Farrakhan: Red Cross is Racist

After a one day tour of hurricane damaged Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan addressed an audience at the Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As printed in the official student newspaper The Southern Digest:

"FEMA is too white, the Red Cross is too white. You know that there is racism in education, racism in politics, racism in economics, racism in jurisprudence, racism in public policy, racism in international policy...Well then, why wouldn't racism be a part of FEMA? Why wouldn't racism rear its ugly head in the Red Cross or United Way?"

I think it's important to report what Farrakhan says outside of the mainstream media. Why? Because some mainstream politicians are giving him legitimacy by speaking at the Millions More march. We need to let the politicos know this is not OK.

Cell Phone Porn

Pornography: I know it when I see it and I see way too much of it. We don't have a choice, it's everywhere and now it maybe on your cellphone too.

With the advent of advanced cellular networks that deliver full-motion video from the Internet — and the latest phones featuring large, bright color screens — the pornography industry is eyeing the cell phone as a lucrative target.

In recent months, that prospect has produced a cadre of entrepreneurs in the United States hoping to follow the lead of counterparts in Europe, where consumers already spend tens of millions of dollars a year on phone-based pornography.

What If the United States Had Not Invaded Iraq - article by Daniel Pipes

Much would be different had George W. Bush not decided to invade Iraq.

In some ways, the situation would be worse:

• The Iraqi population would still suffer under the totalitarian rule of Saddam Hussein. The shaky economy, car bombs and ethnic unrest that Iraqis face today are far lesser evils compared with the poverty, injustice, brutality and barbarism that was their fate between 1979 and 2003.
• Regional security would be imperiled. Saddam Hussein invaded two countries (Iran in 1980, Kuwait in 1990) and launched missiles against two others (Saudi Arabia, Israel); the chances are high that he would aggress again, perhaps this time to impede oil routes through the Persian Gulf. Additionally, he sponsored suicide terrorism against Israel and maintained close relations with the thug regime of Bashar al-Asad of Syria.
• U.S. security would be endangered so long as a megalomaniac ruled Iraq with the means to build and the will to use weapons of mass destruction. Hussein showed this capability as early as 1988, when he several times deployed chemical gas, even against his own people (in a village in 1988, killing 5,000). His links to al-Qaeda might have led to his cooperating with it to deploy WMD in the United States.

But, had the war not taken place, the situation in other ways might be better:

• European attitudes toward the United States would be improved. Polling and other data demonstrate that the Iraq war inflamed an international hostility against Americans unprecedented since 1945.
• Muslim unrest has been exacerbated by the war. A powerful radicalization has been apparent not only in majority-Muslim countries (Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan are good examples) but also in Western countries (such as the United Kingdom).
• Domestic U.S. politics would be less fractious without the war. The post-9/11 solidarity had already frayed before the Iraqi war began in March 2003, but that decision worsened tensions, as symbolized by the heightened acrimony in the U.S. presidential elections of 2004.
• To generalize, benefits of the war have been mainly security-related and the costs mainly attitudinal. The world is safer with Hussein awaiting trial in a jail cell, but also more divided. The Bush administration succeeded militarily but failed politically.
• On balance, the war brought more positives than negatives; unpopularity and acrimony are a price worth paying so that the Iraqi government no longer endangers Iraqis or the rest of the world.

Orginally Published Daniel Pipes Website:Daniel Pipes, director of Middle East Forum & prize-winning columnist for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org, is the single most accessed source of specialized information on the Middle East and Islam. It offers an archive of his work and a chance to sign-up to receive by e-mail his new materials as they appear.

Sudden Appearance of Homosexuality in Ghana!

This article from a Ghana website caught my attention. While trying to figure out why there's an increase in homosexuality, the website is conducting a poll about polygamy. So far, support of polygamy is at 80% of respondents.

Homosexual, Lesbian Clubs Mushroom In Kumasi, Ghana
Sexual attraction between people of the same sex has become a new craze in the Kumasi Metropolis. This kind of attraction between same women is known as lesbianism while that in men is called homosexuality or sodomy.

The practice was, hitherto, unknown in the Garden City. Spectator investigations have revealed that there are numerous homosexual and lesbian clubs in the Garden city most of them operating at Krofrom, Bantama, Nhiaeso and Asafo. The clubs are mostly patronized by high society men and women who drive expensive cars. They are also very fashionable in their appearance.

One significant thing about them is that most of homosexuals bleach their skin and wear earrings in one or in both ears. Lesbians dress scantly and in a very seductive manner. The homosexuals are more often recruited through social functions and lured with money and gifts by the affluent.

With the lesbians, the Spectator learnt that they are young innocent girls who are initially employed by rich shop owners as shop assistants in the commercial and fashionable areas of the metropolis. Some are also employed as house-helps and during their course of duties, they are enticed with fat salaries, gifts and luxurious personal items by their ‘Madams' and consequently lured into the system.

