The Black Informant

Here is global warming for ya’

Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age
Lorne Gunter, National Post

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January “was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average.”

China is surviving its most brutal winter in a century. Temperatures in the normally balmy south were so low for so long that some middle-sized cities went days and even weeks without electricity because once power lines had toppled it was too cold or too icy to repair them.

There have been so many snow and ice storms in Ontario and Quebec in the past two months that the real estate market has felt the pinch as home buyers have stayed home rather than venturing out looking for new houses.

In just the first two weeks of February, Toronto received 70 cm of snow, smashing the record of 66.6 cm for the entire month set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, pre-carbon footprint days of 1950.

And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its “lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.

The ice is back.

Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year. (more…)

Meanwhile on the home front, ‘global warming’ (the idea of it at least) is not going anywhere anytime soon. There is way too much money to be made on it as well as the fact that two of our leading presidential candidates (Obama, Clinton) have intertwined major campaign promises around it: the creation of green collar jobs. As for McCain, he has at least promised to fight against global warming if elected (anytime you hear a candidate make a promise to ‘fight’ against something, hold on to your wallet). In fact, McCain is so vested in the idea of global warming that a climatologist blasted him for holding biased hearings on the subject back in 2004.

As far as the non-government sector goes, here is an interesting article I found this morning–

US Giants Play the Green Card but Keep the Coal Fires Burning

Still rolling!

February 22, 2008 — BET founder Robert L. Johnson’s real estate investment company, RLJ Development L.L.C. (No. 8 on the BE
RLJ Development Checks Out, Cashes In
Company sells hotel real estate for nearly $900 million in deal with Inland Real Estate Group
By Marcia A. Wade
blackenterprise.com

INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list with $460 million in sales), recently sold 22 full- and select-service hotels to the Inland American Lodging Corp. for approximately $900 million.

The 4,061-room portfolio consists of high-end full- and select-service hotels primarily located in major urban markets including Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. These assets, which are expected to net RLJ a profit of more than $100 million, are currently operated by industry leading brands, including Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt.

“[RLJ] demonstrated very good skill in identifying properties that would appreciate rapidly,” says Paul Adornato, senior REIT (real estate investment trust) analyst for BMO Capital Markets. “There is more of an interest in urban real estate these days. If you are able to buy in a built-up city then you are protected from new competition to some extent.” (more…)

2 Christians 9 abortions (The Jamaica Observer)

“Lizette was a good Christian girl. So too was Kerine. They both grew up in Christian homes and were very active in their local churches. They sang on the choir, went religiously to prayer meetings, Bible study and fasted.

But Lizette was living a double life, one which led her to have seven abortions - one involving twins - between ages 20 and 26.

And Kerine, who was “in and out” of church in her teen years, aborted two pregnancies, the first when she was 13, the other six years later at 18.” (more…)

The Black church: Looking ahead

The Black Church and the 21st Century
By Adrienne S. Gaines
What emerging African-American leaders are saying about race, holiness and the future of the black church
Charisma Magazine [Link]

This page contains several articles.

You don’t float stories out like this without a reason

Police concerned about order to stop weapons screening at Obama rally
By JACK DOUGLAS Jr.Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obama’s rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department’s homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order — apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service — was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena’s vacant seats before Obama came on. (more…)

Unless this is part of government being transparent to the people, I never heard of the secret service making it public that security will be laxed.

Then I read the following article this morning:

Many Blacks Worry About Obama’s Safety
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - For many black Americans, it’s a conversation they find hard to avoid, revisiting old fears in the light of bright new hopes.
They watch with wonder as Barack Obama moves ever closer to becoming America’s first black president. And they ask themselves, their family, their friends: Is he at risk? Will he be safe?

There is, of course, no sure answer. But interviews with blacks across the country, prominent and otherwise, suggest that lingering worries are outweighed by enthusiasm and determination.

“You can’t have lived through the civil rights movement and know something about the history of African-Americans in this country and not be a little concerned,” said Edna Medford, a history professor at Washington’s Howard University.

“But African-Americans are more concerned that Obama get the opportunity to do the best he can,” she added. “And if he wins, most of us believe the country would do for him what it would do for any president, that he will be as well protected as any of them.”

