I just ran across a news article on MSNBC.com with the following title:

Official: Half of Baghdad under control

Now, maybe it’s me but, this made the wheels in my head turn so, I continued to read and came across this:

(Major Gen. Joseph F.) Fil said American and Iraqi security forces now control 48 percent to 49 percent of the 474 neighborhoods in Baghdad. That is up from 19 percent in April, he said. Two weeks ago his boss, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, said about 40 percent of the city was under control.

Fil defined “control” as “where we have our security forces there and we’re denying that space to enemy forces.”

U.S. and Iraqi forces are conducting clearing operations in 36 percent of the capital’s neighborhoods — about the same percentage as in April, he said. In neighborhoods that are neither under control nor in the process of being cleared, coalition forces are “disrupting” insurgent forces, Fil said.

Now, some my be saying, “Okay…and…?”

You have been at war there for over 4 years and you only control roughly half of the capital city?!!

This tells me that the war plan (or lack thereof) by the current administration has standards so low that control one city in a country the size of the state of California is seen as progress.

It’s time for the troops to come home and to quit being sacrificed for the egos of fools.

Popularity: 22% [?]

I know it’s a war and soldiers die but, how can someone tell you that a surge is working and progress is being made when:

1. Civil war is being waged
2. A stable government is a long way off
3. U.S. deaths are increasing.

Let’s focus on #3, for now. Today, the deaths of five U.S. troops were announced today, bringing the 3-month total of U.S. military deaths to 329. This makes it the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops since the war began.

This brings the total number of troops deaths to 3,756 and counting.

I wonder if the politicians are really paying attention or are they more focused on the 2008 elections.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Researchers have discovered something that may help one day in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Scientists from from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the University of Hamburg’s Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology have developed something called the “Tre Enzyme”. What they have been able to do is to use this enzyme to, basically, cut the HIV infection out of a cell.

However, the researchers are saying that there is still quite a way to go in terms of using this in real-world treatment. The challenge is to find a way to find a way to identify HIV more quickly because, currently, while dormant, it hides from the immune system.

Nonetheless, it is exciting news and may one day put us on the road to a real cure for this disease that threatens tens of millions worldwide.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Back in March, I wrote a post called “Bangin’ in Iraq” about the increasing number of street gangs infiltrating the U.S. military as a result of a more “moral waivers” being issued out of desperation just to get warm bodies in the ranks. Now, the corporate media seems to be picking up on this story (which, as far as I can tell, was report in some corners as far back as 2006). Here’s a segment from Headline News on this issue.

Popularity: 25% [?]

…so might safety and oversight.

Yesterday, I and some co-workers were having lunch and someone brought up a tire recall. Apparently, to save some money, a manufacturer allowed a batch of tires go through with a high likelihood of blowing. Then, I brought up a recall of toy trains because of lead paint. Then, I brought up the tainted pet food scare in which hundreds (or was it thousands?) of pets died.

The common thread — all of these items were manufactured in China.

One of my co-workers asked, “How is this happening?” Another co-worker explained that, when companies take their manufacturing offshore, much of the oversight goes with it. So, issues of health and safety for the employees or contamination and defect-checking for consumers are not considered heavily in the manufacturing process.

Now, we find out, today, that China has shut down 180 food factories. Apparently, now that China is getting such bad press, its government is finally stepping in to do the job that it should have been doing (or, at least, our government should have been doing more of to protect people here) all along.

Just check out some of the things they found:

Formaldehyde, illegal dyes, and industrial wax were found being used to make candy, pickles, crackers and seafood, it said, citing Han Yi, an official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which is responsible for food safety.

So, today we are seeing that the almighty dollar is again taking precedence over good common sense. We need to stop making it so beneficial for companies to undermine our economic health and, now, physical health by taking manufacturing offshore.

Popularity: 67% [?]

As some of you may remember, I was really hot under the collar for the way the Dems caved in the showdown with Bush on Iraq War Occupation funding. I felt that it would be playing politics to allow this to go on so they can continue to point the finger at Bush and Co. (and rightfully so) over the war. However, my problem with this strategy is that, at least, dozens of U.S. soldiers and hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Iraqis will die in the process.

