Sam Fulwood III explains why Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's disrespectful gesture last week will motivate black voters to support the president in the November election.
With a waggle of her right index finger last Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer erased the question of whether black voters will be enthusiastic about going to the polls in support of President Barack Obama. Now, you can count on it.
Gov. Brewer almost guaranteed that large numbers of black voters will turn out on Election Day because they will march to the polls, still angry about Brewer's one-finger salute of the commander-in-chief. Nothing motivates voters like anger. So I envision their collective disgust to register in a wave of ballots, striking back at what so many perceive as the ultimate disrespect of the nation's first black president.
This isn't a bold prediction. Rather, it's more of a reasonable assessment of what I'm hearing and reading about the durability of the anger over the now-infamous tarmac photo. As if the picture didn't convey an outrageous message greater than 1,000 words uttered by a campaign opponent, Gov. Brewer doubled down on the prickly image to say that she poked her finger in the president's face because she f"elt threatened":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/jan-brewer-felt-a-little-threatened-by-president-obama.php by the audacity of that black man dressing her down over comments she wrote about him.
Indeed, I'm willing to be charitable on Gov. Brewer's behalf. For sure, she could never have envisioned how that split-second of her life under an Arizona sun, captured on pixels and set loose into the blogosphere, would reverberate in communities of color across the land. She probably (and accurately) expected it would help with sales of her book among conservatives who hate President Obama, but it also made her a subject of derisions, jokes, and ridicule among progressives in general and the black community in particular. And once a politician becomes the enduring butt of jokes, it's nearly impossible to repair the damage. Just ask Sarah Palin, who remains a force only among the far right.
Clearly, Gov. Brewer didn't know at that fateful moment how so many black Americans react to such gestures. No doubt she didn't know or care that many of us would decipher hidden meanings in her gesture or comments. Maybe she meant no malice. But whatever crossed Gov. Brewer's mind, she came off as disrespectful and clueless to black voters who are proud and protective of the president. And they will make her pay for being ignorant of their concerns and cavalier of their fears.
The White House, however, tried to downplay the entire incident. The president called it "no big deal." But of course he would say that and take the high road, while his political operatives made sure the real message was heard in black barbershops, beauty parlors, and churches. That's where the real political conversations among black voters are vetted, charged, and sustained.
I'm hearing an earful, nearly all of it anger at the perception of unfairness in the way the president (and his wife) are publicly portrayed. The Brewer photo only exacerbated the already-simmering feelings that started with Tea Party activists' racist signs, were perpetuated by South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe 'You Lie' Wilson's outburst, and continued with Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's rude comments about the callipygian attributes of the First Lady's figure.
Lots of chatter circulates in media accounts of whether President Obama can motivate black voters this November as he did in 2008. He probably can't. The drama and enthusiasm surrounding the election of the nation's first black president can never be replicated. But it won't have to be this time around. Pride has been displaced by anger. Any lingering doubts about commitment and energy for President Obama's re-election among black voters is now moot.
Jan Brewer, thank you very much.
Sam Fulwood III is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Director of the CAP Leadership Institute. His work with the Center's Progress 2050 project examines the impact of policies on the nation when there will be no clear racial or ethnic majority by the year 2050.
Too Sexy for the Super Bowl? Reporter's Attire Sparks Debate, Again
When social media explodes around the question of, “Who was that ridiculous Latina chick in the red dress at the Super Bowl media day,” I pay attention. The chick in question was Marisol González, the reporter for Televisa Deportes.
Wearing a super tight, red mini-dress with her luscious, wavy brown hair flowing down to her waist, the striking reporter was at the media event interviewing players alongside other reporters. But of course, she didn’t look like any of the others.
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Her outfit was just as sexy as those favored by her competitor, Inez Sainz, from TV Azteca, who last year was at the center of an investigation following a “locker room incident” where some players made jokes and comments about her appearance. I wonder why?
The fact that these two reporters are not only allowed but very likely encouraged to flaunt their great attributes by their employers speaks volumes of the deeply engrained sexism in the Hispanic culture. I know many men who don’t speak a word of Spanish but watch the morning shows and the evening news to see the sexy hostesses and the weather girls.
There’s nothing wrong with leveraging what you’ve got to achieve your goals. Hey, men tilt the scale in their favor using their deep, authoritative voices, taking up more space and even faking self-confidence when necessary.
The problem with übersexy reporters who pose in bikinis and wear skimpy clothing to do their jobs is that you can’t take them seriously and they devalue the profession. When Inez Sainz describes herself on her website as the “World Hottest Sports Reporter” who “is best known because of her sexy looks” and “is hot, talented and has a great smile,” it makes me wonder, why not chose a career as a model, spokesperson for a sun block brand, or even have her own variety show? If her body and her looks are her best attributes, then she’s miscast as a reporter.
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Why do I care? For two reasons: First, because the journalism profession requires people who take their job seriously. Until the industry stops sanctioning looks over substance there will be limited opportunities for the thousands of brilliant female journalists who work hard to get in front of a camera. And second, because this lack of professional attitude (and attire) impacts all of us. Playing to the sexy Latina stereotype contributes to smart Latinas not being taken as seriously as they should be.
