In an effort to shake up this year’s election a little more John McCain has formally suspended his Presidential Campaign. I read these words on CNN and thought, wow have we won the election without an election. Of course we have not, instead this is more Political games that the Republican Party would like to engage the American public in in an attempt to look patriotic.

McCain has also asked that Barack Obama do the same, he claims he is taking these measures so that both of them can go to Washington D.C. and fight the good fight for this $700 billion dollar bail out. McCain has also cancelled this Friday’s upcoming debate, but what does either of them suspending their campaigns really do for the problem at hand.

Was the economy not in a disarray when many people in this country began seeing their homes go into foreclosure? Was the economy not is a state of disbelief last week as we saw the stocks plunge and the collapse of some of the largest Banking Institutions? So why now?

I’ll tell you why, McCain has become the game changer in this election unfortunately, however his failed gimmicks don’t last long. He brought out the pit bull in a skirt, she had no experience, everyone pounced on her and their polls sky rocketed. It worked, it really did, for about 11 days. Then we started to see him slip again in the polls. Now we are watching the economy take a nose dive, something we know is not McCain’s strong suit. The polls start to favor Senator Obama some more so John McCain pulls this move, I mean hes at the bottom and has no where to go but up anyway.

But while some Americans will see this as patriotic, a valiant fight for the little guy. I see this as worse than Karl Rove tactics, this is a man blatantly playing with the lives and minds of American people. This is a party that would rather invoke fear than deal systematically with real issues. The fear is this, our present situation is so dire that I will suspend my campaign, (well just a few stops) and create the illusion that I am about to get something done for the American people. Oh look how selfless I am, but the truth is I’m a desperate old man who has lost his marbles and is really showing people that I have no leadership skills.

When the tough gets going you come to the rescue yes but does a leader abandon everything else he has been working on. NO, a leader delegates responsibilities, stays up late nights and gets the job done by any means necessary never compromising his role as a leader. I’m not a fan of George Bush but did he suspend his presidency as 9/11 took place and we were faced with grave danger. Some would say that he should have but I remember the night of 9/11. I remember watching George Bush make his speech about us finding justice and although that justice has been very tainted I thank him for atleast attempting to find what he thought was justice rather than suspending his campaign in the middle of one of the most crucial elections in hopes to gain votes form the little people. Those little people you could care less about as you eat dinner at one of 7 different kitchen tables, as you drive down the street in 1 of 13 cars. John McCain is more than out of touch he is unfit to lead!

Very interesting read about Dictatorships in Africa and their relationship to the United States!

Wednesday, 09 July 2008
African Dictatorships and Double-Standards
Stephen Zunes

This article originally appeared in Foreign Policy In Focus

“U.S. credibility as a defender of human rights and free elections is seriously compromised.”

The Bush administration has justifiably criticized the Zimbabwean regime of liberator-turned-dictator Robert Mugabe. It has joined a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the campaign of violence unleashed upon pro-democracy activists and calling for increased diplomatic sanctions in the face of yet another sham election. In addition, both the House and the Senate have passed strongly worded resolutions of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in support of their struggle for freedom and democracy.

However, neither the Republican administration nor the Democratic-controlled Congress is sincerely concerned about human rights and democratic elections as a matter of principle. Rather, they are more likely acting out of political expediency. Despite claims of support for the advancement of democracy, the United States continues to support other African dictatorships that are as bad as or even worse than that of Zimbabwe.

Indeed, the United States currently provides economic aid and security assistance to such repressive African regimes as Swaziland, Congo, Cameroun, Togo, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Gabon, Egypt, and Tunisia. None of these countries holds free elections, and all have severely suppressed their political opposition.

The Worst Abuser

Among the worst of these African tyrannies has been the regime of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power even longer than the 28-year reign of Mugabe and, according to a recent article in the British newspaper The Independent, makes the Zimbabwean dictator “seem stable and benign” by comparison. Obiang originally seized power in a 1979 coup by murdering his uncle, who had ruled the country since its independence from Spain in 1968. Under his rule, Equatorial Guinea nominally allowed the existence of opposition parties as a condition of receiving foreign aid in the early 1990s. But the four leading candidates withdrew from the last presidential election in December 2002 in protest of irregularities in the voting process and violence against their supporters. In that election, Obiang officially received more than 97% of the vote (down from 99.5% in the previous election.)

