Breaking News and Opinion From The Urban Journal

Self Hatred Is a Lethal Disease

2009-12-31T05:57:00.000-08:00

The following article and link give a scientific look at what it means to be afflicted with the disease of 'self hatred'. So afflicted, one becomes a danger to oneself and to others. This is not pleasant reading. It is sobering and even frighteningly depressing.
It makes you wanna hollar and scream! But what good would that do?
Makes you want to 'shoot the messenger' and say it ain't so. But, it probably is true for the most part. What makes it so unpalatable is the lack of love in the delivery of such bad news to the victims of this epidemic of 'self hatred' spawned by slavery and its aftermath. Our self hatred is only the reflection of the abusive and pervasive hatred that our would-be slave masters and oppressors threw our way for so many centuries. We are still running around with that seething hatred leaking from all our pores. It spews out in words and deeds that are destructive of self and kind. It makes unity impossible, or even normal family life! It renders impossible the relationships that would make business and economic development possible and blocks other advances that we as a people could be making. This self hatred is a lethal brew - it is the poison Kool-aid, and we should stop drinking.
What's the antidote to the poison of self hatred? It is the love that God has for us, made manifest in His searching the Earth for us, and as expressed in the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, as represented by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
What we have to do is translate and transpose these self love teachings into the precise modern language of today's generation making them contemporary and relevant. More importantly, we have to translate these self love teachings into acts and deeds that programatically change the landscape of Black life as it is lived and experienced by our people everywhere. Words are the start of everything, but if Words do not become Deeds, then we can only become increasingly the victims of the pathology that afflicts us that makes us the enemy to self and kind.
This kind of scientific report, because it is objective, and virtually devoid of emotion, should be studied by us to help us hone a programmatic approach that will remedy the fatal illness of self hatred. We must do this. It is almost too late.
Enjoy. Learn. Think. Act. Share.CDC Report Shows Dangers of Black MalesSeptember 27th, 2009 Black men are the leading cause of death among young blacks.Based on a 96 page report on the causes of premature death by the CDC, the leading cause of death among young blacks of both sexes appears to be black men. See report.AIDS.According to the CDC, black men are ten times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV or AIDS than white men. Among black men who allege that they have never engaged in a homosexual act, the figure rises to about 15 times the rate that heterosexual white men are diagnosed. Studies by the CDC also conclude that black men are more likely to have HIV or AIDS and go undiagnosed than white men.All of this translates to black women being diagnosed with HIV or AIDS at a rate of over 20 times that of white women. The general trend is for black men to catch HIV/AIDS from each other in prison and then give it to black women when they are released. The CDC believes that 74% of black women who have HIV/AIDS contracted it through heterosexual contact with a man.A 2004 report by the CDC says that AIDS is the:* the leading cause of death for black women aged 25–34 years.* the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years.* the 4th leading cause of death for black women aged 45–54 years.By way of comparison, AIDS was only the 11th leading cause of death for white women aged 25-34!HomicideThe same CDC reports say that homicide is the:* the leading cause of death among black men aged 15-34 years. (Three age categories!)* the second leading cause of death for black women aged 15-24 years.* the fifth leading cause of death for black women aged 25-34 years.Among women aged 15-24, homicide accounts for 5% of premature deaths in white females, but 20% of all premature deaths by black females.Among both black and white men, homicide deaths peak at aged 25-34. The death rate by homicide among white men in this age group is 12.5 per 100k, and accounts for 10% of all premature deaths. The death rate by homicide among blacks in this age group is 101.8 per 100k, and accounts for 48% of all premature deaths.The majority of black female homicide victims are killed by a current or former boyfriend, which many refer to as “femicide.” About 93% of all black homicide victims are killed by a black perpetrator overall. 85% of white homicide victims are killed by a white perpetrator.“The National Black Women’s Health Project” has identified the battering of women as the number one health issue for African American women (Joseph, 1997).Femicide is a leading cause of premature deaths in African American women aged 15-44. (Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol 7, No. 1)In 1998, Salber and Taliaferro reported that the spousal homicide rate among African Americans is 8.4 times more than for whites. The incidence of spousal homicide is 7.7 times higher in interracial marriages compared to intraracial marriages. (Source WebMD.com)Relationships with black men dramatically increase a woman’s chances of dying young.Black females aged 15-19 are 3.9 times more likely to die of homicide or AIDS than white females in the same age group. This increases to 4.4 time for females aged 20-24 and 7.3 times for 25-34.White women who engage in relationships with black men dramatically increase their chances of premature death or long term health problems from murder, beatings, and STDs.--Posted By Alim to Life Abundantly at 12/30/2009 12:01:00 PM

