a preexisting condition isn’t a death sentence so insure the person darn it July 9, 2009

okay, so you’re at the docs office waiting to hear results from your scan. you sit patiently, but frantically wondering what the prognosis is. Of course you think the worse, that’s human nature yet you try to stay optimistic  in light of the fact you’re sitting there because docs wanted to do further tests. this sucks, but it’s life right. there’s a knock at the door.

This post is still being drafted but do comment as to if you’re interestedd in finding out more about why insurance companies should include persons with preexisting conditions.

my “beef” w/ cable news on the death of micheal jackson July 2, 2009

i’m extremely disappointed on the coverage of michael jackson’s passing. i’m appalled at cable news  mocking mj’s death as well as  trying to come up with  the “latest breaking news” based on hear say. GOSSIP!  the facts are not even in, yet everyone including “joe the plumber” has a theory about his death.  i personally don’t think it is any of our business as to how he passed. the only thing we should stay tuned for are the countless  contributions the king of pop made to not only the music world, but to those in need.  i could care less about his children because they deserve every caution of privacy offered to them especially during this difficult time. come on people, they just loss a parent.  not only that they don’t need the same media spotlight on them as was on their father. the media kills and i’ll be darn if the media hurts these innocent children for selfish gain. so leave them the hell alone. it is so evident that media isn’t concerned for the well-being of these children, but rather their our own ratings. how selfish are you cnn, fox, msnbc…

and whether or not mj took drugs is no concern of mine nor should it be yours .CABLE NEWS! this is not the time nor the place to talk about  what he did or did not do. if you and all your guests are concerned about his supposed drug use why didn’t you speak out while he was alive.  it truly amazes me how people just come out of the woodwork when someone dies so as to be seen on tv or experience fame for a lousy few minutes.

i’m also hearing speculation of where michael jackson is to be buried. my gosh people, the family hasn’t even released a statement as to mj’s memorial and burrial yet everyone knows something.  oh and to you disappointed fans who are upset because you stupidly fell into the media’s trap and feel  mj owes you something because you loyally supported his career: he owes you nothing. he’s dead. and for petes sake let the man have some peace in  death. where ever the family decides to bury mj that is their right and their business. we’re fans, their family.

i am a big fan of mj. i however will not discredit his name or legacy because of foolishness. he who is without sin cast the first stone.  and regardless of what you think he did or did not do while he had breath is none of our business. no one should stand in judgment of this man or any man except  God.

so cable news,  get a life and report on things of importance. why don’t you try spending your “no spin zones” and  your “fair and balance news” on stories of inspiration. this constant barrage of negative information is not good for the american people. matter of fact i equate you, cable news to that of a drug pusher.  and your  addicts are  those viewers who feed off  and feed into your lies in order to get a high.

rip michael jackson

A testimony I believe all should read so don’t deny yourself this touching account. March 27, 2008

To The Editor: 

As a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel compelled to 
respond to all this “much ado about nothing” when it comes to the 
statement that Michelle Obama made about the fact that this is the first 
time in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American. 

The country needs to hear this from the Black perspective. 

Long before I was born, my grandfather Joseph Burleson, owned a 
considerable amount of land in oil rich Texas. Because during that era, 
Blacks could not vote, nor could they contest anything in the courts of 
the United States, my grandfather’s land was STOLEN by his White 
neighbor. My grandfather, who was literate and better educated than my 
grandmother, drove to town. Seeing my grandfather leave, the covetous 
neighbor asked my grandmother to show him the deed to the property. He 
snatched it. She could not insist that he give it back, nor could she 
have reported this THEFT to the sheriff because of the fact that Blacks 
had no rights in the 1800’s. The prevailing law at that time was he who 
held the deed owned the land. Do you think that is something that I am 
PROUD OF? Right now I should b e living off the oil and gas royalties. 

In 1934 when my dad drove us to Texas to meet his family, when he 
stopped to purchase gasoline, his daughters and wife were not allowed to 
use the washroom. As a man it was easier for his to relieve himself in 
the bushes, but not for the females. We were, however, reduced to having 
to go in the bushes, also. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT? 
In 1938 when my oldest sister went to enroll in Hyde Park High School, 
she was told by t he counselor that she did not want to take college 
preparatory courses, she wanted to study domestic science. Do you think 
I’m PROUD OF THAT? Of course, when Beatrice Lillian Hurley-Burleson went 
to school the next day, that was the last time anyone thought that the 
Burleson girls wanted to study domestic science. 

