The Black Informant

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

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…)

“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 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.

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.

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!

Or should I say ‘iChina’?

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

[link]

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.

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…)

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…)