Another Angle 9 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



Lessons On Being Black
Use secondary link to see the video.



As liberal Democrat calls for special prosecutor on Iraq, Democrats duck
What's striking isn't that Conyers is calling on Gonzales to appoint a special prosecutor. He's done it before, and he'd likely do it again. But his decision to take public action to seek a Justice Department investigation of pre-war policy and manipulation of the press has met resounding silence among his Democratic Party.

Ex-FEMA boss may tell-all on Katrina
"Unless there is specific direction otherwise from the president, including an assurance the president will provide a legal defense to Mr. Brown if he refuses to testify as to these matters, Mr. Brown will testify if asked about particular communications."



Judge: Rights of poor violated
For more than 20 years, Hamilton County(Cincinnati) violated the constitutional rights of poor people by sending them to jail for failing to pay minor fines, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.



Soldiers Face Debilitating Diseases
An investigation has found that for some soldiers, their service has meant a long and debilitating death sentence with mysterious diseases.


INTERNATIONAL:



Israel plans to build 'museum of tolerance' on Muslim graves
Skeletons are being removed from the site of an ancient Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem to make way for a $150m (£86m) "museum of tolerance" being built for the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre.



World's first Sept 11 convict released in Germany
A retrial was ordered when a federal court in 2004 quashed the verdict on the grounds that US authorities had refused to allow the court to question top suspects from Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network in American custody.



WTO 'FRANKENFOODS' RULING REVEALS SPECIAL INTERESTS
A World Trade Organisation decision that called European safety bans on genetically modified food illegal under its global trade rules could usher in a new phase of potentially hazardous "Frankenfoods" worldwide and further erosion of local protections, say environmental and advocacy groups.



Russia confirms missile defence contract with Iran .:. NewKerala - India's Top Online Newspaper
Worth an estimated $700 million, the deal for up to 30 Tor M-1 surface-to-air missiles is the largest since Russia in 2000 withdrew from an agreement with the US restricting the supply of military hardware to Iran.

IRAQ:



Women soldiers died from dehydration
Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women's latrine after dark.


Gas prices on the rise in Iraq
Iraq will gradually increase state-controlled domestic fuel prices tenfold this year to meet International Monetary Fund demands, Iraqi officials said yesterday. Iraq won a crucial loan accord with the IMF in late December and a $14 billion debt swap with private lenders. The $685 million IMF standby credit arrangement was the fund's first ever with Iraq and is designed to support the economic program over the next 15 months.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Cheney Spearheaded Effort to Discredit Wilson
In interviews over the course of two days this week, these officials were urged to speak on the record for this story. But they resisted, saying they had already testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of Wilson's wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, and added that speaking out against the administration and specifically Vice President Cheney would cause them to lose their jobs and subject their families to vitriolic attacks by the White House.



Bush NASA Appointee Resigns After He's Busted Lying On His Resume...
NASA public affairs official George C. Deutsch, who has been accused of exerting political pressure on agency scientists, resigned his position late Tuesday, the space agency said. NASA Press Secretary Dean Acosta declined to say Wednesday why Deutsch left his job. But he said Deutsch, 24, claimed to be a journalism graduate from Texas A&M University, something the university denied.



Bush's Social Security Sleight of Hand
Last year, even though Bush talked endlessly about the supposed joys of private accounts, he never proposed a specific plan to Congress and never put privatization costs in the budget. But this year, with no fanfare whatsoever, Bush stuck a big Social Security privatization plan in the federal budget proposal, which he sent to Congress on Monday.



ECONOMY:



Admin. seeks rate hike for disaster loans
Facing budget pressures, the Bush administration is seeking to markedly increase the interest rates that small businesses and homeowners pay for government-backed loans designed to get them back on their feet after disasters. The agency(SBA) wants a new formula that, if implemented today, would raise the disaster loan interest rate for homeowners from its current 2.68 percent to more than 4.5 percent by pegging it to Treasury bill rates.



OP-ED:



Trapped Like a Rat
On Tuesday, by his own design. George W. Bush was trapped like a rat on that stage. He was forced to listen to eloquent denunciations of his politics and his policies, perhaps for the first time since he took office. Politics belonged in that church on Tuesday. Period. Coretta Scott King would have approved.



Carter Was Right On Energy All Along
There was Jimmy Carter, the day after the Bush address, appearing on "Larry King Live." In a segue to commercials, a portion of Carter's famous 1977 address flashed on the screen. A youngish and serious-looking Carter looked Americans in the eye and said, "With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes."



FOOD&DRINK:



SHRIMP, SCALLOP, AND COD LASAGNE
Used 2 lbs. of cod, 1 lb. of shrimp, and NO cream. Looked soupy when cooking but after sitting 10 minutes all the liquid was obsorbed and it was perfect.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



L.A. Hosts the Pan African Film and Arts Festival
It's the 14th anniversary of the festival, and this year it's being billed as the largest Black History Month event in the United States. It features more than 150 movies by filmmakers from the Caribbean, Latin America, the South Pacific, Europe, Canada, Africa and the United States.



HUMOR?:



Day by Day.



Yeah, yeah, lecture us on being black, please
Let's analyze this strip, shall we?

Another Angle 8 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



No New Katrina Aid in Bush Budget
The Bush administration offered no new aid for Hurricane Katrina victims in the budget it released Monday, instead putting modest amounts of money into preparedness and response plans for future disasters.



