"The crowd was noisy but sparse -- about 200 people in all. I asked a woman in the lobby about the Sun-Times boycott. She said, "The Sun-Times'll be all right until the Defender decides to become a real paper."
PLEASE GO READ THE COLUMN BY CLICKING ON THE TITLE!
Pay attention: The Earth is Changing and we are the last generation positioned to do anything about it. “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Friday, March 24, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Our Mayor has quit his job!
Citing "competition with family love", Gary Mayor Scott King submitted his resignation Wednesday, during an hour-long press conference aired on the Comcast Government Access Channel.
King's resignation ends a 10-year reign.
King, the city's first white mayor in 28 years, said his resignation will become effective noon Friday.
"I have to do family first," he said.
He said he wanted to quit earlier, after struggling with the decision to enter his third term, when the property tax issue arose, he said.
King, the father of two daughters and a son, said the rigors of balancing family and work were too much, so he felt it best to resign. During reporters questions, he talked about how low mayoral salaries are.
"Right now I'm making more than the governor so it would be hard to get an increase there," he said.
He inferred his "three stair step kids... who don't want to go to local college" put a strain on his household budget. He makes $107,000 a year--$87,000 from city and the balance from the Gary Sanitary District where he serves as special administrator mandated in a federal consent decree. King must serve in that position until another special administrator is named, he said.
However, King just sounded as he was tired of public scrutiny. He jokingly asked reporters to lose his home number and couldn't wait to say, "that's my personal business," in response to a reporter's question.
"The job is never done. It is a living organism. (However) the most rewarding experience is the sincerity the people of this community has accepted and respected and followed me as their mayor. Little kids know my name." King said.
He also answered questions on the airport and extending the runway and the changing face of Northwest Indiana, away from heavy industry.
"Development of the lakefront will get done," he said
He emphasized that a push from the private business sector is in line to cue up the city's economy.
However political pundits take a different view of the issues surrounding King's resignation.
King jokingly mentioned in a response to a reporter's question, that if the state raises the pay of Governor of Indiana, "who knows" he might take a "run at it."
His wife, Irene King, said before the broadcast was abruptly ended while she was still answering questions, told a reporter that, "everything must change."
Newly appointed deputy mayor, Dozier T. Allen will assume the duties of mayor. King's term ends December 2007. Allen's official title is acting mayor, King said.
The position of deputy mayor won't be filled until the Democratic Caucus.
Allen, the former long-standing Calumet Township Trustee, told the audience that he has an understanding of how government works. He also said he has the wisdom of a 75-year-old man and the stamina of a 50-year-old man. He asked the city to pray for him.
"More important is a humble spirit and a kind heart," Allen said.
Economic development and employment will be his major issue projects, Allen said.
"One large employer could solve that problem overnight. I'm interested in looking at every model that could serve this city,"Allen said. He also said he is impressed with the General Assembly's work, thus far.
"I have no fear of the Republican or Democratic party," he said, adding a person's personal philosophy is what it is.
###
King's resignation ends a 10-year reign.
King, the city's first white mayor in 28 years, said his resignation will become effective noon Friday.
"I have to do family first," he said.
He said he wanted to quit earlier, after struggling with the decision to enter his third term, when the property tax issue arose, he said.
King, the father of two daughters and a son, said the rigors of balancing family and work were too much, so he felt it best to resign. During reporters questions, he talked about how low mayoral salaries are.
"Right now I'm making more than the governor so it would be hard to get an increase there," he said.
He inferred his "three stair step kids... who don't want to go to local college" put a strain on his household budget. He makes $107,000 a year--$87,000 from city and the balance from the Gary Sanitary District where he serves as special administrator mandated in a federal consent decree. King must serve in that position until another special administrator is named, he said.
However, King just sounded as he was tired of public scrutiny. He jokingly asked reporters to lose his home number and couldn't wait to say, "that's my personal business," in response to a reporter's question.
