Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Falwell - Before you get all teary eyed...


The Rev. Jerry Falwell – founder of the Moral Majority (1979) and Liberty University (1971) – has died. He was 73. A pillar of the religious right movement – as well as an ardent conservative Republican – Falwell's career was replete with verbal controversy; he often attacked gays, lesbians and feminists, as well as labor unions and the pro-choice movement. Indeed, Falwell infamously described AIDS as a form of divine retribution:


"AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexualsm," he [Falwell] said.
It was in 2001, however – following the September 11 attacks – that Falwell (arguably) ignited the quintessential controversy of his career. He [Falwell] pointedly blamed the 9-11 attacks on gays, feminists, non-christians and such:



"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America," Falwell said. "I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen."


A fervent segregationist in the mid-'60s to early-'70s, Falwell regularly featured lightning-rod Segregationist figures like Lester Maddox and George Wallace on his Evangelist program, The Old-Time Gospel Hour (which still airs locally in its place of origin, Lynchburg, Virginia). Falwell often tried to reconcile his 'then'-positions on race relations with 'divine will':


"If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made…. The facilities should be separate," said Falwell. "When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line."


Jerry Falwell is often credited alongside other right-leaning religious figures with helping to morph the once solidly Democratic South into the bastion of Republican victories it is today. Indeed, the religious right is now the heart of the modern Republican Party and its bread and butter.

Another Angle 15_ May-2007

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




History was made on this day May 15
1820
U.S. Congress Declares Foreign Slave Trade a piracy, and is Punishable by Death.




NATIONAL:



Obama is the Only Candidate Who Mentions AIDS on Campaign Website
How high AIDS is on the priority scale determines how high Black people are on the scale,” says Phill Wilson, founder and executive director of the California-based Black AIDS Institute in an interview with the NNPA News Service.
Obama promises universal health care



T.D. Jakes Seeks Leadership, Not Faith, in President
One of the most influential black leaders today, Jakes has the ear of President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton. He says the black clergy faces big challenges as the 2008 presidential election draws near, as they weigh competing strategies on how to work effectively for the betterment of their community.



Bloomberg poised for third-party campaign
The mayor has told close associates he will make a third-party run if he thinks he can influence the national debate and has said he will spend up to $1 billion. Earlier, he told friends he would make a run only if he thought he could win a plurality in a three-way race and would spend $500 million -- or less than 10 percent of his personal fortune.



Maybe all roads really do lead back to Rove
Last week, in an interview with the Albuquerque Tribune, purged U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said, “I think all roads lead to Rove. I think that’s why the president is circling some pretty major wagons around him to keep him from testifying under oath, which subjects him to criminal prosecution.”
Iglesias appears to be
onto something.
Karl Rove Directed DOJ Voter Suppression Project 5/15
Rove 'set up' five Attys. for dismissal



Memory of Gov. Wallace Shooting Fades
A former segregationist, Wallace was best known for standing defiantly at the all-white University of Alabama in a symbolic face-off with the Justice Department as the National Guard stood by and two black students enrolled in 1963. By 1972, he had tempered his racist rhetoric and adopted a more subtle approach, denouncing federal courts over the "involuntary busing" of schoolchildren to meet desegregation orders and pledging a return to a "law and order" society.



INTERNATIONAL:



White King, Red Rubber, Black Death
For almost 100 years evidence has lain dormant, of one of the greatest mass murders. Millions of African people died in one mans quest for wealth and glory.


IRAQ:



DOD Iraqi body count outright lie: OVER 5000 US soldiers are dead from DU alone
Doug Rokke, U.S. Army contractor who headed a clean-up of depleted uranium after the first Gulf War states: "Depleted uranium is a crime against God and humanity." Rokke's own crew, a hundred employees, was devastated by exposure to the fine dust. He stated: "When we went to the Gulf, we were all really healthy." After performing clean-up operations in the desert (mistakenly without protective gear), 30 members of his staff died, and most others"including Rokke himself"developed serious health problems.
Iraqi's Dying From Drinking Water


OP-ED:



Louis Farrakhan at State of the Black Union 2005 - Part 1



HEALTH&FITNESS:



People who feel wronged can really take it to heart
A new study found that people who thought they were treated unfairly were more likely to suffer a heart attack or chest pain. Those who thought they had experienced the worst injustice were 55% more likely to experience a coronary event than people who thought life was fair, according to the report published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.


SCIENCE&TECNOLOGY:



Scientists find evidence proving ancient Egyptians were fathers of modern medicine
Researchers at the University of Manchester have uncovered new evidence which firmly places the origins of modern medicine in ancient Egypt and not Greece.



FOOD&DRINK:



LOADED SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN SALAD
This is a good summer meal, light and pretty healthy.



ENTERTAINMENT:



The Half Hour News Hour: Still Not Funny
Do you suffer from Hillary Ambivalence Syndrome, otherwise known as H.A.S.? Well now there's OxyClinton, recommended by Dr. Laura Ingraham.



Medical Apartheid: The Dark History Of Medical Experimentation On Black Americans
Journalist and medical ethicist Harriet Washington details medical research on African Americans from colonial times to the 20th century. Harriet Washington is a Visiting Scholar at DePaul University School of Law. She has been awarded the Congressional Black Caucus Beacon of Light Award and investigative journalism awards from the National Association of Black Journalists.



HUMOR?:



This Modern World