Swine Flu Breaks All of the Rules

2009-11-26T05:53:00.001-08:00

Swine Flu Re-Infection is a scarey and an unexpected development!
Here is a documented case of re-infection with H1N1 in a pediatrician from the US. She was infected, along with her son, in the summer and then got re-infected later raising concerns that the H1N1 virus can make a second circuit through a population previously infected. Could that lead to a 'second wave phenomenon' similar to what was seen in 1918 and 1919? Couple that to the mutation at D225G which permits infection deep into the lungs causing very severe illness and even death. We don't like what we are looking at. This is a virus that is breaking all the rules!H1N1 Re-infections Raise Pandemic ConcernsRecombinomics Commentary November 25, 2009Dr. Debra Parsons, a pediatrician at Kid Care West in Cross Lanes, was met with reactions of doubt from local health officials last month when she said two flu tests had come back positive for H1N1, or swine flu.Parsons first came down with the virus, complete with all the telltale symptoms, in August.Her son became ill at the same time with the same symptoms. Figuring they had the same bug, Parsons tested herself to see what it was.The test came back positive for Influenza A, so the lab at Charleston Area Medical Center sent it to be sub-typed. Parsons was positive for H1N1.Parsons and her son recovered, but in October they started having the same symptoms, but they became much worse. They were both tested this time, and the results were the same -- they were positive for Influenza A and then H1N1."It was swine flu both times," Parsons said.The above comments on lab confirmed re-infection of two family members two months apart by swine H1N1. These confirmations are supported by many anecdotal reports of similar re-infections. The timing of these infections allowed for easy identification, because at the time there was no seasonal flu, so identification of infections was straight-forward. Moreover, such infections in school aged children and parents are common because H1N1 infections exploded when school began.At the time however, the H1N1 virus was evolving slowly, reflecting an ease of infection of a naïve population. The jump from swine H1N1 into humans allows for infections with low doses of virus. Low concentration of virus produces a mild infection and a weak antibody response. The rapid spread creates widespread antibody, but the low level allows for re-infection from individuals with a higher viral load. A higher viral load can be created in a school environment, where some students could be infected multiple times because of frequent contact with infected students.Thus, the increased viral load could overcome the weak immune-response and re-infect those infected earlier, leading to a second wave. However, the higher viral load leads to more serious infections, especially for these not infected in the first wave. Consequently more previously health young adults develop more serious symptoms, leading to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. The higher viral load, especially when combined with receptor binding domain changes such as D225G can lead to the type of cases seen in Ukraine, where a high percentage of young adults develop infections that destroy both lungs in a matter of a few days.In many areas, including Ukraine, this wave is subsiding, but the holiday season will lead to new infections by viruses with regional markers, leading to a third wave in early 2010. --

Our Moral Authority !

2009-06-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

Here we are in 2009, with this country's first black President in office and I guess we should all think that all is well in the camp. We must have returned to a point in time where the US can once again impart it's wishes on any country we'd like to. The opposition in Iran have taken to the streets as a result of the BOGUS election returns on June 12. And we've witnessed the harsh response by the Iranian government. While the government's actions are deplorable, who are we to wag our finger? It was just 9 short years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court halted the recount in Florida and thereby appointing and anointing George W. Bush, as our 43rd president. To add insult to injury, the forces behind Mr. Bush repeated the same shenanigans once again, but with an air of sophistication. Come Sen. John McCain and sidekick Lindsey Graham, where were you when Americans right here at home were robbed of their choices? In the words of Don King, " Only in America" !

