Is Obama the only black official in D.C.? On Sunday shows, it seems so

By William Douglas

President Barack Obama sprinted through appearances on five consecutive news shows last Sunday, but other African-American lawmakers and opinion-shapers have a hard time getting face time on those programs.

Although an African-American is serving as the third-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, four African-Americans are chairing important House committees and 17 other Congressional Black Caucus members are holding subcommittee chairs, they haven't made many appearances on the Sunday talk-show circuit.

"There hasn't been much change," said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the chair of the black caucus. "You need a diversity of opinion, of thought, and we're not getting that on the (Sunday) talk shows."  Read more...

Also read

*Exclusive* Malik: America Doesn’t Know What to Do With Blacks on TV

Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns

By Brandon Griggs

One sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases.

People in India, where millions don't have access to clean drinking water, fill buckets from a supply pipeline.

Water-related problems aren't restricted to the developing world. A harmful pesticide, banned by many European countries, remains widely used in the United States, where it runs into rivers and streams.
And one expert estimates California's water supply will run out in 20 years. Read more...

Zimbabwe to Keep Seizing White-Owned Farms, Times Reports

By Brian Latham

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will continue to seize all remaining white-owned farms, South Africa’s Times newspaper reported, citing a “closely-guarded” document in its possession.
At least 223 white farmers are being prosecuted for failing to vacate their farms, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said on its Web site. The farms include land owned by foreigners, the Times added. At least one farmer has been “savagely assaulted” by self-styled war veterans loyal to Mugabe, it reported. Read more...

Africom or Africon? Pt 1

A reorganization of the U.S. command structure and another military imposition

In this four-part series, Rageh Omaar travels across Africa, investigating the consequences of US involvement in the region. In this first part, he investigates the genesis of Africom, the US military command for Africa which was launched in October 2008, and asks whether Barack Obama can turn US-African relations in a new direction.

Race, class and opportunity

John A. Powell: Deliberate policies created white suburbs and inner city black poverty.

Cyborg beetle flies by wireless

Rob Muir reports

Scientists in the U.S. have unveiled a major advance in cyborg technology -- using wireless radio controls they can now completely control the flight of a living beetle.

HIV vaccine "cuts" infection rates

Researchers from Thailand and the U.S. say an experimental AIDS vaccine, made using two older vaccines, cut the risk of HIV infection by almost a third in clinical trials.

Iran’s President Defends Nuclear Activity

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country has complied with rules of the U.N. nuclear agency which require that it is informed of any new enrichment facility six months before it becomes operational.

Sci-fi movie, Sony ad prompt Nigerian image angst

By Camillus Eboh

A blockbuster sci-fi movie which caricatures Nigerians as gangsters and cannibals and a Sony PlayStation advert which implies they are fraudsters have infuriated a government battling to improve the country's image.

South African film "District 9," which has topped the UK box office for two straight weeks and ranked in the top 10 in North America, is an allegory on segregation and xenophobia, with alien life forms cooped up in a township set in Johannesburg.

None of the groups shown comes out particularly well, but the Nigerians are portrayed as gangsters, cannibals, pimps and prostitutes, while their leader's name is pronounced Obasanjo -- the same as that of Nigeria's former president.  Read more...

Poland Approves Forcible Castration for Pedophiles

Poland on Friday approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for pedophiles in some cases, sparking criticism from human rights groups. Under the law, sponsored by Poland's center-right government, pedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years or a close relative would have to undergo chemical therapy on their release from prison.
"The purpose of this action is to improve the mental health of the convict, to lower his libido and thereby to reduce the risk of another crime being committed by the same person," the government said in a statement.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late last year he wanted obligatory castration for pedophiles, whom he branded 'degenerates'.  Tusk said he did not believe "one can use the term 'human' for such individuals, such creatures."  Read more...

What's Troubling America?

By Minister Louis Farrakhan

[Editor's note: The following edited text is taken from a message delivered by Minister Louis Farrakhan in Newark, New Jersey on April 28, 1995 titled “The State of America: The Recent Oklahoma Bombing.” Click here for full CD/DVD of this message.]

