Jack & Jill Politics

EVENING OPEN THREAD IS UP

Senate votes 98-0 to extend Unemployment Benefits

Is Obama inspiring black men to step up?

(CNN) -- The Natural Edges Salon in Dallas, Texas, is a rowdy barbershop where black men gather to loudly talk smack, politics and sports.
But on one wintry November morning last year, the men suddenly stopped talking. Someone turned the radio off, and the barbers' clippers stopping humming. A man had just challenged the customers' manhood.

The man was President-elect Obama. He was giving a televised speech challenging men to get involved in their communities.
The men had heard the message before, but this time they could relate to the messenger. Obama had shared their struggles -- raised by a single mom, never really knowing his father -- but had never used his struggles as an excuse.

Nor could they anymore, some of the men decided. Seven joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of America that morning, barber Michael Johnson says. One of them was Johnson, who says he grew up without his father but was saved by the friendship of an older man.
"I just said, 'You know what, I can do this today instead of tomorrow,' " Johnson said. '' 'Tomorrow may be too late. I can save a young man's life today.' "
Full Article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/04/obama.effe...

Report: AARP to back health care

The 40-million member AARP will support the $1.2 trillion health care bill heading toward a vote in the House, a potentially critical endorsement, the Associated Press is reporting.

The powerful seniors lobby has been in a difficult position on health care legislation this year. It has generally supported revamping the system but has also lost tens of thousands of members over concerns about how the current proposals in Congress would affect Medicare.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2009/11/re...

House Will Bring up HCR This Week
by mcjoan
Share this on Twitter - House Will Bring up HCR This Week Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 01:40:09 PM PST
Last night, Speaker Pelosi filed the manager's amendment--the final tweaks--to the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). Here's the announcment describing the changes made in this amendment:

Building on the legislation House Democrats introduced last week, this manager’s amendment includes these key improvements to the bill:

providing $1 billion in new resources to states to rein in price gouging by insurance companies,
excluding insurers who put profits over patients from an affordable marketplace that will serve tens of millions of Americans,
expanding on the provision that removed insurance companies’ anti-trust exemption and strengthening it to further promote competition and bring down costs for Americans; and
expanding oversight to further prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
To read the manager’s amendment click here. The full text of the bill is available here.

According to CQ, it's possible that they could bring the bill to a vote on the House floor as early as Saturday, Nov. 7. The Hill has a whip count here, based on media accounts, press releases and spokesmen for the lawmakers.

Here are their undecideds:

Brian Baird (Wash.)
Melissa Bean (Ill.)
Marion Berry (Ark.) Wants more aggressive action against HMOs, drug makers
Rick Boucher (Va.)
Dennis Cardoza (Calif.)
Yvette Clarke (N.Y.)
Chet Edwards (Texas) A perennial GOP target
Bob Etheridge (N.C.) May run for Senate
Bill Foster (Ill.) "Encouraged" House is moving forward
Bart Gordon (Tenn.) Republicans targeting Science panel chairman
Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) Wants vote on "robust" public option
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.)
Baron Hill (Ind.)
Frank Kratovil (Md.) Voted yes on climate change bill; GOP targeting him
Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) He said he "will have trouble voting for anything other than robust public option."
Daniel Lipinski (Ill.) Opposes abortion rights
Betsy Markey (Colo.) Has concerns with cost of the bill
Jim Marshall (Ga.)
Eric Massa (N.Y.) Fan of single-payer approach
Jim Matheson (Utah) Prefers Senate Finance measure; voted no in committee
Harry Mitchell (Ariz.)
Dennis Moore (Kan.) Was target of death threat last summer over healthcare reform
Jim Oberstar (Minn.)
Heath Shuler (N.C.)
Zack Space (Ohio)
Harry Teague (N.M.) Skeptic of public option

Grijalva and Kusinich have both been holding out for somtehing better, Grijalva for a robust public option amendment, and Kucinich and Massa for single payer. Some of them--Brian Baird?--are just head scratchers, some (Oberstar, Lipinski) having been holding out on the Stupak abortion amendment, and others are predictable Blue Dogs who don't want to be looking like they agree with Nancy Pelosi on anything.

