IMMIGRATION & EDUCATION - LET IN MORE AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS (BLOOMBERG OPINION COMMENTARY)

EDUCATION & IMMIGRATION - LET IN MORE AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS (OPINION COMMENTARY):

CURRENT RESEARCH SHOWS IMMIGRANTS FROM KENYA, NIGERIA, NEPAL, GHANA AND SAUDI ARABIA ARE OFTEN WELL-EDUCATED & HIGHLY SKILLED.

WHILE IMMIGRANTS FROM MEXICO, HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, CENTRAL AMERICA AND EL SALVADOR ARE OFTEN THE LEAST EDUCATED & LOW SKILLED.


Post Sources: Bloomberg, Youtube


******* Want Educated Immigrants? Let In More Africans


~ Highly skilled? Check. Hardworking? Check. English-speaking? Check. Ready to integrate? Check.

The uproar over White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comments about illegal immigration in an interview with National Public Radio last week still hasn’t entirely died down. I haven’t found the resulting discussion to be super-enlightening, so, as I did with an earlier Kelly comment about how nobody knows anybody in the military anymore, I decided to see if a few charts might clear things up.

To review, Kelly argued that most undocumented immigrants are “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society.” He went on:

They're overwhelmingly rural people in the countries they come from — fourth, fifth, sixth grade educations are kind of the norm. They don't speak English, obviously that's a big thing. They don't speak English. They don't integrate well, they don't have skills. They're not bad people. They're coming here for a reason. And I sympathize with the reason. But the laws are the laws.

So … let’s dig into the data. More than 70 percent of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico and Central America, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Mexico is by far the most common country of origin, but the population of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. (both documented and undocumented) actually fell 6 percent from 2007 to 2015, according to the Pew Research Center, while the numbers of Salvadorans, Hondurans and Guatemalans in the U.S. continued to grow.

So when we talk about illegal immigration into the U.S., we’re mainly talking about immigration from those four countries, with El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala playing a growing role and Mexico a huge but shrinking one.

And yes, most of those who have come to the U.S. from these countries are probably of rural origin, although (1) there’s not much good data on that and (2) there are indications that the rural share has been getting less “overwhelming” in recent years as Mexico and El Salvador, the two biggest sources of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., have urbanized.

Much better data is available on the characteristics of foreign-born people here in the U.S., most of it from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, an annual survey of about 2 million households first conducted in 2005.

The ACS does not sort immigrants by whether they have permission to be in the U.S. or not. 1 (Estimates of the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., in fact, are arrived at by taking the totals from the ACS and subtracting out the numbers of temporary and permanent lawful residents provided by the Department of Homeland Security.)

Still, it offers much insight into the characteristics of different immigrant groups. To get back to Kelly’s comment, here are the countries from which immigrants in the U.S. have the least formal education, according to the 2016 ACS:

So yes, the people who have come to the U.S. from Mexico and Central America tend not to have a lot of schooling.

The European nations of Portugal, Italy and Greece are also on this list, although most immigrants from those countries arrived in the U.S. a long time ago so there’s understandably not much grumbling about them.

Meanwhile, the countries from which the most-educated foreign-born U.S. residents hail make for quite a diverse bunch.

Next, let’s examine Kelly’s comments about non-English-speakers. He’s right that immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras struggle with the language, although this time around, they cede first place to Myanmar:

The list of countries from which immigrants in the U.S. are least likely to struggle with English are, unsurprisingly, all English-speaking countries, so I’m not going to bother with a chart. Extra credit, though, to the Netherlands and Germany for making the top 10 despite having their own languages, and to Trinidad & Tobago for beating out the U.K. for first place.

It’s important to remember, though, that immigrants from non-English-speaking countries have always struggled with the language. Many millions of immigrants from Germany, Italy and other European countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries never did become fluent in English. But their children did!

The kids of today’s immigrants are learning English, too: Of people born in the U.S. who speak Spanish at home, reports the Census Bureau, 83 percent also speak English very well. The percentage is slightly higher — 87 percent — among those who speak other Indo-European languages at home, and is again 83 percent for those who speak Asian and Pacific languages at home.

Finally, there’s Kelly’s assertion that undocumented immigrants don’t integrate well. Language ability is one measure of integration. Employment is surely another one. When I ran a list of the countries from which immigrants in the U.S. have the highest employment-to-population ratio, some familiar names popped up:

The employment-population ratio for Mexican-born U.S. residents, by the way, is 65.5 percent, which ranks it 28th out of the 80 countries for which there’s data.

There are some caveats I should trot out here:

The immigrant populations from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are younger and more male than the overall U.S. population, which skews employment ratios upward, and since this data covers everyone age 16 and up, college and even high school students count against the total — which brings the ratio down among groups likely to pursue higher education. Still, their strong employment performance isn't a fluke; the Cato Institute's David Bier offers up lots of other evidence that Central Americans are integrating pretty well.

The foreign-born residents with the lowest employment-population ratios hail mainly from countries (Hungary, Italy, Greece, Germany) from which most immigrants arrived decades ago and are now in their 60s or older. The very lowest employment-population ratio, though, is for those born in Saudi Arabia, most of whom are in the U.S. for college or graduate school.

And while no other country of origin has a majority of its U.S. residents currently enrolled in higher education, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal and Ghana have the highest percentages after Saudi Arabia. So immigrants from Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are near the top in both employment-population ratio and higher-education enrollment, and those from Nigeria are also near the top in educational attainment.

With that, let me offer my two cents on Kelly’s statement: It appears to be factually accurate in most of its characterizations of today’s undocumented immigrants, and I think the people decrying it as “racist” are for the most part just devaluing the term “racist.” His “they don’t integrate well” comment grates, though, given that Kelly and most other Americans are descended at least in part from rural people with limited education who didn’t speak any English when they got here.