"The job is never done. It is a living organism. (However) the most rewarding experience is the sincerity the people of this community has accepted and respected and followed me as their mayor. Little kids know my name." King said.
He also answered questions on the airport and extending the runway and the changing face of Northwest Indiana, away from heavy industry.
"Development of the lakefront will get done," he said
He emphasized that a push from the private business sector is in line to cue up the city's economy.
However political pundits take a different view of the issues surrounding King's resignation.
King jokingly mentioned in a response to a reporter's question, that if the state raises the pay of Governor of Indiana, "who knows" he might take a "run at it."
His wife, Irene King, said before the broadcast was abruptly ended while she was still answering questions, told a reporter that, "everything must change."
Newly appointed deputy mayor, Dozier T. Allen will assume the duties of mayor. King's term ends December 2007. Allen's official title is acting mayor, King said.
The position of deputy mayor won't be filled until the Democratic Caucus.
Allen, the former long-standing Calumet Township Trustee, told the audience that he has an understanding of how government works. He also said he has the wisdom of a 75-year-old man and the stamina of a 50-year-old man. He asked the city to pray for him.
"More important is a humble spirit and a kind heart," Allen said.
Economic development and employment will be his major issue projects, Allen said.
"One large employer could solve that problem overnight. I'm interested in looking at every model that could serve this city,"Allen said. He also said he is impressed with the General Assembly's work, thus far.
"I have no fear of the Republican or Democratic party," he said, adding a person's personal philosophy is what it is.
###
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Changes to my home.
I have been creating artwork and hanging existing artwork. It is an arduous labor of love. I majored in Graphic Design long ago at Indiana State University but was discouraged by my advisor at one point due to my lack of talent and inability to successfully complete an art perspectives class.
However, at my own cost, I can fill my home with as much bad art all I want!
Chicago has star power!
Guess what I found out...
Friends television sitcom star, Jennifer Aniston is reportedly moving to Chicago to get away from all of the Hollywood noise.
(And if you are wondering how I can shift gears from the Black People's Convention to showbiz dish--well go figure--I watch "Friend's" reruns too).
One of Aniston's co-stars from "Friend's" is from the Chicago area and once met with Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley. Guess which co-star! (hee hee heee)
Friends television sitcom star, Jennifer Aniston is reportedly moving to Chicago to get away from all of the Hollywood noise.
(And if you are wondering how I can shift gears from the Black People's Convention to showbiz dish--well go figure--I watch "Friend's" reruns too).
One of Aniston's co-stars from "Friend's" is from the Chicago area and once met with Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley. Guess which co-star! (hee hee heee)
Monday, March 13, 2006
Black Peoples Unity Convention 2006
by Leslie Jones McCloud
Tammi Davis, president of the Gary NAACP chapter, said in a speech
Sunday about Hurricane Katrina victims that the country shouldn't
be fooled by grandstanding. She drew a standing ovation.
Davis made her comments on the last day of the The National Black
Peoples Unity Convention 2006 held all week long at West Side High
School in Gary, IN. It was the site of the first convention in 1972.
"I believe that one of the greatest challenges we face is making
the Katrina relevant to all of us everywhere. The hurricane
evacuees, like many of us, are victims of date rape by the same
government that promised liberty and justice for all. Conjugal
visits to New Orleans should not be interpreted as love but rather
for just what it is - a booty call," Davis told the audience.
She said Americans "should not allow ourselves to be prostituted by
the political pimps who seek to exploit and disenfranchise," got a
standing ovation and opened up the door for audience member's
spirited questions.
Davis said the NAACP formed an emergency response team of five
individuals who worked with local agencies to assist 300 evacuees
that were transported to Northwest Indiana.
A progress report about the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations outlined an investment plan to ensure
the hurricane ravaged area is revitalized.
Davis pointed out in her speech that the NAACP formed a call to
action that recommends, among other things, an assurance that
displaced families will have the right to return to the Gulf Coast
region, rebuild and reconnect families and children, establish $100
billion Family Reconstruction fund, provide mental and physical
health assistance, legal and voting protection, ensure that local
residents get first choice at jobs and contracts in the rebuilding
efforts.