Clyde Barrett, 66, a longtime U.S. Labor Department employee now retired in Tampa, Fla., says he often hears expressions of concern for Obama’s safety. One young acquaintance, Barrett said, declared he wouldn’t even vote for Obama for fear of exposing him to more danger. (more…)

Remember we were getting all of those Department of Homeland Security alerts right before the last presidential election? Numbers of folks believed that Bush was somehow behind this in order to remind folks that he was the best choice over Kerry in regards to our war against terrorism. That could be a stretch, but it certainly played to Bush’s advantage. Scaring folks who have become emotionally wrapped up in a candidate sounds just as plausable to me. True, many Black folks were avoiding throwing their support behind Obama because of this fear at the begining of his campagin, but I wonder if Obama will use this to his advantage: “There are those out there who don’t want this nation to hope or dream….”. Folks have become too emotionally involved to see Obama go down at this point.

Friday REwind

It is amazing what your mind can see when you close your eyes while listening. Just a few chords on the keyboard can send you back some 15-20+ years through the pages of your memory. When I heard Chaka Khan’s ‘I feel for you’ the other day, I could see myself driving in my 1984 white Honda Accord driving across the Betsy Ross Bridge heading towards Center City, Philly to buy some clothes or electronics. I can still see myself trying on several skinny ties (some with the piano print) and some baggy pants. You could not tell me anything with my pull-out cassette car stereo that was installed by yours truly (scared!). What was so stupid about those things was that there were not too many people that would take the stereo with them. Then there are those trips to either Cherry Hill or Moorestown mall. Both places were the epicenter of jelly bracelets, the mullet (guys) and big hair (girls).

Time waits for no man.

Peace and enjoy the weekend!

iClones

Or should I say ‘iChina’?

The iClone Shootout - five iPhone phonies, a camera, and some interesting conclusions
[link]

Make Nagin Obama’s running mate

Nagin would be the answer to all those negroes out there who say that Obama isn’t Black enough.

Combative N.O. mayor blows up during live TV interview
usatoday.com
No one can accuse New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin of hiding his emotions. During a live TV interview, he told two reporters that he wanted to have “a good one on one” with their boss in the parking lot because of an upcoming report on his work schedule.

Nagin also complained about the “vile, angry people” who comment on blogs. Asked if he’s worried about his safety, the mayor said: “If somebody approach me wrong, I’m going to cold cock them. That’s the bottom line. You can come with that foolishness if you want, but you’ll see a side of Ray Nagin that you haven’t seen.”

Here’s an excerpt from the transcript of Nagin’s interview with WWL-TV:

Nagin: My disappointment is the way some in the media are handling me personally … Our local newspaper, for example, had me pointing a gun at the police chief. This got all over the Internet, all over the nation, and is now sitting on the most racist websites in America. Hate groups now have that picture, so now I am personally more at risk and my family is personally more at risk.

And I’m a little upset with this station cause you advertising about the ratings, about what’s getting ready to happen with my schedule, you put my personal schedule out there, I am coming back to the station and me and your news director are going to be outside in the parking lot having a good one on one. You do not put my family at risk.

Eric Paulsen: This was a schedule from last year, though.

Nagin: I don’t care. That schedule has formal stuff on it. It has patterns on it and now you have these Aryan race people focused on me and we’ve got some mental cases out in this community and you’re getting ready to put my schedule out there. Where are the other elected official’s schedule? Are you going to do a follow up on that? This has gone beyond the point of reasonableness. … I am sick of this. (more…)

What’s interesting here is that he is worried about ‘Aryan race people’ getting a hold of his schedule in order to take him out while living in one of America’s top-ranked spots for Black on Black homicide.

Troubled waters

NAACP faces internal struggles
Disagreements rise over CEO selection, group’s direction, local chapters’ funds

By Kelly Brewington | Sun reporter

The NAACP’s national board is poised to select a new president and CEO. But a rift among members threatens to shake up the plans, as some complain they have been shut out of the process to choose a new leader for the Baltimore-based civil rights organization.