In a bow to the abortion opponents, Slaughter says that the rule will include anti-abortion language from Rep. Brad Ellsworth.

The Ellsworth language would become part of the House adopts the rule for the bill, Slaughter said. It would explicitly prohibit federal funding for abortions and also guarantee patients access to "pro-life" insurance plans that would not cover the procedure.

Stupak, according to CQ, is still holding his breath. As of yet, there's no word from leadership on what they've done to appease progressives.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/4/800...

Gay Mayor in Houston? Could Very Well Be…
By: Phoenix Woman Wednesday November 4, 2009 6:56 am


You’d never know it from reading the RNC talking points at Politico or the Washington Post, but guess what: Houston, Texas — a historically-conservative city in a historically-conservative state — is on the verge of getting its first openly-gay mayor. What’s more is that she was by no means the only progressive or trailblazing major candidate in the race:

The unpredictable and unorthodox race for Houston mayor narrowed Tuesday to a choice between a veteran City Hall insider trying to become Houston’s first openly gay leader and a former civil rights activist hoping to become only the second African-American to run the nation’s fourth-largest city.

City Controller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke, the two candidates originally predicted by many to prevail at the race’s outset, face each other in a Dec. 12 runoff.

The upshot: Houston will get to choose between two very good candidates five weeks from now.

Meanwhile, pro-gay-rights measures passed in both Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Washington state. So while Maine may have been a disappointment, it’s not the only thing that happened last night.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/12785

I'm really sorry to hear about Maine, but I also knew that it was very close.

Re Houston: watch the hate really start.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Hill Dems. don't want to vote on Dem. agenda
by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 11/04/2009 01:16:00 PM

Members of Congress ask us to support them because they claim to share our values and our agenda. Then, they win -- and they whine and moan when we actually expect them to pass the agenda they promised during the campaign. According to The Hill, several Democrats are actively trying to ditch the Democratic agenda:

Vulnerable House and Senate Democrats want their leaders to skip the party’s controversial legislative agenda for next year to help save their seats in Congress.

In the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections, they don’t want to be forced to vote on climate change, immigration reform and gays in the military, which they say should be set aside so Congress can focus on jobs and the economy.

Got that? Key Democratic constituencies (environmentalists, Latinos and gays) = "controversial legislative agenda." So, here's the question: Why should we support any Democrats who throw us under the bus? Trying winning elections without environmentalists, Latinos and gays. Try it.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/11/hill-dems-do...

Check this tidbit out JJP:

A challenger for Bobby Scott?
After running unopposed in the past two elections, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott might have competition in 2010.

Coby Dillard, a paid worker for Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell’s campaign and a Norfolk resident, said Wednesday he’s considering seeking the Republican nomination to run against Scott, a Newport News Democrat, in the 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Dillard, 29, is active in the Tea Party movement - an anti-tax group that opposes the federal stimulus packages and bailouts of large private institutions.

Finance reports for McDonnell’s successful gubernatorial bid show that between May and Octobe 16, Dillard was paid $13,948 as a campaign worker, according to The Virginia Public Access Project.

On his Web site, Dillard, who grew up in Richmond and served six years in the Navy, cited his personal beliefs on many issues, which he calls “The Dillard Doctrine.”

“I don’t support any system, program or entitlement that gives preference to one over another. People should succeed - and experience failure – on their own,” he wrote.

He opposes forcing gun owners to register their weapons, wants parents to decide which school their children should attend and opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“I also believe that our country is a Christian nation,’’ he wrote, adding that while he respects other religious traditions, he cannot “subordinate my beliefs to anyone in the name of political correctness.”

Scott, 62, who was elected to his first two-year term in 1992, has won reelection seven times. His last opponent was Winsome Sears, a Republican, in 2004, whom he defeated by a 2 to 1 margin.

- Bill Bartel

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/11/challenger-bobb...



