Ten New Companies drop the Glenn Beck Program

Back from vacation and consistent with his shtick, Glenn Beck continues to lose advertisers. Vonage, Bank Of America, and Kraft are among the latest to distance themselves from Faux News and the network is struggling to fill Beck’s ad space.

On Wednesday, blogger Sarah Palin sent out "An Invitation" to her 800,000 Facebook friends, urging them to pulease rally behind Beck. Don't count Beck out yet folks, remember what happened when we did that to McCain. Next thing you know, Sarah Palin will be co-hosting the Glenn Beck show. Heaven forbid.

OAKLAND, Calif.—Adding to an increasing list of companies distancing themselves from Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck, ten new companies whose ads were recently seen during Beck’s program—Applebee’s, Bank of America, Bell & Howell, DirecTv, General Mills, Kraft, Regions Financial Corporation, SAM (Store and Move), Travelers Insurance and Vonage—have pledged to take steps to ensure that their ads don’t run on Beck’s show. Forty-six companies have now committed not to support Beck’s show since ColorOfChange.org launched its campaign three weeks ago after the Fox News Channel host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

Three of the latest defections—Travelers Insurance, Bell & Howell and DirecTv—join the list of advertisers who claim to have already placed Glenn Beck’s program on a “do not air” list, but whose ads have been seen on Beck’s program, apparently against their wishes.

“We could not be happier with the results of our campaign so far,” said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org. “All 46 companies that have distanced themselves from Glenn Beck should be applauded for their stance.”

“We are still reaching out to companies whose ads we see during Beck’s nightly program,” Rucker continued. “Based on the fact that many of the recent ads on Beck’s program are for gold coins and News Corp properties, it looks like Fox News Channel is struggling to place advertisements on Beck’s show.”

Click here to see other comments from advertisers recently distancing themselves from Beck:

Last week, ColorOfChange.org began emailing the 150,000+ people who signed their initial petition, asking them to call five major advertisers who continued to refuse to pull their ads: Clorox, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Lowe’s, Red Lobster and Vonage. Hours after members began making calls, Lowe’s contacted ColorOfChange.org, pledging not to run additional ads on Beck’s programs. Clorox followed suit Thursday, and Experian did the same on Friday. Vonage’s recent defection leaves Red Lobster as the only company in the group that has not yet responded.

Previous companies who have corrected advertising errors and/or pulled their ads entirely include Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids), Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank (a unit of GMAC Financial Services), Ancestry.com, AT&T, Best Buy, Blaine Labs Inc., Broadview Security, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra, Clorox, CVS, Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Farmers Insurance Group, GEICO, Johnson & Johnson (makers of Tylenol), Lawyers.com, Lowe’s, Men’s Wearhouse, NutriSystem, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, RadioShack, Re-Bath, Roche, SC Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Sargento, Sprint, State Farm Insurance, Travelocity, The UPS Store, Verizon Wireless and Wal-Mart.

With more than 600,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the largest African-American online political organization in the country. Source

Who is that chick in your car!

Just imagine, you call your man while he's on the road and you hear some chick in the background. Thanks to Garmin, the leading manufacturer of in car navigation systems, now he can fall back on the ole, "Baby, I don't have a woman in the car - that's the navigation system"...

For all you folks who like to run with hood rat chicks, but just can't affford the drama - meet Ms. DeLexus Hennessey (click name to hear a sample)...

… or if you prefer a saucy Latina, you might wanna check on Gabriella (click name to hear a sample)...

You know it was a man who thought up this mess!

I'm not familiar with that stereotype

If you see a black woman who appears to be a stay at home mommy shopping during the day, or at your local school, do you automatically assume she must be on welfare?

The 7 Groups Of People The Media Pretends Don’t Exist

Contrary to what the main stream media may lead you to believe, the black experience in America is not monolithic. It cannot be summed up in a couple of after school specials on CNN. It cannot be summed up by reading the police blotter in the PJStar, or by watching BET. There are many categories of the black experience that if we as black people were not living it, we would not believe they exist. For example...

THE BLACK MIDDLE CLASS
Before anyone pipes up with a reference to The Cosby Show, try to remember that it ended more than 15 years ago. And the Obamas don’t count either—there’s nothing “middle class” about being the President of the United States. So what we’re ultimately left with is a case study in the coverage of extremes. CNN’s Black in America 2 offered a prime example of this in its choices of subjects: They showed the obligatory uplifting story of poor inner-city children being inspired to achieve their dreams, and later shifted gears to offer a peek into the world of the Black elite—mansions and debutante balls for all. Black families that fall squarely in between these two ends of the spectrum remain invisible.

GAY BLACK PEOPLE
Did you hear? Bible-thumping, Obama-loving, and gay-hating blacks put the nail in the coffin of gay marriage in California. Yes sirree, according to coverage of Proposition 8 in several mainstream media outlets, all these black folks are very socially conservative and don’t hold with that same-sex relationship nonsense. Oh, unless they’re closeted gangsters on the down low or something, creeping behind the backs of their wives. Other than that, nope—no healthy, happy, non-dysfunctional gay or lesbian relationships among African-Americans. Move it along folks, nothing to see here.

MISSING PERSONS WHO AREN’T WHITE AND FEMALE
Because only little white girls disappear, apparently. If you’re male, or a person of color—or to be honest, even just a brunette—and you have the misfortune of being kidnapped or otherwise going missing, good luck ever being seen or heard from again.

NON-CHRISTIAN BLACK PEOPLE
To hear the mainstream media tell it, black people are all just a-wavin’ our fans and catchin’ the Holy Ghost in the pews, like extras in a Tyler Perry movie. That’s why any politician who wants the black vote must give adequate attention to The Black Church by showing up at a Christian service or two. There are, of course, Black adherents to other faiths, not to mention (horrors!) Black atheists and agnostics. In fact, a CBS survey found that at least one-third of American Muslims are Black! But as usual, the compulsion to paint Black people as a monolith, combined with a dash of historical nostalgia—(The Civil Rights movement was centered in churches! Their strong faith in Jesus carried them through slavery!)—keeps coverage of Black people and religion safely insulated from such nuance.

