Florida Courier - June 21, 2013

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VOLUME 21 NO. 25

Page B1

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JUNE 21 - JUNE 27, 2013

BLACK, MALE – EMPLOYED Jacksonville’s Ready4Work and 100 Black Men provide hope and skills to young Black men who are searching for jobs.

BY PENNY DICKERSON SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

PENNY DICKERSON/SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Florida Highway Patrol’s Michael Elder, a background investigator, talks to two young men during a job fair in Jacksonville. Elder was scouting for potential troopers.

JACKSONVILLE – The Florida Department Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles fielded more than 300 inquiries at a job fair earlier this month hosted by Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown and Congresswoman Corinne Brown. Most of the inquiries came from young Black men.

For an ethnic gender too often on the wrong side of the law, Trooper Michael A. Elder was on hand to inspire interest in becoming a state trooper.

“We have openings and two academies starting this year in both August and Janu-

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, 1818-1895

‘Power concedes nothing without a demand’

ary,” said Elder. “The six-to-eight-month paid training is held in Tallahassee and participants must be willing to relocate to any one of the 67 counties in Florida upon completion.”

Few qualified applicants Only five of the 300 attendees who conversed with troopers at the fair will likely qualify as viable candidates, professed Elder, who serves as an applicant background investigator.

While baseline requirements are reasonable – applicants must be 19 or older, hold a high school diploma or GED, be a U.S. citizen, and have a valid state driver’s license – a statistical divide is created by the stringent screening process.

A potential state trooper cannot have a felony arrest record, a domestic violence charge, or tattoos on their face, hands, neck, or fingers. Each applicant must pass a physical agility test, polygraph exam, psychological screening, and a credit check. Investigators even conduct home visits to speak with family members.

See JOBS, Page A2

Another tough week Obama faces challenges abroad COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Here’s a summary of President Obama’s week as of the Florida Courier’s press time Wednesday night:

Afghanistan

MOLLY RILEY/MCT

Visitors photograph the Frederick Douglass statue inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, just before a ceremony formally honoring Douglass was held on Wednesday. Douglass, a former slave, was an anti-slavery activist and the founder of the North Star, one of America’s first Black-owned newspapers.

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Governor’s poll: Crist clobbers Scott Allen West blasts Cosby over comments praising Muslims

WORLD | B4 FINEST | B5

Meet Kiara

ALSO INSIDE

Project in works to get fresh water to residents in Haiti

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai’s abruptly canceled ongoing security negotiations with the U.S., with his office charging Wednesday that the Obama administration had said one thing and done another while arranging peace talks with the insurgent Taliban movement.

Kabul’s announcement came a day after troops led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) transferred final security responsibility to Afghan forces. Obama said negotiations with the Karzai government about the scope of international training and advising after 2014 had been, “frankly, difficult.”

Karzai’s reputation in Washington as a mercurial U.S. ally was further reinforced by his

administration’s decision, which came a day before U.S. officials were due to begin direct negotiations with the Taliban. Analysts said the announcement suggested Karzai was miffed at being excluded from initial meetings between Washington and the insurgents.

Obama said misunderstandings aren’t surprising given the enormous mistrust between the Afghan government and the Taliban, but it was still important to explore opportunities for a political reconciliation.

“Not only have the Taliban and the Afghan government been fighting for a long time, they’re fighting as we speak,” he said at a news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We’re in the middle of a war. And Afghans are still being killed and, by the way, members of the international forces there are still being killed. And that’s not abating as we speak.”

Underscoring his point, four Americans were killed in a Taliban rocket attack on Bagram air base in eastern Afghanistan late Tuesday just as Obama was announcing negotiations See OBAMA, Page A2

Florida Memorial University appoints interim president SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

MIAMI GARDENS – On Tuesday, the Board of Trustees of Florida Memorial University announced the appointment of Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis as interim president effective July 15.

Artis, an attorney and executive vice president and chief academic officer of Mountain State University in southern West Virginia, practiced law from 1995 to 2003 before embarking on a career in academia. In 2011, she was a finalist for the presidency of Daytona State College in Daytona Beach.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science (magna cum laude) from West Virginia State University, a J.D. from West Virginia University School

of Law, and an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University, where she was valedictorian of her class.

Artis, who also was featured as a “Young Gun” in 2008 in West Virginia Dr. Roslyn Executive Magazine, told Clark Artis the Daytona State College search committee she had experience dealing with struggling enrollment and accreditation. She called herself a “people person” and found interacting with students one of her “most pleasurable opportunities,” according to a Daytona Times interview in 2011.

Artis’ academic interests include stu-

dent retention, particularly as it relates to adult and non-traditional students, academic and co-curricular support structures in alternative learning modalities, strategic planning, institutional effectiveness and student learning outcomes assessment. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Florida Memorial University is South Florida’s only Historically Black College or University (HBCU), it is widely recognized for being the birthplace of the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” and the home of Barrington Irving, Jr., the first and youngest pilot of African descent to fly solo around the world.

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: DR. BARBARA REYNOLDS: A SHAMEFUL PARADE OF CELEBRATED SONS | A4

FOCUS

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JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

Silence of Obama, Black ‘misleadership’ makes prison reform unlikely The common – and grossly misguided – pillars of African-American political ‘wisdom’ since the beginning of Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House in 2006 till the present day have been: • shut down discussions of differences between African-Americans, so White folks will think we’re united; • don’t press thorny and embarrassing political demands upon the First Black President, because he’s the President Of All Americans, not just us; • close ranks around the First Black President to strengthen his hand against any and all critics.

Black America has deployed itself as a wall around Barack Obama. In practice however, the only thing we really protect President Obama and the class of Black political “misleaders” over which he presides from is their duty to represent and do right by us.

One common issue There’s no issue that unites Black lives, Black families and Black communities like mass incarceration – the rise of the cur-

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

rent prison state.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama promised to address the racist laws that specified penalties for crack vs. powdered cocaine at 100 to 1.

But even with record Black voter turnouts, a Black attorney general, 42 Black members of Congress, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and a Black president, the disparity was lightened to a mere 18 to 1. Not a single one of the tens or hundreds of thousands of unfair sentences being served were lightened by a single hour.

Members of Congress floated the excuse that it was the best they could do against Republican intransigence, even though Republicans were in a minority when they did that deal. The fact is that from the president and his attorney general on down, none of our

Black political leaders were willing to put their star power, their oratorical and deal-making skills, their political careers on the line.

None were willing to handcuff themselves to the White House fence, or go on a hunger strike.

But opportunity is knocking again, this time in the form of a bipartisan House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Overcriminalization. Supposedly, they and their staffers will comb through the vast library of the federal criminal code looking for ways to lock up fewer people.

Lots of opinions Right On Crime, an influential and well-funded conservative “imagine” tank headed by Newt Gingrich, believes the only thing really wrong with the prison state is how much it costs. This was the guiding spirit in similar efforts to address “overincarceration” in Texas and Georgia.

Others, even other conservatives like the Heritage Foundation, want to address the lack of any intent and “mistake of law” provisions in thousands of current federal criminal laws. Lack of these provisions means that people can and are found guilty of offenses they have no knowledge that they’re committing and when defendants have no intention to violate any law.

There are and ought to be more progressive opinions in the mix, too. The good people at places like the Sentencing Project and ACLU, and more like and unlike them, will weigh in as well. But these are organizations mainly of lawyers – good for produc-

ing briefing papers and giving respectful testimony at hearings.

That won’t do Pushing the rock of the prison state uphill will take a lot more, including some profound disrespect of the authority that led us where we are today. It would be a great good thing to see local and national organizations composed of and led by the formerly incarcerated and the families of the imprisoned involved in aggressive, insistent and impolite advocacy for justice.

My guess, however, is that the traditional civil rights leaders – funded by corporations and feeling a lot more responsibility to the White House and their funders than they do to the people and communities affected by the prison state – will cut a series of bad, lazy deals. Their top priority will be not embarrassing the president by demanding that he act like a leader on this issue.

It’s not about voting Rev. Al and Ben Jealous will probably put on a show of involving the White House or the attorney general, have a D.C. rally or two, and strive mightily to divert the energies of those outraged at the prison state into voting Democrat in the 2014 elections. The problem is that we’ve already been voting the last three elections in record numbers without much effect on the incarceration rate.

It’s not that the current Black leadership has forgotten the arts of creative confrontation and political organizing outside elec-

OBAMA with the insurgent group in an “important first step” toward reconciliation.

Russia

JOBS from A1 For the many Black males who sincerely want to enter law enforcement, the path to becoming a trooper may prove to be impossible.

There’s hope Jacksonville native Kevin Gay is a member of a presidential advisory council and currently serves on the Florida Department of Corrections’ Prisoner Re-entry Advisory Board.

As president and CEO of Operation New Hope, an award-winning, Jacksonville-based community development corporation, he was given an opportunity in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush to pilot the Ready4Work program aimed at assisting ex-offenders.

A felony record adversely affects the employment prospects for innumerable Black males. Nevertheless, in a single decade, Gay’s initiative has turned dismal outlooks into opportunity and hope.

Poverty, not race “Our whole issue has been around developing employers in Jacksonville who are willing to hire

Learn new ways We’ll have to learn the arts of creative confrontation all over again for this new era. And it IS a new era – one in which anybody who disrupts business as usual to achieve political ends may be labeled a “domestic terrorist.”

We can confidently predict that the current Black political class will do its best to let this opportunity to roll back the prison state slip through its fingers just like they did the crack vs. powder cocaine disparity back in 2009 and 2010. Surrender and accommodation – and taking credit for imaginary victories – are in their DNA.

We will win But we hope their voices aren’t the only ones heard in Black America. We hope to use the existence of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Overcriminalization to breathe new life into honest explorations of how the prison state affects us all, and how we can challenge it.

Our Black misleadership class can and likely will make us lose this battle. But the war against the prison state is one that we will eventually win.

Bruce Dixon is managing editor of BlackAgendaReport. com. Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response. peating claims made by other administration officials since details about the programs were disclosed two weeks ago.

The news raised civil liberties concerns in the U.S. and abroad.

In Germany, where privacy rights are a sensitive topic, the programs have become a hot political issue.

from A1

Russian officials responded coolly Wednesday to Obama’s call for further reductions to the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.