Interesting comment and possible development....hmmmmm.

LOL good luck with that. Maybe McDonnell can help him out. I'm not trying to be funny but the Va. GOP didn't help Winsome Sears out and didn't help Paul Harris out, so unless they truly are trying to reach into their big tent and reach out to minorities they aren't going to help D out either.

You ain't neva lied.

Unless Bobby Scott royally screws up, D has his work cut out for him, considering the GOP's track record in helping out the brothas in their party.

D would be better served getting a job in McDonnell's administration, as opposed to challenging a 20 year incumbent in Norfolk, but he'll learn that lesson when no cheddar gets thrown his way. If the GOP sees no benefit in having Scott's seat, they won't throw money in that direction.

Right now, looks like the Conservatives and the Moderates of the ReThug party are going to spend the next year eating their own, if the New York race is any indication.

Time to research and pull up all of D's post and see whats there.Nothing personal D just business

He did keep asking me about what kind of representative Bobby Scott was. I told him the man was a solid progressive and that didn't sit well with D.

I always wondered if he had plans for challenging Scott. I just hope that McDonnell's victory isn't giving this brotha ideas; McDonnell won because Deeds ran a piss-poor campaign and didn't get Moran and Obama to schill for him until it was too late.

Don't even get me worked up again on Deeds. LOL

Well, don't forget, redistricting is next year and the Pat Robertson crew now has control. I wouldn't be surprised if these mofos didn't draw Scott's district to make him weaker (right now all the black people from Richmond to Newport News are lumped together). D's probably thinking he'll have a shot at shutting down Bobby Scott once the Thugs get finished playing their Etch-a-Sketch with Virginia.

Drawing a weak district for Scott is the only way D or any other teabagger will be able to get him out of office. Most of the Richmond teabaggers live in the 7th District.

Chicago Inspector General's Office Sues City
IGO demands city turn over records concerning a 2006 no-bid contract.
By CAROL MARIN

It’s a first.

NBC5 and the Chicago Sun-Times have learned the city Inspector General’s Office is taking the Daley administration to court after issuing a subpoena last month.

The IGO is demanding the city Law Department and its boss, Mara Georges, turn over documents and records concerning an unspecified no-bid contract awarded in 2006.

First Deputy Inspector General Mary E. Hodge filed the lawsuit in the Chancery Division of Cook County Circuit Court Wednesday asking that Georges be compelled to fully co-operate in an ongoing contract probe “investigating how a former City employee was awarded a sole-source contract in apparent violation of the City’s ethics and contracting rules.”

Hodge has been the interim head of the IGO since August 2009 when Inspector General David Hoffman resigned to run for US Senate. Hoffman’s replacement, former Assistant US Attorney Joseph Ferguson, awaits City Hall confirmation hearings later this month.

The lawsuit does not name the contractor or the amount that contractor has been paid.

The IGO wants the court to require Georges to tell them who hired that individual and why, saying it “has been unable to determine who bears responsibility for the critical decision to contract with the former employee.”

Citing attorney-client privilege, Georges and the Law Department have, according to the lawsuit, refused to say.

IGO argues attorney-client privilege is a bogus argument, that the Inspector General and Georges both work for the same city and follow the same law, requiring the full cooperation of every city department in investigations of questionable hiring and contracts.

This is hardly the first time the Inspector General’s Office and the Daley administration have butted heads. Recall the now infamous case of Christopher Kozicki, the $130,000 Planning Department supervisor who rigged the 2004 hiring of a 19-year-old, unqualified building inspector named Andy Ryan. Though Kozicki admitted his role in federal court under a grant of immunity and then-Inspector General Hoffman urged his firing, the Daley administration refused. Kozicki later resigned.

The appointment of the city’s first Inspector General, made by Mayor Daley five years ago, was meant to signal, in the wake of a series of scandals, that hiring and contract abuses would not be tolerated.

But Daley’s relationship to the IGO became increasingly testy over the years.

Today’s lawsuit suggests those tensions remain.

