Posting may be a bit slow today as I am spending a bulk of today editing my upcoming podcast. I also am working on two other stories for the next show.

Things are really picking up, so again thanks for both your readership and listenership.

SUCKA

…and complain that companies do not pay top dollar to Black media outlets and ad agencies.

Case in point: “Maybach Music 2″ (Warning: rough lyrics)

Lexus was happy
Cristal was happy
Mercedes was happy
Rolex was happy
Gucci was happy
Nike was happy

Singing about what we don’t own. This has got to stop.

A look at foreign quake aid for Haiti

Based on the article, foreign governments have given close to a billion dollars towards Haiti.

Until they get some of this mess right, I think folks need to chill with this cash dump-fest.

Haiti cries for not only supplies, but security
Medical Care for Haitians Falls Short, Group Warns
Haitians die at hospital for lack of supplies

Now I know that all of this money is not being handed over to the government in a “Get Well Soon” card (as it will primarily be used for supplies, fuel, food, clean water, etc.). But it is inevitable that this historically corrupt government that tolerated child slavery up until the earthquake will in fact get a significant amount of it.

Despite all the mishaps of this recovery process, guess who comes out looking like Superman?

Poll: Obama Wins High Marks for Haiti Earthquake Response

I found this on craigslist.org this evening.

From Salon.com

“Is there any truth to what Pat Robertson is saying?

Of course not! Haitians are Christians. Pat Robertson’s language is the reductio ad absurdum of the Christian right. It’s so absurd it’s almost funny. ( Andrew Apter, professor of history and anthopology at UCLA)”

There are many Haitians today who are followers of Jesus Christ and have abandoned the occultic practices that has blended itself with Haitian culture for decades. But unfortunately, Voodoo still remains a prominent religion in that country.

Port-AU-Prince – The government of Haiti has recognised Voodoo as a religion, President Jean-Bertrand Aristede announced Monday in celebration of a Haitian independence fighter.

This video was uploaded back in May of last year.

Pat Robertson (the televangelist that everyone says they never take seriously, but are quick to broadcast his comments when they don’t agree with him–go figure) has been taking a lot of flack from both the media and the online community for PART of his comments regarding Haiti.

CBN’s Operation Blessing (an organization that has had a presence in Haiti for years while Washington has been piddling around with the whole issue of Haiti and the immigration issue for decades) has had boots on the ground for some time in Haiti addressing the issue of poverty in that country.

As Robertson mentioned, Haiti is one of two counties on the same island. On one side you have the Dominican Republic, a country that, despite having issues like poverty still has managed to maintain a steady government and thriving tourism industry for years. On the other side we have Haiti–a country that has seen nothing but decades of instability, chaos, child slavery, and great sadness. As you can see, this has nothing to do with race. Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that there are certain things in this life that cannot be addressed unless prayer unto God is sown first. We simply do not have all the answers.

We here in the West have known about Haiti’s deteriorating condition for years and at best all we have done is bomb them with food, helped to stabilize their government (only to see it tumble again years later), and on occasion show a little compassion by allowing them to stay in our country after floating for days on a makeshift raft. After the earthquake rocked that country, we anxiously looked for someone to focus all of our fake anger –even though most of us knew we never gave that tiny country the time of day. Pat Robertson became the perfect lighting rod for fair-weather champions of the poor everywhere.

The paradox that exists between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is something that we are all too familiar with here in the United States. In the same town you can have one side that continues to be prosperous and the other side seem stuck in the grips of poverty, crime, broken homes, etc. We spend decade after decade arguing and debating one another over solutions and yet still the problems persist. We spend millions and millions of dollars and we still have not figured out how to make a person want to pick up a book. What is it?

While generous Americans everywhere are contributing millions and millions of dollars to help the people of Haiti during this time, do we really believe that ultimately it will help this nation to truly build itself into a better Haiti? Or are we just hoping that Haiti can return back to its prior state of perpetual hopelessness that has been widely ignored by the mainstream public for years?

