Driving Without Insurance in Dallas Will Get You Towed
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Entertainment & Sports, General, Our Rights
In a 10-5 vote, Dallas City Council decided that uninsured motorists who are stopped for traffic violations will have their vehicles towed and sent to the city tow yard. There’s been a lot of debate over the issue because a lot of people feel the black and hispanic communities will be affected the most. There’s also concern that the poor will be forced to choose among food, shelter and auto insurance.
I have mixed feelings on the ordinance. In my younger days, I had to get a hardship license and there were times when I drove around without insurance. I was very careful and knew the consequences if I got pulled over, but we were placed in a financial place where insurance wasn’t the priority and the money was needed elsewhere. While I don’t think the city council is targeting blacks and hispanics, I can definitely see how their communities will be affected the most.
On the other hand, I’ve had a car totaled by an uninsured motorist. As I staggered out of the car the person said “no insurance” and drove away (I was able to get a license number). It sucked because the car totaled was paid for and we ended up having to purchase another one, which added an unexpected expense to our budget. We had insurance, but only received enough from them to put a down payment for the other car. You can bet I was pissed about the whole situation, so part of me agrees with the council on their position.
Just note the uninsured motorist ordinance won’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2009, so if you’re driving dirty you have time to get insured. Also note that while formal towing guidelines are being developed, the officer will have limited discretion on whether or not towing is necessary.
In Search of Black Businesses
I’ve done this a couple of times on the podcast, but thought I’d bring it to the blog on a bi-weekly basis (or even more if the response is good). Last week I received an email from a friend of mine who’s company received a big contract deal from another local business. I was glad to hear it because they run a good business and are also a minority-owned business. Having your own business is no easy task, so I’m pleased when I hear of one that offers quality product and service to its customers.
So I’m in search for any minority-owned businesses that you’ve used before. If you are the owner, let me know and leave a way for people to contact your business. You can leave a link with a description in the comments area, email me at podcast @ theotalks.net or submit them via the Contact Form. Every other week, I’ll submit the ones I receive. It’s all about showing these businesses some love. I figure it’s the least I could do as a fellow entrepreneur.
Please note, while I understand good money can be made from multi-level marketing businesses, multiple submissions from different people will be ignored. If you’re the CEO of one, holla at me.
WTF Huck!
Filed under: Blog Entries, My Thoughts, Politics, Society & Culture
If I was forced to choose a Republican nominee, it would have been Mike Huckabee. He seemed to be a down to earth guy who made the most sense during the countless debates shown earlier in the year. Sure he was stubborn and didn’t want to concede when he knew the numbers were stacked against him, but I thought his point was made by not letting McCain win the nomination as early as he could have. Demonstrating you have common sense is important to me and at times it gets you more points in my book than having book sense.
But here is one time where Huck forfeited some of his common sense by making a tasteless joke regarding Barack Obama. His comments were out of line and touched on a topic that has the potential to breed fear and uncertainty in the minds of those who support the Obama ticket. While Huck may have meant it as a joke, there are some sick people out there who see things differently. Check out this post from the Electronic Village to learn more about them. This is the stuff you definitely won’t see on Fox News.
Record Number of African-American and Hispanic Students at Texas A&M
According to the Office of Admissions, record numbers of Hispanic and African-American students are expected to attend Texas A&M University this fall. Confirmations to attend A&M for Hispanic students have increased 20 percent and confirmations for African-American students have increased 19 percent. This increase is due to more aggressive and personal attention in the recruiting process both on-campus and through the university’s eight Prospective Student Centers.
I have to admit the only reason I’m an Aggie is because they recruited from my high school. In order to build diversity on the campus, these type of recruiting methods are important and very effective. Whenever I meet a college-bound student, I share my experiences at A&M and ask them to consider them in their search for higher education. That one-on-one meeting with a recruiter (or former student) makes you feel you’re more than a number and shows how much the school cares about diversity on its campus.
Congrats to everyone involved in reaching this milestone. Your hard work is not in vain. To college freshmen everywhere congrats and enjoy the summer. Gig ‘Em.
Read the entire press release here
feedthepig.org
Listening to the radio, I heard an adertisement for feedthepig.org. I checked it out when I got home and found it to be a good source for information on the benefits of saving. Feed the Pig is an extension of 360financialliteracy.org, which aims to educate Americans about how financial issues affect their lives. Here you can find free tools and resources to manage your finances. I’ve talked about my financial experiences before and can honestly say it’s worth the effort.
I’ve found that putting your money in places where it takes time to get to it is the best thing for me. I use an online savings account at UFB Direct and it takes a couple of days for the money to get to my personal checking account if I need it. That way I have some time to think about my decision and won’t get caught up making a last minute purchase. If you’re not in to the online stuff, a savings account at a credit union works great also. That way you have quick access to the money, but it’s in an account you don’t access regularly. In choosing an online account, I visited bankrate.com to find the best rate (although they’ve dropped the past couple of months).