The City Law Department has not yet replied to a request for comment

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Chica...

BREAKING: AARP to Endorse House Bill! Hotlist
by Drdemocrat [Subscribe]
Digg this! Share this on Twitter - BREAKING: AARP to Endorse House Bill!Tweet this submit to reddit Share This
Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 01:13:16 PM PST

Well this is a HUGE coup for the House Democrats. The AARP will give their seal of approval for the House Bill.

This is extremely important for "wavering" House members who are afraid of angry seniors in the 2010 mid-terms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

* Drdemocrat's diary :: ::
*

This is a GREAT development for health care reform and may be the momentum this bill needs for the next step.

In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

An announcement from the 40-million member group is expected Thursday, said officials with knowledge of the group's decision. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the endorsement is not official yet.

Backing the 10-year, $1.2 trillion House bill is a tricky move for AARP. Many retirees are concerned about cuts in Medicare payments to medical providers, which will be used to finance an expansion of health insurance coverage to millions of working families who now lack it.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/4/800635/...

04 Nov 2009 03:55 pm
The Establishment Caves

John Cornyn's statement that the NRSC will not fund its own candidates in disputed primaries seems to me to be a surrender to the base activists. What it means is that the same forces that purged Scozzafava will have free rein to purge others. They are already interpreting a Democratic victory in a super-safe red-state seat as a win for ... conservatives. And the threat of third party candidates against the GOP across the country has obviously spooked the national party leadership.

But that leaves an obvious question: what about Rubio-Crist?

Crist is vulnerable for being gay in the first place, although his sexual orientation is not as abhorrent as his support for the stimulus package and actually - gasp - appearing with a newly elected president of the United States who carried Florida. But the NRSC has already endorsed Crist and the Club for Growth purists are itching to back Rubio, who has the support of the netroots and the Beck-Palin insurgency. So the apparent surrender may have an inconvenient hangover from the past. And if Crist is taken down by Rubio, then the last remnants of non-movement conservatism will be fast evaporating from the GOP.

Maybe this will indeed be the real long-term consequence of last night: the acceleration of the GOP toward the Christianist right, and a platform of real counter-revolution against the post New Deal Settlement. I do find it remarkable that a Republican in New York State who is actually on the right of her own delegation is nonetheless a "socialist" and a "radical leftist" in the eyes of the base.

It's back to the 1940s we go!

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily...

We will have to come up with another name other than wingnuts because they have really went off the cliff with this one
Conservative slams Oscar the Grouch for criticizing Fox News
Forget Tinky-Winky, or whatever his name was. Meet Oscar the Grouch.

A conservative blogger at Andrew Breitbart's "Big Hollywood" website -- the onetime right-hand man for conservative maven Matt Drudge -- is now targeting Sesame Street for its "unfair" portrayal of Fox News as "trashy news show."

Evidently, Oscar the Grouch's "GNN" is not trashy enough. (Oscar, the furry green puppet, if you remember, lives in a trash can.)

During a Sesame Street segment, Oscar finds himself interviewing a puppet celebrity. A crabby viewer calls in to rebuke him after one of his subjects begins kissing him.

“I am changing the channel," the viewer crows. "From now on I am watching ‘Pox’ News. Now there is a trashy news show.”

Story continues below...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Breitbart's "Stage Right" blogger will have none of it -- even though the episode was originally broadcast two years ago and only recently re-aired.

"If Mom and Dad watch cable news, it’s better than 50/50 they watch 'POX News,'" the blogger pens. "So what gives? PBS — a network partially funded with my tax dollars — has the right to tell my kids that their parents watch “trashy” news?

"The message is clear," the blogger continues. "I can’t even sit my kids in front of 'Sesame Street' without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, 'If you don’t like it change the channel.' There are no channels left! It’s everywhere. Just last week I had Obama’s service and volunteerism promoted on every single major network, including Disney and Nickelodeon."

Breitbart's blogger is even upset that Fox News stars don't get kitschy nicknames.

