Now that we're going to have a new president, it's time for a new presidential limo—and GM is whipping up quite a doozy for the new Prez-elect. "Cadillac One" will be based off of the GMC Topkick, which you may remember as Ironhide from Transformers. For pretty obvious reasons, details on what exactly makes up the new limo are scarce, but it will most likely include five-inch thick glass (which can stop military assault rifles), cellphone jammers and blast-proof ceramics. But will it have backseat DVDs for watching Spongebob on? Guess only Malia and Sasha will know for sure. [Boston Globe via Jalopnik]
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
GM Working On New "Cadillac One" Limo For Obama [Obama-mobile]
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Delay the Reports: Bonds Conspiracy
Union says teams acted in concert against Bonds
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer Oct 16, 9:16 pm EDT
In this Sept. 15, 2007, file p…
AP - Oct 16, 9:07 pm EDT
MLB Gallery
NEW YORK (AP)—The baseball players’ union says it has found evidence teams acted in concert against signing Barry Bonds but it reached an agreement with the commissioner’s office to delay the filing of any grievance.
The union expressed concern in May about the lack of offers to the home run king. Filing a grievance would trigger proceedings before arbitrator Shyam Das.
Union general counsel Michael Weiner confirmed the deal with Major League Baseball, which was first reported by murraychass.com.
“There were numerous things that occurred that made me believe that the clubs were acting in concert,” Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris, said Thursday. “When I testify as a witness in the case, I will delineate each and every one of them.”
Bonds was indicted last Nov. 15 on charges related to 2003 grand jury testimony during which he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. No team signed Bonds when he became a free agent after the 2007 season.
“We have the agreement about the timing of a potential grievance,” Weiner said. “Our investigation revealed a violation of the Basic Agreement. It’s a violation of the Basic Agreement related to Barry Bonds and free agency.”
Weiner said the section that had been violated was Article XX (e) of the collective bargaining agreement, which states, in part: “Players shall not act in concert with other players and clubs shall not act in concert with other clubs.” Weiner would not say how long the agreement runs to allow the union to file a grievance.
Baseball attorneys repeatedly have denied that teams acted in concert against Bonds. Management lawyer Dan Halem said Thursday that MLB would have no additional comment.
Bonds pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of making false declarations to a federal grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice, and his trial is scheduled to start March 2. Any grievance is likely to follow the trial.
“The timing of the filing of the case is between the players’ union and the commissioner’s office,” Borris said.
After spending a lot of time during the first half of 2008 trying to get Bonds signed, Borris has stopped his efforts.
“I am convinced based on MLB’s actions in 2008 that they will never let him wear a major league uniform ever again,” he said.
The players’ association won three collusion grievances in which owners were found to have conspired against free agents following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons. Management agreed in 1990 to settle those cases for $280 million and also agreed to a provision that future collusion would be subject to triple damages.
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer Oct 16, 9:16 pm EDT
In this Sept. 15, 2007, file p…
AP - Oct 16, 9:07 pm EDT
MLB Gallery
NEW YORK (AP)—The baseball players’ union says it has found evidence teams acted in concert against signing Barry Bonds but it reached an agreement with the commissioner’s office to delay the filing of any grievance.
The union expressed concern in May about the lack of offers to the home run king. Filing a grievance would trigger proceedings before arbitrator Shyam Das.
Union general counsel Michael Weiner confirmed the deal with Major League Baseball, which was first reported by murraychass.com.
“There were numerous things that occurred that made me believe that the clubs were acting in concert,” Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris, said Thursday. “When I testify as a witness in the case, I will delineate each and every one of them.”
Bonds was indicted last Nov. 15 on charges related to 2003 grand jury testimony during which he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. No team signed Bonds when he became a free agent after the 2007 season.
“We have the agreement about the timing of a potential grievance,” Weiner said. “Our investigation revealed a violation of the Basic Agreement. It’s a violation of the Basic Agreement related to Barry Bonds and free agency.”
Weiner said the section that had been violated was Article XX (e) of the collective bargaining agreement, which states, in part: “Players shall not act in concert with other players and clubs shall not act in concert with other clubs.” Weiner would not say how long the agreement runs to allow the union to file a grievance.
Baseball attorneys repeatedly have denied that teams acted in concert against Bonds. Management lawyer Dan Halem said Thursday that MLB would have no additional comment.
Bonds pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of making false declarations to a federal grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice, and his trial is scheduled to start March 2. Any grievance is likely to follow the trial.
“The timing of the filing of the case is between the players’ union and the commissioner’s office,” Borris said.
After spending a lot of time during the first half of 2008 trying to get Bonds signed, Borris has stopped his efforts.
“I am convinced based on MLB’s actions in 2008 that they will never let him wear a major league uniform ever again,” he said.
The players’ association won three collusion grievances in which owners were found to have conspired against free agents following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons. Management agreed in 1990 to settle those cases for $280 million and also agreed to a provision that future collusion would be subject to triple damages.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Vote for the Guy with One House
(CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain is just holding on like a boxer before he gets knocked out, comedian Chris Rock says.
Comedian Chris Rock told Larry King he's proud of Barack Obama's character.
Rock, an avid supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, spoke with CNN's Larry King on Thursday. He said Obama is more grounded with your average American -- not somebody like McCain with "12 houses."
"The other guy [McCain] can lose five houses," Rock said.
"I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house." 
Watch Chris Rock describe a beaten up McCain »
King began the interview by asking Rock about Thursday's economic bailout talks when Obama and McCain went to the White House for discussions with the nation's top leaders.
KING: Obama and McCain at opposite ends of the table. What do you make of it?
ROCK: What do I make of it? If this was a boxing match, McCain would be holding.
KING: Holding on?