I hope this piece encourages a healthy debate on the subject of what is appropriate dress for different professions. But until some changes are made, it’s only fair that all the Spanish TV networks demand that their male anchors, sportscasters and weathermen show some skin. What about some six packs and a tight pair of black briefs for us ladies to look at? Old-Spice man anyone?
Mariela Dabbah is the CEO of Latinos in College a renowned speaker, media contributor and award-winning author. Her new book Poder de Mujer will be released March 6, 2012 by Penguin
Authorities are examining the health a 10-year-old girl who gave birth in Spain last week.
Social workers inspected the home of the girl, who is Romanian, to determine whether her baby is properly cared for, officials said. They would not say what they found, but the town's mayor called the home “modest.”
The case has shocked Spaniards and created an international sensation – news of the birth went viral on the Internet. But medical professionals have expressed concerns over the young mother’s health, especially since it’s unclear whether she received any medical attention the last few months of her pregnancy.
"A very comprehensive approach to her care needs to be instituted early in her pregnancy," said Dr. Manny Alvarez, a gynecologist who is managing editor of foxnewshealth.com.
The girl’s age places her at significant risk, he said. Officials say she had not seen a doctor before showing up at a hospital last week.
“This is a very high-risk pregnancy because the anatomy of a 10-year-old is not mature,” Alvarez said. “They are at higher risk of hypertension and pelvic trauma and tend to end up having caesarean deliveries because their vaginal anatomy is so immature.”
Leading daily El Pais and other Spanish news media said prosecutors had announced they would investigate whether the parents might be guilty of any negligence if the 10-year-old child was not registered for school or had not received sufficient pre-natal care.
The girl's mother told reporters earlier this week that she's delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn't understand the fuss the birth has caused. She said the baby's father is a 13-year-old boy who is still in Romania.
She also said since they are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, it is their custom to marry very young.
Arranged "marriages" for girls reaching puberty are relatively common among Roma, who make up about 1.5 million of Romania's 22 million people. Those marriages are not recognized by the state, which requires girls to be 16 and have parental consent before they can marry.
Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, a leading high-risk obstetrician, said this case was not about teen pregnancy, it’s about a pre-teen whose body is not yet built to carry a child.
"Her chest is not extensively developed for breast tissue, her bones aren't quite fused, and once you expose a child this young to high amounts of progesterone and especially estrogen, there is (a possibility) that it could halt her growth," Al-khan said.
There are also psychological issues associated with pre-teen pregnancy because a 10-year-old cannot be mentally ready to give birth, Al-Khan said.
"This is heart-wrenching because you have a kid whose mental capacities can’t possibly wrap themselves around what it means to be a mother," agreed Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and Fox News contributor. "There are so many psychological minefields in store for her. Feelings of guilt, feelings of wanting to nurture another human being, and yet this is all very, very complex and intense when she looks to her own family to essentially support, and if you will, father her child."
The youngest documented case of a child pregnancy was in 1939 in Lima, Peru, Al-Khan said. Lina Medina was six years old when she became pregnant and gave birth to a baby.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
A large number of deadly Burmese pythons have invaded the Florida Everglades and wrecked havoc on the region's raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals.
Scientists fear that the deadly snakes, many of which were former house pets turned loose by their owners when they got too big, could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.
A study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically — as much as 99 percent, in some cases — in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.
"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.
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Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.
Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.
The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.
For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997.
The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still notable.
Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall.
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"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said Michael Dorcas, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the study.
Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.
The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.
Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.
In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes.
Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.
"This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy," he said.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
This year, on the first day of Black History Month, Americans, and the African-American community in particular, mourn the loss of Don Cornelius, a media and music pioneer who created Soul Train, the first national platform to expose our musical lifestyle and history.
Since 1971, Cornelius, whose name is synonymous with the show, conducted the express Train into our homes and hearts, shaping the scope and setting the trend of what was hip and cool.
Cornelius' impact was monumental. He was our Dick Clark and Soul Train was our American Bandstand. We tuned in each week to see our favorite recording stars, the latest fashion, dance moves, and hairstyles.
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As an indication of the influence and importance of Soul Train, every last one of our celebrity icons -- from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Richard Pryor, James Brown, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Public Enemy to Mary J. Blige, have appeared as a guest on the "hippest trip in America" at some point in their career.
More 40 years after its debut, there's not a black wedding reception, family reunion, block party, or backyard barbeque that doesn't feature the famous "Soul Train line" as a guest of honor.
I can speak on behalf of all my African-American peers and proudly say that we were raised on Soul Train. When Cornelius retired as host in 1993 and passed the microphone to other guest emcees like Shemar Moore, the show didn't have the same flavor, style, and spirit that we had all fallen in love with over the years.
R&B crooner and former MCA and Jive recording artist, Marc Dorsey, who was a friend of Cornelius that appeared twice as a guest on the show says, "I would like to extend my prayers to the family of the untimely passing of a great leader in black culture; not only in music, but the black experience."
In 1996, while I was a marketing director at MCA Records, we released a Soul Train CD box set compilation in recognition of the show's 25th anniversary. In an attempt to heighten our promotional efforts and pay homage to Cornelius' program, I orchestrated a contest, in which local and regional music video outlets around the country would re-create the Soul Train dance line on their respective shows. The producer who submitted the best reenactment; would win an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the annual "Soul Train Music Awards."