EDUCATED, MARRIED BLACK WOMEN
If the constant hysterical repetition of the scary statistics is to be believed, you’re about as likely to run into a happily married, educated Black woman with children as you are to be handed a pot of tax-free gold by a leprechaun riding on the back of a unicorn. The most recent incarnation of the “Black women with degrees are condemned to spinsterhood” article appeared on MSNBC earlier this month. It helpfully explained that “many” Black women with advanced degrees remain unmarried—no specific number, just the ominous “many.” The piece then went on to tell that 38 percent of highly educated Black women born between 1961 to 1970 are childless. The other way to say that statistic, of course, is that 62 percent of those highly educated Black women do have children. But I’m guessing a headline like “A Solid Majority Of Highly Educated Black Women Will Marry and Have Children” just wouldn’t get as many clicks, or be as fun to recycle and reprint several times a year.

AFRICANS WHO ARE NOT POOR, STARVING AND LIVING IN SMALL VILLAGES
Did you know that nearly 40 percent of people on the African continent live in urban areas? That means cities, like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. No? Of course you didn’t. How could you, when most American news coverage of African countries looks like a bunch of extended “Save the Children” commercials?

BLACK POLICE OFFICERS
No surprise here—the existence of black police officers is simply inconvenient, from a narrative standpoint. How else but by ignoring the existence of minority law enforcement officials could media outlets continue to crank out new spins on the old classic “Black Folks Have Historically Fraught Relationship With The (Racist) Cops” story?

Source

Take part in District 150's Superintendent search

To Members of the District 150 Community:

With the upcoming retirement of Superintendent Hinton, the Board of Education, with the help of the Community Superintendent Search Committee, has initiated its search for a new superintendent.

A key step in this process is to identify the characteristics we will be seeking in our new superintendent. We would greatly appreciate your input and assistance with this important task. We would like to invite you to participate by:

Attending the Open Forum to be held Tuesday, September 1, at 7:00 p.m. in the Administration Building, 3202 N. Wisconsin Ave., DLC Board Room.

The Open Forum will be facilitated by a member of the Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, Ltd. a consulting firm that specializes in assisting boards with the consideration of candidates for the superintendency.

If you are unable to attend the forum, you may complete the Leadership Profile Assessment Survey on-line. To complete the survey click on the “Superintendent Search” icon .

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this most important task.

Dr. John Irwin and Carl Cannon, Co-Chairs
Superintendent Search Committee

Source

5 Things NEVER to Say to Muslim Coworkers

Ramadan, which is the holiest month on the Islamic calendar, is currently underway. As a result, issues of religious accommodation and cultural competency may come up in your workplace. That's because Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United States. To help you avoid offending Muslim colleagues now and throughout the year, here are five things not to say.

1. "Why can't Muslims decide when Ramadan starts?"
Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the new moon, which varies from year to year. And like other faiths, there are interpretational differences in beliefs. "In America, there are two groups of Muslims: The first believes you can use scientific data to determine when a new moon can be sighted, and thus you can predetermine the month," says Nadir Shirazi, creator of "The Ramadan Guide for the Workplace." The second group, he says, "believes that you must sight the new crescent moon with the naked eye." So the start/end dates of Ramadan, depending on the practices of Muslims in your workplace, may be different. This year, the holiday can start at sunset on the day proceeding Aug. 22 (or 23) and end Sept. 19 or 20 (or 21).

Providing flexible hours and allowing floating holidays will permit employees of Islamic and other faiths to celebrate their holidays without using all their vacation time.

2. "Why can't you eat today?"
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during daytime hours, so scheduling office parties, fall festivals and luncheon meetings at that time "puts a Muslim coworker on the spot [and] can be embarrassing for both parties," explains Shirazi.

Education and consideration are key. "The ideal thing is don't schedule office parties during these times," says Niham Awad, founding member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest civil-liberties organization for American Muslims, based in Washington, D.C. "The least thing employers can do is don't force employees to attend these parties, with all the food and drink, while fasting."

With an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, to think all look and dress similarly is a stereotype. "All Muslims do not have long beards or wear white robes or hijabs," explains Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ), a nonprofit religious, charitable and educational organization in South Brunswick, N.J. "That's the image people see on CNN." In reality, Islam principle specifically states that there's no compulsion in faith.

Conversely, asking a Muslim woman why she doesn't cover her body in a black niqab or drapery is equally inappropriate. "Islam is very much a personal and private religion," says Afia Mirza, a DiversityInc intern who is Muslim.

3. "But you don't look/dress like a Muslim."
With an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, to think all look and dress similarly is a stereotype. "All Muslims do not have long beards or wear white robes or hijabs," explains Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ), a nonprofit religious, charitable and educational organization in South Brunswick, N.J. "That's the image people see on CNN." In reality, Islam principle specifically states that there's no compulsion in faith.

Conversely, asking a Muslim woman why she doesn't cover her body in a black niqab or drapery is equally inappropriate. "Islam is very much a personal and private religion," says Afia Mirza, a DiversityInc intern who is Muslim.

4. "I didn't know you were Arab."
This is another culturally insensitive comment. The reason: Only about 20 percent of Muslims worldwide are Middle Eastern. "Muslims are Black. Muslims are white. Muslims are senators … they're in the White House," says Chebli. (According to The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, three senior leaders in the U.S. government who are Muslim include: Dalia Mogahed, senior analyst and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; Ebrahim "Eboo" Patel, founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core [Mogahed and Patel are on the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships]; and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.) According to the American Religious Identification Survey, 10 percent of Muslims are Latino, 15 percent are white, 27 percent are Black and 34 percent are Asian.

5. "Why can't you pray on your coffee break?"
Depending on the times allowed for office breaks, this comment can violate religious rights. That's because "Muslim prayer must be done within specific time frames," says Awad, adding that the second and third prayers are during business hours. What's more, Muslim prayer involves standing up and bowing on the floor, which can be awkward to perform in the workplace. It's also preferred that prayer be done in a group.

Progressive companies will designate a private room or other facility for group prayer. On Fridays, when Muslims are obligated to pray in mosques and not in the office, "companies must give an extended lunch hour," explains Awad. Companies such as Ford Motor Co., are involving their interfaith-based employee-resource group to help give members space to share experiences and ideas of religious accommodation.

"These are not only constitutional issues," says Awad, "but when you have a friendly work environment, you will have better performing and more loyal employees."Source

Affordable housing with river views...

Is Peoria in the second wave of gentrification?

PJStar, June 9, 2009 - Residents living in the soon-to-be redeveloped Taft Homes must comply with the Peoria Housing Authority's Housing Incentive Program that requires them to have full-time jobs or a part-time job and schooling, a good rental history and utilities in their own name. That likely will sweep many residents - none of whom currently pay utilities and some of whom don't have jobs - out. PHA officials acknowledge some will not conform. They will be moved to other public housing. Harrison Homes specifically was cited.

