Wealth-flaunting zillionaire Jay-Z recently sparked widespread debate when he said his mere presence is charity in response to Civil Rights icon Harry Belafonte’s challenge to be more socially-responsible/charitable. It’s true that celebs don’t owe us anything but what makes Hov (who destroyed a $400K Maybach in a video) believe he’s above doing more for the poor? Here are the ten most charitable celebs in the world. Take a look. Continue reading →
Can the gay community be fully embraced in any religion? Pope Francis Reaches Out To The Gays Via HuffPo reports: Pope Francis reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Francis asked. His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten. Francis’ remarks came Monday during a plane journey back to the Vatican from his first foreign trip in Brazil. He was funny and candid during a news conference that lasted almost an hour and a half. He didn’t dodge a single question, even thanking the journalist who raised allegations reported by an Italian newsmagazine that one of his trusted monsignors was involved in a scandalous gay tryst. Francis said he investigated and found nothing to back up the allegations. Francis was asked about Italian media reports suggesting that a group within the church tried to blackmail fellow church officials with evidence of their homosexual activities. Italian media reported this year that the allegations contributed to Benedict’s decision to resign While stressing Catholic social teaching that calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure. Francis was responding to reports that a trusted aide was involved in an alleged gay tryst a decade ago. He said he investigated the allegations according to canon law and found nothing to back them up. But he took journalists to task for reporting on the matter, saying the allegations concerned matters of sin, not crimes like sexually abusing children. And when someone sins and confesses, he said, God not only forgives but forgets. “We don’t have the right to not forget,” he said. The Catholic Church is making progress but until they move forward with their views on women in the church growth within the church will remain stagnant Continue reading →
Should Men Who Force Sex On Women And Impregnate Them Have Parental Rights? A group of bi-partisan lawmakers are currently working to push legislation forward that would give female survivors of forced sex that resulted in a child the right to terminate the parental rights of their attackers. At present, more than half of the U.S. does not have laws that protect the custodial rights of victims of forced sex that resulted in children. via Think Progress On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) held a press conference to explain their recently-introduced legislation designed to help rape survivors maintain full custody rights over their children. The lawmakers were joined by Shauna Prewitt, a rape survivor and victims’ rights advocate who was forced to endure the type of custody battle with her rapist that the bill seeks to prevent. The Rape Survivor Child Custody Act would provide funding incentives to states that have laws allowing mothers of children conceived through rape to “seek court-ordered termination of the parental rights of her rapist.” These states would receive federal grant funding for programs authorized under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Currently, 31 states have no custodial rights protections for mothers of children conceived in rape. Of the 19 states that do have some protections, only six reach the standard advocated by the proposed bill. At the press conference, Prewitt explained that victims in this situation can often face a dynamic where their rapist threatens to pursue custodial rights over the child unless they drop their criminal charges. The bill also encourages states to pass laws allowing survivors to petition for the termination of their rapists’ custodial rights as long as they can show that they had been raped under a “clear and convincing evidence” standard. Only six states currently have such laws, whereas thirteen others require criminal convictions for the rapist. That requires a stronger standard of evidence and can place survivors in long legal battles that may prove traumatizing. Do you think men who impregnate women through forced sex should be given the chance to be in the child’s life? Obviously, most people can agree that attackers who force sex on women would likely not be fit for fatherhood, but what about cases where a husband or significant other is accused or convicted of raping his partner and she gets pregnant? Should the mothers in those situations have the option to legally terminate his parental rights also? Let’s discuss.
Too little, waaaaaayy too late Minority Zimmerman Juror Speaks Out And Says He Got Away With Murder The only minority on the 6-member all female jury who found child murderer George Zimmerman not guilty on all counts despite the fact that he stalked and then fatally gunned down unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin during an altercation is speaking out to tell her side of the story. Not only was she the only minority on the jury, but she was also the sole member who came close to going against the other 5 women and forcing them to declare a hung jury. via ABC News The only minority on the all-female jury that voted to acquit George Zimmerman said today that Zimmerman “got away with murder” for killing Trayvon Martin and feels she owes an apology Martin’s parents. She said the jury was following Florida law and the evidence, she said, did not prove murder. “You can’t put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty,” said the woman who was identified only as Juror B29 during the trial. “But we had to grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence.” The court had sealed the jurors’ identities during the trial and still hasn’t lifted the order, but Juror B29 edged out of the shadows in an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts. She allowed her face to be shown, but — concerned for her safety — used only a first name of Maddy. The nursing assistant and mother of eight children was selected as a juror five months after she had moved to Seminole County, Fla., from Chicago. Despite the prosecution’s claim the Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was black, Maddy said the case was never about race to her, although she didn’t want to speak for her fellow jurors. But her feelings about Zimmerman’s actions are clear. “George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can’t get away from God. And at the end of the day, he’s going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with,” Maddy said. “[But] the law couldn’t prove it.” “Maddy” also revealed during the sit down with Robin Roberts that she was the one who almost caused the a “hung jury” verdict because she didn’t feel Zimmerman should be able to kill someone without getting charged. Check out what else she had to say, including a video clip of the interview, on the flip.