When I presented my proposal to Cornelius' production company for approval, I was expecting a return call from one of his associates. As I answered the phone, I knew instantly, who the distinct, deep voice on the other end of the line belonged to. Both nerves and excitement overwhelmed me as I thought, "wow! Don Cornelius calling me?!"
There was no small talk or chit-chat. He was focused and made his point immediately. I felt put on the spot, like a Soul Train scramble board contestant as he said, "I like your idea, brother. Let's move forward with the promotion. Thanks for thinking of me, brother."
I answered: "thanks, Mr. Cornelius. I spent every Saturday morning of my life watching your show, Mr. Cornelius. This is truly an honor, Mr. Cornelius."
"You're welcome, brother. And one last thing," he finally joked, but still serious sounding and direct, "Don't call me, Mr. Cornelius."
On this sad day, we all offer a variation of the famous tagline that he would end every episode of Soul Train with, and which we came to love each and every week: to Don Cornelius: "love, rest in peace, and soul."
http://youtu.be/NdWDd-AC5k0
Long before MTV thought that Black music was cool (or profitable), Don Cornelius made it a nationally televised, weekly must-see event.
It takes being a student of history or simply being alive in 1971, the year Cornelius introduced “Soul Train” to the American television audience, to fully appreciate how he turned the perception that Black culture could not survive mainstream market on its head. And the times were not in his favor.
Malcolm X was shot and killed in 1965. Five months later, the Watts Riots erupted due to suppressed anger from African Americans toward law enforcement. In 1967, five days of rioting claimed the lives of 43 people in Detroit, accelerating an already white exodus from the predominately Black city. That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. (Cornelius’ second ex-wife is white.) And let’s not forget that Dr. Martin L. King Jr. was killed in 1968.
Throughout the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement forced America to recognize that Blacks were not treated as equal citizens under the law, and they demanded sweeping federal legislation to correct it.
Now enters this dark-skin, baritone-voiced Negro telling white executives that they should invest in a Black music television show. Dick Clarke‘s “American Bandstand” was the television dance show that most Americans wiggled their hips to prior to “Soul Train.” And as Kenneth Gamble of the once-renowned Philadelphia International Records label told the L.A. Times recently, there certainly weren’t many Black folks on Clarke’s show leading any of the wiggling.
“‘Bandstand’ was a dance show, but it basically concentrated on Caucasian people. While they had a few Black artists on from time to time, “Soul Train” was something that the African-American community embraced first — and it’s always good to see African-American people on TV — but then it became a national and an international phenomenon.”
NPR correspondent Karen Grigsby recalls an interview she had with Cornelius, where he discussed advertisers’ initial trepidation.
“[Cornelius] told me that when I interviewed him on the celebration of the 40th anniversary, people said, ‘Oh, nobody’s going to buy this,’” Grigsby said. ‘There’s not going to be any advertisers.’ So he lined up the advertisers and, after the first couple of shows, people were like, ‘Wow.’”
Eventually, Cornelius convinced enough power players to invest in “Soul Train” and started the show in Chicago. It moved to Los Angeles soon after. Sears and Chicago-based cosmetic company Johnson Products were Soul Train’s first major advertisers.
Cornelius, in his own way, was an activist. But not in the traditional sense. He didn’t picket or march out his frustration toward the system. He relied on his silky voice, impeccably tailored attire, and laid-back disposition to work within it instead.
Like the Black cultural ambassadors before him who successful gained acceptance from White mainstream audiences (Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robinson, Bill Cosby), Cornelius could not appear as an “angry, Black man” down-trodden by “the White man.”
Shayne Lee, a sociologist, told CNN that Cornelius’ style allowed “Soul Train” to slowly make its way into American mainstream pop culture.
“He was an ambassador, the pope of soul,” Lee said. “For a lot of suburban Whites living in segregated America, this was their first exposure to this exciting new world of movement and energy. He made Black culture more accessible.”
In other words, Cornelius made Black culture “less threatening.”
His efforts to achieve this clean-cut identity eventually clashed with his changing audience and their evolving musical tastes. Cornelius did not like hip-hop at first and was very reluctant to welcome rappers on his program, but his business acumen convinced his ideological bias to open his doors to the likes of Run-DMC, Public Enemy, and Eric B and Rakim.
(These acts were not exactly “hard-core”)
But what is uniquely special about “Soul Train” is that while Cornelius catered to Black audiences, White dancers regularly appeared on his show. Even Elton John and David Bowie (you can’t get any whiter than these two) performed on his shows to expand their reach to Black audiences. If there ever was a musical integrationist, Cornelius was it. Not only did he make Black hip to mainstream White America, he convinced the business world that it was profitable to invest in it.
Black people have always known that we have that God-given gift known as “soul.” Don Cornelius simply made sure the rest of America (and the world) knew it too.
The tale of American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their epic transcontinental journey has long been a fixture in history books. A little known fact behind the pair’s adventure was that a Black slave helped the men bridge cultural gaps between themselves and American Indian they encountered along the way.
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Terra Hall of Fox4 Kansas City recently reported that a slave named York helped Lewis and Clark gain access with American Indians during their trudge through the Midwest. American Indians saw York’s dark skin as a sign of strength and power.
