Can Obama deliver the black vote?

At a high-spirited rally in Philadelphia on Sunday, President Obama challenged the mostly black crowd to defy pundits who purvey the conventional wisdom. "They think, 'Oh, well, Obama's name is not on the ballot, maybe they're not going to turn out,' " he said, referring to African American voters. "You've got to prove them wrong."

Delivering the same message at historically black Bowie State University in Maryland a few days earlier, the president got downright personal: "Don't make me look bad, now."

How the president looks on Election Day will depend in part on his ability to fire up the constituencies in the Democratic Party's base. With different groups, he's taking different approaches.

For progressives who have criticized his administration from the left, he has a stern lecture that might be paraphrased like this: "Come on, people, give us a break. Have you noticed that we don't exactly have a liberal majority in Congress? Yet, look at all we've managed to accomplish." For centrist Democrats who might have wanted him to spend more time on jobs and less on health care, Obama's message is essentially apocalyptic, although it's delivered in his customary no-drama way. Something like: "You're right, things aren't as great as we'd like. But just imagine the disaster if the Republicans take control of Capitol Hill."

With African Americans, his appeal has been simpler and more direct: "I need you." The response he gets from black voters may determine the outcome of some of November's key races.

The president's overall approval rating, according to the latest Gallup survey, is a middling 46 percent -- not great, but roughly comparable to that of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton at this stage of their presidencies. His approval among African Americans, by contrast, is a stratospheric 87 percent.

This despite the fact that black people have suffered disproportionately from the subprime mortgage meltdown, the tidal wave of foreclosures and evictions, the worst recession in decades and the agonizingly slow "jobless" recovery that economists say we're experiencing -- problems that have their roots in prior administrations, but that many other Americans seem prepared to blame on Obama and the Democrats.

The national unemployment rate is 9.6 percent. For African Americans, it's a punishing 16.1 percent -- yet African Americans remain the president's most enthusiastic and loyal constituency.

There are two reasons. For at least two generations, black Americans have been faithful supporters of the Democratic Party in general. And specifically, their high regard for Obama has to be because he is the first African American president of a nation that not long ago consigned black people to second-class citizenship.

So when Obama runs again in 2012, I can predict quite confidently that African Americans will be there for him. But black turnout is especially low in midterm elections. And given the state of the economy, I wonder how many middle-class black voters find themselves "exhausted."

That was the word Velma Hart used in a town-hall meeting last month to let Obama know of her frustration. Hart told the president that she was "exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now." She talked about the toll the recession has taken on her family, and said she and her husband had joked that "we thought we were well beyond the hot dogs and beans era of our lives."

I chatted with Hart the following day, and she made clear that her words were not intended as any kind of anti-Obama screed. She was just expressing the feelings of millions of Americans, of all races, who fear that their once-solid foothold in the middle class has suddenly become tenuous.

Some African American activists have grumbled, meanwhile, that Obama has been unambitious in addressing the problems of poverty and dysfunction in inner-city black communities -- such as, for example, the more depressed parts of Philadelphia.

Will Obama's personal popularity be enough to boost African American turnout significantly above its usual levels? A veteran of Pennsylvania politics told me recently that this might be the only way for Democrat Joe Sestak to have a chance against Republican Pat Toomey in the state's Senate race -- one of a number of contests nationwide in which the black vote could tip the balance.

It's not easy to convert exhaustion into enthusiasm. But if Obama doesn't want to look bad, that's what he has to do.


Fu--ck you half-breed Obama, you didn't put a black person on the supreme court, but you put that lesbian jew on the supreme court.
You not doing anything for black people in urban america, the unemployment rate is 9.6%, but got damn in urban america, the unemployment rate is as high as 45% in some cities. all that hype about you, we were countimg on you, but you just wanna be Mr.Popluar, going on the tonight show, the late show, the view, and walking on the beach with no shirt on. you know nothing about being president, you was all hype, now you want us black people to come out and vote? what have you done for us? you do more for the jews and hispanics than you do for your own kind.
Sorry Obama, we black people staying home this election, you betta get it together over these next 2 years and do more for black people, if no results from you in the next 2 years, we black people staying home November 2012. Got It?

this guy isn't even faking it anymore. he's so desperate now that he's shamelessly playing the race card. he will get the black vote, for sure, but he will never get the intellectual black vote. you can fool some of the people, some of the time but you can't fool all the people, all the time. ironically, we can make ourselves look good by making him look bad. this is not what MLK had in mind.