In America, we have millions today who are homeless. We have many more millions who are sick, imprisoned, impoverished and weak, and it appears as though the conservative element of the country is moving away from care for the poor, the weak, the helpless, and the children and catering to the desires of those that have. But it is the poor and the weak who built the country. It is the poor and the weak who have fought, bled and died to maintain America as a great nation. Now America is turning her back on the weak and blaming the condition of the country on the poor, on the Black, on the Hispanic. In reality, the mismanagement of the wealth and people of this country is the fault of those who are at the top who have held power, who have manipulated the masses of the people against the good of America and the good of the world. Read more...

Right-Wing Hatemongering Fueled by Christianity?

The fact is that if you're going to blame one group above all others for the willful ignorance and continuing ugliness of the response to President Obama the best candidate would be the evangelical/fundamentalist community.  The angry part of the South Carter spoke of is racist because it's dominated by a certain type of "Christian" culture.

Since Carter is also an evangelical Christian (as well as a Southerner) he would have done well to use his evangelical  insider status to point to not just racism but to scream bloody murder about a bigger problem today: the hijacking of Christianity as the source of the hate and anger directed against all things "other" by a vocal (and health care lobby-organized and funded) angry  minority of voters who are poisoning the American body.   Read more…

More than 35 million globally have dementia: report

More than 35 million people globally will suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia in 2010, and few will get any treatment at all, according to a report released on Monday.
The problem is worsening especially fast in low- and middle-income countries, where there are few facilities to diagnose or help dementia patients, Alzheimer's Disease International, an umbrella group for Alzheimer's associations globally, said.  Read more…
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• As world population 'grays,' Alzheimer's cases soar: report

Libya’s Qadhafi and Minister Farrakhan in NYC next week

Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi is coming to New York next week. It is an historic first visit for the man who has governed his country for 40 years. Nation of Islam leader Min. Louis Farrakhan, who will also be in town, is hailing the visit as a new dawn for American and Libyan politics, and a wonderful opportunity for the world to see and hear a man he said is a vital participant in the African Renaissance.
“We will just be on hand to welcome our brother, the leader of the African Union, on his first visit to the United States and to the United Nations, where I am sure he will make a major speech, ” said Farrakhan. While he told the AmNews that he had “no idea what [Qadhafi] will bring to the world” in terms of his speech, he knew it would be significant and relevant and on point, and be able to “dispel many of the ugly rumors. ” He roclaimed that despite propaganda to the contrary, Qadhafi has standing all over the world. “Under Bush, he was referred to in a very ugly way, and all the propaganda had Muammar Qadhafi looking like a person the American people would not want to know, ”said Farrakhan in an exclusive interview with the Amsterdam News. “He has been a leader of liberation movements throughout the world, but our government has supported many puppet regimes in Africa and Central and South America. Muammar Qadhafi is in his 40th year, the longest leader on the continent. ” Read more…

Are You Drinking Unsafe Water? Corporations Have Violated Clean Water Act Over 500,000 Times in Last Five Years

By Amy Goodman

An investigation by the New York Times has found chemical companies have violated the Clean Water Act more than 500,000 times in the last five years. Most of the violations have gone unpunished, with state regulators taking significant action in just three percent of all cases.

Although some of the cases entailed minor violations, a majority of 60 percent were deemed to be in "significant noncompliance." These cases are of the most serious and include the dumping of cancer-causing chemicals or failing to measure or report pollution. An estimated one in ten Americans has been exposed to drinking water that has dangerous chemicals or falls short of federal standards. Forty percent of the nation's community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once, exposing over 23 million people to potential danger.

The investigation was published two days after the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would freeze permits for seventy-nine mountaintop removal sites pending a review of their compliance with the Clean Water Act. The move affects mines in four states: Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee. Read more...

Also Read:

• New York Times "Toxic Waters" series
• A Closer Look at New Research on Water Safety

Made in Mass., Bomb Stirs Global Debate

by Bryan Bender

The Sensor Fuzed Weapon is a marvel of military technology, says its maker, Textron Defense Systems. An advanced "cluster bomb,'' it is designed to spray 40 individual projectiles of molten copper, destroying enemy tanks across a 30-acre swath of battlefield.

