To Qaddafi with Love

I think it might be time for Muammar Qaddafi to call it a day. I guess he was so excited to be making his debut at the United Nations today that his speech may have sounded...a little off???

From The Guardian:

...Muammar Gaddafi - for it was he - grabbed his 15 minutes of fame at the UN building in New York today and ran with it. He ran with it so hard he stretched it to an hour and 40 minutes, six times longer than his allotted slot, to the dismay of UN organisers...

...He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel...

...He then turned his wrath on to America, Britain, France, Russia and China - the permanent members of the security council, or "terror council" as he renamed it. Their veto was tantamount to terrorism. "This is terrorism, like the terrorism of al-Qaida. Terrorism is not just al-Qaida, it takes many forms."

In case the point was lost on anyone, he tore up his copy of the UN rule book.

Having thus abused and alienated 99.99% of the world's top diplomats, he suddenly changed tack, heaping praise and devotion on the one man he appears to respect. "Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus, the American people made him president and we are proud of that. We would be happy if Obama stayed president of America forever."

Poor Barack Obama. Having Gaddafi applaud his stance towards the world must have been as pleasing as being congratulated on his domestic policy by the leader of the birthers, who insist Obama was not born in America.

So much for Pan-Africanism...

In other news...

Yes, believe it or not, there is actually other stuff going on in the world besides the media circus better known as Michael Jackson's death and the quest to find out who inherits what in the will he left behind. Quite frankly, I'm ready to move on from this story, which seems to be get more bizarre by the minute.

Diana Ross???

WTF...

It's funny how in the middle of Iran imploding and North Korea planning to send missiles to US shores, the media has lost all of its senses and done wall-to-wall coverage of MJ. I just about had it last night when I was watching Entertainment Tonight, and the reporter actually asked Ola Ray (MJ's love interest in the Thriller video) if she had sex with him. Talk about low road journalism...but I digress.

So, here is some other news that has been going on:

Iraq (and its discontents)
American troops pulled out of major cities in Iraq this week. But we all know this don't really mean anything to anyone, right? Aren't the Iraqis free now?

From NY Times:

In BASRA, the mood was generally skeptical.

Haider Muhammed Ali, 31, a communications engineer:
“The withdrawal doesn’t represent national sovereignty because the troops will remain at the airport base and will stay inside Iraq.”

Samir Alwan, 28 years, owner of a mini market:

“They will not withdraw to their homes in their country. They will stay here and in emergency cases they would enter the city. So it is not national sovereignty according to my point of view, and I think the Iraqi Army is only able to control the southern areas. They are unable to make Baghdad and Mosul safe.”

Najim Salim, 40 years, a teacher.

“There is no doubt it is not national sovereignty because they will stay inside Iraq in military bases. The Government wants to convince the citizens that there is a withdrawal of foreign troops, although the Government could not protect citizens in some cities in Iraq even with the presence of U.S. forces. So the Government will fail to protect citizens after the withdrawal, and then the Government will ask the foreign troops to come back.”

Ayman Jasim, 37 years, a photographer .

“ I am happy for the withdraw of Americans it is national day and national sovereignty come back again to Iraq. I believe Iraqi troops will control the city and nothing will happen after their withdrawal.”

The gays vs Obama administration
Meanwhile, President Obama is seemingly throwing the gays under the bus with recent decisions on same sex marriage and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Now I know realistic Obama can't come out supporting gay marriage, as most of the country is still against it. However, most Americans are ready to get rid of the military ban on gays.

I have been thinking about this issue for a while. Do you think the hesitation for Obama to support pro-gay initiatives has anything to do with sustaining the black vote in 2012? This might seem silly, but hang on with me here. With such large opposition of same sex marriage in the black community, do you think the first black president fears losing some of his support from his own race if he is seen as being to willing to give in to gay rights? I actually know a few black folks who have said to me recently that Obama is getting "too soft" on supporting gay people.

Vibe magazine is dead
Vibe, the "venerable" hip-hop magazine, shut down yesterday, due to being "the latest victim of the media recession." But other folks are saying that the mostly white management ran it into the ground (thanks for sending that link, Marcy). I say it died because it simply sucked and wasn't relevant anymore. It's funny, I didn't even know it was still in publication...

Cynthia McKinney is out to save the children
And finally news that can by filed under "Embarrassing Black People"

From Washington Post:

The former controversial congresswoman from Georgia has resurfaced - on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea trying to deliver supplies to Gaza.

Israeli forces arrested McKinney and other passengers on board the ship, according to a group called Free Gaza, which said on its Web site that McKinney and the others "have been illegally incarcerated for their solidarity work with Palestine."