More of his ME ME ME talk! Where is his support for blacks? The next time those crakkka demorats nominate a black person please let him have more qualifications than being light skin and no negro dialect. He making us look bad. Naw he making mutts look bad

One
Big
Azz
Mistake
America!

Medical Apartheid: By Harriet A Washington.

Just Recently the U.S. government apologizes for Guatemala STD experiments. This is nothing new. They have been using people of hue, for guinea pigs for years.

From the era of slavery to the present day, the first full history of black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment.

Medical Apartheid is the first and only comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge—a tradition that continues today within some black populations. It reveals how blacks have historically been prey to grave-robbing as well as unauthorized autopsies and dissections. Moving into the twentieth century, it shows how the pseudoscience of eugenics and social Darwinism was used to justify experimental exploitation and shoddy medical treatment of blacks, and the view that they were biologically inferior, oversexed, and unfit for adult responsibilities. Shocking new details about the government’s notorious Tuskegee experiment are revealed, as are similar, less-well-known medical atrocities conducted by the government, the armed forces, prisons, and private institutions.

The product of years of prodigious research into medical journals and experimental reports long undisturbed, Medical Apartheid reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and makes possible, for the first time, an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit. At last, it provides the fullest possible context for comprehending the behavioral fallout that has caused black Americans to view researchers—and indeed the whole medical establishment—with such deep distrust. No one concerned with issues of public health and racial justice can afford not to read Medical Apartheid, a masterful book that will stir up both controversy and long-needed debate.


BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
"Starred Review. This groundbreaking study documents that the infamous Tuskegee experiments, in which black syphilitic men were studied but not treated, was simply the most publicized in a long, and continuing, history of the American medical establishment using African-Americans as unwitting or unwilling human guinea pigs." - Publishers Weekly.

READ A BOOK! READ A BOOK....READ A MOTHERFUCKING BOOK!

BP boiler suit becomes Halloween costume hit

More than 10,000 of the outfits have been sold in the approach to this year's October 31 holiday, which Americans are renowned for celebrating elaborately.

Its manufacturer claimed the success of the costume showed people across the US remained angry at the oil giant for its handling of the Deepwater Horizon disaster earlier this yea


An estimated 185 million gallons of oil were spilt into the Gulf of Mexico after an explosion in April on the BP rig, which also killed 11 workers.

"The Halloween business reflects the world we live in," said Alan Geller, the executive vice-president of Fun World. "We like to add a bit of social commentary to the celebrations."

"The holiday is about horror, and people are horrified at BP's actions," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Several lives and billions of dollars from people's livelihoods were lost."

Mr Geller said the New York firm, which also created the ghost mask used in the Scream films, had been inundated with orders for the costumes from shops and websites across the country.

He promised to donate some of the company's profits from the boiler suits to a charity aimed at helping people who had lost out due to the oil spill.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8053891/BP-boiler-suit-becomes-Halloween-costume-hit.html

Not a good look of the week!

Very innovative..SMH!

Cracking Up!

Cracking Up
The University of California and the USGS have conducted an examination of the San Andreas fault line and have determined that it is much more dangerous than previously thought.

The last major quake was over 150 years ago and the stress built up until now is tremendous. Scientists now say the the fracture in the Earth could erupt along a 340 mile long region from Monterrey to the Salton Sea at any time. This could be an 8.1 or greater.

This would pretty much affect the entire state. It would be felt in Nevada and Arizona. Because of the population density, there would be major casualties and a lot of destruction. It can happen at any moment.

In addition, a 200 meter/yard fracture opened up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The land rose 10-15 feet/ 5 meters in a few seconds. Houses shook and trees along the cracked ground are now tilted at angles.

Seems as if nowhere is stable anymore. Best to keep delicate things off of shelves.

Let your eyes caption this pic

MARTIAL LAW ALERT: Banking Collapse Scenarios Fall/Winter 2010

SoCal Martial Law Alerts (SCMLA) has been in existence for almost 2 years now and this is our 2nd MARTIAL LAW ALERT.

As with our first MARTIAL LAW ALERT, we have held back our assessment of the financial collapse currently underway until we could gather enough information. Since our focus is martial law, we always look at current events with an eye toward assessing the conditions that would be necessary for the President and/or the military to implement martial law. And, since we try to stay at least one step ahead of the game in order to warn people, such assessments must, of necessity, be speculative in nature. Nothing stated herein is guaranteed to happen. The purpose of these alerts is to get people thinking outside the mainstream-media box so that they might be better prepared to meet any eventuality (and this includes being prepared: mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically -- and being prepared physically includes being prepared financially).