A budget has also been another thing that’s helped me save money. I try to review it every week and after you get started, it doesn’t take much time to do. Making the effort to keep it up has been the hardest thing for me. But when I get lazy I think about my family and remind myself it’s something that has to be done for our future. Sure you can’t predict what will happen in the future, but you can do your best to be prepared.
So go check out the sites and feed the pig. You’ll be glad you did.
NYPD disciplines white officer who stopped black commander
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Society & Culture
I’ll be the first to admit black people are very quick at times to throw the racism card and I in my efforts try to use it sparingly. But there are some situations where we all have to admit there is a problem, be it based on racism or not. A lot of people talk about Al Sharpton and his efforts, but whether you agree with his tactics or not, he’s on to something.
There’s a problem in the NYPD and something needs to be done. Those plain-clothed officers seem to be a little overzealous if you ask me. But now that someone in the upper ranks has experienced their “discourteous manner”, we’ll see if something other than discipling officers takes place. While that may be the protocol, it doesn’t seem to be working.
NYPD disciplines white officer who stopped black commander
NEW YORK (AP) — A white police officer was disciplined for acting “in a discourteous manner” when he confronted a black motorist who turned out to be one of the highest-ranking commanders in the New York City Police Department, an agency spokesman said Saturday.
Chief Douglas Zeigler, the head of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau and the highest uniformed black officer on the force, was off duty and sitting in his department-issued sport utility vehicle on a street in the borough of Queens on May 2 when two white police officers approached.
The encounter turned testy, and one of the officers tried to wrest open Zeigler’s door, even after the three-star chief had identified himself, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
“He dealt with the chief in a discourteous manner, which is unacceptable,” Browne said.
He did not provide details of why the officers decided to question Zeigler. The New York Daily News reported Saturday that Zeigler was parked near a fire hydrant and that one of the plainclothed officers spotted Zeigler’s service weapon inside the vehicle. Browne said he could not confirm whether the officers saw a gun.
He did not specify what discipline was taken by the department. The News said the officer was stripped of his gun and badge and placed on modified duty Friday.
The incident was reported as police are being criticized for stopping and frisking record numbers of pedestrians — about 145,000 in the first quarter of this year. The majority were black or Hispanic.
Zeigler has headed the Community Affairs Bureau since January 2006. His wife, Neldra Zeigler, is the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for equal employment opportunity.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been leading demonstrations in the city to protest the acquittal of three police officers in the shooting death of an unarmed man as he left his bachelor party, took note of the Zeigler incident while speaking at his weekly rally in Harlem.
“You can’t make this stuff up!” he said. “The problem isn’t that they didn’t recognize him. It is that they don’t recognize our rights!”
Also, a New York man has filed a lawsuit claiming that he was taunted and falsely arrested by police officers after they learned that he had the same name as a West African immigrant shot to death by other officers in 1999.
Amadou Diallo said a group of officers confronted him over a broken headlight in February, then searched his vehicle for weapons.
Once the officers learned his name, it became “a source of much amusement, laughing and inappropriate joking amongst the officers, with crude and disgusting comments,” Diallo’s lawyer said in the suit.
Amadou Diallo was also the name of an unarmed immigrant killed in 1999 when four plainclothed officers, apparently mistakenly thinking he was reaching for a gun, fired 41 rounds in the doorway of a Bronx apartment building. The officers in that case were also acquitted of criminal charges.
I Don’t Want to Go to School My Ass!
Filed under: Blog Entries, Entertainment & Sports, My Thoughts
I’m sure I’ll catch some hell for bashing a kids song, but it’s Friday and this kinda bothered me. I was watching Spongebob Squarepants on Nickelodeon with my son and heard them advertising the song “I Don’t Want to Go to School” by the Naked Brothers Band on a commercial.
I’ve defended hip hop music and I realize not all of it is good for young ears (or even adult ears). I also realize the affect it has on the black community and society as a whole. But what gets me is why this song was chosen to be played on a kids station (teens are kids too) and why weren’t the parental censorship groups out there protesting? Sure the Naked Brothers Band is one of those teensational groups, but need to be held responsible for their lyrics. Kids look up to them.
I’m going to write a song called “You Better Get Your Butt to School, Right Now!”. Because that’s exactly what my kid will hear when I hear him utter those words. A song doesn’t have to talkabout ho’s, poppin caps or gettin dollas to be censored in my opinion. Am I making too big a deal about this? Or do you feel this was a post to get away from the discussing something of real substance? You tell me.
“I Don’t Want To Go To School”
Don’t wanna go to
School [X7]
I don’t want to go to school
Yes it’s true.
I don’t want to see a teachers
Face again.
I don’t want to go to school
Every morning.
I don’t want to go to school.School [X4]
I don’t want to go to school. [X3]
Don’t want to go to school school
And thats for sure.
Don’t take me in the morning or
I’ll cry some more.
And I’m really tired of being treated
Like a fool.
I don’t want to go to school.You can’t deny me of my [X3]
Of my freedom.You can’t deny me of my [X3]
Of my summer.I don’t want to go to school.