ROCK: Yes. It's like he got hit really hard in the stomach like, 'OK. I can't let him go. He's going to knock me out.' So that's what appears to be going on right now. Just a hold.
KING: Has the financial crisis affected you?
ROCK: Larry, I drove a cab over here tonight. When it's over, I'm going to try to pick up some more fares. I'm losing everything, Larry.
KING: Really downtrodden?
ROCK: Yes, it's real bad.
KING: Have HBO paid you already?
ROCK: They have paid me, but the money is worthless now. Haven't you heard? Your money's worth nothing.
KING: You must be ... proud that at this stage in our history a black man is running for president on a major ticket.
ROCK: Um, you know what? I'm proud Barack Obama's running for president. You know? If it was Flavor Flav, would I be proud? No. I don't support Barack Obama because he's black.
KING: I said just as a proud feeling. That's normal.
ROCK: There's a proud feeling because of the character of the man. You know, I was -- I supported John Kerry and, you know -- and what's my man? Al Gore.
KING: Al Gore.
ROCK: But this guy seems to be a little bit more. He seems to have watched other peoples' mistakes and, you know, seems to have a little bit more going on.
KING: From a comedic stand point, who is funnier, McCain or Obama? Seriously. Is Obama not -- it's hard to be funny about Obama?
ROCK: No, no. It's weird. People ask me that all the time. ... McCain jokes are just easy jokes, like I don't want a president with a bucket list. That's like a McCain joke. Those jokes are easy. It's like you basically, you know, you know, take the dust off your Reagan jokes and tell them again. You know?
But Obama, oh, this is a whole new set of jokes. I got to find a whole new move to the basket here. So I kind of hope he wins.
KING: Didn't you introduce Obama at a rally?
ROCK: I introduced Obama at the Apollo Theater not too long ago. I think Obama would be great. I mean, just look the big thing right now is the economy. And people are going broke. And here: The choice isn't Republican or Democrat. The choice is you got a guy that's worth $150 million with 12 houses against a guy who's worth a million dollars with one house.
KING: Well --
ROCK: The guy with one house really cares about losing a house, because he is homeless. The other guy can lose five houses and still got a bunch of houses. Does this make any sense? Am I the only one that sees this?
KING: It's unique way of ...
ROCK: I'm just saying, John McCain could lose half his houses.
KING: You got a point.
ROCK: And sleep well.
KING: You and Bill Clinton were on Letterman on Tuesday. You had some problems with the tone of his endorsement of Barack Obama. ... Do you think Bill is hesitant about Barack Obama?
ROCK: You know what? You know, he did a great speech in Denver. And Hillary's been on the campaign trail. Just at that moment, if you watched what happened on David Letterman, it appeared he was holding back. And when you tell a joke and everybody laughs, it is not because they disagree with what you're saying. So --
KING: They get it?
ROCK: Yes, they get it. The whole audience was in on it. But, you know, hey, the guy's in a weird position there. His wife ran for the thing and she didn't win.
KING: The next night, on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart asked Clinton about the Letterman appearance and Clinton suggested that Obama supporters who questioned commitment are missing the point.
ROCK: It was great. It was great. And you're right, [Obama] does need to get some of the votes that went to Hillary and all that. I don't understand any Democrat that voted for Hillary that doesn't support Obama. Because their views are pretty similar. You know what I mean? ...
I understand people supporting Mr. McCain. But a Democrat that's going to just be mad is -- there's something kind of really messed up about that.
KING: Have you always done political humor?
ROCK: You know --
KING: When you started, did you do politics?
ROCK: I'm interested in the world. Jon Stewart does political humor. Bill Maher does political humor. I talk about stuff the way guys would talk about it at the barber shop. I don't belong on any panel on this show. You know what I mean? I don't deserve to be near Roland Martin and Anderson Cooper and all these guys. I try to talk about politics in a way a guy that works at UPS would understand.
KING: You did a lot of Brooklyn stuff.
ROCK: I do all sorts of stuff, Larry. All sorts of stuff. You know, I hope Obama wins just because, you know, the country needs it. The country needs a change. We kind of seen what this whole McCain thing is. And I'll go with the guy with one house. The guy with one house is scared about losing his house.
KING: I never thought of it that way.
ROCK: It is that simple.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Republican VP: 5 Things You Didn’t Know: Sarah Palin
Senator John McCain caught a nation off guard with his choice of presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. So, who is Sarah Palin?
Sarah Palin is a first-term Republican governor from Alaska. She is that state’s first-ever female governor and its youngest, sworn in at age 42 in 2006. Prior to becoming governor, she served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council and two terms as the town’s mayor.
After losing the 2002 race for lieutenant governor, Sarah Palin was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, resigning the position 11 months later.
Married with five children, Sarah Palin was 3 years old when John McCain became a POW in Vietnam, yet if elected to the vice presidency, she would be roughly the same age as Al Gore when he took that office.
To further acquaint you with the Republican vice presidential nominee, here are five things you didn’t know about Sarah Palin.
1- Sarah Palin tried to sell a jet on eBay
Shortly after assuming the office of governor, Sarah Palin tried to keep a campaign promise, which was to sell the Westwind II jet that had been bought by the hugely unpopular incumbent, Frank Murkowski.
In 2005, Murkowski requested almost $3 million from the Alaska legislature to buy the jet for use by him, his administration and future administrations. His request was denied, so Murkowski asked the federal government, who also denied him. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Murkowski created a special account and bought it anyway. Voters weren’t impressed with his tenacity.
A year later, Sarah Palin, as governor, listed the jet for sale on eBay, doing so three times, each time bidders failed to meet the reserve. Finally, in August 2007, she succeeded in selling it through a broker for $2.1 million -- at a loss of around half a million dollars.