Billions for Bankers, While Hundreds of Thousands Lose Jobs In The Auto Industry

2009-03-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

To say that most Americans are suffering from a case of BAILOUT-BURNOUT would be an understatement. But how is it that lawmakers on Capitol Hill and the Obama administration can find Billions for Bankers but yet drop the hammer on the auto industry. Granted, Japanese automakers have been running circles around domestic automakers for years so one could argue that "The Big Three" brought this on themselves. But what happens now to those who have worked years on the production line?

Should US Taxpayers Bail-Out The Auto Industry?

2008-12-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

First Billions for the boys on Wall Street, quickly followed by Billions more for high-flying Banks, now the American Taxpayers are being asked to Bail-Out the Auto Industry. When is enough, enough? But is this different given the number of US jobs that are tied to the auto industry? How is your community being affected?

How Will Pres. Elect Barack Obama's Historic Victory Affect Race Relations in The U.S.?

2008-11-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

Since President elect Obama's historic victory, there has been a ground swell of hate crimes reported across the country, coupled with a dramatic increase in the number of guns (including high powered automatic weapons) sold in America. In rural Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web. In Raleigh, N.C., four college students admit to spraying race-tinged graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel after the election. On Nov. 6, a cross burns on the lawn of a biracial couple in Apolacon Township, Pa.
The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool – one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element. What do you thnk what will be the long term implications for the state of race relations in the U. S>?

2008-11-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

After Obama's win, white backlash festers in US
By Patrik Jonsson Patrik Jonsson Mon Nov 17, 3:00 am ET
Atlanta – In rural Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web. In Raleigh, N.C., four college students admit to spraying race-tinged graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel after the election. On Nov. 6, a cross burns on the lawn of a biracial couple in Apolacon Township, Pa.
The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool – one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element.
Most election-related threats have so far been little more than juvenile pranks. But the political marginalization of certain Southern whites, economic distress in rural areas, and a White House occupant who symbolizes a multiethnic United States could combine to produce a backlash against what some have heralded as the dawn of a postracial America. In some parts of the South, there's even talk of secession.

***Overall, what do you think? How will Obama's historic victory affect race relations in the US?

Now That President Elect Barack Obama Will Be The Ocupant of The Oval Office, NOW WHAT?

2008-11-12T03:23:00.001-08:00

Now That President Elect Barack Obama Will Be The Ocupant of The Oval Office, NOW WHAT?
Without a doubt people around the world are ecstatic about the victory of President Elect Barack Obama. With an economy on the brink of total collapse, with two seemingly endless wars going on, not to mention the rising number of Americans who are getting pink slips, what next for you and me. How do we turn this euphoria into meaningful change first in our communities and secondly in the world community. What will you do to be a meaningful agent of CHANGE?
Posted by murphman at 4:35 AM