Her three minute speech wrapped up what some conveners considered
a revision of greatness, however, the National Black Peoples Unity
Convention 2006 was never meant to mimic the 1972 National Black
Political Convention - and it didn't.
Instead, conveners discussed another way to get ahead in this
country - through economic equity.
West Side High School in Gary, Ind. was met by an array of Black
business, political, civic, labor and economic leaders there to
discuss the plight of African Americans and chart a course to
change the condition of Black communities nationwide.
Among those speaking: Revs. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Al Sharpton,
Minister Louis Farrakhan, NAACP CEO Bruce Gordon, SCLC President
Emeritus Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, and others.
During the last 34 years since the last convening of African
American politicians and activists, there has been an increase in
their ranks from 900 in the 1970s to about 16,000 in 2006, the Rev.
Walter Fauntroy said.
"We should be farther along - all considered," he said.
Fauntroy, a president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable,
was joined Saturday by former Colorado Lt. Gov. George Brown, the
first Black lieutenant governor in the country; former Gary mayor
Richard Hatcher, the country's first Black mayor and former Los
Angeles councilman, David Cunningham, in the green room behind the
stage inside the school auditorium. He was joined by a few other of
his peers who were either at or influenced by the convention 34
years ago.
The discussions were lively and informative.
"Back then they told the people to go home and run for anything
even if it was for dog catcher," Brown said.
But if there is no economic parity, success is muted.
"If there is no money then where are we now? We are at the point
where economic empowerment is out of the game," Fauntroy said.
He said that between 1965 and 1971 four million new Black voters
were added.
Harking back to the glory days of the Civil Rights
Movement when Blacks were beaten and jailed for the right to vote,
Fauntroy added, "imminent danger fueled the agenda to empower
people to want to vote."
Today, the battlefield is economic. All of the men in the room
agreed blacks need to be as unified in this struggle as he believes
they were in 1972. Brown chimed in, "we need unity without
uniformity."
"We hope to make same kind of progress in our ability to control the billion of dollars that African-Americans spend as consumers every year--to make it more beneficial to African-Americans. One of the things we learned is that it is not enough to win political office and exercise political power. At the base of everything that takes place in this country is money and at this point African-Americans have been systematically excluded from that arena," Hatcher said.
He said the organizers of the convention hope to derive strategies to achieve a fair share of the dollars.
"Blacks have to learn that it's not how much you make but how much you keep," Hatcher said.
As a group, those involved with the beginning of what is known
black power movement, saw the end to apartheid, an increase in
black voters and Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as a national
holiday.
"Lots of people came out of here with the capacity and authority to
work," Cunningham said.
But blacks need to have more philanthropy, sharing and empowerment
Brown said.
Conveners liked the ideas discussed.
"I thought it was very thought provoking...this was a great
opportunity for us to come together to talk about the impact globally nationally and locally to our people and to put a plan together which---I think is
important. This is just the first step in us coming together... to talk about where we need to be," J. Allen Johnson of Gary, said.
Conveners also said the thought-provoking discussions inspired them to want to take action on the home front.
"I liked the educational part about out youth. They are going to form a coalition to make sure our children are educated and that there is health care for the poor, blacks and brown in this country. I learned that we are the poorest among us and that we are being left behind and that if we don't do something, we are going to be extinct. They were talking about how to do
it," Georgianna S. Gonzer, a psychiatric nurse from New Jersey, said. She said they drove to Gary for the convention because she heard it was a historical event.
"We heard the convention in 1972 was very great," she said.
Unlike the first convention, there will be no final documents like
the "Black National Political Agenda," Brown said, but there will be meetings and committees formed so that the discussion may continue
on how to further advance black economic power.
"When Harold Washington was mayor, we created Black millionaires
all over the country. Political power without economic power is
meaningless. There are people who are smart enough to run a nation
with what they know," Fauntroy said.