2- Sarah Palin posed in Vogue
Known for her furs and otherwise stylish outfits (among politicians at least), Sarah Palin is no stranger to chic fashion, which explains why she appeared in a spread for Vogue magazine in February 2008.
In this vein, she’s also a former beauty queen: In 1984, she was crowned Miss Wasilla and she was runner-up in the subsequent Miss Alaska pageant later that year. She didn’t go home empty-handed, however, having been named Miss Congeniality. One curious thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that she lost to a woman named Marilyne Blackburn -- the state’s first black Miss Alaska.
3- Sarah Palin scored the championship point in a high school basketball game
John McCain’s young and attractive running mate has earned a few monikers in her time, including Mrs. Mayor, Madame Governor, Miss Congeniality, GILF, and two notably more feisty names: cougar and, in high school she was known as “Sarah Barracuda.”
This last one she earned as captain of Wasilla High’s girls basketball team, allegedly due to her fiercely competitive spirit. That level of gamesmanship served her and her team well: In the state championship game, Sarah Palin not only scored the winning basket, but she did it with a stress fracture in her ankle.
4- Sarah Palin eloped with her high school sweetheart
Soon after Sarah Heath met Todd Palin at a high school basketball game, the two became sweethearts, but another six years would pass before they decided to tie the knot in 1988. Had it been a better fishing year for the two of them (they operated a small commercial fishery), they might have had enough money to pay for a “real” wedding; instead, they eloped, enlisting some witnesses from a nearby nursing home and dropping $35 at a local courthouse.
Known in Alaska as the “first dude,” the blue-collar Todd Palin is a four-time Iron Dog 2,000-mile snowmobile race champion and, according to a piece in the Anchorage Daily News, he is very much a house-husband.
5- Sarah Palin inhaled
Alaskans are permitted by law to possess a single ounce of marijuana, thanks first to a 2003 ruling by the Alaska Court of Appeals that made it legal to possess no more than four ounces, and later, by a Supreme Court ruling that amended the amount to one. The reason it even reached the Supreme Court was because, in 2006, then-governor Murkowski rejected the Court of Appeals ruling.
Consequently, during the 2006 race for governor, marijuana became an issue among the candidates, albeit a minor issue. At this time, Sarah Palin seemingly decided to launch a preemptive strike against any of her old stoner friends who might have been planning to climb out of the woodwork; she announced that not only had she tried weed, but that she couldn’t “claim a Bill Clinton” and say she never inhaled.
Don’t load that celebratory bowl just yet. One last thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that although she did inhale, she opposes legalization.
Sarah Palin is a first-term Republican governor from Alaska. She is that state’s first-ever female governor and its youngest, sworn in at age 42 in 2006. Prior to becoming governor, she served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, city council and two terms as the town’s mayor.
After losing the 2002 race for lieutenant governor, Sarah Palin was appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, resigning the position 11 months later.
Married with five children, Sarah Palin was 3 years old when John McCain became a POW in Vietnam, yet if elected to the vice presidency, she would be roughly the same age as Al Gore when he took that office.
To further acquaint you with the Republican vice presidential nominee, here are five things you didn’t know about Sarah Palin.
1- Sarah Palin tried to sell a jet on eBay
Shortly after assuming the office of governor, Sarah Palin tried to keep a campaign promise, which was to sell the Westwind II jet that had been bought by the hugely unpopular incumbent, Frank Murkowski.
In 2005, Murkowski requested almost $3 million from the Alaska legislature to buy the jet for use by him, his administration and future administrations. His request was denied, so Murkowski asked the federal government, who also denied him. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Murkowski created a special account and bought it anyway. Voters weren’t impressed with his tenacity.
A year later, Sarah Palin, as governor, listed the jet for sale on eBay, doing so three times, each time bidders failed to meet the reserve. Finally, in August 2007, she succeeded in selling it through a broker for $2.1 million -- at a loss of around half a million dollars.
2- Sarah Palin posed in Vogue
Known for her furs and otherwise stylish outfits (among politicians at least), Sarah Palin is no stranger to chic fashion, which explains why she appeared in a spread for Vogue magazine in February 2008.
In this vein, she’s also a former beauty queen: In 1984, she was crowned Miss Wasilla and she was runner-up in the subsequent Miss Alaska pageant later that year. She didn’t go home empty-handed, however, having been named Miss Congeniality. One curious thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that she lost to a woman named Marilyne Blackburn -- the state’s first black Miss Alaska.
3- Sarah Palin scored the championship point in a high school basketball game
John McCain’s young and attractive running mate has earned a few monikers in her time, including Mrs. Mayor, Madame Governor, Miss Congeniality, GILF, and two notably more feisty names: cougar and, in high school she was known as “Sarah Barracuda.”
This last one she earned as captain of Wasilla High’s girls basketball team, allegedly due to her fiercely competitive spirit. That level of gamesmanship served her and her team well: In the state championship game, Sarah Palin not only scored the winning basket, but she did it with a stress fracture in her ankle.
4- Sarah Palin eloped with her high school sweetheart
Soon after Sarah Heath met Todd Palin at a high school basketball game, the two became sweethearts, but another six years would pass before they decided to tie the knot in 1988. Had it been a better fishing year for the two of them (they operated a small commercial fishery), they might have had enough money to pay for a “real” wedding; instead, they eloped, enlisting some witnesses from a nearby nursing home and dropping $35 at a local courthouse.
Known in Alaska as the “first dude,” the blue-collar Todd Palin is a four-time Iron Dog 2,000-mile snowmobile race champion and, according to a piece in the Anchorage Daily News, he is very much a house-husband.
5- Sarah Palin inhaled
Alaskans are permitted by law to possess a single ounce of marijuana, thanks first to a 2003 ruling by the Alaska Court of Appeals that made it legal to possess no more than four ounces, and later, by a Supreme Court ruling that amended the amount to one. The reason it even reached the Supreme Court was because, in 2006, then-governor Murkowski rejected the Court of Appeals ruling.