PJStar, June 22, 2009 - The PHA is planning on redeveloping Taft Homes housing units to include some public housing, affordable housing and market-rate housing. The city says it would like to see 85 percent of the units at fair market value and only 15 percent subsidized. City Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger said he wants to work with the PHA to get “high-quality development” on the prime riverfront property.

In a recently updated report, housing market research firm Tracy Cross & Associates Inc. still contends Downtown and the nearby Warehouse District could absorb 200 or more new housing units annually over the next several years.

“Not only has Downtown Peoria’s housing market not changed dramatically in the last year, but more importantly, Peoria has yet to fully serve its *Downtown employment base with adequate housing alternatives, a factor clearly highlighted in our original analysis. Equally as important is the simple fact that Peoria is only now ramping up its efforts to implement the Downtown revitalization effort.” (Downtown employment base = Caterpillar)

Class trumps race in America's inner cities

The marriage of wealth and power means disaster for those who have neither, and it's a catastrophe for low-income people of color.

In urban centers across the country, minorities are being shunned to the side as real estate developers turn them out of their homes, and housing authorities turn a blind eye. The forced gentrification of majority minority neighborhoods is happening quietly and deliberately as bloated rents force impoverished renters to vacate in order to make room for the wealthier tenants. Public housing projects in inner cities like Oakland, Chicago and Brooklyn now face the threat of demolition as city-planned ‘urban renewal’ duplicitously masks city-conspired ‘gentrification.’

Mariana Viturro, co-director of the St. Peter’s Housing Committee, a group that fights for tenants' rights in San Francisco, said the residents of these housing projects are the victims of land speculation and market forces.

The city of Oakland, Calif., recently approved a plan called the Hoover/West MacArthur Vision Statement that would allow the redevelopment of several housing projects and result in the displacement of hundreds of low-income renters. This is all part of the city's plan to “clean up” the Hoover/West MacArthur area.

This plan of fixing up the impoverished parts of Oakland is a thinly veiled collision between housing authorities and real estate developers to get rid of the poor. Land is money. Landlords are raising the rents to exorbitant amounts so tenants are forced to vacate, and developers can swoop in to renovate the buildings. This attracts upper-class tenants who can afford to pay higher rents, thus raising the property value.

It’s another classic example of low-income people being pushed out of their neighborhoods once their presence becomes an inconvenience. Blacks and Hispanics were once driven to the inner cities after World War II by the possibility of jobs and pushed out of suburbia because they were usually denied access to suburban home purchases. Now history is repeating itself in reverse, as whites flee back to cities and oust low-income tenants. Now it's primarily class and not race that has become the separating line.

In the fight for equality, it looks like America has only managed to make a lateral move with the invisible barrier becoming class instead of race. The truth is being silently mapped out across urban grids everywhere, as income becomes the great de-equalizer.

The war on poverty has finally turned into a war against the poor where class can substitute for race. Source

Related reading: Gentrification and the Paradox of Affordable Housing by Andres Duaney, #73, Gentrification, Stuff White People Like

Becks' on "vacation"

Media reports indicate FOX News personality Glenn Beck took an apparently unscheduled, forced vacation in light of recent reactions to his controversial performance. Beck is under fire for numerous gaffs and blunders. Perhaps his biggest faux pas was calling President Barack Obama “a racist,” and claiming the president “has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” Beck made the comments on the “Fox and Friends” program on July 28.

Is Beck on his way out? Or is this much ado about nothing? Source

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From an August 23 Associated Press article:

Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel after a vacation on Monday with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist.

A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago. While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows.

The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that is has decided not to advertise on political talk shows.

Of course every student counts... right?

How many of us assumed that the United States would already have a uniform method of compiling comprehensive statistics on dropout rates? Well we don’t, HR 1559, the Every Student Counts Act, is being reintroduced for the second straight Congress. Doesn’t look like we will see any action on this bill anytime soon.

Background
ESCA was first introduced in the 110th Congress by Congressman Bobby Scott and Senator Tom Harkin. Both Congressman Scott and Senator Harkin wanted to respond to the nation’s worrisome high school graduation rates, which lag behind those of our international economic competitors.

At the time Congressman Scott and Senator Harkin introduced their bills little was being done to remedy the nation’s dropout crisis. Federal policy permitted the use of inconsistent and misleading graduation rate calculations that overestimated the number of graduating students, failed to require meaningful increases in graduation rates over time, and did not require the graduation rates of student subgroups to increase as part of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations. It was clear to many in the civil rights, special education, and education communities that change was needed.

Recognizing the need for new policy in this area, the Department of Education (ED) released regulations in October 2008 that created a uniform high school graduation rate calculation and ensured that improving graduation rates for all students was part of the federal accountability system.

Although the graduation rate regulations are a laudable step in the right direction, there remain areas of concern, including that they do not go far enough in setting clear, consistent, and high graduation rate goals with aggressive and attainable graduation rate growth targets. ED indicated that these policy areas can be resolved only through legislative action. The Every Student Counts Act is that legislative action.

The Every Student Counts Act would do the following:

• Make high school graduation rate calculations uniform and accurate. The Every Student Counts Act would require that all states calculate their graduation rates in the same manner, allowing for more consistency and transparency.

• Set meaningful high school graduation rate goals and growth targets for all students. The Every Student Counts Act sets a graduation rate goal of 90 percent for all students and disadvantaged populations. Schools, districts, and states with graduation rates below 90 percent, in the aggregate or for any subgroup, must increase their graduation rates an average of 3 percentage points per year to make AYP.

• Balance testing and high school graduation rates for accountability purposes. The Every Student Counts Act would ensure that test scores and graduation rates are weighted equally when determining AYP so that schools have balanced incentives to both graduate their students and raise their test scores instead of doing one at the expense of the other.

• Recognize that some small numbers of students take longer than four years to graduate. Instead of treating certain students differently for accountability purposes and predetermining when certain students would graduate, the Every Student Counts Act includes a cumulative graduation rate provision. Under this provision, schools, school districts, and states would be given credit for graduating students who may take longer than the typical four years when they graduate with a regular diploma. Providing for a cumulative rate also creates incentives for schools, districts, and states to create programs to serve students who have already dropped out and are over-age or under credited. The bill also maintains the primacy of graduating all students in four years by requiring that at least 90 percent of all graduates be four-year graduates.