The Israeli Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta, however, accused McKinney and her fellow travelers of waging a "reckless political stunt."

McKinney, who ran for president in 2008 as a Green Party candidate, was defeated in 2006, not long after she was accused of punching a Capitol Police officer who mistook her for a tourist. She had made a brief comeback after being defeated in 2002, at which time her father said he blamed the "J-E-W-S" for his daughter's defeat

The "Free Gaza" website, freegaza.org, quotes McKinney as saying that she and her group .

This is an outrageous violation of international law against us," she was quoted as saying. "Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip. President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.

She's right about Gaza, but must she be the spokesperson on this?

Okay, now you can get back to the real news: Now who gets Michael's kids? Katherine Jackson? Debbie Rowe? Diana Ross? Madonna? (she'a adopting these days...)

A Tale of Two Countries

Bullsh*t of the day.

From CNN:

Two U.S. journalists, who were detained in North Korea while covering the plight of defectors living along the China-North Korea border, have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor in prison, the country's state-run media said Monday.

The Central Court of North Korea sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee for the "grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing," the Korean Central News Agency said.

As a result, the court sentenced the women to "12 years of reform through labor."

A U.S. State Department spokesman, Ian Kelley, said the Swedish ambassador in North Korea confirmed the sentence with North Korean authorities. Sweden represents U.S. interests in North Korea; the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea.

State Secretary Hillary Clinton released a statement:

“We are incredibly concerned on both a diplomatic and, on my behalf, a personal basis. I have met with their families, and I share the grave anxiety that they feel about the safety and security of these two young women. We call again on the North Korean government to release them and enable them to come home as soon as possible. We have explored other approaches, including the use of special representatives strictly for this humanitarian mission. But as things stand now, we know that they’re in the middle of a trial in Pyongyang, and we hope that the trial is resolved quickly and that the young women are released.”

Hold up, Mrs Clinton! While it is despicable what the North Korean government is doing to Laura Ling and Euna Lee, when does the U.S. begin to practice what is preaches for Ibrahim Jassam, who has been in U.S. custody since last September?

From Los Angeles Times:

No formal accusations have been made against Jassam, and an Iraqi court ordered in November that he be released for lack of evidence. But the U.S. military continues to hold him, saying it has intelligence that he is "a high security threat," said Maj. Neal Fisher, spokesman for detainee affairs.

The Obama administration harshly criticized Iran for its imprisonment of Roxana Saberi, the U.S.-Iranian journalist who was convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison before being freed two weeks ago. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Iran's treatment of Saberi as "non-transparent, unpredictable and arbitrary."

Washington also has called upon North Korea to expedite the trial of two U.S. journalists being held on spying charges.

Yet the U.S. has routinely used the arbitrary powers it assumed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks to hold journalists without charge in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

None of the detained journalists has been convicted of any charge, undermining the United States' reputation when it comes to criticizing other countries on issues of press freedom, committee executive director Joel Simon said.

"The U.S. has a record of holding journalists for long periods of time without due process and without explanation," he said. "Its standing would be improved if it addressed this issue."

Reuters has expressed disappointment over Jassam's detention and has said there is no evidence against him.

Sami Haj, a cameraman for the TV network Al Jazeera, was detained by Pakistani authorities as he tried to cross into Afghanistan in 2001 to cover the offensive against the Taliban. He was turned over to the U.S. military, which held him for six years at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was accused him of being a courier for militant Islamic organizations, but was never charged. He was released a year ago.

In Iraq, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein was held for two years without trial before being released in April 2008 on the orders of an Iraqi judge under the terms of an amnesty law. The U.S. military maintained that Hussein had links to insurgents, but the AP said the allegations were based on nothing more than the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs of insurgents that he had taken on the streets of Ramadi, in western Iraq.

Jassam is the only Iraqi journalist still in U.S. custody, the last to be detained under wartime rules that predated a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement signed in December. Under the new accord, U.S. forces must obtain a warrant before they can arrest an Iraqi citizen.

WTF!

Jamaica on my mind...

How is it that my home country Jamaica only makes the news when ish goes down?

From Jamaica Gleaner:

...The gunman who hijacked a chartered flight at the Montego Bay Airport has been identified as Stephen Fray, a Jamaican man in his early 20s who is said to be mentally ill.