Boehner Rents Apartment Owned by Lobbyist in D.C.
The relationship between Boehner, John D. Milne and Milne's wife, Debra R. Anderson, underscores how intertwined senior lawmakers have become with the lobbyists paid to influence legislation.



Ex-U.N. Inspector: Decision Already Made To Attack Iran
He predicted the matter will wind up before the U.N. Security Council, which will determine there is no evidence of a weapons program. Then, he said, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, "will deliver a speech that has already been written. It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves." "How do I know this? I've talked to Bolton's speechwriter," Ritter said.



More veterans run for office
"One of the things I think is behind this movement is, we're not stupid in the military. We know when we've been used and misused," Navy veteran Bill Winter, a Democrat who hopes to challenge GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo in the Republican suburbs of Denver.



Bombed GI billed for body armor



Dr Martin Luther King V Malcolm X: the past still part of the present
King was much more than rhetoric and imploring America to soul search. The economic bus boycott, and the voter registration programmes were all aimed at challenging the American social and political status by forcing change. In sharp contrast Malcolm X the son of a Baptist Minister who had turned to the Nation of Islam eloquently gave voice for an angry Black America, by stating ‘you hit me I’ll hit you back twice as hard’.



INTERNATIONAL:



Russian MP Says US To Attack Iran Late March
A top Russian parliamentary leader has told Ekho Moskvy radio station that an attack on Iran is inevitable and that it will occur on March 28th. The leader of the Liberal Democrats Vladimir Zhirinovsky also believes that the Muslim riots were orchestrated by the US to garner European backing for the military strike.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Reflection on What Leaks from Turd Blossom
Karl Rove was one of the "Iron Triangle", with Karen Hughes and Joe Allbaugh. Collectively, they conducted an 'anything goes' twist and smear campaign against opponents of Bush, such as Govenors Mark White and Anne Richards, that got GW into the Governor's mansion in Texas.



Bush Plan Would Cut Survivor Benefits
If President Bush gets his way, the venerable $255 Social Security death benefit will fade into history. And 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts will lose their monthly survivor payments.



OP-ED:



Exxon’s Excessive Excess
So what can we do besides complaining about the high prices at the pump and the excessive profits of the oil barons? Probably nothing that will cause them to hurt at all; so let’s just have some fun. From this day forward, let’s stop patronizing Exxon Mobil gas stations. For those in the Cincinnati area, that means NO GAS FROM UDF!!!
You know, the store that routinely has higher prices in the black neighborhoods!



Most of the World Thinks Bush Sucks. Why Don't We?
How does being more threatening make us more likeable? Isn't the country with the most weapons the biggest threat to the rest of the world? When one country is the biggest threat to the rest of the world, isn't that likely to be the most hated country? Why has bush turned our country from a country of hope and prosperity to a country of belligerence and fear. What is he doing to us, and what is he doing to the world?



FOOD&DRINK:



SWEET POTATO FRIES WITH GARLIC AND HERBS
Great with chicken, turkey burgers or steak.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



'Negroes with Guns': A Radical Battle with Racism
In the 1950s and 1960s, civil rights radical Rob Williams fought racism with a vengeance. A PBS documentary, Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power, explores Williams' controversial legacy. Farai Chideya speaks with Sandra Dickson, one of the film's producers.



HUMOR?:



Boondocks

Another Angle 7 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



FEMA CONCENTRATION CAMPS: Locations and Executive Orders
Look for the location nearest you.


Coretta King eulogists jab Bush at funeral
Lowery, former head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King helped found in 1957, gave a playful reading of a poem in eulogy of Mrs. King. "She extended Martin's message against poverty, racism and war / She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar," he said. "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there / But Coretta knew and we knew that there are weapons of misdirection right down here / Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor." The mourners gave a standing ovation. Bush's reaction could not be seen on the television coverage, but after Lowery finished speaking, the president shook his hand and laughed.

Video: King mourners applaud Bush-bash



NO mayor asks foreign countries for aid
Nagin, who has hosted a steady stream of foreign dignitaries since Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, says he may seek international assistance because U.S. aid has not been sufficient to get the city back on its feet.

Rove threatens blacklist
The White House has been twisting arms to ensure that no Republican member votes against President Bush in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation of the administration's unauthorized wiretapping. Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.



Going Condo in Harlem
Gentrification is alive and well everywhere.



Layoffs Hit Black Auto Workers Hardest
“Our job as workers is not to save the corporation, but to save these poor people on the street!” In 1979, 2.1 percent of all African-American workers were employed in automobile manufacturing. By 2004, this share had fallen by more than one-third to 1.3 percent. By contrast, the share of white workers employed in auto manufacturing fell just 0.2 percentage points from 1.3 percent to 1.1 percent.



Black Americans' Inventions Contribute to Modern Life
Dr. Patricia E. Bath has dedicated her life to the treatment of blindness. She revolutionized cataract surgery by inventing a laser called the Laserphaco Probe, patented in 1988 in the United States. This was the first of four patents. She has dedicated her life to the prevention, treatment and cure of blindness.



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran Secretly Tests New Surface-To-Surface Missile
"We do not intend to attack any country, but if we are attacked, we are capable of effectively responding. Our position is defensive."



Iran paper plans Holocaust cartoons
"The Western papers printed these sacrilegious cartoons on the pretext of freedom of expression, so let's see if they mean what they say and also print these Holocaust cartoons."



