Florida Courier - November 30, 2012

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Understanding the ‘fiscal cliff’ B1 www.flcourier.com

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

VOLUME 20 NO. 48

STATE GOP TARGETS BLACK VOTERS COMPILED BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

Gov. Rick Scott

Former Gov. Charlie Crist

A Nov. 25 article in the Palm Beach Post written by reporters Dara Kam and John Lantigua confirmed what civil rights and voting rights organizations, state Democrats, and many Black voters always believed – that the state Republican Party’s ‘voter fraud’ prevention binge after their 2010 legislative takeover was all about defeating Barack Obama in Florida in 2012 and delivering the state’s 29 electoral votes to Obama’s Republican opponent.

Jim Greer

Another ‘threatening’ Black teen is dead

Charlie Crist and former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer ‘drop dime’ in a Palm Beach Post article alleging voter suppression.

Is anyone surprised?

How it happened In April 2011, a broad, 157-page, 4,392-line elections bill that Republicans said would shield Florida’s voting process from fraud passed the Florida House on a party-line vote.

The measure limited when voters can change their addresses at the polls; placed new regulations on third-party voter registration groups like the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and local churches; and cut the number of early voting days from

14 to eight, including one day of Sunday early voting rather than two.

It easily passed the state Senate and was signed by incoming Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Republicans completely controlled Florida lawmaking with a supermajority of votes in the state House and Senate as a consequence of the 2010 election in which Democrats took “a shellacking,” in President Obama’s words.

Lawsuits, accusations According to the Palm See TARGET, Page A2

CHRISTMAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE 2012

‘Joy to all’ from the White House

Shooting reminiscent of Trayvon Martin’s death COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

A Titusville Beach-area man was arrested Tuesday after shooting an unarmed Black teenager dead in a Jacksonville-area gas station in a dispute over loud music.

According to police reports, Michael Dunn, 45, and his girlfriend were in Jacksonville last Jordan week for the wedding Russell Davis of Dunn’s son. On Nov. 23, the couple stopped at a convenience store where Jordan Russell Davis, 17, and several other teenagers were sitting in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot.

Michael Dunn

Pulled a gun

Dunn pulled up next to them and asked them to turn down their music. Jordan

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT

First Lady Michelle Obama attended the preview of the White House Christmas decorations on Wednesday with military families in attendance. Decorations included 54 live Christmas trees with ornaments crafted by children from U.S. military bases around the world, and a 300-pound gingerbread house.

See TEEN, Page A2

Appeals court sides with teen in abortion case

BY JIM SAUNDERS THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

In a case that offers a glimpse of the complexity of Florida’s parental-notification of abortion law, a divided appeals court this week overruled a Polk County (Lakeland-area) judge and said a 17-year-old girl could receive an abortion without her mother being told.

A panel of the Second District Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 that the teen, identified only as Jane Doe, should receive what is known as a “waiver” of the parental notification requirement. The ruling Monday reversed a decision by Circuit Judge Harvey Kornstein, who found, at least in part, that the teen was not mature enough to receive a waiver and make the decision on her own.

ALGERINA PERNA/BALTIMORE SUN/MCT

Made her choice Appeals court Judge Stevan Northcutt,

This maternal/fetal machine monitors a pregnant who was joined in the majority by Judge woman as well as her unborn child.

Douglas Wallace, wrote that the teen

ALSO INSIDE

believed her mother would banish her from the family’s home if the planned abortion was revealed. Also, Northcutt wrote that the teen recognized that giving birth would substantially interfere with her plans to go to college and ultimately have a career.

“Doe’s concerns were not the insubstantial worries of a frivolous schoolgirl,’’ wrote Northcutt in a concurring opinion. “They related directly to her ability to carry out her important existing responsibilities and to accomplish specific educational and professional objectives that would determine the quality of the rest of her life.”

But dissenting Judge Anthony Black wrote that the circuit judge observed the teen and described her as “cavalier” and found that she did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the abortion decision. Also, Black raised questions about the girl’s maturity because she became pregnant after drinking alcohol.

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Urban League, Everest University partner to help school dropouts State sees increase in Cubans arriving illegally NATION | A6

Texas leads pack of states pushing for secession

See CASE, Page A2

COMMENTARY: Lucius Gantt: General Petraeus is ‘Pimp of the Year’ | A4 COMMENTARY: JAMES HARPER: COVERING AIDS CONFERENCE INSIGHTFUL, REWARDING | A5

FINEST | B5

Meet Christophor

A2

FOCUS

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

The ‘Wilmington Ten’ – Will pardons ever come?

COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Now that the 2012 presidential elections are history, supporters for the “Wilmington Ten” pardons of innocence effort are increasing their efforts to build more overwhelming public support for the cause before North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue leaves office on Dec. 31.

Who are ‘the Ten’?

As a consequence of involuntary school desegregation, times were already tense in much of the South in 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered.

In Wilmington, school desegregation involved closing Black schools, firing or transferring Black teachers, and placing Black students in previously allWhite schools, which led to fights among students and subsequent arrests. There were also battles between street-patrolling Ku Klux Klan members and Black residents.

Black students boycotted Wilmington’s high schools in January 1971 as a result of mistreatment. That year, the United Church of Christ sent 24-year-old Rev. Benjamin Chavis, Jr. to Wilmington to mentor the students and assist them in developing nonviolent protests and boycotts.

Soon after Chavis arrived in Wilmington, a local grocery store was firebombed.

Gunshots were allegedly fired from the top of a local Black church were Chavis and the students usually met as firemen responded.

The “Wilmington Ten” – including Chavis, eight Black male high school

TEEN from A1 and Dunn exchanged words, and Dunn pulled a gun and shot eight or nine times, striking Davis twice, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesman told the Orlando Sentinel. No one else was hurt.

Dunn and his girlfriend, who was in the store and didn’t witness the shooting, immediately took off. Witnesses wrote down Dunn’s tag number. The couple stayed in a Jacksonville overnight, then returned to Brevard County.

Dunn, a gun collector, was arrested Nov. 24 at his home in Satellite Beach on charges of murder and attempted murder. He was being held without bail.

Monday afternoon, Dunn pleaded not guilty to the charges and was transferred from the Brevard County Jail to the Duval County Jail.

“He was a collector of guns, supposedly information obtained from Brevard County that he was a collector and shot at local gun ranges down there,” Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Lt. Rob Schoonover said in a press conference.

Standing his ground?

Tuesday, Dunn’s attorney Robin Lemonid-

CASE from A1 “Petitioner readily admitted to succumbing to peer pressure to drink alcohol,’’ he wrote. “She became intoxicated and had sexual intercourse – an act she testified she would not have engaged in had she been sober. In fact, petitioner only ‘vaguely recalls’ the sex that resulted in her pregnancy; she did not indicate that she and the father were in a relationship

COURTESY OF THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL

students and one White female anti-poverty worker – were arrested, charged, and convicted of arson and in 1971. They were sentenced to a collective total of 282 years in prison, with each serving nearly a decade in jail. The youngest of group was 18 years old; the White woman, Ann Shepard, was the oldest at 35.

(Chavis went on to become president/CEO of the NAACP before leaving the organization and working with the Nation of Islam to organize the Million Man March in 1995. He is now a South Florida resident.)

After they were imprisoned, the Wilmington Ten became an international cause celebre.

In 1976, Amnesty International provided legal counsel to appeal the convictions. Then in 1980, a federal appeals court that ruled that the prosecutor and the trial judge had both violated the defendants’ constitutional rights is said that Dunn acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Davis.

“He didn’t think he had harmed anybody and he just thought he had scared them off and he wanted to report it, but he didn’t want to go in a sense, throw himself to the wolves in a strange city without representation,” Lemonidis said to local Jacksonville media.

She later claimed that Dunn saw a shotgun in Davis’ vehicle. Jacksonville cops found no weapons in the vehicle.

Davis was a passenger in the backseat when he was shot dead.

and the convictions were overturned.

Judges ruled correctly Recently discovered handwritten trial notes of prosecutor James “Jay” Stroud support the court’s reversal. Stroud sought to stack the jury with “KKK” and “Uncle Tom” types, according to his own notes. A Pender County/Wilmington jury of 10 Whites and two Blacks eventually convicted the Wilmington Ten. “The prosecutor’s notes are clear and convincing evidence that race was not just a factor in his selection of the ten Whites and two Blacks on the Pender jury that convicted the Wilmington Ten,” veteran civil rights attorney Al McSurely says. “Race was the only factor.

“Forty years later, we know his real motives. I believe when the governor studies this evidence,

complex where Zimmerman lived. The neighborhood watch volunteer called the police to report a suspicious stranger, and minutes later the two were wrestling in the grass.

Zimmerman claims Trayvon attacked him Just like Dunn, Zimmerman claims self-defense.

Cell phone info

Funeral services for Davis, a student at Jacksonville Wolfson High School, are set for Saturday in Powder Springs, Ga. He will be buried in his hometown of Marietta, Ga. His parents and a brother survive him; his parents say they will create a foundation “for atrisk students that suffer from tragedies,” according to an online obituary.