Consequently, during the 2006 race for governor, marijuana became an issue among the candidates, albeit a minor issue. At this time, Sarah Palin seemingly decided to launch a preemptive strike against any of her old stoner friends who might have been planning to climb out of the woodwork; she announced that not only had she tried weed, but that she couldn’t “claim a Bill Clinton” and say she never inhaled.
Don’t load that celebratory bowl just yet. One last thing you didn’t know about Sarah Palin is that although she did inhale, she opposes legalization.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Democratic VP - Joe Biden - 5 Things You Didn't Know
Joseph Biden Jr. is Delaware’s longest serving Senator. Biden was elected to office in 1972, just weeks before his 30th birthday, making him among the youngest Senators in history. Since then he’s won re-reelection five times, generally by a wide margin. His 35 years of congressional tenure include service on the powerful Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (which he currently chairs) and the Committee on the Judiciary, two of the oldest in the Senate.
Put another way; Joe Biden has been in Washington since Barack Obama was 11 years old.
To further acquaint you with this vice presidential hopeful, here are five things you didn’t know about Joe Biden.
1- Joe Biden survived a brain aneurysm
In the winter of 1988 Joe Biden was chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Supreme Court nominee Anthony Kennedy when he began to experience neck pain. The pain worsened and was joined by other problems, including nausea. Eventually, Joe Biden went to the hospital.
Turns out Biden had what’s called a berry aneurysm at the base of his brain that was leaking blood into the space between his brain and the brain’s protective lining. An emergency, six-hour surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center took care of the problem and in this regard Joe Biden lucked out, since most people with a brain aneurysm get no advanced warning -- it simply bursts, resulting in paralysis, mental impairment, coma or death.
2- Joe Biden's son is going to Iraq
Joe Biden’s oldest son, 39-year-old Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, is not only Delaware’s Attorney General but he is also a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, assigned to the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware. Beau Biden and the 261st are being deployed to Iraq on October 3, the day after his father participates in the first vice presidential debate.
According to the Wilmington News Journal, Beau Biden’s job with the 261st is as a military lawyer who offers “legal advice on disciplining soldiers” and who advises “commanders and soldiers on issues such as wills and powers of attorney.” Their deployment is expected to last a year.
As for Joe Biden, he isn’t thrilled about his son’s deployment. Ever since he voted to authorize the use of force in 2002, Joe Biden has been one of the war’s more vocal critics.
3- Joe Biden is a member of the Alfalfa Club
Another thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is his affiliation with one of Washington’s most secretive and elite clubs, the Alfalfa Club.
In 1913, a group of Southerners founded the Alfalfa Club in Washington D.C., allegedly for no other reason than to have an annual dinner on the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in late January.
Today, the secretive Alfalfa Club (journalists are barred from attending the dinner) has around 200 members. Most of them are part of Washington’s wealthy and elite. Along with Joe Biden, they include President Bush, his brothers and his father; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; a number of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, state Governors and mayors; and some not directly involved in politics, such as Michael Dell.
4- Joe Biden was a below-average college student
Joe Biden completed his undergraduate work at the University of Delaware, but he didn’t do so in any exceptional manner. In his first three semesters he scored mostly Cs and Ds, and even an F in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). For about 100 years, starting in 1862, an ROTC class, which taught mechanics, military tactics, etc. was compulsory for most male U.S. college students. Only in physical education classes did Biden receive As.
His academic record didn’t improve much while at Syracuse College of Law either, where he graduated 76th in a class of 85.
5- Joe Biden drives a 1967 Corvette
The last thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is what kind of wheels the man has.
Joe Biden’s current wife is his second; his first wife, Neilia, passed away, along with the couple’s daughter, in a car accident shortly after his initial election to the Senate in 1972. Joe and Neilia Biden were married on August 27, 1966, in Skaneateles, New York, and his father -- a car salesman -- gave his son a sweet wedding gift: a brand new 1967 Chevy Corvette, a car he still owns today.
Put another way; Joe Biden has been in Washington since Barack Obama was 11 years old.
To further acquaint you with this vice presidential hopeful, here are five things you didn’t know about Joe Biden.
1- Joe Biden survived a brain aneurysm
In the winter of 1988 Joe Biden was chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on Supreme Court nominee Anthony Kennedy when he began to experience neck pain. The pain worsened and was joined by other problems, including nausea. Eventually, Joe Biden went to the hospital.
Turns out Biden had what’s called a berry aneurysm at the base of his brain that was leaking blood into the space between his brain and the brain’s protective lining. An emergency, six-hour surgery at Walter Reed Medical Center took care of the problem and in this regard Joe Biden lucked out, since most people with a brain aneurysm get no advanced warning -- it simply bursts, resulting in paralysis, mental impairment, coma or death.
2- Joe Biden's son is going to Iraq
Joe Biden’s oldest son, 39-year-old Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, is not only Delaware’s Attorney General but he is also a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps, assigned to the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware. Beau Biden and the 261st are being deployed to Iraq on October 3, the day after his father participates in the first vice presidential debate.
According to the Wilmington News Journal, Beau Biden’s job with the 261st is as a military lawyer who offers “legal advice on disciplining soldiers” and who advises “commanders and soldiers on issues such as wills and powers of attorney.” Their deployment is expected to last a year.
As for Joe Biden, he isn’t thrilled about his son’s deployment. Ever since he voted to authorize the use of force in 2002, Joe Biden has been one of the war’s more vocal critics.
3- Joe Biden is a member of the Alfalfa Club
Another thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is his affiliation with one of Washington’s most secretive and elite clubs, the Alfalfa Club.