Documents linking Iran to nuclear weapons push may have been fabricated

2008-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

Documents linking Iran to nuclear weapons push may have been fabricated
Gareth PorterPublished: Monday November 10, 2008
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has obtained evidence suggesting that documents which have been described as technical studies for a secret Iranian nuclear weapons-related research program may have been fabricated. The documents in question were acquired by U.S. intelligence in 2004 from a still unknown source -- most of them in the form of electronic files allegedly stolen from a laptop computer belonging to an Iranian researcher. The US has based much of its push for sanctions against Iran on these documents.The new evidence of possible fraud has increased pressure within the IAEA secretariat to distance the agency from the laptop documents, according to a Vienna-based diplomatic source close to the IAEA, who spoke to RAW STORY on condition of anonymity.The laptop documents include what the IAEA has described in a published report as technical drawings of efforts to redesign the nosecone of the Iranian Shahab-3 ballistic missile “to accommodate a nuclear warhead.” The documents are also said to include studies on the use of a high explosive detonation system, drawings of a shaft apparently to be used for nuclear tests, and studies on a bench-scale uranium conversion facility.These technical papers, along with some correspondence related to the alleged secret Iranian program -- referred to by the IAEA as “alleged studies” -- have been the primary basis during 2008 for the insistence by the US-led international coalition pushing for sanctions against Iran that the Iranian case must be kept going in the United Nations Security Council.
Handwritten NotesAt the center of the internal IAEA struggle is an Iranian firm named Kimia Maadan, which is portrayed in the documents as responsible for studies on a uranium conversion facility, called the “green salt” project, as part of the alleged nuclear weapons program under the Iranian Ministry of Defense.According to a February 2006 Washington Post article, the United States and its allies believe that Kimia Maadan is a front for the Iranian military.One of the communications included in the laptop documents – a letter allegedly sent to Kimia Maadan from an unnamed Iranian engineering firm in May 2003 – is at the center of the authenticity argument.This letter is described in the May 26, 2008 IAEA report as “a one page annotated letter of May 2003 in Farsi.” According to a US source who has been briefed on the matter, the letter has handwritten notes on it which refer to studies on the redesign of a missile reentry vehicle.Last January, however, Iran turned over to the IAEA a copy of the same May 2003 letter with no handwritten notes on it. This was confirmed by the director of the IAEA Safeguards Department, Olli Heinonen, during a February briefing for member states. Heinonen referred to “correspondence” related to Kimia Maadan that is “identical to that provided by Iran, with the addition of handwritten notes.” Notes on the Heinonen briefing, compiled by unnamed diplomats who attended it, were posted on the website of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.The copy of the letter without the handwritten notes was part of a larger collection of documentation concerning Kimia Maadan provided to IAEA by Iran in response to a request for an explanation of that firm’s role in the management of the Iranian Gchine uranium mine. After the IAEA received the copy of the letter without notes from Iran, some officials began pushing for an acknowledgment by the Agency that there were serious questions about the whether the laptop documents were fabricated, according to the Vienna-based source close to the IAEA. “There was an effort to point out that the Agency isn’t in a position to authenticate the documents,” said the source.Heinonen and other IAEA Safeguards Department officials have continued, however, to defend the credibility of the document in question. According to an American source briefed on the dispute, the defenders of the authenticity of the version of the letter with the handwritten notes say that the appearance of the clean copy can be attributed to Kimia Maadan making multiple copies of the original which have been circulated to various staff members.
Only an Ore-processing PlantFurther evidence damaging to the credibility of the letter and the handwritten notes was provided to the atomic energy watchdog last January by the Iranian government. According to Iran, Kimia Maadan was not working for the Defense Ministry but for the civilian Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The new Iranian documentation, described in the February 22, 2008 IAEA report, proved to IAEA’s satisfaction that the Kimia Maadan Company had been created in May 2000 solely to carry out a project to design, procure and install equipment for an ore processing plant.The documents also showed that the core staff of Kimia Maadan was able to undertake the work on ore processing only because the nuclear agency had provided it with the technical drawings and reports as the basis for the contract. “Information and explanations provided by Iran were supported by the documentation, the content of which is consistent with the information already available to the agency,” the IAEA concluded.Marie Harff, a spokesperson for the CIA, declined to comment.