A Facebook page, Justice for Jordan Russell Davis, was set up in remembrance of the teen on Wednesday.

Despite all the investigation, at least one major piece of evidence has not yet been thoroughly analyzed: Martin’s cell phone.

Police found it at the scene the night Trayvon was shot – its battery dead. Authorities tried but failed to download data from the phone, then asked his father, Tracy Martin, for the security code so they could unlock it.

The phone is registered to Tracy Martin. He refused to give it to them, so the phone was turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A crime lab specialist there had only limited success accessing the messages, photos and other information on the phone, according to attorneys for Zimmerman.

Trayvon update

Critical link

George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, said he encountered unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin as Martin walked through the townhouse

The phone provides a link to one of the prosecution’s most important witnesses, a 16-year-old Miami girl who told investigators that she was on the phone with Tray-

Homegoing set

and she does not anticipate having any future relationship with the father.”

Years of controversy Requiring parents to be notified before minors can have abortions has long been a controversial issue in Florida. Voters in 2004 overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that cleared the way for a parental-notification requirement, and the Florida Legislature later approved details of the law.

A large part of the legislative debate focused on

she will do the right thing and sign the pardons. I can barely contain my outrage at the blatant racism of an officer of the court,” McSurely added.

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill law Professor Gene Nichol agreed.

“It is crucial that North Carolina act to admit and concede such a potent and defining abuse of power,” Nichol said. “To allow public servants to behave in such a fashion, without remedy, is literally intolerable.”

The state of North Carolina, some 32 years later, has refused to grant pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten. They are still convicted felons under state law.

Application pending The legal petition to pardon all of the Ten has been pending in Gov. Perdue’s Executive Clemency office since last May. Perdue, a

von in the minutes leading up to the shooting.

In an interview recorded by an attorney for Trayvon’s family and ABC News, she said a man was following Martin, that he was scared, that he asked, “ ‘What are you following me for?’ ” and she heard the man say, “ ‘What are you doing around here?’ ” The phone then went dead, she said.

Tracy Martin provided ABC News with a call log that showed several calls to his son’s phone in the minutes leading up to the shooting, something consistent with the girl’s account to prosecutors.

The last was at 7:12 p.m.

Martin was shot at 7:16 p.m., according to Seminole County Sheriff’s Office records.

When questioned last month about Tracy Martin’s decision to withhold the phone’s PIN from authorities, family attorney Benjamin Crump said: “I don’t know anything about that. We’re going to do anything prosecutors say we should.”

Information from First Coast News, the Orlando Sentinel and the Huffington Post was used to prepare this report. Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel, and Frances Robles of The Miami Herald also contributed.

the circumstances in which minors can receive court approval to avoid disclosure to their parents. While advocates of notification requirements say parents need to be involved in difficult abortion decisions, opponents have long argued that some minors could be put in danger if their parents are told.

The appeals-court ruling does not say where the minor lives, only that she is from the 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties. It describes her as a high-school senior

Democrat, is expected to make her decision in December before she steps down.

Churches, fraternities, sororities, community and civic organizations nationwide are being asked to support the cause by sending letters to Perdue, or signing the online petition.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP president/ CEO, has agreed to send out a mass email nationwide to all NAACP members asking them to sign a special online petition that will be delivered to Perdue the first week in December.

The national NAACP Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution last May supporting the Wilmington Ten’s pardon effort, and the North Carolina state NAACP held a special press conference Tuesday in Raleigh to urge Perdue to grant the pardons.

Thousands of signatures in hard copy and online petitions have been collected, but organizers with the Wilmington Ten Pardons of Innocence Project – an outreach effort the National Newspaper Publishers Association adopted in 2011 – say that still many more are needed by Dec. 1 to document widespread sentiment across the nation that the false prosecution of the Ten 40 years ago was wrong, and the state of North Carolina needs to correct it.

In the six months since the pardons effort campaign publicly kicked off, support has also come from North Carolina Congressmen G. K. Butterfield, David Price and Brad Miller and the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus.

The 2012 national Demo-

TARGET from A1 Beach Post, two of Florida’s former top Republicans, former Gov. Charlie Crist and former Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) Chairman Jim Greer, “now say that fraud concerns were advanced only as subterfuge for the law’s main purpose: GOP victory,” starting in 2009, “at which party staffers and consultants pushed for reductions in early voting days and hours.”

(Ironically, Greer also met in 2009 with a handful of Black newspaper owners around the state for the purpose of taking the GOP message to Black Floridians through Black-owned media. That was around the time RPOF voter suppression strategies started to be discussed.)