In 1913, a group of Southerners founded the Alfalfa Club in Washington D.C., allegedly for no other reason than to have an annual dinner on the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in late January.
Today, the secretive Alfalfa Club (journalists are barred from attending the dinner) has around 200 members. Most of them are part of Washington’s wealthy and elite. Along with Joe Biden, they include President Bush, his brothers and his father; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; a number of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, state Governors and mayors; and some not directly involved in politics, such as Michael Dell.
4- Joe Biden was a below-average college student
Joe Biden completed his undergraduate work at the University of Delaware, but he didn’t do so in any exceptional manner. In his first three semesters he scored mostly Cs and Ds, and even an F in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). For about 100 years, starting in 1862, an ROTC class, which taught mechanics, military tactics, etc. was compulsory for most male U.S. college students. Only in physical education classes did Biden receive As.
His academic record didn’t improve much while at Syracuse College of Law either, where he graduated 76th in a class of 85.
5- Joe Biden drives a 1967 Corvette
The last thing you didn’t know about Joe Biden is what kind of wheels the man has.
Joe Biden’s current wife is his second; his first wife, Neilia, passed away, along with the couple’s daughter, in a car accident shortly after his initial election to the Senate in 1972. Joe and Neilia Biden were married on August 27, 1966, in Skaneateles, New York, and his father -- a car salesman -- gave his son a sweet wedding gift: a brand new 1967 Chevy Corvette, a car he still owns today.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Redeem Team: Statement Time
Have you seen this photo? No, it is not an invitation to get your eyes checked, nor a photoshop. This is the Spanish National Team's version of talking smack. Throw all the "yo momma" jokes out the window, this is a slap in the face to the host nation China. The teams response, "What's the big deal?" If they don't see a problem, I guess they never will.
My problem is the perception that the NBA has an image problem. Say what you want about tattoes and saggy shorts, nobody is posing with the New Black Panther Party with "Kill Whitey" shirts on with a black fist. Will the Spanish team get a pass? Of course. Because they are European? Nope. They will get a pass the same way that their other acts have come to pass.
Spanish sports is no stranger to racial controversy.
- Luis Aragones, the head coach of Spain’s men’s soccer team, was overheard telling his player Jose Antonio Reyes to “tell that black (expletive) you are better than him” at a training session in 2004. Aragones was referring to Thierry Henry, a black player from France who was then a teammate of Reyes at English Premier League club Arsenal.
- At a Formula One motor racing testing session this year, a group of Spanish fans believed to be supporting home driver Fernando Alonso were pictured with their faces covered with black paint. They wore T-shirts with the slogan “Hamilton’s Family,” a reference to Alonso’s world title rival Lewis Hamilton, a black Englishman.
- Moreover, at an exhibition match in Madrid in 2004, several black members of the England men’s soccer team were subjected to monkey chants and whistles whenever they touched the ball.
Spain recently beat China in overtime after overcoming a 19point deficit. All I can say is that the Redeem Team is set to play Spain on Aug 16th at 10:15 am est and should hold no mercy....they could be on the next photo shoot. We don't even want to imagine that one....do we?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
U.S. AIDS policies neglect blacks
Link
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. policies and cash may be leading the fight against AIDS globally, but they have neglected the epidemic among black Americans, the Black AIDS Institute said in a report released on Tuesday.
While blacks account for one in eight people in the United States, half of all Americans infected with HIV are black, the report found.
"We are 30 percent of the new cases among gay men, 40 percent of the new cases among men in general, 60 percent of the cases among women and 70 percent of the new cases among youth," Black AIDS Institute CEO Phill Wilson told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"Yet ... the U.S. response to AIDS in black America stands in sharp contrast to the international response to the epidemic overseas," he added.
Al Sharpton, a prominent activist and founder of the National Action Network, agreed.
"U.S. policy makers seem to be much more interested in the epidemic in Botswana than the epidemic in Louisiana. This is an unnecessary and deadly choice. Both need urgent attention," Sharpton said.
Dr. Helene Gayle, former head of AIDS for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and now president of the poverty-fighting charity CARE, said many HIV infected blacks are not in traditional high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and sex workers.
"The federal government's approach to the epidemic in black America is fundamentally flawed," Gayle said. This includes both a lack of funding and poor targeting of the money, she said.
EMPOWERMENT AND EDUCATION
Approaches that would work among black Americans include policies to empower women. "Black women often cannot insist on abstinence or the use of condoms for fear of violence or other emotional trauma," Gayle said.
Black American women are 23 times more likely than white women to become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, the report found.
A lack of education works against young people, who are often powerless and in sexual relationships with older people, who can infect them, Gayle said. Wider testing for HIV among blacks is also essential, the report stressed.
And better prevention messages that use language that will reach drug users, youths and men who have sex with men are key.
"We have focused on abstinence-only (methods) even though they don't work in our community," Wilson said.
Information about condom use is important, Wilson said. "We also need to look at needle exchange," he said -- noting that although needle exchange programs work to reduce HIV transmission while doing nothing to encourage drug use, they are frowned upon by the federal government.
Education campaigns can battle myths about disease transmission, as well as conspiracy theories that cause many blacks to mistrust the medical system, Wilson said.
The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, will spend $48 billion over the next five years to help treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in 15 targeted countries and is considered a showpiece of George W. Bush's presidency.
"More black Americans are infected with HIV than the total populations of people living with HIV in seven of the 15 countries served by PEPFAR," Wilson said.
"Were black America a separate country, it would elicit major concern and extensive assistance from the U.S. government. Instead, the national response to AIDS among black Americans has been lethargic and often neglectful."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. policies and cash may be leading the fight against AIDS globally, but they have neglected the epidemic among black Americans, the Black AIDS Institute said in a report released on Tuesday.
