Top 10 Michael Steele Blunders

Michael Steele may not be the new face of the Republican Party for much longer. It appears that forces within the GOP are rising up against him.

I always thought that the life of a Black Republican must be lonely, but, I never imagined that the 33% of the Black RNC members would turn on him so quickly.

Most of Bro. Steele's problems are self-inflicted. He holds the world record for the least amount of time between (a) making a public statement on some political issue and (b) publicaly apologizing for making the statement. His political will appears to be made of taffy, not steel.

However, I have to give him credit for one thing. He gives a much more interesting interview than GOP leaders of the past.

Here are the top 10 blunders from Michael Steele randomly selected from his first six weeks in office:

1. Failure to hire chief of staff, communications director
   
2. Flip flop on abortion
   
3. Sends 'slum love' to Bobby Jindal
   
4. Offensive comments about 'one-armed midgets'
   
5. Failed showdown with Rush Limbaugh
   
6. Shut down idea for GOP policy think tank
   
7. Lack of support for GOP platform position on gay marriages
   
8. Sought to give GOP more 'hip-hop credibility'
   
9. Thinks he is in the business of ticking people off.
   
10. Threatens to withhold RNC Funds from moderate GOP senators

Things are so bad that the Baltimore Public School system wants Steele to apologize!

Villagers ... what do you think? Has Michael Steele been treated unfairly in these first few weeks as the GOP leader? Any estimates on when he will be either removed or forced to resign?

Obama's Personal Efforts to Stimulate Our Economy

Does Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) Have 'Mad Cow Disease'? He Compares Obama to Robert Mugabe

Someone needs to remind South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose state has the second-worst-in-the-nation 10.4 percent unemployment rate, that "people who live in glass houses should not throw stones". I suspect that the unemployment rate for African Americans in South Carolina is approaching 20%.

Sanford is a failed Republican politician. He failed to bring jobs into his state ... failed to provide water, sewage, bridges, roads and other infrastructure projects that would attract economic development ... failed to deal with dispair by students in South Carolina. Instead he rants about the Obama presidency.

Sanford has been telling anyone who will listen that he is against the stimulus package passed into law last month. He's made wild comparisons of the United States to pre-Hitler Germany and 1920s Argentina. This week he ramped up his rhetoric when he compared President Obama and other supporters of the stimulus package to the economic policies of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe.

---

"What you're doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we don't have, send it to different states - we'll create jobs... If that's the case why isn't Zimbabwe a rich place?"..."why isn't Zimbabwe just an incredibly prosperous place. Cause they're printing money they don't have and sending it around to their different - I don't know the towns in Zimbabwe but that same logic is being applied there with little effect."

---

Sanford is saying that our situation is comparable to Zimbabwe, a nation in the throes of an economic meltdown:

• 80% unemployment in Zimbabwe
  
• Mugabe is starving his citizens to death
  
• 10,200,000,000,000,000% inflation rate in 2008
  
• Mugabe is printing banknotes in the trillion-dollar range to keep up with the plummeting value of its currency

Personally, I think it is time for the citizens of South Carolina to bitch-slap Gov. Sanford. The Democratic National Committee is more diplomatic in their response video:



What is your take on Gov. Mark Sanford?

Blog Safari #29

Every once in awhile we come across some great blog posts that we want to share with others. We use our 'Blog Safari' to point out these talented bloggers and creative blog posts to interested villagers. Follow my Rhino-Guide (she needs a name!) on this journey thru the cyber-jungle. Enjoy the flow!!

• A Political Season - My Black Conservative / Republican Soul


• BlackVoices - Pfc. LaVena Johnson: Why You Need to Know Her Story'


• Black Web 2.0 - Rethinking Africa


• Change.org - A Handy Guide to What Just Happened in Darfur


• Electronic Drum - Interview: Farai Chideya on Cancellation of NPR's News and Notes'

Let us know if you come across any remarkable posts that should be shared in our next Blog Safari!

Once You Go Black...

Villagers are gathering around the baobob tree to consider some of the mysteries of the world. Today, we share the following observations for your consideration:

• The most powerful politician in the world is Black.
• The best golfer in the world is Black.
• The best female tennis player in the world is Black.
• The fastest racing driver in the world is Black.
• The fastest sprinter in the world is Black.

Michael Jackson must be kicking himself!

