And I am telling you I'm not goin'
think Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls

Now that's political theatre! That's how a press conference should be - get right to the point damn it. Not since Effie White begged that man to stay in Dream Girls have I seen such defiance. Rod tried to appear brave, but you can hear him breathing heavy. Some of my favorite lines:

"I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath,"

"I am dying to show you how innocent I am"

"I have on my side the most powerful ally there is the truth"

"I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong"

I ain't mad at Rod for reciting Rudyard Kipling's "If". That's one of the first poems I ever recited word for word (as a rebellious preteen). Chris Parnell has got to be foaming at the mouth waiting for Saturday Night.

For a chance to give two cents
click here

From Peoria County News:
Peoria County is seeking information from voters: would you support a sales tax increase to help fund the Peoria Riverfront Museum? Earlier this fall a bill was passed into law that allows Illinois counties - with voter approval - to increase the sales tax rate to fund construction of public facilities. The Peoria County Board must decide by January 31 whether to pose the question of a ¼ of 1% sales tax increase to voters on the April ballot. The increase translates to 25 cents for every $100 of retail purchases.

Before making its decision, the board wants input from the public and has contracted with Communication Express to conduct a telephone survey that asks voters the following questions:

· Would you support a sales tax increase to help fund the museum project?
· Would you be more likely to support an increase if proceeds could also be used to fund other public facilities such as schools and fire houses?
· Would you be more likely to support an increase if the increase were temporary?

Communication Express will poll approximately 660 voters residing in the City of Peoria and 340 voters living outside city limits. These numbers more accurately reflect voter turnout at an April election than a straight 50/50 poll.

People who did not have an opportunity to participate in the random telephone survey (administered Thursday evening and throughout today) may answer the same questions posed to survey respondents by clicking here. Survey results will be made public upon completion.

For more information, please call Jennifer Zinkel, Director of Strategic Communications, at (309) 672-6918.
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This project will have a huge impact on the inner city. Here is an opportunity to put in your two cents (or four), I know I did.

The 21st Century process server If there is a possibility that some agency has a warrant out for your arrest, or if you have been dodging a process server, you may want to consider taking down your Facebook page. In what may be a world first, after repeated attempts to serve the papers in person, a judge in the Australian Supreme Court is allowing service of documents over the Internet.

A couple who failed to keep up repayments on a $150,000 loan, ignored emails from their mortgage provider's law firm, didn't attend a court appearance and seemed to have vanished. Since the pair was no longer available at their residence and they no longer worked at the place given in some documents as the last place of their employment, the resourceful attorney handling the case looked to Facebook.

The Facebook profiles showed the defendants' dates of birth, email addresses and friend lists – and the co-defendants were friends with one another. This information was enough to satisfy the court that Facebook was a sufficient method of communicating with the defendants. In granting permission to use the social networking site, the judge stipulated that the papers be sent via a private e-mail so that other people visiting the page could not read their contents.

Dog the Bounty Hunter should start checking Facebook pages. Some folks may not have a computer, furniture, or a place to live, but chances are high that they still have a Facebook and/or a MySpace page that they check regularly.

I will not tell you who to love

Less than two weeks before Election Day, the chief strategist for a group called Protect Marriage, called an emergency meeting. This group emerged as the main group behind the ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California. The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church. The money allowed the drive to intensify a sharp-elbowed advertising campaign, and support for the measure was catapulted ahead; it ultimately won with 52 percent of the vote.

A CNN exit poll shows that 70% of all blacks said that they voted for Prop 8, while 75% of black women in particular did. Speculation has run amok as to who is responsible for the passing of Prop 8. Some say it was prejudice on behalf of blacks; some speculate that Mormons are to blame (as illustrated in the paragraph above); while others speculate that black women in particular are at fault.

We could go on and on about who's fault the passage of Prop 8 is. However, I feel compelled to put my two cents in after reading the following comparison a brother over at the New York Times made in relation to the Prop 8 issue:

"...comparing ... interracial marriage with ... gay marriage... Many black women do not seem to be big fans of interracial marriage either. They’re the least likely of all groups to intermarry, and many don’t look kindly on the black men who intermarry at nearly three times the rate that they do..."

It's true, a good man is hard to find. As Haki Madhubuti says above, the ratio is about 3 to 1. Let me draw a picture of what this ratio looks like to a black woman/the black family:

This 3 to 1 ratio is part of the reality of what is happening to the black family. Will embracing homosexuality in the black community make this situation any better? Probably just about as much as denying it hurts (i.e. down low brothers and AIDS). Black women voted for Barack Obama. You best believe, the look of that beautiful little family was a part of his over all attraction. Maybe to think that on the other hand, black women would turn around and vote for Prop 8 was just too much to ask at this time. Is it prejudice or is it a fight for the traditional black family?