Fire At Tennessee Mosque Construction Site Now Under Federal Arson Investigation

Terror is the ability to strike fear in the hearts of people with one demonstrable act. During the beginnings of the modern Civil Rights Movement it took the form of bombing churches. The country was aghast at the killing of four girls in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. It is my prayer that we do not wait until there are deaths before standing up for our fellow Americans who worship the same God as Christians and Jews where their right to do so is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution.



This aggression from the ignorant must be stared down by the people of goodwill of every faith and those who are non-religious too. It is simply a question of recognizing our humanity. Let us not be silent. We could be next. They have no shame.
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Five Years After Katrina, New Orleanians Still Feel The Scars

Five years and I cannot make myself to return to the new New Orleans. The city I was born and raised in no longer exists. It is now heading towards gentrification and a rather timely land grab.



The educational system is a hodgepodge where if your alumni is weak the schools that educated generations of family and friends are discarded and some experimental school stuffed in its place.



My family still lives in New Orleans. It is in their blood. They have rebuilt homes that laid under 9 feet of nasty water. They have knitted together their lives and bear the pain of separation from their eldest member because there are no comparable services for seniors in New Orleans as is where we live now. They survive.



I shall always remember the day we left. We took only a few articles of clothes with the intent of staying in a motel some distance away from the hurricane. What we planned to be a couple of days away from home has turned out to be five years for me in a different region and five years of hard struggle for my siblings and their children in New Orleans.



The city I love is gone and a stranger rises in its place...slowly.
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Franklin Graham, Evangelical Minister: Obama's 'Problem Is That He Was Born A Muslim' (VIDEO)

Exactly, the entire point of Christianity is freewill. What pains me most about Franklin Graham is his failure to understand what Jesus said about "sheep of many folds" commonly taken as people with different names and beliefs in God. The allusion is that Jesus loves all who claim him even if we don't. Also, you could look back at Jonah and his resistance and prejudice towards a group of people he found unworthy but that God insisted he serve willingly or willingly.



The Christianity I know and believe in is expansive and based on love and fellowship. Franklin's seems based on fear and loathing. That is sad.
About Barack Obama
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Obama To AFL-CIO: I Know You're Frustrated But Hang With Me

He has done more for this country in two years than several Presidents in their full terms. Health care, saving the auto industry, and the consumer protection bureau to name but a very few things that have been accomplished by President Obama in TWO YEARS. Is it all we need? No. Were even the accomplishments imperfect? Yes. I can say this regardless as yo what health preconditions I have I cannot be turned away from health insurers any more. For me That is very significant.



Am I satisfied? No. I elected a man not Superman. He has a good team but the other side plays hard and dirty and he is still in there fighting. He fights differently from what I would want but he fights, admits his errors and moves on. I too at this point see no reason to vote for someone else.
About Barack Obama
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Dan Maes, Colorado Gubernatorial Candidate, Warns Of U.N. Plot To Destroy America With Bike-Sharing Programs

One of the critical flaws in our health care system is the lack of support for the provision of mental health services. Obviously, some folks are dearly in need of it.
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Dan Maes, Colorado Gubernatorial Candidate, Warns Of U.N. Plot To Destroy America With Bike-Sharing Programs

This article would be funny if it were about a Colbert skit. Coming from someone wanting help make critical decisions in Congress this terrifies me. What is wrong with people? Even if you thought that stuff it should never be spoken aloud to confirm that you are crazy as hell. Is this the best that we have to offer?



"I question America."- Fannie Lou Hamer
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Great Summer Reading

I highly recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie and the book too. I stumbled onto this movie in a desperate search for entertainment on Netflix. After skipping over it I finally succumbed and watched it. AWESOME! Any way, it is a foreign film and so has subtitles. The story is so good that you will not notice the reading part. It is a murder mystery with some action kind of film. There will be an American version in a couple of years but why wait?

After seeing the movie I decided to read the book. It is first in a trilogy. The first book is  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The second book is The Girl Who Played with Fire. The last book is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. What makes these books more interesting is that the writer Stieg Larsson died in 2004 all three manuscripts done. Readers suspect that there is a fourth manuscript, a MYSTERY!

The film is surprisingly close to the book. They are great summer reading.

Essence's White Fashion Director Ellianna Placas Causes Controversy

I left as a reader of Essence years ago when Marcia Gillespie left. The fiction and poetry section have not since been repeated. As fir the fashions...when they stopped showing black women in fashionable clothes with curses that nixed it forever for me. I've been marching to my own drummer ever since.



I had a subscription from their second year until Marcia left and stopped buying them a news stands and stores after the skinny women appeared.



My sister was a charter subscriber who ended her subscription for about the same reasons.



I still miss the old Essence. Calling up Emerge too. Once we had some great black magazines.
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Shirley Sherrod, a Family Farmer's Friend

I love Willie Nelson because he has put time in on the issue of family farms for years. Holding on to the land and producing seasonal locally grown food is exactly the direction we should be heading. Family farms provide the means to get there.



