“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison,” – Nelson Mandela
Month: December 2013
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Rest In Peace Nelson Mandela
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at age 95 of complications from a recurring lung infection.
The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was a beloved figure around the world, a symbol of reconciliation from a country with a brutal history of racism.
Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after nearly 30 years for plotting to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid government. In 1994, in a historic election, he became the nation’s first black leader. Mandela stepped down in 1999 after a single term and retired from political and public life.
History
Born Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918, he was one of the world’s most revered statesmen and revolutionaries who led the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
A qualified lawyer from the University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela served as the President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
His political career started in 1944 when he joined the African National Congress (ANC) and participated in the resistance against the then government¹s apartheid policy in 1948. In June 1961, the ANC executive approved his idea of using violent tactics and encouraged members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela’s campaign. Shortly after, he founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC and was named its leader.
In 1962, he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. In 1963, Mandela was brought to stand trial along with many fellow members of Umkhonto we Sizwe for conspiring against the government and plotting to overthrow it by the use of violence.
Jailed for life
On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
His statement from the dock at the opening of the defense trial became extremely popular. He closed his statement with: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Mandela served 27 years in prison from 1964 to 1982, spending many of those years at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known across the world as the most significant black leader in South Africa.
He became a prominent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gained momentum in South Africa and across the world. On the island, he and other prisoners were subjected to hard labor in a lime quarry. Racial discrimination was rampant and prisoners were segregated by race with the black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Mandela has written about how he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months.
Free and fair
In February 1985 President PW Botha offered Mandela his freedom on condition that he unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon but he rejected the proposal. He made his sentiment known through a letter he released via his daughter.
“What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts,” he wrote. In 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison and would remain there until his release.
Throughout his imprisonment, pressure mounted on the South African government to release him. The slogan ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ became the new battle-cry of the anti-apartheid campaigners. Finally, Mandela was released on February 11, 1990 in an event streamed live across the world. After his release, Mandela returned to his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, the first national conference of the ANC was held inside South Africa after the organisation had been banned in 1960.
President Mandela
Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his friend Oliver Tambo became the organisation’s National Chairperson. Mandela’s leadership and his work, as well as his relationship with the then President FW de Klerk, were recognised when they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. South Africa’s first multi-racial elections, held on 27 April 1994, saw the ANC storm in with a majority of 62 per cent of the votes and Mandela was inaugurated in May 1994 as the country’s first black President.
As president from May 1994 until June 1999, Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation.
Honors and personal life
Mandela has received many national international honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.
In July 2004, the city of Johannesburg bestowed its highest honour by granting Mandela the freedom of the city at a ceremony in Orlando, Soweto.
In 1990, he received the Bharat Ratna Award from the government of India and also received the last ever Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union.
In 1992, he was awarded the Atatürk Peace Award by Turkey. He refused the award citing human rights violations committed by Turkey at the time, but later accepted the award in 1999. Also in 1992, he received of Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civil service award of Pakistan. Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” was published in 1994. He had begun work on it secretly while in prison.
h/t Yahoo News
The woman who Martin Bashir described as “America’s dunce” went to the safe confines of Fox News and commented about Bashir’s resegnation from MSNBC. Palin, who usually have too many words coming out of her mouth before her brain actually formulate the thought, was true to form today when asked about Bashir’s resignation.
“My role is to accept his apology and be humble enough to accept it and move on,” Sarah said. “But I just hope that unprovoked attacked like that don’t result in people being hesitant to jump in the arena anyway. To get out there and serve the public or start a business or commit themselves to changing within their family their community their world doing whatever that they can despite the fact that in this world you are gonna be hurt and attacks will come your way. I don’t I just hope that an attack like that doesn’t make people hesitate.”
Egged on by the hosts at Fox News to comment on why MSNBC didn’t fire Bashir instead of allowing him to resign, Palin stated that she was indeed happy that the same “lame stream media” she attack every chance she gets, came to her rescue.
Well it was refreshing to see though that many in the media did come out and say ‘look our standards have got to be higher than this.’ Those with that platform with a microphone a camera in their face they’ve got to have more responsibility taken.
The entire interview felt like a victory lap for those sitting on the Fox News set, as Palin took the bigger person role in a battle she quite frankly started.