'Sleeper bugs' used to steal 1m euros in France
Police say the virus is embedded in emails or websites and remains dormant until the user contacts their bank online. When that happens, the bug becomes active and records passwords and bank codes which are then forwarded to the thieves.



IRAQ:



US maps strategic refit for Iraq
A senior US officer admitted yesterday that the presence of more than 300,000 foreign troops in the Middle East, most of them American, was a "contributory factor" to instability in the region. (he said) The US would "not maintain any long-term bases in Iraq. Our position is when we leave we will not have any bases there." He did not speculate when that might be, though he said the US could not stay in the region for as long as its forces have remained in Germany or Japan.



Iraq: 800 Killed in 31 Days
In January more than 800 people — soldiers, security officers and civilians — were killed as a result of the insurgency in Iraq. While the daily toll is noted in the newspapers and on TV, it is hard for many Americans to see these isolated reports in a broader context.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Helen to Scotty: You know what happened to Nixon when he broke the law.
The questioner, outspoken liberal columnist Helen Thomas, has been covering the White House since President John F. Kennedy, asks McClellan if Bush should obey the law. Video-WMP Video-QT



Teen prison fiend is Libby's guardian angel
It would be difficult to find a more loathesome Bush parasite than Mel Sembler. "For 16 years, Sembler, with his wife Betty, directed the leading juvenile rehab business in America, STRAIGHT, Inc., before seeing it dismantled by a breathtaking array of institutional abuse claims by mid-1993. Just one of many survivors is Samantha Monroe, now a travel agent in Pennsylvania, who told The Montel Williams show this year about overcoming beatings, rape by a counselor, forced hunger, and the confinement to a janitor's closet in 'humble pants' -- which contained weeks of her own urine, feces and menstrual blood.



Halliburton bills U.S. taxpayers $50 for $5 labor in Iraq
...an invoice from KBR subcontractor, Ranj Company, shows "washer folders" (laundry workers) are paid $7 a day, but the requisition shows the military is billed between $60 and $70 a day for this work, a roughly ten-fold markup for KBR. Security guards are paid $16 a day even though the military reimburses KBR at a daily rate of $60 for this work.



OP-ED:



Blackonomics You Asked For It
You have heard the saying, “Be careful of what you ask for, you just might get it;” and it’s really true. When the Trent Lott debacle was upon us I was shouting, “Let him stay; don’t ask for his resignation.” Obviously those who wanted him to step down won that battle, but I wonder what will happen now that he is no longer the leader of the U.S. Senate.



Texas Judge Denounces New Bankruptcy Law
A bankruptcy judge in Texas, by all accounts a sober and respected fellow, wrote the attached opinion, denouncing the new bankruptcy law. As he puts it: Congress wasn't interested in the opinions of any experts in the field, because it had its own agenda, "to make more money off the backs of consumers."



HEALTH&FITNESS:



The media assault on Mexico's alternative cancer clinics
Many patients only seek alternative care after they been poisoned, radiated and chemically bombarded by conventional medicine. At that point, even the best alternative medicine in the world has very little left to work with. But at least naturopaths can offer some degree of realistic hope for terminal cancer patients, long after conventional oncologists have told them to go home and die (after they pay their $150,000 chemotherapy bill first, of course).



FOOD&DRINK:



CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE
Very rich and creamy. It's great as a dessert with coffee.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



For a Period Film, a Serving of Lean, Smoky Jazz
It should come as news to no one that the front-runner for best jazz vocal album in this year's Grammy Awards is an intimate standards session that evokes the sound of the 1950's. Isn't that often the case? What's interesting about the current favorite is that it comes with a period picture attached, the George Clooney film "Good Night, and Good Luck." The soundtrack is the latest effort from Dianne Reeves, a singer who has been unbeatable in recent awards seasons.



New Film Portrays Jesus As Black
Jean-Claude La Marre will star, direct and write the script. The film is expected to be released theatrically in November with 20th Century Fox on board to handle the distribution.


JUST WEIRD:



'Roller chicks' battle in derby revival
US roller derby, the televised 1970s mock-sport featuring skaters bashing each other while circling a rink, has been given a cheeky make-over, complete with mini skirts, fish-net stockings and real competition.



HUMOR?:



Tom Tomorrow: The Bushies' Game of Hide-and-Conceal

Another Angle 6 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



Won't say whether non-terror suspects being tapped
Asked before a Senate panel whether he could promise that no one besides suspected terrorists were being eavesdropped upon under the Bush Administration's domestic wiretap program, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today remarked that he could not promise that agents were not listening in on non-suspects' calls.



COINTELPRO
GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE FBI.



Burning Bush: Counting on Crowds to Impeach
Before the first bomb dropped in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Rep. John Conyers was already looking to impeach George W. Bush for leading us into an undeclared war of aggression, and three years later we have no-show WMDs, the yellowcake forgery, Abu Ghraib, the Plame Affair, unauthorized wiretapping, and (why not?) Hurricane Katrina to add to the charges.



Vonnegut's Blues for America
...the priceless gift that African Americans gave the whole world when they were still in slavery was a gift so great that it is now almost the only reason many foreigners still like us at least a little bit. That specific remedy for the worldwide epidemic of depression is a gift called the blues. All pop music today – jazz, swing, be-bop, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Stones, rock-and-roll, hip-hop, and on and on – is derived from the blues.