Women bus drivers too afraid to drive in New Orleans

New Orleans Police looting Walmart

Highlights from the NY Times investigation of New Orleans:

1. Women bus drivers in New Orleans refused to drive the buses because they were afraid, according to Louisiana Governor Blanco. This left the state scrambling to find qualified replacement drivers.
2. As the New Orleans violence started, local parishes afraid for their buses, resisted turning them over for the evacuations.
3. Seventy percent of the nursing homes ignored mandatory evacuation orders dispite laws requiring evacuation plans including private contracts for buses.
4. Two thirds of the 24,000 people in the Superdome were women, children or elderly. Security consisted of 90 New Orlean policemen and 300 Lousiana Natl Guard troops.
5. (NOTE: These activities may not have occurred. It's unclear.] Gang rape, murder, robbery and assaults were carried out by armed gangs of 15 to 25 men without resistance from security or evacuees. If these thugs were caught by the police they were simply moved to another hall and with the hope "they would not find their way back".
6. Governor Blanco admits she didn't always know exactly what to request and that she didn't even know how the supply chain works.
7. Pentagon, White House and Justice officials debated for two days whether the President should seize control of the relief mission from Governor Blanco. However they were concerned about using combat forces in an American city without the governors consent. Defense Secretary Rumsfield said "the way it's arranged under our constitution, state and local officials are the first responders."
8. Firefighters from across the nation were forced to undergo community relations and sexual harrassment training in Atlanta before going to devastated areas.
9. New Orleans had used $18 million in federal funding since 2002 to stage exercises, train for emergencies and build relay towers to improve emergency communications. After years of delay, a new $16 million command center was to be completed by 2007.

Sean Penn saves the day with a sinking boat & flak jacket

Why the flak jacket Sean? It must be because he's a national treasure.

Sean Penn's attempt to sail to the rescue of young victims of Hurricane Katrina has foundered. The actor apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of his boat, which began to take on water as soon as it was launched. Things then got worse - the boat's motor failed and those on board had to start rowing.

And then the final straw: bystanders eyeing off the massive entourage on the boat - it even included a personal photographer for Penn - taunted the actor. "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"

Wal-Mart offers FREE Prescriptions for Evacuees

Emergency Prescriptions Filled Free for Evacuees With No Money: Evacuees with emergency medicine needs and no money may go to any Wal-Mart pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled free of charge, even if they do not have a copy of their prescription. People who have been displaced and are temporarily residing in other areas may receive a seven-day supply of free medication.

Housing Prices vs Income

"It is clearly a good thing if you own a home, because you're wealthier now; the value of your assets has gone up," said David W. Berson, chief economist for the Fannie Mae, a mortgage buying agency in Washington. "It's clearly not a good thing if you don't own a home and want to buy."

A government index (based on single family conventional mortgages of up to $359,650 that were bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) shows:

• Rhode Island ranked 10th in the nation and led New England in house price appreciation during April, May and June.
• Massachusetts 22nd nationally for house price appreciation, at just under 12 percent;
• Connecticut ranked 16th, at 13.6 percent.

Historically low interest rates have made it more affordable in recent years for Americans to buy houses, driving home-ownership rates nationally to nearly 70 percent. Now, as interest rates have begun to approach 6 percent, economists say, the question becomes: How much longer can middle-income Americans afford to buy?

• Rhode Island's single-family house prices have been rising at double-digit rates for five years, far outpacing the growth in income.
• Rising house prices have prompted buyers to take on bigger mortgages with adjustable rates or years of interest-only payments betting that their house value increases
• The longer that prices appreciate at this rapid rate the more certain there will be a turnaround in the market.

To gauge how far out of whack house prices are with income, Clayton-Matthews has developed an index that charts the ratio between the two over time. The housing affordability index he created for the New England Economic Parnership divides average house values (what homeowners told census takers their houses are worth) with per capita income. In Rhode Island, house values last year, on average, were 6.9 times per capita income -- ahead of Massachusetts and the national average. That's roughly the same ratio as during the last housing boom, in 1989. In the years that followed, house prices plummeted.

Clayton-Matthews remembers that time well. He bought his first home, a condo, during the 1989 boom -- and sold it, seven years later, for "tens of thousands of dollars less than what we paid for it." It could have been worse, he said. He and his wife had enough equity in the house so they could walk away from the sale with "a couple hundred bucks."

The Nation: Looting OK and It's Bush's fault, again.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation was on C-Span Washington Journal, this morning. She managed to tie all the Hurricane Katrina problems with Bush. From the poor people looting (we need income redistribution) to the flooding of New Orleans (Bush spent the money defending the USA). Talk about a unifying theory of everything!

When a caller accused her of politicizing the Hurricane, at first she said she wasn't, then in the same breath she said the policies of the Bush adminstration were at fault.

The Evil Empire, Wal-Mart opens their doors to help refugees. So Left-wingers, how bad is Wal-Mart now?

Following President Bush's announcement today that former Presidents Bush and Clinton will lead a nationwide fundraising effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott contacted President Clinton and the White House and committed $15 million from Wal-Mart to jump-start the effort.
As part of this commitment, Wal-Mart will establish mini-Wal-Mart stores
in areas impacted by the hurricane. Items such as clothing, diapers, baby
wipes, food, formula, toothbrushes, bedding and water will be given out free
of charge to those with a demonstrated need.
Wal-Mart previously donated $2 million in cash to aid emergency relief
efforts and has been collecting contributions at its 3,800 stores and CLUBS,
and through its web sites. Through its Associate Disaster Relief Fund, the company will also give displaced associates immediate funds for shelter, food, clothing and other
necessities.

What's wrong with New Orleans?

What's going on in New Orleans is shameful. The way certain individuals are behaving, the gangs, the looting (non-food looting), the armed thugs robbing people.

I hate reading "Why?" postings but I don't know how else to express my feelings. It's so overwhelming and there is nothing being done.

The people are dying. The elderly, the sick, the weak. They've died.

Why aren't there food & water drops?

Where are the police? Where are the National Guard? If someone is shooting at a helicopter, why aren't they firing back and killing the bastards?

Where's Al Sharpton? Where's Jesse Jackson? Where's the Nation of Islam?

Where's Cindy Sheehan? Where's Sean Penn? Where's the anti-war protestors who are so concerned about Iraqis being killed?

Why the F** is this happening?