Calling itself the “Leadership of Conscience,” a group of about a dozen NAACP board members expressed its objections at the board’s annual meeting in New York last weekend. During board elections, the group waged an unsuccessful effort to unseat Chairman Julian Bond.

Dissident board members say the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is at a critical crossroads as it approaches its centennial next year. They say the matter is not a mere internal squabble and that the presidential selection process illustrates how the nation’s oldest civil rights organization is ruled by an elite inner circle that is out of touch with its grass roots.

“There is a significant coalition of opposition formed to push the NAACP forward and to reject the status quo,” said J. Whyatt Mondesire of Philadelphia, who was elected to the board last year. “People want to change the agenda and be in the forefront of the civil rights struggle.” (more…)

Not looking good for Radio One

Radio One Inc. widened its losses in the fourth quarter, citing the challenging advertising market.

The report comes a day after the Lanham-based broadcaster appointed a new chief financial officer.

Radio One (Nasdaq: ROIA) lost $386 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, or $3.91 per share, compared with a $25 million loss, or 26 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Fourth quarter revenue was $78 million, down 5 percent from $82 million in the comparable quarter a year ago.

The company said it adjusted 2006 numbers so that they account for discontinued operations.

Radio One blamed its declining revenue on a slide in the “overall radio industry revenue,” specifically in the Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston and Philadelphia markets. (more…)

“A leader for change”

link

Here’s something else I found online that was….interesting to say the least.

As Barack worked the line following the close of his speech, there was a surge of people moving forward hoping to get close enough to shake Barack’s hand. Since I was standing about 20 feet back from center stage in the crowd, I felt the crowd down front tighten as many of us stood on our toes, stretched our bodies forward while reaching out to Barack. I noticed that a six foot tall guy who was standing in front of me had stretched far enough above the crowd and shook hands with Barack. As the guy drew back his hand I asked him, “You shook his hand didn’t you?” Happily the guy said “Yes.” I then said, “give me some of that” and the guy shook my hand with the same hand he had just clasped with Barack’s. A woman friend of mine who was standing next to me saw me shake hands with the guy. I turned to her and said “He [the guy] just shook hands with Barack,” to which she responded…”Hey, give it up.” We then shook hands. She then turned to the person next to her and shook hands. This chain of hand shakes went on for about five or six more persons.

I did not know the tall guy in front of me; he is white, I am black. But at the moment we shook hands, I felt some solidarity with this stranger, consummated by a handshake and signifying some unspoken agreement presumably about Barack Obama and his core message of UNITY!

I call this hand-shake scenario the “BAM” because, descriptively, it takes a bit of Obama’s name and it’s the sound of a collision, of People Coming Together! (source: a community blog page on my.barackobama.com)

Follow the money: The profit of war

Just as I am hard against those who feel that dumping money into social programs that do not work, I am the same way with those feel that one’s patriotism is questionable when questions are raised concerning the out of control spending for the current war in the middle east. When I came across the following website yesterday, I was not at all surprised about the massive amount of spending on non-governmental contract work funded by us taxpayers. Anybody who has ever contracted with government here in the states like I have know just how easy it is to get over. This is why the competition for government contracts can be so competitive.

From the website ‘followthemoneyproject.com’

Follow the Money Project

The Follow the Money Project is sponsored by the Bauman & Rasor Group, a consulting group that works with whistleblowers to file qui tam False Claims Act lawsuits. The Bauman & Rasor Group’s website is www.quitam.com .

The Follow the Money Project is investigating where the money appropriated for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is going — especially money that should be going to the Troops.

Dina Rasor is the Director and Chief Investigator for this project. Ms. Rasor has been investigating military procurement fraud and waste for over 25 years. In 1981, she founded the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) which investigates government fraud and works with whistleblowers. She still serves as POGO’s treasurer and board member. She is a partner in the Bauman & Rasor Group. For a complete biography on Dina Rasor, click here.
Robert Bauman is Associate Director and an investigator with the Follow the Money Project. He was a career investigator with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. He is also is a partner in the Bauman & Rasor Group.