INTERNATIONAL:



Johnston: On the Road to Apartheid? Japan and the Steve McGowan Case
On January 30th, the Osaka District Court turned down a racial discrimination suit filed by Steve McGowan, a 41 year old African-American designer and Kyoto resident, against Narita Takashi, an Osaka Prefecture store owner. The suit charged that, on September 4th 2004, Narita denied McGowan and a black South African friend entry into his eyeglass shop because of their skin color.



Paper rejected Jesus jokes, ran Muhammed
Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten. Zieler received an email back from the paper's Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said: "I don't think Jyllands-Posten's readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them."



Why Russia caved-in on Iran
The Lukoil transaction should prove to skeptics that Washington is prepared to give up anything to prevent the opening of Iran’s oil exchange. The UN Security Council is just the last step before military operations begin.



Palestinian Authority 'may have lost billions'
"There are 50 cases of financial and administrative corruption. The amount of money that was squandered and stolen is more than $700m."



IRAQ:



Little Testimony Ties Saddam to Crackdown
The evidence to date mostly testimony from people who were arrested and allegedly tortured has pointed to a brutal crackdown but has not showed that Saddam played a direct role.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Buzzflash: Gonzales should be investigated
Many moons ago, when George W. Bush, was governor of Texas, Alberto Gonzales replaced James Baker as the Bush family consigliere. Gonzales will tell the Judiciary Committee that the program was entirely legal. He will be the loyal consigliere. He has no choice; he helped create the program.



ECONOMY:



Amtrak Picks Black-Owned Ad Agency
Atlanta-based IMAGES USA (No. 12 on the BE Advertising Agencieslist with $41 million in billings for 2005) was tapped in January to handle advertising and marketing for Amtrak's mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions, an assignment that could be worth up to $4 million over four years.



Will Iran's 'petroeuro' threat lead to war?
The United States depends on the dollar foreign-currency reserves in order to sell the Treasury debt that sustains budget deficits. What if foreign-exchange portfolios from oil sales fell to 60 percent being held in dollars – would that cause a crisis in the U.S. economy? Or would it take 55 percent? Most Americans are completely unaware of this threat Iran represents to the U.S. economy.



Why do blacks spend more and save less than whites?
In 2002, the year the economy nose-dived; we spent $22.9 billion on clothes, $3.2 billion on electronics and $11.6 billion on furniture to put into homes that, in many cases, were rented.



OP-ED:



Iran and Venezuela Plan War on Israel
Ahmadinejad said Iran was attempting to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Chavez replied that he was "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Sharon." Ahmadinejad told Chavez he: "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups in Israel following its takeover by Iran."



The misplaced defense of free speech
Free press? How come we hear so little from the same free press about European governments helping the US ferry people - on no fewer than 800 flights over four years, according to Amnesty International - to be tortured in places where it is legal to do so? How is it that nobody in the European free press is talking much about the fact that Iran stopped any further discussion of its nuclear program because the three EU leaders who were parleying with them reneged on their side of the bargain, by not ensuring Iran security in the event of a foreign invasion?



FOOD&DRINK:



GRANNY'S HOMEMADE VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP WITH HOT WATER CORNBREAD
It is a very simple recipe and anyone can make it. The Hot Water Cornbread is a snap as well. If you can make a pancake, you can make this bread.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



History by the Numbers: Literacy and Lynchings
Richard Sutch and Susan Carter are the editors of a new five-volume work called Historical Statistics of the United States. Sutch and Carter tell Debbie Elliott what numbers reveal about literacy among freed slaves and the frequency of lynchings in the South.



HUMOR?:



Bill Cosby - Noah´s Ark
Cosby became a star after appearing on Paar’s Tonight Show. This is his first appearance on the show…a very young Bill Cosby!

Another Angle 5 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



POSSIBLE DETROIT "SUPER BOWL" TERRORIST ATTACK?
I do not have any direct evidence of a planned or staged terror event during the Superbowl. But if it does, always ask, "Who benefits? Who gets what they want?"



Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Contract to Add Temporary Immigration Detention Centers
KBR would build the centers for the Homeland Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space.



US to expel Venezuelan diplomat
On Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the expulsion of a US naval attaché for spying - a charge the US described as "baseless". "The decisions that Venezuela takes are taken based on facts and proof, not simply for retaliation," Mari Pili Hernandez said.



Tough Road Back for New Orleans' Black Colleges
The New Orleans schools Tulane and Loyola have reopened this semester with large numbers of students coming back. But the historically black colleges in the area have been less fortunate. They are trying to lure students back to campuses that were all but destroyed.




INTERNATIONAL:



Chavez reveals US ‘operation’
Mr Chavez accused the expelled US official of buying information on the Venezuelan armed forces and of setting the stage for a ‘Panama-type operation’. to capture him. US forces invaded Panama in 1989 to arrest strongman Manuel Noriega and try him in Miami on drug charges. “If they think about coming to get me, then come, we are waiting for you,” Mr Chavez said.



Al-Qaida in Yemeni jail break
The escape on Friday came a day before the trial of Muhammad Hamdi al-Ahdal, an al-Qaida suspect, and 14 others charged with involvement in operations in Yemen, particularly the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.



