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Impeach Dick Cheney
By Chris Langley
Blackballot.com focuses on gathering African American opinions on various topics. Our research specialists develop surveys that help measure customer satisfaction and loyalty, brand equity, PR efforts, and public opinions. Whether you want a complete strategy toanalysis plan or a dozen questions answered quickly, we ve got the expertise you need to get the job done.
For further information on research and polling solutions, please contact Vice President of Sales, Chris Langley, at chris blackballot.com.
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Behind The Scenes Politics The Charles Rangel Inaugural Ceremony Part II
BlackBallot.com is proud to bring you Behind the Scenes Politics  The Charles Rangel Inaugural Ceremony. Although Congressman Rangel is already the most senior member
of the New York Congressional delegation, on this special day he was appointed Head of
the House Ways and Means Committee. Rangel now controls the purse strings of the U.S. Congress and is probably the most powerful African American legislator in the
nations history. He even
had the personal pleasure of kicking Dick Chaney out of his office.
Congressman Rangel, a decorated war veteran who earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the Korean War, was first elected to Congress in 1971. Since then, he has continued to represent the Fifteenth Congressional District of New York which encompasses Upper Manhattan including Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and a small part of Queens.
More than 2,000 people attended the inauguration, including former President Bill Clinton, Senator Charles Schumer, the Honorable Percy Sutton, and Reverend James Forbes of The Riverside Church. The reception was hosted by Lt. Governor David Patterson, who is the funniest man in politics right now. We will bring you the second half of the footage next week. We are proud to have been given the opportunity to document this momentous occasion.
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Divided and Conquered The Story of Sonny Carson and the Black and Latino Caucus 
By K.B. McDavid
I was outraged when I first heard that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had removed Sonny Carsons name from a simple street naming bill. Instantly, images of Sonny Carson leading protests for local community control of the public schools in the Ocean Hill Brownsville section of Brooklyn from the PBS series Eyes on the Prize popped into my mind. Sonny Carson was a leader, a Black Leader. He stood for Black control of the intellectual development of our children. He stood up for Black children and was willing to confront the establishment in order to bring about change which is more than I can say for the New York City Councils Black and Latino Caucus.
I was so disgusted by the situation that I had to do some research and came across an article titled  Sonny Carson and the Politics of Protest written by Tamar Jacoby in 1991. Although she gives a fair depiction of Sonny Carson, Jacobys analysis gave me her limited perspective, the mainstreamwhite perspective, of MY leader Sonny Carson.
Sonny Carson makes no apologies for his racial politics. He likes to be thought of as a bad black man, someone who can hold his own fighting the white mans power. As a youth, he was a defiant gang member. Later, on trial for kidnapping and murder, he cultivated the image of a ruthless militant. Most recently, during the last mayoral campaign, he tweaked New Yorkers noses by declaring proudly that he was antiwhite ... for more than two decades, he has been an important presence on the New York political scene, consistently embarrassing
and outmaneuvering far more distinguished black leaders like David Dinkins. How he does it, the source of his shadowy power, is one of the most potent secrets of New York politics.
Let me answer the question of how Sonny Carson out maneuvers and embarrassed the distinguished black leaders. He represents what we as Black people are actually thinking whereas the distinguished black leaders  or sell outs as we call them are espousing what the mainstream would like to hear from Black people. There is a big difference. Does anyone wonder why only onethird of
the population is voting Too many distinguished leaders and not enough HONEST leaders.
I like Mayor Dinkins. I recently met him, he is real, a gracious nice but strong man. I bumped into him and could feel his energy he is not a weak man by any means. I didnt have that same impression when he ran for reelection and lost. It was 1993 and David Dinkins was constantly wearing that Yamaka. I dont know who told him to do that. I decided to stay home and not vote as did many of my peers. My generation is tired of this sellout Negro politics. If David Dinkins had not focused on being such a distinguished Black leader and had
just been a Black leader, he would have had a longer political career. Dinkins won his first mayoral campaign with 92 of the Black Vote, 65 Latino, 35 Jewish and 27 white. If he had just focused on the Black and Latino population he could have won a second term. However his distinguished political advisor or advisors had him wearing a Yamaka as if it were a new style thus alienating his power base. This is a fact that I lived and discussed with my peers at the time. I was alienated and will never forget this.
Nothing wrong with Yamakas, but I dont want my leader obviously genuflecting to another community.
As I read through Mrs. Jacobys long article, I began to understand why Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn had the reactions they did to Sonny Carson and I became more steadfast in mine. Sonny Carson was and is a Black leader. He stood for something. If he said he was antiwhite I will say that he was a product of his time, and needed to be antiwhite. I wonder if Speaker Quinn is she going to sponsor a bill to rid the city of the prevalent rapists, child molesters and murders that litter the names of New York City streets and monuments Thomas
the Pervert Jefferson, Andrew the Butcher Jackson, and George the Slave Owner Washington are but a few. Even Benjamin Franklin wanted to send us darkies back home to Africa. However mainstream America justifies their embrace of their inhuman slave owning heritage by saying that these American icons are products of their time. Then so is Sonny Carson.
Mayor Bloomberg arrogantly stated that naming the street after Sonny Carson is the worst idea anybody in the City Council has had. I would like to say that Mike Bloomberg is a total failure. He said that he would base his candidacy on revamping the public school system, but all he has done is open the door for Snapple to make a killing selling soft drinks to already overweight and hyper kids. Two years ago Mayor Mike boldly failed about 1 3 of the third graders. I wonder what has happened to those kids today. How many have them have moved forward or how many of them are trapped in environments where they dont physically fit. How does a 12 year old survive in 3rd grade, and what is the effect on the class having a sexually maturing, disruptive 12 year old in the class Mayor Mike despite having full control of the public school system has done nothing for the Black children but has the nerve to talk about Sonny Carson.