While blacks account for one in eight people in the United States, half of all Americans infected with HIV are black, the report found.
"We are 30 percent of the new cases among gay men, 40 percent of the new cases among men in general, 60 percent of the cases among women and 70 percent of the new cases among youth," Black AIDS Institute CEO Phill Wilson told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"Yet ... the U.S. response to AIDS in black America stands in sharp contrast to the international response to the epidemic overseas," he added.
Al Sharpton, a prominent activist and founder of the National Action Network, agreed.
"U.S. policy makers seem to be much more interested in the epidemic in Botswana than the epidemic in Louisiana. This is an unnecessary and deadly choice. Both need urgent attention," Sharpton said.
Dr. Helene Gayle, former head of AIDS for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and now president of the poverty-fighting charity CARE, said many HIV infected blacks are not in traditional high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and sex workers.
"The federal government's approach to the epidemic in black America is fundamentally flawed," Gayle said. This includes both a lack of funding and poor targeting of the money, she said.
EMPOWERMENT AND EDUCATION
Approaches that would work among black Americans include policies to empower women. "Black women often cannot insist on abstinence or the use of condoms for fear of violence or other emotional trauma," Gayle said.
Black American women are 23 times more likely than white women to become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, the report found.
A lack of education works against young people, who are often powerless and in sexual relationships with older people, who can infect them, Gayle said. Wider testing for HIV among blacks is also essential, the report stressed.
And better prevention messages that use language that will reach drug users, youths and men who have sex with men are key.
"We have focused on abstinence-only (methods) even though they don't work in our community," Wilson said.
Information about condom use is important, Wilson said. "We also need to look at needle exchange," he said -- noting that although needle exchange programs work to reduce HIV transmission while doing nothing to encourage drug use, they are frowned upon by the federal government.
Education campaigns can battle myths about disease transmission, as well as conspiracy theories that cause many blacks to mistrust the medical system, Wilson said.
The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, will spend $48 billion over the next five years to help treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in 15 targeted countries and is considered a showpiece of George W. Bush's presidency.
"More black Americans are infected with HIV than the total populations of people living with HIV in seven of the 15 countries served by PEPFAR," Wilson said.
"Were black America a separate country, it would elicit major concern and extensive assistance from the U.S. government. Instead, the national response to AIDS among black Americans has been lethargic and often neglectful."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
CNN: Black in America
On Wednesday July 23 at 9pm and Thursday July 24 at 9pm, CNN will premier a series, 'Black in America with Soledad O'Brien' and I personally
challenge you to watch it WITH your children, especially your sons, if
you have any, uninterrupted.
On Wednesday the series will focus on Women and Families and Thursday is
dedicated entirely to the plight of the Black Man in America.
http://www.cnncom/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america
challenge you to watch it WITH your children, especially your sons, if
you have any, uninterrupted.
On Wednesday the series will focus on Women and Families and Thursday is
dedicated entirely to the plight of the Black Man in America.
http://www.cnncom/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america
Friday, July 11, 2008
When The Man is One of Us
This is a great perspective on why Black America (particularly "the Black Caucus") may not be ready for a Black President. Check out theroot.com more often for some great insight into culture, politics, and news.
By Jack White | TheRoot.com
Sure, Jesse is an old fool who doesn't know how to act. But his latest gaffe shows how none of us is really ready for this moment.
July 10, 2008--On one level, it is easy to dismiss the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'s crudely worded metaphorical threat to castrate Barack Obama for supposedly talking down to black people as the raving of an increasingly irrelevant, former big shot suffused with resentment at the rising star who pushed him off stage.
That, after all, is the sort of talk we'd expect from a lynch mob, not a civil rights leader who does not seem to realize that the times have passed him by. Even his son and namesake, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., agrees that his dad is doing more harm these days than good. Pronouncing himself outraged and disappointed by his father's ugly words about Obama, Jackson Jr. issued a statement that, in effect, ordered dear old dad to "keep hope alive" and shut up.
That's good advice, and one can only hope that Jackson Sr. accepts it. But in a deeper sense, his stunningly inappropriate comments symbolize the social, political and psychological vertigo that all of us, and especially black Americans, are experiencing because of Obama's success. We are all, including Obama, in a place we never really thought we would be, and it has knocked us off our feet. We don't know how to act. We don't have a plan. We're searching for our equilibrium. And until we regain our footing, we can expect all sorts of bizarre behavior from people who ought to know better. Hold on to your hat.
We haven't really been in a place this confusing since 1954, when the NAACP's crusade against segregation culminated in the Brown vs. Board decision and the walls came tumbling down. It's fair to say that we were so focused on winning that fight that we weren't prepared for the victory or its aftermath. We've spent nearly 60 years since then trying to figure out what kind of relationship we want to have with America and with each other. For the most part, we, like Jackson Sr., have seen ourselves as outsiders battling for justice and a seat at the table. Our default has been to protest. And while that mindset has served us well, it has, in a flash, been made damn near obsolete by the prospect, even the likelihood, that one of us may soon become the most powerful man in the world. If that happens, how can we seriously argue that we're being held back by anything but the limits we place on ourselves?
That, it seems to me, accounts in part for the frustration some of us are feeling by what we interpret as Obama's move to the center. We are simply not accustomed to one of our own playing real, power politics. Some of us see his call for an expansion of George Bush's half-hearted commitment to faith-based social programs as mere politics, what Jackson Sr. castigated as "talking down to black people." We explain Obama's support for the compromise Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Supreme Court's upholding of a citizen's right to bear arms as attempts to inoculate himself against Republican attacks.
And, of course, they are.
But they, like Obama's Father's Day speech urging black men to take more responsibility for their children, are more than political posturing. They represent the first stirrings of a new consensus that places more emphasis on a public discussion of personal responsibility than on protest, on publicly delving into our own shortcomings and dysfunctional behavior.