###
Tammi Davis, president of the Gary NAACP chapter, said in a speech
Sunday about Hurricane Katrina victims that the country shouldn't
be fooled by grandstanding. She drew a standing ovation.
Davis made her comments on the last day of the The National Black
Peoples Unity Convention 2006 held all week long at West Side High
School in Gary, IN. It was the site of the first convention in 1972.
"I believe that one of the greatest challenges we face is making
the Katrina relevant to all of us everywhere. The hurricane
evacuees, like many of us, are victims of date rape by the same
government that promised liberty and justice for all. Conjugal
visits to New Orleans should not be interpreted as love but rather
for just what it is - a booty call," Davis told the audience.
She said Americans "should not allow ourselves to be prostituted by
the political pimps who seek to exploit and disenfranchise," got a
standing ovation and opened up the door for audience member's
spirited questions.
Davis said the NAACP formed an emergency response team of five
individuals who worked with local agencies to assist 300 evacuees
that were transported to Northwest Indiana.
A progress report about the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations outlined an investment plan to ensure
the hurricane ravaged area is revitalized.
Davis pointed out in her speech that the NAACP formed a call to
action that recommends, among other things, an assurance that
displaced families will have the right to return to the Gulf Coast
region, rebuild and reconnect families and children, establish $100
billion Family Reconstruction fund, provide mental and physical
health assistance, legal and voting protection, ensure that local
residents get first choice at jobs and contracts in the rebuilding
efforts.
Her three minute speech wrapped up what some conveners considered
a revision of greatness, however, the National Black Peoples Unity
Convention 2006 was never meant to mimic the 1972 National Black
Political Convention - and it didn't.
Instead, conveners discussed another way to get ahead in this
country - through economic equity.
West Side High School in Gary, Ind. was met by an array of Black
business, political, civic, labor and economic leaders there to
discuss the plight of African Americans and chart a course to
change the condition of Black communities nationwide.
Among those speaking: Revs. Jesse Jackson Sr. and Al Sharpton,
Minister Louis Farrakhan, NAACP CEO Bruce Gordon, SCLC President
Emeritus Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, and others.
During the last 34 years since the last convening of African
American politicians and activists, there has been an increase in
their ranks from 900 in the 1970s to about 16,000 in 2006, the Rev.
Walter Fauntroy said.
"We should be farther along - all considered," he said.
Fauntroy, a president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable,
was joined Saturday by former Colorado Lt. Gov. George Brown, the
first Black lieutenant governor in the country; former Gary mayor
Richard Hatcher, the country's first Black mayor and former Los
Angeles councilman, David Cunningham, in the green room behind the
stage inside the school auditorium. He was joined by a few other of
his peers who were either at or influenced by the convention 34
years ago.
The discussions were lively and informative.
"Back then they told the people to go home and run for anything
even if it was for dog catcher," Brown said.
But if there is no economic parity, success is muted.
"If there is no money then where are we now? We are at the point
where economic empowerment is out of the game," Fauntroy said.
He said that between 1965 and 1971 four million new Black voters
were added.
Harking back to the glory days of the Civil Rights
Movement when Blacks were beaten and jailed for the right to vote,
Fauntroy added, "imminent danger fueled the agenda to empower
people to want to vote."
Today, the battlefield is economic. All of the men in the room
agreed blacks need to be as unified in this struggle as he believes
they were in 1972. Brown chimed in, "we need unity without
uniformity."
"We hope to make same kind of progress in our ability to control the billion of dollars that African-Americans spend as consumers every year--to make it more beneficial to African-Americans. One of the things we learned is that it is not enough to win political office and exercise political power. At the base of everything that takes place in this country is money and at this point African-Americans have been systematically excluded from that arena," Hatcher said.
He said the organizers of the convention hope to derive strategies to achieve a fair share of the dollars.
"Blacks have to learn that it's not how much you make but how much you keep," Hatcher said.