A release from the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) said that at approximately 6:40 am today "members of the Jamaica Defence Force Counter Terrorism Operations Group entered the cabin of the aircraft and effected a tactical resolution authorized by the incident commando and in the process disarmed and arrested the gunman who has been identified as Stephen Fray from a Montego Bay address while rescuing the other hostages on board...

Well, I'm just glad this didn't happen while President Obama was in T&T, because you know the Secret Service would have blown apart anything that looked suspect in three shakes.

When Tech is NOT appropriate: Diplomacy

Dude, what were you thinking? Was Desirée Rogers smoking rocks when this happened?

From YourHub:

If you have an open mind whatsoever, Google "gifts that Gordon Brown gave to Obama". You will see 3 PRICELESS gifts including an ornamental desk penholder made from the oak timbers of a Victorian ANTI-SLAVERY SHIP named the HMS Gannet. That's just ONE of the gifts, also pay attention to what Gordon Brown's wife gave to the Obama girls... they were both given VERY expensive dresses by a highly regarded European designer.

In return, the anointed one, our messiah, our President, gave Gordon Brown (our most important ally) a 25 DVD set of classic American films. Something anyone of us could drive down to Best Buy right now and purchase for under $100 bucks. Michelle Obama gave Gordon Brown's 2 boys replicas of Marine One (items that can be found at the Whitehouse gift shop for under $20. Before you start saying "So what, they're stupid gifts to the Brits", you need to know these gifts are honored traditions. They reflect upon the world opinion of this country greatly. Now he appears to be the "Commander in Cheap".

The Brits are not too pleased about this.

From NPR:

President Barack Obama's gift of a set of DVDs to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown appalled the British media, furious about the lack of traditional protocol afforded to Brown while he was in Washington.

Iain Martin, a columnist and blogger for the Daily Telegraph, wrote that he found Obama to be rudeness personified toward Britain.

Martin tells NPR's Robert Siegel that Britons are used to a full news conference when their prime minister is in town.

"Only at the last moment was it agreed that there would be a small press conference, and, I think, it was read as a metaphor for the concern that Obama really just didn't like having the Brits in town," Martin says. "Yes, he's dealing with the biggest global crisis in 70 years.

"Still, it would have been nice if he could have welcomed Brown with just a hint more enthusiasm."

I have to agree with Martin on this one. I love technology, but DVDS???, While I am happy to hear Obama apologized, sometimes the gifts you give are a reflection on you.

American DVD's have a different encoding on them that renders them inoperable on DVD players sold in the UK.

Prime Minister Brown is blind in one eye.

PM Brown brought dresses from a high-end store and books for President Obama's daughters. PM Brown's sons received replicas of Marine One, from the White House gift shop.

The gift exchange reminds me of those instances where folks unexpectedly show up and you have to race around your house looking for some to give to them instead of admitting that you don't have anything for them.

We are taught that it is the thought that counts in gift-giving. The thoughts behind the gifts to the British PM seem to be little to none at all.

Mr. President, next time, please don't raid the $5 DVD rack at Wal-Mart for your gifts.

JA pols vs. bloggers: Round 2

The battle between Jamaican politicians and human rights activists rages on over homophobia on the Caribbean island. As you may recall from last year, Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, came under fire over remarks on British television, opposing gay members in his administration. Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) was also denied accreditation to a UN event in September after representatives of the Jamaican government complained about their presence only after the group was given clearance to attend the meeting months before. Bloggers throughout the Caribbean and around the world spoke out in defense of LGBT Jamaicans, and they are coming out again in force, this time over another Jamaican politician making controversial remarks.

Ernest Smith, an MP from St Ann parish, said the following last week:

"I am very concerned that homosexuals in Jamaica have become so brazen, they've formed themselves into organizations and are abusive, violent and something that the Ministry of National Security must look into is why is it that so many homosexuals are licensed firearm holders. There was a report recently which has never been challenged that our security forces, particularly the Jamaican Constabulary Force, have been overrun by homosexuals … there was a front page report in one of our daily newspapers, which has never been challenged."

Smith is now also calling to outlaw J-FLAG. Some Caribbean bloggers are calling for both Golding and Smith to resign, while others hope this latest incident will make people wonder about the irrationality of homophobia.

"Time was when the homophobic hysteria and condemnation would have been the norm with perhaps a lone dissenting voice," the blogger continues. "If nothing else, Smith's diatribe has brought out this more balanced, rational response we might not have known of otherwise."

Post-Racial America?

And to think, some people believe that black history month is obsolete now that we have a black president.

From Reuters

African Americans criticized a New York Post cartoon as racist Wednesday, saying it likened President Barack Obama to an ape -- a potent image in the history of racism toward blacks.