Additional Doubts About the LetterOther questions surround the letter with the handwritten notes. The subject of the letter was Kimia Maadan's inquiry to the engineering firm about procurement of a programmable logic control (PLC) system, according to the IAEA's May 26 report. A PLC system is one of many types of technology that the United States has long sought to deny to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Iran had informed the IAEA even before 2006 that Kimia Maadan had assisted the AEOI in getting around that denial strategy by procuring various technologies for the planned uranium conversion facility at Esfahan.Given that Kimia Maadan’s role in procurement for the conversion facility was both unrelated to its technical work for the AEOI and part of a covert effort to get around U.S. restrictions, it seems unlikely that they would have made multiple copies of the letter. Even if multiple copies were made, the firm would certainly have taken normal security precautions for a document of that type, marking each copy with a number or name. A security procedure of that kind would have identified any missing copies. However, this was not the case with the 2003 letter. The United States, as its reason for refusing to provide a copy of the document to Iran, has argued that it would allow Iranian security personnel to identify the person who wrote the notes from their handwriting, according to the US source who has been briefed on the matter.Another problem with the handwritten letter is the absence of any logical link between the subject of the letter and the alleged work on redesign of the missile. PLC systems, which are used for automation of industrial processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, would have been irrelevant to the technical studies on redesigning the Shahab-3 missile.
Other Documents Also Under SuspicionOther documents from the laptop collection, allegedly showing that Kimia Maadan was working closely with the team trying to redesigning the Shahab-3 missile, have also come under suspicion of fraud. The IAEA’s May 2008 report describes a flowsheet under Kimia Maadan’s name, showing a “process for bench scale conversion of uranium oxide” to UF4 (uranium tetraflouride), also known as “green salt.” The project number shown in the disputed documents for the “green salt” subproject is 5.13.However, Heinonen stated that the number given to the Gchine subproject was 5.15. According to the documents obtained by the IAEA from Iran last January, this was the number of the uranium ore processing project that was assigned in 1999 by the civilian AEOI, not by the Iranian Defense Ministry. This would mean that the author of the document used the project number 5.13 for the “green salt” subproject based on their knowledge of the AEOI numbering system and not on a military designation.In his February 25 briefing, Heinonen additionally referred to an alleged letter sent by Kimia Maadan – as manager of three subprojects – to the “missile re-entry vehicle” project, asking for a “technical opinion” on the plans for equipment for a proposed “green salt” conversion facility. However, it is difficult to understand why the team working on redesigning the missile would be asked for a “technical opinion” on equipment for a uranium conversion facility. A spokesperson for the State Department’s Office of Arms Control and International Security, which is responsible for IAEA affairs, said in an e-mail that specialists in the office “aren’t able to comment” on the subject of the intelligence documents now being considered by the IAEA.The IAEA also declined to comment.
Toward a Showdown on the ContradictionsAs the contradictions between the new Iranian evidence and the laptop documents relating to Kimia Maadan became apparent, some IAEA officials argued that the Agency should distance itself from what they now suspect are forgeries. Despite that argument, the May 2008 report contained no reference to the issue. The next IAEA report, due out in mid-November, will include the first response by the Agency to a confidential 117-page Iranian critique of the laptop documents, according to the Vienna-based source. In the past, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has shown an ability to face off with the United States when evidence has been called into doubt. The infamous “Niger forgeries” – documents that purported to show an agreement between Niger and Iraq for the purchase of uranium oxide – were used by the White House as part of its case for war against Iraq. In response, ElBaradei sent a letter to the White House and the National Security Council in December 2002, over three months before the US launched the Iraq War, warning that he believed the documents were forgeries and should not be cited as evidence of Iraqi intention to obtain nuclear weapons. When ElBaradei received no response from the Bush administration, he went public to debunk the Niger forgeries. In a speech at the United Nations in March 2003, he declared that the IAEA, after “thorough analysis,” had concluded that the documents alleging the purchase of uranium by Iraqi from Niger “are in fact not authentic.” The anomalies that have been revealed by the Iranian documents obtained from Iran last January may not be as obvious as the ones that made it clear the Niger documents were fabrications. Nevertheless, they appear to be red flags for IAEA analysts concerned with the issue. Suspicion has surrounded the “alleged studies” documents from the beginning, because the United States has refused to say who brought the collection to US intelligence four years ago.Gareth Porter is an investigative journalist and historian who has authored numerous foreign policy analyses and is the author of the book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. In a 2006 article in the American Prospect, he revealed Iran's spurned diplomatic outreach to the Bush Administration in 2003.

Now That President Elect Barack Obama Will Be The Ocupant of The Oval Office, NOW WHAT?

2008-11-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Without a doubt people around the world are ecstatic about the victory of President Elect Barack Obama. With an economy on the brink of total collapse, with two seemingly endless wars going on, not to mention the rising number of Americans who are getting pink slips, what next for you and me. How do we turn this euphoria into meaningful change first in our communities and secondly in the world community. What will you do to be a meaningful agent of CHANGE?