Blackinformant.com – African-American culture, news commentary, politics

(airforcetimes.com) VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Most of today’s youth are not eligible for military service because they are too fat, too weak, not smart enough and prone to drug-use and criminal behavior, according to a panel of senior military officers. “We are all victims of our own past success. We all have a conscript mentality that there’s a never-ending supply of perfect high school graduates that are over the horizon coming ...More

(eluniversal.com) On the National Journalists' Day, on June 27, Venezuelan journalists are not celebrating. Rather, they are staging a march in Caracas streets to demand President Hugo Chávez to order resumption of private television station RCTV's broadcast on its original open signal and to advocate freedom of expression. The march -organized by Periodistas Unidos por la Libertad de Expresión (Journalists United for Freedom of Expression)- is departing from Plaza Venezuela at ...More

Between last month and this month Blackinformant.com passed the 3 year milestone (don't worry, I am not this bad when it comes to my wedding anniversary ;) ). This site started on blogger.com but then I moved it over to Wordpress. It was during that migration that I lost quite a few of my very first posts (which explains why I do not know the exact birth date of this ...More

(SW Radio Africa--allafrica.com) Speaking at the burial of the late Army Brigadier General Armstrong Gunda on Wednesday, Robert Mugabe threatened to take over all foreign companies, which he accused of hiking prices in a campaign to sabotage the economy and remove him from government. Mugabe is quoted saying: "All companies, we will take them over if they continue with their dirty game. Take note, we will be equal to the ...More

For years now I have been toying with the idea of creating a quick pamphlet entitled "Are You Being Paid To Be An Idiot?: Practical Ways For Not Allowing The Call Center To Dumb You Down." I cannot begin to tell you about my very bad experiences with various customer service reps within the past few days. I have now reached the conclusion that 99% of the time I need to ...More

(nbc10.com) A child's tantrum onboard a Delta commuter flight forced a pilot to make an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport. [...] The forced landing was caused by a fight over apple juice. A 4-year-old wanted apple juice and when the stewardess didn't get it quick enough, the child threw a tantrum, NBC 10 reported. (more...) You know, I couldn't even make the scenario up telling you "If that was my child..." because it ...More

(king5.com) SEATTLE – As far as Lottie Cross is concerned, there is no Central District in Seattle anymore. Gentrification has changed the character of the historically African American neighborhood. "It's phasing out," she said. But as condos sprout up on street corners and new white, middle class families move in, some say an integral part of the community has been victimized. Black businesses struggle even as new wealth enters their neighborhood. Cross is part ...More

(LATimes.com) Los Angeles County supervisors today backed off threats to temporarily shut Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, opting instead to give the beleaguered facility a reprieve as it prepares for a last-chance government inspection next month. The Board of Supervisors rejected a motion to start the process of closing the facility after its top health care officials warned that such a move could trigger a stampede of departing employees that would ...More

Part of me really wanted to watch the BET music awards, but I.....I.....just can't get past Mo'Nique's voice (grrrr!). I was in the kitchen on my laptop and my wife was in the family room watching the show. She was kind to me by muting out the parts when Mo'Nique was at the mike. Eventually I found myself getting distracted as lil' man was on his new keyboard upstairs. So ...More

I've been waiting for someone to upload this video. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI6hM-pfT6k] and this one as well... More

(wneg32.com) Supporters of the Georgia man in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year old girl are willing to put up $1 million to secure his release. According to Genarlow Wilson’s lawyer, the money should secure her clients release before a July 5th hearing. At that hearing Georgia’s Attorney General plans to appeal a decision that threw out a 10 year felony prison sentence for Wilson. "Consent to a bond presented ...More

(singersroom.com) 50 cent, who pays $25,000 a month in child support and household expenses, might have to get a bigger check. Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of his 10-year-old son, says the current amount is not enough. The parents of young Marquise Jackson are wrangling over the issue in family court in this Long Island community, where 50 Cent arrived Friday in an armored SUV equipped with a satellite dish. (more...) The sad ...More

(moscowtimes.ru) Andrei, aka B-Boy Kolyuchy, has been dancing since the mid-1980s. Back then hip-hop music and break dancing videos were accessible only to two types of people: diplomats returning from abroad and Ulitsa Arbat souvenir or currency peddlers who were in direct contact with foreign tourists. "There were events three to four times a year back then, mostly in the Baltic states," Andrei said. Enthusiastic Soviet teens practiced in front of ...More