“We cannot allow the balance of the strategic deterrence system to be broken, or the effectiveness of our nuclear forces to be diminished,” President Vladimir Putin said at a defense industry meeting in St. Petersburg.

Obama said he will be seeking an additional one-third cut in the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads in the U.S. stockpile, if the Russians agree to do the same. Russian officials, however, suggested that bilateral negotiations between the United States and Russia on the subject were themselves a relic of the past.

“Now, this problem is wider and naturally the circle of parties to be possibly contacted on the issue has increased too,” Putin’s aide, Sergei Ushakov, told the RIA-Novosti news agency.

Russia opposes U.S.-backed NATO plans to build a missile defense system in Europe, which it views as a threat to its military deterrence capabilities.

toral mobilizations. Their predecessors stopped doing that stuff more than 4 decades ago, when many of them were toddlers or still unborn.

Approval drops in Florida

ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/ITAR-TASS/ABACA PRESS/MCT

President Obama and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin chatted during a meeting at the 2013 Group of Eight Summit in Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Germany Obama tried to reassure skeptical Europeans about sweeping U.S. digital surveillance programs expanded under his watch, arguing that the programs are circumscribed, overseen by a court and effective.

“What I can say to everybody in

somebody with a felony,” said Gay. “The criminal justice system really impacted opportunities for many in the urban core to break out of poverty because there were very few employment opportunities, but the real issue of the criminal justice system is not Black or White or morality, it’s poverty.”

The Ready4Work program’s numeral “40” represent the partnership of faith, business, community and criminal justice. According to Gay, “If you create a pathway out of poverty, you’re going to create a pathway out of crime.”

“What we’ve done in America is put everyone in one bucket,” explained Gay. “If you’ve ever been arrested, we sort you in one bucket and write you off and don’t know what to do with you.”

A successful solution has been found in the logistics field, which can be defined as managing of the way resources are obtained, stored and moved to the locations where they are required. Gay believes logistics companies will be a major employer for the next five to 10 years in Jacksonville.

Through a collaborative effort with Grimes Logistics – one of Jacksonville’s largest business firms spe-

Germany and everybody around the world is this applies very narrowly,” Obama said Wednesday after a meeting in which German Chancellor Merkel pressed the president on whether the programs were violating the privacy rights of German citizens.

“This is not a situation in which we are rifling through the ordi-

cializing in warehouse/ packaging/distribution – the Ready4Work program placed between to 80 and100 people; 80 percent were Black males.

A 40-hour course is offered through a partnership with the University of North Florida, and the opportunity to actually obtain logistics certification, makes potential employees marketable and offers leverage to demand a higher wages. Jacksonvillebased Venus Swimwear is another large distribution company that successfully places Ready4Work participants.

“It’s all an issue of economics,” reiterated Gay. “Grimes now trusts our process enough to use us as their human resource company. They used to extend orders to interview 10 or 15 people. Now they say, ‘you send us 10, we’ll hire those 10.’”

Breaking the cycle When Gay and potential employers discussed requirements for hiring individuals with felony records, the response was always the same: vet them to make sure they will be on time, exude positive attitudes, pass drug testing, dress appropriately and exhibit a willingness to learn.

“There’s a real science

nary emails of German citizens or American citizens or French citizens or anybody else,” he said.

“This is not a situation where we can go on to the Internet and start searching any way we want.”

Obama argued that the collection of bulk data on phone records and Internet activity has averted “at least 50 threats,” re-

around this system. We have figured it out, and our recidivism, placement, and retention are all good,” explained Gay. “Close to 65 percent of our folks now pay child support, and that’s a testament to the work we do. This whole myth that young Black males don’t want to work or be reliable is simply not true.”

100 Black Men Charles Griggs, president of 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, Inc. leads an organization of professional men who have also identified the perils young Black males face on a daily basis.

“Some folks aren’t always able to circumvent the system when they get in trouble. They are just out of luck,” said Griggs. “We hear often that tattoos are a means of expression. This outlandish body art and dreads have Black males believing they will be accepted into a social rite of passage. As a result, they do what they see on television or mimic their buddies on the street.”

The nationwide organization implements mentoring programs to help promote extended examples for Black males to understand that it is normal behavior to wear a shirt and tie.

Little more than seven months after winning Florida on his way to re-election, Obama’s approval rating in the state has dropped below 50 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted between June 11 and June 16, found that 47 percent of Florida voters approve of the way Obama is handling his job, while 48 percent disapprove.

Those numbers are down from a 50 percent approval rating in March and a 54 percent approval rating in December. Meanwhile, 50 percent of voters in the new poll said Obama is honest and trustworthy, while 45 percent said he is not.

By Hashmat Baktash, Sergei L. Loiko Mark Magnier and Kathleen Hennessey of the Los Angeles Times (MCT) all contributed to this report.

‘Real world’ Jacksonville Programmatic solutions like “A Day in the Real World” are hosted biannually by the Jacksonville chapter, with the next event is tentatively scheduled for August of 2013.

Professional men join forces with fraternities like Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. to offer Black males a “one-on-one” integration into society. The inclusion of members who are prosecutors and attorneys helps Griggs’ efforts to navigate prior or existing felony or criminal justice concerns.

“It is extremely important for them to understand that the system is not built for them to be successful. If you fall behind, you stay behind. But being employed makes you a member of an exclusive club,” stated Griggs.

Role-playing “We present scenarios that give participants total accountability for all the activities they will have to encounter from getting up in the morning to going to bed,” he added.

For an intense day, more than 150 young Black men indulge in fictitious roles like boss and employee, landlord and tenant, or bill collector and debtor. The re-

sults teach coping skills for situations from what happens when the car breaks down to what happens to your family when you can’t pay bills in a crisis.

According to Griggs, “These scenarios are real, but where you are in life doesn’t have to be where you remain.”

Young men want more Darrius Singletary, age 24, and Mishaa Cason, 25, are two enterprising Black males who are relatives.

They manage their own car detail business, but long to be a larger part of the community workforce. They want to be in that “exclusive club” of consistent wage earners.

They attended the job fair along with their mother and were pleased to report that Comcast, JaxPort, and Kelly Services each offered employment prospects.

“The state of the economy dictates that we identify all resources to empower people,” City Councilwoman Kimberly Daniels, who was also at the job fair.

“My presence [and city leaders] at jobs fairs is important because it shows we are not wasting time, but are serious about helping people put food on their table.”

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

FLORIDA/NATION

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Scott’s numbers improve; still trails Christ Poll shows current governor wouldn’t win battle against state’s former leader

BY JIM SAUNDERS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – With the Democratic field remaining unsettled, Republican Gov. Rick Scott is seeing improvement in his poll numbers – though he still trails former Gov. Charlie Crist by double digits in a potential 2014 election battle.

Quinnipiac University on Tuesday released a poll that shows the Republican-turned-Democrat Crist leading Scott by a margin of 47 percent to 37 percent. While that is a significant edge for Crist, it is down from a 16-point margin in a March poll.

Another sign of improvement for Scott: In the new poll he is viewed favorably by 40 percent of voters and unfavorCharlie ably by 42 perCrist cent. While he is still underwater, Scott’s numbers have improved since March, when he was viewed favorably by only 33 percent of voters and unfavorably by 46 percent.

‘Tepid’ numbers Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said it is an indication of how low Scott’s poll numbers have been that he can “take some solace” from only trailing Crist by 10 points.

Also, Brown pointed to im-

provements for Scott in other parts of the poll, though he described the governor’s job approval and favorability numbers as “tepid.”

“Now that doesn’t mean that happy days are here again for the governor, but if he is going to make a comeback these are the kind of steps that would be required,’’ Brown said in a news release announcing the poll results. “Whether it is the start of something larger, we’ll see in the coming months.”

Crist, Sink mum Crist, who served as the Republican governor from 2006 to 2010 before losing an independent bid for the U.S. Senate and then becoming a Democrat, has not announced whether he will run against Scott next year. Similarly, former state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who narrowly lost to Scott in 2010, has remained coy about whether she will run again.

The only prominent Democrat who has announced a bid is former Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich of Weston. The new poll shows Scott leading Rich by a margin of 42 percent to 36 percent. It also shows that voters know little about Rich, with 84 percent saying they hadn’t heard enough about her to offer an opinion.

Though U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has repeatedly said he does not plan to run for governor, the poll shows he would lead Scott in a hypothetical match-up by a margin of 48 percent to 38 percent.

Narrow agenda During this spring’s legislative session, Scott focused on a nar-

West blasts Cosby over comments praising Muslims TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

Comedian-activist Bill Cosby is often the outspoken “uncle” whose sometimes-provocative comments, usually on Black parenting, are hotly debated, but eventually forgiven. But the recently defeated freshman Florida Republican Congressman Allen West seems unwilling to overlook the legendary entertainer’s recent comments on Muslims.

The Tea Party favorite decried a recent opinion piece, titled “A Plague of Apathy” that the comedian wrote for The New York Post.

In his op/ed, Cosby challenged Blacks to eschew apathy in order to better raise their children, and suggested that they look to the example set by Muslims.

“I’m a Christian. But Muslims are misunderstood. Intentionally misunderstood. We should all be more like them,” Cosby wrote.

“They make sense, especially with their children. There is no other group like the Black Muslims, who put so much effort into teaching children the right things, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink or overindulge in alcohol, they protect their women, they command respect.”

“We’d be a better world if we Allen emulated them,” he added. “We West don’t have to become Black Muslims, but we can embrace the things that work.”

West’s rebuttal The former Congressman disagreed.

“2day in NY Post, Bill Cosby said we should b more like Muslims. U mean honor killings, beheadings, suicide bombings? Hope ur kidding sir,” the Fox News contributor tweeted June 10.

He added the next day, “Wonder if Cosby appreciates discipline & family values of Syrians who killed 15 yr old?… just what behavior should we emulate?”

West’s rebuttal ignored the values Cosby highlighted in his piece; however, West’s public comments on Muslims have always been condemned for being skewed, Islamophobic and culturally insensitive.

He once asserted that the Quran, Islam’s holy book, commands Muslims “to carry out attacks against Americans and innocent people.”

In a January 2011 interview on “The Shalom Show,” West said that his then-colleague Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, a practicing Muslim, represents the “antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established.”