Here are just a few excerpts from Dina Rasor and Robert Bauman’s testimony last month
as they appeared in front of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

=========
The Achilles’ Heel of Contractors in a Hostile Zone

Before the war started, the DOD was on a course of contracting out work at a higher rate than seen in the past. This caused alarm in some of the oversight organizations, such as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the DOD Inspector General. Both of these organizations wrote reports about their concerns of using contractors in hostile areas. The Army was warned about the dangers of using contractors in a hostile area.

A 1991 DOD Inspector General[1] Report warned about the problems that the services could have if the contractors would leave or not work in emergency situations. This report says that the problem was exposed in a 1988 DOD Inspector General report but firm plans had not been established. The report also warned that a DOD instruction written in 1990 (updated in 1996) was not being followed.Section 4.4 of that instruction states:

For situations where the cognizant DoD Component Commander has a reasonable doubt about the continuation of essential services during crisis situations by the incumbent contractor, the Commander shall prepare a contingency plan for obtaining the essential service from alternate sources (military, DOD civilian, host-nation, other contractor(s)).

At the beginning of the war, in June 2003, the Government Accountability Office warned in a report that the commanders did not have back up plans, as required in the instruction above, on what to do if the contractors did not stay in a hostile area.

One of the soldiers that we profiled in our book is Perry Jefferies, who is sitting at this panel today. I would urge you to listen carefully to his story and read his full testimony. Here was an experienced military man who was in charge of logistics for 1800+ men in the desert during and after the war and his story graphically illustrates what happens to our troops when the contractor is unwilling to go “beyond the wire” to serve troops.

According to KBR’s LOGCAP Statement of Work (SOW), CJTF-7, 14 Nov 2004, the company was supposed to go within 100 kilometers of a base to supply the troops. According to another LOGCAP SOW, DAAA09-02-D-0007, Task Order 89.00, 10 APR 2005, water and other supplies were to be distributed as far as 250 kilometer to 400 kilometers from designed bases. Yet we have received many emails and letters from troops letting us know how much trouble they had getting even the most basic supplies during this period. Our book is full of examples where the contractor would not take the risk and leave the bases. We call it the “just say no” problem of using contractors for vital supplies on the battlefield. .

[snip]

We see this as the Achilles’ heel in using contractors in a hostile zone. The contractors can refuse to do some or all of the work in a task order and the commander does not have immediate ways to solve the problem, only protracted civil administrative and legal remedies. A contractor employee has the right to quit on the spot, even on the battlefield, and go home. Both of these actions, especially when the contractor is in charge of vital logistics, can greatly put the troops and mission in danger. In other words, the contractor and his employee can just say no.

These contractors and their employees have replaced troops who did not have that option. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) was designed to prevent troops from quitting the battlefield or hostile areas. No matter how patriotic our troops and commanders may be, we are asking them to do something that is directly against their self interest. When they take an oath to the Armed Services, they place themselves under the UCMJ and give up some rights. This is needed on the battlefield. If a soldier refuses to do a job under a lawful order, he can be jailed and court-martialed. If a soldier decides that he doesn’t want any more of the war and leaves, he can be jailed and charged with desertion. If a commander is not doing his job or refuses to do some of his job, he can immediately be relieved of command and court-martialed. This is the type of action that you need on the battlefield or hostile areas because the troops’ lives depend on it. It doesn’t work when you put civilian contractors in the same role in hostile areas and you don’t have the same law to make them do the work.

[snip]

According to an excellent report recently published by the Center for Public Integrity, “U.S. government contracts for work in Iraq and Afghanistan have grown more than 50 percent annually, from $11 billion in 2004 to almost $17 billion in 2005 and more than $25 billion in 2006.”

(more from the report)

============

What gets me about all of this is that many of these services being performed by contractors used to all be performed by the military. Tasks like driving supply trucks in a war zone should not be contracted out to someone who can call out sick.

On the flip side, there are those that will use this information as yet another reason why we should not be over there in the first place. That is where I part ways with that crowd as the overall mission to fight against terrorism I still support. Now that the surge appears to have worked (something that many critics fail to acknowledge), the task now is to bring stability to that region (which according to Michael Yon–embedded independent reporter and former Green Beret), we are making huge gains in that department as well.

I have come to the conclusion that government is simply too big to seriously audit itself. Yet we continue vote for more of it.