Though the U.S. State Department acknowledged that the election was “marred by extensive fraud and intimidation,” the Congress and the administration devoted none of the vehement condemnation that was so evident after the recent, similarly marred election process in Zimbabwe.

One major reason for the difference in response is oil. The development of vast oil reserves over the past decade has made Equatorial Guinea one of the wealthiest countries in Africa in terms of per capita gross domestic product. Virtually all of the oil revenues, however, goes to Obiang and his cronies. The dictator himself is worth an estimated $1 billion, making him the wealthiest leader in Africa; his real estate holdings include two mansions in Maryland just outside of Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the country’s population lives on only a few dollars a day, and nearly half of all children under five are malnourished. The country’s major towns and cities lack basic sanitation and potable water while conditions in the countryside are even worse.

“The development of vast oil reserves over the past decade has made Equatorial Guinea one of the wealthiest countries in Africa in terms of per capita gross domestic product.”

During his most recent visit to Washington in 2006, Obiang was warmly received by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who praised the dictator as “a good friend” of the United States. Not once during their joint appearance did she mention the words “human rights” or “democracy.” At the same press conference, Obiang praised his regime’s “extremely good relations with the United States” and his expectation that “this relationship will continue to grow in friendship and cooperation.” None of the assembled reporters raised any questions about the regime’s notorious human rights record or its lack of democracy, instead using the opportunity to ask Secretary Rice questions about the alleged threat from Iran.

In 2002, the dictator met with President George W. Bush in New York to discuss military and energy security issues. He followed up in 2004 with meetings with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.

Cozy Relations

Equatorial Guinea receives U.S. government funding and training through the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET). In addition, the private U.S. firm Military Professional Resources Incorporated - founded by former senior Pentagon officials who cite the regime’s friendliness to U.S. strategic and economic interests - plays a key role in the country’s internal security apparatus. Furthermore, as a result of Obiang’s understandable lack of trust in his own people, soldiers from Morocco - one of America’s closest African allies - have served for decades in a number of important security functions, including the role of presidential guards.

Maintaining close ties with such a notorious ruler has led even conservative Republicans like Frank Ruddy, who served as President Ronald Reagan’s ambassador to Equatorial Guinea in the mid-1980s, to denounce the Bush administration for being “big cheerleaders for the government - and it’s an awful government.”

“U.S. oil companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars destined to state treasuries directly into the dictator’s private bank accounts.”

Though the Chinese have also recently begun investing in the country’s oil sector, U.S. companies ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, Chevron/Texaco, and Marathon Oil have played the most significant role. A report by the International Monetary Fund notes that U.S. oil companies receive “by far the most generous tax and profit-sharing provisions in the region.” Congressional hearings recently revealed how U.S. oil companies paid hundreds of millions of dollars destined to state treasuries directly into the dictator’s private bank accounts. A Senate report faulted U.S. oil companies for making “substantial payments to, or entering into business ventures with,” government officials and their family members.

The irony of the relative silence of Congress and the Bush administration regarding the human rights abuses and the undemocratic nature of Obiang’s regime is that, due to the critical role of U.S. economic investment and security assistance, the United States has far more leverage on the government of Equatorial Guinea than it does on the government of Zimbabwe. As a result, Americans can feel self-righteous in their condemnation of a regime in Zimbabwe with which the United States has little leverage while continuing to support an even more repressive regime over which the United States could successfully exert pressure if it chose to do so.

This does not mean the United States should have waited until it first ends its support of Obiang and other African dictatorships before joining the rest of the international community in condemning the repression in Zimbabwe. However, as long as the United States maintains such blatant double-standards, U.S. credibility as a defender of human rights and free elections is seriously compromised and thereby plays right into the hands of autocrats and demagogues like Robert Mugabe.

Stephen Zunes is a senior analyst for Foreign Policy In Focus and a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco.

Officials: Iraqi councilman kills U.S. soldiers

Do we really need any other reason to get the hell out of Iraq. The Iraqi’s do not respect us and we continue to lose valuable American lives. Please someone tell me why this Iraqi official fired upon U.S. Troops.