Back in early November, Palin equated the national debt to “slavery,” proving that she knew nothing about slavery or what the slaves actually lived through. Martin Bashir tried to educate Mrs Palin, by quoting life stories from a diary of a slave owner. Bashir’s goal was to show Palin that if she really had any idea what slaves lived through, she would not have made such a dumb comparison.
Because of some of the words Bashir used to paint a real slavery picture for Palin, he ended up apologizing a few days later. Yesterday, he sent in his resignation to the bosses at MSNBC.
They are frantic. These Republicans are running out of options. All the lies they have told about the president is falling by the wayside. So the next move in their playbook? Impeachment… for absolutely… no reason! He’s a Democratic President, so impeachment is their natural inclination. It’s what they do!
History will record that on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary met to consider the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama. They didn’t use that word, of course. Republican leaders frown on such labeling because it makes the House majority look, well, crazy.
It is, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said from the dais, “the word that we don’t like to say in this committee, and I’m not about to utter here in this particular hearing.” One of the majority’s witnesses, Georgetown law professor Nicholas Rosenkranz, encouraged the Republicans not to be so shy. “I don’t think you should be hesitant to speak the word in this room,” he said. “A check on executive lawlessness is impeachment.”
This gave the lawmakers courage. “I’m often asked this,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) “You got to go up there, and you just impeach him.”
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), who has said there are enough votes in the House to impeach Obama, added: “We’ve also talked about the I-word, impeachment, which I don’t think would get past the Senate in the current climate. . . . Is there anything else we can do?”
Why, yes, there is, congressman: You can hold hearings that accomplish nothing but allow you to sound fierce for your most rabid constituents.
The Republicans in the House know there is no chance of throwing this president from office. Yet at least 13 of the 22 Republicans on the panel have threatened or hinted at impeachment of Obama, his appointees or his allies in Congress. They’ve proposed this as the remedy to just about every dispute or political disagreement, from Syria to Obamacare.
Tis that time of year again, the season to be jolly… but wait! Fox News is picking up right where they left off with the supposed “war on Christmas.” And Jon Stweart has something to say about that!
You see, this manufactured “war” is Fox’s way of telling the world that they are the true believers and followers of Christ. They are the only protectors of the Christ in Christmas, and any variance from the word “Christmas” is an assault on Christmas itself. So you cannot say “happy holidays” for example because that constitutes a “WAR!”
Stewart began his piece by showing the yearly jargon from Fox News, highlighting the words of Doug Napier who said that the majority of Americans celebrate Christmas, so “everybody should have the right to enjoy this season without the interference of a few bah humbug boys.” To that, Stewart asked, “how can I enjoy my Christmas when I know that somewhere, a little Jewish boy isn’t being forced to sing, Oh little town of Bethlehem? Where is the joy there?” Stewart asked, “who will save Christmas?”
He then showed Sarah Palin who, conveniently, is selling her new book about the meaning of Christmas. Stewart tore her to pieces when Sarah Palin explained that in her family, she puts out the Menorah “through December” on her kitchen table to teach her Children about the Jewish faith. Stewart pointed out that Jewish people don’t keep the Menorah out for the entire month, and it is usually in windows, not on their kitchen tables.
So since Sarah Palin is a bad excuse as the savior of Christmas, Stewart then showed another Fox News Christmas warmonger, Bill O’Reilly! Reilly of course, was bellowing about some organization or individual who was actively involved in this manufactured war. He mentioned Macy’s and Stewart quickly shut him down.
“What other secular humanist are peeing on your yule log this year?” Stewart asked.
“Macy’s!” O’Reilly continued. “This year they’re touting Santa Clause who will help you ‘with your holiday wishlist.’ So here’s my question for Macy’s,” Oreilly says, “what ‘holiday’ is Santa celebrating?”
Stewart was more than happy to answer that question, pointing out that Santa “is celebrating the feast of St Nicholas, which originated in The Netherlands in the middle ages and occurs every December 6th. But you might not have heard about that,” Stewart says, “because like every other December holiday, it was long ago sucked into the insatiable black hole that is Christmas.”
Stewart then asked if the days when Christians despised the commercialization of Christmas are gone. He showed a clip of Sarah Palin saying that she loves the commercialization of Christmas, then pointed how wrong she and others on Fox News were when they are compared to the Pope, who recently denounced commercialization and trickle down economics.