New AfroSpear Member: Noir Woman News

Villagers, I am very excited to introduce you to Dee Daniels. She is a new member of the AfroSpear who comes to us with a remarkable multi-media empire! The mission of her media empire is to inform, inspire and to celebrate the achievements of African American women.

Her first blog post was in April 2008 when she was experimenting on a Blogspot platform. However, she left that blog to begin anew in September 2008 on Wordpress platform with Noirwomannews's Weblog.

In addition to her blog, Sis. Daniels is active on the web, Facebook, Twitter and who knows where else!

Dee indicated that she wanted to join the AfroSpear in order "to increase awareness of Black issues and to maintain an active presence in providing information on issues that concern this group online."

I imagine that Dee Daniels is most proud of her magazine, Noir Woman News, a professional African American Woman's publication distributed monthly in the Chicago SunTimes. The magazine gives practical everyday tools and techniques to keep us informed of everything under the sun, that relates to health, family and career.

I encourage all villagers to use the COMMENTS option below to share welcoming remarks with Dee Daniels and visit her blog as well!

Driving While Black ... Tenaha Texas style

I have lived or worked all over the country. The concept of 'Driving While Black' is well known from coast-to-coast. Rare is the African American driver who hasn't personally been stopped for 'Driving While Black' by the police. If it hasn't happened to you ... then you know someone that faced a DWB experience. Ordinarily, we were at risk for a ticket.

They don't settle for giving African Americans tickets in the tiny Texas town of Tenaha. In this town, you risk losing your car, your cash, your jewelry or other valuables.

That's because the police here found a way to strip motorists, many of them Black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering or other serious crimes. No wonder the town offers its own special driving lessons!

More than 140 people reluctantly accepted that deal from June 2006 to June 2008. Among them were a Black grandmother from Akron, who surrendered $4,000 in cash after Tenaha police pulled her over, and an interracial couple from Houston, who gave up more than $6,000 after police threatened to seize their children and put them into foster care, the court documents show. Neither the grandmother nor the couple were charged with any crime. [SOURCE]

Last month we talked about Paris TX being the most racist city in America. Now we have these criminal cops from Tenaha TX. Can someone tell me what's up with small towns in Texas?

New AfroSpear Member: The Vanel Journal

Villagers, I would like to introduce you to a new member of The AfroSpear ... Theard Vanel. Bro. Vanel began his blogging career on 3/3/2008.

Thearl shared the following with us: "I attended Netroots and the Blogging While Brown conference and I think it is important that bloggers of color maintain a voice in the blogosphere. We need to support each other while realizing that our experience and issues of concern are not monolithic but connected by a common thread."

The Vanel Journal (BBR #1030) provides intriguing commentary on modern politics. He has a unique and independant voice that should be heard. I hope you will take a moment to visit his blog and welcome him to The AfroSpear!

'Where is Waldo' Version of President Obama's Inaugural Address by David Bergman

This is some amazing technology. Do you remember the movie, 'Enemy of the State' with Will Smith and Gene Hackman? This is 'Enemy of the State' type shyt! Click on the photo above ... the keep clicking on any part of the subsequent gigapan photo ... and you will see the face of each individual in the crowd ... IN FOCUS!

You can scan, double click and zoom to any section of the crowd. . . Wait a few seconds. . . And the focus adjusts.

The picture was taken with a robotic camera at 1,474 megapixels. (295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera).

I am interested to hear your thoughts after viewing this photo!

OURstory: All Black Female Flight Crew

Four African American women made history last month when they took an ASA flight from Atlanta to Nashville. They weren't passengers. They were the nation's first all Black all female flight crew.

Captain Rachelle Jones, first officer Stephanie Grant, and flight attendants Diana Galloway and Robin Rogers worked an ASA flight from Atlanta to Nashville they never expected to make history. In fact, it was a matter of chance.

"The first officer became ill and was replaced with Stephanie," said Galloway.

"When I got to the cockpit and I saw Rachelle -- we just met a few weeks prior," Grant said. "And I was just ecstatic when I saw her in there."

"We did not realize the historic ramifications of it," Rogers said. "We were just like, okay this is gonna be fun."

But Captain Rachelle Jones got it right away. She and Grant in the cockpit, Galloway and Rogers in the cabin -- all Black, all female.

"I said this could be a first, so let's be on our P's and Q's," Jones said.

"I think we had a little more pep in our step," said Galloway. "I think we were just so proud."