But the bomb - which is made at a Textron facility in the Boston suburb of Wilmington - violates terms of a landmark international treaty limiting cluster bombs to 10 bomblets or less. The pending treaty, signed by 98 nations last year in Oslo, has been sought for decades by human rights groups, which say that cluster bombs kill indiscriminately and leave behind duds that kill or maim unsuspecting civilians.  Read more...

9/11 Blueprint for Truth – The Most Compelling Presentation Proving the 9/11 Conspiracy – Architect Richard Gage

Conspiracyrealitytv.com

"This is why we now have the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and why the 9/11 truth movement itself is growing by millions every year. This afternoon I will present to you the very clear evidence that all three World Trade Center buildings, the high rises, the iconic Twin Towers and building 7 were destroyed not by fire as our government has told us, but by controlled demolition with explosives." Read more...

FCC May Propose 'Net Neutrality' Rules

The proposals would uphold a pledge Barack Obama made during the presidential campaign to support Internet neutrality — the equal treatment of Internet traffic. That would bar Internet service providers such as Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. or AT&T Inc., from slowing or blocking certain services or content flowing through their vast networks.

Without strict rules ensuring Net neutrality, consumer watchdogs fear the communications companies could interfere with the transmission of content, such as TV shows delivered over the Internet, that compete with services the ISPs offer, like cable television.  Read more...

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Michael Moore screening 'Capitalism' in Mich.

By JOHN FLESHER

"I know what's in front of me these next weeks and months," Moore told one audience, anticipating withering criticism from conservative politicians and commentators, then added with a laugh: "That's why I wanted to watch this with you guys before I'm thrown to the lions."

Michigan's unemployment rate of 15.2 percent is the nation's highest. It's even worse in parts of northern Michigan, where numerous auto parts factories and other manufacturers have folded in recent years.

The film blames the economic crisis on President Reagan-era deregulation and greedy business executives who Moore believes undermined free enterprise by pushing for policies that benefited the richest 1 percent while hurting the lower and middle classes.  Read more...

Nutrition & Behavior - A Lecture By Russell Blaylock MD

In this lecture, Dr. Russell Blaylock explains one of the most important connections between nutrition and our health, how nutrition affects our behavior. Citing a series of important studies, he shows that good nutrition can powerfully enhance our memory, mood, and behavior in a socially desirable way. Like wise he shows us that poor nutrition can lead our youth into a world of violence, crime, depression and suicide.

By using an impressive array of studies on both juvenile and adult prisoners, Dr. Blaylock demonstrates these principals and outlines specific measures you can take to protect your children from these detrimental effects. Most importantly, he shows us that it is never too late to make these nutritional changes. Read more...

Purchase Dr. Russell Blaylock new documentary - Click on image to visit site.












Also purchase Food Fight - A documentary

Steele blasts Carter for calling Wilson comment & whites opposition to Pres. Obama racist

Mark Murray

RNC Chairman Michael Steele, the Republican Party's most prominent African American official, has issued a press release criticizing former President Jimmy Carter for arguing that much of the opposition that President Obama is facing is due to race.

Steele:

"President Carter is flat out wrong. This isn't about race. It is about policy. This is a pathetic distraction by Democrats to shift attention away from the president's wildly unpopular government-run health care plan that the American people simply oppose. Injecting race into the debate over critical issues facing American families doesn't create jobs, reform our health care system or reduce the growing deficit. It only divides Americans rather than uniting us to find solutions to challenges facing our nation." Read more...

Jimmy Carter says outbursts against Obama may be racist

UN panel accuses Israel of war crimes

By Harvey Morris
In a damning report on Israel's conduct during its invasion of the Gaza Strip, a United Nations panel yesterday accused its forces of war crimes and of deliberately spreading terror among civilians.
Richard Goldstone, a South African jurist, who chaired the four-member panel on behalf of the UN Human Rights Council, said the alleged crimes resulted from milit-ary policies adopted in the invasion at the turn of the year.
He said the findings in the 574-page document "do not amount to second-guessing commanders and soldiers in the heat of -battle".
His panel urged action by the UN Security Council that could lead to alleged crimes being referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Read more...