Another good example of how government wants to be your parent

Mayor: Take away parents’ excuses
Wharton says parents must step up if helped
By Alex Doniach
commercialappeal.com

The idea came to Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton in church on a Sunday — help parents get involved in their children’s education and punish those who don’t.

“I’d like to redefine child neglect to include the failure, without justification, to take part in your children’s educational progress,” Wharton said Tuesday during a State of the County address to the Rotary Club. “And yes, it would cost you something.”

Wharton’s budding idea is two-fold: First, help parents get involved by easing the financial burdens. For example, provide babysitting or rides so parents can attend parent-teacher conferences.

Then, change state law to punish parents for neglecting their children’s education, for sitting on their hands as children fail or drop out of school.

“When we give you the way to get here and we take away every crutch that you’ve been using as to why you won’t come in and sit in and get your child in a tutoring program, then you deserve to be punished,” Wharton said.

The idea would require money and changes in state law. And Wharton was vague on specifics. (more…)

For example, provide babysitting or rides so parents can attend parent-teacher conferences.

Okay, this is nonsense. If a parent wants to go to the club, they will make a way were there is no way without the help from the city or state. People do what they want to do and there is nothing that will change that.

Then, change state law to punish parents for neglecting their children’s education, for sitting on their hands as children fail or drop out of school.

That line speaks for itself.

Now I can understand the frustration that some folks may feel about the lack of parental involvement in the lives of their children. But making government play parent to parents for not showing up for parent/teacher meetings is a wrong move. The next thing you know, parents will be getting paid to show up.

…and some people are just born with it.

Guess who is hurt most by affirmative action college admissions?

Asians, not whites, hurt most by race-conscious admissions

By Peter Schmidt
usatoday.com

The long-running debate over affirmative action in college admissions just got more complicated, thanks to a new study that challenges the common assumption that whites are hurt most when colleges take applicants’ race and ethnicity into account.

The study, published by the University of California-Los Angeles last week in the scholarly journal InterActions, suggests that it is mainly Asian-Americans � not whites � who are held to a higher standard when top colleges use affirmative action.

Where such institutions have been banned from considering applicants’ race, the study finds, enrollment of Asian-Americans has increased while admissions of whites remained flat or, in some cases, declined. The study, an analysis of long-term enrollment trends at several exclusive public universities, found that the Asian-American share of enrollment increased:

•More than 15% at the University of Texas at Austin after a 1996 federal court ruling barred consideration of race in admissions.

•More than 15% at the University of Florida after Gov. Jeb Bush persuaded the state university system’s governing board to vote in 2000 to end race- and ethnicity-conscious admissions.

•More than 20% at the University of California-Berkeley, more than 10% at UCLA and more than 30% at the University of California-San Diego after that state’s voters passed a 1996 ballot measure barring the use of affirmative-action preferences by public colleges and other state agencies.

Although David Colburn and his two co-authors consider themselves advocates of affirmative action, he acknowledged their numbers show “Asian-Americans were discriminated against under an affirmative-action system.”(more…)

BET expands to the U.K.

NEW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ — BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. NYSE: VIA NYSE: VIA.B, today announced the launch of BET, a new television channel in the United Kingdom dedicated to bringing British consumers access to top-rated BET shows, including 106 & PARK, AMERICAN GANGSTER, HELL DATE, THE BET HONORS, COLLEGE HILL, MEET THE FAITH and many more.

BET will be offered free-to-air on the digital satellite platform beginning on Thursday, February 28. Available via the Sky Guide, BET will be accessible to more than 8.8 million digital satellite homes, adding considerably to BET Networks’ global reach. BET Networks is the leading provider of media and entertainment for African Americans and consumers of Black culture, currently reaching more than 87 million households in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

“We’re thrilled to be able to bring high quality, Black cultural content to communities around the world and deliver on our commitment to expand the BET brand internationally,” said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. “For more than 27 years, BET Networks has been the leader in providing premium entertainment to African American audiences, and we’re so excited to establish BET as the premier destination for UK audiences to enjoy content that reflects the many viewpoints of the Black experience.”