"Later in the episode, Anderson Cooper from 4th place CNN, guest stars as a reporter for GNN," notes the vexed Sesame-watcher. "He interacts with 'Walter Cranky' and 'Dan Rather-Not' — Muppets representing real-life liberal news personalities — and they talk about 'Meredith Beware-a' and 'Diane Spoiler.' But no affectionate nicknames for Fox News personalities; no Spill O’Reilly or Brittle Hume — nope, and the only disparaging characterization of real-world news is reserved for Fox: Fox is a POX. It is trashy. They didn’t even attempt to try 'MessyNBC.'"
http://rawstory.com/2009/11/conservatives-hit-o...

"We will have to come up with another name other than wingnuts because they have really went off the cliff with this one."

How about:
-The Talibangelicals
OR
-Sarah's Satans
OR
-The Palinoid Quitzaphrenics
Or
-The Foxbots

Going to have to start watching Sesame Street again

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to a settlement worth more than $700 million over federal regulators' charges that it made unlawful payments to friends of public officials to win municipal bond business in Jefferson County, Ala.

The scandal over the county's $3.9 billion debt has pushed it to the brink of filing what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced the settlement with JPMorgan, which canceled interest-rate swap contracts with the county worth $700 million in March.

The Wall Street bank did not admit or deny the SEC allegations in agreeing to pay a $25 million civil fine and a $50 million payment to the county, and to forfeit $647 million in termination fees it claims the county owes from the canceled swap agreements.

Regulators have issued warnings for years over so-called "pay-to-play" relationships between investment firms and government officials in the $2.7 trillion municipal bond market, tapped by state and local governments around the country to finance schools, roads, hospitals and public works projects. The Jefferson County scandal last week brought the criminal conviction of Birmingham's former mayor on bribery, tax evasion and other charges.

In a civil lawsuit, the SEC also accused two former managing directors of JPMorgan, Charles LeCroy and Douglas MacFaddin, of securities law violations. The agency is seeking unspecified restitution from them. They will contest the charges.

The SEC alleged that JPMorgan, LeCroy and MacFaddin made about $8 million in undisclosed payments to close friends of several Jefferson County commissioners. Starting in July 2002, LeCroy and MacFaddin solicited the county for a $1.4 billion sewer bond deal.

Swayed by the payments, the county commissioners voted to select JPMorgan's securities division as managing underwriter of the bond offerings and its affiliated bank as swap provider for the transactions, the SEC said.

JPMorgan failed to disclose any of the unlawful payments or conflicts of interest in the bond offering documents, but passed on the cost of the payments by charging the county higher interest rates on the swap transactions, according to the SEC.

"The transactions were complex but the scheme was simple," SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "Senior JPMorgan bankers made unlawful payments to win business and earn fees."

JPMorgan settles SEC charges over 'pay-to-play' in Ala. county; deal worth over $700 million

---

Looks like someone in B'ham's scandal took a plea deal. Former Mayor Langford refused to make a plea deal with the prosecutor. He is now facing 800 years on 60 charges.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on the Glenn Beck radio show today to promote her big protest event tomorrow -- in which she will bring "freedom fighters" directly into the halls of Congress to pressure members to vote against the Democrats' health care bill.

"This is really the 11th hour, when we're calling people to come to D.C. It's not inevitable that Speaker Pelosi's health care government takeover is going to pass," said Bachmann. "And that's why the number one thing people can do is actually come, see their member of Congress, look at them in the eyes -- especially with other freedom fighters in tow -- and let them know that the lessons of August they should not forget, at their peril."

Bachmann Calls For 'Freedom Fighters' To Come To Capitol To Stop Dem Health Care Bill

So if it gets out of hand and a congressperson gets assaulted can we please have this bat shit crazy person expelled and beck arrested for inciting a riot.

They need to be beaten in the halls of Congress like it was the German Social Revolution of 1918. these people are simply haters and it is all they understand.

