Jack & Jill Politics

My people. My black people, can't we all get along? Por favor?

I believe China supports dictatorships for political as well a practical reasons.

AxelFoley: LOL!! :>)

Seeeeee. I gave U a “shout-out”. :>)
when I posted the PICS.
+First Lady Michelle Obama talks to students about mentoring in the library at South High School in Denver, Colo. , Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. From left are, Hamza Aftah, Kellyn Craig, Michelle Obama, Linda Jimenez and Carlos Guillen.

1. AxelFoley – - -get your PAPER – R-E-A-D-Y!! :>)

Have a nice day! :>)

Aw, shuck, ma'am.

*blushes*

*well, blushes as much as a black man can*

Sarah Palin being president is a terrorist attack unto itself….now that would be cause for a war.

Which Americans united with which other Americans for what reason, and for whose benefit? You know, it's not about “throwing in with China”, and I don't think that was what AM2K was doing. It's about remaining cognizant of the fact that generally, the most jingoistic and imperialistic Americans don't look upon us much differently (at best) than they look upon “them”.

even Daley had to admit, when asked by reporters, that he didn't believe that Scott committed suicide.

I agree with this statement. Who said that 'don't nobody want to be Black'. Town definitely doesn't hate Black people.

Looking at the Big Picture on the Recovery Act
Posted by G. Edward DeSeve on November 17, 2009 at 09:37 AM EST
Last month, in a first-ever effort by the federal government recipients that received Recovery Act funds had to file a report saying how much they had received, what they had done with it, and how many jobs these funds had saved or created. The reports were due just 10 days after the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30th, and were posted on Recovery.gov just 20 days later.

More than 130,000 such reports were filed. You can go to Recovery.gov and look them up by zip code, or search for them on a map. It’s a “real-time” update on your tax dollars at work that is unmatched by any federal initiative, ever, of this scale.

As part of President Obama’s commitment to transparency and disclosure, it’s been a huge success. When you consider the sheer number of reports that had to be filed, processed, and posted; the fact that this had never been done before; and the very short time to check reports and make sure they were right – the data collected and posted is very impressive.

Unfortunately, it would be hard to know that by reading some of what’s been written and said about recipient reporting. The Administration has been criticized for pointing out to the independent Recovery Board some erroneous reports that should not have been posted – and for failing to find all the erroneous reports. Skeptics have raised doubts about reports that show jobs created with no funds spent (although that is possible, as workers are hired in anticipation of projects starting), or funds spent with no jobs created (when materials are purchased for projects that are not yet underway).

Some filers, working with the new system, punched in the wrong Congressional district, and some just got the data wrong. And about 10% of those folks who were supposed to file a report haven’t filed it yet.

We fully agree with those who find the mistakes in the data frustrating – and we’ve been working with the Recovery Board to find the mistakes, and fix them. Just because mistakes are inevitable in any new system – especially one this large, and this new — doesn’t mean they are acceptable. We are going through the reports with a fine tooth comb, identifying mistakes, and working with filers to correct them. That said, three big picture points should not be lost.

First, the mistakes are RELATIVELY few, and don’t change the fundamental conclusions one can draw from the data. Even if as many as 5-10% of the reports or 5-10% of the totals are wrong (and we don’t think it is that high), that still means the Recovery Act saved or created between 600,000 and 700,000 direct jobs in its first seven months – more than most experts predicted when it passed. And most leading experts agree that – whatever the recipient reported total should be – the actual number of jobs saved or created is about double that, because the recipient reports don’t include direct payments to individuals, the jobs created by Recovery Act tax cuts, and the jobs created when workers on Recovery Act projects spend their paychecks.

Second, some of the mistakes are frustrating typos and coding errors that don’t undermine information at the heart of the data. Yes, it is “silly” that Recovery.gov shows that a project went to the 15th Congressional District in Arizona – when there is no such district. But a “click” on the project details gives you the address, and a check on the address shows it is in Arizona’s 3rd district. All this shows is that when people send in 130,000 reports, some will have silly mistakes. But it doesn’t really undermine the ability of the public to track and follow the data – or the fact that real jobs have been created.

Third, transparency is going to be messy – but it is better than the alternative. It would be great if every report filed was correct the first time, on time, and contained no errors. But that’s not realistic when 130,000 reports are being filed in a 10 day period. It would be great if the reviewers at the federal agencies, could have found all the mistakes in the 20 days they had to do the job, gotten the reports back to the recipients to be fixed, and reposted – but again, that isn’t realistic. And so, it’s all out there now for the public to see – because the Recovery Act chose speed and transparency as its watchwords – and the result is some data errors for the critics to pick over. But think about it this way: What government program has ever even attempted to provide this sort of information, on this scale, this quickly? In my over thirty years of government service, I can tell you without hesitation: something like this has never happened before. In previous administrations, hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent without anyone being asked what happened to the money, being asked how it was spent, or being asked how many jobs were created – and some of the loudest critics of Recovery Act data today were shockingly silent. And if these questions were asked, answers would usually take months or years to produce.