As a group, those involved with the beginning of what is known
black power movement, saw the end to apartheid, an increase in
black voters and Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as a national
holiday.
"Lots of people came out of here with the capacity and authority to
work," Cunningham said.
But blacks need to have more philanthropy, sharing and empowerment
Brown said.
Conveners liked the ideas discussed.
"I thought it was very thought provoking...this was a great
opportunity for us to come together to talk about the impact globally nationally and locally to our people and to put a plan together which---I think is
important. This is just the first step in us coming together... to talk about where we need to be," J. Allen Johnson of Gary, said.
Conveners also said the thought-provoking discussions inspired them to want to take action on the home front.
"I liked the educational part about out youth. They are going to form a coalition to make sure our children are educated and that there is health care for the poor, blacks and brown in this country. I learned that we are the poorest among us and that we are being left behind and that if we don't do something, we are going to be extinct. They were talking about how to do
it," Georgianna S. Gonzer, a psychiatric nurse from New Jersey, said. She said they drove to Gary for the convention because she heard it was a historical event.
"We heard the convention in 1972 was very great," she said.
Unlike the first convention, there will be no final documents like
the "Black National Political Agenda," Brown said, but there will be meetings and committees formed so that the discussion may continue
on how to further advance black economic power.
"When Harold Washington was mayor, we created Black millionaires
all over the country. Political power without economic power is
meaningless. There are people who are smart enough to run a nation
with what they know," Fauntroy said.
###
Friday, March 10, 2006
Program expanded for Soldiers to earn $1,000 referral bonus
A $1,000 bonus for referring recruit applicants announced by the
Army in January, expanded recently to include more soldiers who are
eligible to receive this payment.
This latest recruiting incentive will pay soldiers for referring
applicants who enlist, complete basic training, and graduate
advanced individual training. The referral must be made by the
soldier at the U.S. Army web site prior to the new recruit’s first meeting with a recruiter.
The incentive is a pilot program included as one of the provisions
in the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. Dates
of eligibility for the referral bonus are Jan. 1, 2006, through
Dec. 31, 2007. The Army is now authorized to pay a bonus to any
Soldier who refers to an Army recruiter a person who has not
previously served in the Armed Forces and enlists in either the
Active Army, Army National Guard or the Army Reserves. The
referral may not be an immediate family member and the soldier
referring may not be serving in a recruiting or retention
assignment.
"Soldiers continue to play an important role in the recruiting
process and with this program we are able to recognize their
contributions,” Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, Deputy Chief
of Staff, Army G-1 (Personnel), said.
“We thank Congress for their recent legislation to provide bonuses such as these,” Hagenbeck said.
The Referral Bonus Pilot Program includes Soldiers performing duties in the Hometown Recruiter Assistance Program (HRAP), Special Recruiter Assistance Program (SRAP), and the Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW).
For more information about this pilot incentive program, visit the U.S. Army web site or call 1-800-223-3735, ext. 6-0473.
Army in January, expanded recently to include more soldiers who are
eligible to receive this payment.
This latest recruiting incentive will pay soldiers for referring
applicants who enlist, complete basic training, and graduate
advanced individual training. The referral must be made by the
soldier at the U.S. Army web site prior to the new recruit’s first meeting with a recruiter.
The incentive is a pilot program included as one of the provisions
in the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. Dates
of eligibility for the referral bonus are Jan. 1, 2006, through
Dec. 31, 2007. The Army is now authorized to pay a bonus to any
Soldier who refers to an Army recruiter a person who has not
previously served in the Armed Forces and enlists in either the
Active Army, Army National Guard or the Army Reserves. The
referral may not be an immediate family member and the soldier
referring may not be serving in a recruiting or retention
assignment.
"Soldiers continue to play an important role in the recruiting
process and with this program we are able to recognize their
contributions,” Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, Deputy Chief
of Staff, Army G-1 (Personnel), said.
“We thank Congress for their recent legislation to provide bonuses such as these,” Hagenbeck said.