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Robinson

If Michelle’s Mom is practicing witchcraft, you know it’s just a matter of time before a witch doctor shows up at the White House and that is another reason why we need to look closer at this health care reform, it’s got to be some kind of voodoo. (LaughingOutLoud) The lunatic fringe is on to the next crazy notion – black magic in the ever so sacred White House.

*****

Posted by Kristen Atkinson on Saturday, August 15, 2009 4:11:43 PM
The Obama White House is abuzz with talk of witchcraft by first grandmother, 72-year-old Marian Robinson, who lives in the White House residence. A close friend of Michelle Obama says the president is furious at his mother-in-law after learning that she was practicing Santeria, an African spirit cult, in the White House.

"The president is quite upset about this on two different levels. First, he is a committed Christian, no matter what his critics say about Reverend Wright. He is adamant that Sasha and Malia be raised with Christian influences. He does not want them to be involved with African voodoo. And secondly, he is worried about the political fallout if his enemies get wind of this. Rev. Wright was bad enough, but this would be political suicide," a close friend of Michelle's confided.

This is how it happened. Marian Robinson became increasingly frustrated as her husband, Fraser Robinson, was hobbled by multiple sclerosis in the late 1980s. The family pastor prayed with her and counseled her, but "she turned to Santeria in a desperate hope," Michelle's friend said. "Michelle put her foot down when she heard that her mother took her dad to ceremonies where they did spells and trances, and sacrificed animals, chickens and goats I think.

But Marian was desperate and kept going anyway, even when her husband was to sick to go with her. I don't think the president knew anything about this earlier because it was before they met. Michelle and Craig (her brother) wanted to close the book on this and never talked about it again after their father died in 1991."

The first grandma appears to be worried about her health now, even though doctors pronounce her in good shape. "Marian invited an old friend from Chicago to visit her at the White House, and she performed a Santeria ceremony in the residence. When Michelle saw this woman, a voodoo priestess she recognized her from when her father was sick, she had a fit. When she told the president about it, he blew up and said, No voodoo in the White House. Absolutely. I don't care what you call it.' As far as I know, it only happened once," the friend said.

The president was "totally in favor" when his mother-in-law moved into the White House as a live-in babysitter for 11-year-old Malia and 8-year-old Sasha. Obama reportedly told Michelle that her mother will have to go back to Chicago if she does not "stop this witchcraft mumbo-jumbo immediately" and ordered the Secret Service to not allow Marian's friend to return to the White House. Source

Simon and Garfunkel

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Ev'ry way you look at it, you lose

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey

Licensing hair braiders

My sister is wonderful at braiding hair. Corn rows, french braids, plats, whatever you needed, she has/had the nimble fingers to get it done beautifully. Back in the day, her hair braiding skills were quite popular in our neighborhood. She was attractive and unattainable, but you could pay her to braid your hair. And the boys paid.

My mother let her make the extra money – but she had strict rules - nobody at the house after dark and nobody could sit between her legs. The customer had to sit in the chair, with my sister standing behind it, she could not move to the front of the chair, you had to maneuver however so she could do what she did.

In between attending nursing classes and working part-time, she made decent extra cash braiding hair. There are thousands of young ladies, many of them single mothers in the inner city supplementing their income braiding hair.

*****

When Oumou Wague immigrated to the United States 18 years ago, she braided hair -- a skill that virtually all women in her native Senegal learn as girls -- to help her family. Today, braiding still is her primary source of income. But like many hair braiders in Illinois, she does not have a cosmetology license -- something required by state law since 1985.

The law requires braiders to complete 1,500 hours of cosmetology school -- which can cost upward of $10,000 -- despite the fact that hair braiding-specific courses are not offered at any of the approximately 60 schools that are part of the Illinois Association of Cosmetology Schools. There are about 100 cosmetology schools in Illinois and some of them offer braiding basics, but it is not part of their core curriculum, the association said.

Carol Frederick, executive director of the Illinois Association of Cosmetology Schools, agrees that consumer protection should be the main focus. She said any changes in the law should ensure that hair braiders are trained in sanitation, such as keeping combs and pins clean, and health issues, such as identifying scalp diseases and dealing with blood-borne pathogens.

Hair braiders who know of the law want to comply but the requirements are too rigid. Many hair braiders don't have the money to attend cosmetology schools and work out of their homes. The law criminalizes their work.

While the legislature is on summer break, hair braiders are waiting and hoping that the law will be changed soon.

Source

The "skank" controversy - a lesson for bloggers

New York (NY) - A thin Canadian woman, who has made a career of renting out her body as a clothes horse for designer garments, has taken umbrage at an anonymous blogger's description of her as a skank, ho and whore.

Liskula Cohen is a Canadian-born fashion model based in New York, who has appeared on the covers of several fashion magazines including Vogue and Elle. Now a judge has ruled that Google must reveal the name of the disenchanted blogger who posted pictures of Cohen in 'provocative poses' and described her as 'The skankiest in NYC'.

The Manhattan Supreme Court judge has announced that placing such epithets as 'ho' and 'skank" alongside such images might create 'a negative implication of sexual promiscuity'.

Back in January, Cohen sued Google to discover the name of the person behind the "Skanks in NYC" blog on its Blogger.com service. Now Justice Joan Madden of the New York State Supreme Court has rejected the blogger's argument that blogs serve as a modern day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting, and that the statements in this action when considered in that context, cannot be reasonably understood as factual assertions.

The judge ruled that Cohen is entitled to know the name of the person who posted remarks such as: "I would have to say the first-place award for ‘Skankiest in NYC’ would have to go to Liskula Gentile Cohen."


Said Cohen: "Why should anybody let it go? If somebody attacks somebody on the street, you're not going to let it go - why should I just ignore it?"

When Google supplied the IP address of the un-named blogger, it turned out to be an old, female, friend of the model. The gracious Cohen told ABC News: "Thank God it was her. She's an irrelevant person in my life. She's just somebody that, whenever I would go out to a restaurant, to a party in New York City, she was just that girl that was always there."

The blog contained two photographs of Cohen and an unidentified man in 'sexually suggestive' positions. The accompanying captions described her as 'a psychotic, lying, whoring skank', adding that 'desperation seeps from her soul, if she even has one.'

Cohen's legal team is now planning a defamation suit against the blogger.

Source

"Those people stayed behind: they weren't left behind"

Glenn Beck guest host Pat Gray on Katrina victims: “Those people stayed behind: they weren’t left behind”.

