“Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in” Al Pacino said that in The Godfather III.A memorable line, in an otherwise forgettable movie. That is how I feel about our current president. It wasn’t that I had lost faith in the “Audacity of Hope” per se, just that the agenda he set was not coming to fruition as fast as we hoped. I had misgivings as I wrote about last year Back to The Future .I still feel like there is a lot for this president to accomplish, if given time. I also ,at one point felt maybe, just maybe he was like all the other politicians.All smoke and mirrors. Then he gave us The State of the Union speech last night .It was then I remembered why I voted for him in the first place. He wants to repeal “don’t ask don’t tell” in regards to Gays in the military. This was put in place during the Clinton administration, and never really made sense to me anyway. In the words of Chris Rock “if they want to fight, let em fight, I ain’t fighting”. He didn’t hit on healthcare reform that much, which has been his Achilles heel. Well that and the constant bickering from both sides about being bi-partisan, the bank bailouts and the failing economy. Here is the speech in it’s entirety .
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Truth ,Justice and The American way
First and foremost I want to send my prayers out to our Haitan brother and sisters in this trying time.America with all of our faults will still be a beacon of hope as we unite and see you through this dark period in your country's storied history.Now on to the Blog of the week.The Supreme Court has tossed out a lower court ruling that nullified the death sentence for former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of gunning down a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police officer more than 28 years ago. Jamal a former Black Panther has long claimed that racism was the main reason he was even convicted. He also feels that procedural errors during his capital sentencing, and that too few blacks on the jury led to the death penalty punishment Pennsylvania officials were appealing a federal court ruling on the sentencing question that went in Abu-Jamal's favor in 2008. The justices made their announcement Monday, ordering a federal appeals court to revisit its earlier ruling granting a new sentencing hearing. The high court last year denied Abu-Jamal's separate petition for a new trial. The appeals court now has the option of reimposing the death sentence or ordering a new federal trial to hear other claims of injustice raised by Abu-Jamal.
Born Wesley Cook in 1954,Mumia was a member of the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther party, he served as the Minister of Information when he was just 15 years old. Philadelphia prosecutors contended at trial in 1982 that Officer Michael Faulkner stopped Abu-Jamal's brother in an early-morning vehicle check. Abu-Jamal, then driving a cab, saw his brother's car and the uniformed officer, parked the taxi, and ran to the scene. Prosecutors argued that Abu-Jamal confronted Faulkner and fatally shot him. Abu-Jamal himself was found shot and slumped against a curb a few steps from the slain officer. Mumia’s website freemumia.com states” On the night in question he was driving his cab through the red light district of downtown Philadelphia at around 4 a.m. Mumia testifies that he let off a fare and parked near the corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Upon hearing gunshots, he turned and saw his brother, William Cook, staggering in the street. Mumia exited the cab and ran to the scene, where he was shot by a uniformed police officer and fell to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Within minutes, police arrived on the scene to find Officer Faulkner and Mumia shot; Faulkner died. Mumia was arrested, savagely beaten, thrown into a paddy wagon and driven to a hospital a few blocks away (suspiciously, it took over 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital). Mumia somehow survived.”
Now I don’t know what happened that night,but I do know that in the 60’s the FBI initiated a program called “COINTELPRO” whose objective was to neutralize what they considered Black Nationalist Hate Groups. The Black Panther Party (BPP) was not among the original "Black Nationalist" targets. In September 1968, however, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Panthers as: "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” By July 1969, the Black Panthers had become the primary focus of the program, and was ultimately the target of 233 of the total authorized "Black Nationalist" COINTELPRO actions. Mumia was an active BPP member from May 1969 until October 1970 was subject to Federal Bureau of Investigation COINTELPRO surveillance from then until about 1974.He was an outspoken advocate against police brutality where he railed against the “establishment” via his radio show and also in his writings. Contrary to popular opinion or belief Cointelpro is still active today it just isn’t called Cointelpro anymore. Back to the matter at hand, the courts decision basically means that the prosecution can now attempt to reinstate the death penalty sentence that was originally handed down, or order a new federal trial to hear other claims of injustice raised by Mumia.It will be interesting to see what happens next, as I wrote last year some states don’t have the finances to execute death row prisoners at this time Death Row..what a brother know!!! . Mumia Abu Jamal has been on death row for almost 30 years. Will we have to wait another 30 before we know the truth?Is that cruel and unusual punishment or poetic justice?