There's nothing new about this kind of self-examination, but in the past we've conducted it mainly in private, in barbershops and beauty parlors, and churches. We've bristled when whites in power like Daniel Patrick Moynihan, joined in the critique of, for example, our soaring rate of out-of-wedlock births. We've moaned about the negative consequences of washing dirty laundry in public. But such a self-protective mindset no longer makes sense because Obama is one of us, who has taken part in our private handwringing about the self-inflicted wounds that bedevil segments of the black community. He hasn't said anything most of us haven't heard or said at the dinner table. But now, because Obama is who he is, the whole world is listening in to the conversation.
The attention makes us uncomfortable and disoriented. So does the prospect that one of us might soon be in charge of trying to fix this mess instead of simply complaining about it.
We're not really ready for the day when The Man becomes a black man.
It's a dizzying idea that is going to take some getting used to. And until we do, we'll stumble about, like Jesse Jackson Sr., saying all kinds of crazy things as we slip and slide on the new paradigm.
Jack White is a former columnist with TIME magazine.
By Jack White | TheRoot.com
Sure, Jesse is an old fool who doesn't know how to act. But his latest gaffe shows how none of us is really ready for this moment.
July 10, 2008--On one level, it is easy to dismiss the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'s crudely worded metaphorical threat to castrate Barack Obama for supposedly talking down to black people as the raving of an increasingly irrelevant, former big shot suffused with resentment at the rising star who pushed him off stage.
That, after all, is the sort of talk we'd expect from a lynch mob, not a civil rights leader who does not seem to realize that the times have passed him by. Even his son and namesake, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., agrees that his dad is doing more harm these days than good. Pronouncing himself outraged and disappointed by his father's ugly words about Obama, Jackson Jr. issued a statement that, in effect, ordered dear old dad to "keep hope alive" and shut up.
That's good advice, and one can only hope that Jackson Sr. accepts it. But in a deeper sense, his stunningly inappropriate comments symbolize the social, political and psychological vertigo that all of us, and especially black Americans, are experiencing because of Obama's success. We are all, including Obama, in a place we never really thought we would be, and it has knocked us off our feet. We don't know how to act. We don't have a plan. We're searching for our equilibrium. And until we regain our footing, we can expect all sorts of bizarre behavior from people who ought to know better. Hold on to your hat.
We haven't really been in a place this confusing since 1954, when the NAACP's crusade against segregation culminated in the Brown vs. Board decision and the walls came tumbling down. It's fair to say that we were so focused on winning that fight that we weren't prepared for the victory or its aftermath. We've spent nearly 60 years since then trying to figure out what kind of relationship we want to have with America and with each other. For the most part, we, like Jackson Sr., have seen ourselves as outsiders battling for justice and a seat at the table. Our default has been to protest. And while that mindset has served us well, it has, in a flash, been made damn near obsolete by the prospect, even the likelihood, that one of us may soon become the most powerful man in the world. If that happens, how can we seriously argue that we're being held back by anything but the limits we place on ourselves?
That, it seems to me, accounts in part for the frustration some of us are feeling by what we interpret as Obama's move to the center. We are simply not accustomed to one of our own playing real, power politics. Some of us see his call for an expansion of George Bush's half-hearted commitment to faith-based social programs as mere politics, what Jackson Sr. castigated as "talking down to black people." We explain Obama's support for the compromise Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Supreme Court's upholding of a citizen's right to bear arms as attempts to inoculate himself against Republican attacks.
And, of course, they are.
But they, like Obama's Father's Day speech urging black men to take more responsibility for their children, are more than political posturing. They represent the first stirrings of a new consensus that places more emphasis on a public discussion of personal responsibility than on protest, on publicly delving into our own shortcomings and dysfunctional behavior.
There's nothing new about this kind of self-examination, but in the past we've conducted it mainly in private, in barbershops and beauty parlors, and churches. We've bristled when whites in power like Daniel Patrick Moynihan, joined in the critique of, for example, our soaring rate of out-of-wedlock births. We've moaned about the negative consequences of washing dirty laundry in public. But such a self-protective mindset no longer makes sense because Obama is one of us, who has taken part in our private handwringing about the self-inflicted wounds that bedevil segments of the black community. He hasn't said anything most of us haven't heard or said at the dinner table. But now, because Obama is who he is, the whole world is listening in to the conversation.
The attention makes us uncomfortable and disoriented. So does the prospect that one of us might soon be in charge of trying to fix this mess instead of simply complaining about it.
We're not really ready for the day when The Man becomes a black man.
It's a dizzying idea that is going to take some getting used to. And until we do, we'll stumble about, like Jesse Jackson Sr., saying all kinds of crazy things as we slip and slide on the new paradigm.
Jack White is a former columnist with TIME magazine.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
US foreclosure filings surge 53 percent in June
Highlights from article:
1) 252,363 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in June, up 53 percent from the same month last year, but down 3 percent from May
2) One in every 501 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month
3) In Nevada, one in every 122 households received a foreclosure-related notice last month, more than four times the national rate
4) Economists project 2.5 million homes nationwide will enter the foreclosure process this year, up from about 1.5 million in 2007
5) Bush administration announced Tuesday that it would be ready on Monday to implement an FHA expansion that lets borrowers who've fallen behind on their home payments -- because of mortgage rate resets or other economic hardships -- get more affordable loans
1) 252,363 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in June, up 53 percent from the same month last year, but down 3 percent from May
2) One in every 501 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month
3) In Nevada, one in every 122 households received a foreclosure-related notice last month, more than four times the national rate
4) Economists project 2.5 million homes nationwide will enter the foreclosure process this year, up from about 1.5 million in 2007
5) Bush administration announced Tuesday that it would be ready on Monday to implement an FHA expansion that lets borrowers who've fallen behind on their home payments -- because of mortgage rate resets or other economic hardships -- get more affordable loans
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Hyprocrisy at it's best
This is the statement issued by Bob "I got money" Johnson, founder and CEO of BET.
