Isiah 1:17- Learn to do well. Seek justice, Relieve the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
After an accomplished five-year term as president of Morehouse College, Robert M. Franklin '75 has decided to step down at the end of his term at the close of the 2012 academic year on June 30.I liked Dr. Franklin. He seemed to have a solid vision as to where he was going to take Morehouse College. It seems he may have accomplished some of them and hopefully Morehouse will appoint someone who will also have a solid vision for the college. Perhaps the 5 wells will continue in someway in the future.
Following his departure as president, Franklin plans to spend his sabbatical as a Scholar in Residence at Stanford University's Martin Luther King Jr. Institute and plans to return to Morehouse in the role of Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics.
In recognition of Franklin's exemplary service to the College, the Board of Trustees has voted to recognize him with the College's highest and most prestigious rank: President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor.
"Dr. Franklin has served an integral role leading the renaissance of Morehouse, and his dedication is greatly appreciated," said Robert Davidson, chairman of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. "In addition to his years of service, Robert has led by example, dedicating a substantial portion of his time to community service, which is one of the core values that Morehouse seeks to instill in each and every one of its students. We will miss him as the Board endeavors to find a successor who will help to usher the college into a new era."
Why stay in a party that promotes flawed economic policies and makes renewing my driver's license so painful?A lot of things here I can get with. What I wish could be explained was what's with the thing about who one marries or what who has say in who's uterus? Are those slaps against gay marriage and abortion?
I stay because the Republican Party gives me no choice.
In fact, they make it too easy to stay.
Time and time again, election after election, they deem themselves more concerned with protecting arcane notions of what it means to be "American" rather than accept the fact that the face of our country is no longer predominately white and male.
I stay because I don't think that government should have a say in who I, or anyone else, marries and what I do with my uterus.
I stay because I don't agree with allowing people to sneak across the border to clean our homes but force them to go back when they want to attend our schools.
Most of all, even with all its flaws, I stay for a reason that our President expressed on Tuesday night during the State of the Union address:
"I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed, that government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more."
We cannot negate the impact that institutionalized racism and bigotry has had on many in America. For that reason, I believe that it is all of our duty to continue to lift up others who cannot lift themselves out of their situations. And though we may be far from the perfect solution, we owe it to the dream of what our country can be to keep trying, to keep helping, and to keep believing that we can be better.
Colorblind racism is the new normal in American conservative political thought. Well after the election of the nation's first African-American president, in 2012 Republican candidates are using egregious signals and dog whistles to incite racial divisiveness as an effective tool for political gain. But when confronted about the nature of their offensive rhetoric, the answer is either an innocuous denial or dismissive retort.Basically they take issue with amongst other ideas from those debates, Newt Gingrich's comments that suggest that he would have public school students take jobs at their local school. Who knows if the author is offended by the idea that such students should take on janitorial jobs although Gingrich himself doesn't limit it to only custodial positions.
It is curious that people bold enough to make outlandish racial claims never admit guilt or receive a proverbial trial and conviction by the greater populace. Paul Rosenberg, a political contributor to Al-Jazeera, recently explained that this curious phenomenon of "racism without racists" has become de facto in today's political discourse and is best described as "colorblind racism."
First explored in the book Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a professor of sociology at Duke University, the concept explains much of the Republican strategy to defeat Barack Obama, using race as a wedge issue. Bonilla-Silva defined colorblind racism as a racial ideology that expresses itself in seemingly nonracial terms. As such, it is most practiced by people who never see themselves outside their own myopic worldview.
Last week's Fox News debate prior to the South Carolina Republican primary was an excellent example of the hubris inherent in today's racially charged, conservative environment.
All the more offensive was the fact that this debate took place on the national holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. As Michael Keegan explained in the Huffington Post, "What could have been an opportunity for the candidates to express their support for the myriad advances of the civil rights movement and to address the real challenges that remain, instead turned into a mess of racially charged attacks on African Americans, immigrants and the poor."
Obama descended the stairs of Air Force One and was greeted by Brewer, who was waiting for him along with other politicians in a traditional receiving line. Brewer offered Obama a letter, which she later said was an invitation to sit down with her to discuss Arizona’s economic “comeback” and to join her for a tour of the U.S.-Mexican border.Now that you guys know the other side of the story other than perhaps what was seen on video, who would you point the finger at? Governor Brewer, President Obama, or both? I would point my finger at both.
The president told Brewer he would be happy to meet with her, a White House aide said, but also informed the governor that he thought she had been inaccurate in describing their earlier session in the Oval Office.
Brewer’s book, “Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure the Border,’’ details her conservative approach to dealing with the state’s illegal immigration challenges. A review published in the Arizona Republic said that Brewer casts Obama as “condescending” and skewers him repeatedly. Although she originally described their Oval Office meeting as cordial, the newspaper said, “in the book she calls the president ‘patronizing’ and said ‘he lectured me.’ ”
“He didn’t feel that I had treated him cordially” in the book, Brewer told reporters Wednesday. “I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president. The book is what the book is. I asked him if he read the book. He said he read the excerpt.”
In an excerpt available on Amazon, Brewer defends Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 immigration law that she signed into law in 2010, but whose toughest provisions were overturned by a federal judge.