And while there is a case to be made that education and English are far more important to success in the U.S. than they were a century ago, one certainly can’t depict Central Americans in particular as sitting around twiddling their thumbs wondering how they will ever integrate into U.S. society. They’re too busy working.

Also — and nothing Kelly said contradicted this, but some things his boss has reportedly said certainly have — what the charts above tell me is that if we want more high-skilled, hardworking, English-speaking, ready-to-integrate immigrants, it looks like the most obvious place to find them is in African countries where English is widely spoken.

The survey asks respondents whether they are citizens but does not ask the non-citizens to go into further detail.

These aren’t necessarily all immigrants who are planning to stay in the U.S. for good — a 25-year-old from India who is working on a doctorate at a U.S. university and planning to head home afterwards shows up, too. But close enough.

MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS vs AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS (DEMOCRATS DISCRIMINATE & DIVIDE)

MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS vs AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS (DEMOCRATS DISCRIMINATE & DIVIDE):

WE ARE ALL ONE BUT DEMOCRATS APPEAR TO FIGHT MORE FOR MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS THAN BLACKS.

IS IT BETTER TO SEPARATE BLACK CHILDREN FROM FAMILIES THAN MEXICAN CHILDREN FROM FAMILIES?

DEMOCRATS ALSO ENDORSE TAKING JOBS FROM YOUNG BLACK MEN TO GIVE TO MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS.

YET DURING EACH MAJOR ELECTION DEMOCRATS SEEK THE BLACK MAJORITY VOTE.

IF WE ARE ALL ONE, WHY CAN'T BOTH AFRICAN & MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS BENEFIT FROM FAIR, UNBIASED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT??


Post Sources: Bloomberg, Daily Republic, Youtube


******** Liberals say immigration enforcement racist, but Black men most likely to benefit


Donald Trump’s election victory over Hillary Clinton seemed to herald a new era for border security and immigration enforcement. But his polarizing and occasionally ignorant comments about immigrants have handed his adversaries a convenient pretext for stymying compromise on immigration reform: racism.

Left-leaning advocacy groups and a host of Democrats all too often shy away from the specifics of the debate and instead lean on cries of bigotry, resorting to claims like that of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has described Trump’s approach to immigration reform as an effort to “make America white again.”

Claims that immigration enforcement equals racism ignore the reality that the group most likely to benefit from a tougher approach to immigration enforcement is young black men, who often compete with recent immigrants for low-skill jobs.

This dynamic played out recently at a large bakery in Chicago that supplies buns to McDonald’s. Some 800 immigrant laborers, most of them from Mexico, lost their jobs last year after an audit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Cloverhill Bakery, owned by Aryzta, a big Swiss food conglomerate, had to hire new workers, 80 percent to 90 percent of whom are African-American. According to the Chicago Sun Times, the new workers are paid $14 per hour, or $4 per hour more than the (illegal) immigrant workers.

In this case, and in many others, the beneficiaries of immigration enforcement were working-class blacks, who are often passed over for jobs by unscrupulous employers.

The labor force participation rate for adult black men has declined steadily since the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which ushered in a new era of mass immigration. In 1973, the rate was 79 percent. It is now at 68 percent, and the Bureau of Labor projects that it will decline to 61 percent by 2026.

The Obama White House in 2016 produced a 48-page report acknowledging that immigration does not help the labor force participation rate of the native-born. It concluded, however, that “immigration reform would raise the overall participation rate by bringing in new workers of prime working age.”

Although the report used the term “new workers,” Democrats may also be tempted by the prospect of new voters. But they should be aware that in courting one group, they risk losing others.

African-Americans tend to be a reliable voting bloc for the Democratic Party, but they have repeatedly indicated in public opinion surveys that they want significantly less immigration.

A recent Harvard-Harris poll found that African-Americans favor reducing legal immigration more than any other demographic group: 85 percent want less than the million-plus we allow annually, and 54 percent opted for the most stringent choices offered – 250,000 immigrants per year or less, or none at all.

These attitudes are rational.

In a 2010 study on the social effects of immigration, the Cornell University professor Vernon Briggs concluded: “No racial or ethnic group has benefited less or been harmed more than the nation’s African-American community.”

The Harvard economist George Borjas has found that between 1980 and 2000, one-third of the decline in the employment among black male high school dropouts was attributable to immigration. He also reported “a strong correlation between immigration, black wages, black employment rates, and black incarceration rates.”

University of Notre Dame professor Stephen Steinberg argued in a 2014 paper on neoliberal immigration policies and their effects on African-Americans that thanks to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, “African-Americans found themselves in the proverbial position of being ‘last hired.’” Steinberg also noted that “immigrants have been cited as proof that African-Americans lack the pluck and determination that have allowed millions of immigrants from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean to pursue the American dream.”

The struggles of black men obviously cannot all be linked to immigration, but it’s clear that the status quo does not benefit them.

As elected leaders consider changing our immigration laws, the interests of America’s most vulnerable citizens shouldn’t be overlooked. The first step toward honest reform is for the Democratic Party to admit that while liberal immigration enforcement might help them win new voters, it also harms and disenfranchises their most loyal constituency.

KANYE WEST WAS RIGHT ABOUT 400 YRS OF SLAVERY BEING A “CHOICE FOR BLACK PEOPLE” (TRUTH HURTS)

KANYE WEST WAS RIGHT ABOUT 400 YRS OF SLAVERY BEING A “CHOICE FOR BLACK PEOPLE”:

WILL HIS LATEST CONTROVERSIAL COMMENTS BE THE FINAL NAIL TO SEAL KANYE'S COFFIN?