West served one term in Congress before being unseated by newcomer Democrat Patrick Murphy in November.

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/MCT

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is joined by Orange County schools superintendent Barbara Jenkins, left, and Ocoee Middle School principal Sharyn Gabriel, as they arrive for the announcement of the governor’s proposal to raise teacher pay statewide during a news conference at the school in Ocoee, on Jan. 23. row agenda that included popular ideas such as raising pay for public-school teachers and cutting taxes for manufacturers. He also has been traveling the state to appear at choreographed billsigning ceremonies and to talk about job creation, the issue that he rode into office in 2010.

“The governor needs to make voters believe he is responsible for a better economy. That’s the key to his electoral future,’’ Brown said. “He isn’t going to get reelected because he is Mr. Personality. He needs to essentially convince voters, You may not like

me, but I’m the guy who is making things better,’ ” In some ways, Scott has had the early campaign to himself as Democrats continue to sort out who will run in 2014. But if Crist jumps into the race, he will start out more popular than Scott.

Party-switching debate The Quinnipiac poll shows that 48 percent of voters have a favorable view of Crist, while 31 percent have an unfavorable view.

Independent and women voters particularly have a better opinion of Crist than they do Scott.

The state Republican Party already has started a daily barrage of criticism of Crist, including attempts to highlight changes in his positions since he left the GOP. In the Quinnipiac poll, 47 percent of voters viewed the party-switching as a positive, while 44 percent saw it as a negative.

The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac regularly conducts polls in Florida and other states. The poll released Tuesday was conducted from June 11 to June 16 and included 1,176 registered voters. It had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Minorities to become the majority faster than expected Census statistics released this month show decrease of non-Hispanic Whites

at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based policy research group, told Bloomberg.

Overall, people of color grew in number by 1.9 percent, now composing about 37 percent of the total population.

Specific trends show that Asian Americans were the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in America, surging by 2.9 percent to almost 19 million people. The growth was mostly fueled by international migration.

TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The United States is on pace to become a minority-majority nation even faster than previously predicted, according to Census Bureau statistics on race and ethnicity released June 13.

The percentage of non-Hispanic Whites in the U.S. population reached an all-time low of 63 percent during the year ending July 1. Numerically, that means there are 197.7 million White people out of 313.9 million total Americans.

Though the number of Whites increased by 188,000, mostly due from immigration from abroad, the number of deaths exceeded births – another first – by more than 12,000.

“This is the first time there has ever been an overall non-Hispanic White natural decrease in the U.S.,” demographer Kenneth Johnson told Bloomberg News.

Other trends There are other trends that suggest that minorities will outnumber Whites by 2043, as has been predicted. Children

Apple joins other tech companies in detailing government requests for data

BY BRANDON BAILEY SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS/MCT

Reacting to recent news reports about government data-gathering from major Internet companies, Apple on Monday joined several other tech companies that have begun reporting how many requests for customer information it receives from U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Apple said it received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests for customer data for the six months ended in May. The requests involved between 9,000 and 10,000 separate accounts or devices.

The most common requests involved law enforcement investigations into things like robberies or missing children, according to Apple, which did not say how many of the requests came from U.S. intelligence agencies.

‘Natural increase’ Though the number of Whites increased by 188,000, mostly due from immigration from abroad, the number of deaths exceeded births – another first – by more than 12,000. of color under age 5 are almost a majority, representing 49.9 percent of that age group. And, according to previous Census analyses, minorities younger than 18 are expected to overtake the number of White children by 2019.

“It’s the younger, rapidly growing minority population that will be driving economic and demographic growth this century,” William H. Frey, senior fellow

No personal details Apple also said it rejects some requests that don’t meet legal standards.

The company added that it doesn’t provide certain types of data, such as records of conversations over FaceTime and iMessage, because those conversations are encrypted and Apple cannot decrypt them.

The maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers also said it doesn’t provide information on customers’ location, map searches or Siri requests because Apple doesn’t retain that information.

“Apple has always placed a priority on protecting our customers’ personal data, and we don’t collect or maintain a mountain of personal details about our customers in the first place,” the company said in a statement on its website.

“Regardless of the circumstances, our legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities,” Apple said. “In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it.”

10,000 Facebook requests Apple’s disclosure follows the release of similar reports last week by Facebook and Microsoft, which said they had been

Hispanics were the second fastest growing group, increasing by 2.2 percent, or more than 1.1 million, to just over 53 million in 2012. Their growth was primarily propelled by “natural increase” (births minus deaths), the Census said. Latinos also remain the nation’s second largest ethnic group, behind Whites, representing 17 percent of the population.

“Asians and Hispanics have long been among our nation’s fastest-growing race or ethnic groups,” Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director, said in a statement.

By comparison, African-Americans increased by a mere 1.3 percent to 44.5 million last year. negotiating with federal authorities for the right to tell the public about information requested for national security investigations. Until now, federal laws required the companies to keep certain types of requests secret.

Facebook said on June 14 that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for data from all government agencies in the second half of last year, involving fewer than 19,000 users of the social network.

Google has previously reported the number of requests it receives from law enforcement agencies and it has pressed the government for permission to disclose certain types of national security requests that it has received.

But Google last week criticized the government’s insistence on not allowing the companies to break out a separate category for the number of requests it receives under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. By forcing the companies to include those FISA requests along with routine local police investigations, Google and civil liberties groups have complained, the government is not allowing the public to have a clear understanding of the intelligence-gathering efforts.

EDITORIAL

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JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

Don’t let anyone turn you against your dad Every day is “Father’s Day” and it doesn’t matter if you think he is good or bad because the truth of the matter is that all Dads are both.

If your dad spanked you, hurt you, wasn’t there when you wanted him or needed him, was too strict on you, put your mother in check when she needed to be put there or whatever other reason kids give to not have the very best relationship with dad has to be reconsidered. It is easy to recall or say something that your dad did wrong but it seems

care of, if they are alive, and I can explain how you enjoyed so many comforts at home that seems like fantasy if you want to parrot what someone has told you.

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

difficult if not impossible to remember all of the good things dads do.

If your dad was around for all of your life, whether he was with your Mama or not, let me tell you some of the things your daddy did that should be respected and remembered.

Now, children were taken

Dad’s responsibilities OK, when parents live together most, certainly not all, most mothers that have dad’s help and support don’t pay mortgages, they don’t pay utilities, they don’t pay insurance premiums, they don’t finance trips and vacations, they

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ZIMMERMAN TRIAL CO-DEFENDANTS

don’t “protect” you when the neighborhood bully threatens you, they will cosign but they don’t pay tuition costs and when baby Mama wants to get you out of jail and has a lawyer that is ripping her off and pleading out instead of fighting for her child, it is daddy that knows the system and how to get the child justice.

Mamas don’t teach you how to ride a bike or how to shoot a gun. It was Daddy, most of the time, that taught you how to drive a car even though he knew you would scare him to near death.

Children raised by mothers only usually have the emotional traits that their mother has. However, if you are brave, if you demand respect, if you believe in yourself, if you share or if you

care, those traits come from good dads.

Personally, I don’t like baby makers that don’t try to take care of their babies.

But even they have a right to love and be loved by their children.

So don’t wait until Father’s Day to show Dad some love. More than likely, whatever he has will be yours one day.

Children, your daddy loves you. He loves you the best way he can and Dad’s love their kids in different ways.

Honor your father Children, you have to honor your mother and father. If they divorce, disagree, or disavow, that is between them. Don’t let anything like that make you

feel you have to love and respect one or the other.

I’m no different, I loved my Mama and I’m smart enough to know every day has always been “Mother’s Day” and Mama comes first as she should.

But don’t let anyone turn you against your Dad. Fathers should get the same chance to love you that Mama gets. If your father is up in age, his children may be the only things of value he has in the last days of his life!

Buy Gant’s latest book “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing” and contact him at www.allworldconsultants.net. Click on this story at www.flcourier. com to write your own response.

A shameful parade of celebrated sons

JEFF PARKER, FLORIDA TODAY AND THE FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 179 Big doings in my house – Charles W. “Wig” Cherry III turned nine years old on Tuesday, the same day his 12-year-old sister Chayla went on her first international trip without the family. She’ll spend 19 days traveling in Scotland, Wales and Great Britain with the “People to People” program. Happy birthday to Wig (he finally got his Wii U videogame console) and safe travels to Chayla. We miss you!

Florida Courier “Welfare Queens” series – Months ago, we wrote a multipart series of front-page stories about how four professional sports companies were asking for millions of Florida taxpayer dollars to assist them in improving their respective sports facilities. The Florida Legislature subsequently turned all their requests down. Now two of the four companies – the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and Daytona International Speedway – have decided to go forward on their projects without state subsidies.

A regular reader asked me if we are doing a “victory lap,” because some people believe our coverage helped defeat the legislative requests for what could be considered “corporate welfare.” No victory lap; all we did was tell the story, and remind legislators that they should be consistent when they ‘give’ taxpayer money away to anyone.

And I’m not against the concept of cor-

quick takes from #2: straight, no chaser

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq. PUBLISHER

porate taxpayers subsidies. What I am against is giving such subsidies away without an independent evaluation of the economic impact on taxpayers, some understanding of the financial return taxpayers will get for their ‘investment,’ and whether qualified local and minority-owned businesses are guaranteed to get some of the work. If the pro sports owners could have satisfied those concerns, we’d be shouting their praises…

RIP, James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini, 1961-2013 – I was a “Sopranos” fan, maybe because the HBO mob series was so well-written and because the Sopranos’ fictional (but realistic) New Jersey culture is the total opposite of the life I’ve known as a native Black Floridian. If anybody was born to play a role, Gandolfini was born to play Tony. Condolences to his family and friends…but am I the only one who thought he was at least 60 years old rather than just 51?

Contact me at ccherry2@gmail.com.

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

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Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Lynnette Garcia, Marketing Consultant/Sales Linda Fructuoso, Marketing Consultant/Sales, Circulation Angela VanEmmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation James Harper, Andreas Butler, Ashley Thomas, Staff Writers Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association

It’s hard for me to overlook the shameful parade of sons of celebrated leaders who are in jail or on the way to jail for confessed crimes ranging from bribery, embezzlement and just plain thievery. Their crimes go beyond mere law-breaking.