Fuck this woman.... what a classic example of do-nothingism. Bachmann and her ilk are not interested in governing. They're interested in enjoying the benefits their position affords while denying their constituents and other Americans of whatever they possibly can.

morphus - thanks for posting so damned much. I can't always comment any more - but I sure can read. You've just about stolen that posting chair from GLH.

There can only be one GLH, if my posting is giving her the break she needs to heal, then all is good.

75 Percent of Young Americans Are Unfit for Military Duty

http://www.sphere.com/2009/11/03/70-...litary-d...

WASHINGTON (Nov. 3) -- Are America's youth too fat, dumb or dishonest to defend the nation against its enemies?

The latest Army statistics show a stunning 75 percent of military-age youth are ineligible to join the military because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law.

So many young people between the prime recruiting ages of 17 and 24 cannot meet minimum standards that a group of retired military leaders is calling for more investment in early childhood education to combat the insidious effects of junk food and inadequate education.

"We've never had this problem of young people being obese like we have today," said Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He calls the rising number of youth unfit for duty a matter of national security. "We should be concerned about how this will impact this overstretched Army and its ability to recruit."

Shalikashvili is among dozens of retired generals, admirals and civilian Pentagon officials who have banded together as Mission Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids. The group, which includes former NATO commander and presidential candidate Wesley Clark, will appear with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the National Press Club on Thursday to urge immediate action to reduce dropout rates and improve the physical and moral fitness of the nation's youth.

They will cite research that shows quality early childhood education raises graduation rates by up to 44 percent and reduces the odds of being arrested for a violent crime by age 18.

Douglas Smith of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command said 2008 data shows about three in 10 youths have an initial barrier to enlistment.

Most aren't insurmountable. "If you're overweight, we tell you to come back when you've lost the weight. If you don't score well on the armed forces aptitude test, we suggest you study and take it again," he said.

Between 2004 and 2008, the Army more than doubled the number of "conduct" waivers it granted to would-be soldiers with criminal or misdemeanor records. The loosened standards proved necessary in a time of war and amid a booming economy that forced military recruiters to work overtime to fill the ranks.

The new warnings about a generation of couch potatoes comes just weeks after the Pentagon announced its best recruiting year since the all-volunteer force began in 1974. The economic meltdown and rising unemployment, combined with bigger military bonuses and benefits, enticed hundreds of thousands to enlist despite the inevitability most would be sent to war.

The plethora of would-be recruits allowed the military services to be choosier after years of taking in more high school dropouts and those needing extra physical training to meet weight requirements.

Recruiting may have gotten easier, but "the good times don't stay forever," warned David Segal, a University of Maryland military sociologist. When the economy recovers and young people are able to get jobs or can afford to go to college, the military will be faced with the same out-of-shape, ill-prepared pool of recruits as before.

"Recruiting will get tough again," he said. "The trend line is clear: The youth population is getting less healthy."

lmao!

I won't argue with this report, since it does show...

The House Financial Services Committee voted today to give federal regulators more power and money to police major players in the stock market, four months after Bernard Madoff was sentenced for the biggest investment scam in history.

The 41-28 vote was the panel's latest move to try to rein in abuses on Wall Street. It would give the Securities and Exchange Commission new enforcement powers, including the ability to offer bounty money to tipsters on fraud cases and the power to bar violators of the law from employment in any securities-related industry.

The bill also would double the SEC's budget in the next five years.

House panel votes to give SEC more money, power

---

About time. Its a tad difficult to track transactions on a tech savvy Wall Street with an abacus.

Lary King Jr Live/The Future of Black Politics by Jeffrey Johnson

this article sheds light on several issues dealing with politics within the african american community. Although my next thought isn’t what the article is about, it highlights faith leaders and politics. i have always had a critical eye when faith based leaders start endorsing, especially in the pulpit. we are entitled an opinion. however, too often you find that endorsement is furnished out of obligation for a “favor”. but quite frankly that is the nature of the beast. interesting read….

http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/03/l...