I'M SURE MY PERSONAL BLOG POST ON THIS TOPIC WILL ANGER SOME PEOPLE TOO.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE STILL IN SLAVERY NOT DUE TO RACISM, BUT BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE COLLECTIVE GOOD.

WHAT KANYE SAID WASN’T POPULAR BUT IT'S DEFINITELY TRUE…….HE IS FINALLY WAKING UP.

SLAVERY HAS BEEN ABOLISHED SO WHY CAN'T BLACK PEOPLE SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER & WORK TOGETHER IN THE 21st CENTURY FOR THE COLLECTIVE GOOD?

WHEN BLACK PEOPLE WAKE UP AND THINK FOR THEMSELVES THEY ARE LABELED “MENTALLY UNSTABLE” OR AS “TROUBLEMAKERS” WHO NEED TO BE DESTROYED.

REAL LEADERS CAN'T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK THE TRUTH.

21st CENTURY BLACK LEADERS DON'T WANT TO REALLY HELP THE BLACK COMMUNITY, THEY JUST WANT FAT POCKETS.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE STILL IN SLAVERY NOT DUE TO RACISM, ONLY BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO WORK TOGETHER.

BLACK MEN ARE JEALOUS OR INSECURE OF BLACK WOMEN SO THEY RUN OFF TO WHITE WOMEN & LATINO WOMEN.

BLACK WOMEN OFTEN TRY TO TEAR DOWN OTHER BLACK WOMEN.

BLACK VOTERS STILL LARGELY VOTE DEMOCRAT WITHOUT PROPERLY VETTING THEIR OWN CANDIDATES.

BLACK LEADERS FREQUENTLY IGNORE THE PLIGHTS OF IMPOVERISHED BLACK YOUTH, ESPECIALLY IMPOVERISHED YOUNG BLACK MEN.

BLACK POLITICIANS & BLACK BUSINESS OWNERS ARE ONLY IN IT FOR PERSONAL GAIN NOT TO HELP OTHERS.

THOUSANDS OF YOUNG BLACK MEN ARE WRONGLY INCARCERATED ANNUALLY YET BLACK LEADERS KEEP PARTYING AND LAUGHING.

BLACK SENIOR CITIZENS ARE THROWN AWAY LIKE BAGS OF TRASH.

MANY OLDER MARRIED BLACK MEN PREY UPON LOW INCOME SINGLE WOMEN AND USE THOSE WOMEN FOR SEX, OFTEN RESULTING IN MORE BABIES.

MANY BLACK CHURCH LEADERS FLEECE BLACK CONGREGANTS FOR MONEY YET DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT BLACK COMMUNITIES.

BLACK RETIRED SOLDIERS OVER THE AGE OF 60 ARE FORCED TO TAKE MEDICATIONS WHICH LEAD TO A SLOW DEATH.

BLACK AFRICANS COME TO AMERICA AND IDENTIFY AS BEING ONE STEP ABOVE BLACK AMERICANS.

THUS THE BLACK AMERICAN COMMUNITY IS STILL IN SLAVERY 400 YEARS LATER BY CHOICE.

I REPEAT.

WHAT KANYE SAID WASN’T POPULAR BUT IT'S DEFINITELY TRUE…….HE IS FINALLY WAKING UP.

BLACK PEOPLE ARE STILL IN SLAVERY NOT DUE TO RACISM, BUT BECAUSE WE REFUSE TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE COLLECTIVE GOOD.

WHEN BLACK PEOPLE WAKE UP AND THINK FOR THEMSELVES THEY ARE LABELED “MENTALLY UNSTABLE” OR AS “TROUBLEMAKERS” WHO NEED TO BE DESTROYED.


Post Sources: CNN, Kanye West, Breakfast Club, NY Times, RNB Philly, The Hill, TMZ, Youtube


****** Kanye West just said 400 years of slavery was a choice


Tuesday brought us two Kanyes.

The first was a man who opened up about his mental health, his family, and his art in a nearly-two hour interview with radio host Charlamagne Tha God.

The second was a Kanye who appeared at the TMZ headquarters where he had this to say:

"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... ...

For 400 years? That sounds like a choice."

The rapper went on to add:

"You were there for 400 years and it's all of y'all. It's like we're mentally imprisoned."

Provocative statements are second nature to the 40-year-old rapper. And this week he's been making headlines left and right, including proclaiming his love for President Trump.

But when he made his off-handed remark about slavery, TMZ employee Van Lathan took him to task for it.

An employee confronts him

"While you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you've earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives," Lathan said.

"We have to deal with the marginalization that's come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice."

Lathan added, "Frankly, I'm disappointed, I'm appalled, and brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something to me, that's not real."

Kanye tries to explain

As his words lit Twitter on fire, Kanye tried to explain what he meant. Here is his series of tweets Tuesday evening:

"[T]o make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will.

My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved."

And then Kanye quickly made it about Kanye:

"[T]he reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can't be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years.

We need free thought now.

Even the statement was an example of free thought. It was just an idea.

Once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas."

BLACK PANTHER EARNS $1 BILLION WORLDWIDE (“YOU ARE A KING”)

“BLACK PANTHER” EARNS $1 BILLION WORLDWIDE:

I’VE SEEN IT IN THEATERS & IT’S AN AMAZING FILM.

WILL THERE BE A SEQUEL??

“YOU ARE A KING”.

“YOU ARE A GOOD MAN”.

“IT IS HARD FOR A GOOD MAN TO BE KING”.