Jones is one of only ten black female airline captains in the country. She used to be a customer service agent for Delta. Piloting was never on her radar until a friend suggested it.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Captain Rachelle Jones completed her upgrade traning in April 2008 and has now become the airline's first Black female Captain.

As little girls, they'd never seen anyone who looked like them piloting a plane. Now for other little girls, they're proof you really can be whatever you want to be.

"Fate may have a little bit to do with it, but for everyone that will look at us as role models or look to aspire to be what we are today, they need to know that it was hard work and dedication to get here," Grant said.

"Young girls need to see that yes they can be flight attendants and yes they can be pilots," said Jones. "The sky is the limit."

Villagers are invited to congratulate the crew.

Uplift Your Soul With African American Art

I thought that all Villagers would appreciate an uplifting montage of music and African American artwork. Check out this video if you want to uplift your soul and mind:



Well, villagers, what say u? Did that video and collage of photos uplift your spirits? Which one did you like the best?

Sunday Inspirations: The Mayonnaise Jar and Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes!”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognise that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked that. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

The Red Pump Project

I added Life Management Institute, Inc. as a client earlier this year. I used online marketing tools to help them set attendance records for the 3rd Annual Conference on Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness held yesterday here in Cincinnati OH.

My eyes continue to be opened about the impact that HIV/AIDS is having on our community. In fact, I created a groupsite to bring together like-minded people that want to replace ignorance with awareness on this critical health issue.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African American women accounting for 66% of that group.

In observance of this day, Karyn of The Fabulous Giver and Luvvie of Awesomely Luvvie came up with the idea of The Red Pump Project. My blog, the Electronic Village, is going to Rock the Red Pump to represent the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease both directly and indirectly.

I hope that all villagers will find a way to support this effort in one way or another.

Zimbabwe Needs Our Help

I just signed ONE's petition calling on the African Union to keep its promise to the new unity government of Zimbabwe and I hope you will too.

The consequences of years of poor governance in Zimbabwe are poverty and disease on a tragic scale demanding a global response. Public hospitals have been without running water for months, creating a petri dish for easily preventable killers such as cholera. More than 3,000 people have died in Africa's worst cholera epidemic in 19 years. Schools have been shut down because teachers can't be paid. The agricultural sector has collapsed, half the population requires emergency food aid, and humanitarian aid groups are struggling to keep up.

Now Zimbabwe has a new unity government, but in order for it to have any chance to tackle these problems, it is going to need the African Union to do everything in its power as guarantor of the new government.

Add your name to the petition and show the African Union that the world is watching what it does in Zimbabwe.

New AfroSpear Member: A Word For My Sista's

Villagers, please join me in welcoming a strong nubian woman to the ranks of The AfroSpear! Onetta Bellamy is the creator of blog named, A Word For My Sistas.

Onetta understands that "The purpose of the AfroSpear is to get a voice to inform, inspire, and uplift." She feels that she can support our purpose because her blog "was designed to inform, inspire, and uplift women of color."

Her blog is currently ranked #1222 on the Black Blog Rankings. I anticipate that it will continue to rise in the rankings as more of us are made aware of her voice. Join her this week as she discusses the importance of Michelle Obama to the image of Black woman nationwide.

Chris Brown Charged With 'Felony Assault'

Villagers, it appears that Chris Brown is going down. Chris Brown has been officially charged with two felonies [SOURCE]. The LAPD and the L.A. County prosecutor’s office have come under fire recently for allowing evidence from the case to be sold to the highest bidder. They have since built a solid case against the 19-year old singer. It is likely that he will be singing 'Jail House Rock' for a number of years.

The L.A. County District Attorney has just charged Chris Brown with felony assault and making a criminal threat, also a felony. Brown could face a maximum of four years and eight months in prison.

Village Gift Idea: Giant Remote

Never lose your remote again! With giant buttons, this extra-large remote is easy to use and impossible to lose. It's a 6-in-1 remote so you can use it to control your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite, cable and auxiliary A/V device. It even features glow-in-the-dark buttons, so you can easily find the remote in the dark. (You can buy them at Dollar General for $10 and give it to the person who usually holds same in a death grip but when detached always asks . Have you seen .?)

Study Shows Disconnect Between African Americans' Attitudes and Actions When It Comes to Personal Financial Planning

We urge all villagers to make a declaration of financial empowerment in 2009. As such, we were glad to hear from BlackNews.com that African Americans are more optimistic about their financial future over the next year than the general population, but the majority of those responding acknowledge they don't have a financial game plan and many don't know where to start.