The cartoon, which the newspaper defended as a parody of Washington politics, depicts a police shooting of an ape, playing off the real shooting of a pet chimpanzeee in Connecticut this week. One of the police officers says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Because Obama promoted the $787 billion economic stimulus that he signed into law Tuesday, critics of the cartoon interpreted the dead chimp as a reference to Obama, who became the first black U.S. president on January 20.

"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African Americans as being synonymous with monkeys," civil rights activist Al Sharpton said.

Calling the cartoon "offensive and divisive," he promised to stage a demonstration outside the Post offices Thursday.

New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie said he received numerous calls from outraged constituents.

"To run such a violent, racist cartoon is an insult to all New Yorkers. This was an unfortunate incident in which a human being was seriously injured, not an opportunity to sling dangerous rhetoric," Comrie said in a statement.

Police in Stamford, Connecticut, shot and killed a 200-pound (90-kg) chimpanzee Monday after the pet nearly killed its owner's friend and attacked a police car. The chimp, named Travis, had once starred in television commercials and was taking medication for Lyme disease.

New York Post Editor-in-Chief Col Allan said in a statement the cartoon was "a clear parody."

"It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist," Allan said.

But the National Association of Black Journalists called the cartoon "the lowest common denominator of taste and class."

"The publisher and editors of The New York Post owe its readers an explanation," association President Barbara Ciara said in a statement.

The right-leaning Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch's international media conglomerate News Corp.

If this is what a post-racial America looks like, then maybe we really are a nation of cowards!

Some sanity comes back to Zim...I guess

Change has come to Zimbabwe?

Not so fast...

From The Guardian:

Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Zimbabwe's new prime minister today, but was prevented from addressing the nation on television in a sign of the power struggles likely to come in the powersharing government with the president, Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe administered the oath of office to his bitter rival just a few months after saying he would never talk to the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, let alone share power with him.

Tsvangirai stepped up to the podium and shook Mugabe's hand. The new prime minister raised his right hand and promised to be faithful to Zimbabwe, observe its laws and serve it well. The rival leaders signed papers and shook hands again. There were no smiles...

Oh, no he didn't. Just to think that there is probably as much drama going on in Harare as there is in Atlanta.

But wait until you hear about Mugabe's upcoming birthday party.

From Times of London:

...In recent days [ZANU-PF has] been out soliciting “donations” from corporate Zimbabwe and have drawn up a wish list that is scarcely credible in a land where seven million citizens survive on international food aid, 94 per cent are jobless and cholera rampages through a population debilitated by hunger.

The list includes 2,000 bottles of champagne (Moët & Chandon or ’61 Bollinger preferred); 8,000 lobsters; 100kg of prawns; 4,000 portions of caviar; 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates; 3,000 ducks; and much else besides. A postscript adds: “No mealie meal” — the ground corn staple on which the vast majority of Zimbabweans survived until the country’s collapse rendered even that a luxury.

Those who prefer to give in cash, not kind, are invited to send “donations” of between $45,000 and $55,000 to a US dollar bank account in the name of the 21st February Movement, a youth organisation controlled by Zanu (PF) and named after the date of the President’s birthday...

WTF...the more things change, the more things remain the same.

No Veggie Love for PETA

PETA is at it again.



I have never been a fan of this "animal rights" organization simply because of their edgy PR stunts. The above commercial is just the latest example of its distasteful publicity tactics. One has to wonder if PETA purposely did this ad to just get attention, knowing full well that no television network would actually broadcast it. If so, it seems like they achieved their goal.

A couple of questions: If this ad is supposed to be pro-animal, isn't it also anti-woman at the same time? Is it me, or is this not sexual exploitation of women?

I agree that other inappropriate ads should also get canned or at least be moderated better during the Super Bowl, like those for Viagra and junk food...

But PETA has just lost its mind yet again.

What would MLK think of President Bush?

With President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration around the corner, it seems like Dr Martin Luther King's dream may have been realized. With all the good will and racial reconcilation the new administration represents, Obama will also be taking over the crap the previous administration left behind.

It begs the question: has President Bush set back America, and would Dr King approve of his actions?

Lets look back at some highlighted notes I took down over the last eight years:

1. Did Bush have pre-knowledge of 9/11?

2. And why after 9/11 did he enact executive privilege to protect Condi Rice and Dick Cheney?

3. While Saddam Hussein was eventually capture and killed, the Bush administration has sent over 4,000 service men and women to their deaths based on a lie.