While we may not like our government at times, and we may not like the strategies that they employ we must support our troops. Innocent men and women are dying all in the name of weapons of mass destruction that never existed. The Iraqi’s are tired of us being there, we really need to stop trying to police the world and spend some of our tax dollars on making it safer here at home. I’M DISGUSTED!

June 15, 2008 — Anheuser-Busch gave him six figures, Colgate-Palmolive shelled out $50,000 and Macy’s and Pfizer have contributed thousands to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s charity.

Almost 50 companies - including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase - and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton’s National Action Network annual conference in April.

Terrified of negative publicity, fearful of a consumer boycott or eager to make nice with the civil-rights activist, CEOs write checks, critics say, to NAN and Sharpton - who brandishes the buying power of African-American consumers. In some cases, they hire him as a consultant.

The cash flows even as the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn has been conducting a grand-jury investigation of NAN’s finances.

A General Motors spokesman told The Post that NAN had repeatedly - and unsuccessfully - asked for contributions for six years, beginning in August 2000.

Then, in December 2006, Sharpton threatened to call a boycott of the carmaker over the closing of an African-American-owned GM dealership in The Bronx, and he picketed outside GM headquarters on Fifth Avenue.

Last year, General Motors gave NAN a $5,000 donation. It gave $5,000 more this year, a spokesman said, calling NAN a “worthy” organization.

In November 2003, Sharpton picketed DaimlerChrysler’s Chicago car show and threatened a boycott over alleged racial bias in car loans.

“This is institutional racism,” he bellowed.

In May 2004, Chrysler began supporting NAN’s conferences, which include panels on corporate responsibility and civil rights and a black-tie awards dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Last year, Sharpton gave Chrysler an award for corporate excellence.

In 2003, Sharpton targeted American Honda for not hiring enough African-Americans in management.

“We support those that support us,” wrote Sharpton and the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of NAN’s Michigan chapter, in a letter to American Honda. “We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner.”

Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the carmaker began to sponsor NAN’s events - and continues to pay “a modest amount” each year, a spokesman said.

Courtesy of the NY Post

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06152008/news/regionalnews/rev__al_soaks_up_boycott_bucks_115554.htm

Bout to be some HELL UP IN EUROPE. While we moan and groan about paying 4 dollars a gallon for gas, the Europeans are paying an average of $8.70. This is insane, like oil companies are making their highest profits ever while everyday people are more than struggling trying to afford a basic neccessity.

If gas reaches $9 here in the States, I don’t know what I would do. I am so good on going back to riding a bike, I don’t care how healthy it is. Riding a bike was for my pre - sixteen days. The Europeans are staging tons of protests and will more than likely grow angrier if something is not done about the price of fuel. These protests are not just angry people in the streets, they are hitting industries in their pockets and the industries are even protesting. Truckers, fisherman, farmers you name it they are protesting. They unlike Americans hold their governments accountable.

Last night a few friends and I were discussing the impact of Barack Obama and I believe that he is encouraging the people of these United States of America to stand up and become a part of our government so that we can change the system. While at a first glance the previous statement may have nothing to do with rising gas prices in Europe. Think again! I just told you the European governments are trying to do something to calm their people because they know that they are informed and will utilize their right to vote to allow their voices to be heard about things they are concerned about. Maybe one day we Americans will start to think in a similar fashion!

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12: 2

Funny how you find things, I read a letter yesterday to the graduates of 2008, where a Princeton professor apologized for the lack of education that older generations have bestowed upon the younger generations. One thing that struck me was that she spoke of how we are taught to be afraid to take risks, we are taught to chase the dollar and not our passions. Then I was rapping with my man who quit his job in search of his dreams, in search of his passion. Of course that’s a brave move, took a lot of courage and support to make such a transition but he’s doing it and doing it well. How can we succeed if we place all of our faith in worldly perceptions of how we should live and what we should follow?

I love that here in Romans the word tells us to no longer conform to the pattern of the world but be transformed by renewing our own minds. To me that concept is such a blessing, the road that I am traveling may not be the path of others or the path that is widely accepted by the world but trusting in God’s will will surely land me where I need to be, where he wants me to be. In order for us to renew our mind we must be concious of what we allow to affect our thoughts. In order to be transformed we must believe that we can change, that we can make a change. It does not matter if your background is finance and the world is telling you to go make bookoos of doe, if your passion lies somewhere else follow that. Follow it with God’s strength though, we have to truly believe in our own abilities. Sometimes that’s the hardest part, if we are truly honest often it is easier to see someone else’s talent and neglect your own, I know I do. But when we start thinking like that we just have to re-read the first part of today’s scripture and allow our minds to be renewed.