A new survey of 1,200 participants commissioned by The Smiley Group and Nationwide Insurance shows 58 percent of African Americans expect their household situation to be better a year from now, compared to only 30 percent of the general population sharing similar optimism.

While African Americans say they think their financial situation will improve in the next year, most of those surveyed indicated they are not taking deliberate actions to better their financial circumstances:

• Less than half say they are proactive about their financial future
  
• 3 in 4 say they do not have a written financial plan
  
• 1 in 3 say they don't know where to start when it comes to personal financial planning

African Americans are more confident than their general population peers in their ability to make savings and investment decisions (52 percent vs. 43 percent), but are also more likely to indicate they are struggling with credit card debt (38 percent vs. 32 percent).

On saving for college, nearly half of all survey participants with children under 21 said they are very or extremely worried about being able to afford a college education for their children, while only about one in 20 of all survey participants say they actually have a college savings plan. Only 3 percent say saving for education is the most important goal.

African Americans aren't alone in their tendency to avoid the topic of finances. Like the general population, we rank sex and not having enough money as the top two topics they are least comfortable discussing with family members, far outranking religion or politics.

African American respondents admitted more frequently to taking some type of action to avoid conversations about finances (45 percent vs. 39 percent of the general population). Generally, of those who are willing to make this admission, actions taken to avoid the conversation included screening calls and cutting off a relationship.
Read the full article here.

I know that I need to do better. How about you? Am I the only villager who sometimes tries to avoid creditors? Is it time for us get serious about the Declaration of Financial Empowerment?

Evolution of the AfroSpear

The AfroSpear continues to evolve from its origin a few short months ago when FreeSlave and others ruminated on 'What to do in the Afrosphere'.

There is a blogosphere out there with a kazillion bloggers. The blogosphere is not very diverse according to the Washington Post. Some white bloggers and some Black bloggers. The Black bloggers make up something that is commonly referred to as the "Blackosphere".

Within the "Blackosphere" are many Black bloggers posting information on any number of subjects. Those concerned African Diaspora bloggers who discuss problems that affect people of African descent, create solutions and action plans to solve those problems, and enact the plans using Internet resources evolved into a more intimate group known as the "Afrosphere". This group is organizing with itself as an Afrosphere Bloggers Association.

And deep within the soul of the "Afrosphere" is the vanguard of bloggers of African descent known as "The AfroSpear". The AfroSpear works to carve a path for our people into this 21st century. In effect, the AfroSpear is the realization of an online think tank for Black progressives to discuss, muse, and ruminate issues that affect our communities. The AfroSpear is not a monolithic entity ... but rather a virtual force that encourages lively debate, discourse, and an occasional disagreement as we hone a thought or platform on a particular issue.

Francis Holland created a diagram that shows this evolution in a more visual manner.

The roster of AfroSpear bloggers is powerful in terms of quality and growing daily. It is a group of brothers and sisters achieving positive and actionable results on a wide range of issues. As PlezWorld noted,

'...the real power and effectiveness of such an AfroSpear will be borne out of its ability to affect change in our way of life and in a broader sense, that of America. Let's see if our collective foray into the great abyss of the blogosphere will be a call to those who need our votes or to those who seek our approval.'

I am proud to be a member of the blogosphere, Blackosphere, Afrosphere and AfroSpear! I encourage you to check out the AfroSpear Blogroll over on the left-hand side of my blog. Visit some of these brothers and sisters and support their efforts to 'make a difference' for our peeps. If you are a Black blogger of African descent ... then I invite you to be part of Villager's Black Blog Rankings.

In any case, I'm interested in your thoughts about the evolution of The AfroSpear. Well villagers ... what say u?

Should We Support Obama's Budget?

I must admit that the budget submitted to congress by President Obama looks like my personal budget ... more money flows out than flows in. The difference is that I can't print money at my house.

That being said ... we elected President Obama because he had specific ideas and programs that he feels will change America in a positive way. I respect him for doing what he said he was going to do. He allows the Bush tax cut for the wealthy to expire. He provides a tax cut for 95% of working Americans. He makes large investment in health care reform and energy independance.

At the end of the day ... we elected President Obama to lead us out of our current economic crisis. He says that he needs this budget passed. My attitude is that we should trust him. We should give him the budget that he needs. Here is how he introduced the budget to America yesterday.




I encourage you to invite other villagers to watch this video. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the federal budget proposed by President Obama?