“He’s [York] the first known African American known to make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. So he’s one of the greats as far as the explorers are concerned,” said Richard Edwards of the National Frontier Trials Museum in Independence, Mo.
For the entire month of February, Edwards will be sharing tales of York and other Black Americans who were instrumental in shaping America’s place in history.
NAIROBI, Kenya— President Barack Obama’s 91-year-old step-grandmother suffered bruises and shock after a car she was traveling in rolled over, a relative and a hospital official said Monday.
The relative said Sarah Obama was traveling to her home in the village of Kogelo, in western Kenya, when the accident happened Saturday night.
He said the vehicle lost control and rolled as the driver attempted to overtake a truck near the Kisumu airport. The relative asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak for the family.
Najim Mawji, the chief operating officer of the Agha Khan hospital in Kisumu, said doctors discharged her Saturday night after she had gone through several tests.
Mawji said she coped well with the shock that came from the accident.
Sarah Obama is the second wife of Obama’s paternal grandfather. Obama referred to her as “Granny” in his memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” and described meeting her during his 1988 trip to his father’s homeland and their awkwardness as they struggled to communicate.
Barack Obama has visited his Kenyan relatives three times in Kogelo, and his step-grandmother has gone to the U.S. at least three times. In a 2008 interview she said they are close, although they have to speak through an interpreter.
Kenya has a special regard for President Obama, the son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist. Children, shops and dozens of minibuses — which carry names in Kenya — are named after the president.
On January 13th the Atlanta Jewish Times featured a column by its owner-publisher suggesting that Israel might someday need to “order a hit” on the president of the United States.
In the column, publisher Andrew Adler describes a scenario in which Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would need to “give the go-ahead for U.S. based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel.”
The purpose? So that the vice president could then take office and dictate U.S. policies that would help the Jewish state “obliterate its enemies.”
Adler writes that it is highly likely that the idea “has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles.”
Numerous Jewish leaders quickly condemned Adler, who has now apologized for the column, resigned, and there are some reports that he plans to put the newspaper up for sale. An Israeli columnist noted that the hatred being stirred up against Obama is similar to conditions in Israel that led to the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist.
Many of those criticizing Adler claim that he had defamed Israel by suggesting that it would ever do such a thing. Abe Foxman, head of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) proclaimed: “There is absolutely no excuse, no justification, no rationalization for this kind of rhetoric. It doesn’t even belong in fiction.”
In reality, however, Adler’s expectation that Israel’s inner circles have explored such a course of action, and would be willing to undertake it, may be entirely accurate. The fact is that Israel has killed and plotted to assassinate people throughout the world; a number have been Americans. One alleged plot was chillingly similar to Adler’s suggestion.
Secret Service warned of Israeli assassination plans
There is evidence that in 1991 an Israeli undercover team planned to assassinate a U.S. President. The intended victim was George Herbert Walker Bush.
The first person to write of the plot was a former 11-term Republican Congressman from Illinois, Paul Findley. In a 1992 article in the Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, Findley described the alleged scheme and how it was revealed.
Findley writes that the U.S. Secret Service had received a warning that elements of Israel’s spy agency might target Bush when he went to Madrid for the opening day of the peace conference to be held that year.
According to Findley, a former Mossad agent named Victor Ostrovsky who had written a book exposing Israel’s spy agency told a group of Canadian parliamentarians that he had received secret intelligence suggesting that the “the Mossad's hatred of Bush – and support for Vice President Dan Quayle – might lead to an attempt on the president's life.”
Israel considered Quayle much closer to Israel than Bush. Bush had particularly angered Israel by attempting to pressure Israel into ending its illegal settlement expansion on confiscated Palestinian land by withholding loan guarantees until Israel ended this practice.
Findley writes that Ostrovsky’s statements were relayed to Findley’s friend and former colleague Paul “Pete” McCloskey, a prominent former Republican Congressman from California who had recently been named by Bush to the National and Community Service Commission.
McCloskey, a decorated Marine veteran and graduate of Stanford law school who had at one time been considered a presidential contender, flew to Ottawa to debrief Ostrovsky in person and evaluate his information.
Findley reports that Ostrovsky told McCloskey that the Mossad wanted "to do everything possible to preserve a state of war between Israel and its neighbors, assassinating President Bush, if necessary." Ostrovsky said that a PR campaign was already underway in both Israel and the United States to "prepare public acceptance of Dan Quayle as president."
Convinced that Ostrovsky was legitimate and his information significant, McCloskey jumped on the next flight to Washington, where he reported Ostrovsky’s intelligence to the Secret Service and State Department.
The apparent plot never went forward, perhaps because Ostrovsky and McCloskey had given it away.
Ostrovsky gave more details about the plot two years later in his 1994 book, “The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda,” published by HarperCollins.
In the book Ostrovsky writes that an extremist group within Mossad was responsible for the plan. He says they kept the plan secret from then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, though they believed that Shamir would have ordered such a hit himself if he hadn’t been constrained by politics. In the lead-up to Israel’s 1948 founding war, Shamir had headed up a terrorist group known for its assassinations.