Of course, “those people weren’t Left Behind” - only christian conservatives are good enough for that. (LaughingOutLoud).

So this is how the attack on Van Jones will start, by trying to connect him to Kayne and make it about race? Really? Even though there is a valid concern about industrial waste and pollution in low income neighborhoods, the work of the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality will be the next item up for sabotage by "compassionate christian conservatives".

A CDC survey has found that black children were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with asthma than white children. Further, children from poor families were 40 percent more likely to have been diagnosed with the disease than those from families with incomes above the poverty line. However, the incidence of the disease may be greater since poor people lack access to the health programs that provide the diagnoses tracked by the CDC. Source

What is it about giving a helping hand to the down trodden and the indigent that sets these "compassionate christian conservatives" off?

See also: Environmental threats contaminate our health and prosperity

Southern Poverty Law Center expects an increase in domestic terrorism

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a long-standing civil rights organization issued a report last week, within it lies a disturbing warning.

The report indicated an increase in heavily-armed, racist, militia groups who could potentially rebel and ultimately resort to "domestic terrorism" as a result of the recession and a growing hatred towards Obama.

Mark Potok, the Law Center spokesman said the groups have yet to reach the point of violent anti-goernment attacks, "but we seem to be getting there." Potok said his center has a record of gauging legal battles of behalf civil rights, in addition to discovering 50 new militia groups in the last two years. The groups, he said, are mostly situated in the Deep South, Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed the growing concern.“You're seeing the bubbling right now. You see people buying into what they're saying. It's primed to grow.”

In a CBS News report on the new hate groups that aired last Wednesday, the statement was made, “… the right-wing extremists, historically motivated by a distrust of government, are now especially angry about the election of America's first African American president."

Critics have also attributed recent organized town-hall disruptions to extremists groups who make a point to orchestrate upheaval. Some groups have gone as far to throw "tea parties" against the Obama administration's economic policies and health care reform proposals.

Source

Two armed robberies and a shooting last night...Updated

And the crime wave rages on.

PEORIA - Peoria police are investigating a shooting and several armed robberies that happened Monday night.

They say a man was shot in the arm around 10:30 p.m. in the 700 block of East Thrush. His injuries weren't serious.

Police are also investigating two armed robberies. Mark's Market in West Peoria was robbed at gun point. Police say two men held up the grocery store off Farmington Road around 9:30 p.m.

And the Subway restaurant in Campustown just off Main Street was robbed by three men wielding guns around 10:30 p.m.

Source

***

What is the plan for decreasing crime in Peoria? It just rages on. I don't understand why City Hall is not asking the police for a plan. The schools are being checked by City Hall because they have an impact on people living in the City. Maybe it's just me, but I think crime (folks getting kildt) is even more more important. People are being shot dead in their homes; armed robbers are bold as all get out; arson is rampant; and large street fights occur almost daily!

Shouldn't Peoria be better than this? What the hell is going on - where are the priorities?

Meanwhile, the Armadillo had a lovely write up in the Wall Street Journal.

UPDATE: Three arrested in sandwich shop attempted robbery.

GMAC Financial Services has "ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program"

That's the word this morning from spokesperson Sue Mallino, who confirmed to Media Matters that the company recently pulled its ads off the Fox News program. Mallino would not comment on whether the move was made in response to Beck's claim that President Obama is a "racist," an allegation that sparked a grassroots campaign by ColorofChange.org to get advertisers to stop supporting Beck's program.

Mallino said only that the company has final say over which programs are "not appropriate" to advertise on, and that GMAC Financial Services will continue to advertise on Fox News. But she reiterated the company "has ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program."

GMAC Financial Services joins a growing list of advertisers who have recently abandoned Beck's television show, including ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men’s Wearhouse, State Farm Sargento, LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, and Progressive Insurance.

Source

_________________________

Other major advertisers that have pulled their support from Glenn Beck’s show: Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CVS, Travelocity, Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank, Broadview Security, and Re-Bath. Overall, twenty advertisers have now ended their support of Beck. ColorOfChange.org will continue to keep the pressure on Beck’s remaining advertisers.

Last week the campaign was mentioned in several media and advertising industry publications, on MSNBC, in the New York Times, and by Stephen Colbert.

As Howard Dean would say "Yeeeah"!

2008's Best and Worst selling magazine covers

W Magazines 2008 list of the best and worst selling magazine covers are out. I’m always interested in seeing these lists just to see who is selling. A recent visit to my local magazine rack reveals that once again, there are very few, if any African Americans on the cover of the major glossises this month. The only one I saw was Will Smith’s wife on the cover of Shape Magazine…

Whenever African Americans (or models of color) do appear on the cover of major glossies or major advertising campaigns, they always appear to be magically lighter – some may even say white…

As I reviewed the W. Magazine list I could not help but notice that of the few magazine covers that black folks did appear on in 2008 – none of them were on the Worst list...

Vogue 4/08 Gisele/LeBron James
Bazaar 9/08 Tyra Banks
ELLE 6/2008 Rihanna
Cosmo 3/2008 Rihanna
IN Style 8/08 Rihanna
IN Style 2/08 Halle
IN Style 11/08 Beyonce

I found it interesting that the so called “hottest chick”, Tom Brady's homewrecker, a/k/a the highest paid supermodel in the world and former Victoria Secret underwear model, Giselle Bundchen’s covers of Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar have both been their worst-performing of the year, so far. Even more interesting is that fact that – she continues to get covers.

2008 Worst Selling Women's Magazines
Vogue
Best-Selling Cover: Keira Knightley (559,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Rachel Weisz (276,000 copies)
Vanity Fair
Best-Selling Cover: Angelina Jolie (504,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Katherine Heigl (314,000 copies)
Elle
Best-Selling Cover: Victoria Beckham (413,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Covers: Carrie Underwood (253,000 copies)
Glamour
Best-Selling Cover: Jessica Simpson (775,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Nicole Kidman (460,000 copies)
Cosmopolitan
Best-Selling Cover: Scarlett Johansson (2 million copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Jessica Simpson (1.5 million copies)
W
Best-Selling Cover: Angelina Jolie (78,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Hilary Swank (27,000 copies)
InStyle
Best-Selling Cover: Eva Longoria-Parker (889,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Anne Hathaway (585,000 copies)
Marie Claire
Best-Selling Cover: Women of “Sex and the City” (440,948 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Jennifer Connelly (191,000 copies)
Harper’s Bazaar
Best-Selling Cover: Lindsay Lohan (213,000 copies)
Worst-Selling Cover: Drew Barrymore (120,000 copies)

Why we need healthcare reform

By BARACK OBAMA

OUR nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven’t heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.