Watch the clip below.
The Daily Show
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Wishing for an Elizabeth Warren Presidential candidacy in 2016? Well you may have to wait a little longer…
“I’m not running for president, and I plan to serve out my term,” Warren said in quotes that were first reported by The Boston Herald and Boston Globe. Warren’s Senate office confirmed her comments.
Warren, who has strong support among some liberals, made her remarks during a news conference with Boston Mayor-elect Martin Walsh.
Warren, a former Harvard law professor who helped launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, became a rising star in Democratic politics with her populist views and criticism of Wall Street.
Warren defeated GOP Sen. Scott Brown in one of the nation’s most closely watched and expensive Senate races in 2012. She will be up for re-election in the Senate in 2018, and her current term will end January 2019.
If you have no health insurance and have no interest in seeing what plans are available to you through healthcare.gov, then you’re either a Republican who thinks your party’s false message is more important than your own wellbeing, or you are a low information consumer listening to the lies of right winged media outlets.
For those that take their health seriously, they’re signing up for health care!
More people signed up on the government’s new health insurance website on the first two days of December than in the entire first month of the launch of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, sources familiar with the numbers said on Wednesday.
The sources said about 29,000 people enrolled on Sunday and Monday, surpassing nearly 27,000 for all of October when the opening of the HealthCare.gov website was beset by glitches that led to a public apology by the president and a retooling of the portal.
Obama’s administration has been criticized by Republican opponents for not regularly disclosing figures over political concerns.
The improved enrollment figures provide the first evidence that a five-week emergency effort by the administration to fix HealthCare.gov was allowing more people to sign up for insurance in 36 states served by the website. Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. run their own online insurance marketplaces.
The agency in charge of the healthcare policy rollout, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Wednesday that it would announce official numbers later in December.
The upward swing is a tentative good sign for Obama, whose job approval ratings plummeted as the website made a disastrous debut on Oct. 1 and millions received policy cancellation notices despite Obama’s repeated pledge they could keep their current plans under the Affordable Care Act.
Preliminary government data has also indicated that about 100,000 people chose a health plan through HealthCare.gov during November. Tens of thousands more Americans have signed up through state exchanges.
While enrollment is improving, the administration is still far off track of the 7 million people whom the Congressional Budget Office has said were expected to sign up for private insurance through March 31.
Personal Note: I disagree with Bashir decision to resign today. His accurate and insightful take on the disfunction in today’s politics and the Republican party will be greatly missed.
MSNBC host Martin Bashir resigned Wednesday following controversy surrounding remarks he made on his show in November about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“Upon further reflection, and after meeting with the president of MSNBC, I have tendered my resignation,” Bashir said in a statement. “It is my sincere hope that all of my colleagues, at this special network, will be allowed to focus on the issues that matter without the distraction of myself or my ill-judged comments.”
In a segment that aired on his show in November, Bashir called Palin a “world class idiot” after she equated the United States borrowing money from China with slavery.
Citing a diary item describing various punishments for slaves, Bashir added that Palin should be forced to eat excrement.
The host later apologized on air for his remarks and took a leave of absence.
“I deeply regret what was said, will endeavor to work hard at making constructive contributions in the future and will always have a deep appreciation for our viewers – who are the smartest, most compassionate and discerning of all television audiences,” Bashir said in his statement Wednesday.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement: “I understand his decision and I thank him for three great years with MSNBC. Martin is a good man and respected colleague — we wish him only the best.”
It’s like a massive push to keep the American people ignorant to the benefits of having healthcare, and this push is happening in Republican governed states.
Take Texas for example. A new Rule in Texas makes it illegal for anyone to advise someone else on what healthcare to get or the benefits of getting healthcare. The new law even ban those who are trained in providing this information, from providing the information.
The counselors tasked with helping uninsured Texans navigate their way through the complicated process of buying health insurance will have to jump through a series of hoops to get licenses under new rules proposed by the Texas Department of Insurance.
The so-called navigators would have to prove their citizenship or employment eligibility, undergo a background check and show evidence of financial responsibility under the new rules, proposed Tuesday by Texas Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber.