In his review of Ostrovsky’s book, Ambassador Andrew Killgore, a retired career foreign service officer and publisher of the Washington Report, called the book an “insider's probing exposé of some Middle East realities that have been hidden too long from all but Israeli eyes.”
Ostrovsky writes that the Israelis planned a “false flag” operation in which they would pin the assassination on Palestinians. They kidnapped three Palestinian militants from Beirut who were to be the scapegoats, took them to Israel's Negev desert, and held them incommunicado.
“Meanwhile,” Killgore writes, “Mossad-generated threats on the president's life, seemingly from Palestinians, were leaked. These were designed to throw suspicion on the organization of rogue Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal. Names and descriptions of the three terrorists were leaked to Spanish police so that, if the plot was successful, blame would automatically fall on them.”
Ostrovsky reports that after the assassination plot was eventually cancelled, the three Palestinian prisoners were “terminated.”
Targeting Americans
If the plot had gone forward, this would not have been the first time that Israel targeted Americans for death. Nor would it be the first false flag operation.
◦In 1954 the Mossad planned to firebomb American installations, libraries, and other gathering places in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood was to be blamed for the attacks, thus causing American animosity toward Egypt. An accidental early detonation of one of the devices caused the plot, known as the Lavon Affair, to unravel before it could kill or mutilate the intended Americans.
◦In 1967 Israeli air and sea forces perpetrated an almost two-hour assault in which they tried to sink a US Navy ship with a crew of 294. While the attack failed to sink the ship, it succeeded in killing 34 Americans and injuring 174. Some analysts have conjectured that this was also a false-flag operation; it is highly likely that Egypt would have been blamed for the attack if the ship had gone down.
◦In 1973 Israeli fighter pilots were ordered to shoot down an unarmed U.S. reconnaissance plane (at the time the U.S. was delivering massive weaponry to Israel to prevent it from losing the “Yom Kippur” war with Egypt and Syria). While the Israelis were unable to reach the altitude of the U.S. plane, they did manage that same year to shoot down a civilian Libyan airliner that had strayed over Israeli territory, killing 104 men, women, and children. One was an American.
◦In 1990 a Canadian-American scientist and father of seven, Gerald Bull, was assassinated in Belgium. All indications are that it was an Israeli Mossad hit team that drilled five bullets into the back of his head and neck. (Israel has assassinated a number of scientists of various nationalities. The most recent is a 32-year-old Iranian father with a young son.)
◦In 2003 it came out that Israeli leaders had officially decided to undertake assassination operations on U.S. soil. An FBI spokesman, queried about the Israeli plans, said only: "This is a policy matter. We only enforce federal laws."
◦In recent years a growing number of American peace activists have been intentionally killed, maimed, and injured by Israeli forces, including 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, 21-year-old Brian Avery, 37-year-old Tristan Anderson, 21-year-old Emily Henoschowitz, and 21-year-old Furkan Dogan.
All of this has been minimally reported in the U.S. press. While major news media from England to Israel to Australia covered the Jewish Times’ apparent endorsement of a possible Israeli assassination of a U.S. President, the scandal has been largely missing from U.S. media. Even Atlanta’s AP bureau inexplicably initially decided not to write a report on it, only finally sending out a story many days later.
Such news omissions concerning Israeli partisans are not rare. In 2004 a fanatic Israel loyalist wrote a letter saying that he was going to burn down Presbyterian churches while worshippers were inside (he was furious at the Presbyterian Church’s decision to divest from companies profiting from the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land). This grisly threat also received minimal media play.
Despite Israeli violence against Americans (even while American taxpayers have given Israel far more of our tax money than to any other nation) American presidential candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, continue to vie over who is most devoted to Israel.
It is ironic that Adler considers Obama so bad for Israel, given that Israeli analysts have rated him second only to Mitt Romney in his fidelity to Israel. And Obama has now released a seven-minute video that may catapult our first African-American president into first place in pandering to an apartheid nation.
But perhaps he’ll be safe from assassins.
[This article was originally published by Antiwar.com, Jan. 25, 2012.]
References (From: Council For The National Interest)
Adler, Andrew. "What Would You Do?" Atlanta Jewish Times 13 Jan. 2012: 3. Print. Online at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/284979-ajt.html
"Jewish Times Publisher Resigns over Obama Assassination Column." Atlanta Journal Constitution. 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.
"Jewish Publisher Is an Idiot - but His Hatred Is Shared by Many." Haaretz (blog). 21 Jan. 2012. Accessed 22 Jan. 2012.http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/jewish-publisher-is-an-idiot-but-his-hatred-is-shared-by-many-1.408466
Anti-Defamation League. ADL Condemns 'Outrageous' Column By Atlanta Jewish Times Publisher. 20 Jan. 2012. Web.
"List of Israeli Assassinations." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. Accessed 22 Jan. 2012.