4. Collin Powell lost his credibility around the world when he lied at the UN in support of the Iraq War.

5. Why did the Bush administration deny support for stem cell research and climate change?

6. Why did the Bush administration deny support to those in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina?

7. No Child Left Behind is still leaving American children behind.

8. The ABC Policy is also leaving a lot of other people behind in the developing world.

9. Shouldn't the Bush administration be prosecuted as war criminals for inhuman behavior going on in Abu Gharib and Guantanamo, which is the "gulag of our time"?

10. Who thought the Patriot Act and wire tapping made any sense in the first place?

11. During the Clinton administration, the budget had a surplus of more than $100 billion. Why is the fiscal 2009 deficit approaching $700 billion under Bush's tenure.

I don't usually like to predict what the deceased would say about things if they were alive today, but I am pretty sure that Dr King and I would agree that most of the nonsense that went down during the Bush years have just set back social justice in this country by many years.

In hindsight, Mr Bush, thanks, but no thanks for the memories.

So in honor of his last hurrah, here are President Bush's greatest moments, courtesy of David Letterman.

Can we talk about poverty now?

Class - the third rail of American politics - is rearing its ugly head more often these days as the economic downturn cripples the wallets of average Americans. But don't expect your elected officials to do anything in support of their constituents anytime soon.

From Boston Globe:

UNEMPLOYMENT is at its highest level in 15 years. Housing prices won't stop falling. The stock market has suffered its most punishing collapse since 1931, and shareholders have lost $7 trillion in wealth. Millions of workers have lost their jobs; millions more are worried about losing theirs. IRAs and 401k accounts have been decimated, and companies are halting their contributions to retirement plans. Retail sales are dragging, the credit markets have seized up, and worse is expected in 2009. The government has gone to unprecedented lengths to improve the economy, yet the economy keeps getting worse. The federal budget deficit is headed for a trillion dollars, and the national debt is well over $10 trillion and climbing. The number of Americans saying the country is on the wrong track is at or near its all-time high; consumer confidence is at its all-time low.

So what do you do now?

Well, if you're a member of Congress, you give yourself a raise.

Beginning this week, US representatives and senators will be paid $174,000 a year. That represents an increase of $4,700 and the 10th time since 1998 that congressional pay has been given a boost....

..."Finding anyone brave enough to defend the pay hike in Washington these days is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack," writes McClatchey's Rob Hotakainen. "When asked to comment, normally accessible members quickly go missing, are on vacation, are extremely busy with family members, or can't be reached on their cellphones because they're in remote locations."...

...Hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when members of Congress didn't make it an annual priority to pad their pay envelopes. In 1932, during the Great Depression, the House and Senate even cut their pay by 10 percent, then cut it by another 5.5 percent in 1933. Today's lawmakers, save for a handful of honorable exceptions, are about as likely to follow that precedent as they are to sprinkle anthrax on their Cheerios...

Between Detroit's Big Three, Bernard Madoff and Congress, it's time for Americans to rise to the occasion and take back this country from the mad men. Who is with me?

Making money on the high seas

As more commercial freights continue to get hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates have figured out how to make stacks. Talk about international development taken to a new level...

From Reuters:

...Massive ransoms have brought rapid development to former fishing villages that now thrive with business and boast new beachside hotels, patronised by cash-rich buccaneers who have become local celebrities virtually overnight.

Investors have been attracted from around Somalia.

"There are some 'pirates' who never shoulder a gun or go out into the ocean, but they own boats which earn them a hell of a lot of money," gang member Bashir Abdulle told Reuters by phone from Eyl, the most notorious of the pirates' strongholds.

Just three years ago, maritime security experts estimated there were just five Somali pirate groups and fewer than 100 gunmen in total. Now they think there are more than 1,200.

Some analysts trace the gangs' roots to ties forged with criminal networks across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen during years of people-smuggling operations.

Others say the buccaneers began life as a rag-tag "coast guard" formed by elders enraged by European fishing fleets illegally trawling Somali territorial waters for tuna, and even more clandestine craft dumping deadly toxic waste on its shore.

LINKS TO REBELS?

But the biggest lure now, of course, is the vast ransoms being paid for captured ships. Kenya says it thinks the pirates have received more than $150 million this year alone.

Many young men who used to work as bodyguards and militia fighters for Somalia's many warlords and feuding politicians have quit with their guns to chase the rewards available out on the waves.

And most worrying for the international community, some analysts see links between the pirates and Islamist militants who control Somalia's south and are advancing slowly on Mogadishu.

In some areas, residents say the pirates are the only ones allowed to defy night time curfews imposed by the Islamists.