The rate of HIV and AIDS in the Black Community is startling. African-Americans, who only make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, account for nearly half of those living with HIV. More specifically, black women represent 61 percent of the new HIV cases among all women. The popular suspicion has been that many infected black women have contracted the virus from their black male companions, who secretly have sex with other men (also known as the "down low"). But a new study shows that correlation is flawed. Dr. Kevin Fenton, of the Centers for Disease Control, explains the misconception and talks about prevention.

Excerpt NPR Transcript:

MARTIN: So, is it fair to say that it is just simply not true that the majority of new infections among black women occur because of having sex with men who have sex with men.

Dr. FENTON: Yes, that would be true. It is crucially important to bear in mind that there are a range of risk factors which face black women in the United States today. And, you know, the reality is that bisexual black men account for a very, very small proportion of the overall black male population in the United States. Our research suggests that about two percent of black men will report being bisexually active.

And, therefore, you need to look at the risk factors which are far more prevalent in the community - having multiple sexual partners with unprotected sex with heterosexual partners, injecting drugs. Those are going to be factors which are far more prevalent in the population and are driving risks.

MARTIN: But, you know, you mentioned though that a lot of this is based on self-reporting. You're saying that a very small percentage of African-American men identify themselves as bisexual. The CDC itself has reported that many black men who report having sex with other men see themselves as heterosexual, even though their behavior may be at variance with how they identify themselves. Could it be a factor in the transmission of the disease because men don't necessarily accept or disclose to researchers or to their partners that they're engaging in this behavior?

Dr. FENTON: Indeed. And, you know, this factor of nondisclosure of this sort of diversity in sexual attitudes or lifestyles is certainly seen across all racial and ethnic groups. So you wouldn't want to say that this is something which unique to the black male community. And what our research also suggests is that even among men who are bisexually active, the bisexual males who have no other risk factors, for example, like injecting drugs, actually report having lower risk sexual behaviors than gay and bisexual men.
...
Dr. FENTON: You know, I'm so glad you raised that. Incarceration is certainly one of the topics and areas that we're particularly focused on at CDC to better understand both the disproportionate impact of this factor on the black community and how it facilitates HIV transmission.

And there are a few things that we do know. First of all, although there is HIV transmission ongoing in prisons, it's not at high a level as had been previously thought. And what we actually believe is occurring is that there are a number of HIV-infected individuals who become incarcerated. So HIV goes from the community into the prison sector. There may be some onward transmission in prison.

But the real factor that occurs is on release from prison, people who are at high risk or HIV infected reenter communities, form new sexual partnerships and that's where the potential for onward transmission of HIV occurs. Incarceration also has another key effect on the community, and that is by removing eligible African-American males from the community.

It means that African-American women who are looking for African-American male partners have fewer choices in their sexual partnerships and relationships and may be forced into relationships where they have multiple partners or males who will have multiple female partners, etc. Or those women may not be able to negotiate safer sex and protected behaviors because of fear of losing eligible male partners in the community. So it's a very complex set of and series of factors which we observed with incarceration and the community transmission of HIV.

Myth: HIV/AIDS Rate Among Black Women Traced To 'Down Low' Black Men

---

So... the Black male partner is available but the Black female just need to check his health card?

Another stat I'm wondering about, just like the 90% of kids on food stamps...

If you do not want to agree to a number can you agree with the CDC consistent reporting that Black Women are facing a HIV/AIDS epidemic?

I suppose it's hard for me to accept that we're practically everywhere in these so-called bad stats. You'd think we'd be extinct as a people!

>_<

Understand. The bad stats perhaps should not be viewed as downer but helpful to give focus to change or fight for policy decisions.

I had no idea how serious sickle-cell was until a close friend died of complications from it at 28 - three months before her wedding.

Another Clark episode not worth the risk

Two years ago, playing in the high altitude of Denver could have killed Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark(notes). Instead, it cost him surgeries that took his spleen and gall bladder, and the loss of an additional 35 pounds due to medical complications.