The entire nation is demanding justice for Trayvon Martin ! Rallies Gather For Trayvon Martin One week after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, people gathered nationwide Saturday to press for federal civil rights charges against the former neighborhood watch leader , and to call for changes in the nation’s self-defense laws. Via HuffPo reports: The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense, guns, and race relations. Zimmerman, who successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as Hispanic. Martin was black. For some attendees, particularly those who are black, the rallies seemed as much about those larger issues as about the verdict. “It’s personal,” said Cincinnati resident Chris Donegan, whose 11-year-old son wore a hoodie to the rally, as Martin did the night he died. “Anybody who is black with kids, Trayvon Martin became our son.” Chants rang out across the rallies. “Justice! Justice! Justice! … Now! Now! Now!” “`We won’t forget.” “No justice! No peace!” Many also sang hymns, prayed and held hands. And plenty of participants carried signs: “Who’s next?” “I am Trayvon Martin.” “Enough Is Enough.” Most rallies began at noon. In New York, hundreds of people – including Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, and music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce – gathered in the heat . Fulton told the crowd she was determined to fight for societal and legal changes needed to ensure that black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because of their skin color. “I promise you I’m going to work for your children as well,” she told the crowd. At a morning appearance at Sharpton’s headquarters in Harlem, she implored people to understand that the tragedy involved more than Martin alone. “Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours,” she said. In Atlanta, speakers noted that the rally occurred in the shadows of federal buildings named for two figures who had vastly differing views on civil rights and racial equality: Richard B. Russell was a Georgia governor and U.S. senator elected in the Jim Crow South; Martin Luther King Jr. is the face of African-Americans’ civil rights movement. “What’s so frightening about a black man in a hood?” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who now occupies the pulpit at King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. “History would suggest that we have plenty of data to be worried when we see other folk moving through our neighborhoods in hoods. Some of them have on pinstripe suits – but in their hearts, they’re wearing a hood.” In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters In New York that he wants to see a rollback of “stand your ground” self-defense laws. “We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again,” Sharpton said. “Stand your ground” laws are on the books in more than 20 states, and they go beyond many older, traditional self-defense statutes. In general, the newer laws eliminate a person’s duty to retreat, if possible, in the face of a serious physical threat. Zimmerman didn’t invoke “stand your ground,” relying instead on a traditional self-defense argument, but the judge included a provision of the law in the jurors’ instructions, allowing them to consider it as a legitimate defense. AP/GETTY
Agree or disagree? Romany Malco Says Trayvon Martin Outrage Is A Product Of Divisive Media Coverage Despite all the discussions about race, prejudice, and gun-control that surround the George Zimmerman trial, Think Like A Man actor Romany Malco believes that the paramount issue in the case is dirty media politricks. He outlines his theory in a blog entitled “A Message To Trayvon Martin Sympathizers” Via HuffingtonPost I haven’t touched on the Trayvon Martin issue because race matters in this country are the paralysis of the American people. To constructively discuss Trayvon would require empathy, introspection and an understanding of America’s social and economic history. This is why the open forums we have seen thus far seem to fuel more ignorance and bias than reasonable debate. To be brutally honest, the only reason people are even aware of Trayvon Martin is because it became a topic within mainstream news and pop culture. Meaning: News directors saw it as a profitable, sensational story. Hundreds of blacks die annually in South Side Chicago without even a blurb. Trayvon isn’t in the mainstream news for any reason other than ratings and profit. The news coverage on the Zimmerman case almost implies that the killing of this young black man is somehow an anomaly and I resent that. In this country, if it isn’t streamlined through mainstream media and pop culture, it doesn’t seem to warrant national debate. Our “government” continues to wreak havoc on our civil liberties and there is little to no protest from the black community because of media diversion tactics that keep such pertinent issues out of mainstream media. But if Jay-Z or Rihanna were to make mention of it, we’d suddenly be jolted out of our sugar comas and protesting on freeways. My point being, people are up in arms about Trayvon based on regurgitated