The sons have dishonored a legacy of public service that their fathers helped to build in order to break down barriers to economic and political progress for African-Americans.

The latest inductees to the Political Hall of Shame are: Former Washington, D.C. council member Michael A. Brown (D) who this month pled guilty to accepting $55,000 in illegal funds, some of which were stuffed in a Redskins coffee mug.

Former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who is awaiting sentencing after a guilty plea of embezzling $750,000 from his campaign funds to purchase such things as a Rolex watch, furs and a fedora previously owned by Michael Jackson.

And then there’s former D.C. Councilman Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5) who is serving time after admitting to stealing $355,000 in city funds that could have gone to make a difference in the lives of city youths.

downward spiral and what does it say to the next generation? What lessons did they learn from their fathers? Is this fathering gone wrong? Were they so busy fathering the community they did not father in their own homes?

Jesse Jr. and Michael Brown grew up as privileged sons fathered into circles of wealth and influence. They grew to manhood at a time when the rhetoric of hard work, integrity and ethical based public service rang in their ears and the doors opened by their famous fathers were present for them to walk through.

Did their successful upbringing evolve into a culture of greed and self indulgence where victories for the masses then became internalized into victories for self which entitled them to desire the biggest symbols of material success: expensive cars, the bling, the swagger, the style.

Backs of famous fathers

Many excuses

Just as civil rights victories are celebrated collectively the spectacles of college educated sons in upper middle class families joining the felons in the prison pipeline have created collective sadness among the rank and file. These men’s very ascent to higher office was on the backs of their famous fathers, trailblazers in the political and civil rights struggle.

Civil Rights veteran Jesse Jackson Sr. credible runs for president in 1984 and 1988 were jewels in the foundation later polished and perfected by President Obama.

Ron Brown, the late commerce secretary and democratic National Committee chairmen, opened avenues for Black businesses and business development as did the senior Thomas.

One can only wonder what created this

REV. BARBARA REYNOLDS TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

My listening ear has picked up many excuses for this behavior. An often heard argument: “Well, these Black men are not doing anything that Whites haven’t been doing all along.”

Like many area residents I am pained by this sad spectacle because I had personal contact with these fathers.

Despite their setbacks there is still a future role for these favored sons. Their fathers were not perfect servants but at their very best were public servants. It is not too late for the sons to honor their fathers.

Barbara Reynolds, a former columnist for USA Today, is an author of six books, including “Jesse Jackson: America’s David: The Man, the Meaning and the Myth.’’ Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response

Trayvon Martin trial will shed light on racial profiling “I believe that’s Trayvon Martin, that’s my baby’s voice. Every mother knows their child, and that’s his voice.” - Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin On Monday of last week, the trial of George Zimmerman, charged in the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, finally got underway. The surface facts of the case are not in dispute.

On Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman, in his role as a neighborhood watch volunteer, followed, shot and killed the unarmed 17-yearold Martin who was walking back to a home in a Sanford, Florida gated community after buying a bag of skittles and a bottle of ice tea from a nearby convenience store.

Everything else about this case is complicated by the issues of race, the unsuccessful attempt by Zimmerman’s defense to put Trayvon’s background on trial and Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense that is rooted in Florida’s questionable Stand-Your-Ground law.

Widespread public attention generated by the case will also likely complicate and prolong the selection of an impartial jury.

As of this writing, Judge Debra Nelson has yet to rule on whether testimo-

MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY WIRE

ny from voice analysis experts can be used to argue whose voice – Trayvon’s or Zimmerman’s – is heard screaming for help just before the sound of a gunshot on a taped 911 call.

Mom is reliable expert This is a crucial point that could buttress Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense or the prosecution’s contention that Zimmerman was the aggressor. It should be noted that Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, has heard the tape and has no doubt that the screaming voice is that of her son. As a lawyer, I appreciate the role of experts in trials, but as a parent, I agree with Sybrina Fulton that in this case there is no more reliable expert than the mother of the victim.

Prior to the start of the trial, Judge Nelson ruled against the defense’s attempt to introduce as evidence, Trayvon’s school re-

cords, past history of fighting or photos and text messages on his cell phone. The judge rightfully decided that none of this has anything to do with why Zimmerman shot Trayvon.

Up to the jury We will leave it up to a jury to decide whether George Zimmerman is guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

But, as champions of civil rights and equal justice under the law, we believe this case will shed needed light on the issues of racial profiling and the stereotyping of young Black males.

We also join Trayvon’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, in calling for a repeal of Florida’s troubling Stand Your Ground law which states that anyone in fear of his or her life could be justified in using lethal force against a potential or perceived attacker.

We will be closely following the case and will keep you abreast of developments.

Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

EDITORIAL

Snowdon opened entire can of worms about corruption Edward Snowden has been called a traitor, a narcissist, a loser and a danger to national security. Reporters have questioned whether he was friendly enough to his neighbors or why he made a good salary despite having just a GED. He has even been criticized for leaving the military after he broke his legs. His whereabouts are unknown because the federal government is preparing to file charges against him.

Such extravagant and bizarre levels of vitriol can mean only one thing. When politicians and rich pundits all join together to deliver a very public beat down, the victim of the beating is probably someone who did the people a great service.

Boundless informant Snowden revealed the extent of the government’s levels of surveillance conducted in America and around the world. Millions of phone and email records are turned over to the National Security Agency (NSA) in something ominously called operation Boundless Informant.

Yes, that is the real name of a program which gives information about millions of human beings from Verizon, ATT, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft to the United States government. We are all under gov-

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

ernment surveillance and weasel words like “metadata” should not make anyone feel better. Big brother is watching all of us.

Worse than the government’s disregard for our constitutional rights has been the acquiescence of Congress and the courts. The Obama administration and the Bushites before them all made sure that their lawlessness first passed muster with Congress.

President Obama’s first line of defense after the story broke was to announce that congress knew and approved of all his plans.

Congressional double cross Republican and Democratic members of Congress have exploded in a rhetorical competition to see who can vilify Snowden the most. Far from giving a feeling of assurance, the congressional double cross only serves to confirm that once again there is unanimity in Washington about how best to screw the people.

The normally cool Obama and his top staffers are a bit off stride

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VISUAL VIEWPOINT: NSA LIKE ME

and noticeably panicking. In his increasingly annoying and halting monotone he assured us that wasn’t listening to our phone calls. And just in case that less than comforting statement didn’t work for you he also claims that the spying program has thwarted terror plots on our behalf. It wasn’t clear if these were the plots invented by the FBI and their informants, but I digress. Raising the specter of terror has become the last refuge of scoundrels.

Edward Snowden worked as a contractor for Booz Allen and Dell before he leaked the NSA information to journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras.

Most people may not have been surprised that the government spies on them, but they don’t know that the dirty work is performed by private contractors and not government employees.

Christopher Weyant, The Hill

Daniel Ellsberg recently lamented that the Nixon administration’s illegal acts carried out against him are now perfectly legal. The Patriot Act and its extensions mean that just about anything the government wants to do is legal. They don’t need warrants to spy on us, they don’t even have Dirty little secret That is one of the reasons that to tell us they are spying. politicians and courtier pundits are so angry with Snowden. Snowden deserves mercy Whistleblowers are being dealt Snowden opened the entire can of worms. All the levels of corruption very harsh sanctions indeed. The were revealed in one fell swoop. Obama administration takes the Private corporations make a for- sledge hammer approach to any tune off of work contracted out by revelation or question and crushthe government which then pro- es anyone who dares to speak up.

Snowden risks facing years in ceeds to spy on us all. Thanks to Snowden another dirty little se- prison like Bradley Manning or cret has been exposed. life forever on the lam like Julian

Assange. Hopefully he was aware of the risks and will elude detection until well after Obama leaves office. He will need to be very lucky and careful if he is to avoid the long arm of United States law.

Actually that statement applies to everyone. We can tell the truth but we shouldn’t expect anything resembling mercy.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She can be reached via email at Margaret.

Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

LBJ’s war on poverty still only partly won Fifty years ago last week, Medgar Evers, the NAACP regional secretary in Mississippi, was murdered by a member of the White Citizens’ Council. Evers’ death received national attention, serving only to strengthen the movement for civil rights.

Two years later, President Lyndon Johnson delivered a historic commencement address at Howard University, laying out progress made and challenges unmet.

Johnson praised the “indomitable determination” of African-Americans demanding their freedom.

He hailed the Supreme Court for outlawing segregation, as well as Congress for passing the first civil rights legislation in 100 years.

Barriers to freedom The barriers to freedom are tumbling down, but “freedom is not enough,” he told the graduates.

“You do not wipe away the scars

Accident of birth Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

of centuries by saying, ‘Now you are free to go where you want.’ . . .

You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and bring him to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others.’”

“It is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity,” the president said. “All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.” This, Johnson concluded, was “the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights.

We seek not just legal equity but human ability; not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and equality as a result.”

Johnson understood that ability can be “stretched or stunted” by the accident of birth — the family you are born into, the neighborhood you live in, the school you attend, the poverty or luxury of your surroundings. He noted the progress that had been made in the building of an African-American middle class. But for “the great majority of Negro Americans,” he said, “there is a much grimmer story. They still . . . are another nation.”

Johnson listed some of the “facts of this American failure.” What is stunning is how little progress has been made since.

Negro unemployment was twice as high as that of Whites in 1965. It is twice as high as Whites today.

Unemployment for AfricanAmerican teenage boys had grown to 23 percent in 1965. Unemployment for black teenagers of both

What goes around comes around When reading about the gnashing of teeth about government surveillance by members of the press in the AP and James Rosen cases and of Americans in general by the National Security Agency my first reaction is, “What goes around comes around.”

I don’t recall any overwrought weeping and wailing from the press or the American public when, throughout the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, government agencies, most notably the FBI and CIA, conducted destructive privacy-invading surveillance against those involved in the human rights and civil rights movements for equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity in this country.

I know this from my personal experiences as a Malcolmite and from those of others whom I knew. Master researcher, Paul Lee, provided me with a set of the FBI files on the Organization of AfroAmerican Unity (OAAU), a secular organization founded by Brother Malcolm X after his departure from the Nation of Islam.

The first page of the files noted for that “The individual members of the OAAU referred to in this report as having some official position therein, and of which the Bureau is not aware are:” It then lists seven names alphabetically by last name.

