Old School Jet, Ebony and Black Enterprise on Google Books

When Google announced the release of Google Books, I rushed over and was pleased to see that they’d scanned in some of my favorite magazines. The best part was that I could view them all online for free.

In my searches I was able to find issues for Jet Magazine (1950-2005), Ebony Magazine (1950-2000) and Black Enterprise (1970-2000). While they don’t include the most current issues, it’s great that I can see what was going on before I was I born. If Google keeps this up, I can’t imagine the kind of information my kids will have access to.

This will give those in my generation and forward the ability to research our past and learn more than we’ve ever had about entertainment, politics and society, than we’ve ever had. The odds of me getting my hands on a volume 1 Jet Magazine is one to impossible. But thanks to Google, I have access to it.

We are in the Information Age and I hope everyone is ready to get on board. In 2011, I plan on increasing the number of black history books I read and I’m going to use Google Books to do this. There are a lot of good free books out there for us to read. I as I finish them I’ll blog about them here on the site.

Here’s to a New Year in books.

 

President Obama’s Weekly Address – 12/11/10

The President strongly urges both parties in Congress to pass the compromise on tax cuts, unemployment insurance, and job creation. Not doing so would hurt the middle class, those struggling to find work, and the economy itself.

The compromise framework

 

Get Out and Vote – Midterm Elections

I just thought I’d post a little reminder for everyone to get out and vote. The midterm elections are just as important as the the presidential elections. As Americans it’s our civil duty to vote in who we believe should run our government. But as a black person, I feel it’s a show of respect to those who placed their lives in harm’s way for me to vote and have the many civil liberties I take for granted. We haven’t had these rights for a long time, so let’s make sure we take care of business.

Early voting in Texas is open. For more information on voting in Texas, go to http://www.votexas.org.


 

Rally To Restore Sanity

I just happened to be up late watching the Daily Show and Jon Stewart announced his Rally to Restore Sanity. In a time when Americans have gone completely out of their minds (in regards to politics), this might be something needed to get us back on track.

According to their website, the rally is for “… people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it’s appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles”.

I’m actually curious to see how many people will come out to an event advertised on Comedy Central. But Jon has the viewers and I’d include myself among those who’ve been discouraged by all the political craziness. But despite that, I think I’ll stay put and let others experience the rally as I follow first-hand accounts of it on Twitter.

Not to be outdone, Stephen Colbert is having his March to Keep Fear Alive. What is this world coming to?

And if you are thinking about going let me know. I might be willing to set up a live stream from the blog.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Rally to Restore Sanity
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party
The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
March to Keep Fear Alive
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News
 

President Obama’s Weekly Address – 05/08/10

The President goes through the benefits in health insurance reform that are already kicking in for young adults, retirees, and families, and says more benefits are coming down the pike.

source

 

President Obama’s Weekly Address – 04/24/10

As the auto industry and financial markets begin to stabilize, the President says the government’s emergency interventions can now wind down. He pledges that real reform, particularly on Wall Street, must now begin.

source

 

What The President Has Signed Into Law – March 2010

April 12, 2010 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Blog Entries, Health, Our Rights, Politics 

The White House SealThe purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what they do more transparent to the American people. We elect them, so we need to make sure they are doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments.

This was also the month history was made with the signing of the health care reform bill. There was a lot of fighting over this, but President Obama got it done. Only time will tell whether it was a good or bad idea to reform health care. To be honest, I don’t think anyone knows what will happen and there will always be people out there who want to see it fail, so they can say “I told you so”.

On Mar 2, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4691: Temporary Extension Act of 2010.
To provide a temporary extension of certain programs, and for other purposes.

On Mar 4, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 1299: United States Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act of 2009. To make technical corrections to the laws affecting certain administrative authorities of the United States Capitol Police, and for other purposes.

On Mar 17, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 2968: Trademark Technical and Conforming Amendment Act of 2010. A bill to make certain technical and conforming amendments to the Lanham Act.

On Mar 18, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 2847: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.