pundits and manipulated facts aired to elicit emotion while fueling America’s anger and division. That’s how you boost ratings. No different from Piers Morgan’s desperate rant over gun control when he knew his ratings were in the dumps. And from where I stand, anyone who still relies on corporate-owned media pundits to support an argument isn’t equipped to offer worthwhile solutions. People are using Trayvon Martin’s death as an excuse to project their own deep-seated issues with racism and will not be capable of intelligent, empathetic debate until they’ve cooled down and afforded themselves an education. Is Romany saying that people SHOULDN’T be upset or angry about the events surrounding Trayvon’s death and George Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal?? Pretty incendiary stuff, but it ain’t over yet. Flip it on over to read the rest of Romany’s entry. Image via WENN Continue reading →
Pat Buchanan Says Black America’s Real Problem Isn’t White Racism Former Republican Presidential candidate turned MSNBC columnist Pat Buchanan says Black America itself is more to blame for their own deaths, criminalization and pretty much anything that paints minorities in a negative light. The GOP goon also claims that black and minorities also out-number white people in many areas on the police force. via Pat Buchanan Blog In the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton and Ben Jealous of the NAACP are calling on the black community to rise up in national protest. Yet they know — and Barack Obama, whose silence speaks volumes, knows — nothing is going to happen. “Stand-Your-Ground” laws in Florida and other states are not going to be repealed. George Zimmerman is not going to be prosecuted for a federal “hate crime” in the death of Trayvon Martin. The result of all this ginned-up rage that has produced vandalism and violence is simply going to be an ever-deepening racial divide. Consider the matter of crime and fear of crime. From listening to cable channels and hearing Holder, Sharpton, Jealous and others, one would think the great threat to black children today emanates from white vigilantes and white cops. But is this the reality in Black America? In New York from January to June 2008, 83 percent of all gun assailants were black, according to witnesses and victims, though blacks were only 24 percent of the population. Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 98 percent of all gun assailants. Forty-nine of every 50 muggings and murders in the Big Apple were the work of black or Hispanic criminals. According to Ray Kelly, a majority of his police force, which he has been able to cut from 41,000 officers to 35,000, is now made up of minorities. Mateo is what The New York Times would describe as “a black Hispanic” Yet he may be closer to the ‘hood than Holder, who says he was stopped by police when running to a movie — in Georgetown. Which raises a relevant question. Georgetown is an elitist enclave of a national capital that has been ruled by black mayors for half a century. It’s never had a white mayor. If interracial crime is the ugliest manifestation of racism, what does this tell us about where racism really resides — in America? Today, 73 percent of all black kids are born out of wedlock. Growing up, these kids drop out, use drugs, are unemployed, commit crimes and are incarcerated at many times the rate of Asians and whites — or Hispanics, who are taking the jobs that used to go to young black Americans. Are white vigilantes or white cops really Black America’s problem? Is this more GOP goon babble? Or does Pat have a point? Let’s discuss.
This mother is sure get a round of applause from sons….. and skrippers …everywhere Mother Puts Ad On Craigslist Seeking Girl To Take Son’s Virginity A Philadelphia mother apparently wants to send her college-bound son away to Harvard University with everything he’ll need to be prepared….and without his virginity. via Huffington Post When a Philadelphia parent started a Craigslist ad with “This is going to sound strange,” the user was right. Advertising for a “sugar baby” to take your 18-year-old son’s virginity before he heads to Harvard University is pretty bizarre. The unusual Craigslist ad, posted under the title “Sugar Baby for my Son” in Philadelphia’s personals section Tuesday, requests a 19 or 20-year-old girl to casually run into the teen at an upcoming concert and show him a good time — wink, wink. (Kudos to The Daily Dot for first spotting it.) “He’s very handsome and extremely fit,” the parent assures. The only problem, according to the ad, is he’s a bit socially awkward and may be a virgin. The parent describes how the planned date will go, before getting to the remuneration. “In return I’ll make your financial issues disappear,” the ad reads, adding that those who reply should include their preferred type of car in the subject line of the email. No way to tell whether or not this is a real ad but, it’s reportedly still posted. We wouldn’t be surprised it if was though. Stranger things have definitely happened on Craigslist… Shutterstock Continue reading →
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