Mine was the first one listed. Following the listing of names, the file continued “All of the above mentioned individuals are currently under investigation by the NYO (New York Office) at this time…” We were not surprised by the government surveillance because Brother Malcolm had warned us to be prepared for it if we joined him in the struggle against White supremacy.

Family targeted It was later that I found out that members of my family were also targeted. A brother-in-law in the U.S. Army lost his security clearance for one year because he was married to one of my sisters. A

A. Peter Bailey TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

niece, as late as 1985, who was scheduled for assignment as a communications technician in the Pentagon, was instead assigned to Puerto Rico after being questioned about her being related to me. These are just two examples of invasive government surveillance in action.

The general American public probably had at least some knowledge about what was going on. I am sure that members of the press were aware of the pervasiveness of such surveillance. Yet, with rare exceptions, there were no loud expressions of outrage about the invasion of privacy or violation of the Fourth Amendment when extensive surveillance by the FBI, CIA and other government agencies basically derailed the human rights and civil rights movements.

Lightweight What is going on now is lightweight compared to what happened then. Targeted people not only lost their privacy. Surveillance against those in the two movements resulted in some people being killed. Some were brutalized; others were imprisoned. Some lost jobs; others were denied employment.

So don’t expect those of us who experienced that to get all bothered because of what is currently happening. We regard it as a case of surveillance operatives coming home to roost.

Peter Bailey is editor of Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches. Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

sexes is 42.6 percent today.

The median income of AfricanAmerican families had dropped to 53 percent that of Whites in 1965. It was 63 percent in 2011.

Compassion fatigue Johnson argued that while the causes of this disparity are complex, “we have to act.” He pushed for a war on poverty, for jobs, “decent homes in decent surroundings” and “an equal chance to learn.” Care for the sick, welfare and social programs “designed to hold families together are part of the answer.”

Sadly, Johnson’s war on poverty was lost in the forests of Vietnam. Tired of war, cynical about lies, weary of upheaval, Americans were said to suffer “compassion fatigue.”

No president has sounded the call since. The barriers Johnson vowed to shatter have remained.

And even as African-Americans discovered the ladders to the middle class were disappearing, middle-class Americans of all races found themselves starting to lose their own footing.

Five decades later, legal segregation is behind us. Medgar Evers would be pleased to see AfricanAmericans admitted to the University of Mississippi. African-Americans voted in higher percentages than Whites in 2012 for the first time ever.

But the work of what Johnson called “the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights” — equal economic opportunity — remains to be done.

Keep up with Rev. Jackson and the work of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition at www.rainbowpush. org. Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

If you don’t like disparities, try equality Last week I attended a “think tank” conversation with leaders of the Rodham Institute, a newly established center at George Washington University that is dedicated to reducing health disparities in Washington, DC. This is an important effort, because Washington, DC is such a divided city.

“East of the River”, Wards 7 and 8, are the poorest areas in the district, with some of the most challenging problems, and with an obesity rate of over 40 percent, more than the national average, and more than the extremely poor state of Mississippi.

There are food deserts “east of the river” where it is easier to get potato chips than an apple or banana. While there are rudimentary hospitals and health centers, most referrals to a specialist will likely require a Ward 7 or 8 resident to take an expensive taxi ride across the river. This city is rife with health disparities.

Assets, access, attitudes Health disparities are a function of assets, access and attitudes. Those with greater assets have more access to healthy food, better health care, and more information. Those without assets do not, and often make a decision to forego medical treatment in terms of something more basic – food. Some of these folks can’t or don’t know to go to cost-savings suburban stores like Costco, where bulk healthy food is readily available.

Some, stuck in habit, prefer greasy food to baked options. Many do not make the connection between eating choices and heart disease. Assets and access are linked.

Then there is the issue of attitudes. Too many physicians don’t take poor (and African-American) patients seriously. The Institutes of Medicine released a study in 2002 that showed that African-American and Latino men were less likely than others to get painkillers for a broken bone.

A subsequent study showed that AfricanAmerican children were likely to get differential treatment in emergency rooms. Too many poor people use emergency rooms for

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

primary health care because they lack health insurance or access to good health care.

The attitude gap is also internal. Too many poor (and Black) people don’t take good care of themselves, which explains some health disparities. Frequent exercise and good eating habits go a long way toward healthy living, as do regular checkups.

Function of inequality Former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton closed out the conference, graciously laying out her vision for the institute and answering questions. She said that health disparities are a function of inequality, and that’s the point that sticks.

Too often we look at the results of inequality without looking at the causes.

Health disparities, the achievement gap, unemployment differentials are all a function of inequality. Dealing with these gaps on a piecemeal basis doesn’t get us close to the solutions.

At the same time, how do we close the income and wealth gaps that are at the root of so many other gaps?

The Rodham Institute has laudable goals, a wonderful founding director in Dr. Jehan El-Bayoumi (full disclosure – my doctor), and a great community focus. In working to eliminate health disparities, perhaps this group will get us a bit closer to closing economic disparities as well.

Julianne Malveaux is a D.C.-based economist and writer and President Emerita of Bennett College for Women.

Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

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JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD COURIER

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Snacks now getting jolt of caffeine See page B3

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA www.flcourier.com

Angela Robinson, wearing gold dress, portrays Veronica Harrington in Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and the Have Nots.’’ She is shown with other cast members in the new series on OWN.

June 21 - June 27, 2013

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Is Mariah Carey too light to play field slave?

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Florida actress is holding her own on OWN Angela Robinson, a Jacksonville native and former Miss FAMU, has a major role in Tyler Perry’s ‘The Haves and the Have Nots’

BY PENNY DICKERSON SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Just in case you haven’t heard, the lovely pillar of grace donning haute couture fashions in Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and the Have Nots” on OWN is none other than Jacksonville native Angela Robinson.

Cast as the wealthy Veronica Harrington in Oprah Winfrey Network’s (OWN), first original scripted drama series, the former Miss Florida A&M University and musical theater ac-

tress is now employed by Tyler Perry Studios based in Atlanta.

Robinson, who also starred on Broadway as Shug Avery in “The Color Purple,’’ now is an integral part of a historical collaboration between media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.

More than 1.77 million television viewers embraced the show’s debut on May 29, giving OWN its highest rated premiere ever.

Landing the big role The rise to stardom was not a quantum leap for Robinson who learned early that the combine of diligence and discipline are necessary to success.

Since “The Color Purple,” she has enjoyed continuous success as a seasoned performer with range.

“I played the Acid Queen See Robinson, Page B2

‘Have Nots’ vixen no overnight success FROM WIRE REPORTS

Tika Sumpter

Actress/model Tika Sumpter plays Candace on Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and the Have Nots” but depending on who you are, you may know her best from her role as Layla on “One Life to Live,” as Raina on “Gossip Girl,” as Jenna on “The Game” or as Delores in the film remake of “Sparkle.”

According to fan Tom Joyner, though, in her role as the “low-down, manipulative, no-good, real slutty,” Candace on “The Haves and the Have Nots,” is doing her most memorable work yet.

“People tweet me all the time or they’ll come up to me saying, ‘I thought you were so nice and I’m like ‘I am nice!’” Sumpter says.

The native of Long Island, New York

went to Marymount Manhattan College to earn a degree in communications, but modeling and acting gigs soon took over those initial ambitions. Sumpter, 33, may seem like an overnight success but she’s been steadily working for some time.

Inspired by ‘Cosby Show’ “I’ve always wanted to do this since I was a little girl,” she says. “Since I sat in front of “The Cosby Show” and said ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what that is, but that’s what I want to do.’ It’s always something that I wanted to pursue. I’ve been doing it for a while now, it’s just now that people are starting to get to know me in the last few years and it’s exciting.”

The soap opera elements of “The Haves and the Have Nots” are nothing new to

Sumpter who got her start in daytime soaps on “One Life to Live.” But as Candace, the scheming daughter of the Cryer family’s longtime maid, Hanna Young, she’s playing a role much different than the one she appeared in on the daytime soap.

“It’s definitely different. This one is fastpaced. Candace is kind of a tornado and she’s brought all these people to their knees. As the story progresses, you’re going to see why [Candace treats her mother like she does]. My [real-life] mother calls me after every show like ‘Girl, I would have smacked you. That would have not happened in my house.’”

The drama airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on OWN.

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Book provides probing, provocative analysis of American attitudes in the aftermath of 9/11

BY DR. GLENN C. ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

At an event marking the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Joseph Margulies asked members of the audience if they had an opinion about the USA Patriot Act, which gave the government new powers to conduct surveillance, collect information and detain aliens with little or no judicial oversight.

Almost every hand went up.

Only two or three of them, it turned out, had actually read the legislation. They had reached their conclusions by relying on sources they trusted, a newspaper, magazine or blog, a politician, a pundit, or a “national security expert.” Better informed than most, Margulies points out, these folks – and the vast major-

ity of their fellow citizens – are subject to elite manipulation.

In “What Changed When Everything Changed, ‘’Margulies, a clinical professor at Northwestern University Law School and the counsel of record in Rasul v.

Bush, the Supreme Court case that challenged the policy of indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay, provides a probing, provocative and, at times eye-opening analysis of American attitudes in the aftermath of 9/11.

Margulies challenges the conventional wisdom claim that repression is greatest right after an attack occurs and declines as the threat recedes. In October 2001, he reveals, as leaders across the ideological and political spectrum expressed support for religious diversity, the percentage of Americans who had a favorable impression of Muslims reached its peak.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Review of “What Changed When Everything Changed: 9/11 and the Making of National Identity.’’ By Joseph Margulies. Yale University Press. 376 pp. $28.

New category: ‘Muslim-looking’ More recently, ”hate-filled bigotry passes for legitimate social commentary” and has won over a sizeable fraction of the population: bills to ban reliance on sharia or international law have been introduced in two dozen states (even though the odds of sharia

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dominating American jurisprudence are about the same “as a polar bear wandering through a Texas picnic”) and many endorse a new category, “Muslim-looking,” that conflates religion and race (most American Muslims are from Asia and most American Arabs are Christians).

Support for torture as a legitimate tool in the war against terror has grown substantially, Margulies demonstrates as well, with the introduction of euphemisms like “enhanced interrogation techniques.” In August, 2011, a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press indicated that nearly half of Democrats, more than half of Independents, and seven out of 10 Republicans think that torture is often or sometimes justified.

