A National Shame

What does it say about our country that we cannot even maintain the best hospital in the US military? I urge everyone to read this article and ask your congressmen to speak up about this.

John Amaechi

Seven former male athletes have come out, with the latest being John Amaechi, who played collegiate ball at Penn State and professionally for the Magic and Jazz before the Knicks released him in 2004. While it is commendable to have gay men coming out, I am hardly surprised. Partly because of the rumors swirling around his sexuality for years. But it is doubly hard given his heritage. (Amaechi is half Nigerian) in a sport that is predominately Black.

This is a sad day for America. First the USA Patriot Act. Then the wiretapping. Next the Military Commissions Act. Now this. Courtesy of the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=f7bdc9f4cbb28c31&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The New Radical Republicans

Now that the Democrats are in charge on Capitol Hill, they have backed the Repubicans into a corner, and lik any cornered animal, they will find a way to lash out. Which they did yesterday when they tried to pass a different minimum wage bill with tax breaks for small businesses. I am so sick of these scumbags who have so beholden to the big corporations. Some of those that voted against the House-sponsored bill include a few up for re-eection in 2008, such as Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Sununu (R-NH), and Mike Enzi (R-WY). Shameless bastards.

It's Dr. King's birthday, and I see my people not much better off now than they were almost 40 years ago. I see black men incarcerated at a rate higher than the rest of the country, black families ravaged by poverty, cities assaulted by lack of oppurtunity. What has our country become? Empty. That is what it is becoming.

Yesterday, presidential hopeful John Edwards (my #1 choice for US President) spoke at the famous Riverside Church in Manhattan. And from what I have heard ad read, gave a speech that was infused with the legacy of the Dr. King and what he stood for. And I see a Democratic party willing to work for the people, as Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are passing legislation to raise the minimum wage to $7.50/hr., push for stem-cell research, a security bill that incorporate the recommendation of the 9-11 commission, cutting the interest rates of student loans, and a new law that would allow the federal government and Medicare to negotiate for lower prices. Amazing. They did more in 100 hours than the 109th Congress had done all of last year.

So we have a brand new Congress, but Bush is still up to his old tricks. Now it comes out that one of his signing statements he is going after American mail. The source of this info....front page of the NY Daily News.

Yesterday, 2006. Today 2007. Happy New Year World. Let it be a year dedicated to justice, peace, democracy, and love. Let it be the year that liberals, leftists, and progressives continue the daunting task of speaking truth to power and making the world a little bit better each day.