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UN inquiry finds Israel guilty of Gaza war crimes - 15 Sept 09

One Drug Arrest Every 18 Seconds in the U.S.; New FBI Numbers Show Failure of 'War on Drugs'

AScribe Newswire

A group of police and judges who want to legalize drugs pointed to new FBI numbers released today as evidence that the "war on drugs" is a failure that can never be won. The data, from the FBI's "Crime in the United States" report, shows that in 2008 there were 1,702,537 arrests for drug law violations, or one drug arrest every 18 seconds.
"In our current economic climate, we simply cannot afford to keep arresting more than three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,'" said Jack Cole, a retired undercover narcotics detective who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "Plus, if we legalized and taxed drug sales, we could actually create new revenue in addition to the money we'd save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users." Read more...

Read more data on juvenile crime

• http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/arrests/index.html

Canadian asylum ruling will foster racism, South Africa says

"The African National Congress (ANC) views the granting by Canada of a refugee status to South African citizen Brandon Huntley on the grounds that Africans would 'persecute' him as racist," the group said in a statement Tuesday. "We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due his skin colour -- without any police intervention -- sensational and alarming. Canada's reasoning for granting Huntley a refugee status can only serve to perpetuate racism."

A spokesman for Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board said he was aware of the statement but could not provide any details about the case.

"Any refugee protection claim is strictly confidential," Stephane Malepart said. He said the board is a group of "independent decision-makers at arm's length of the government." Read more...

Watch report on reaction to asylum case »

Adulterers face stoning in Indonesia's Aceh

Muslims who commit adultery can be stoned to death under a new sharia law approved Monday by lawmakers in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic province of Aceh.
The law - which also criminalizes offences including rape, the consumption of alcohol and gambling - was passed unanimously in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"All parties agreed unanimously to pass the bill into a law, including the article stipulating the punishment of death by stoning," parliamentary special hearing chairman Bachron M Rasyid told reporters. Read more...

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50 Cent Sits Down With CNBC Talks His Business And Getting Rich Also New Book "The 50th Law"

While no official synopsis of the book has be found, "The 50th Law" guaranteed to be a sell out, tell-all, business writ for the success driven. There has long been a well-known paralleling of practices between the corporate and street organizations that run America. With this book it is perhaps going to be an in-depth review of 2 minds that combine to create the one vision of ultimate dominance.

While some may think 50 Cent is just a rapper, there's a reason he's in Forbes Magazine's top earners list year after year. His well-thought planning is so visible we tend to not believe in his forethought and brilliance. Read more...

50 Cent Sits Down With CNBC Talks His Business And Getting Rich Also New Book "The 50th Law" [Video] - WHATiTBE.COM!!! - Urban Entertainment On Demand - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Debate: Racism lurks in health care protest

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Debate: Racism lurks in health care protest

Obama's Big Silence: The Race Question

by Naomi Klein

For many antiracist campaigners, the realisation that Obama might not be the leader they had hoped for came when he announced his administration would be boycotting the UN Durban Review Conference on racism, widely known as "Durban II". Almost all of the public debate about the conference focused on its supposed anti-Israel bias. When it actually took place in April in Geneva, virtually all we heard about was Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inflammatory speech, which was met with rowdy disruptions, from the EU delegates who walked out, to the French Jewish students who put on clown wigs and red noses, and tried to shout him down.

Lost in the circus atmosphere was the enormous importance of the conference to people of African descent, and nowhere more so than among Obama's most loyal base. The US civil rights movement had embraced the first Durban conference, held in summer 2001, with great enthusiasm, viewing it as the start of the final stage of Martin Luther King's dream for full equality. Though most black leaders offered only timid public criticism of the president's Durban II boycott, the decision was discussed privately as his most explicit betrayal of the civil rights struggle since taking office. Read more...

Charlie Sheen's Video Message to President Obama

Posted by majestic

Charlie Sheen addresses the President about 9/11 in a special video message, shortly after releasing his "20 Minutes with the President," specifically addressing 20 key points that need to be answered by a truly independent investigation.  Read more...

Charlie Sheen's Video Message to President Obama