And you give us so much work
I go crazy.
Try to rest my head and you call me lazy.
I look aroud and all I see
Is depretion.And i’ll tell you teachers
I’ve got a confetion.
All those those kids wan’t to do
Is have some fun.
But the work
The work
The work is never done.
You always tell me to stop
To stop comin’ around
I can’t even make
Make make no sound
I can’t make no soundI don’t want to go to school
School [X4]
I don’t want to go to school
School [X3]
I don’t want to go to school
School [X4]I don’t want
I don’t want
I don’t want to go to schoolI don’t want
I don’t want
I don’t want to go to schoolI don’t want
I don’t want
I don’t want to go to schoolI don’t want to go to school
No I don’t
Lyrics found at AZ Lyrics
John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama
Who’s Johnny? He’s the man that just endorsed Barack Obama. The media is flooded with the news, but I wanted to throw in my two cents. I’ve been waiting to hear which way Edwards would go and this is a great boost for Obama. Listen to the speech he gave if you haven’t heard the whole thing. I’m inspired by it and him as he makes an effort to get Democrats on the right track. I don’t know if it will work, but the message is good. The battle for the White House is just beginning and it’s going to be a long hard fight to the end. Change is possible but it’s going to take a joint effort by all to make it happen.
The Truth About the Tuskegee Studies?
Filed under: Blog Entries, Education, My Thoughts, Politics
I’d been meaning to do the post about the Tuskegee experiment for a while, but I had no idea this topic was being discussed on the Houston Chronicle website. On May 9th, syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote a viewpoints column titled “Let’s start with the truth about Tuskegee studies” which attempts to shed some light on what “really” happened at Tuskegee, the government and black paranoia and why we continue to vote for a party that wants a bigger governement.
While I like to explore both sides of an issue, I think the real issue is being overlooked and Rev. Wright is the distraction to get people’s focus away from the current problems Americans face. It’s a good way to build readership, get people to your website or watch your television show. And I can’t blame them at all. People need to eat and businesses need to make money in order to survive. It’s called capitalism.
I don’t know the assumed intentions of experiment, nor do I know if those involved were racist. What I do know is that the men involved were lied to and thought they were getting help from a government agency. It was only until “the truth” surfaced that something was done about it. The lie in my opinion is the reason behind the paranoia. The whole AIDS in the black community is nothing new and Jeremiah Wright is not saying anything that hasn’t been said before. It’s just he was associated with a potential presidential candidate, which made him a target.
Did the U.S. Spread AIDS in the Black Community?
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Health, Politics, Society & Culture
A lot of people have been upset about the comments Rev. Jeremiah Wright has made in his sermons, one of the biggest being the one about the United States spreading AIDS in the black community. While I don’t personally feel this is true, I cannot blame him or anyone else in his generation for having those feelings. Wright, born in 1941, lived during a time when rights weren’t always equal and segregation was a normal part of life. He was well-educated and after two years of serving in the United States Marine Corps, joined the United States Navy and entered the Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. As a preacher, he seems to have had a monumental effect in the black community where his Chicago church is located. So it’s interesting to me how a 10 second clip can overshadow the accomplishments of the past.
While the numbers of those infected with HIV/AIDS are high in the black community, I honestly don’t feel the government had anything to do with it. At the same time, I can see why Wright and so many others feel this statement is true. Over 70 years ago, an experimental study took place that I feel may have caused some of the distrust between our government and the black community.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website:
In 1932, the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study to record the natural history of syphilis in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks. It was called the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.”
The study initially involved 600 black men – 399 with syphilis, 201 who did not have the disease. The study was conducted without the benefit of patients’ informed consent. Researchers told the men they were being treated for “bad blood,” a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness. In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. Although originally projected to last 6 months, the study actually went on for 40 years.
While many laws have been implemented to prevent another Tuskegee Experiment, the distrust still remains. If you’re thinking “ya’ll need to get over it”, let’s do the math. 2008 minus 1972 (the year the study was ended) equals 36 years. These men participated in this study and were mislead by the very people we look to for help when we’re sick. Time heals all wounds, but this is one instance where the time has not been long enough. I’m all for getting medical attention when needed and hope the black patient/doctor/government relationship improves. When the trust is broken, it takes time and effort from all sides to repair it.
There was one time when a black doctor came to our men’s Bible study class asking for volunteers to participant in a study for diabetes. He explained to us the importance of getting involved in these types of medical studies and urged us to spread the word. He told us when African-Americans don’t participate, the medicines created aren’t well-tested for our people. The doctors then have a harder time choosing the best medication for us and we end up having to try out more combinations than everyone else. But in the end, I doubt the good doctor had anyone participate in his study (including me).
Is Wright right for spreading the AIDS belief in his sermon? I think it’s up to his church and the members to make up their own minds on how they feel about it. Wright is free to believe and express what he feels is true, but all he did is say what many people are saying behind closed doors. For more information on the experiment, check out the sites below:
Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male
Links of Interest
Site Feeds
MyBlogLog Readers