The Referral Bonus Pilot Program includes Soldiers performing duties in the Hometown Recruiter Assistance Program (HRAP), Special Recruiter Assistance Program (SRAP), and the Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW).
For more information about this pilot incentive program, visit the U.S. Army web site or call 1-800-223-3735, ext. 6-0473.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
I wanna hear it.
Jamie Foxx should produce a Christmas CD. I want to hear him this Christmas 2006 singing some Donnie Hathaway and some original Christmas music he arranged and wrote himself. He has such a soulful voice.
I want Kanye West to remake "Hurry Up This Way Again" by the Stylistics on a single. I know he can hit those notes and look good doing it.
Maybe they will both come over to my house to sing to me, instead.
I can cook and I got some yak.
...Let it flow let it flow ohh ohhh ohhhh ohhh...
I want Kanye West to remake "Hurry Up This Way Again" by the Stylistics on a single. I know he can hit those notes and look good doing it.
Maybe they will both come over to my house to sing to me, instead.
I can cook and I got some yak.
...Let it flow let it flow ohh ohhh ohhhh ohhh...
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Iraq's impending civil war
I've been wondering all week about why Iraq is edging towards a civil war. This Detroit Free Press editorial explains it.
Isn't this what this country does? Turmoil is always in the air somewhere in the Middle East. Haven't the people of this world been engaged in some kind of conflict for years?
The U.S. will teach these people to live in relative harmony but first must enhance their culture so that they can accept the American Way.
There are all kinds of checks and balances in our culture so that no one group imposes their will on another--thusly the Melting Pot theory.
Send some psychologists and social workers over there to help before they drain all of the resources from our communities, please.
Isn't this what this country does? Turmoil is always in the air somewhere in the Middle East. Haven't the people of this world been engaged in some kind of conflict for years?
The U.S. will teach these people to live in relative harmony but first must enhance their culture so that they can accept the American Way.
There are all kinds of checks and balances in our culture so that no one group imposes their will on another--thusly the Melting Pot theory.
Send some psychologists and social workers over there to help before they drain all of the resources from our communities, please.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
I gotta get my nails done
I'm so sick of this weather. I'm tired of being glad for a 50 degree day in
February. When will summer get here?
But see, when it does warm up, I'll be the first to complain. *reminding self to
put a heavy duty air conditioning unit on lay-a-way--yes--LAY-A-WAY*
Who wants to swealter? But who wants to freeze?
Maybe the folk who own this building will get someone to clean up all of that
litter out there even if it is railroad property. I'd like to plant a garden. I already
bought the seeds. I got corn, peas, beans, sunflowers and some other types of
veggies and stuff. Even watermelon. The minute I plant something, we'll have
another frost. I just know it.
There is some other stuff I would like to write but I won't.
This Bloody Mary sure does make a good breakfast. I used V-8.
Anyway, I should go upstairs and make my bed. I bought a new mattress pad. I
can't wait to lay on my soft and wonderful bed. I'm going to Target today to get
some new sheets. Hopefully they won't all be $40-$60 for 350 thread count.
February. When will summer get here?
But see, when it does warm up, I'll be the first to complain. *reminding self to
put a heavy duty air conditioning unit on lay-a-way--yes--LAY-A-WAY*
Who wants to swealter? But who wants to freeze?
Maybe the folk who own this building will get someone to clean up all of that
litter out there even if it is railroad property. I'd like to plant a garden. I already
bought the seeds. I got corn, peas, beans, sunflowers and some other types of
veggies and stuff. Even watermelon. The minute I plant something, we'll have
another frost. I just know it.
There is some other stuff I would like to write but I won't.
This Bloody Mary sure does make a good breakfast. I used V-8.
Anyway, I should go upstairs and make my bed. I bought a new mattress pad. I
can't wait to lay on my soft and wonderful bed. I'm going to Target today to get
some new sheets. Hopefully they won't all be $40-$60 for 350 thread count.
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