THE SITUATION:

As the price of gold reaches new heights (over $1300 per ounce) and silver climbs to over $23 per ounce, the financial situation in America is dire, to say the least. Continuously rising rates of unemployment, increased government spending and the collapse of the real estate markets are all converging into one perfectly-directed/perfectly-designed collapse of, not only our economy, but the greater global economy as well. While major financial players such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan continue to have record profits, the middle class has disappeared from the American financial landscape. Major financial leaders such as Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, have openly admitted that our country's financial system is in deep trouble and even Europe is having more banker bailouts. Meanwhile, the American media constantly hypes a possible terror attack in America and other countries in Europe.

If another major terror attack such as 9/11 occurs, trends forecaster Gerald Celente has stated that the event would bring the banking system to a complete halt, which would then result in a "bank holiday." And Celente is not alone. For over a year, many others have warned of an upcoming bank holiday. With our economy already in free fall, it would not take much of a national and/or worldwide terror event to completely crash our (fiat) dollar-based system in a very short period of time. Upon the crash of the dollar, more bank holidays could be declared and oppressive emergency banking powers could go into effect (see: Emergency Banking Act of 1933). These include severely limiting consumer withdrawals and a recall of physical gold holdings. Taking Presidential Defense Directive #51 into account (PDD-51), even a major stock-market crash could trigger this scenario. And once PDD-51 is invoked, then martial law could be fully implemented.

Another way the collapse of the banking system could lead to martial law is through cyber attacks.

This possibility has been particularly troubling to us, since, earlier this year, CNN aired a staged (i.e. fake) "cyber terror" attack complete with fake news reports being fielded by Michael Chertoff and other Washington insiders. Their premise was that the American power grid had been taken down by hacker/terrorists via cyber attack. Since the airing of that fake news program, alternative news agencies such as Infowars and others have made the point that such an attack is impossible for the average hacker, because the power grid is on a completely separate network from the Internet. In the meantime, threats against our power grid have been highlighted in other (suspect) ways, such as the Russians who were recently found trying to break into a Georgia power plant.

While the media continues to hype the threat of cyber terror against our power grid, others have looked into the perhaps more frightening prospect of a cyber attack on our banking system, which relies heavily upon computer networks as well as the Internet. Such an attack has already occurred both in America (over the July 4th holiday in 2009), as well as abroad (in South Korea, Estonia, India, and Canada). In fact, in February 2010, the American financial services industry actually participated in a cyber attack exercise to test the readiness of the financial system, so there's no way they can deny that they've actually considered the possibility of such an attack. If such an attack did occur, whole sections of the banking system would most likely go offline (as many believe happened to Bank of America earlier this year), or, worse, massive amounts of account data could be compromised, or lost altogether.

The possible result?

Imagine being unable to access your checking account, your 401K, or, even worse, having your bank balance go to zero and, in the resulting chaos, being left with no way to prove the amount that should be in your account. After all, these days, all your sensitive banking data is stored in computer databases and, in the midst of a "cyber crisis," many (or all) recent transactions could be lost (or the banks could claim such). In such a scenario, the only real proof of funds would be whatever cash a consumer happened to have on hand.

Many analysts such as Gerald Celente and Max Kaiser have been warning people about keeping their money in banks. As America's financial situation continues to deteriorate, a false-flag cyber attack would be a clever way to disguise the inevitable and blame the collapse on something (or someone) else. Also, with the nation's financial data compromised and/or missing altogether, it would conveniently force a "reset" of the banking system back to zero. Amidst the chaos of people trying to function with little-to-no cash while at the same time clamoring for a solution, the government could easily roll out a ration-card system much like the one Venezuela currently has, and/or a combination identification/debit card like Malaysia's. In addition, possible food and/or water riots could also create the perfect pretense for martial law.

In conclusion: A cyber attack that took out either the banking, or the power grid system would undoubtedly cause much turmoil. A cyber attack that took out both would be devastating. Either one would pave the road to martial law.

OUR RECOMMENDATION:

If you have money in a bank, consider getting it out. (Digital dollars are not durable, nor dependable!) Keeping enough cash as needed for survival is always wise, but consider putting all other assets into precious metals and/or necessary goods in order make the transition into the next new currency (whatever that might be). If you do not already have storable food, water and defensive weaponry, now would be a good time to acquire these items. Consider liquidating all paper assets including retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, since, at this point, it wouldn't take much to send the value of all these items to zero. Begin, if you have not already, to be more self-sustaining, whether through gardening, or bartering with other like-minded individuals, etc. Now is the time to introduce yourself to your neighbors before the power (and possibly other services) go out. Know who you can trust and who you can't.