While the Wikipedia entry appeared on the day it was accessed to contain an accurate list, it is important to remember that anyone can edit Wikipedia at any moment and inaccurate changes can be made. Israeli partisans have consistently attempted to promote an Israeli agenda on the Internet. See http://www.councilforthenationalinterest.org/news/israellobby/item/1300-israeli-students-to-get-$2000-to-spread-state-propaganda-on-facebook and http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142374 and http://www.ifamericansknew.org/media/wikip.html
Findley, Paul. "Special Report: Peril in Being President." Washington Report for Middle East Affairs (February 1992): 10. Print. Online at http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/137/6255-special-report-peril-in-being-president.html
Ostrovsky, Victor, and Claire Hoy. By Way of Deception. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print. http://books.google.com/books/about/By_way_of_deception.html?id=nKJBF8RS2LMC
Murphy, Dan. "US Says No Plan to Cut Israel Loan Guarantees, but It's Been Tried before." Christian Science Monitor [Boston] 11 Jan. 2010, Global News Blog ed.http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0111/US-says-no-plan-to-cut-Israel-loan-guarantees-but-it-s-been-tried-before
“Pete McCloskey Leading from the Front.” Dir. Robert Caughlan. Perf. Narrated by Paul Newman. The Video Project, 2009. Film. Web.
Nakhleh, Issa. "Chapter Seven: Zionist Crimes and Terrorism in Palestine 1948." Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem. Intercontinental, 1991. Online at http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter07_1of7.htm
MacIntyre, Donald. "Israel's Forgotten Hero: The Assassination of Count Bernadotte - and the Death of Peace." The Independent [London] 18 Sept. 2008. Print. Online at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html
Killgore, Andrew. "The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs April-May (1995): 58-81. Print. Online at http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/161-1995-april-may/7775-the-other-side-of-deception-a-rogue-agent-exposes-the-mossads-secret-agenda.html
Melman, Yossi. "Targeted Killings - a Retro Fashion Very Much in Vogue." Ha'aretz [Israel] 24 Mar. 2004. Print. Online at http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/targeted-killings-a-retro-fashion-very-much-in-vogue-1.117714
"Iran's Nuclear Scientists Are Not Being Assassinated. They Are Being Murdered." The Guardian. 16 Jan. 2012.
Curtiss, Richard H. "The Lavon Affair: When Israel Firebombed U.S. Installations Print." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs July (1992). Print. Online at http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/141/6852-the-lavon-affair-when-israel-firebombed-us-installations.html
Moorer, Admiral Thomas H., General Raymond G. Davis, Rear Admiral Merlin Staring, and Ambassador James Akins. "Findings of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty, the Recall of Military Rescue Support Aircraft While the Ship Was Under Attack, and the Subsequent Cover-up by the United States Government." Congressional Record October 11 (2004): E1886-1889. Print. Online at http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/ul-commfindings.html
"The USS Liberty - Compilation of Articles." If Americans Knew. Web.
“Sharon Pattern from of Old.” United Press International, 17 Apr. 2002. Online at http://rense.com/general30/down.htm
"Who Remembers LAA Flight 114?" Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (September 19, 1983): 3. Print. Online at http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/56-september-1983/278-who-remembers-laa-flight-114.html
Redford, John. "Gerald Bull, Gunsmith." Apr. 1992. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.
"The Man Who Made the Supergun." FRONTLINE. PBS. 12 Feb. 1991. Television. Transcript. Online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/911.html
"Think of the Prestige." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Sept, 1992). Print. Online at http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/SGbull.htm
Sale, Richard. "Israel to Kill in U.S., Allied Nations." United Press International 15 Jan. 2003. Print. online at http://www.rense.com/general33/trarg.htm
Some researchers suspect earlier operations on U.S. soil, one presenting evidence suggesting an Israeli connection to the strange 1949 death of U.S. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal:: Martin, David. "New Forrestal Document Exposes Cover-up." 17 Sept. 2004. Web. 2012.
Sheehan-Miles, Charles. "Israel Goes Too Far." Alternet.com. Alternet, 27 Jan. 2003. Web. 21 Jan. 2012.
Weir, Alison. "The Manufactured Controversy Over Former Senior White House Correspondent Helen Thomas." CounterPunch June 9 (2010). Web. 2012.
Porter, Gareth. "UN Report: American Citizen Executed By Israelis During Mavi Marmara Raid." Alternet (September 27, 2010). online at http://www.alternet.org/investigations/148314/un_report:_american_citizen_executed_by_israelis_during_mavi_marmara_raid/
"Atlanta Jewish Times Owner 'very Sorry' for Obama Column." Atlanta Journal Constitution. 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2012.
"Atlanta Jewish Times Owner Says Sorry for Obama 'hit' Column." The Guardian. 20 Jan. 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/20/newspaper-owner-sorry-obama-hit-column?newsfeed=true.
Shalev, Chemi. "Uproar after Jewish American Newspaper Publisher Suggests Israel Assassinate ..." Haaretz. 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/uproar-after-jewish-newspaper-publisher-suggests-israel-assassinate-barack-obama-1.408429 .
"Editor Laments Column's Call to Assassinate Obama." Sydney Morning Herald. 23 Jan. 2012. http://www.smh.com.au/world/editor-laments-columns-call-to-assassinate-obama-20120123-1qdul.html.
Chang, Pauline J. "Arsonist ''Promises Violence'' Against Presbyterian Church over Divestment Policy." The Christian Post (Nov. 12, 2004). Print. Online at http://www.christianpost.com/news/arsonist-promises-violence-against-presbyterian-church-over-divestment-policy-3180/
"U.S. Military Aid and the Israel/Palestine Conflict." If Americans Knew. Web.