When in 1943 my parents attempted to buy the 2 flat at 5338 South 
Kenwood, where we had lived since 1933, in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL we 
were told that we could not buy it because there was a restrictive 
covenant that said that the property was never to be sold to “Negroes.” 
Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT? 

In 1950 when I graduated from college, I was unable to get a job 
because I was considered “overqualified.” the code word for they would 
not hire me because of my race. All of the want ads called for Japanese 
Americans or Neisis ( the word given to Japanese Americans at that 
time). Do you think that was somet hing that I should have been PROUD OF? 
I understood that America was trying to make up for the interring of 
innocent and patriotic Americans who were our enemy by association. 

My cousin’s barbershop was bombed in Mississippi in the 50’s because he 
was encouraging Black people to register to vote. His wife who had 
earned a Masters Degree from Northwestern University lost her position 
as the principal of the local school because of the voter registration 
acti vities. Is that something I should be PROUD OF? 

Now we get to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of the Obama family. 
Rev. Wright like so many religious zealots overstates many things, that 
many of his members do not agree with. To suggest that Senator Obama 
should leave the church of his choice is not only a double standard, but 
it is absurd. Would any of the talking heads who are so alarmed by Rev. 
Wright’s thoughts and speeches suggest that Catholics should abandon 
their faith or denounce and reject the Pope because so many priests have 
molested children. These children were exploited and taken advantage of 
and they had no choice to even know they could resist, reject and 
denounce. To me the situations are parallel, except for the fact that 
the priests behavior is a physical violation of the innocence of 
children who are marred for life; and the priests behavior is a crime. 
Rev. Wright’s speeches are just words, that one can listen to or not, 
the members have a choice. Should Governor Romney denounce and reject 
the Mormon Church because some of their members practice polygamy? 

As Senator Obama has previously stated, we have entered the silly 
season. 

Barack Obama is an adult, and most importantly, he is an exceptionally 
intelligent adult. Like most of us adults, fortunately, we do not accept 
all we hear or see. If we did, the world would be more amoral, debased 
and perverted than the world of today is. 
I see all these “so called” ponderings an attempt to marginalize the 
candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. I cannot truly call this racism 
because some ignorant Blacks have also spoken disparagingly about him. 

I accept this as the darker side of mankind who because of their own 
inadequacies, they project their deficiencies on others. Barack Obama is 
a very rare individual, the likes of whom the world seldom sees. 
Like most geniuses, they are often misunderstood. They are objects of 
envy and jealousy. They are suspect because they soar above the average 
man who does not have the intellectual ability to understand the 
greatness of special people. They are also targets to be pulled down to 
the level of the mediocre who cannot stand to see an individual with 
deep convictions and high standards. 

We have not seen a phenomena like Barack Obama in many years and many 
generations. Like Ghanda, like Jesus, l ike Einstein, like Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr., like Mother Theresa, genetically, intellectually and 
spiritually, these people offer the world so much, but they are often 
maligned and misunderstood. 

Barack Obama is a Christian in the true sense of the word. A true 
Christian loves his fellow man unconditionally. A true Christian wants 
the best and tries to bring out the best in his fellow man. A true 
Christian wants to unite and bring the world together in peace and 
harmony. This is what Senator Obama stands for; but, unfortunately, he 
has had to get off point to answer these false charges, innuendoes, and 
just plain lies. 

We are in the presence of an angel unaware in Senator Barack Obama; and 
this country needs him, more than he needs us. He is the only person at 
this time in history who can restore respect for America with the 
worlds’ people. Because of his family background, the influence of his 
beloved mother wh o instilled great values in him, the influence of his 
absent father who vicariously inspired a son to go to Harvard as the 
father had done, the influence of a minister who brought him to an 
understanding of the value and meaning of Christianity, the influence of 
a brilliant Harvard educated wife who inspires him and keeps him 
grounded; he is the epitome of a citizen of the world. He is of the 
world because the world is in him; and this is what America needs to 
bring us out of the abyss to which we have sunk in the eyes of the 
world. 

Like, Michelle Obama, after living in this country all of my 78 years, 
loving my country and not understanding why my country has not loved me, 
I now for the first time in my adult life feel PROUD OF MY COUNTRY 
because I sense a maturing, a recognition of talent and character, and 
not color, and a field of candidates aspiring to lead this nation coming 
from very diverse backgrounds of gender, r eligious beliefs, national 
origin, ethnicity, age and experiences. This to me is the HOPE that 
America is coming into her own and will begin to CHANGE and will embrace 
the philosophy upon which this country was founded, where all men are 
created equal and are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness. Now I truly believe, YES WE CAN! 
For further information: 
Contact: Helen L. Burleson, Doctor of Public 
Administration 
(708)747-0919 

