Peep the pic of how Giffords looks now after the jump. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made her first public appearance in front of a crowd since being shot in the head Jan. 8, rising from her wheelchair to hug and kiss her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, when he received the Spaceflight Medal. Giffords, D-Ariz., entered, being pushed in a wheelchair, to a standing ovation from a crowd of hundreds at the awards ceremony auditorium at Space Center Houston, which is next to the Johnson Space Center. Her hair was much shorter than in previously published photos. She was wearing glasses, a beige scarf, a light shirt, jeans and sneakers. She smiled and waved to the crowd. Giffords and Kelly held hands for most of the event. She appeared to chat with people sitting around her, and laughed when the crew of STS-134, the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s last mission, was introduced. Kelly commanded the mission. Giffords left during home movies of the crew, shown during the event. Good to see that she’s doing well after suffering such a terrible ordeal. Source
Cynthia Bailey’s poor husband Peter has been falsely accused: “Real Housewives of Atlanta” husband, Peter Thomas, isn’t heading to jail and was recently found not guilty of battery. Despite reports that a charge of simple battery might result in Peter’s incarceration, the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” husband told Sister 2 Sister that there was really no threat of his being found guilty as a result of the incident that happened more than a year ago. According to Peter, his accuser was a woman who was acting up in his restaurant and throwing plates. After asking her to leave, he returned about 30 minutes later and was accused of pushing her. Peter said she slipped and the former employees who testified on his behalf backed his story. Police were called to the scene, which is routine procedure in a case where assault is reported. He was charged and spent 17 hours in jail when the incident first happened. Hmmmm….we guess we’ll believe you on this one Peter! Via Sister 2 Sister
President Obama definitely faces an uphill battle is his campaign for re-election in 2012. Although Obama raked in lots of cash last night from a dinner at the Upper East Side restaurant Daniel — where about 70 hedge-funders and other deep pocketed donors forked over $35,800 a head — it was big-time execs turning down the invitation who raised eyebrows. Both JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon and Citigroup boss Vikram Pandit had made it clear they would not attend the event, which was closed to the press. Also planning to skip the event were Blackstone Group President Tony James and its top real-estate exec, Jonathan Gray; Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and its president, Greg Fleming; and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn. “I think there are a lot of Wall Street-types who are unhappy,” said a financial exec who has supported Obama in the past. “Do I think everyone’s going to abandon the president? I’d say no — I’m not going to abandon him — but I get the sense he’s going to get far less support than he did in the past.” The POTUS is no dummy though, he has enough self-awareness to recognize his own dwindling popularity: “I know that it’s not going to be exactly the same as when I was young and vibrant and new,” he said. “Let’s face it, it was cool to support me back then [in 2008] . . . Now I’m sort of old news.” Additionally, Obama’s support amongst the gay community seems to be contingent on him taking a stance on gay marriage. Even Obama’s first stop, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, where as many as 600 gays, bisexuals and transgendered people paid at least $1,250 apiece, showcased the gap between the president and his base. Obama stopped short of calling for same-sex nups — disappointing some of his supporters. At one point, some hecklers shouted “Marriage!” To which Obama responded, “I hear you, guys. Believe it or not, I anticipated that.” He took pains to say he was raised to abhor discrimination. “I was born that way,” he said, an apparent riff on Lady Gaga’s gay anthem “Born This Way.” Has your opinion about President Obama changed after these past few years? Do you still plan to support him in the 2012 election?? Caption this picture of our stressed out Commander-In-Chief. Source
It’s official, nearly 900 million in food aid for low income families will be cut. They sure didn’t waste anytime with this one … The Republican-led House rejected bipartisan attempts to reduce farm subsidies Thursday and passed a food and farm spending bill that makes deep cuts in food aid at home and abroad. It would cut the Women, Infants and Children program, which offers food aid and educational support for low-income mothers and their children, by $868 million, or 13 percent from the current level. An international food assistance program that provides emergency aid and agricultural development would drop by more than $450 million, one-third of the program’s budget. Democrats said the cuts to food aid were reckless and that subsidies should be trimmed instead. “The Republican bill is harmful, ineffective and plays politics with our children’s health,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. These are our tax dollars being put to use in these programs and further proves why it’s so important to vote! We have yet to imagine that strain this will put on families who really need the added support. SMH Source
If you don’t think the recession is affecting Blacks more than anyone else, check again. According to a survey conducted by Your Black World, 38 percent of African-Americans lost their jobs in the last three years. Of those people, more than 88 percent were unable to find jobs of equal or better pay, which means they have to downgrade to get back on their feet. More than 67 percent of the 839 respondents were college educated, too. To make matters more striking, the problems have affected African Americans at every socio-economic level. You know what they say: if America has a cold, Black America has a flu, and this is just another example. Time to get Barack Obama on this and help out, don’t you think?