Rosner, Shmuel. "Israel Factor: Only Romney Better than Obama." Jerusalem Post 11 Nov. 2011. Online at http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=244925
Abunimah, Ali. "In Scandalous New Campaign Video, Obama Takes Israel Pandering to Dangerous Levels." Electonic Intifada Blog. 21 Jan. 2012. Web.
ReMillard, Frances H. "Is Israel an Apartheid State?" ICAHD-USA. 6 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. http://icahdusa.org/2010/03/is-israel-an-apartheid-state/.
Willie James Matthews Jr. was born March 11 1968 in Brunswick,Georgia to Brenda Faye Matthews and Willie James Matthews Sr. he passed away August 23 2011 from a Brain Anyreusm at the age of 43 in Savannah,Georgia.Willie is survived by his two loving and beautiful children Willie James Matthews III 18 years old and Makhayla Jackson 14 years old. He is survived by both parents Brenda Faye Pasco and Willie Mathhews Sr. He is also survived by two Brothers William E. Muhammad Jr. A.K.A. THA-CHILL-ONE and Tyrone Speakman A.K.A. King Ody "O".Willie is survived by a host of family and friends whom will forever Love and Honor his memories including his God-Father N.O.I.Southern Regional Minister A.Sharrief Muhammad who has always served as an inspiration and motivation to Willie as of a young age.Willie will always be apart of the Royal Entertainment/Street-Wize Muzikworkz and Promotions Family. He was indeed a man of many talents and he had genuine love and concern for everyone he came into contact with no matter the circumstances. He was a multi-talented street grafitti artist,breakdancer,rapper,and comedian. He was well-versed in the Bible and other Scriptures and he had a heart of Gold and he will forever be remembered for that always. Willie also had the pleasure of learning and taking part in the F.O.I. Manhood Training for several years as well as being a dedicated Church supporter for several years as well.Wherever he could learn knowledge and wisdom from he wasn't afraid to get it by no means.He was a sincere and genuine individual to all of those that knew him and he continued to fellowship with and hang with his two childhood and adulthood bestfriends Dwayne"ESKI"Sharpe Sr. and Lloyd"L.J."Mullino both of Brunswick,Georgia. Willie had the honor of providing security services at various award shows (Soul Train Awards,Budweiser Superfests,Source Awards,and Summer Jams) throughout several years.He was a well-respected streetball player in the South and had major basketball talent which he passed on to his two multi-talented children Willie III and Makhayla.R.I.P. Willie....To "GOD" Be The Glory....We Love You Brother..."ALLAH-U-AKBAR"
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ...
A 22-year-old Dallas mother is in police custody after authorities say she unmercifully tortured her daughter for a potty-training incident.
Police report that Elizabeth Escalona, dragged her daughter, Joselyn Cedillo, by her feet across her apartment, glued her hands and stuck them to a wall until they bled because the 2-year-old soiled her pants.
She then reportedly beat the little girl with a shoe and a belt, kicked her, and pounded her in the stomach with a jug of milk.
According to police, the young mother later made a hysterical phone call to her mother after she noticed that something was wrong with the child.
When the mother arrived Joselyn was unconscious and rushed to the hospital where she remains in critical condition with broken bones and head injuries.
Escalona was arrested for causing an injury to a child; she is being held on $500,000 bond
(HIPHOPWIRED)
A 16-year-old boy in Brazil was pronounced dead after masturbating 42 times without stopping in Rubiato town, in Goiás region, Brazil.
His mother told a local newspaper that she already knew about her son's addiction and although she planned on him to get special help, her decision came too late.
At midnight, the young man began to masturbate and because of his addiction could not stop, continuing to do it 42 individual times.
At school, his classmates commented on the boy's problem and some said he asked them to connect to the webcam so they could observe him.
They further said that his attraction to women was extreme; he was attracted to all kind of women, regardless of texture physics, color and age.
In his room a great amount of pornography was found, including photographs and videos of nude women that were saved on his PC.
(hiphopwired)
The things we’re finding out about our beloved historical figures nowadays…
Apparently, during one of his trips to Washington for a Civil Rights march, MLK tried to get some freakiness poppin’. And that cost him the support of Mrs. JFK for a while.
In explosive tapes to be revealed later this month, the former first lady also tells how she could barely look at images of the iconic leader after he apparently also made derogatory remarks at JFK’s funeral.
Jackie Kennedy’s relationship with Dr King Jr became strained as a result of wire taps arranged by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
The taps allegedly caught Martin Luther King trying to arrange a sex party in Washington, although this has been dismissed by some material concocted by Hoover to damage Dr King Jr.
Nonetheless, Jacqueline Kennedy branded Martin Luther King ‘tricky’ and a ‘phoney’ after hearing of the FBI tapes.
In one of the interviews to be broadcast on September 13, she said: ‘I just can’t see a picture of Martin Luther King without thinking, you know, that man’s terrible.’
She said King had mocked her husband’s funeral and Cardinal Richard Cushing, who celebrated Mass at the funeral.
‘He made fun of Cardinal Cushing and said that he was drunk at it,’ she said. ‘And things about they almost dropped the coffin.’