Here is a letter from Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the New York Times. March 26, 2008

LETTER FROM REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES About | Popular | Superdelegates | Predictions | Polls | Game The following is a letter, only published now, that Jeremiah Wright sent to the New York Times after the Times published an article explaining why Barack disinvited Wright from his Presidential bid announcement over a year ago. It belongs in company with pages that seek to offer a balanced picture of the man I believe to have been criminally maligned by FOX and most all of the rest of the media. LETTER FROM REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE TO WHICH THIS EMAIL REFERS March 11, 2008 Jodi Kantor The New York Times 9 West 43rd Street New York, New York 10036-3959 Dear Jodi: Thank you for engaging in one of the biggest misrepresentations of the truth I have ever seen in sixty-five years. You sat and shared with me for two hours. You told me you were doing a “Spiritual Biography” of Senator Barack Obama. For two hours, I shared with you how I thought he was the most principled individual in public service that I have ever met. For two hours, I talked with you about how idealistic he was. For two hours I shared with you what a genuine human being he was. I told you how incredible he was as a man who was an African American in public service, and as a man who refused to announce his candidacy for President until Carol Moseley Braun indicated one way or the other whether or not she was going to run. I told you what a dreamer he was. I told you how idealistic he was. We talked about how refreshing it would be for someone who knew about Islam to be in the Oval Office. Your own question to me was, Didn’t I think it would be incredible to have somebody in the Oval Office who not only knew about Muslims, but had living and breathing Muslims in his own family? I told you how important it would be to have a man who not only knew the difference between Shiites and Sunnis prior to 9/11/01 in the Oval Office, but also how important it would be to have a man who knew what Sufism was; a man who understood that there were different branches of Judaism; a man who knew the difference between Hasidic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews and Reformed Jews; and a man who was a devout Christian, but who did not prejudge others because they believed something other than what he believed. I talked about how rare it was to meet a man whose Christianity was not just “in word only.” I talked about Barack being a person who lived his faith and did not argue his faith. I talked about Barack as a person who did not draw doctrinal lines in the sand nor consign other people to hell if they did not believe what he believed. Out of a two-hour conversation with you about Barack’s spiritual journey and my protesting to you that I had not shaped him nor formed him, that I had not mentored him or made him the man he was, even though I would love to take that credit, you did not print any of that. When I told you, using one of your own Jewish stories from the Hebrew Bible as to how God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?,” that Barack was like that when I met him. Barack had it “in his hand.” Barack had in his grasp a uniqueness in terms of his spiritual development that one is hard put to find in the 21st century, and you did not print that. As I was just starting to say a moment ago, Jodi, out of two hours of conversation I spent approximately five to seven minutes on Barack’s taking advice from one of his trusted campaign people and deeming it unwise to make me the media spotlight on the day of his announcing his candidacy for the Presidency and what do you print? You and your editor proceeded to present to the general public a snippet, a printed “sound byte” and a titillating and tantalizing article about his disinviting me to the Invocation on the day of his announcing his candidacy. I have never been exposed to that kind of duplicitous behavior before, and I want to write you publicly to let you know that I do not approve of it and will not be party to any further smearing of the name, the reputation, the integrity or the character of perhaps this nation’s first (and maybe even only) honest candidate offering himself for public service as the person to occupy the Oval Office. Your editor is a sensationalist. For you to even mention that makes me doubt your credibility, and I am looking forward to see how you are going to butcher what else I had to say concerning Senator Obama’s “Spiritual Biography.” Our Conference Minister, the Reverend Jane Fisler Hoffman, a white woman who belongs to a Black church that Hannity of “Hannity and Colmes” is trying to trash, set the record straight for you in terms of who I am and in terms of who we are as the church to which Barack has belonged for over twenty years. The president of our denomination, the Reverend John Thomas, has offered to try to help you clarify in your confused head what Trinity Church is even though you spent the entire weekend with us setting me up to interview me for what turned out to be a smear of the Senator; and yet The New York Times continues to roll on making the truth what it wants to be the truth. I do not remember reading in your article that Barack had apologized for listening to that bad information and bad advice. Did I miss it? Or did your editor cut it out? Either way, you do not have to worry about hearing anything else from me for you to edit or “spin” because you are more interested in journalism than in truth. Forgive me for having a momentary lapse. I forgot that The New York Times was leading the bandwagon in trumpeting why it is we should have gone into an illegal war. The New York Times became George Bush and the Republican Party’s national “blog.” The New York Times played a role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I do not know why I thought The New York Times had actually repented and was going to exhibit a different kind of behavior. Maybe it was my faith in the Jewish Holy Day of Roshashana. Maybe it was my being caught up in the euphoria of the Season of Lent; but whatever it is or was, I was sadly mistaken. There is no repentance on the part of The New York Times. There is no integrity when it comes to The Times. You should do well with that paper, Jodi. You looked me straight in my face and told me a lie! Sincerely and respectfully yours, Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., Senior Pastor Trinity United Church of Christ Video: Context of FOX “God Damn” Soundbite The “Chickens Roost” Sermon Uncut FOX Virus Video