Sources: Marvel Comics, Disney Studios, Entertainment Weekly, Youtube


**** Black Panther claws past $1 billion at worldwide box office


Black Panther has reached a milestone only four other Marvel Studios titles have achieved so far. The film, starring Chadwick Boseman as newly crowned King T’Challa, has joined the $1 billion club at the global box office — all in just 26 days in theaters.

The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3, and Captain America: Civil War are the other films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to unlock this achievement. Black Panther is now the 33rd film, the 16th Walt Disney film, and the fifth Marvel Studios film to gross $1 billion.

By Saturday morning, the film grossed $521 million domestically and is expected to surpass Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight ($535 million) as the second highest-grossing superhero film of all time in the U.S. by the end of the weekend.

Internationally, Black Panther will cross $500 million this weekend, after it hit Chinese theaters on March 9 with an estimated opening of $22 million.

With all this success, the story of T’Challa, the Dora Milaje, and the highly advanced nation of Wakanda seems destined for a sequel. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told EW there’s “nothing specific to reveal” at this time, “other than to say we absolutely will do that.”

“One of the favorite pastimes at Marvel Studios is sitting around on a Part One and talking and dreaming about what we would do in a Part Two,” he continued. “There have been plenty of those conversations as we were putting together the first Black Panther. We have ideas and a pretty solid direction on where we want to head with the second one.”

Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther saw T’Challa assuming the Wakandan throne as Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) emerged from the shadows to challenge him. The film has become a cultural phenomenon, boosted by a cast that includes Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Forest Whitaker, and Winston Duke.

“As Panther has so loudly declared, [representation] can only help you, can only help you tell unique stories, can only help you do things in a new, and unique, and fresh, and exciting way,” Feige said. “If you do that, audiences will notice it, and appreciate it, and support it.”

RACIST WHITE TEACHER TELLS BLACKS "GO BACK TO AFRICA" (SHE WAS FIRED)

RACIST WHITE TEACHER TELLS BLACKS "GO BACK TO AFRICA":

SHE WAS FIRED AFTER POSTING THIS STATEMENT ON FACEBOOK.

SHE THEN PRETENDED HER PAGE WAS HACKED.


Sources: USA Today


****** Teacher fired after Racist Facebook post


A Mississippi teacher has been fired after a racist comment appeared on her Facebook page.


The South Panola School District told WREG Tuesday that Cammie Rone, a second grade teacher at Batesville Intermediate School in Batesville, was dismissed from employment following an investigation.

Rone can appeal the decision.


Monday, Fox13 in Memphis obtained a screenshot of a post made on Rone's Facebook page.


The post read, "If Blacks in this country are so offended no one is forcing them to stay here. Why don't they pack up and move back to Africa where they will have to work for a living. I am sure our government will will pay for it! We pay for everything else."


Rone made a post on her Facebook page Monday, saying she was hacked.


"I think I have been hacked,” the post read. “I keep getting messages about racist posts but when I go to my page I can’t see it. Someone screenshoted (sic) and sent me.

If anyone knows me I post about cows recipes and home improvements stuff not racism. Please know I have not posted or made any kind of ractist (sic) comments.”


Rone did not return requests for comment. Neither post is available to the public.

MUHAMMAD "THE GREATEST" ALI IS DEAD AT AGE 74 ("Ali Bomaye")

MUHAMMAD "THE GREATEST" ALI IS DEAD AT AGE 74 (Ali Bomaye):

HOWARD COSELL HELPED TO MAKE ALI WORLD FAMOUS.

HE LOST & WON BACK HIS TITLE THREE TIMES.

ALI WAS THE MOST INTELLIGENT BOXER IN HISTORY.

HE WAS PROUD TO BE A BLACK MAN.

Sources: CNN, NBC News, Youtube

****** Muhammad Ali, 'The Greatest,' dies at 74

Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer who proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and was among the most famous and beloved athletes on the planet, died Friday in Arizona, a family spokesman said.

Ali had been at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center in Scottsdale since Thursday with what spokesman Bob Gunnell had described as a respiratory issue.

"After a 32-year battle with Parkinson's disease, Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74.

The three-time World Heavyweight Champion boxer died this evening," Gunnell said in a statement. "The Ali family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support and asks for privacy at this time."

Ali's daughter Hana Ali said her father was a "humble mountain."

"And now he has gone home to God. God bless you daddy. YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!" she tweeted.

"When he came into the hospital, we thought, 'OK, it will be a brief stay'... I think it took a turn for the worse," he told CNN's Dan Simon Saturday. "But it was unexpected."

Ramsey said he didn't actually see Ali in the hospital Friday. The people who were with Ali when he died were "the kids, family only, and I respected that... it's a very private matter."

Ramsey said Ali's wife, Lonnie, called him Friday morning saying Ali's health was deteriorating.

"She said 'You might want to come out,' which I decided to do," he said.

Tributes from around the world

While touching tributes to Ali were pouring in from world leaders, fellow athletes and just regular folk, the boxing great had already addressed how he wanted the world to think about him after his death.

In his book "The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey," Ali said he wanted to be remembered as "a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous, and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him, and who helped as many people as he could. As a man who stood up for his beliefs no matter what.

As a man who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love."

He added, " And if all that's too much, then I guess I'd settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people, And I wouldn't even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was."

President Barack Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama mourn Ali's passing.

"But we're also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time," the Obamas said in a statement Saturday.

The President said he has a pair of Ali's gloves on display in his private study off of the Oval Office, just underneath a photograph of the legend.

Obama said Ali "fought for us."

"He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground.

And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today," the President said in a statement issued by the White House.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, at a ceremony honoring Ali Saturday, said the boxer "lived a life so big and bold, it's hard to believe that any one man could do everything he did, could be all the things that he became in the course of just one lifetime."

