Senator Barack Obama

I see the sudden interest in the Senator and I am strangely reminded of a book I read in the 70's "THE MAN." A strange book but very similar in its political context.

Obama is, of course, a worthy subject. He is the smartest, savviest, handsomest and most charismatic man in the Senate--sadly, the competition is not great. In an era when America's political class lacks character and intelligence, he stands out. What little the nation has seen of him, it has liked. But none of this quite explains the magnitude of the Obamathon currently taking place.

Perhaps what the nation has liked most is not what Obama has said or done but what he is. In short, Obama is a black man who does not scare white people. This is mostly not Obama's fault. He is who he is. He has a life to live, a job to do and a book to promote.

Obama does not have to try so hard. He was raised in Hawaii and Jakarta by his white grandparents and mother and Indonesian stepfather. He brings with him no familial tales of slavery or Southern segregation--his father was Kenyan. He does not have the "messianic style" that Columbia professor Manning Marable notes is characteristic of that generation of African-American leaders raised in the church. Not only did he not attend the March on Washington, he was only 2 at the time. He is the first prominent black politician of the post-civil rights era



I wonder how warm a reception Obama will get if he says he will run next year. Majority America may forget he is part this or part that..but remember he would be viewed as possibly the first black President in the white house...Interesting.

Katrina Fraud

On September 8, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales established the Katrina Fraud Task Force to deter, detect, and prosecute instances of fraud related to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It it one year later and still victims are suffering. Sadly, many people use people's misfortune in life for their own monetary gain.
The following stories, (recently dated) show the scope of this tragedy. How so many people have found this a profitable way to obtain funds but material possesions as well.

When will the madness stop.


JAMAR ANDERSON, age 32, of Gretna, Louisiana, was
arrested by federal agents yesterday on charges of conspiracy and theft of government
property, United States Attorney David R. Dugas announced. A criminal complaint was
signed this afternoon by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Riedlinger.
The complaint alleges that ANDERSON was an employee of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).

ANDERSON allegedly worked at the staging area of a
FEMA storage site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and had access to the site and travel trailers
with crated air conditioning units that were stored there. The complaint alleges that
ANDERSON was involved in a scheme involving the unauthorized taking of air conditioning
units from the FEMA storage site. ANDERSON is the fourth individual arrested in this
matter. Three others, BYRON BASIL, BYRON HARDESTY, and LEROY THOMAS, JR.,
were arrested yesterday on related charges.
NOTE: A complaint is merely an accusation by a law enforcement official, and the
defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial.


Tina Marie Winston, a.k.a. Tina Marie Gilmore, 34, of
Belleville, Ill., today entered a plea of guilty to four counts of mail fraud, three counts of making
false statements, two counts of concealment of material information from the Social Security
Administration, and single counts of misuse of a Social Security number and aggravated identity
theft, announced Acting United States Attorney Randy G. Massey of the Southern District of
Illinois. The convictions related to Winston’s commission of Hurricane Katrina fraud and other
public benefit frauds.

At the time of her plea, Winston admitted that in September 2005, she filed an Internet
application for Hurricane Katrina disaster assistance using a false Social Security number.
Winston falsely represented to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that her
home in New Orleans was damaged, that she suffered loss of personal property, that she had lost two children in the disaster, and that she needed money to pay for the memorial service.

FEMA sent Winston $4,358 as a result of the scheme, though Winston had asked FEMA
for additional compensation for losses which she did not sustain, including personal property loss
in the amount of $10,075 and dental expenses in the amount of $2,530.

In October 2005, Winston applied for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA), a
program funded by FEMA. In her application, Winston falsely stated that Hurricane Katrina had caused her to lose her job. She falsely stated that she had no other financial resources and that she was not receiving Social Security benefits. Winston’s application was approved and she was sent an electronic debit card, which she used to obtain $1,321 worth of purchases. FEMA cut the card off when Winston exceeded the spending limit.

Winston also admitted to defrauding the Social Security Administration from May 1994
until June 2006, by failing to report her marriage and income, resulting in an overpayment in
excess of $13,000. Additionally, Winston admitted to lying on an application for food stamps and
Medicaid filed in July 2004 by failing to disclose her marriage, resulting in an overpayment of
almost $5,000 and to making false statements in an attempt to obtain Section 8 housing valued at $6,758 by falsely identifying her husband as her cousin and lying about their income.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2007. Winston has been held without bond since her
arrest on June 22, 2006.

For more horror stories see: http://www.usdoj.gov/katrina/Katrina_Fraud/index.html

Bobby Brown/Whitney Houston Saga

You know I would say that Bobby and Whitney are a disgrace as parents and all other manner of negative things, however who are we to judge. We don't have the media in our backyards every minute. We don't have the tabloids report when we blow our nose or wipe our ass.

Bobby Brown and Whitney Houstons marriage is only unique because the press and media make it so. A family judge ordered the singer arrested if he sets foot in Massachusetts after Brown failed to show for a hearing Monday over delinquent child support payments.

Brown's attorney said it's a "very difficult time" for Brown, 37, whose tumultuous marriage to Whitney Houston is coming to an end. She filed for a legal separation earlier this month.

I think as both of them reflect on the rocky road of drugs, promiscuity, lies, acholism that has plagued their marriage they know in the end that it is the children that have suffered.

One of Bobby's relatives says the 14 year marriage eventually collapsed earlier this month after the relationship "jusspiraleded out of control".

The source - a relative of Bobby's - revealed to America's People magazine: "They fought like cats and dogs. They would fight about what to eat for dinner, about who wasn't cleaning out the dishwasher. Stupid things.

"They were always yelling."

The source added: "I am not going to pretend that Bobby was a perfect husband - he's not, but it's not like he just ran around with anyone. The marriage was broken."

Bobby recently revealed he was "saddened" by his pending divorce from Whitney.

The singer filed for a legal separation on September 8.

Talking about the break-up for the first time, Bobby, 39, explained: "I'm really saddened by the whole situation."

Whitney and Bobby tied the knot in the grounds of her five-acre, $11 million mansion in New Jersey on July 18 1992.

The ones that suffer the most....the children