Attitude toward torture has changed Margulies does not adequately explain why conservative elites changed their attitudes toward Muslims and torture. The shift is all the more puzzling because it began before the election of Barack Obama (although, to be sure, it has intensified during his time in office). Margulies is more successful in showing that these elites have been more likely to win mainstream support when

they have used “the elastic language of the American Creed” to bolster their arguments.

Given the central role of religious and racial toleration in the Creed, he notes, the anti-Islamic narrative has not spread all that much outside of the echo chamber of the Fundamentalist Right.

Torture, however, has gained support when presented as the last resort, used within the framework of law and with deliberate and appropriate restraint, against those “whose sole goal in life is to kill us, to kill the West, to kill your children, to take us down.”

Margulies concludes with a warning for our post-9/11 world.

Americans have integrated “a punitive turn” into our national identity. We have confronted and at times created monsters, and have dramatically expanded “the executive branch’s power to track, seize, and imprison the new demon in order to protect ‘us’ from ‘them.’” Bolstered by the “unassailable power of the American Creed,” this narrative has become “the way things ought to be.”

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He wrote this review for the Florida Courier.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AND JAY Z

The Legends of the Summer will feature Justin Timberlake and Jay Z at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens on Aug. 18.

Miami: New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International, under the leadership of Bishop Victor T. Curry, is celebrating its 22nd anniversary through June 23.

A Jesus Walk of Love Part 2 begins at 8 a.m. on June 22 at Miami Northwestern High School, through Liberty Square and returning to the school for a free family festival.

More information, call 305-6853700 or visit www.nbbcmiami.org.

Fort Lauderdale: A free Business Roundtable Breakfast with Rep. Hazelle Rogers will be held July 1 from 7 to 9 a.m. at Broward College, Willis Holcombe Center. RSVP at 954-634-2472 or send email to caribchamber@gcacc.com.

Miami: 2013 “American Idol’’ winner Candace Glover and finalists on the Fox show will be on tour at the Amway Center in Orlando on Aug. 1 and AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 2.

Miami: Chaka Khan is scheduled to perform July 20 at the James L. Knight Center.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment along with a coalition of Florida minority non-profits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. No

LIL’ WAYNE

The America’s Most Wanted Festival starring Lil’ Wayne, T.I., Tyga and G-Eazy is scheduled July 13 at Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. cost to women-minority-veteran businesses and nonprofits. More information: www.letsdobusinessflorida.com.

Miami: R&B trio TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank) will be at James L. Knight Center in Miami on July 4.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment group along with a coalition

Robinson from B1 in the Who’s “Tommy” [Berkshires] and a dream role – The Witch in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” [Atlanta], Robinson shared.

A stroke of luck placed a Tyler Perry Studios casting director in the Atlanta audience who was so impressed, she extended Robinson an audition for “Meet the Browns.” Angela didn’t get the part.

Was she disappointed?

Extremely.

Landing a part on a Tyler Perry show had been a nurtured goal. One year later, she received a call to submit a taped audition for the role of Veronica.

Serendipity leads to success A dream deferred for Robinson is better deemed a blessing delayed. She approached the opportunity as simply, “another audition.” Husband Scott Whitehurst helped record the scene, forwarded it to the studios, and they went about life as usual. Robinson has been married to Whitehurst, one of New York’s top acting coaches, for about 17 years.

Rarely tethered to her cell phone, Robinson missed a succession of calls from her agent when the good news arrived: “Tyler Perry Studios wants to fly you to Atlanta tomorrow to audition for Mr. Perry.”

She joined 15 other hopefuls from New York and Los Angeles for a three-hour wait that included insanity pacing and wrecked nerves.

“Auditions are usually filled with anxiety, but I kept telling myself to have fun because I loved this character so much,” stated Robinson. “After my scene, they asked me to read with Gavin Houston who plays my son on the show. It was magic. The next day we each received an of-

of Florida minority non-profits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. More information: www.letsdobusinessflorida.com.

Fort Lauderdale: Live jazz, blues, pop and everything in between along Hollywood’s signature 2.5 mile Boardwalk is every Friday of

fer, and this great blessing unfolded in just four days.”

The Tyler Perry pace On the set, he is called Mr. Perry. It’s southern respect, but not a mandate. “Tyler Perry is one of the hardest-working directors I’ve ever worked with,” offered Robinson. “He is focused, serious, and he is fair. He began each day of shooting with prayer.”

Perry is credited as writer, producer, and director for the show. Widely known for his cross-dressing comedic character Madea, his “arrive early/stay late” work ethic resulted in 16 episodes being filmed in six weeks.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Robinson confessed.

“Memorizing lines has never been my strong suit, but my stage experience prepared me for television. It took a minute to learn technical adjustments and was scary at first, but I viewed it as acting boot camp and enjoyed the experience.”

Her mother and biggest fan joined her in Atlanta for the tapings.

Among the perks of being in a Perry production was the “state of the art” gym and well-balanced meals. The latter is a must for the former Miss America pageant circuit winner who ascribes to a strict diet and fitness regime.

“Pinch moments” for Robinson included attending a private party at Perry’s home following the premiere of his movie “Temptation.”

A-list celebrities whom she has admired for years were present. Additionally, attending red carpet events render her giddy.

A hometown hurrah The city of Jacksonville is proud. Floridians everywhere – from her fellow FAMU alums to parishioners at First Baptist Church of Oakland – everyone was claiming Robinson as their own before Winfrey’s

every month. More information: 954-924-2980.

Boca Raton: An open mic night for 18 and up featuring comedy, poetry and music is held every Monday at the Funky Biscuit in the back of Royal Palm Plaza, 303 SE Mizner Blvd. Sign up is at 8 p.m.

The show begins at 8:30 p.m.

More information: Richy Lala 561512-8472.

OWN catapulted her to primetime fame.

Following each Tuesday airing, social media sites are abuzz and novice predictions emerge regarding the plot’s next twist and turn. Cast members also tweet live during the show.

Robinson’s Twitter handle is angelarobschild. Viewers also can tweet about the show at #havesandhavenots, #tylerperry, #owntv and #mynameisveronica.

An alumnae from William M. Raines High School, she maintains a sincere, classmate allegiance, but has established roots in a new home in Englewood, N.J. where she is an arts minister for Metro Community Church – a thriving ministry with an 80 percent Korean descent membership along with a West Indies/Jamaican representation.

“For many years my husband and I commuted to Brooklyn for church. We made a conscious effort to find a church in our community when we relocated to Englewood,” Robinson explained. “We previously selected ministries based on what it gave to us. This time we chose based on what we could offer and were prepared to serve in a deeper way.”

Having her say “The Haves and The Have Not’s’’ seeks to parallel the lifestyles of a rich, southern family and their domestic help and families who are poor.

“This is one of the only shows on television with a diverse cast that looks like America: Black, White, Latino, straight, gay, rich and poor,” claimed Robinson.

“It’s important to support this show, because it might inspire other producers to follow Mr. Perry’s lead.”

Robinson pulled from her own southern roots to define Veronica. “A strong, Black woman who is unapologetic for her success is a joy to play,” said Robinson. “I looked at women like Oprah and First Lady Michelle Obama complemented with

Miami: Miami-Dade County hosts a Downtown Harvest Market every Friday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Residents and visitors have the opportunity to purchase seasonal produce directly from Miami-Dade growers at the Stephen P. Clark Center’s Courtyard, 111 NW 1st St. More information: www.earthlearning.org.

the acting skills of Phylicia Rashad and Diahann Carroll.”

For Robinson, Father’s Day was bittersweet. Her dad, Willie C. Robinson, didn’t live to witness this achievement, but would have been proud.

“I miss my dad so much,” reflected Robinson, just days after Father’s Day. “He would advise me to make a plan and ask, ‘What do you want to get out of this experience?’ Dad never stayed in an emotional place long; he always brought me back to reality and was one of my greatest teachers.”

S

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

WORLD

B3

Giving water – the gift of life in Haiti Project in works to get fresh water to residents and improve dilapidated water network

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES MIAMI HERALD/MCT

CARREFOUR, Haiti — The water inspectors were negotiating with an irate homeowner over her illegal hookup when a neighbor signaled he wanted to talk.

“I would like to know how I can get water access,” physician Cyprien Jean-Jonas said from inside his one-room clinic.

Steps from Jean-Jonas’s front door was an underground well. And while many of his neighbors in this Port-au-Prince suburb had tapped into it for fresh water, Jean-Jonas said, “I don’t want to get it illegally.”

Moments like these are small but growing in Haiti where thousands of cholera deaths from contaminated water have residents increasingly worried about the quality of their water.

Now, a push by foreign donors and the Haitian government to improve access to safe drinking water is giving Haitians an incentive to legally pay for water which most buy on the streets by the bucketful or siphon off illegally.

“Customers are increasingly willing to collaborate with us,” said Beauchum Etienne, the supervising inspector who informed Jean-Jonas how to legally get service. “We talk to them about cholera and we tell them, ‘Going the legal route better increases the chances of controlling the water quality.’ ”

Trying to curb losses

‘Beautiful gift’

Once a model for waterpipe service, Haiti today has the hemisphere’s worst access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

For months, a team of inspectors from the national water and sanitation agency, DINEPA, has been canvassing metropolitan Port-au-Prince for clients who are either in arrears on payments or illegally siphoning water. The goal isn’t just to collect, but also to cut down on water losses and help engineers figure out how to improve a dilapidated water network.

Unlike the state-run electricity company that loses an estimate $18 million a month to theft, donors and Haitian officials say they don’t know for certain how much water is lost to theft or leakage — but estimate it could be as much as 80 percent of what’s produced.

A former New York City water engineer, Duvalsaint likes to tell the story about the day last summer the water pump was turned on after four years in the northern village of GrandeRiviere-du-Nord.

The crew had been working feverishly for weeks. On the eve of the town’s patron saint celebrations, Duvalsaint called over a little boy and told him to bring a bucket. The kid looked skeptical.

“I personally gave the first bucket of water to that little boy,” Duvalsaint said.

“I don’t know what the people of Grande-Rivieredu-Nord were doing for water.”