For their part, militant leaders deny any connections and have vowed to attack the gang holding the Saudi supertanker in retaliation for their hijacking a "Muslim" ship.

Russia has proposed raiding the pirates' land bases such as Eyl, but the NATO alliance has said African nations must take the lead. Few in the gunmen's strongholds showed any fear.

"I know piracy isn't good, but if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be able to make a living," shrugs Kadija Duale, a mother of four in Eyl. She sells the gunmen $3 cups of tea on credit, then collects when they receive their share of ransoms.

A kilo of khat, a popular mild narcotic plant, now costs $65 in Eyl, compared with $20 elsewhere, thanks to pirate demand.

Eyl is in the semi-autonomous northern province of Puntland -- whose main port is Bosasso -- though the Saudi ship is being held further south in Haradheere port, another centre of piracy.

As the profits from the crime wave draw in businessmen from around the country, residents in the pirate's coastal bases -- and some inland towns -- have seen development in recent months that is unprecedented in their anarchic nation.

Abdiqadir Yusuf Ow Muse, the Eyl chairman, said his village had existed since 1927, but had long been only a tiny fishing community. This year, he told Reuters, all that had changed.

"Now it's a district with almost all facilities you would expect, because of the convergence of rich pirates," he said.

BET goes African?!

Black Entertainment Television (BET) will not stop until it has totally dominated the world with its buffoonery. First it was the UK. Next stop: Africa!

From BET:

BET Networks announced today that it is now offering BET in 29 countries in sub-Saharan Africa on multiple platforms, expanding the channel’s international reach that already includes the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. Through the GTV agreement, BET will be seen in 21 countries, and with the agreement with MultiChoice, BET will initially launch on DStv in 11 countries.

Available via DStv’s Premium and Compact bouquets, as well as GTV on both English-language bouquets G Plus and G Choice and French-language bouquets G Choix and G Grand, BET will provide consumers in Africa access to the network’s top-rated and critically acclaimed shows, including 106 & PARK, COLLEGE HILL, KEYSHIA COLE: THE WAY IT IS, BALDWIN HILLS, REAL LIFE DIVAS, THE BET HONORS, BOBBY JONES GOSPEL, and many more.

“Expanding into Africa is an extremely important, exciting and rewarding move for us,” said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. “With our launch in Africa on both GTV and DStv, BET Networks is continuing to build on our commitment of providing high-quality content to international audiences.”

“We’re so excited to establish a presence in Africa, as these key partnerships give us valuable scale in the region,” said Michael D. Armstrong, Senior Vice President and General Manager, BET International. “Africa makes great strategic sense, and we’re confident that we’ll continue to grow and deliver content to viewers across the continent who are eager for the programming we offer.”

Commenting on the launch of the channel, MultiChoice Africa CEO Eben Greyling welcomed the new addition to DStv. “Our general entertainment line-up has grown over the past decade to include the world’s biggest and best channel brands and the addition of BET to this line-up completes our multi-channel general entertainment offering and means that our subscribers will get the greatest selection of channel choice on DStv.”

“We’re delighted to have BET on board,” said Julian McIntyre, Founder and Managing Director of GTV. “Our service continues to break new ground in multi-platform content distribution and this partnership reflects our commitment to bring the best tailored content to our viewers at the most competitive costs. This announcement demonstrates again the strengths in content and innovation that position GTV well for sustained growth.”

I can see it now: Keyshia Cole: Africa Edition!

But being serious for a moment, isn't it bad enough that there is a negative image of African Americans in the motherland already? The last time I traveled to Africa, I meet someone who actually said to me "You're a good black who can speak proper English," meaning that I am not the "stereotypical" black American generally portrayed in the international media as criminal, poor and uneducated. Apparently, I am the only educated, middle class black person without a criminal record in the United States!

One would think America's most watched black television network would step up its game, and put out a better product that would represent ALL black people in a better light internationally. Not only would this be an opportunity to set the record straight about African Americans, but to also show that Africa is not a basket case of HIV/AIDS, war, famine and political corruption. Believe or not, there are black Africans who are also educated, middle class and not out to kill people with spears, bows and arrows.

But I guess that is asking too much from Debra Lee's minstrel empire.

Online terrorism is no joke

While we love the world of social media here at Global Wire, we're simply not down with the idea of online social networking for promoting global terror.

From Metro US:

Mumbai’s attackers were reportedly well-versed in modern technology. They have plenty of company: Today most rebels and terrorists are masters of the online universe.