“BET has been building a presence among our core target audience in the United Kingdom for more than two years,” said Michael D. Armstrong, Senior Vice President and General Manager, BET International. “For the UK version of BET, we will be giving BET’s U.S. content a regionalised look and feel that reflects the UK marketplace, and as we grow and develop the channel, we look forward to partnering with the UK creative industry to give BET an even stronger British accent.”(more…)

Another busy week

Right now I am opperating on 3 hours of sleep, so blogging is really something that is not on my mind right now. The pillow is calling my name. I should be back here either late this evening or sometime tomorrow.

Peace and Merry Easter!

(huh?)

Smart idea?

I am totally down with targeted marketing, especially when it comes to reaching out to Black Americans. Sometimes, I have to admit that some of these ideas seem a bit redundant. Maybe I’m wrong.

CheapTickets launches African-American mircosite
BY CHERYL V. JACKSON
suntimes.com

Discount Internet travel site CheapTickets.com will launch an African-American microsite for consumers using content from Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co.’s EbonyJet.com today.

The site, urbantravel.cheaptickets.com, will include information about music festivals, museums and other cultural activities and sites. A blog will feature contributions of magazine editors, museum curators and celebrities. (more…)

$1 billion goal REACHED

Wells Fargo Meets Goal to Lend $1 Billion to African American Small Business Owners Two Years Early

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Recognizing the vitality of African American small business owners throughout the nation, Wells Fargo & Company said Sunday it has reached its goal, set in 1998, to lend $1 billion to African American business owners nationwide by 2010. A new multi-year lending goal will be announced later this year.

Wells Fargo is celebrating the achievement this year with a number of events, including screenings of the film, “Two Dollars and a Dream” (written and directed by Stanley Nelson and distributed by Filmmakers Library), about Madame C.J. Walker, America’s first self-made millionairess. The film illustrates the history of successful entrepreneurship in the African American community. “Two Dollars and a Dream” was shown February 17 during the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, and additional screening events are being planned throughout the year across the country. (more…)

“Nothing has changed since the civil rights era.”

I am hunting for those who have said this or something like this.

Man! I didn’t know it got that bad

Black Commenter, Criticizing Obama, Causes Firestorm
By Darryl Fears
washingtonpost.com

Tavis Smiley, the bestselling author of the “Covenant With Black America,” is in a world turned upside down. He said he’s being “hammered,” “barbecued,” and is “catching hell” from black Americans for suggesting that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) made a major mistake by declining to speak at the State of the Black Union event that Smiley plans to host next week in New Orleans.

“There’s all this talk of hater, sellout and traitor,” Smiley said to me in a telephone interview. Smiley even mentioned getting death threats, but wouldn’t elaborate. He said his office has been flooded with angry e-mails. “I have family in Indianapolis. They are harassing my momma, harassing my brother. It’s getting to be crazy,” Smiley said.

Smiley’s problems started early this month after he invited Obama to speak at the State of the Black Union, an event Smiley founded nine years ago. Held annually during Black History Month and broadcast by C-Span, the event gathers a Who’s Who of black intellectuals, pundits, activists, entertainers and politicians to discuss and brainstorm about where black America is and where it is headed. This year’s topic is “Reclaiming Our Democracy, Deciding Our Future.” (more…)

Found via Mo’ Kelly

Speaking of Mo’, here is what he had to say on this mess.

THE MO’KELLY REPORT: Black ‘Kings’ and ‘Queens’ - We Are Hilarious
eurweb.com

Boy, Black folks (my people) are a funny bunch. That’s “funny” as in ‘ha ha.’ Yep, Mo’Kelly said it. Mo’Kelly loves you all, but he knows y’all too.

Only in the United States of Black America can Black folks send death threats to Tavis Smiley and his family because he asks Black folks to be informed before they go to the polls (if we go at all) and for arguing that Senator Barack Obama SHOULD put us on a pedestal. (more…)

As I said recently, Tavis is the only one that has been consistent through this whole mess. When he was calling out the GOP, he was getting amen’d out of the building. When he began to put the pressure on Obama for the same thing, he became defined as a “crab in the barrel” and part of the old school of the same stripe as the NAACP.

But death threats?