanta, Georgia (around Piedmont park), Denver (around Washington Park) and other cities.

Keeping track of our Black mayors

The Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick situation has inspired me to create yet another news feed page that tracks the news surrounding all of our Black mayors around the country. While it is unfortunate that the mayors that screw up big time are prone to get national attention, we can easily do something about this. Click the link below to follow the news surrounding all of our Black mayors around the country. There is good news out there–you just have to be willing to look for it.

I also added this link to your right under ‘Blackinformant.com Expanded’.

Later, I will create another page that tracks our Black governors. Stay tuned.

$2.3 billion spent to get your attention

Advertising Spending Targeting African American Consumers Exceeds $2.3 Billion Annually, Nielsen Reports
By: PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ — In its first 12-month analysis of advertising spending on media outlets that reach African American consumers, The Nielsen Company reported today that spending for the period October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007 totaled $2.3 billion. The Nielsen African American ad spending analysis covers over 22,000 national, regional and local advertisers, across 130+ media vehicles.

African American Spending by Medium

Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the advertising intelligence service of Nielsen, tracked 5 individual media for this analysis: Local Radio, National Magazine, National Cable TV, Network TV and Syndication TV. Local Radio reported the greatest amount of spending on African American targeted media at $805 million dollars, comprising 35% percent of total spending.

National Cable TV reported the largest ad growth with 14.5% during this period. This growth is the result of a number of factors including: Year over year growth for BET, the inclusion of TV One in the Nielsen Monitor-Plus service as of January 2007, as well as a number of high profile TV programs such as “House of Payne” on TBS, “Being Bobby Brown” on Bravo, “Flavor of Love” on VH1, and “Making the Band” on MTV.

“We think it is terrific that Nielsen has undertaken this analysis, demonstrating their desire to increase their reporting of ethnic advertising. It’s the first-time that such a comprehensive analysis of advertising spending to reach African Americans has been undertaken,” said Deborah Gray-Young, Vice President & Director of Media Services for Chicago-based E. Morris Communications. “This is an excellent first step, and we look forward to seeing the number of media included increase in future analysis.” (more…)

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A hot, stinkin’ mess

Click here for all the latest surrounding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (Detroit Free Press)

The one article that stuck out to me the most was the following:

What $9 million could buy

BY M.L. ELRICK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Detroit recreation centers have been closed and city workers have seen benefit and job cuts. The city has begun charging residents $300 a year for trash pickup to raise money. The $9 million paid to former cops Gary Brown, Harold Nelthrope and Walt Harris and for legal costs to settle their lawsuits may seem small in the context of the city’s $1.5-billion general fund budget, but it’s still enough to pay for:

A starting firefighter makes $30,740 a year; benefits cost about $32,000.

Or… 143 firefighters

A starting cop makes

up to $31,659 a year; benefits are $40,000.
Or… 126 police officers

$7,500 per home
Or… 1,200 abandoned homes demolished

The mayor wants to raise $8.1 million by selling 92 parks.
Or.. more than 92 city parks (source)

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Now take that template and apply it to cities like Philadelphia, New Orleans, Los Angeles and you will see why I roll my eyes every time I hear a politician use the “we need more money” excuse.

Sometimes experience is the only teacher

Here is a snippet of what is at the other end of the ‘free healthcare for everybody’ rainbow.

Don’t treat the old and unhealthy, say doctors
By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
telegraph.co.uk

Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.
Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.

The Government announced plans last week to offer fat people cash incentives to diet and exercise as part of a desperate strategy to steer Britain off a course that will otherwise see half the population dangerously overweight by 2050.

Obesity costs the British taxpayer £7 billion a year. Overweight people are more likely to contract diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and to require replacement joints or stomach-stapling operations.

Meanwhile, £1.7 billion is spent treating diseases caused by smoking, such as lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema, with a similar sum spent by the NHS on alcohol problems. Cases of cirrhosis have tripled over the past decade.

Among the survey of 870 family and hospital doctors, almost 60 per cent said the NHS could not provide full healthcare to everyone and that some individuals should pay for services.

One in three said that elderly patients should not be given free treatment if it were unlikely to do them good for long. Half thought that smokers should be denied a heart bypass, while a quarter believed that the obese should be denied hip replacements.

Tony Calland, chairman of the BMA’s ethics committee, said it would be “outrageous” to limit care on age grounds. Age Concern called the doctors’ views “disgraceful”.

Gordon Brown promised this month that a new NHS constitution would set out people’s “responsibilities” as well as their rights, a move interpreted as meaning restric­tions on patients who bring health problems on themselves. The only sanction threatened so far, however, is to send patients to the bottom of the waiting list if they miss appointments.

The survey found that medical professionals wanted to go much further in denying care to patients who do not look after their bodies.

Ninety-four per cent said that an alcoholic who refused to stop drinking should not be allowed a liver transplant, while one in five said taxpayers should not pay for “social abortions” and fertility treatment.

Paul Mason, a GP in Portland, Dorset, said there were good clinical reasons for denying surgery to some patients. “The issue is: how much responsibility do people take for their health?” he said. Fertility treatment and “social” abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state. (more…)

Not giving health care to elderly folks who are considered ‘too old’ and not expected to live long is creepy to me. Being that this is a government-controlled health care system, words have a way of stretching its meaning (for my science fiction fans out there over 33, think ‘Logan’s Run’). Other than that, if folks will not take care of themselves–cut ‘em!

Call them ‘little people’, not dwarves

Thieves Using Dwarves For Crime On The Rise
Joseph Dela Cruz - AHN News Writer

Stockholm, Sweden (AHN) - Travelers using long-distance buses are being warned to take extra caution after Swedish police said cases of thieves using midgets in robbing long-distance coaches is on the rise.

Police said the thieves are able to steal from the unsuspecting bus passengers by sneaking the dwarves into the luggage holds in sports bags and once they are inside, the midgets out from the bags and sift through the luggage of the train passengers.

Once they have collected their loot, the dwarves sneaked back to their sports bags and just wait to be picked up when the coach reaches its destination.

Police said this modus operandi of the thieves have enabled them to steal thousands of pounds in cash, gems and other valuables over the past months. (more…)

Now you know this is a hot mess (LOL!). Grown, little folks hiding in luggage.
Another reason why I carry all my important stuff as a carry-on.