“A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.”

These are the words that appeared in yesterday’s New York Times. However, this was not just interviews with top intelligence people that gave this assessment. It was something far more official: National Intelligence Estimate. If your aren’t familiar with the National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE, SourceWatch has an excellent definition of it, provided by the CIA:

“National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is the most authoritative written judgment concerning a national security issue prepared by the Director of Central Intelligence. Unlike ‘current intelligence’ products, which describe the present, most NIEs forecast future developments and many address their implications for the United States. NIEs cover a wide range of issue–from military to technological to economic to political trends.

Also, the report requires the approval of the current director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, a Bush appointee and close ally of the President.

So, it really is no small thing when this says that the Iraq War is worsening the the terrorist threat to this country. Read More… »

Popularity: 5% [?]

Let’s face it, pro wrestling, in its history, has had no problem stereotyping people of color in the most negative ways. As a black person who grew up on pro wrestling, I remember wrestlers like Kamala, a supposed Ugandan savage; Virgil, a butler/valet to a white millionaire; and the Godfather, a pimp who invited you to ride the “Hoe Train”. So, it’s no surprise to see World Wrestling Entertainment introduce yet another stereotype into the mix: the black thugs.

Cryme Tyme is one of WWE’s newest tag teams. In a promo they cut for the team, their “training video” shows them keeping their skills up by trying to hold up a store in record time (see video here). Needless to say, it’s a really sad sight.

Well, it looks like wrestling has hit one stereotype too many and one of its fans is now striking back. Read More… »

Popularity: 12% [?]

Alphonso Jackson is the latest in a line of Bush loyalists who finds himself in the hot seat for politicizing the awarding of contracts from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Top aides to Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson testified that they and other senior staff members were advised to take political leanings into consideration when awarding discretionary contracts, according to an internal report issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general.

Despite Jackson’s edict, there is no evidence that “information regarding political affiliation was routinely or generally received, maintained or applied to the contracting process; however, there were some limited instances where political affiliation may have been a factor in contract issues involving Jackson,” the report found.

However, it was not aides who tipped off Congress to Jackson’s alleged actions. It was actually Jackson himself who let his intentions out of the bag. Read More… »

Popularity: 13% [?]

I just read something that, quite frankly, leaves me a little ambivalent.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out recommendations yesterday that included making HIV testing routine for all Americans between 13 and 64.

On one hand, I, as much as anyone, want to the spread of AIDS stopped, especially when I know it’s impact on people of color both here and abroad. But, there are things about this proposal that raise red flags to me.

I guess the privacy freak in me gets concerned about things like this. Whose to say that your HIV status could not show up in background checks and be used as a determinant on whether or not a person is hired of a job or whether or not they can get insurance through their jobs.

Again, I am not against the guidelines but, I would have to see how they plan on implementing them before I could give my blessing to them.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Upon hearing this radio ad (listen below), my wife made it plain by saying, “they put this ignorant-a$$ commericial on to question our intelligence for not voting Republican?”

I could not have said it better myself. Once again, some Black Republicans, in an effort to chastise Black folks for not voting with them, play on racial politics rather than the records of the people they support. They do put out some truths but, even the truth can be misleading. For example, they cite the abyssmal record of Democrats from the late 1800’s through the 1960’s and contrast that with the Republicans of that period. You get no argument that, particulary during that time, Democrats were some of the most flaming racists there were.

But, after that the misleading statements begin. Read More… »

 

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Popularity: 11% [?]

I have to be honest, Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell is not exactly one of my favorite people. His actions during the 2004 election cycle were nothing short of deplorable. As an Ohio resident, I witnessed firsthand how heavily minority (and Democratic) districts were combined and how not enough voting booths were placed in these districts (I saw people wait over 2 1/2 hours to cast a ballot in my polling place). This was just the culmination of the game-playing he had been doing for over a year.

So, I can’t say that I feel for him when I read that, with less than 7 weeks to go until the election, the polls show him behind by the largest margin of any Republican candidate in the last 20 years. Read More… »

Popularity: 4% [?]

Jewish people have a saying: “Never again”

It refers to them keeping a vigilant watch so that atrocities like the Holocaust never happen again. As a black person, I hope that my people adopt that same mentality. Part of developing this mentality is to come face to face with the horrors of the past and learning of how we dealt with and overcame particular struggles. I don’t believe I am alone in this hope.

In my heart, I have to believe that this was part of the motivation in Mississipi’s opening of a museum honoring the memory of Emmett Louis Till.

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Emmett Till, he was a 14-year-old Chicago native who was visiting family in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. Not knowing the “rules” of Mississippi, he flirted with a white woman by whistling at her. For this “transgression” he was brutally tortured and murdered. His body was later dumped in the Tallahatchie River. Read More… »

Popularity: 24% [?]

On Monday, I posted that Darfur is still a crisis. In it I spoke of how we, in this country, are ignoring what is going on in the Sudan. Well, today, I have to admit I was wrong. Our government’s leadership is fully aware of what is going on in the Sudan but, some are actively blocking efforts to help stop the atrocities.

Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, head of the foreign relations committee, has put forward a new draft of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act that, effectively, takes the teeth out of the act by doing away with support for a divestment effort. Read More… »

Popularity: 7% [?]

Texas gubernatorial candidate has displayed his true colors, or should I say his disdain for certain colors. In a video posted on YouTube.com, Friedman throws around the word “negro” and, when asked about what he would do about sexual predators, he states: “Throw them in prison and throw away the key and make them listen to a Negro talking to himself.”

Yes, it’s an election year and, like other conservatives, Friedman has no problem invoking racial animosity to bring the racists to the polls.

Read More… »

Popularity: 6% [?]

I hope that people were taken aback by the title of this post. I think we need to realize that “thug” is:

1. Not a cool thing to be.
2. Not just a black thing.

So, it is more than appropriate to refer to Robert Dow of Franklin, Maine as a “thug”. Dow assaulted twenty-one-year-old Sarah Norris, a black woman who happens to be 7 months pregnant. What did Ms. Norris do to warrant this attack? She just happened to be black in the vicinity of Robert Dow.

Ms. Norris had pulled into a local market to get a sandwich. When Dow saw her, he began calling her racial names , opened her car door and kicked her in the stomach.
Read More… »

Popularity: 6% [?]