He added, "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world, but he only has one hometown. The 'Louisville Lip' spoke to everyone, but we heard him in a way no one else could -- as our brother, our uncle, and our inspiration."

Don King, the boxing promoter who was every bit as brash as Ali, told CNN that in his mind Ali will never die.

"His spirit will go on forever," he said. "He's just a great human being, a champion of the people, the greatest of all time."

Even as the former champ battled Parkinson's, he had the same love for life and people, King said. Parkinson's disease, which primarily affects a patient's movement, is a "progressive disorder of the nervous system," according to the Mayo Clinic.

The Ali sense of humor was displayed in an old photo tweeted by Oscar De La Hoya, who won titles in six weight classes.

"RIP @muhammadali, a legend who transcended sport and was a true champion for all. ‪#‎thegreatest‬ ‪#‎MuhammadAli‬," De La Hoya wrote above an image of Ali whose mischievous eyes proudly watched as his right hand made rabbit ears behind the "Golden Boy's" head.

Hours before her famed father passed away, Laila Ali posted a throwback photo of him with her daughter, Sydney, who was born in 2011.

"I love this photo of my father and my daughter Sydney when she was a baby! Thanks for all the love and well wishes. I feel your love and appreciate it!!" Laila Ali, herself a former world champion boxer, wrote.

George Foreman, who Ali defeated in 1974 for the world heavyweight title, wrote on Twitter, "It's been said it was rope a dope Ali beat me with. (N)o (it was) his beauty that beat me. Most beauty I've know(n). loved him."

Famed promoter Bob Arum wrote on Twitter: "A true great has left us. @MuhammadAli transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit."

Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, said, "God came for his champion. So long great one. @MuhammadAli #TheGreatest‪#‎RIP‬."

In recent years, Ali had largely stayed out of the public spotlight.

In his last known appearance, he appeared at a Parkinson's fundraiser April 9 in Phoenix, according to the Arizona Republic. A photo posted by the newspaper showed Ali wearing dark sunglasses.

On the website of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the actor -- who also has Parkinson's -- said: "Muhammad was a true legend -- a champion in the boxing ring, and a champion for millions of Parkinson's families. We looked up to him as an example of grace and courage in the face of great challenges."

Ali was known not only for his athletic prowess but also for his social activism.

He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, as Cassius Clay in January 1942. He began boxing as an amateur when he was 12 years old and in 1964 became heavyweight champion with a knockout of Sonny Liston. That year he joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name.

Ali's sparkling career was interrupted for 3½ years in the 1960s when he refused induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and was convicted of draft evasion. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction.

Ali was prepared to go to prison, King said.

"He stood his ground on who he was," King said. "He'd rather go to jail than break what he believed in."

During his boxing hiatus, Ali spoke out about racism in America.
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called Ali a friend and a mentor.

"At a time when blacks who spoke up about injustice were labeled uppity and often arrested under one pretext or another, Muhammad willingly sacrificed the best years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he believed was right," Abdul-Jabbar wrote on Facebook.

Ali went on to win the heavyweight title twice more before retiring for good in 1981.

Ali also was hospitalized in January 2015 with a urinary tract infection.

He was hospitalized in December 2014 with pneumonia.

Funeral services will be held in Louisville, Gunnell said.

George W. Bush Visits Africa & Hugs BLACK Children; Romney Would NEVER Do That!

Former President Bush and wife Laura visit Africa to promote initiative to fight cervical, breast cancer

George W. Bush and Laura Bush wrapped up a week-long trip to Africa Friday, where they visited Zambia and Botswana promoting an initiative to fight cervical cancer and breast cancer in the countries.

As part of the charity initiative the Bushes helped open medical centers providing cancer screenings, visited sick children at an orphanage, and met with Peace Corps members, according to the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The couple returned to Texas on Friday, Bush's 66th birthday. Dozens of photos from the trip were recently released on the Center's website.

The Bushes spent Independence Day in Lusaka, Zambia at the University Teaching Hospital, announcing a new health research center. "On our country's birthday, it is important to remember the blessings of freedom and the blessings of being an American, and to give back," Bush said during remarks at the hospital, according to the website.

The $3 million women's health initiative, called Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, is a partnership between the George W. Bush Institute, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, UNAIDS and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Since leaving office the former president has turned his attention to health issues in Africa -- which he calls a "labor of love" -- raising some $85 million for cervical cancer programs, Catholic Online reported.

Zambia has the second highest number of cervical cancer cases in the world, and many of the women are also living with HIV.

"The saddest thing of all is to know a lady's life has been saved from AIDS but died from cervical cancer," Bush said in a statement announcing the health program.

During his presidency, Bush launched an initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in sub-Sahara Africa.


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Sources: NY Daily News, Political Articles, The Bush Center, TV2Africa, US News, Youtube, Google Maps

Uganda's Anti-Gay Government Bans Organizations Promoting Homosexuality: "Kill The Gays Campaign" & Rachel Maddow

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Uganda Bans 38 organizations accused of "Promoting Homosexuality"

Uganda has announced a ban on 38 non-governmental organisations it accuses of undermining the national culture by promoting homosexuality.

Simon Lokodo, the country's ethics and integrity minister, claimed the NGOs were receiving support from abroad for Uganda's homosexuals and "recruiting" young children into homosexuality.

"I have established beyond reasonable doubt that the 38 NGOs, if not even more, exist not for humanitarian reasons but to destroy the traditions and culture of this country by promoting homosexuality," he said on Wednesday.

"We found that, on the pretext of humanitarian concerns, these organisations are being used to promote negative cultures.

They are encouraging homosexuality as if it is the best form of sexual behaviour."