Born Wesley Cook in 1954,Mumia was a member of the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther party, he served as the Minister of Information when he was just 15 years old. Philadelphia prosecutors contended at trial in 1982 that Officer Michael Faulkner stopped Abu-Jamal's brother in an early-morning vehicle check. Abu-Jamal, then driving a cab, saw his brother's car and the uniformed officer, parked the taxi, and ran to the scene. Prosecutors argued that Abu-Jamal confronted Faulkner and fatally shot him. Abu-Jamal himself was found shot and slumped against a curb a few steps from the slain officer. Mumia’s website freemumia.com states” On the night in question he was driving his cab through the red light district of downtown Philadelphia at around 4 a.m. Mumia testifies that he let off a fare and parked near the corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Upon hearing gunshots, he turned and saw his brother, William Cook, staggering in the street. Mumia exited the cab and ran to the scene, where he was shot by a uniformed police officer and fell to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness. Within minutes, police arrived on the scene to find Officer Faulkner and Mumia shot; Faulkner died. Mumia was arrested, savagely beaten, thrown into a paddy wagon and driven to a hospital a few blocks away (suspiciously, it took over 30 minutes to arrive at the hospital). Mumia somehow survived.”
Now I don’t know what happened that night,but I do know that in the 60’s the FBI initiated a program called “COINTELPRO” whose objective was to neutralize what they considered Black Nationalist Hate Groups. The Black Panther Party (BPP) was not among the original "Black Nationalist" targets. In September 1968, however, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Panthers as: "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” By July 1969, the Black Panthers had become the primary focus of the program, and was ultimately the target of 233 of the total authorized "Black Nationalist" COINTELPRO actions. Mumia was an active BPP member from May 1969 until October 1970 was subject to Federal Bureau of Investigation COINTELPRO surveillance from then until about 1974.He was an outspoken advocate against police brutality where he railed against the “establishment” via his radio show and also in his writings. Contrary to popular opinion or belief Cointelpro is still active today it just isn’t called Cointelpro anymore. Back to the matter at hand, the courts decision basically means that the prosecution can now attempt to reinstate the death penalty sentence that was originally handed down, or order a new federal trial to hear other claims of injustice raised by Mumia.It will be interesting to see what happens next, as I wrote last year some states don’t have the finances to execute death row prisoners at this time Death Row..what a brother know!!! . Mumia Abu Jamal has been on death row for almost 30 years. Will we have to wait another 30 before we know the truth?Is that cruel and unusual punishment or poetic justice?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Same Old Same Old
I’m back for the new decade folks, my vacation is over. It is now 2010, you would think that celebrities athletes and entertainers would cease the ignorance. I guess they didn’t get the memo. We have Gilbert Arenas who is under investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns into the Washington Wizards' locker room. On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that according to first-hand accounts, teammate Javaris Crittenton, whose disagreement with Arenas is what supposedly instigated the incident, loaded and cocked his own gun in response to Arenas. This was allegedly the result of a gambling debt between the two players. The New York Post had earlier reported that during the incident, Arenas and Crittenton had drawn weapons and pointed them at each other. Arenas disputed this account ,but according to the The Washington Post, citing two first-hand accounts of the incident, reported that after Arenas laid out four guns in Crittenton's locker with a note that said "pick one," Crittenton brandished his own weapon, loaded it and chambered a round. So let me see if I have this straight two multimillionaires pull guns on each other and attempt a duel over a gambling debt . Is this The Source Awards? Needless to say Arenas was suspended indefinitely without pay Wednesday by NBA commissioner David Stern . Granted this incident happened before the New Year , but Arenas actions after it speaks volumes about why he is called Agent Zero.