I also applaud a man that stands up for his friends and speaks the truth about them. Mrs. Sherrod's work must continue because frankly we need her and a lot more like her in the corner of the family farmers.
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White House Apologizes To Shirley Sherrod

A good woman was smeared. An administration that is legislatively successful is perceived as weak kneed and the culprits have shifted the blame off onto both parties. What a shame this is for all of us. Mrs Sherrod deserves apologies, reinstatement, and her good name back. Which ones of these things won't she get?
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Dan Gainor, Right-Wing Media Critic, Offers Cash For Assault On Alan Grayson

Alan Grayson is getting on that guy's nerves. I'd have more respect for Gainor if he did his own dirty work instead of paying someone. On the other hand Grayson I think could hand him his head. The sad thing is this is what now passes for political discourse.



"Can't we all just get along?" - Rodney King
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Glenn Beck: I Might Be Going Blind

Well this hits me on my street. I understand the fear and the resolve concerning losing one's sight. As a Christian I feel pity for Mr. Beck and the road he must travel. I am on that road too and it helps to be kind to others you may need when darkness is all you will have to see.



May God's mercy and blessings be upon him and to us all.



Now, back o our regular programming!
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David Vitter Thinks Rachel Maddow Doesn't Look Like A Woman

Please, please Senator Vitter go on Rachel's show and say anything. Then we'll see how tough YOU are.



I just want to know in advance so I can have my popcorn ready.
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Is Shirley Jackson One Of The Greatest American Writers?

The Lottery still holds up. I used to use it with my students every session because some of the creepy thinking in the story are the same creepy thinking we do now following rituals. She is one of my top five writers for my students.I only wish more people would read her work.
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Christiane Amanpour Starting On ABC's 'This Week' On August 1

I just may break my long standing boycott of Sunday Teevee talk shows to see if she will have one that does not make me retch.



I guess I am curious.
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Tim Geithner Opposes Nominating Elizabeth Warren To Lead New Consumer Agency

I want her to head the Consumer Protection Agency but, like you I'd be wildly happy if she got Geithner's job because I just don't trust him or Summers at all.
About Financial Crisis
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Sue Myrick's Latest Conspiracy Theory Is Like The Plot Of A Bad Movie

Some folks just are in need of a healing. What's up with NC that they field so many politicians that need to stop watching teevee especially that 24 hours show?
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Ben Nelson Bucks Party, Helps GOP Block Jobless Aid

I'd vote for that! You have to Republicans in the pocket book for them to do the right thing. Additionally, it is not hard to see others flail about when your people are OK. Something tells me if suddenly NE's unemployment shot up then Old Ben would be singing another tune. He is a very effective politician when it benefits him and his people only.



I do not understand how Senator Ben Nelson can sleep knowing that his vote is destroying families. Unemployment is not a joy even with unemployment insurance. Penniless, it is a nightmare. Two years ago I faced unemployment with no benefits (my benefits ran out I was hired for a new job but it would not start for 3 months) it only lasted 3 months but those were the worst three months of my life. The stress of no income has no descriptive word for me to use. Remember I had a job coming up and it still was hell. I had family supporting me and still it bother me not to earn my own money.



I am sure that 99% of the people who need unemployment insurance would so much rather a job and a sense of more security than a hundred member club of rich people deciding how and whether you will survive this economic crisis. They ought to be ashamed but they are not.
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Despite Obama's Lofty Words, Scientific Integrity Rules Are Lagging

Let's see, it is year two and the President who inherited 2 wars, a failing economy, high and climbing unemployment, a messed up bureaucracy, angry constituents, a hostile world, and this year a blown oil well out of control has not kept all of his promises. Dan, I sense your impatience and marked disappointment here. I too, want the President to get it all done yet I understand that he does not have a cape and a phone booth to wa-lah! change into SUPER PRESIDENT able to make 8 years of purposeful deconstruction of government STOP! and become competent, honest, and useful.



I would like President Obama to compromise less about almost everything. I agree that things should be expedited. Science is not only a discipline but an industry, a vital industry to our present and future. Having rules in place to insure scientific integrity concerning political interference is extraordinarily important it simply is not the most important thing at this time. I have worked in governmental bureaucracies before the meetings on constructing rules and policies take too long. I concede that it may be the nature of the beast. The scientists know it that is why they are squealing to you.
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Georgia Democratic Candidate Unveils Provocative Ad Featuring Shooting Victim's Mother (VIDEO)

Fanned and faved. The Georgia ad is powerful. As a southerner I know that things like this happen much more frequently than we would believe. A badge and a gun are powerful in America and doubly so in the south. Prosecutor have been known to favor the police over a victim because they rely on the police for their cases and winning is what lawyers on both sides focus on. It is not about justice.



Concerning the unemployed: Write a note to your Senator who voted against extending unemployment letting him or her know that you have indeed made up your mind to vote against them whenever they run for election and enthusiastically work on behalf on their opponent. They could not find it in their interest to vote for your well being and darn-it you can't seem to find it in you to vote for their political well being. Enough of those letters and maybe we can have some movement on extending unemployment.
About Video
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