They would also have to receive 40 hours of education on Texas-specific Medicaid and privacy standards, then show proof that they have the proper training to guide consumers to the right health plans.
Navigators would be prohibited from charging for their services and from recommending specific health benefit plans to consumers. The proposed rules would also restrict navigators from providing advice on the substantive benefits or comparative benefits of different health plans, the department said.
“In Texas, we are being vigilant about safeguarding privacy and keeping personal information out of the wrong hands,” Rathgeber said in a statement. “These proposed rules address insufficiencies in federal regulations and make the training and qualifications of navigators in our state more readily apparent to consumers and service providers.”
It makes absolutely no sense! To be a Navigator in Texas, the individual must prove their citizenship, go through a background check and show evidence of financial responsibility. And if the get through all that, there is a 40 hour training program they must go through. And at the end of it all, Navigators are still bound by this new rule, and cannot educate people on healthcare.
How dumb is that!
President Obama spoke today on the need for economic mobility not only for the top one percent, but also for the middle class and those Americans trying to get into the middle class.
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The Butler to Return to Theaters
Riding a wave of Oscar buzz and big earnings at the box office, Lee Daniels’ acclaimed film The Butler will be returned to theaters for a limited on December 6th.
The film stars Forest Whitaker as a White House service-worker named Cecil Gaines who witnesses history alongside presidents like Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan. His performance in the film, and Oprah Winfrey’s supporting turn as his wife, are earning serious consideration for Academy Awards.
The movie is loosely based on the life of real-life White House butler Eugene Allen and in addition to Winfrey and Whitaker boasts an all-star cast which includes Terrence Howard, Jane Fonda, John Cusack, Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding, Jr.
The Weinstein Company is presumably re-releasing the film to capitalize on the awards season hype but it hardly needs the money
The Butler earned over $115 million during its initial run in theaters.
I don’t see the need for posting the actual 911 calls from terrified teachers and workers at Sandy Hook the day Adam Lanza decided to slaughter 26 people. I see no point in hearing people scream for their lives, or hearing gunshots ringing in the background as kids were murdered. I side with the families of the slain that these tapes should not be released. But today, they were. And based on other reports, the tapes are indeed gruesome and disturbing.
Gunshots boomed in the background as panicked callers flooded Newtown’s 911 emergency line with desperate pleas for help as deranged gunman Adam Lanza blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and massacred 26 students and staffers, recordings released Wednesday reveal.
“Sandy Hook School, I think there’s someone shooting in here, Sandy Hook School!” a terrified woman reported in one of the earliest of seven calls released by police.
“I caught a glimpse of somebody. They’re running down the hallway. Oh, they’re still running and still shooting. Sandy Hook school, please,” the woman pleaded, her voice trembling.
Another call came from a custodian, Rick Thorne, who said that a window at the front of the school was shattered and that he kept hearing shooting.
Thorne remained on the phone for several minutes.
“There’s still shooting going on, please!” the custodian pleaded to the 911 dispatcher, as six or seven shots could be heard booming in the background. “I keep hearing shooting, I keep hearing popping! … Still, it’s still going on!”
While on the line with Thorne, the dispatcher told somebody off the call: “Get everyone you can going down there.”
The recordings show dispatchers calmly responding to the panicked janitor, a teacher and others while assuring them help was on the way as gunman Adam Lanza blasted his way through the school.
The operators urge the callers – who reported hearing multiple gunshots – to take cover as they desperately contact town and state police for help.
The operators also ask about the welfare of the children.
Lanza, 20, stormed the school on the morning of Dec. 14 and gunned down 20 children and six educators with a semi-automatic rifle. He had earlier killed his mother nancy as she slept, and blew his own brains out as police arrived.
The calls begin at 9:35 a.m. from the school’s central office, saying the front glass had been shot out.
There were a total of seven landline calls from inside the school to Newtown police — including Thorne’s.
The janitor stayed on the phone with a dispatcher as he made his way through the school trying to warn staffers and students about Lanza’s bloody rampage.
Another call came from a teacher.
“It sounds like there are gunshots in the hallway. I’m a teacher at the school,” the woman said. “All of my students are in the classroom …the door’s not locked yet.”
The dispatcher tells her to lock the door and keep the children away from the windows.