Last month, something happened that has never happened before. Critics – some well intentioned, some who just wanted to discredit the Recovery Act — have had over two weeks to try to make hay with the data. But no criticism has come close to discrediting the larger and most important point: that the Recovery Act has helped save or create more than 1 million jobs across America and across various sectors of the economy. The data will get better and better – but in the noise over counting jobs, we shouldn’t lose sight of the Recovery Act’s progress in creating them.

G. Edward DeSeve is Special Advisor to the President, Assistant to the Vice President and Special Advisor to the OMB Director for Implementation of the Recovery Act

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/11/17/looki…

As someone who's lived NOT in one, but in TWO countries that have been invaded, bombed, and occupied by the U.S military (composed of white, black and brown folks at the request of white politicians in Washington, DC), only to later install local puppets that “jump” when Washington says “jump”, I think I have a different perspective on what it means to be an American or what I understand as the proper role of U.S foreign policy.

I'm not a fan of China. Never have been. Never will. I have worked with missionaries, both Chinese and Americans, that smuggle Bibles into China. I'm aware of the treatment of ethnic minorities, Christians, Tibetans, Uiguhurs, and others. If China is the way of the future, then I sure as hell want NO part of that future. But let me ask you: if the Chinese are so bad, why does our country still do business with them? Why does everything you buy (from shoes, t-shirts, underwear and TVs) is made in China? Why, given their treatment of Black people (and I'd argue that the way they treat Blacks does not come close to pre-civil rights America), does our country has amicable relationships with them? Why do you still go to walmart, and target, fully knowing that their products come from China?

Having said all of that, let's focus on 500 years of Western exploitation of blacks and brown people of the earth. Let's focus on more than 110 years of the projection of U.S hegemonic all over the world. Let's talk about the fact that American foreign policy is centered on the evil tenets of Greed, and Racism (that's why I cringe every time I hear Obama talking about “let's reassert American “leadership” in [insert whatever part of the world you wish]” as if American “leadership” has been blameless. Let's talk about the war in Vietnam that left more than 5.4 dead Vietnamese people dead just because some mother@@## in Washington, DC (Was it Kennedy? Mcnamara? Lyndon Johnson? I dont know..) decided to start a war with them. Let's talk about coups and authoritarian dictatorships in Latin America orchestrated by the United States throughout the 70s and 80s, all so American corporations can reap mighty profits. Let's talk about the coup in Iran (orchestrated by the CIA at the request of the U.S President) so that “Western” oil companies can reap the benefits off other people's lands and natural resources. Let's talk about the Iran-Iraq war in which more than 1.5 million Iraqis and Iranian died, in a war we now know the U.S was backing both sides. Let's talk about the latest Iraq war that has resulted in the deaths of more than one million Iraqis just because [again] some Mother@#@# in Washington, DC decided that they wanted to start a war.

Now, let's talk about YOU as an American (if you're Black, then as a Black American): What did the Vietnamese ever do to YOU that you had to invade their country? (did they ever call you the “N” word like the Great Cassius Clay said at the time?) What did the Philipinos ever do to YOU that you had to invade and colonize their country? What did Panamenians ever do to YOU that you had to invade and bomb their country? What did Haitians and Dominicans ever do to you that you had to bomb and invade their country? What did the Iraqis ever do to you, for you to cause so much misery to them?

That is your history; you own it. Me? Personally, I dream of an America that isnt centered on Greed and the projection of hegemonic White Supremacy. Unfortunately, present-day America will have to wither in order for a better America to emerge.

So you spent 90% of your post on American History 101. Thanks, I needed a review.

“if the Chinese are so bad, why does our country still do business with them? Why does everything you buy (from shoes, t-shirts, underwear and TVs) is made in China?”

It's called business AmK. Cheap goods and they buy US bonds. Here's the thing it's not that “China is so bad.” I dont know what your background is because obviously I'm looking at this from a different perspective than you are. My original post about China wasn't even from a racial perspective you are the one that took it there. It was from a national security standpoint. It's all about China's intentions. Now you can dismiss China's intentions because of the racial disharmony in US over past hundred years but I do not because doing so would be at my own peril. You have multiple black people on this blog and in the black community that dismiss other countries' transgressions because of America's “racist” policies of the past. If those other countries do harm to the United States they are not going to differentiate between white americans, black americans or hispanic americans. They are going to try to destroy us all. The US' enemies don't care about our racial squabbles or dynamics. That's why Iran tells Obama to fuck off just like they told Bush to fuck off. They are both seen as the “American tyrant.” We have a black president, black generals, black military officers and black people in the highest offices of the land. I think someone can make the case AT THIS POINT black americans are partially or in the least complicit for the “ills” that America is doing overseas. I am a black immigrant who's parents came to America. I have served in the US military and pulled triggers for “Amerikkka” as some of you would say. And some of your family members have served as well. Black America can't just point the finger about “racist policies overseas” because we have had a hand in carrying them out. I'll never throw in with China, Iran, Iraq or any other country that is the enemy of this country because when the bombs start dropping on American cities it is not going to make a difference what color you are.or the racial history of this country.