Ten years ago, when Dr. Gabriel Weimann, a communications professor at the University of Haifa, started monitoring terrorist Web sites, there were 12. Today there are at least 6,850.

“In the past such Web sites were very simple; now they’re often extremely sophisticated,” says Weimann, currently at American University in Washington, D.C. “Terrorists are using Western technology to fight Western modernity.” In addition to posting messages on Facebook and YouTube, terrorists now run virtual training camps on the internet and use Google Earth to coordinate actions.

Rebel groups in developing countries are Internet experts, too. The Muslim Brotherhood has a Web site; so do the Tamil Tigers and the Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice in Niger. The Sudan Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is battling the Sudanese government over the Darfur region; its Web site is available in several languages.

“We’re not in a position to do what President Obama did with the Internet because we don’t have the resources,” says JEM spokesman Gibriel Ibrahim, “and because a very small portion of our population has access to the Internet. Nonetheless, our Web site is the place where we can freely express our views and communicate with the world.”

According to JEM, people from 85 countries have visited its Web site, www.sudanjem.com, which also has a chat room.

But there’s a war over Web sites, too. Says Gibriel Ibrahim (a nom de guerre): “JEM is a party at war with a notorious ruthless regime which is relentlessly trying to top the operation of our Web site and get rid of the people who run it.”

WTF!

Third Clinton Administration Term?

Quote of the Day:

"As President-elect Barack Obama continues to fill key cabinet spots with Clintonistas, including his former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nation's top diplomatic post, it was announced today that Obama will appoint Bill Clinton president next week. Although the New York senator lost the battle, she may have won the war."

- In a joking e-mail message from a coworker

Change I can't believe in...

Acting a fool in America

Here in America, yesterday was considered Black Friday - the first official shopping day of the Christmas season. Despite a trying economy, shoppers lined up at malls across the country to get the best deals. Yesterday was also one of the few days of the year grown adults act like they weren't raised with any sense.

From CNN:

A temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death Friday in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he attempted to unlock the doors of a Valley Stream, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

The man was 34 and lived in Queens, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming. Authorities did not release his name.

"This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning," Fleming said.

In California, two people were killed in a shooting at a Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. The shooting occurred about 11:36 a.m. (2:36 p.m. ET), authorities said. Police did not release the victims' ages or gender.

In New York, video footage showed as many as a dozen people knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the Wal-Mart store, Fleming said. The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, Fleming said.

"Several minutes" passed before others were able to clear space around the man and render some aid. Police arrived, and "as they were giving first aid, those police officers were also jostled and pushed," he said.

"Shoppers ... were on a full-out run into the store," he said.

...A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, he said, but "I'm happy to report she did not miscarry, and the baby is going to be OK." The woman was to be released from the hospital Friday, he said...

(BTW, what is up with the U.S. media spending more time on foolish American shoppers than on theterrorist attacks in India? More on this from me later...)

These kinds of incidents makes one wonder about how humanity has resorted to such resounding disrespect for itself. Christmas is "suppose" to be about charity and doing good for each other, however, due to ever-growing materialism in this country, Americans have lost all common sense and have become the opposite examples of what the holiday season represents.

We need to get back to respectful values in this country. One way of doing this is by participating in Buy Nothing Day, an international celebration of anti-consumerism.

Also, instead of buying your another usefull sweather, an alternative to traditional gift-giving is to donate money to a worthy nonprofit on behalf of your loved ones. There are many international nonprofits doing good work on behalf of the less fortunate that I have donated to in the past, including Oxfam and Heifer International.

However, sometimes charity starts at home, and the economy has struck local nonprofits the hardest that we should also support. Many social services that we depend on in our communities, such as homeless shelters, youth centers, food pantries, domestic violence relief homes, English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, HIV/AIDS hospices, substance abuse counseling centers and unemployment/job training organizations, are suffering the most because less people are donating to them this season.

So, if you go to the mall the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, please remember what this holiday season is really about.

Acting a fool overseas...

I have been meaning to write about this topic for a while.

I always find it interesting how people around the world complain about the rude American tourists who don't respect the culture in the countries they visit, when in fact, the Brits are just as guilty.

From The Guardian:

A British couple found guilty of having sex on a beach in Dubai had their jail sentences suspended today on appeal, and are to be deported.

Michelle Palmer, 36, of Rutland, and Vince Acors, 34, from Bromley, south-east London, had their appeal granted at the court of appeal in Dubai city.

The pair, who were on bail, have been ordered to pay a fine of £170, according to Acors' solicitor in London.