IRAQ:



Sunni leader says Interior Ministry killed 24 Sunnis in Baghdad
The bodies of 24 Sunni Arabs found on Friday to the west of Baghdad were killed “in cold blood” by forces from the Interior Ministry, Secretary General of the Sunni Iraqi National Dialogue Council Khalaf Al Olayan told a press conference on Saturday.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



New Details Revealed on CIA Leak Case
Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff told prosecutors that Mr. Cheney had informed him "in an off sort of curiosity sort of fashion" in mid-June 2003 about the identity of the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak case, according to a formerly secret legal opinion, parts of which were made public on Friday. Here are the 8 pages of Judge Tatel's opinion. pdf



Jeb shredding state records?
A source inside the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told Insider magazine that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has ordered the shredding of documents and public records, a clear violation of Florida law.



Bush's 'Gulf Of Tonkin' Underlines Criminal Desperation For War
The US government considered staging an act of provocation that would fool the world into supporting an unpopular war. This tactic is by no means new. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, where US warships were apparently attacked by North Vietnamese PT Boats, an incident that kicked off US involvement in the Vietnam war, was a staged event that never actually took place.



OP-ED:



Super Bowl City on the Brink
Detroit -- and there is no soft way to put this -- is a city on the edge of the abyss. Its 2005 unemployment rate was 14.1 percent, more than two and a half times the national level. more than one-third of its residents live under the poverty line, the highest rate in the nation. In addition, the city has in the past year axed hundreds of municipal employees, cut bus and garbage services, and boarded up nine recreation centers.



The Failure of Citizenship
We are witnessing an all pervasive mediocrity in government that has come as a result of a spectacular failure of citizenship. We are a people that value ease and convenience over self education, sacrifice and truth. We do not demand evidence in support of our views. We believe what we are told; and we do what we are told by authority. We do not like to make trouble. Asking questions requires self examining critical thinking, a skill that is rapidly disappearing from our culture of fluff and ease.



What Would Jesus Do?
Picture this: A cartoon of Jesus, with his pants down, smiling, raping a little boy. The caption above it reads “Got Catholicism?” Or how about a picture of a Rabbi with blood dripping from his mouth after bludgeoning a small Palestinian boy with a knife shaped like the Star of David—the caption reads “The Devil’s Chosen Ones.” I wonder if people around the world would just consider this free speech?



HEALTH&FITNESS:



Generic Drugs Hit Backlog At FDA
"We have a kind of crazy situation now where the FDA's generic reviews -- which are supposed to be quicker because they're less complicated -- on average take longer than the new drug reviews," said Kathleen Jaeger, president of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. "The flood of applications is coming in generics, but the review resources mostly go to new drugs."



FOOD&DRINK:



PUEBLA CHICKEN AND POTATO STEW
Tinga Poblana de Pollo y Papas Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



HungryBlues: Malik Rahim On Black Panthers And Black Resistance In ...New Orleans
The 30th Anniversary of the Desire Shoot-out: An Interview with Malik Rahim
This is an interview conducted on WTUL (91.5 FM) on March 13th, 2000.



JUST WEIRD:



Whale Attacks Santa Barbara Sightseeing Boat
The Bayliner was cruising off Leadbetter Beach Wednesday evening when the whale came up from under its right bow, belly-flopped onto the ship, and crushed its cabin.



HUMOR?:



Boondocks

Another Angle 3 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



The art of deception: Is it war for oil or war to save the dollar?
The spiraling downfall of the dollar neither is, nor would be, the fault of Iran, but the chicanery of the Federal Reserve banking system. The problem is not Iran; the problem is that America has fiat money as its medium of exchange, or simply paper money backed by governmental laws that legalize it as tender for debts or exchange.



Boehner: Yet Another Lobbying Slut?
Somehow, Boehner managed to brand himself the reform candidate. That might be news to Sallie Mae, the student-loan behemoth, which in the 2003-2004 election cycle contributed over $100,000 to Boehner through its PACs and individual contributors. That's 40 percent of all contributions made by the entire student loan industry.



Evidence of Earliest African Slaves Found
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Autonomous University of the Yucatan made the discovery at one of the oldest European settlements in Mexico -- Campeche, a port city on the Yucatan Peninsula. The remains date between the late-16th century and the mid-17th century, not long after Columbus first set foot in the Americas.



Avoiding the hard questions
This is the worst possible time for probe-ophobia to grip us. Our nation was irretrievably transformed by 9/11 -- and yet there remain troubling questions about what really happened before, during and after that day. Rather than demanding a full and fearless vetting to hone in on the truth and silence the conjecture about 9/11, many Americans remain unwilling to peer into the microscope.



Robertson still wants Chavez 'taken out'
Robertson reiterated his call to get rid of Chavez. Colmes asked him a few questions and while he appeared to be trying to apologize- flipped and went back to the "let's get him some day" theme. Video-WMP Video-QT



Keith Sweat Opens New Luxury Hotel in Atlanta
The artist’s S Hotel, located at 395 Piedmont Ave in Midtown, boasts 294 rooms designed by Sweat himself with an eye toward pulling in the business market. Each room comes with flat screen televisions, CD/DVD players, high-speed wireless Internet and an en-suite bathroom with bath and separate walk-in power shower. A number of rooms also have a nice view of downtown Atlanta.



INTERNATIONAL:



Venezuela expels US naval 'spy'
Thursday's announcement came three days after Mr Chavez said agents had infiltrated an alleged spy ring at the US embassy. "We have decided... to throw out of the country a military official from the mission of the United States for espionage."