However, one thing that I wondered was if the Republicans would take this window to score some political points by bucking the President to change direction on the war. You see, the magical September date for which Gen. David Petraeus is supposed to report on the progress of the surge also marks the time frame where the 2008 election cycle officially heats up. Many Republican representatives and senators are facing tough political challenges as they are tied to a president whose approval ratings are in the high 20’s, a deteriorating situation in the Middle East as a whole, a rise in terrorism, an economy at home that only seems to benefit the most wealthy of Americans and, on top of that, soldiers losing their lives for a war without justification or purpose.

No, if you are fighting for your political life or the life of your political party and the biggest roadblock is a president of your own party, what would you do?

Maybe this is why Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Dick Lugar (R-IN) are now calling for U.S. troop withdrawls from Iraq. Yes, two members from the party that brought us such catchy phrases as “cut and run” and the party that accused those who called for similar measures of everything from not supporting the troops to advocating surrender to siding with the enemy are now seeing that continuing to support this policy is nothing short of political suicide.

Looming in all this is that, this September, there may be an announcement that, instead of actually looking to wrap things up, the administration may actually announce that they are extending the surge, possibly using the 9/11 anniversary to do so. Of course, this would be a bad move but, given the gullibility (or delusion) of a growing number of American who actually believe that there was some link between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 plot, who knows what will happen.

But, back to the point. The Republicans may take this summer to actually seize the moment to challenge the president on troop withdrawals and, if that caucus has the momentum, the Democrats will have to follow. I mean, why would they then block the efforts to get the troops out of Iraq when that was THE reason they were voted in the first place. The scenario would then play out that the Republicans showed leadership on the war (history be damned) and the Democrats, once again, look weak for not posing a strong enough challenge to the President, particularly when they are the party in the majority.

It’s not without precedent. The Democrats challenged Lyndon Johnson on the Vietnam War, which caused him to not seek a second term in office. Of course, we ended up with Richard Nixon in the White House but, that’s another story.

The fact is that the Dems better do something fast on this war or their majority in the Congress may be very short-lived.

Popularity: 24% [?]

It is indeed about our vote.

The politicized mess that is the U.S. Justice Department stinks more and more each day as new revelations are made. The McLatchey News Service is reporting that a senior Justice Department official intervened on behalf of Republicans involved “vote-caging” in Ohio’s 2004 elections. I have talked about vote-caging on the site before (see here and here) but, in a nutshell, here’s how the game worked in Ohio. Republicans would send Democratic voters mail that was undeliverable (in Florida, this was done by stamping the mail “Do Not Forward” and was sent to many people who, at the time, were away at school or on active duty in Iraq). Then, when the mail was not answered, Republicans could use this to challenge the person’s right to vote.

This tactic was to be carried out against 23,000 voters, an overwhelming majority of them black.

Acting on behalf of his fellow Republican party loyalists, Assistant Attorney General Alex Acosta sent a letter to Judge Susan Dlott, who was in the process of deciding on the legality of the Republican’s tactics, to influence her to allow this to happen. In is letter, Acosta stated that stopping the Republicans mass-mailing campaign would “undermine” state and federal elections laws if they could not challenge voters. In other words, they used the nearly-mythical entity of Democratic voter fraud to justify disenfranchising black voters.

In the end, even with the interference of the Justice Department work in collusion with then-Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, they were denied the right to use caging to challenge a voter’s rights.

Karl Rove, at one time, would always talk of creating a “permanent Republican majority”. Now, we see, in part, how he intended to do it — at the expense of black voters.

Popularity: 22% [?]

This is not quite a surprise given that this news was reported months ago, but it is interesting to note that other news agencies are beginning to report how black recruitment is down in all branches of the military due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like me, a lot of black families are discouraging young men and women from joining the military. Why? Because I don’t believe in sacrificing the lives of poor people to insure the comfort of rich people. If they believe in what they are doing, why aren’t they encourage (or sacrificing the lives of) their own children in these wars. Instead, we see their kids, because they can afford to, going to school, jobs, running companies, working on political campaigns, traveling the world (Bush twins) or whatever. Most are doing any- and everything but fighting in the military. So, if avoiding military service is good enough for these people, it’s good enough for my people.