“Water is life,” Duvalsaint said. “The most beautiful gift that you can give to a people is water. It is something that is vital.”

Daniel Ovide, a resident of Anse-a-Veau, an isolated rustic village in the Nippes region, agreed. Though the town currently receives free potable water six days a week from a charitable organization, Ovide and others welcomed a recent visit by the IDB’s Moreno and Haiti President Michel Martelly to announce the Bank’s financing of a $1.6 million water network.

But providing something as basic as water remains challenging in a country with limited resources and where people have been allowed to build haphazardly without urban planning.

That reality is not lost on donors, said Spanish Ambassador Manuel Hernandez Ruigomez. Helping Haiti provide water and sanitation to the population is a huge priority — “and will take patience,” Hernandez said.

Investment by Spain Until recently, the country had no idea how much water it produced, and the water agency wasn’t collecting enough money to make payroll. Meanwhile, those fortunate enough to have water piped into their homes could only depend on getting service no more than a few hours, twice weekly.

“Water issues are always extremely difficult everywhere and more difficult in Haiti,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, which has teamed up with Spain to provide sanitation and safe drinking water.

Together, Spain and IDB are investing almost $180 million in projects in four regions, including Portau-Prince, where half of the population buys water from vendors.

FELIPE JACOME/MIAMI HERALD/MCT

Residents of the Carrefour neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, collect water at a public basin.

Projects range from helping repair reservoirs damaged in the 2010 earthquake to installing water kiosks that sell chlorinated water to improving water quality through regular testing and chlorination.

Meanwhile, foreign consultants have spent the last two years helping Haitian officials restructure both DINEPA and its operating water authority. The goal is to improve continuity of the service, and increase revenue and billing by reconnecting delinquent customers.

Another bill On a recent weekday, as

technicians walked doorto-door, they carried a printout of addresses and names.

They began by asking a series of innocuous questions about the service, whether the homeowners had access and why they hadn’t paid. Customers offered a range of responses from poor service to not understanding their bills.

“Port-au-Prince has 900 different tariffs,” said Corinne Cathala, a water and sanitation senior specialist with the IDB. “It happens that clients are charged differently for the same consumption of wa-

ter. If people don’t understand what they are being charged for, they won’t pay.”

So far, the efforts seem to be paying off. Officials estimate that by the end of 2014, they will have more than 65,000 billed customers on the rolls — up from 30,000 in 2011. In addition, 86,000 Haitians today are benefiting from dozens of water distribution networks mostly in rural communities.

“We have technicians walking in the (communities) explaining the water issue,” said Lionel Duvalsaint, the head of DINEPA.

TOj B4

HEALTH

STOJ

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

Extra caffeine in more than energy drinks Companies now adding stimulant to edibles like gum, baked goods, popcorn

BY MARIE MCCULLOUGH PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/MCT

PHILADELPHIA — If you were unaware caffeine was creeping into foods until last month, when Wrigley was blasted for putting the stimulant in a new gum, here’s the latest buzz.

The growing list of socalled energy foods includes such famous names as Frito-Lay’s Cracker Jack’D. There’s also Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans, Hershey’s Ice Breakers Energy mints, and Kraft Foods MiO Energy liquid water enhancer.

Caffeine can now be consumed in waffles, maple syrup, cookies, gums, gummi bears, popcorn, marshmallows, hot sauce, jerky — and more — made by small Internet entrepreneurs.

Even the Food and Drug Administration was only vaguely aware of this trend.

For one thing, these are novelty and niche products that aren’t on grocers’ shelves yet. For another, manufacturers don’t have to tell the agency when they add the habit-forming, potentially toxic chemical to foods — not even candy and snacks likely to appeal to children.

FDA to investigate All the makers have to do is list caffeine as an ingredient on the label. The total amount? They needn’t say.

As caffeinated foods come on the market, “we’ve got no heads-up about them,” said Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine at FDA. Wrigley’s Alert gum was the tipping point. Calling it “one more unfortunate example,” Taylor said the FDA would investigate the safety of caffeine in foods, particularly the effects on children and teens. He anticipates a crackdown.

A regulatory buzzkill won’t be quick or easy. Socalled energy foods reflect cultural, commercial, and consumer factors, just like two other public health betes noires — caffeinated energy drinks and sugary sodas. Although Wrig-

ley promptly said it would “pause” production of its Alert gum “out of respect” for the FDA, other companies are showing no such restraint.

“Until we’re able to marshal the (scientific) evidence to take regulatory action, it’s the decision of these companies whether they should be marketing these products,” Taylor said.

Popular with young males Along with reams of research on coffee, the FDA and its advisers will no doubt review data on a newer source of zip: energy drinks.

A tsunami of brands flooded the U.S. market after Red Bull’s 1997 debut, with many sold as dietary supplements, a barely regulated category. This year, projections are that $19 billion worth of energy drinks will be glugged, mostly by adolescents and young adults.

In moderate amounts, caffeine can ward off drowsiness and improve alertness. Caffeinated coffee, studies suggest, reduces the risk of gallstones, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and suicide.

But moderation is not the mantra of energy drinks and shots, or of its main customers — young males. With names like Full Throttle, Monster, Rockstar, and Hardcore Energize Bullet, these quaffs typically have two to seven times as much caffeine as a can of cola.

Warnings sent Colas are the only foods with an FDA caffeine limit — 71 milligrams in a 12-ounce can — although most brands have far less.

In comparison, a 5-ounce cup of coffee has about twice as much on average, or 115 milligrams.

Studies have linked energy-drink consumption to inadequate sleep, obesity, bad grades, depression, risky behavior such as unsafe sex, and “toxic jock identity” (basically, belligerence).

“Caffeine-loaded energy drinks have now crossed the line from beverages to drugs delivered as tasty syrups,” said a 2010 editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Despite such pointed (some would say overwrought) warnings, only a subgenre of energy drinks

PHOTOS BY LUKE RAFFERTY/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/MCT

Many products marketed as “energy” foods, such as Jolt Energy Gum, contain caffeine, which finds itself sneaking into more and more edibles. has been reined in. After reports of deaths and hospitalizations linked to caffeinated alcoholic drinks, the FDA in 2010 sent warning letters to the makers.

The buzzed boozes, or at least the caffeine in them, vanished.

Growing full throttle One reason caffeine is so lightly regulated is that it is “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) by experts when consumed normally, which for many years meant in coffee or cola.

The FDA allows manufacturers to determine whether a new food ingredient, or a new use of an old ingredient, is generally safe.

“What we’ve seen, first with energy drinks, is caffeine moving into other products” besides coffee, Taylor said. “Manufacturers are adding higher levels of caffeine, and it’s being marketed in a different way.”

Overdoing caffeine has always been relatively common, and can cause jitters, restlessness, insomnia, headaches, and heart palpitations.

Overdosing is not common. Still, caffeine-related problems such as heart arrhythmias, seizures, and inhalation of vomit are growing full throttle. Energy-drink-related emergency-room visits doubled from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,783 in 2011, according to a national public health surveillance system. At least 16 deaths have been linked to the beverages since 2004.

Pushing back In March 18 physicians and researchers sent the FDA a letter that concluded the caffeine levels in energy drinks are not safe under the GRAS standards.

That echoed the American Academy of Pediatrics, which in 2011 said the scientific evidence showed “caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents.”

Beverage makers say the alarms are unfounded and unfair.

Some food makers, meanwhile, say they have striven to keep their caffeinated products away from youths.

For example, Jelly Belly said its Extreme Sport Beans was “a sports performance product, not a snack or traditional candy. It is sold alongside sports nutrition and is not intended for use by children or pregnant women.”

Braced for tougher rules Wrigley said “we took great strides” to ensure that Alert gum was marketed “in a safe and responsible way to consumers 25 years old and over.”

But Mars Corp., which owns Wrigley, made no adults-only claim for Snickers Charged, a wired version of the traditional candy bar that was sold as a “limited edition” in 2008. Nor did Nestle in 2009 when it temporarily sold Butterfinger Buzz.

Caffeinated foods are so new no one tracks them separately.

Euromonitor

Posture pointers and pitfalls: Improve body alignment by adding habits, losing others

BY DANIELLE BRAFF CHICAGO TIRBUNE/MC T

We’ve been told to stand up straight as long as we’ve been able to stand, but sometimes it’s harder than it seems.

We know why we should do it: Good posture looks good, feels good and makes us look slimmer. On the flip side, studies have linked poor posture with lower self-esteem, depression and back pain.

But, sometimes, posture pointers are confusing.

Remember when we were all supposed to use Pilates balls instead of office chairs? Well, claims that doing so improved posture were recently disputed by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. They found that it didn’t help — or hurt — posture.

But there are still some things you can do to help your stance, as well as some things you can avoid to keep it from getting worse.

Reposition your monitor Your monitor should be one to two feet away from your face, and your eyes should be level with the top of the monitor, said Janice Novak, author of “Posture, Get It Straight! Look Ten Years Younger, Ten Pounds Thinner and Feel Better Than Ever.” This will prevent your head from leaning forward and away from your shoulders.

Lumbar rolls Place a lumbar roll behind the small of your back when you’re sitting in a chair, according to Dr. Richard Guyer, orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the Texas Back Institute.

“It helps to maintain the normal curvature in the back when sitting,” he said.

“There is a tendency for the lower curve to flatten, which can cause fatiguing with prolonged sitting.”

Reposition yourself while driving Move your seat close

This popcorn snack is another food with extra caffeine.

These Wired Waffles are an example of a food with a boost of caffeine.

International, a market research firm, reported sales of foods touted as “energy boosting” hit $1.6 billion in 2012, up $500 million from 2008. But most of these foods are cereal-based snack bars, some fortified with vitamins and protein, not caffeine.

Experts doubt the FDA will outright ban added caffeine in foods, but even if it does, regulation may be the mother of invention. Chris

Bogdan, who cofounded Get Up and Go Caffeinated Baked Goods (brownies, cookies, muffins) in Ann Arbor, Mich., less than a year ago, is already braced for tougher rules.

“It’s something we’re prepared to work around,” he said. “There are other stimulants you can put in food.

We have alternatives. We have backup plans — and we have to.”

said Dr. Levi Harrison, orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles and author of “The Art of Fitness: A Journey to Self Enhancement.”