Hassan Matter, who represented the couple in court, said: "The judge has cancelled the jail. He refused the prosecution appeal [for the sentences to be increased]. They are free. It's wonderful.

Who has sex on a public beach in Dubai of all places!!!

Apparently, unruliness is a trend with British tourists.

From New York Times:

“They scream, they sing, they fall down, they take their clothes off, they cross-dress, they vomit,” Malia’s mayor, Konstantinos Lagoudakis, said in an interview. “It is only the British people — not the Germans or the French.”

Malia, [Greece] is the latest and currently most notorious in a long list of European resorts full of young British tourists on packaged tours offering cheap alcohol and a license to behave badly. In Magaluf and Ibiza, Spain; in Ayia Napa, Cyprus; and in the Greek resorts of Faliraki, Kavos and Laganas as well as Malia, the story is the same: They come, they drink, they wreak havoc.

“The government of Britain has to do something,” Mr. Lagoudakis said. “These people are giving a bad name to their country.”

They are also hurting themselves in the process. A recent report published by the British Foreign Office, “British Behavior Abroad,” noted that in a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, 602 Britons were hospitalized and 28 raped in Greece, and that 1,591 died in Spain and 2,032 were arrested there.

The report did not distinguish between medical cases and arrests associated with drunkenness and those that had nothing to do with it. But it did say that “many arrests are due to behavior caused by excessive drinking.”

So it would seem. Reports of scandalous incidents rumble on regularly here and elsewhere, helping to cement Britain’s reputation as the largest exporter of inebriated hooligans in Europe.

WTF???

When black politicians behave badly

As America is on the verge of electing Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the nation’s first black president, unfortunately, this week saw examples of how black politicians should not act.

Mr Obama, please take note.

Massachusetts state Senator Dianne Wilkerson said she won't step down from office despite a unanimous resolution in the state legislature yesterday asking her to resign after her arrest on bribery charges.

From Associated Press:

The state’s lone black senator who lost the Democratic primary last month was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes from undercover agents she believed were local businessmen.

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, 53, was charged with attempted extortion as a public official and theft of honest services as a state senator. She faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.

The Boston Democrat entered no plea during an initial appearance in federal court in Boston and was released on an unsecured $50,000 bond…

… According to a federal criminal complaint, Wilkerson was recorded by audio and videotape accepting bribes in exchange for helping a proposed nightclub in her district get a liquor license…

… An FBI affidavit filed in court includes a series of still photographs from video recordings allegedly showing Wilkerson accepting cash. In one photograph, taken in June 2007, Wilkerson appears to be stuffing a pile of cash under her sweater and inside her bra...

Meanwhile in Detroit…

From Associated Press:



Mr Obama, if you do, indeed, get elected on Tuesday, please represent the black race more honorably than the crooked people mentioned above. While it is no secret that politicians of all colors can be corrupt, black folks are always scrutinized more. The next four years will only be a struggle if you are not honest to the American people about what you do behind closed doors.

We are depending on you!!!

Divisiveness and the Presidential Elections

I will be so glad when this election is over in two weeks. Oh wait - I totally forgot. Someone is going to want a recount, and this is going to the Supreme Court - again. When does Florida secede from the rest of the country again?

Anyway, one thing I will not miss about the election is the divisiveness the McCain/Palin camp has used in a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the presidential race. Between calling Obama an Arab (and even if he was Arab, is that a bad thing?) and Colin Powell being accused of race-baiting, I really hope the Republican ticket will go down because voters will see the bigotry they have thrown into the race. Luckily, as you can see in this video, even Republicans don't like these dirty tricks anymore.

Sigh...12 more days...

Economic Terrorism!

Un-freaking-believable!!!

Why wasn’t I invited to the party?

From The Washington Post:

For some people at AIG, the insurance giant rescued last month with an $85 billion federal bailout, the good times keep rolling…

… And just last week, about 70 of the company's top performers were rewarded with a week-long stay at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., where they ran up a tab of $440,000.

At a House committee hearing yesterday, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) showed a photograph of the resort, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and reported expenses for AIG personnel including $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 for the spa.

"Less than a week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation," Waxman said in kicking off an angry hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "We will ask whether any of this makes sense."

"They were getting their manicures, their pedicures, massages, their facials while the American people were paying their bills," thundered Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.).

The gathering was planned before the bailout as a reward for life insurance agents, a company spokesman said, and fewer than 10 AIG executives were present…

Even if this “gathering” was planned before the bailout, no one thought about the inappropriateness of going ahead with it? No morals in corporate America or in Washington.

We live on a sinking ship and there is no one out to help us out.

WTF!