The former Catholic priest said he believes the ban will come into a force next week. "If the NGOs continue to operate, they will be doing so illegally, they will be apprehended and will have to face a court of law."

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda.

A bill calling for harsher penalties and outlawing the "promotion" of homosexuality, including providing financial support to gays and lesbians, is pending in the east African country's parliament.

A previous bill called for the death penalty for repeat offenders, although the new version is expected to drop this clause after international condemnation of the proposal and threats to cut off aid.

Lokodo said: "Homosexuality is illegal, unacceptable and strange to our culture. It doesn't have any positive aspects at all.

If homosexuality is promulgated and legitimised, that will be like having no future of society. There is no procreation between man and man or woman and woman. We condemn it very strongly."

On Monday he ordered the break-up of a gay rights workshop organised by the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project at a hotel just outside the capital, Kampala.

Police wearing riot gear sealed off the venue for several hours. About 15 activists from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania were questioned and later released without charge.

Police spokesman Idi Senkumbi told Reuters: "They were questioned on what exactly they were up to and the assembly they were involved in."

Amnesty International condemned the raid. "This ludicrous and senseless harassment of human rights activists has no basis in law whatsoever and has to stop," said Michelle Kagari, its deputy director for Africa.

"The continued persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists by the Ugandan authorities is beginning to take on the sinister characteristics of a witch hunt."

Lokodo made a similar intervention in February when he stormed into a gay rights conference and tried to have one of the organisers arrested for insulting him.

Frank Mugisha, head of the NGO Sexual Minorities Uganda, said the minister's ban was part of a wider assault on civil society in Uganda. "The government is trying to use homosexuality to crack down on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," he said. "If NGOs are closed down, they will not be able to support human rights.

"Simon Lokodo is very homophobic but it's coupled with politics. He's trying to gain popularity and make his name. The president should come out and distance himself from Lokodo."

Sexual Minorities Uganda would defy any ban, insisted Mugisha, winner of the Robert F Kennedy human rights award last year. "We are definitely continuing our operations and we will still hold conferences. We will continue to ask for the oppressive laws that are being used to intimidate us to be abolished.

"They have said they are going to pass the bill before October. That won't stop us. We shall continue to fight until all the legislation is cleared and we are free. Things are changing. It cannot be oppression forever."

Mohammad Ndifuna, the director of Human Rights Network Uganda, another of the organisations to be banned, told Reuters: "We know that they have been all kinds of threats coming towards the [NGO] sector for different reasons."

In May, Uganda threatened to de-register the British charity Oxfam over accusations it made of government involvement in violent land grabs in the country.



Uganda Anti-Gay Death penalty bill re-introduced

The Ugandan parliamentarian who first introduced an anti-gay bill that carried the death penalty for some homosexual acts reintroduced the bill on Tuesday, raising concerns among rights activists who have been fighting the legislation.

Parliamentarian David Bahati first introduced the bill in 2009 but it has never come before the full legislative body for a vote. Though widely supported in Uganda, the bill's progress apparently has been slowed by an international outcry against the bill, including condemnation from President Barack Obama.

Bahati has said that homosexuality poses a serious threat to family values and that his bill has helped raise public awareness about what he calls "the dangers to our children."

Scuffles at funeral for gay activist in Uganda
Uganda proposes death penalty for gays

Bahati told The Associated Press last year that he is willing to drop the death penalty provision if that is the recommendation of a parliament committee, though a current reading of the bill hasn't been made public.

European countries such as Sweden and Britain have threatened to cut aid to Uganda if the bill is passed.

Homosexuality, already illegal under Uganda's penal code, is highly stigmatized in Uganda. Opinion polls frequently show the bill's wide support among Ugandans. Lawmakers other than Bahati have sometimes spoken passionately about the need for such a law, and none have condemned it.

The bill has been championed by Pentecostal clerics, who warn that young Ugandans are at risk of being indoctrinated into gay lifestyles by gays visiting from the U.S. and Europe. Even pastors who oppose the draft law do so not because it is draconian or unnecessary, but rather because they believe the police would not be able to enforce it.

"I've rejected it because it does not address Uganda's homosexuality problem," said Solomon Male, a Pentecostal cleric who has been dragged to court for accusing another pastor of sodomy. "The system can't permit any good law to be enforced."

Male said that an existing law against homosexuality, inherited from the colonial days, had not been enforced.

"It is a big problem-homosexuals are in our schools, in our churches, everywhere, and we don't even know where to start," he said. "Sensitization is the best."

Bahati's original bill carried harsh provisions. The original bill would mandate a death sentence for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape. "Serial offenders" also could face capital punishment, but the legislation did not define the term. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment.

Anyone who "aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality" would face seven years in prison. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to gays also could get seven years.


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Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Guardian.co.uk, Politics Daily, Youtube, Google Maps

Obama's Camp Slams Romney For Refusing To Repudiate Trump's Birther Remarks

Obama campaign: Why doesn't Romney push back against Trump ‘birther’ questions?


President Barack Obama's campaign is highlighting what they call Mitt Romney's "refusal" to condemn Donald Trump's continued highlighting of the "birther" conspiracy.

The release of a new video by the president's re-election team Tuesday morning comes a few hours after Romney appeared to downplay Trump's comments, and a few hours before Romney teams up with Trump at the business magnate and reality TV star's hotel in Las Vegas for a fundraiser for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Asked on his charter plane Monday night whether Trump's questioning of Obama's birthplace gave him pause, Romney said he was grateful for all his supporters.

"You know, I don't agree with all the people who support me and my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1% or more and I'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people."

Romney has said in the past that he firmly believes Obama was born in Hawaii, and is thus constitutionally eligible to be president.