"Greek Watergate" scandal sends political shockwaves
Most of the wiretaps took place around the August 2004 Athens Olympics -- the most guarded Games in history with a 1.2 billion euro ($1.45 billion) security budget. They stopped when Vodafone Greece, a subsidiary of British firm Vodafone, discovered the incident and reported it to authorities. Greek officials said that by shutting down the illegal software, Vodafone made it impossible to trace the taps. They also revealed that the calls were being relayed to unknown destinations via four mobile phone antennas in a zone in the centre of Athens that includes the U.S. embassy.



IRAQ:



President Carter: "We did not need to go into Iraq."
"...The reason that we went into Iraq was to establish a permanent military base in the Gulf region and I have never heard any of our leaders say that they would commit themselves to the Iraqi people that ten years from now there will be no military bases of the United States in Iraq."



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Bush approved multi-agency program to spy on Americans
Through executive orders or – more often – clandestine powers that he believes he possesses as a “wartime President,” Bush has ordered the Pentagon, FBI, NSA and CIA to expand domestic spying operations to levels never before seen by professional operations.



Bush's Brezhnev period
Bush has entered his Brezhnev era of stagnation. Everything -- from the latest five-year plan to the grandiose promise of world transformation -- was repetitive and abstracted from grinding realities. His attempt to use the first year of his second term for permanent revolution at home, following Rove's script, has failed. Social Security privatization is now whittled down to a commission, the sort of gambit employed when a leader lacks support.



ECONOMY:



Del Monte stops pineapple growing in Hawaii
"It would be cheaper for Del Monte to buy pineapples on the open market than for the company to grow, market and distribute Hawaiian pineapple," the company said in a statement Wednesday.



OP-ED:



MARGARET KIMBERLEY: Bin Laden’s wasted warning
Bin Laden's latest message went out to a nation that is overwhelmingly deaf and blind. It is not altogether the fault of individuals. We are encouraged to be stupid. The corporate media is just that, corporate. It has been a long time since they were interested in telling their readers, viewers, and listeners anything resembling the truth.



Racism, Neo-Confederacy and the Raising of Historical Illiterates
Those who wave the Confederate flag, for example, insist they are merely trying to fondly remember part of their history. Yet if blacks (including, to be sure, more than a few Southerners) broach the subject of their ancestors' enslavement and its lingering effects on black America today, they are viewed as wallowing in pity. But what, other than wallowing, and most certainly pitiable, can we call those who insist on waving the standard of a defeated government.



FOOD&DRINK:



Smoked Turkey Quesadillas
A low-fat but tasty version of a typically calorie-laden favorite. nice flavourful finger food to go with cocktails. Can't see how it could be called bland. The combo of the tart/sweet grapes with the salt and the lime juice, the subtle smokiness of the turkey and cumin, the crispy tortilla and the creamy cheese - hey, it's all good!



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Racism and 'The Slave Side of Sunday'
Former pro football player Anthony Prior's new book The Slave Side of Sunday draws comparisons between the gridiron and the slave plantation.



The Case for Sam Cooke, Soul Pioneer
His cultural influence can hardly be overstated. From the infectious "Another Saturday Night" and "Twistin' the Night Away" to the anthemic "A Change Is Gonna Come," Cooke's impact on American popular music is lasting. His singing style has been connected to everyone from Otis Redding to Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye.



JUST WEIRD:



Bulgarian Vanga predicted horrible catastrophes
Her most shocking prediction was made in 1980. The blind old woman said: “At the turn of the century, in August of 1999 or 2000, Kursk will be covered with water, and the whole world will be weeping over it.”


HUMOR?:



McGassy's Global Warming Guide

Another Angle 2 - February - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



Rethink the old Slavemaster-Slave relationship
It appears that integration has only meant the surrendering of our dollars to others so that they can enhance their lives while our businesses close and our problems remain unattended. We must look like a very foolish people in the eyes of others who nurse themselves to economic strength on our earnings and then abandon us and ridicule us as they advance and leave us further behind. We need to turn constructively inward, pool our resources intellectually and financially, and begin to build a future for ourselves and our children. We must patronize ourselves, as others patronize themselves.



Read the letter: Fitzgerald admits some emails in CIA leak case possibly deleted
In the letter, Fitzgerald admits that he has been told some emails from the President and Vice President's offices have been deleted, though he cautions that "no pertinent evidence has been destroyed. In an abundance of caution," he writes, "we advise you that we have learned that not all email of the Office of the Vice President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal achiving process on the White House computer system."



Bush: U.S. will defend Israel against Iran
"Israel is a solid ally of the United States, we will rise to Israel's defense if need be. So this kind of menacing talk is disturbing. It's not only disturbing to the United States, it's disturbing for other countries in the world as well," he added. Asked if he meant the United States would rise to Israel's defense militarily, Bush said: "You bet, we'll defend Israel."



14 US House Reps Want Bush Impeach Probe
The number of US House Representatives who have signed on to H. Res 635–supporting a probe looking into the grounds for impeaching Bush–has jumped to fourteen (14), including US Rep. John Conyers who initially sponsored the bill, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. The total number of Members of US Congress who want Bush’s impeachment or resignation is actually seventeen (17), including 14 co-sponsors of H. Res 635, plus US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) who called for Bush’s impeachment over wiretapping, and US Reps. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Bobby Rush (D-GA) who have called for Bush to step down.