Links you need clink on to get informed! Always use good judgement! March 24, 2008

I will be compiling several links for you so as to bring about an awareness to the evil and gossip being poured out of the mouths of those persons claiming to have the love of God when they call themselves conservatives.  Keep in mind that some of these presentations are sound bytes just like that of Rev. Wright’s sermom; therefore make sure you view the comments in their entire context.  Also keep in mind the comments made by these commentators–not journalist are very mean and nasty.  I’m like saying to myself, do some people hate Barack Obama that much?  What has he ever done to them and why do they feel threaten? The enemy is alive people.  I’m also wondering if these conservatives have some secret agenda in Iraq. Do they really want the war to end? I convincing myself they don’t. Why is McCain over there in the middle east and in France.  Does he think he’s the president already?  Shouldn’t he be in America taking care of our needs.  Yeah I know he’s the republican nominee, but does that give him the right to just leave American soil to campaign over there and push his agenda on ‘deaf ears’.  Why don’t you stay over here on America soil and work on your weakness, the economy. We are in need of a reformation.  Why don’t you listen to the people over here who are losing their homes and jobs? Sorry people I went on a tangent didn’t I. I do that sometimes when I am passionate about something. Happy clicking.  Stay tuned for more links.    

Media Sources:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3495&id=12363-8982805-pa0Cqv&t=454  

1. “Hannity selectively excerpted interview with Obama’s pastor in order to paint him as ‘separatist,'” Media Matters, March 22, 2007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220005

“Hannity again selectively excerpted interview with Obama’s pastor to claim church has ‘black-separatist agenda,'” Media Matters, June 26, 2007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200706260011

“Fox’s Hannity again smeared pastor of Barack Obama‘s church as ‘black separatist,'” Media Matters, June 28, 2007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200706280002

“Hannity on Obama’s pastor: ‘It seems like he’s supporting a segregated church,'” Media Matters, December 20, 2007 http://mediamatters.org/items/200712200007

2. “Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain’s embrace of Hagee’s support as it did to Obama’s rejection of Farrakhan?” Media Matters, February 28, 2008 http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018

“‘Repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking'” Jews have brought on their own anti-Semitism, says McCain supporter Pastor John Hagee,” John Aravosis at AmericaBlog, March 2, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3524&id=12363-8982805-pa0Cqv&t=457

“McCain ‘Proud’ of Endorsement From John Hagee Who Calls Catholics ‘The Great Whore.’ Where’s Tim Russert Now?” Jane Hamsher at HuffingtonPost, February 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3525&id=12363-8982805-pa0Cqv&t=458

3.”McCain’s Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,” Mother Jones, March 12, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3519&id=12363-8982805-pa0Cqv&t=459

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Bill Richardson endorses Barack Obama! March 21, 2008

This endorsement is significant whether you want to believe it or not.  As an elementary school teacher who teaches the less advantage and whose brown and black faces look into my eyes for hope, I see no difference in my pupils, all I see is love and I want very much to protect them by providing them with the best education.  We are more alike than different and I am glad to see evidence of that displayed by the endorsement of Bill Richardson.  https://donate.barackobama.com/billrichardson

If Archie Bunker and Fred Sanford were alive what would they talk about regarding this election?

what do you think Bunker and Sanford would say right now with all this hoopla going on regarding the ‘race’ for the white house?

 Speak on it!

Roland Martin from The Roland Reports reports, The truth behind Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s 9/11 sermon

The truth behind Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s 9/11 sermon

As this whole sordid episode has played out over the last week, I wanted to understand what he said in this speech. I’ve been saying all week that context is important, and I just wanted to know what the hell was going on.

I am actually listening to the sermon Rev. Wright gave after September 11 titled, “The Day of Jerusalem’s Fall.”

One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former US Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX NEWS. That’s what he told the audience. He was quoting Peck as saying that America’s foreign policy has put the nation in peril.

Wright then went on to outline the instances the nation was involved in terrorism, beginning with the Native Americans – taking it from them; took Africans for slavery; then went on to talk about bombing Grenada, Panama, Qadafhi’s home, bombed Iraq and killed unarmed civilians, bombed a plant in Sudan that killed innocent people, bombed Hiroshima,…”and we never batted an eye,” he said.