Billionaire businessman Bob Johnson, a close Clinton adviser and friend, said on CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday that Obama could best forge party unity by offering Clinton the vice presidential slot.
A day after the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton as Obama's running mate. Saying Clinton would "entertain the idea if it's offered," Johnson said, "This is Sen. Obama's decision. If the Congress members can come together and agree as I do that it would be in the best interest of the party to have Sen. Clinton on the ticket, they carry that petition to Sen. Obama." "This is not a pressure. This is elected officials giving their best judgment," said Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television.
Johnson's letter to Clyburn says, "You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African-Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton."
It continues, "But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket."
I find it ironic that now, after the Clintons and "The Black Caucus" have gotten their butts whipped, they expect full cooperation from Obama and his camp. This is the same Bob Johnson that:
1. Insinuated that Obama was a drug dealer of some sort.
2. Called him an uncle tom: Johnson went on: “That kind of campaign behavior does not resonate with me, for a guy who says, ‘I want to be a reasonable, likable, Sidney Poitier ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.’ And I’m thinking, I’m thinking to myself, 'This ain’t a movie, Sidney. This is real life.'"
3. Said Obama was only in his position because he was black.
4. Is this the same guy that held a closed door meeting to try to sway "The Black Caucus" to switch to Republican alliances in order to better the "Black" community?
My problems with Bob Johnson and BET and the Black Caucus.
Bob Johnson - Please don't tell me that you are in tune with the Black community. There are very few billionaires that I would say fully understand the "Black" experience today. That is not to say that they have not struggled or overcome to get to where they are at, but it is a new day with a whole new set of problems.
BET - If you want to do something, stop showing music videos and re-runs for 16 hours of the day. What happened to the BET Nightly News, Tavis Smiley? Give me a political show on BET regardless of if the network takes a hit on ratings. Then I would believe that you are about change and not just about making some change (dollars).
The Black Caucus - This election will be interesting. The Black Caucus when I use the phrase refers to the "Old" Black leaders whom are supposed to lead us to the promise land but seem to be so tied to "Old" White leaders (CLintons for example) that they seem to miss the boat. Jesse Jackson, Sharpton and the like need to be progressive in their attacks, not just the same old fight.
So if I am Obama - I say hell no to a Clinon VP. Who wants the 3am Lady in the background saying no do it this way, or promoting her own agenda. Could this be the winning ticket because of the Black Caucus ties to Clintons? Possibly. But this can't be the only winning formula. If it is, Obama better run for this hills if someone yells..."Get your hand outta my pocket."
Billionaire businessman Bob Johnson, a close Clinton adviser and friend, said on CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday that Obama could best forge party unity by offering Clinton the vice presidential slot.
A day after the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton as Obama's running mate. Saying Clinton would "entertain the idea if it's offered," Johnson said, "This is Sen. Obama's decision. If the Congress members can come together and agree as I do that it would be in the best interest of the party to have Sen. Clinton on the ticket, they carry that petition to Sen. Obama." "This is not a pressure. This is elected officials giving their best judgment," said Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television.
Johnson's letter to Clyburn says, "You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African-Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton."
It continues, "But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket."
I find it ironic that now, after the Clintons and "The Black Caucus" have gotten their butts whipped, they expect full cooperation from Obama and his camp. This is the same Bob Johnson that:
1. Insinuated that Obama was a drug dealer of some sort.
2. Called him an uncle tom: Johnson went on: “That kind of campaign behavior does not resonate with me, for a guy who says, ‘I want to be a reasonable, likable, Sidney Poitier ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.’ And I’m thinking, I’m thinking to myself, 'This ain’t a movie, Sidney. This is real life.'"
3. Said Obama was only in his position because he was black.
4. Is this the same guy that held a closed door meeting to try to sway "The Black Caucus" to switch to Republican alliances in order to better the "Black" community?
My problems with Bob Johnson and BET and the Black Caucus.
Bob Johnson - Please don't tell me that you are in tune with the Black community. There are very few billionaires that I would say fully understand the "Black" experience today. That is not to say that they have not struggled or overcome to get to where they are at, but it is a new day with a whole new set of problems.
BET - If you want to do something, stop showing music videos and re-runs for 16 hours of the day. What happened to the BET Nightly News, Tavis Smiley? Give me a political show on BET regardless of if the network takes a hit on ratings. Then I would believe that you are about change and not just about making some change (dollars).
The Black Caucus - This election will be interesting. The Black Caucus when I use the phrase refers to the "Old" Black leaders whom are supposed to lead us to the promise land but seem to be so tied to "Old" White leaders (CLintons for example) that they seem to miss the boat. Jesse Jackson, Sharpton and the like need to be progressive in their attacks, not just the same old fight.
So if I am Obama - I say hell no to a Clinon VP. Who wants the 3am Lady in the background saying no do it this way, or promoting her own agenda. Could this be the winning ticket because of the Black Caucus ties to Clintons? Possibly. But this can't be the only winning formula. If it is, Obama better run for this hills if someone yells..."Get your hand outta my pocket."
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Obama: Yes He Can
According to the AP, Barack "The Obamanator" Obama officially clinches the title of Free World Leader of the Democratic National Convention (I wanted to make it sound more interesting than what it is). With this announcement, there has yet to be an official bowing down from Hilary "The Pants Suit" Clinton.
So the stage should be officially set between Obama and John "The American Hero" McCain.
So the stage should be officially set between Obama and John "The American Hero" McCain.
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