Abramoff case, spying loom over Gonzales
Gonzales faces scrutiny over his role in justifying a White House policy to conduct domestic surveillance without search warrants. In addition, critics say Paul McNulty, selected as the new choice to be deputy attorney general, has been slow to consider allegations of abuse of detainees held in the war on terror.



Listen to a One-Hour Special on Coretta Scott King



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran's message to the west: back off or we retaliate
In an interview with the Guardian - his first with western media - Manouchehr Mottaki accused the US of manufacturing the crisis and insisted there was still time to avoid a collision. But he warned that any military action by the US or Israel against Iran would have "severe consequences" and would be countered "by all means" at Iran's disposal.



IRAQ:


Women bear brunt of poverty in post-invasion Iraq
Poverty has exploded across Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion. A recent study by the United Nations Development Program and International Monetary Fund shows that 20 percent of the population has fallen below the international poverty line of $1 per day per person.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Annexing Khuzestan; battle-plans for Iran
Those who doubt that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld team will attack Iran, while so conspicuously overextended in Iraq, are ignoring the subtleties of the administration’s Middle East strategy. This strategy has been called the “Khuzestan Gambit”, and we can expect that some variant of this plan will be executed following the aerial bombardment of Iranian military installations and weapons sites. If Iran retaliates, then there is every reason to believe that either the United States or Israel will respond with low-yield, bunker-busting nuclear weapons. In fact, the Pentagon may want to demonstrate its eagerness to use nuclear weapons do deter future adversaries and to maintain current levels of troop deployments without a draft.



Oil profit shouldn't mean breaks: Bush
President Bush defended the huge profits of Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday, saying they are simply the result of the marketplace and that consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks.



Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports
One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.



Study: Bush backers more likely racist
A study presented at the conference, which was in Palm Springs, Calif., explored relationships between racial bias and political affiliation by analyzing self-reported beliefs, voting patterns and the results of psychological tests that measure implicit attitudes -- subtle stereotypes people hold about various groups. That study found that supporters of President Bush and other conservatives had stronger self-admitted and implicit biases against blacks than liberals did.
What amazes me is that THEY think this is news! We already knew this was one of the main factors in this BUSHMANIA.



Removal of the Abramoff Prosecutor was a Political Deal to Scuttle Investigation
We also know that in 2002 Bush got rid of a prosecutor. U.S. Attorney Black, who was about to indict Abramoff in Guam. That indictment also related to Abramoff's purchasing of influence. It's the modus operandi of this administration. Bush got rid of him, put in his own man, and the Abramoff prosecution ended.



ECONOMY:



Gold Reaches 25-Year High as Oil Gains Renew Inflation Concerns



OP-ED:



State of Our Family Address
I remember the day I got the phone call..My son was back in the states. I fell to the floor sobbing, thanking the creator that my son was alive. Little did I know at that time that all that returned was a physical shell. My son’s spirit and soul must still be wandering the streets of Iraq.



The US has become a rogue nation.
Gentle reader, if you prefer comforting lies to harsh truths, don't read this column.



The Democrats' Response - Welcome to Weenie World
Tuesday night brought us another example of the weenie effect. George Bush gave his State-of-the-Union Address. Newly elected Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine, followed with the Democratic response. Kaine may be a dynamo as Governor of Virginia, but as the national spokesman for the Democratic Party he was instant weenie. Having observed this phenomenon for the past five years - it reached its nadir with John Kerry - it appears that Democratic speakers are obligated to follow four rules of weenie world.



SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:



Satellites That Bleed
Future spacecraft may be able to extend their mission lifetimes by borrowing a human trait to heal minor nicks and scratches.



HEALTH&FITNESS:



Study: Cardiac Drug Doubles Risk of Kidney Failure
Aprotinin -- a drug approved by the FDA, marketed internationally for the last 13 years, and given to an estimated one million surgery patients to limit bleeding -- has now been proven to double a patient's risk of kidney failure, and increase the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.



FOOD&DRINK:



A Taste of Ghana
Few countries reward the sidewalk chowhound as well as Ghana. From rough-hewn sheds, women sell sharp wedges of starchy yam, perfectly fried in splendorously saturated palm oil and slathered with a fiery sauce of pulverized Scotch bonnet peppers and garlic. From stainless steel bowls perched atop their heads, women dish out hearty bowls of perfectly spiced stew and rice, endlessly customizable with a plethora of condiments, from crunchy vegetables to a hard-boiled egg.



Mediterranean Supper Omelet
This hefty omelet is big enough for two people to share, and the recipe makes great use of the flavored goat cheese varieties now available at supermarkets across the country.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year
Meet Sgt. DeLacy Davis of Black Cops Against Police Brutality
Sgt. DeLacy Davis is a 14-year veteran of the East Orange, New Jersey, police department. His organization, Black Cops Against Police Brutality, has worked to reduce and prevent police abuse and misconduct and to eliminate community violence through innovative techniques and programs.



Japanese Jazz Prodigy Hiromi: 'Spiral'
At just 26 years old, Hiromi is considered one of Japan's best jazz pianists and composers. Musician and Day to Day contributor David Was says her music is "part classical, part jazz and part simply unclassifiable." He reviews her third album, Spiral.
She is phenominal!



HUMOR?:



Tom Tomorrow: Domestic Surveillance Scandal Smack Down!