So, black families, encourage your kids to seek a better life but, remember, they actually have to be alive to enjoy it. Therefore, until we get more responsible people in charge of our foreign policy, I will continue to encourage kids to say “no” to military service.

Popularity: 28% [?]

It’s always interesting to see just how far apart people who live in the same are when it comes to understanding the other’s lives and culture. A recent study Harvard’s Du Bois Review shows just how little is known about black folks. But, even more interesting is that the prism through which race is viewed can cloud the judgement of the perceiver.

The study gathered the perceptions of 958 whites of various ages from locations around the country.

One item that was asked was how much they would have to be paid to live this rest of their lives as a black person, the average response was $10,000. In other words, they felt that the income disparity they would experience would only amount to about that much.

However, the reality is that the disparity is much greater:

For example, white households average about $150,000 more wealth than the typical black family. Overall, total wealth for white families is about five times greater than that of black families, a gap that has persisted for years.

Now, when asked how much they would need to receive to give up T.V., the average response was $1,000,000. Yes, they would only need $10,000 to be black but 100 times that amount to give up television. So, again, this indicates how small the perceived challenge of being black in America was to these respondents.

But, the most interesting portion of the study has to be the following:

The researchers asked participants to imagine that their great, great grandfather, a wealthy shipping magnate, had been kidnapped about 150 years ago. The kidnappers demanded and received a large ransom that bankrupted the shipping magnate. That ransom was used to start a successful company that still survives today and is worth $100 million. Participants were asked whether they would be willing to be a part of a large suit against the present-day company that could net them each about $5,000.

In this scenario, 61 percent agreed to have their names listed on the lawsuit. The researchers noted that this is about the percentage of blacks today who support reparations for slave descendants.

“When white Americans find it within themselves to say ‘I must be compensated for a past injustice done to me’ but the same logic evaporates when the injustice concerns black Americans, they are staring straight at bias,” Banaji said.

Something to think about, huh?

Popularity: 26% [?]

I was checking out ThugLifeArmy.com and a sister by the name of Pearl Jr. has a commentary raising awareness on some current issues regarding disrespect of black women in the media. And, thankfully, she pulls no punches.

Making it plain, she airs out everyone from Angelina Jolie to D.L. Hughley to ESPN. But, this is no mere rant. What she is saying should cause us to pause and to really think about the images that are out there about our black women and whether or not we’re being too accepting of the disrespect.

Rather than just paraphrase, I’ll share some of it here:

This past week has been one filled with many arrogant insults to Black women:

Angelina Jolie playing a Black woman in the movie, “A Mighty Heart” and no one in the major media is discussing this complete disregard that Black women can be extraordinary and motivated by love just like any other woman can. A black woman can’t be the object of a White man’s desire, but according to the media, only a White woman can be the object of all men’s desires. RACIST!

The Obama Crush video is still being promoted nationwide. This young White woman is calling out the herd of White women to charge Barack-ster to get him to be with one of them. I guess the popular mindset is supposed to be that a Black woman just cannot be what a good, smart, talented, millionaire man wants; he’s got to want a sexy White thing just like any other Black man with resources. The woman in the video is a paid actress that probably isn’t even a real Obama supporter and didn’t even sing the horrible song.

DL Hugely displaying the arrogance of ignorance for refusing to apologize to the Rutger’s Basketball team for calling them the ugliest women he has ever seen while being a guest on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. Even after a group of ministers in Texas picketed his concert, he still boldly said he didn’t care and stood by his comment, which insults all hardworking innocent Black women, meaning all Black women are a target to being hurt for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

A talk radio show jock on ESPN by the name of Colin Cowherd said that it was NOT acceptable for Tiger Woods to miss the birth of his baby, but Lebron James could miss the birth of his baby. He said due to Tiger’s wife being a Swedish model (immigrant nanny), she had to be worth shutting down the entire golf tournament, but Lebron should miss his baby’s birth for a myriad of reasons. I supposed the difference is Lebron’s baby momma is Black?

Needless to say, this is a hot one!

Popularity: 69% [?]