These are people like Lori Hitchcock, whom I met in New Hampshire last week. Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old. A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died.

I hear more and more stories like these every single day, and it is why we are acting so urgently to pass health-insurance reform this year. I don’t have to explain to the nearly 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance how important this is. But it’s just as important for Americans who do have health insurance.

There are four main ways the reform we’re proposing will provide more stability and security to every American.

Read the rest here...
Source

Congressman Shock's "conversation" with the First Lady

Schock will be a guest on NPR's "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!," airing August 15th and 16th, where he revealed that he complimented First Lady Michelle Obama on her "buff" arms, and she returned the praise.

Read the excerpt below:

PETER SAGAL, HOST, WAIT, WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!: Because of that photograph, you were asked once, we found this - whether you felt in your professional congressional opinion - whether you or President Obama had the better bod. And you said you didn't know. Have you had a chance to check it out?

REP. AARON SCHOCK: [LAUGHTER]

SAGAL: Because we know what guys are like - I'm a guy. You're out there, you're hanging out at some congressional thing. We're checking each other out. We're seeing who's brining it. So, what do you think?

REP. SCHOCK: Well, I'm sorry to disappoint - the opportunity has not presented itself. However, I will say that at the White House picnic that I was invited to, Michelle was there, First Lady Michelle Obama, with a sleeveless shirt on, and she was looking pretty buff.

SAGAL: Really?

REP. SCHOCK: Yeah. I actually complimented her on her arms. She's got it together.

SAGAL: You did? You actually went up to Michelle Obama and you said, 'Hey, nice guns?' What did you do?

REP. SCHOCK: I did.

SAGAL: Come one. No, stop. What did you say to the First Lady of the United States? I want to hear it.

REP. SCHOCK: Ah... [LAUGHTER]. We were along the rope line at the White House, I had some guests there that I brought with that wanted their picture taken with her. And so I said hello to her, and we, you know, I chitchatted and I said, 'You're looking good.' And she just kind of laughed at me. And I said, 'Seriously,' I said, 'Those are some arms.' And she said, well, she made a nice compliment about myself, and then she moved on, so.

SAGAL: No, stop! No, sir. No, sir. You're not going to get away with it. What did she say to you? 'She made a nice compliment about myself.' What did she say?

REP. SCHOCK: Something to the effect of, 'You're not too bad yourself.'

SAGAL: Ah ha! Ah ha. And then you guys went into a pose-off, right, like at the end of a body-building competition?

AMY DICKINSON, PANELIST, WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!: You know, I bet that never happened with Mamie Eisenhower. You know? It just never did.

SAGAL: I got to say, elected to Congress at age 27, big deal. Gotten some props from Michelle, that's something sir. Congratulations.

REP. SCHOCK: You know, I think Joe Biden overheard and got a little jealous, too.

SAGAL: I'm sure. Because I've noticed Joe's been on the elliptical ever since he met Michelle.

Hmmph, kinda fresh don't ya think? Good represntn Congressman Shock, you go boy! (Oh, was that a little fresh?)

Source

Just be nice to the "health care reform protestors"

First he manhandled Pat Butchanan and left him sputtering...

Wednesday, Lawrence O'Donnell sat in for Chris Matthews on Hardball and had the privilege of interviewing a "health care reform protester" from Senator Arlen Specter's town hall meeting on Tuesday.

O'Donnell, who is an excellent host and really should have a regular time slot (dude is a keeper), was very nice to the "health care reform protestor".

At the town hall she complained specifically about the taxes she and her husband pay. When O'Donnell asked her about taxes, Katy admits that she has no idea, hubby handles all of the money.

Oh, the irony of it all...

Apparently the City of Peoria, Illinois has hired Scott Moore as Peoria City Manager. Mr. Moore, who was previously Assistant City Manager in Wichita, is African-American. If this City Manager will be visible and choose to live in the City, hopefully we will let him slide if he chooses private school for his children.

While the prospect of an African-American City Manager appears progressive, the irony of this situation is not lost on me. I hope Mr. Moore is not taken aback by what Peoria’s black community is facing once he sees it up close. I am referring specifically to the lack of basic city services (see no sidewalks, run down buildings, crumbling streets, etc); inadequate schools (most of which are shuttered); lack of police protection (see high crime rate in black neighborhoods); segregated dance clubs (see Club Apollo); restrictions on youth access to city events (see Carl Cannon); and limited access to quality shopping facilities (see Midtown Plaza and Northwoods Mall).

Good luck Mr. Moore.

Maybe he was just over it...

I have no idea what happened with the blog Obrien's Briar Patch, but I really enjoyed reading his blog and miss his political commentary.

It appears he went off line shortly after crossing the Peoria Pundit’s Billy Dennis. I know they call Billy “Big Pun” in some circles, but I wouldn’t think he has anything to do with this... would you?

Who is the real Big Pun?
Disclaimer: This is satire.

Has Cash for Clunkers been good to you?

It’s been interesting to watch the so called “Cash for Clunkers” rebate program at work. Although many appear to be hesitant to admit it, it appears to be serving its purpose. Now if only the government could make emissions checks mandatory, we could be on to something...

Cash for Clunkers

Winners and Losers.

Winner: New car dealerships
While filing rebates has caused a number of headaches for dealers, sales have been skyrocketing. "This is the one true stimulus that seems to be working out of all the things that have been tried in the last few months." Cody Lusk, president of the American International Automobile Dealers Association.

Loser: Used car dealers
Some used car dealerships are reporting slagging sales as rebates entice consumers to buy new cars, but the problem for used-car dealers could be magnified in coming months. Industry analysts say that because trade-in cars in "cash for clunkers" have to be destroyed, the program could remove as many as 750,000 or five percent of used cars from the market. The result could be higher prices and fewer choices for consumers.

Winner: Automakers (domestic and foreign)
Ford in July announced a 2 percent sales increase over the previous year, its first gain since Nov. 2007. And while General Motors and Chrysler still posted declines, they were less than in recent history. Suzuki and Hyundai, meanwhile, saw sales rise more than 12 percent.