Brewer writes that Obama “has repeatedly made fun of those of us who want to see the law enforced, saying we want a ‘moat’ with ‘alligators’ in it around our country. The reason he has resorted to these failed attempts at humor, I think, is that he supports a policy that is fundamentally undemocratic, and he knows it.”
She and Obama appeared to be talking over each other on the tarmac, as other Arizona officials looked on. The exchange ended when Obama abruptly walked away, as Brewer appeared to still be speaking.
Abortions reported in Illinois reached a 37-year low in 2010, a drop that abortion opponents attributed to more women shying away from the procedure while abortion-rights supporters pointed to an uptick in use of contraceptives.I posted that quote from the President of Planned Parenthood for a reason. I'm surprised to see she's pleased about the decrease in a abortions.
In 2010, there were 41,859 abortions in Illinois, according to recently published data from the state Department of Public Health .
That’s the lowest total since 1973, when Illinois recorded 32,760 abortions. That’s the year the procedure was legalized in the United States in the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carole Brite, president of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said her organization was pleased to learn about the decrease but it was “hard to know for sure” what caused it. She said between 2009 and 2010, her organization doubled its distribution of contraceptives such as intrauterine devices and Implanon — a small rod placed under the skin that blocks pregnancy.
“I think more and more providers have become aware and knowledgeable of these methods and are recommending them to their patients,” Brite said.
I wasn't able to follow the South Carolina primary last night, but was caught off guard seeing that the former US Speaker of the House was able to win that primary. Officially Romney is 2 to 1 against Gingrich although I read a report that the Iowa caucuses had declared former US Senator Rick Santorum the winner. But for now that doesn't count in my eyes especially since there's no way to verify all the results!Former House speaker Newt Gingrich scored an easy victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary, blowing a hole in Mitt Romney’s aura of inevitability.OK the first three big primaries for the GOP are now out of the way, what's next?
The 12-point win represented a swift and extraordinary turnaround in Gingrich’s fortunes — thanks largely to strong performances in two debates. In those forums, he issued a stirring appeal to the state’s strident conservatism, convinced its voters he would be a formidable opponent against President Obama and threw Romney off his stride.
“We don’t have the kind of money that at least one of the candidates has,” Gingrich said in his victory speech in Columbia, referring to Romney. “But we do have ideas, and we do have people and we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money.”
He also peppered his speech with dismissive references to “elites” in the media and in Washington and New York — a sign that he intends to continue the truculently populist tone that resonated with voters in South Carolina.
After disappointing distant finishes in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Gingrich had limped into South Carolina more than 10 points down in most polls. So battered was his candidacy that Gingrich himself had conceded that his campaign might be over if he failed to turn in a strong performance.
The Republican Party of Iowa announced Thursday that Rick Santorum finished ahead of Mitt Romney in its Jan. 3 caucuses, meaning the contest resulted in a virtual tie between the two candidates.So who knows who actually won this year's caucus. And what this actually means is that well Romney isn't on a HOT winning streak?
After more than two weeks of certifying the results, the former Pennsylvania senator pulled ahead of Romney by 34 votes despite Romney being declared the winner on Jan. 3 by an 8 vote margin.
The final official numbers stand at Santorum with 29,839 and Romney with 29,805, but the results from eight of the 1774 precincts could not be located and certified, leaving lingering questions as to who is the actual winner of the Iowa Caucus.
NBC News will not declare a winner in the Iowa Caucus. With the missing precincts, it is impossible to know the final results.
He had a real tough go of this race and now it looks like he's out. Texas Gov. Rick Perry drops out:Rick Perry announced today that he is dropping out of the Republican presidential bid after continually poor rankings and debate performances.Well we won't have another Texan in the White House this time around!
‘There is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign therefore today I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Newt Gingrich,’ he said at an 11am press conference in North Charleston, South Carolina.
While the news does come a as a surprise as the South Carolina primary is only three days away, it is not a complete shock as his support has been lagging, even reaching its' lowest point in recent weeks.
Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) addresses Occupy the Dream at The People's Church in Chicago. 1/15/2012. Jackson proposes trillions of new spending, the federal government hiring 15 million people directly at $40,000 for infrastructure. Jackson remarks "for a mere $900 billion" we can get our country working again.Hat-tip Gateway Pundit!
But still, Lucas claims he foot the bill himself for the budget, because that’s how important getting the film out there was to him. Lucas also pointed out that he wanted to make the film for teenage boys (young, black teenage boys in particular), to show them real heroes and real role models (outside of the Jay-Zs and Michael Jordans as he said). However, while talking to the folks over at USA Today, he said the pressure of having it do well at the box office has him worried about what impact Red Tail‘s success could have on the success of future films with all black casts.It wasn't just about the money but to help advance Black filmmakers. Perhaps even change the range of films they will be able to make. It also about giving the young boys the real heros and the real role models. Very laudable goals because the men the boys look up to will need some form of diversity. Who says you must only look up to entertainers and be entertainers?