On Mar 23, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. An act entitled The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is the Senate’s health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Senate is co-opting this bill as a vehicle for passage of their reform and will change the text of this unrelated bill in whole in the coming weeks. They do this because the Constitution requires all revenue bills to start in the House, and their health reform plan involves revenue. So they have chosen to work off of a bill that started in the House, even if that bill is unrelated.

On Mar 25, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 3433: To amend the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to establish requirements regarding payment of the non-Federal share of the costs of wetlands conservation projects in Canada that are funded under that Act, and for other purposes.

On Mar 31, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4957: Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the funding and expenditure authority of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, to amend title 49, United States Code, to extend authorizations for the airport improvement program, and for other purposes.

S. 1147: PACT Act. A bill to prevent tobacco smuggling, to ensure the collection of all tobacco taxes, and for other purposes.

 

Get Your Health Care Reform Shirt Here

from barackobama.com

No, this isn’t a bootleg shirt I printed up marking the much needed overhaul of our health care system. This is actually a legitimate shirt from barackobama.com marking the historic vote in the House to send health reform to the President.

I received an email from the website asking me to co-sign the bill along side President Obama’s name to show my pride in helping bring about this great achievement (I’m still not sure what I did). I usually read over and delete these emails, but I couldn’t help adding my name to the list of those who would also sign. After submitting my name I was sent to the usual donation page with a chance to order the shirt.

When I saw it, I couldn’t help but laugh because the best way to piss people off even more is to wear around this shirt to really rub it in. Nevertheless, I donated the $25 to get one because this really is history in the making and he’s going to need that money in a couple of years. Growing up, I used to wonder what major events would shape our society and this is one of those events. Will it work? I have no clue. But I do know something needs to be done and this is the first step in getting the ball rolling.

I admire the tenacity of the president and despite the drama in Congress, he was determined to make it happen. Most of the people complaining will probably benefit from these changes and what’s a couple of more trillion dollars to an already high national debt? The debt was already on the rise before Obama got in office, so my kids were going to pay for it either way.

2012 is going to be crazy!!!

 

What The President Has Signed Into Law – February 2010

The White House SealThe purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what they do more transparent to the American people. We elect them, so we need to make sure they are doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4508: Small Business Act Temporary Extension. To provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 692: A bill to provide that claims of the United States to certain documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as waived and relinquished in certain circumstances.

On Feb 3, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 1377: Amend title 38. To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand veteran eligibility for reimbursement by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for emergency treatment furnished in a non-Department facility, and for other purposes.

On Feb 12, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H. J. Res. 45:  Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Increasing the statutory limit on the public debt.
On Feb 16, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:

H.R. 730: Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act. To strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop nuclear forensics capabilities to permit attribution of the source of nuclear material, and for other purposes.
On Feb 27, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 3961: Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. An Act to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 until February 28, 2011.
H.R. 4532: Social Security Disability Applicant’s Access to Professional Representation Act of 2010. To provide for permanent extension of the attorney fee withholding procedures under title II of the Social Security Act to title XVI of such Act, and to provide for permanent extension of such procedures under titles II and XVI of such Act to qualified non-attorney representatives.

Note: There were a lot of post office related name change laws this month. But since that’s not really a big deal, I decided not to post each one.


 

Fill Out Your 2010 Census

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years. Mid-March the census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico. When you receive yours, just answer the 10 short questions (they say it take around 10 minutes) and then mail the form back in the postage-paid envelope provided. If you don’t mail the form back, you may receive a visit from a census taker, who will ask you the questions from the form.

The majority of the country will receive English–only materials. Households in areas with high concentrations of Spanish-speaking residents may receive a bilingual (English/Spanish) form. Any personal data you provide is protected under federal law.

Please take the time to fill out the Census and mail it back because the information affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. People from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more. It also helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services like:

  • Hospitals
  • Job training centers
  • Schools
  • Senior centers
  • Bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects
  • Emergency services

Don’t take this lightly. For more information regarding the Census and how it affects all Americans, check out the Census blog at http://blogs.census.gov/2010census.

If you are in need of a job, the U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers right in your own community. These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement for authorized work-related expenses, such as mileage incurred while conducting census work. For more information on the job opportunities they offer, visit http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs.


 

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