“We are indignant that the stuff that we have done overseas is brought back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost. Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism. A white ambassador said that y’all, not a black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The ambassador said the people we have wounded don’t have the military capability we have. but they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with that.”

He went on to describe seeing the photos of the aftermath because he was in Newark when the planes struck. After seeing the plane slammed into the building, he spoke passionately about what if you never got a chance to say hello to your family again. “What is the state of your family?”

And then he told his congregation that he loved them and asked the church to tell each other they loved themselves.

His thesis:

1. This is a time for self-examination of ourselves and our families.

2. This is a time for social transformation (then he went on to say they won’t put me on PBS or national cable for what I’m about to say. Talk about prophetic!) “We have got to change the way we have been doing things as a society,” he said. He then said we can’t stop messing over people and thinking they can’t touch us. He then said we may need to declare war on racism, injustice and greed, instead of war on other countries. “Maybe we need to declare war on AIDS. In five minutes the Congress found $40 billion to rebuild New York and the families that died in sudden death, do you think we can find the money to make medicine available for people who are dying a slow death? Maybe we need to declare war on the nation’s healthcare system that leaves the nation’s poor with no health coverage? Maybe we need to declare war on the mishandled educational system and provide quality education for everybody, every citizen, based on their ability to learn, not their ability to pay. This is a time for social transformation.”

3. This is time to tell God thank you for all that he has provided and that he gave him and others another chance to do His will.

By the way, no where in this sermon did he said “God damn America.” I’m not sure which sermon that came from.

This doesn’t explain anything away, nor does it absolve Wright of using the N-word, but what it does do is add an accurate perspective to this conversation.

 

Roland Martin, “Is Sean Hannity man enough to debate me?

Is Sean Hannity man enough to debate me?

Its been an absolute trip watching Sean Hannity foam at the mouth on his radio show and TV show over Sen. Barack Obama and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

What amazes me is how he continues to toss all kinds of nonsense out, and no one corrects him.

Now, Hannity really tries to hold himself up as a big-time Christian, but I have doubts about that. Oh, yea, I said it. If you listen to his hateful talk, then he doesn’t walk the walk.

I think the real issue is that Sean Hannity and the conservative blowhards are absolutely afraid of Obama. They have absolutely NO LOVE for Sen. John McCain, and when they don’t have anyone to love, they need someone to hate.

And their hate has turned to Sen. Barack Obama.

When I listen to Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the Conservative Cabal, they claim to be defenders of truth and honesty, yet they are strangely silent – VERY SILENT – when their own conservative preachers make some of the most outlandish comments.

This is not about defending Rev. Wright or Sen. Obama. It’s about defending the First Amendment, the goodness of an individual, but most of all, the truth.

So, I’m issuing this challenge to you. Ask Sean Hannity why he won’t honor his own word to have me on his show. That’s what he told me at the Radio Hall of Fame when we met in 2006. When he heard I had done Bill O’Reilly’s show on nearly a dozen occasions, he said, “Well we’ve got to have you on my show!”

So, Sean, what say you? Are you willing to debate someone who isn’t afraid of you? are you willing to debate someone who isn’t gonig to back down from you?

You claim to be a Christian. I’m a Christian. Let’s have a REAL discussion about the church – black and white. Let’s have a REAL discussion about race in America – black and white. Let’s have a real discussion about the issues of the day – in black and white.

You keep quoting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but you don’t LIVE the dream. Maybe you do. Let’s start with a conversation.

Time to man up, Sean!

marabout, a blog contributor from another blog wrote

JINKATTA,Two things, Race is a socio-historical construct. Black and white are not biological facts of humanity. A person is black or white only so far that is identified as such and so and so forth. To be born of a black identified parent and white identified parent does not preclude you from being black identified simply because race is something made up and chose by both the individual and society. Mixed and black are not mutually exclusive(obviously) One subsumes the other. By the standards of American racial “rules” there is no biracial race. Yes, these rules are made up just like the one-drop rule and the ” if your ancestors came from Europe and you adopt our values you can be white” rule. No one is simply black or white. They become black and white through a process of socialization and engagement with the dominant social order. Often enough identity is constantly negogiated and context-dependent but it is never given. Also, black and white are not equivalent since both are constructed differently and one is dominant over the other. There is a strong asymetrey going on there.

So, OBama identifies as black. By the rules of American society he can do that and has chosen to do so. Why would you rob a man you obviously admire of the right to construct his identity any way he so chooses.