Beyond sales, payroll figures show automakers added 28,000 workers in July, the biggest gain in more than a decade, according to Bloomberg. "We are looking at the cash-for-clunkers as a booster shot to get us through the fragile economic recovery to the other side, where the economy has legs under it, which we think will happen as the year moves on and then we will not need cash-for- clunkers anymore," GM sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni told Bloomberg television last week.

Loser: Charities
Charities across the nation face the same situation as used car dealerships: As more people scrap there old cars, less donate them. "We know there's going to be a significant impact," Chad Iseman, director of the Kidney Cars program for the National Kidney Foundation, told the Detroit Free Press.

Winner: Scrap yards
Cars traded in under 'cash for clunkers' must be scrapped, and as a result local salvage yards have been reporting actual or projected boosts in purchases.

Loser: Repair shops
As consumers choose to trade in old cars rather than repair them, repair shops stand to lose business under "cash for clunkers." "Not only do I lose that repair, but I also lose his business for the next 4 or 5 years while that vehicle is under warranty." Steve Sadoski, manager of the Detroit Auto Lab.

Source

Who finds Rosa Parks' image offensive?

A death panel protester - that's who...

Senator Clair McCaskill's health care town hall meeting today was very unruly and left the Senator struggling to understand why people were behaving so irrationally. I saw many people being loud and disrespectful towards her during the meeting. However, it was later that I saw a clip of a woman being hustled out of the building during McCaskill's town hall. I have seen a lot of video of hateful people at these health plan forums, but this was the first time I saw any protester being forcefully removed.

When I saw the video of the black woman being bum rushed from the town hall I didn't understand, so I followed up (see video below). Apparently the woman was holding up a poster of Rosa Parks; she put the poster away; a photographer asked her to see the poster; some ignorant a** "death panel" protester comes over and takes it away; the woman goes to get her poster back and she gets bum rushed out by several security officers like she was tyring to shot somebody; while the guy who took the poster was escorted out by one officer. Really!

These clowns at these town halls are getting so out of hand that right minded people are starting to stay away out of fear. This is an e-mail from a person attending a town hall meeting:

Yesterday evening I was to attend to the Health Care summit with(D) Rep Betty Reed and(D) Rep Kathy Castor, I'm a Precinct Captain (203) in Tampa and we received our talking points to rebut any NEGATIVE GOP talking points on health care. I never made it in the building. I've never in my life really experience outright racism in a public place. Signs of Obama hung in effigy, racial slurs on signs, people chanting negative words ( too many to list) and outright screaming at Obama supporters. The hatred was in their eyes and they actually scared me for a moment. At first I was shocked, then a little scared and then I got outright mad in the span of 1 minute.............. I actually left (the "hood" would have come out). I was totally blown away it was a mad house. I'm kinda mad at my self now, because I left. I'm still shaking my head in awe....................I'm still cold inside. Source

What, pray tell, does the race of the President of the United States have to do with health care. Are we seeing all of these protests because these people are simply appalled that a black man, the President of the United States, dares to think he can make these kinds of decisions.

Somebody told me a while back that certain people want President Obama to fail because he is black. I couldn't wrap my mind around that notion, it just makes no sense. I did not believe that corporations would cut off their nose to spite their face, just to stop President Obama from turning the economy around.

Today, I am beginning to wonder if there is some truth in the statement. Stimulus money is out there, however, corporations continue to cut back and banks are not giving loans. Where is the money and what are they doing with it? Why is it not being put back into the economy? Are corporations instead taking advantage of this time to cut back further than necessary? Laying off, when they really could be calling back?

Please, please tell me that America is not that sick.

Los Angeles-Free Medical Checks for People in Need

Don't be distracted by the side show being put on by the orchastrated mobs at town hall meetings. The current healthcare plan may not be perfect - but it is a start in the right direction.

Top Five Health Care Reform Lies

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!
The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill." What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!
The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options. Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.

If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them. But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!
The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage. And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!
The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits. Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!
The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care. The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses. Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.

Source

GEICO Car Insurance to Pull Advertisements Away from Glenn Beck Program

GEICO will no longer run ads during Beck’s show, joining Lexis-Nexis, Proctor & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson in distancing themselves away from the fool known as Glenn Beck. Read more about the initiative and sign the petition here.

For Immediate Release
August 10, 2009

Insurance Company Joins Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson in Distancing Themselves from FNC Anchor

OAKLAND, Calif.--Adding to a growing list of advertisers distancing themselves from controversial Fox News personality Glenn Beck, GEICO has pledged to re-direct their advertisements away from Beck's program on the Fox News Channel. The decision by GEICO comes on the heels of announcements made last week that LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson were distancing themselves from Beck after the news host called President Obama a "racist" who "has a deep-seated hatred for white people."

"On Tuesday, August 4, GEICO instructed its ad buying service to redistribute its inventory of rotational spots on FOX-TV to their other network programs, exclusive of the Glenn Beck program," said a spokesperson for GEICO Corporate Communications in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "As of August 4, GEICO no longer runs any paid advertising spots during Mr. Beck's program."

"We applaud GEICO and all of the other companies who have stepped forward to pull their ads from Glenn Beck," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "Beck's rhetoric is dangerous to the fabric of our democracy, and we are heartened that so many big companies feel the same way. We won't stop here -- we're going to continue our fight to see that as many of Beck's advertisers pull their support as possible."

Two weeks ago, ColorOfChange.org called on its 600,000-plus members to sign a petition urging companies who advertise on Glenn Beck to cut off their advertising support of his work. More than 75,000 members responded to the call by signing a petition directed at advertisers.

Last week, ColorOfChange.org received confirmation from LexisNexis that they pulled their ads from Beck and have no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance and SC Johnson called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.

"Death Panels" are alive and well

Death Panels. Really? Sarah Palin is ridiculous. However, I think we all know that there has always been a certain level of society that is already being denied health care based upon race and/or "value to society". There are already doctors who will not tell you all your options because they don't think you can afford it. Likewise, there have always been insurance companies telling hard working folks their benefits can't cover something. Are these the "death panels" she is referring to?

From http://www.wsaz.com/:

W.Va. African-American Ministers Speak Out About Health Disparities

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A group of black West Virginia ministers believes federal health care legislation could narrow the disparities separating the races in the Mountain State.

Members of the Partnership of African-American Churches say they were alarmed by a recent report that found that blacks in West Virginia live six to 10 years less than whites, and suffer an infant mortality rate that's 60 percent higher.