On Monday night, Pittsburgh returns to the Denver altitude for the first time since that scare. And amazingly, Clark is considering playing in the game, despite still carrying a sickle-cell trait and another undisclosed medical condition that caused the initial crisis. Clark has gotten medical clearance to play in the game, but the question remains: should Pittsburgh even be letting him entertain the risk?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Alo61DlJ7...

i intimately know about sickle cell, not b/c i have it. however, a family member does. it frustrates me to no end that we do not talk about this more in our community. it can be a crippling disease, but it doesn't have to be. if we had a 1/4 of the financial support that is given to breast cancer, another cause i am passionate about, we could make real strides with this disease. it doesn't touch everyone so it doesn't get recognized.

We also need to be tested for the trait before we have children--males & females. When both parents have the trait, a sickle cell child will most likely be born. Prevention is a necessity.

they test african americans automatically now. in the past this wasn't the case. so it is very rare that one wouldn't know if they have the trait. but to your point about prevention, you would be surprised at the amount of people who know they have the trait & still have children. if they saw someone in a crisis they would rethink that decision long & hard.

That is certainly the truth. My 27 year old nephew has it and he has to have a whole body blood transfer every 5 weeks. It is unbelievable what he has to endure. My sister and her husband were both tested for the trait, but her husband was misdiagnosed.

Watching Jim Doyle introduce the President in Madison at Wright Middle School.

It's so beautiful to see these great kids get a lot out of the President's appearance.

Have a good day drive a wingnut right out of his tree. Tell them their is another Obama, only he's technically Jewish, with degrees from Brown, Stanford and Emory, speaks Chinese and plays the piano. He is moving back to America to run as VP w/ Barack in 2012 you there can be another hereditary Presidency(OK I made the last part upbut he is his stepbrother). He did write a book.

Thanks, RobM

He's impressive.

Inhofe Shows Up To Climate Hearing, Refuses To Discuss GOP Position, Walks Out
Just like the day before, only one Republican showed up for the Senate's climate change hearing Wednesday morning -- but not to debate.

Republicans are boycotting the Environment and Public Works Committee hearings, blocking action by exploiting a committee rule that at least two members of the minority have to be present before opening markup.

On Wednesday, ranking Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma made a brief appearance at the hearing before the committee began its consideration of roughly 80 Democratic amendments and zero from Republicans, who offered none. In a rare move, Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) extended the deadline for amendments from Monday to Tuesday night on behalf of the committee Republicans, but once it became clear they wanted an extension of five weeks, she stopped waiting.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/inhofe...

SMH.....Like a bunch of spoiled 4 yr olds.

rikyrah
I don't know where you read about MadMen. I have noticed in regard to this last episode everyone is trying figure out what the Kenneddy assassination means. The camps are it means nothing, Don doesn't count because he is going forward no matter what happens, or it portends huge change with in the shows dynamic. That kills me because Carla knows w/o question it is change and see is frightened that it is bad again.

I like the Open Thread over at Coates. And, the summaries are over at Post Bourgie.

I definitely think that Carla is aware that there is change coming.

I felt for Don, and not Betty - isn't that crazy? Don the cheater got my sympathy. It's ridiculous,but it's true...LOL

Roger's new wife is more threatened by his DAUGHTER and not the ex-wife...isn't that crazy? she's competing with his CHILD...Roger doesn't fool me - JOAN is where his true heart is.

The Breck girl has no idea what she wants. I've no sympathy for Don because for all his empathy for everyone else he has no idea what it means for his wife. Part of it is he bought into what a wife is supposed to be June Cleaver, yet he is so unsuited for it. He also had to become married or he would have been accused of being a homosexual and cut off at the knees. It is why until the school teacher careful in letting people see whom he is sleeping w/.Had he been able to wait to marry he would have taken off to California w/ the school teacher type after the payoff of selling the firm. Remeber the West Coast eay girl was part of an upper class he wasn;t exposed to. it was a little alien in its lack of monogamy.
T

He WAS at home in California, wasn't he? Don would have been comfortable on one level, but I do think he likes the ' role' that he plays as hubby.

Rihanna talks about her abuse by Chris.