Trump, however, is decidedly less sure. The "Apprentice" host has been a vocal proponent of the "birther" conspiracy going back several years. And early last year, as Trump flirted with his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he claimed he had "investigators" looking into Obama's records in Hawaii.

The president released the long-form version of his birth certificate in April 2011, showing he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.

Soon after it was released, Trump announced he would not make a bid for the GOP nomination.

The new video by the Obama campaign contrasts Romney with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the last Republican presidential nominee. The video starts by saying "As Republican nominee, John McCain stood up to the voices of extremism in his party."

Then McCain is seen in clips from the 2008 presidential campaign pushing back against supporters’ claims that Obama wasn't an American. In one of the clips, a woman speaking to McCain at a campaign event says, "I have read about him, he's an Arab.” McCain shakes his head and responds "No ma’am, no ma’am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with."

The video then asks, "Why won't Mitt Romney do the same" and proceeds to highlight clips of Trump over the past year questioning whether the president was born in the United States.

Trump will join Romney and former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for a campaign fund-raiser in Las Vegas on Tuesday evening. Romney's campaign is also raffling a chance to have dinner with the celebrity businessman for supporters who donate $3 to the campaign.

"I want you: Dine with the Donald," a campaign flier proclaims, along with a drawing of Trump in the pose of Uncle Sam.

Trump once again raised questions about Obama's birthplace last week, including in an interview published Friday with The Daily Beast.

"Look, it's very simple," Trump said in the interview. "A book publisher came out three days ago and said that in his written synopsis of his book."

The interview continued, "He said he was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia. His mother never spent a day in the hospital."

Trump was referring to a literary agency that, in a promotional catalogue from the 1990s, listed Obama has having been born in Kenya. An employee of the agency recently acknowledged that it was her mistake.

But Trump isn't buying it.

"Now they're saying it was a mistake," he told the Daily Beast. "Just like his Kenyan grandmother said he was born in Kenya, and she pointed down the road to the hospital, and after people started screaming at her she said, 'Oh, I mean Hawaii.' Give me a break."


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Sources: CNN, TPM, Youtube, Google Maps

Joseph Kony's Crimes No Surprise To American Black Community

I don't understand why everyone is so riled up over Joseph Kony's Atrocities against his OWN people.
This kind of stuff has been occurring in Africa & America for Decades.
Even in the 21st Century BLACK People are still Using & Harming other BLACK People for Personal Gain.
Most WHITE people will run to Africa in a New York Minute to help "Save Africans", while Killing & Imprisoning American BLACKS everyday.





Joseph Kony: Brutal warlord who shocked world


If Joseph Kony wasn't the most wanted man in the world, he may be now.

In the past week, a documentary detailing accusations of vile acts committed by the Ugandan warlord has spread like wildfire on social media (at the time of writing it has had more than 50 million views), prompting international outrage and a groundswell of support for his capture.

In the documentary, "Kony 2012," which was posted online by the U.S.-based group Invisible Children, the tales of atrocities are horrifying: armed supporters force abducted children to kill their own parents, brutal mutilations include the hacking off of lips and limbs, and the sexual slavery of young girls stolen from their families. The group says its aim is to raise awareness and bring Kony to justice.

While some critics question whether the film captures the full scope of the conflict, one matter is without debate: Kony now ranks as one of the International Criminal Court's most wanted men, facing arrest on charges of crimes against humanity after a 26-year campaign of brutality in his failed bid to overthrow the Ugandan government.

How did Kony rise to power?

Kony, a former altar boy, was a young man in his early 20s when he was caught in the storm of violence that marked the final years of Milton Obote's presidency.

Obote was deposed in a military coup in 1985, and soon after Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) seized power. Kony's Lord's Resistance Army was among those who rose up against Museveni's NRA.

Kony was a spiritual leader, known as a healer among the Acholi people. He inherited a powerful support base from Alice Lakwena, a spirit-medium.

Lakwena's followers would "daub themselves in shea butter crosses which they believed would protect them from bullets and they believed that stones would explode like grenades," explains Matthew Green, author of "The Wizard of the Nile - The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted," about Kony.

"It was a mystical rebellion," Green says, adding that Kony "was very much an inheritor of her mantle." Lakwena fled to Kenya after Museveni's forces launched a brutal attack on her and her followers.

Staying in northern Uganda, Kony rallied Lakwena's remaining supporters and recruited more with a powerful mix of mythical claims, charisma and unconscionable violence.

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What is Kony like?

Green describes being one of the few journalists to ever meet Kony when the rebel leader briefly emerged from his jungle hideout in 2006.

"Although he was surrounded by phalanxes of child soldiers with Kalashnikov rifles and bayonets fixed to them, he actually looked terrified of meeting strangers," Green said.

Despite Kony's apparent fear and paranoia, Green says the rebel leader was charismatic and clearly a "very powerful orator" when speaking to his people.

"He had an almost musical voice as he spoke in his Acholi language and you could see that the people listening were completely captivated."

What are Kony's tactics?

If Kony attracted supporters through his "mystical powers" and charisma, he kept them through fear.

"Certainly the violence is what made his movement so terrifying," Green says. "These attacks were carried out often with machetes or clubs and the violence was designed with a very clear political purpose.

It was designed to illustrate to the people in northern Uganda that the government of President Museveni could not protect them."
Kony's forces are believed to have abducted thousands of children to join his cause -- however the exact number is unconfirmed.

At the height of the violence during the mid-2000s, parents tried to protect their children from harm by sending them to sleep in towns, away from Kony's ruthless kidnappers.