When you put it like that Plant I don't disagree. But if as an American of any descent you are going to be defender of China because of US racial history that is where I have a problem. Do you think the countries that want America destroyed care about US' citizens racial squabbles? I don't think so.

Vdrome, what some blacks don't understand is that other people in the world looks at them like Americans especially now with a black president. Some blacks in America separate themselves as “African” Americans which I don't get but that's another post. When terrorists took down the World Trade towers they didn't stop and make sure all the “blacks” left the buildings. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they didn't stop and make sure there were no blacks on those ships. And if another country attacks us again the perpetrator of that attack will not make that distinction either. So yes I say “United We Stand.”

Am2k9, are you going to “think critically” if a enemy of America drops a bomb and kills one your family members. Are you going to simply say, “Oh, they have right to do that because the things America has done it the past.”

Don't be silly. If someone is trying to kill me I don't care about his reasons. When the next World War starts which is going to happen. Your foolish textbook outlook of the world will be meaningless. I don't care what your logic is. If you are an American(of whatever color) you are the enemy. Ahmadinejad will not look fondly on you for “trying to walk in his shoes.” BWAHAAHAHA What type of fantasy land do you live in because I'm coming so I can hang with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? And lets say I take your advice. What should America do? Jump in a time machine and undo the past? Foolish girl, thank God there will be men like me that picks up a weapon and defend your ass so I can come home and be lectured about US foreign policy of past centuries.

I here what you are saying Plant. And being a black person and calling yourself an American without some hesitance is understandable . But I was trying to make a wider point. This whole “discussion” started with my comments on China from a national security standpoint. Another person made it a racial one. Now I'm not dismissing what they said. My larger point is no matter the differences you may have with race in this country other countries are not going to care if they choose to do harm to American citizens. No one is cosigning xenophobia. What I am saying is don't let internal problems cloud your judgment when dealing with external problems. Does the Chinese government or the Venezuelan government care about racial disagreements amongst American citizens? I don't think so. You may not consider yourself an American. But the world considers you an American. When I travel and I pull out that American passport and the country I'm in doesn't like America everything that you said in your post is a moot point. You are the object of their hatred and you may disagree with the US government but you or your family members may be punished for it.

Anyway, I think I made my point on this China thing. I want to clarify my statements on the “American” thing. I don't equate being an American with the worst of this country. And I said this other day I'm not concerned with what white people think I am or what “Real Americans” think I should be. Those “Real Americans” don't decide who I am or what think of myself and too many us black people are concerned about what white people think we should be.

You could look at “any” country's prosperity and see impropriety. One thing I do know my grandparents were dirt poor and came to this country and made something of themselves. In America with an abundance of opportunities the last thing that is on my mind is “White America.” Nobody stopped me from enrolling college. Nobody stopped me from having a career. Nobody stopped from working hard. So you can concentrate on “Greed and Racism” but I'll concentrate on opportunities and that is the beauty of America. It seems like you are stuck in a “past” mentally. American's success is my success because it provides the opportunities for people like me (YES BLACK PEOPLE) the opportunities to be successful.

The problem is, when Iran tells Barack Hussein Obama or George Walker Bush to “fuck off”, they have every right to do so. Walk in their shoes for a minute: Let the Iranian govt. overthrow the democratic-elected President of the U.S and then install a dictatorship that, for 40+ years, will work to protect the interests of Iranian corporations: All of us will be telling Iran to “fck off.” In many ways, the same thing can be said of the Chinese. Go and read about the British's occupation of China. If you do, then you'd probably take articles talking about how “'Western” “British” and “Americans” are “troubled” by China's “rise”" (like the one you posted) and laugh at it.

Now, before you talk about America's “enemies”, you have to think critically and ask yourself: Why are they our “enemies”? Who gets to design them as such? I mean, we were told that the Vietnamese were our enemies; right? We were told the Iraqis were our enemies? Now we are told that the Iranians are our enemies or that Hugo Chavez is our enemy. Come on? Please, think critically; decolonize your mind… it may do you some good.

Agreed, but they have their own fault lines as well.

No, I'm not going to become a defender of China, but I'm also not going to become jingoistic and imperalistic. Somewhere on this thread, you say that you've earned the right to be an American”. It seemed odd. I wondered what you meant by “American”. I wondered if you meant you've earned the right to be as xenophobic as all the white Real Americans. Well, for one thing, you could have been alive at any point during the history of this country, and Real Americans wouldn't have rejected you cosigning their xenophobia because you're black. That's something you didn't have to “earn”. Of course, at least in modern times, including today, they also wouldn't have told you that they look upon you in the same way they look upon those other people.

If that's becoming an “American”, then I'll never be one, and the thought causes me no consternation whatsoever. I'll remain a Black American, and retain the different, and many times, wider and more accurate perspective that psychic distance affords us. I value that much more than Real Americaness.

It seems to me that you (and vdrome) went beyond China, and the possibility that it may become a military aggressor beyond its own back yard. It seemed to be offered as a “reason” for blacks to cheerlead the U.S. on to do…the same thing you're afraid China is going to do, and that cheerleading will help us to “assimilate”.