Now for the New York City Council. There are 51 total members of the New York City Council. The city has a population of 7,956,113 44 white, 25 Black, 11 Asian and 13 other races. Latinos of any race are 27 of the City. Black and Latino are not mutually exclusive, Latio is an ethnicity not a race. There are white Latinos and Black Latinos and that is how things are classified by the Government. Basically the City is 56 non-white.
Therefore people of Color should rule and the Black and Latino Caucus boast 25 members with one being Asian John Liu. John Liu is better than some of my brothers and sisters because he voted for Sonny Carson which is better than I can say for 11 of the 25 members of the Caucus. I would like to thank my fellow Bronx High School of Science alumnus for his corageous leadership. Malcolm and Martin did not die to establish Black political power so that these distinguished Black leaders can twiddle their thumbs and not accomplish anything. This should have been a 26 to 25 defeat at the worst, with the Caucus promising retribution for not passing this simple resolution. No divided and conquered is the way of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.
I don t know what they have to do, but if they cant get a simple street named, then we have no hope of them doing anything else. Divided and conquered the story of Sonny Carson and the Black and Latino Caucus.
If they can t get a street naming right, then what can we expect from them Are they part of the solution or part of the problem
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Where s The Pork
By Afrika Brown
Everyone has heard the phrase you are what you eat; however do you really know what you are eating A lot of people choose not to eat pork as part of their religious practice as well as for dietary purposes, but pork could be lurking in the foods you are ingesting without you being aware of it.
Of course you can always read the ingredients of a product before purchasing it, but if you are like me you would need a dictionary handy to find out the definitions of the jargon used by food companies. After all, how many of us know what the term monoglyceride means anyway Also, the ingredients are in small print and can be difficult to read.
The Israel of God Research Committee has a website that is dedicated to distributing information about the dietary laws of the bible. The website, http://www.theisraelofgodrc.com/CUPL.html, makes it simple for us to know what foods contain pork or other meat products in their ingredients by publishing a list of foods that are clean and unclean. The foods that are labeled as clean contained no pork or meat products. The unclean foods contain pork or another meat that are deemed not edible by the Bible. The site not only lists clean or unclean foods but also contains a list of ingestible products such as vitamins, toothpaste, and over the counter drugs that also have pork or meat products in them.
After reading the list, one might be shocked to find out that some of the foods he or she eats contain pork. For instance, Hamburger Helper contains pork and is considered unclean. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese contains pork as well as Ragu pasta sauces with cheese or sausage. The fast food chain White Castle was considered unclean because the buns they use contain a pork-based product called LCyteine. The Subways restaurant chains received an unclean label for their wrap breads, which also contain LCyteine. Other foods from Subways were listed as clean.
What is more shocking than the list of unclean foods is to read the other products that use pork or meat products. Benadryl, a commonly used over the counter drug for allergies, uses varied animal products in their Allergy Ultra Tabs and is considered unclean. Advil LiquiGels contains pork gelatin. GNC gel coated vitamins, Centrum, Flintstones, and all varieties of OneADay formula vitamins are unclean. Certain brands of toothpaste also contained pork products.
Regardless of what religion one may choose to subscribe to, the website is a good link to add to the Favorites list if you are concerned about eating pork or products that contain pork. Reading through the lists of clean and unclean foods and other products may not sway your decision to discontinue the consumption of these products. It does, however provide the benefit of making a consumer more conscious when entering the local supermarket or drugstore and help them to maintain any religious or health decisions one has made about their diet.
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The Intrigue of Barry Bonds
By Cedric Perry
Whats so intriguing about Barry Bonds
Mere mention of the name sparks immediate intriguing conversation. Depending on who is talking, however, the baseball stars name may be mentioned in a different light. From the mouth of a 13 year old from The Bay, you may hear adoration and praise for the Giants veteran.
That is opposite of what may possibly be said about Bonds by a middle aged man living in the same area who has watched the game since he was 13. The man may call Bonds a cheater, a fraud, and a detriment to youth who aspire to be like him.
Did Bonds knowingly use steroids I dont know. That is between him and the great manager upstairs.
But there are two things I do know One, Bonds does his job puts the baseball and the fans in the stands. Two, he will continue to do so despite your or my opinion of him.
The San Francisco Giants pay Barry Bonds millions of dollars to help the club win games. They do not pay him to melt the fans and news reporters hearts. Judging from his interactions with the media, he understands that.
Fans, however, do not, and are not appreciative of Bonds demeanor or his possible rule breaking. Result Hecklers throw the book and syringe needles at the slugger.
What makes Bonds so intriguing is that he takes the all shenanigans in stride. The hatred and ignorance he receives almost seem second nature to him, and he refuses to let peoples actions bother him. Isnt that a trait we want to see in the children, the unwillingness to allow others to deter our dreams and goals
Secondly, despite all the commotion, Bonds continues to work hard. He plays because he enjoys the game, but he wants to win, so thats where all his effort is placed. And it is hard work, not steroids, which has put Bonds in the upper echelon of baseball players.
These two facts, in my opinion, make Barry Bonds a superstar. Not a role model, but a superstar. He completes his tasks amongst distractions and accusations. Now if he could only get the Giants to compete out West.
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