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is coming to terms with a new realization this morning : all those illegal immigrants he’s trying to have out of his home state over the next few weeks do jobs that no legal resident alien or American citizen wants to do. So now, rather than to admit that his immigration reform might not have been the best move, Deal telling farm owners just to hire ex-cons to replace the law-breaking migrant workers he’s kicking out. Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement Tuesday that he had asked the state’s agriculture and corrections commissioners to connect unemployed probationers with farm jobs. “I believe this would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available,” he said. Deal outlined results from a recent survey data indicating there were more than 11,000 positions currently available on Georgia farms. Growers in Georgia have expressed concerns about labor shortages since Deal signed a law last month aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. The law, known as HB 87, allows police to ask about immigration status when questioning suspects in certain criminal investigations and asserts that workers convicted of using fake identification to get jobs could be sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $250,000. The law goes into effect July 1, but already some growers say they’ve noticed an impact. Grower Roscoe Hutcheson said no one showed up Tuesday to pick blackberries at his farm in Baxley, Georgia — a labor shortage he blamed on HB 87. Late last month, growers reported they were getting only 30% to 50% of the workers they needed, according to the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, which represents mostly medium- and large-size operations in the state’s $1.1 billion fruit and vegetable business. Labor needs have diminished since then as the end of the harvest season approaches, but concerns from growers have not, said Charles Hall, the association’s executive director. “The information we’re getting form harvesters is they (workers) don’t want to come to Georgia because they’re afraid of the enforcement of this law,” he said. Deal said about 25% of the 8,000 probationers in southwest Georgia — where many of the state’s farms are located — are unemployed. In other words, this solution is no solution at all. Good job, McFly.
Good to see Gabrielle Giffords making progress in her recovery after being victim to crazed “skinhead lookin” gunman, Jared Loughner , in Arizona months ago: Two photos of a smiling Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were released early Sunday by her office, her hair shorn short but few other telling signs of her gunshot wound to the head. The Facebook photos, the first clear snapshots of Giffords since the shooting five months ago, showed how far she has come since a gunman shot her in the left side of her forehead during a constituent meet-and-greet in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson. But her spokeswoman, Pia Carusone, has cautioned that Giffords still has a long way to go in her recovery. Source
Eat your heart out, Arizona. Alabama is going to out-racist you. The southern state just passed the most stringent immigration laws in American history to date. – The bill requires public schools to determine the citizenship status of students, which means that illegal immigrants will not be educated in the state. – Police must detain someone they suspect of being in the country illegally if the person cannot produce proper documentation when stopped for any reason. – It also will be a crime to knowingly transport or harbor someone who is in the country illegally. The law imposes penalties on businesses that knowingly employ someone without legal resident status. A company’s business license could be suspended or revoked. Geez. Alabama isn’t playing around. Illegal immigrants can’t get a job or go to school in the state. What do you think? Fair or unfair?
Amidst job growth moving at a snail’s pace, insane gas prices that don’t show any signs of decreasing and the price inflation of most consumer goods, President Obama doesn’t want the American public to “panic” about the seemingly stagnant economy. President Barack Obama insisted Tuesday that the country is not at risk of slipping into a double-dip recession, but he conceded he does not know whether a sudden slowdown in job growth is a blip or an indication of a longer, more worrisome trend. The president said the nation is on a solid but uneven path to recovery and the key is to “not panic.” “I am concerned about the fact that the recovery that we’re on is not producing jobs as quickly as I want it to happen,” Obama said at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Obviously we’re experiencing some headwinds.” Obama spoke amid a wave of short-term negative economic news, including a sharp drop in the number of jobs added in America in May after employment growth had shown strong signs for three straight months. Obama said the economy is rebounding well from a disastrous blow dating to 2008 even though millions still endure hard times. He promoted continuing steps already taken, like tax breaks for business investment, and his familiar longer term agenda of debt reduction and spending on education, infrastructure and energy research. Given the jittery times, a batch of economic data can make people wonder, “Well, are we going to go back this terrible crisis?” Obama said. “And that affects consumer confidence, and it affects business confidence, it affects the capital market. And so our task is to not panic.” The economy is the overarching issue as Obama heads into a 2012 re-election campaign, and a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday found that disapproval with how Obama is handling the economy and the deficit has reached a new high. Obama’s got a little bit of time to level they playing field before the 2012 election but what would you suggest he do to restore voter confidence? Source
Contrary to earlier reports, BOSSIP has confirmed that Bow Wow and his ex Miss Joie did not become the parents of a bouncing baby girl this morning. Various media sources reported today that Joie was rushed to the hospital this morning where the former couple’s baby was delivered via emergency c-section. Those reports were only partially correct. A source close to Bow Wow tells BOSSIP that while Joie did go to the hospital this morning, she was released after being observed by her doctors for a couple of hours and is currently resting comfortably at home. Bow Wow on the other hand is currently in Miami and planning to attend this evening’s NBA Finals game between the Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. Back in February , Joie confirmed months of speculation by posting the picture of her growing baby bump above with the caption “Counting down the days