Start in a pushup position with your arms directly under your shoulders (you may bend your arms if necessary) for the center plank. Keep your head aligned with your neck. After 30 seconds, turn to one side by lifting your left arm and stacking your body over your right leg, keeping your right arm extended on the ground. You may bend your right arm if necessary.

Then switch sides.

your legs in a straight extension on an ottoman, you’re placing stress on your lower back, said Mary Ann Wilmarth, chief of physical therapy at Harvard University. Sitting this way can stress your sciatic nerve and may put you in a slouched position without supporting your back.

A better alternative would be to rest with both knees bent.

You should not be able to sink into a couch, Wilmarth said. “It needs to be firm enough to give you support.” If your couch doesn’t support your lower back, you can use extra pillows to assist it.

Ditch the high heels

BOB FILA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCT

To help achieve proper posture, do exercises that strengthen the core. Shown is competitive bodybuilder and fitness trainer Cornell Walker in this 2001 file photo in Chicago. enough to the pedals so that your knees are bent.

A 90-degree angle would be too bent, and anything more than 130 degrees would be too straight. (Make sure your body is at least 13 inches away from the steering wheel in case your air bag deploys.) Your lower back should be against the back of the seat. Sit in an upright or slightly reclining position.

Adjust the headrest so your head is actually rest-

ing against it. This position places your head directly over your spine and allows your neck and upper back muscles to relax while you drive, Novak said. Finally, when holding the steering wheel, your elbows should be bent at 120 degrees.

Strengthen core muscles through exercise Do three sets of basic and side planks daily, holding each pose for 30 seconds,

Heels higher than one inch increase your sway backward, which can lead to lower back discomfort, Novak said. Your foot slides to the front of the shoe, which puts too much pressure on the ball of the foot and your toes. High heels also shorten the muscles and tendons on the back of your ankle, and stretch and weaken the muscles on the front of your ankle, which can lead to shin splints.

Heels on shoes also get in the way of the natural stride, which is to place your heel down first, then roll through the ball of your foot. If you must wear heels, don’t wear them for longer than four hours at a time.

Don’t slouch When

you’re

resting

Watch your head Notice where your head is at this moment. “Is it completely focused on the page or the screen? What’s going on with your shoulders right now? Any tension there? Is your chin jutting forward?” said Lindsay Newitter, spokeswoman for the Alexander Technique and certified in teaching the Alexander Technique, an educational method studied by musicians, actors and athletes aimed at improving posture that’s been in practice for more than 100 years.

“There’s a learning process involved in unlearning habits, but a great first step is to start developing an awareness of yourself in the midst of activity,” she said.

STOJ

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

submitted for your approval

B5

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

kiara

joshua Joshua Jay is a sophomore at UCF, double majoring in Philosophy & Political Science.

He officiates high school & college basketball with aspirations of working in the NBA and FIBA. Joshua can be contacted at JJWilson7@gmail.com.

Is Carey too White to play a field slave?

Former Elmo puppeteer wins big at Daytime Emmy Awards EURWEB.COM

Celeb’s role in new film ignites controversy FROM WIRE REPORTS

Lee Daniels’ film “The Butler’’ has upset some people when a photograph of Mariah Carey playing the role of a field slave named Hattie Pearl went viral. Daniels’ movie also features Forest Whitaker.

The picture caught a barrage of flak from those on social media who felt that anyone with a complexion like Carey’s wouldn’t actually have to work in the field, therefore deeming the illustration inaccurate.

Those with fair skin like hers were usually used as house slaves. Fans took to Twitter to express a desire to see a more dark-skinned woman in the place of Carey in the movie.

One critic tweeted “She wouldn’t even be a house slave, she could pass as white,” and another posted “Zoe Saldana is Nina Simone and Mariah Carey is in the fields

Kiara Pace is a 19 year old Tampa native and holds the title of 2011 Miss Teenage Tampa.

She is also an aspiring supermodel, currently living in Miami, Florida where she has been in Hype Hair Magazine, and graced the runway for various local designers. Kiara can be contacted at pacekiara@aol.com.

Mariah Carey is pictured working in the fields in “The Butler.’’ taking good slave acting jobs from darkskinned people.”

Based on a true story of former White House butler Eugene Allen, the historical drama centers on Cecil Gaines who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes felt by American society at that time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affect the man’s life and family.

Kevin Clash, the former Elmo puppeteer has won three awards from the 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards.

Some awards were given out on June 14 and others awarded June 16 in Beverly Hills.

Despite being victorious during the awards ceremony, the longtime puppeteer will always be recognized as the character who left “Sesame Street” after he facing scandalous underage sex accusations.

The accusations stem from claims that Clash had a sexual relationship with underage boys.

Clash, who voiced Elmo since 1985, gave this statement upon leaving Sesame Street last fall: “I have

Kevin Clash, shown with his puppet Elmo, wins three Daytime Emmy Awards. loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization.

Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing

and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately.”

OWN orders more episodes of ‘Iyanla,’ ‘Raising Whitley’ and ‘Life with La Toya’ FROM WIRE REPORTS

According to Deadline.com, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) will air six new episodes of “Iyanla: Fix My Life” beginning July 20, and also ordered 10 more episodes of “Raising Whitley” and 12 more of “Life with La Toya.”

The new half-hour segments of “Whitley” and “La Toya,” reality series centered on comic Kym Whitley and entertainer La Toya Jackson, will begin in early 2014 at 9 and 9:30 p.m., reIyanla spectively. “Iyanla” is a self-help seVanzant ries fronted by Iyanla Vanzant.

During May sweeps, the shows ranked as TV’s top three non-sports original series among AfricanAmerican women.

Returning to OWN’s Saturday lineup in July is Season 3 of “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” a reality series surrounding the family of former Ikette Robbie Montgomery, focusing on the running of their collection of soul food restaurants, Sweetie Pie’s, in St. Louis.

Kim Whitley, center, is shown with “The Village,’’ the cast of characters helping her to raise her adopted son, Joshua.

OWN has ordered 12 more episodes of “Life with La Toya.’’

FOOD

TOj B6

TOJ

JUNE 21 – JUNE 27, 2013

Potato salad is the perfect dish for a picnic or potluck FROM Family Features

N

o picnic or potluck is complete without potato salad.

Whether it’s served warm, cold, creamy, cheesy or with a splash of vinegar, the dish is a true American cookout classic.

Potato salads are easy to make and even easier to pack full of flavor. Craft your own potato salad by cutting a delicious, Idaho® potato into cubes with the skins still on. Boil in water for about 8 to 15 minutes, then check for doneness by piercing a cube with a fork or skewer. If the fork goes through the potato with little resistance, drain the potatoes and return them to the pot. Add your favorite dressing and ingredients while the potatoes are still warm. Warm potatoes more easily absorb the delicious dressing.

These decadent dishes are best eaten the day after they’re made to give the flavors time to meld. When you’re ready to serve your potato salad, keep it cold by placing your serving dish in a larger bowl filled with ice.

Family meals are always better with delicious, flavorful potatoes.

Always look for the “Grown in Idaho” seal to be sure you’re buy­ing genuine Idaho potatoes. For more recipes for salads and other potato dishes, visit www.IdahoPotato.com.

Potato Picnic Salad

Old Fashioned Hot German Potato Salad

Potato and Pesto Chicken Salad Potato and Pesto Chicken Salad Yield: 8 servings 2 pounds Idaho potatoes, well scrubbed (peeled, if desired) 1 pound fresh green beans, washed and trimmed 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 1/2pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes 3/4cup prepared pesto sauce 3 to 6 cups mixed salad greens (optional) Over high heat, in a large, heavy pot with tight-fitting cover, bring half a pot of water to boil. Meanwhile, cut potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise in 1/2-inch slices. Add potatoes to boiling water, cover and return to boiling; cook 3 minutes.

Add green beans to pot with potatoes and cook another 4 minutes; drain potatoes and beans and set aside. (Vegetables should be firm.)

In same pot, heat olive oil over high heat and cook chicken, stirring 6 to 8 minutes or until meat is completely cooked through. Remove from heat; stir in pesto sauce, then gently stir in potatoes and green beans, taking care not to break up vegetables. Serve salad warm or at room temperature on a bed of salad greens, if desired.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Old Fashioned Hot German Potato Salad Yield: 6 servings 4 medium Idaho potatoes 2 bacon strips 1 diced Spanish onion 1/2 cup diced celery 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/3 cup cider vinegar 1 cup water Boil potatoes in skins and peel while hot. Slice potatoes thinly. In large skillet, fry bacon until crisp and remove from skillet. In bacon drippings, brown onion and celery. Stir in salt, sugar and cornstarch. Add vinegar and water. Stir in sliced potatoes; as sauce thickens while adding potatoes, more water may be needed. Transfer to serving dish and serve hot.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad Yield: 2 quarts 4 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled 1 pound bacon, crisply cooked, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (fat reserved, if desired) 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup chopped green onions 2 cups grated or shredded cheddar cheese 1 1/2 cups sour cream (regular or lowfat) 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt Cook whole potatoes in boiling, unsalted water until tender. Refrigerate until chilled, then chop into 1-inch pieces. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl along with the remaining ingredients and thoroughly combine. Add some of reserved bacon fat if desired. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Adjust season­ing prior to serving.

Note: Any condiments or toppings typically added to a loaded baked potato may be used for this recipe.

Potato Picnic Salad Yield: 6 to 7 servings For the Salad Dressing 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 clove of garlic, chopped 2/3 cup olive oil For the Salad 3 pounds Idaho potatoes, about 7 medium 1/2 pound cooked green beans 12 cherry tomatoes 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled 1 cup cooked corn kernels 1/4 cup minced celery, about 1 stalk 1/4 cup pitted black olives 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped For salad dressing, combine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic in a large salad bowl. Whisk in olive oil and set aside.

For the salad, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in large saucepan. Cook unpeeled potatoes in water for about 15 minutes until just fork tender. Drain potatoes and cool immediately under cold running water.

While potatoes are cooling, cut green beans into 1-inch pieces; halve cherry tomatoes and quarter eggs. Combine beans, tomatoes and eggs with cooked corn and celery in bowl with the salad dressing. Peel cooled potatoes, then cut into 2-inch pieces and toss with the dressing.

Sprinkle salad with olives and chopped parsley just before serving.