That's why they're speaking favorably about the Obama administration's proposed health care overhaul that's under fierce debate on Capitol Hill.

But the ministers are also calling for a thorough follow-through if any plan passes. They say the same officials who would carry out a new policy have also allowed these disparities to persist. (emphasis added is mine)

Newsflash Ms. Sarah... evil exists.

Related articles: African American Women's Views of the Trustworthiness of Health Care; Barriers to Hospice Use among African Americans: A Systematic Review

From double wide to stripper pole @ 16

If you are planning on watching the Teen Choice Awards with your pre-teen. Heads up on the Miley Cyrus pole dance. And it is a pole dance...

Really, if she had not climbed up on the ice cream wagon, her routine would not have suffered. I just want to ask her Daddy, "Why Billy Ray, why?".

This is not okay...

I am sooooo proud to say, we don't watch Hannah Montana at our house. I screened it once and that was enough. The main reasons we don't watch: The lack of minority actors; next is the horrible dialogue and acting; and of course the young hooker factor figures majorly as well.

The most exciting part about uniform requirements in District 150, is not seeing those horrible Hannah Montana outfits on the little girls. Now if only we could ban the back packs with her likeness on them...

Illinois Sues Wells Fargo for Discrimination

The state of Illinois is taking Wells Fargo to court for discriminatory practices. According to the State Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the bank's lending company illegally discriminated against minority borrowers. Madigan claims that the bank, “disproportionately sold African-American and Hispanic borrowers high-cost, subprime mortgages, while white borrowers with similar incomes received mortgages with more favorable terms.”

The attorney general accused Wells Fargo of “reverse redlining” at a Press Conference Friday saying,

"As a result of its discriminatory and illegal mortgage-lending practices, Wells Fargo transformed our cities' predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods into ground zero for subprime lending.” Source

Wells Fargo the Predator
Loan officers frequently and fraudulently told black customers that sub prime was sometimes their only option. In an affidavit, prominent Wells Fargo loan officer, Elizabeth Jacobson, wrote that, the lender had an unwritten policy of omitting information concerning fees and penalties but instead sold black people on the more expensive loans by saying it would simply mean less paperwork, less documentation and a lower down payment.

There was a rampant amount of fraud going on in order to give blacks loans they could not afford. The bank in fact set up an entire division, called the mortgage resources division or MORE, that was designed to target black ZIP codes. In this division, loan officers were only allowed to authorize subprime loans. They received incentives for steering prime customers into subprime products and they were reportedly reprimanded when they didn't, according to court reports.

The Wells Fargo Trojan

Tavis Smiley is the host of a late night talk show on PBS (which I refuse to watch). Tavis is also the highly acclaimed author of The Covenant with Black America. The Covenant, is a collection of essays by black scholars and professionals, covering topics from education to health care. The Covenant spawned the "State of the Black Union" forums which are held annually and gave Tavis the foothold in the black forum/speaker market.

The forums were originally touted as an opportunity to advance a national plan of action, to address the primary concerns of African-Americans related to social and economic disparities. There was/is no denying the forums were necessary and had huge potential. Tavis was well respected in the black community (being a friend of the Fly Jock didn't hurt), he was on the up and he was most certainly on his grind. In short, Tavis was a perfect candidate to be a Trojan Horse for Wells Fargo.

From a 2005 press release:
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Joins With Tavis Smiley to Offer Free Wealth Building Strategies Seminar in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 -Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the nation's leading originator of home loans to ethnic minority customers, has joined forces with talk show host and author, Tavis Smiley; and several financial affairs experts to provide free Wealth Building Strategies Seminars in eight cities across the country, including Washington, D.C. Additional seminars featuring other popular panelists also will be offered in 12 more cities, nationwide.

"All families dream about home ownership, college education, world travel and more but may not know the best steps to becoming financially independent. I am thrilled to be a part of the Wells Fargo Wealth Building Strategies Seminars tour because I truly believe this event offers attendees the fundamental tools they need to make their dreams a reality." - Tavis Smiley -

Read the entire press release here…

Full disclosure.
I don’t like Tavis Smiley, never have. I have never understood why the Fly Jock put him on; his slam of the Obamas was way out of line; and this group of so called, “black intelligentsia” (see video below) he hangs with, as he travels across country on his speaking tours, seem to be incredibly out of touch. Debating Beyonce vs. Aretha, while never missing an opportunity to take a swing at President Obama.



Ain't nothing wrong with getting yours.
You have to admire the ability of a professional to make it happen. I’m not mad at Beyonce for handling her business. Kanye has every right to brand himself as the best at what he does. Steven A. Smith, well, he’s pushing it with this political journalist crap, but hey, his career is evolving and he is out there making it happen. Now Tavis, because of the nature of his grind, he owes the public a little more accountability than the others.

Is Tavis a victim too?
Do you think that there is a possibility that while Tavis was so busy getting his, that Wells Fargo took advantage of his drive and ambition and used him? Perhaps Tavis is a victim of Wells Fargo’s predatory lending practices just like so many others... Hardly. I wanted to give Tavis the benefit of the doubt, so I looked for his response to Well’s Fargo practices. I found it – he offers no apologies for partnering with Wells Fargo, nor does he condemn their behavior:

Tavis Smiley on Wells Fargo

"In this economic climate we continue to be reminded every day that there is no perfect company. Part of the process of accountability is making sure that companies are taking steps to do the right thing, and that includes appropriate outreach to communities of color.

Our relationship with Wells Fargo began in 2005 as part of its commitment to increase financial literacy among African Americans. Those efforts included free wealth-building strategy seminars designed to help prepare attendees for their families’ futures through credit management, home ownership, investing and entrepreneurship. […] All of these programs have been free and open to the public. And, at no time has The Smiley Group, Inc. ("TSG") nor yours truly served as a spokesperson or representative for any company."

Read more Tavis on Wells Fargo here…

A message for Tavis Smiley:

The TSG brand is eroding and you show no sign of getting a clue. Have you no righteous indignation for being clowned by Wells Fargo? Shouldn't you be a little upset about the mortgage fraud the Predator known as Wells Fargo has reaped upon the black community? Shouldn't you be taking Wells Fargo to task and using those Community Reinvestment Act dollars that is instrumental in making you and your friends wealthy, to educate the public on predatory lenders?

You are so busy getting yours, that you failed to notice that because of your association with Wells Fargo, any community building and good will that may have been started by the Covenant with Black America, has been successfully and thoroughly... ravaged by Wells Fargo.