As a Christian, not only do I believe in Jesus Christ, I also believe that there is a real devil that seeks to “…steal, kill and destroy.” I am a follower of Jesus Christ because it is through Him and Him only, I can have the victory of Satan and his desire to see me and the rest of God’s creation destroyed. The same devil that hates Haiti also hates you.

I have seen the power of prayer and what it can do to a person who has been through every program, every conference, read every book and listened to every self-help lesson. As it pertains to Black history, it was the power of prayer to a living God that kept our forefathers from giving up. It was also the power of prayer that moved upon the hearts of evil men to change their ways and to eventually let go of their hate towards Blacks.

What the nation of Haiti needs more than our temporary compassion that will eventually fade away just as it did with the survivors of hurricane Katrina is a move of God that will break the power of poverty and oppression in that country. Our handouts have not done it. The United Nations haven’t figured it out. We need God’s intervention in Haiti.

“We need to pray for them a great retuning to God. And out of this tragedy I am optimistic that something good may come…” (Pat Robertson)

To be continued…

Why talk about anything else right now when untold thousands just lost their lives? I mean, really. And frankly, listening to people talk about Haiti and they are sitting on their couch here in the US just ain’t hittin’ it for me.

Y’all know the links and how to get the latest information on what’s going on down there. Like many of you I will be watching and praying for the nation of Haiti.

Posting will resume tomorrow.

American Idol, Tyler Perry Draw Largest African-American TV Audiences

Since the recollection of history of some these days is more like a buffet line, allow me to spoon up a side item from the past.

2006
From the Democratic Policy Committee (link)

President Bush’s Budget Would Harm African American Families

On February 6, 2006, the President submitted his Fiscal Year 2007 budget request. Rather than presenting the American people with a morally and fiscally responsible vision for the country that expands opportunities for all Americans, the President has proposed an irresponsible and misleading budget that favors powerful special interests over ordinary African American families.

Senate Democrats will fight for a budget that honors opportunity, responsibility, community and security. We believe it is immoral to force the middle class and those in greatest need to pay for budget-busting tax breaks for special interests and multi-millionaires. We believe it is reckless to burden our children with trillions of dollars of additional debt. We believe it is misleading to tell the American people that the President’s budget cuts the deficit in half by cloaking its true costs.

When Bush was taking care of special interest groups and pork projects, Black families and little children (they should have just threw the mentally-challenged in there as well since we tend to be portrayed as the most vulnerable in society) were at risk.

Obama’s Omnibus spending bill with its over 9,000 earmarks (here’s a partial list)? No big deal. Talk about something else, like Michelle O’s shoes or how her Black skin validates Black women everywhere.

We believe it is reckless to burden our children with trillions of dollars of additional debt.

This is funny. The right raised this same issue during the Bush administration. When they raised it during these recent “tea parties”, they were called “racists” for not going along with our Black President. When you don’t have an argument, pull out the race card–even though it has NOTHING to do with the issue at hand.

And speaking of cloaking the “true costs” of a bill…

The left kept flashing $787 billion out there as if that was the total cost. The actual cost? Try $3.27 trillion.

And the beat goes on.

From a blogger for sfgate.com

Burris brings up a point that I noticed but given the weight of the matter, put on the back-burner of my mind because I didn’t want to think the unthinkable: that not only was the Mayor of Oakland not allowed to speak but Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who was in attendance, was not even acknowledged by the presenters.

That’s a huge no-no. Congresswoman Lee is the head of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Both are African American. All of the elected officials who were allowed to speak were white. (more…)

For Mayor Dellums, here is the rest of the story not included (BTW, this next excerpt comes from the same dang newspaper).

It’s no secret that Dellums – who is often long on rhetoric and short on action – is not held in high regard among some members of the Oakland PD.

It didn’t help that after the March 21 killings Dellums was a no-show for several hours, before finally holding a short press conference – while others, including state Attorney General and ex-Mayor Jerry Brown and East Oakland City Council members Larry Reid and Desley Brooks, spent hours with shell-shocked cops at police union headquarters.

Reid even went to the family wakes of each of the four slain officers in the days that followed. (source).