Brutal punishments were inflicted on those who were accused of disloyalty by an increasingly paranoid leader, Green says. "Kony once gave an order that anyone caught riding a bicycle should have their legs cut off.

Bicycles were a very common means of transport in rural areas and he was worried that informers, if they saw the rebels, would rapidly pedal away and alert the nearest army post."

And similarly he would cut off people's hands as a kind of warning not to raise any hands against the rebels," Green adds.

How organized is the Lord's Resistance Army?

Kony created the Lord's Resistance Army with the intention to lead, based on his version of the Ten Commandments. Since then it has grown into a "disciplined fighting force," says Green, explaining that its members occupy a rank and are rewarded for loyalty.

Kony has been able to maintain his hold over them with his mix of self-proclaimed spiritual powers and military strategy, Ned Dalby, Central Africa researcher with the International Crisis Group, said in a 2011 interview with CNN.

"He cultivates this image of himself as a medium for the power of the spirit and at other times, he presents himself as a ruthless military leader. So he's able to maintain cohesion as a group and maintain the loyalty of his fighters," Dalby said.

He noted that some former LRA fighters from northern Uganda have given clues as to why some outside the group stayed loyal to Kony. "They expressed the feeling that because they were given a rank, they were given a certain purpose, and respect and authority," Dalby says. "And then, once they're outside the LRA, they find they've become just another poor person, trying to survive."

Where is Kony now?

"Kony fled back into Sudan probably in late 2005, 2006 and he has not been back into Uganda since, as far as we know," Green said.

He is believed to be accompanied by a small band of supporters, though his followers are still said to be terrorizing people elsewhere on the continent.

"The mass abduction of Ugandan children and the terrible atrocities, the massacres that Kony committed have not occurred for some years now," added Green. "However, his forces are still on the loose in places like Central African Republic and Eastern Congo, and they still retain the capacity to kill large numbers of civilians. So although they're not a threat to Uganda now, they certainly are a threat to the region."

The U.S. has listed the LRA as a terrorist group and in October, Washington authorized up to 100 U.S. Special Operations trainers and military advisers to assist African forces searching for Kony and other leaders of the LRA.

The activities of the group are tracked on a website that uses information from the Invisible Children's Early Warning Radio Network, U.N. agencies and local NGOs to map and document recent crimes.



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Sources: CNN, KONY 2012, MSNBC, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Horn Of Africa Famine Captures World's Attention! Help On The Way?

Horn of Africa famine: How to help

Somalia, already one of the world's poorest countries, is in midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe, as a third of its popultion - 3.7 million people - face starvation. Throughout the Horn of Africa, in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, as many as 11 million people are currently at risk of severe malnutrition or starvation as the region faces the worst drought conditions in 60 years.


The drought conditions, combined with an ongoing struggle between the Somali government and Islamic militants, as well as a recent rise in food prices, have all combined to create conditions that have stretched aid agencies thin.


The Horn of Africa region is now full of refugee camps, some with occupants numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Every day, countless families arrive half-dead out of the desert seeking help.


Many aid agencies say they have the capacity to address some of the worst results of the crisis, but they lack the funding to do so. Fortunately, there are many ways to help. Below is a list of some of the aid organizations with relief operations in the Horn of Africa, along with links to their donation pages.

UNICEF is among the most active charitable organizations supporting children in Somalia. They say as many 640,000 children are acutely malnourished in southern Somalia alone. Their programs support 16 stabilization centers, 201 outpatient therapeutic programs, and 325 supplementary feeding programs. To donate money to UNICEF, visit here. To learn how you can donate your time.

The U.N.'s World Food Program is the world's largest humanitarian organization fighting hunger, and is funded entirely through donations. Their work in the Horn of Africa is extensive and crucial. To find out how to donate to the WFP.

Save the Children is one of the world's leading independent nonprofit organizations. It has made an urgent call to donors to provide life-saving help to thousands of families in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. "Eighty percent of the refugees are children and the majority of the remainder are women," says Duncan Harvey, Save the Children's Deputy Country Director in Ethiopia. To find a list of the many ways to help Save the Children with their work in East Africa.

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. To support their work helping refugees in the famine.

Doctors without Borders, founded in 1971, provides independent, impartial medical assistance to those most in need in crisis zones throughout the world. They have been working actively with Somali refugees in northern Kenya since 2009. To find out about the many ways to support their medical mission.

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization that places special focus on working alongside poor women because, they say, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Their immediate efforts for Somalia refugees in Kenya include safe water, sanitation, and emergency aid to newly arrived refugees. Individuals, especially children, who are suffering from malnutrition and medical problems are referred to supplementary and therapeutic feeding programs and stabilization units. Families are provided with emergency rations while awaiting access to general food distributions. To donate to CARE's East Africa program.

Mercy Corps is a global aid agency that works for long periods of time in areas that have experienced some kind of shock. They currently work with Somali refugees in Kenya, and plan on expanding their mission to alleviate the famine into Somalia and Ethiopia. To find out how to donate.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has operations in Kenya and parts of Somalia helping refugees. To donate to the Red Cross.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. They are currently undertaking famine relief operations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. To donate to their effort.

American Jewish World Service is an international development organization that has a long-standing presence in East Africa and is working with humanitarian organizations already on the ground to provide critical aid to refugees, internally displaced persons and host communities, including food, water and sanitation, medical support and personal safety. To find out how to donate to AJWS' effort in the region.

Islamic Relief USA is a legally separate and independent member of a global family of collaborating relief organizations that was awarded its sixth consecutive four-star rating by Charity Navigator in 2009. They already had relief projects in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia prior to the current crisis. To find out about volunteering with or donating to Islamic Relief USA.


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Sources: CARE, CBS News, Youtube, Google Maps