But per Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis’ memory, MLK wasn’t the only hero who liked to talk that yang after work with his friends.
The Jackie Kennedy interview tapes also reveal that President Kennedy saw U.S. participation in Vietnam as ‘hopeless’ and scorned the idea of Lyndon Baines Johnson succeeding him in office.
The explosive never-before-heard memoirs of the former first lady reveal that JFK was highly skeptical about victory in Vietnam.
The memoirs, to be released later this month on the 50th anniversary of JFK’s first year in office, also describe how Kennedy feared what would happen if rival Johnson took office.
Kennedy chose Johnson, a Texas senator and former political rival, as his running mate in 1960 but later fretted about a Johnson presidency.
In a previously unaired 1964 interview with historian and former JFK aide Arthur Schlesinger, Jackie Kennedy said: ‘Jack said it to me sometimes. He said, ‘Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon were president?”
She also told how her husband and his brother, then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy even discussed ways to prevent Johnson from winning the Democratic nomination in a future contest.
Jacqueline Kennedy added in the interview: ‘He didn’t like that idea that Lyndon would go on and be president because he was worried for the country,” she said.
‘Bobby told me that he’d had some discussions with him.
‘I forget exactly how they were planning or who they had in mind. It wasn’t Bobby, but somebody. Do something to name someone else in ’68.’
Well damn. Who knew our political heroes were this imperfect.
(BOSSIP)
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy referred to Dr. Martin Luther King as “phony” and “tricky” during a 1964 interview about the life of her husband John F. Kennedy. The revelations were laid out in a new book about the couple’s time in the White House.
The interview was one of seven sessions with former JFK aide Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., where Kennedy said that King mocked her husband’s funeral, namely Cardinal Richard Cushing, who served as the celebrant for the service. In Catholicism, the celebrant is the person who offers the mass.
“He made fun of Cardinal Cushing and said he was drunk at it,” Kennedy said. “And things about they almost dropped the coffin. I just can’t see a picture of Martin Luther King without thinking, you know, ‘That man’s terrible.’”
The book is called “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.”
Mrs. Kennedy also revealed that her husband was petrified at the idea of Lyndon B. Johnson taking over as president.
“Jack said it to me sometimes,” she said. “He said, ‘Oh, God, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if Lyndon were president? And Bobby (Kennedy) told me that he’d had some discussion with him … (to) do something to name someone else in 1968.”
(CNN) -- A church called the Phoenix Goddess Temple has been accused of being a house of prostitution, and a six-month undercover investigation has resulted in the arrests of 20 women and men who worked there, Phoenix police said Friday.
Authorities are still searching for 17 more people -- all of whom have been indicted -- in connection with the prostitution enterprise, said Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman. The 20 people arrested so far have been charged with prostitution or other offenses, police said.
During a Wednesday search of the Phoenix temple and two church-related sites in nearby Sedona, police seized evidence showing that "male and female 'practitioners' working a t the Temple were performing sexual acts in exchange for monetary 'donations,' all on the pretense of providing 'neo tantric' healing therapies," Phoenix police said.
The alleged brothel generated tens of thousands of dollars a month, Martos told CNN.
A history of neighbor complaints, a recent Phoenix newspaper article, and the temple's website were among the factors prompting authorities to conduct the undercover investigation, Martos said.
"What's unusual is that they were trying to hide behind religion or church, and under the guise of religious freedom, they were committing acts of prostitution," Martos said.
"We certainly respect First Amendment rights. However, religious freedom does not allow for criminal acts," Martos said.
Regarding the Goddess Temple's website, he said: "What they would talk about would seem to be religion. At the same time, they were implying or intimating that they were giving sex therapy."
The website says at one point: "Sex is a holy, sacred and divine healing force at the core (of) our beings. Once we embrace this force instead of deny it, we become successful, happy and powerful manifestors."
The website also features unclothed women, listed as residing in several states, under a "Goddesses" section.
The investigation focused on the alleged crimes, said acting Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery added in a statement: "Freedom of religion does not allow individuals to trade sex for money, no matter how the transaction is portrayed."
The alleged madam, Tracy Elise, who is in her 50s, was arrested and charged with prostitution, illegal control of an enterprise, pandering, and operating a house of prostitution, police said.
Elise was allegedly involved in a similar suspected brothel in Seattle, Washington, which authorities shut down in 2009, Phoenix police said.
Elise or her attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
Others named in the indictment face charges including conspiracy, working in a house of prostitution, and massaging without a license. A total of 33 people have been indicted, but during Wednesday's search of the Phoenix temple, police arrested four more people not named in the indictment, Martos said.
Four of the 20 people arrested are men, and two of the four are alleged prostitutes, Martos said. The other two men are a website operator and a school director-teacher at the temple, he said.
The other people arrested are women, he added.
The church is near downtown Phoenix, and the temple also had an office and a house in Sedona, both of which investigators also searched with warrants and where police made three of the arrests, Martos said.
The temple practitioners probably used the Sedona house for rest and sleep, Martos said.
What is this world coming to where people are using Religion to shield there dirty and unethical practices misleading and misguiding thousands of people under the false institution of Christianity when Christianity has nothing to do with those sick ideologies whatsoever.......(THACHILLONE)