Realize that so many of us want more, yet do so little with what we have been given.

I see my man is getting his 15 minutes of fame! They say some Vegas promoters have offered Suge 1 million dollars to have a rematch. The Knockout Kid might make a little bit of money off of this. Lol

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBQfD_MlaQo&hl=en]

Here is a video of Kwame Kilpatrick using the black card. Please sit down Mr. Kilpatrick and stop embarrassing the city of Detroit. And why is it when people get in trouble they run to the black community even if they weren’t supporting them before. Like how do you cost a city millions of dollars and then claim to be the victim; dude sit down you are not a victim. You attempted to play the game, you did a very bad job at it mind you. Now please bow out gracefully so Detroit can begin to improve their image and recover from your nonsense and begin to affect the real problems of their city.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3WBeXBjjZA&hl=en]

New York Pricks & Dicks at its finest are no more than the murderers of a young family man with ambitious goals and aspirations. Truth is, I am Sean Bell, my brothers and friends are Sean Bell, and you too could be a victim of unjustifiable force by the people who your tax dollars pay to serve and protect; thus making you Sean Bell.

I pray that this time we really do wake up and take this for the issue that it really is. This is not a race issue on it’s face; why yes racial politics are part of the reason things went down the way that they did. However, now that two young girls are being raised without their father we have to look deeper within ourselves, past our skin color and see that this is a humanity issue. Why are young black men’s lives disposable? We get so caught up between black and white that we do not realize that their is a power structure in this country that oppresses people. It often privileges people of caucasian backgrounds and oppresses people of color.

New York Pricks & Dicks serve as an oppressive force upon the many young black males who live within the city limits. In an attempt to “promote safer neighborhoods” they are trained to act a certain way in neighborhoods that are closer to the poverty line than those which are not. You never hear about some wild white boys getting shot in a barage of bullets in a white neighborhood. Why? Because that would be unacceptable to the power structure.

If we think back to the days of slavery you had the slave master but he often had an overseer; an Uncle Tom who he would use to keep negroes in check. Detective Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and all of the other black police enforcement who continuously use excessive force on public enemy #1; the black man, are those same Uncle Tom’s. This serves two purposes; 1.) the power structure is still able to control minority men and keep them in check. 2.) They use people who look like them so that their racist power structure is not undermined by political correctness. It looks so much better when its blacks killing blacks rather than whites.

This is not a race issue, this is a humanity issue. White people who are tired of being benefactors to such a racist system and receiving the privilege of not having to be victims of this system should stand with people of color fighting these injustices. This is not the America Barack Obama speaks of; but this is the America that many of us know too well. Couple Hope, Change and groups of different ethnic and racial groups together towards humanitarian issues such as police brutality and we can fight to make this the country the way we would like to pretend that it is!

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 5:10

I have a version of the Bible titled “The Book”, a brother gave this bible to me this past summer. In “The Book” this same scripture reads as, Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness! Yet many of us are chasing the dollar, I myself am extremely broke, and I won’t lie and say that I am happy in my broken despair (lol) but I do find joy. There are tons of things we can find joy in in the world but what brings me the most joy and I think is often taken for granted are our family and friends. Family and friends are those who support us when we are down, they are the ones who are most proud of our achievements and they give us the strength to keep pushing when we feel that we have nothing left to give.

The scripture is right, only a fool thinks that wealth will bring happiness. Well wealth in a monetary sense, because to have a wealth of good family and friends, let me repeat that, good family and friends are one of the greatest gifts we can receive from the Creator. As I travel to Philadelphia today I am thankful because I will be spending time with my family and friends as one of my close friends is getting married. A joyous occasion it will be, a joyous occasion I really do need. With all the stresses of life and school I look forward to spending time with people I care about and people who care about me. I know it is God who sees that I need this break, and he has afforded me enough money (NOT ALOT OF MONEY) but enough to give thanks to him and watch two people say their vows before him and in his name. Take time to remember the people we sometimes forget, I am sure they will make your day a little bit warmer. Peace and Grace be unto you!

The soul that is within me no man can degrade.