“I realize that by accident I’ve now put the black film community at risk,” Lucas said. “I’m saying, if this doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ll stay where you are for quite a while. It’ll be harder for you guys to break out of that (lower-budget) mold. But if I can break through with this movie, then hopefully there will be someone else out there saying let’s make a prequel and sequel, and soon you have more Tyler Perrys out there.”
The Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has written Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, blasting the County’s decision to ignore immigration detainers at Cook County Jail, warning her that the County is likely in violation of federal law.
ICE Director John Morton suggested the County’s decision to release accused criminals back into the community without informing immigration, was a danger to the community.
"The ordinance disrupts the federal government’s efforts to remove deportable criminal offenders from the country, and instead allows for their release back into the community," Morton wrote. "The release of so many of these individuals to the streets of Cook County is deeply troubling, and directly undermines public safety."
From Yahoo's, The Ticket:Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, the second state in a row he has carried in his campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.I wanted to find a county by county map so here's one from CNN and here's one from the Chicago Tribune. It appears out of the 10 counties in NH all but one went for former Gov. Romney. One lone county in the most northern portion of the "Granite State" went to TX Congressman Ron Paul.
Romney is the first Republican, not including incumbent presidents, to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary since Iowa Republicans began holding their first-in-the-nation caucuses in 1976.
Ron Paul came in second; Jon Huntsman in third.
It was a start-to-finish victory for Romney in New Hampshire, who led in the polls here throughout the 2012 campaign. Romney owns a summer home in the state, which borders his home state of Massachusetts, where he served as governor from 2003 to 2007.
“It is five minutes to midnight,” the scientists said Tuesday. “Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed.”According to this article back in 1953 we were only 2 minutes to midnight because the US had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb but in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union it was as far away at 17 minutes to midnight. You can check this history of this at this Wiki page. Scary stuff!
“There are still 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world — enough to kill all of humanity many times over,” Robert Socolow of Princeton University said at a news conference in Washington D.C..
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project. The scientists created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero), to convey threats to humanity and the Earth.
The bulletin has grown into an organization focused more generally on manmade threats to human civilization.
The Doomsday Clock had most recently been moved back from five to six minutes to midnight in 2010, in a response to the worldwide reduction of nuclear weapons and attempts to limit climate change.
In the United States today, there is little doubt concealed carry is one of the hottest topics, at least for gun owners. Sales figures for compact, concealable handguns bear out this argument. Furthermore, at last count, there was a grand total of one state that had absolutely no provision to allow their citizens to carry a concealed handgun. In the other states, the majority have shall-issue laws on the books.And if you read this blog, we already know what that one state is. Thank you Gov. Pat Quinn!
Speak of Federalism, not “States’ Rights”If states have rights we're in even bigger trouble than thought. You know who else invoked states' rights? People who supported segregation and well now that's one reason why no one really wants to take state's rights now.
States don’t have rights. People do.
States have powers. Nowhere in the Constitution are states said to possess rights. Congress has certain powers, clearly enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and the conservative-favorite Tenth Amendment makes clear that all the other powers are reserved to the states.
Not only is it incorrect to speak of states’ rights, but the expression has more baggage than Samsonite and Louis Vuitton combined. In case you didn’t know, “states’ rights” was the rallying cry of segregationists. Since no right-thinking conservative will keep company with such people, let’s just drop the term states’ rights once and for all.
If you’re concerned about federal encroachments on state sovereignty or the erosion of federalism–as you should be–then speak of federal encroachments on state sovereignty or the erosion of federalism. Or of the need to restore limited constitutional government, reinvigorate local self-government, decentralize power or check the growth of out-of-control government. With so many great formulations to choose from, why weaken the case for liberty by relying on “states’” rights?
In fact, to me, the idea of not using a cellphone while in the car makes all the sense in the world – particularly since I have noticed the number of times that drivers who were busy yakking away on their hand-held communications devices weren’t paying attention and would have hit me had I not managed to engage in a sudden maneuver.This is how Tejada responds to those who may not like the idea of Government banning the use of cellphones in automobiles:
AS FAR AS I’m concerned, I actually have one of those devices in my own car that lets me talk on my cellular telephone without holding it in my hands (it was a birthday gift from my brother a couple of years ago).
Yet I rarely use it, preferring to ignore most calls to me while driving (I call them back once I get to where I’m going).
On those rare occasions when it is someone whom I do need to talk to, right there and then, I pull over to the side of the road and stop (which led to one recent story I reported, in part, for an area newspaper from the side of Interstate 80 just outside of Joliet), then talk.
In short, I will have no problem complying with the idea that using a cellular phone in the car is absurd.
There are going to be a lot of people who are going to think that this is some sort of serious intrusion on their personal lives by telling them where their cellular telephones can (and cannot) be used.Believe it or not some of this I can relate to. Besides my cellphone usage doesn't revolve around talking as a lot of people use their cell phones. In fact it irritates me to see so many people on their phones and airing out their personal business and forcing everyone to listen when they might prefer some peace and quiet. A lot of people seem to want to lose themselves in the phone and forget that there are actually people around them.
Even though personally, I consider the cellular telephone itself to be the serious intrusion on my own personal life. As though some people think they have the right to speak to me whenever it is to their convenience.