Another Angle 30 - January - 2006

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you




NATIONAL:



Rice Admits U.S. Underestimated Hamas Strength
Ms. Rice's comments seemed to reflect a certain second-guessing over how the administration had failed to foresee, or factor into its thinking, the possibility of a Hamas victory.



Pentagon Can Now Fund Foreign Militaries
The move, included in a little-noticed provision of the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act passed last month, marks a legislative victory for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who pushed hard for the new powers to deal with emergency situations.


Study Says 80% of New Orleans Blacks May Not Return
If the projections are realized, the New Orleans population will shrink to about 140,000 from its prehurricane level of 484,000, and the city, nearly 70 percent black before the storm, will become majority white.



Grand theft New Orleans
San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year
People heard about the numerous abuses by the military and Blackwater mercenaries who were called in to “restore order” by setting up a hostile military environment simulating martial law – but who did little to search for or save the residents, most of whom were still in need of rescue, food, water, health care and shelter.



New Black Cable Channel Mixes Old Shows, New Documentaries
TV One, recently added to Time Warner Cable on its digital tier, is the black channel for grown-ups. You wont find reality shows about dorm life on TV One or a hip-hop knockoff of the MTV Music Awards. It doesnt air music videos obsessed with bling and booty. It has a cooking show, a new financial advice show (with Michelle Singletary) and, coming soon, documentaries and new dramas.



INTERNATIONAL:



Iran's new bourse may threaten the dollar
Should the Iranian Oil Bourse gain momentum, it will be eagerly embraced by major economic powers and will precipitate the demise of the dollar. America's greatest export is currently the dollar and when "the balance of reserve holdings starts to shift from dollars to euros, that's very bad news for America's system of dollar hegemony.



EU inquiry may call Cheney
Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the most hawkish members of the US administration, may be invited to appear before a European parliamentary committee investigating allegations of "extraordinary rendition" of terrorist suspects by the CIA.



Osama bodyguard is quietly let go
Tabarak was captured and taken to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was classified as such a high-value prisoner that the Pentagon repeatedly denied requests by the International Committee of the Red Cross to see him. Then, after spending almost three years at the base, he was suddenly released.

IRAQ:



Don't Call It Napalm
Little is known or seen of the air part of the American war of today, in Iraq. After the U.S. and Britain withdraw the bulk of their ground troops, plans call for the air war to be beefed up and kept that way for years to come.



U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq
The on-going American Occupation has also created worsened civil strife as well as mass environmental destructions and related public health problems that is associated with American bomb-related released radioactive and other life-threatening pollutions.



BUSH CRIME FAMILY:



Rumsfeld's Roadmap to Propaganda
The 74-page "Information Operations Roadmap" admits that "information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and PSYOP, increasingly is consumed by our domestic audience and vice-versa," but argues that "the distinction between foreign and domestic audiences becomes more a question of USG [U.S. government] intent rather than information dissemination practices."



Bush once again playing on fears of U.S. public
With apologies to Garrett Morris, fear ''been beddy beddy good'' to the White House. That's why Sept. 11 has become Team Bush's fallback position, its default reply to every hard question.
A ruinous war fought under false pretenses? Sept. 11.
Indefinite detention of alleged terrorists? Sept. 11.
Torture? Sept. 11.
The right of the people to dissent? Sept. 11.
Spying on Americans in violation of federal law? Sept. 11.
A growing record of incompetence and lies? Sept. 11.



Gag Orders
And the secrets and secret deals continue to tumble out.



ECONOMY:



Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar
Asian countries hold approximately $2 trillion in dollars and dollar denominated securities. China has already announced its intention to diversity its foreign asset holdings, and India is considering a similar course. The Iranian oil bourse could be the pebble that starts an avalanche.Petrodollar Warfare will help you pick through the rubble.



OP-ED:



Memo to Big Oil Companies: Africa’s Oil Belongs to Africans ...
We must begin to encourage the African World to make honest assessments of the historical relationship between Africa and large foreign corporations generally. Too many Africans are mesmerized by the extent of western economic development, and a fallacious belief that Africa’s full-scale embrace of capitalism will replicate such prosperity on that continent. This myth must be punctured with the fact that western countries were able to prosper only because they exploited Africa.



They Know They Broke the Law
One can imagine George W. Bush silently thanking God each night for the fact that he has a Republican congress at his back. Were it otherwise, the man would be neck-deep in impeachment hearings. This road trip, and the tortured convolutions being put forth as justification for spying on Americans, leads to one inescapable conclusion: they know what they did was illegal.



SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:



Russia plans to mine the Moon
"We are planning to build a permanent base on the Moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery ... of the rare isotope Helium-3."



HEALTH&FITNESS:



Natural Food, Unnatural Prices
We started looking around for something to buy. As we stared bug-eyed at the lofty price tags, I wondered aloud what sort of income it would take to become a regular Whole Foods shopper. Why not give Whole Foods the Wal-Mart test?



FOOD&DRINK:



Grilled Pound Cake with Pineapple "Salsa" and Tequila Whipped Cream
The grill was the original toaster. And there's nothing like a quick sizzle on the grill to transform ordinary pound cake into a singular, even extraordinary dessert. Especially when paired with a pineapple "salsa" and tequila-scented whipped cream.



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther...
He sent money to bail King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other imprisoned protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, and supported voter-registration drives and helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.


HUMOR?:



Candorville