Arenas tried joking about his gun trouble by saying he uses humor to deal with stress. He said in a statement Monday that he took unloaded guns from his locker in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate. Then to add insult to injury he was photographed before a game in Philadelphia playfully pointing his index fingers at his teammates as if they were guns. When is it ever funny to joke about shooting someone? Especially in Washington D.C which was once the murder capital of America. Where young black men lose their lives everyday due to gun violence. With each game he misses, Arenas, who turned 28 on Wednesday, will lose about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn this season in the second of a six-year, $111 million contract. As of Wednesday he had $9,429,505.41 remaining for this season. Arenas has been suspended once before because of a gun-related matter. He sat out Washington's season opener in 2004 because he failed to keep proper registration of a handgun while living in California in 2003 and playing for the Warriors.
Arenas initially stated he was bringing the guns to Washington because he just had a baby girl, and didn’t want them around the house anymore. NBA suspensions for on-court violations that last more than 12 games can be appealed and heard by an arbitrator. Yet it remains to be seen if Arenas' case, which involved transporting firearms from his home to the Verizon Center before the confrontation with Crittenton on a practice day, is treated as an on-court incident. According to ESPN.com one source with knowledge of the Wizards' thinking said that Arenas' teammates who participated in the pregame gun simulation against Philadelphia have been told they will be fined. The Wizards supported Stern's decision in a statement attributed to president Ernie Grunfeld and the Pollin family, which owns the team. The late Abe Pollin changed the team's name from the Bullets to the Wizards because of the violent connotation. According to Espn.com the firearms language was strengthened in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement. NBA players are subject to discipline if they bring guns to the arena, practice facility or an offsite promotional appearance. That gave Stern the option of taking action now instead of waiting until the completion of the criminal case. Well that and Arenas acting like a complete moron the entire time. You would think with what happened to Chedda Plax that athletes would learn, but I guess not. New Year ,New Decade same nigga sh*t.
Arenas tried joking about his gun trouble by saying he uses humor to deal with stress. He said in a statement Monday that he took unloaded guns from his locker in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate. Then to add insult to injury he was photographed before a game in Philadelphia playfully pointing his index fingers at his teammates as if they were guns. When is it ever funny to joke about shooting someone? Especially in Washington D.C which was once the murder capital of America. Where young black men lose their lives everyday due to gun violence. With each game he misses, Arenas, who turned 28 on Wednesday, will lose about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn this season in the second of a six-year, $111 million contract. As of Wednesday he had $9,429,505.41 remaining for this season. Arenas has been suspended once before because of a gun-related matter. He sat out Washington's season opener in 2004 because he failed to keep proper registration of a handgun while living in California in 2003 and playing for the Warriors.
Arenas initially stated he was bringing the guns to Washington because he just had a baby girl, and didn’t want them around the house anymore. NBA suspensions for on-court violations that last more than 12 games can be appealed and heard by an arbitrator. Yet it remains to be seen if Arenas' case, which involved transporting firearms from his home to the Verizon Center before the confrontation with Crittenton on a practice day, is treated as an on-court incident. According to ESPN.com one source with knowledge of the Wizards' thinking said that Arenas' teammates who participated in the pregame gun simulation against Philadelphia have been told they will be fined. The Wizards supported Stern's decision in a statement attributed to president Ernie Grunfeld and the Pollin family, which owns the team. The late Abe Pollin changed the team's name from the Bullets to the Wizards because of the violent connotation. According to Espn.com the firearms language was strengthened in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement. NBA players are subject to discipline if they bring guns to the arena, practice facility or an offsite promotional appearance. That gave Stern the option of taking action now instead of waiting until the completion of the criminal case. Well that and Arenas acting like a complete moron the entire time. You would think with what happened to Chedda Plax that athletes would learn, but I guess not. New Year ,New Decade same nigga sh*t.
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