‘Bad for the GOP’ “The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told The Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only...

‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us,’ ” Greer said he was told.

“They never came in to see me and tell me we had a (voter) fraud issue. It’s all a marketing ploy,” he said, according to the story.

Approached earlier According to The Post’s story, “Crist said party leaders approached him during his 20072011 gubernatorial term about changing early voting, in an

who will turn 18 early next year and says her relationship with her mother is “distant” and that she does not have a significant relationship with her father.

The ruling does not detail when the girl got pregnant. She had talked with a nurse at a clinic but had not gone to a doctor.

Detailed analysis Wallace’s majority opinion gave a detailed analysis of factors that are included in state law to determine whether waivers should be granted. Those factors in-

cratic Party platform also adopted a provision supporting the Wilmington Ten pardon effort last summer.

Support and opposition Supporters believe that Perdue, given her progressive record of advocacy to stop racially biased death penalty sentences; her push for reparations to the victims of North Carolina’s forced sterilization program; and her veto of the Republican legislature’s voter ID bill; is well positioned before she leaves office to grant the pardons of innocence.

Opposition to the proposed pardons comes primarily from former law enforcement and state officials who still believe – despite no evidence proving that the Wilmington Ten had anything to do with the firebombing or the alleged sniper shots – that they are guilty.

To sign the Change.

Org online petition asking N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue to grant pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten, go to https://www. change.org/petitions/ncgovernor-bev-perdue-pardon-the-wilmington-ten.

You can also write a letter to Perdue before Dec. 1 asking her to grant pardons of innocence to the Wilmington Ten. Address it to Hon. Beverly Eaves Perdue, Governor of North Carolina, 20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-0301.

Cash Michaels of the Wilmington Journal (NNPA) contributed to this report.

effort to suppress Democrat turnout.”

Crist said in a telephone interview this month with The Post that he did not recall conversations about early voting specifically targeting Black voters, “but it looked to me like that was what was being suggested. And I didn’t want them to go there at all.”

“The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,” Greer told the Palm Beach Post.

“It’s not really a broadbased racist issue. It’s simply that the Republican Party gave up a long time ago ever believing that anything they did would get minorities to vote for them.”

GOP public enemies?

The Republican Party of Florida now vilifies both Greer and Crist.

Greer, who faces criminal money-laundering and fraud charges because of an alleged fund-raising scheme while he was chairman, is locked in a messy civil lawsuit with the party about a severance agreement.

Crist, who relaxed voter requirements in 2008 that helped to push early voter turnout that was thought to help Democrats, has emerged as a potential Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2014. He left the GOP in 2010 to run unsuccessfully as an independent for the U.S. Senate. Crist supported Obama in the presidential election.

Go to www.flcourier.com for a link to the entire Palm Beach Post story.

clude the minor’s age, intelligence, emotional development and stability, credibility and demeanor, ability to accept responsibility, ability to assess the consequences of the choice and understanding of medical risks.

“Doe’s testimony demonstrated that she had carefully considered the impact of an unplanned pregnancy in light of her educational and career goals and her other responsibilities,’’ Wallace wrote. “After such consideration, she had reached the decision that terminating the pregnancy

is the best choice for her.”

But in the dissent, Black said there was “competent, substantial evidence” to support the circuit judge’s decision to deny the waiver.

“It appears to me that the majority is substituting its conclusions regarding the minor’s maturity for the trial court’s, without the benefit of observing the tenor of the proceedings or petitioner’s body language, tone of voice and demeanor,’’ Black wrote. “These are assessments necessary to the determination of maturity which are impossible to glean from a cold record.”

november 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

FLORIDA

A3

Program gives dropouts a taste of college Urban League of Central Florida and Everest University partner to coach young adults

BY JEFF KUNERTH ORLANDO SENTINEL (MCT)

ORLANDO – Cordaro Norwood made it to 12th grade before being expelled. Yolanda Martinez dropped out in the 11th grade. Norwood is 22 and has never held a steady job. Martinez, 21, works as a seasonal, part-time employee at an amusement park.

On this day, they are learning fractions in Mary Key’s GED class and the value of a dollar saved in Charles Greene’s financial responsibility class at Everest University’s South Orlando campus.

For the first time, Norwood and Martinez can envision themselves as college students instead of high school dropouts.

“I see other people doing it, and I don’t see any obstacles in my way,” said Martinez. “I could do it.”

Norwood and Martinez are part of a partnership between Everest University and the Central Florida Urban League in a pilot program for the national Urban League. If it works here, the program could become a model for Urban League affiliates across the country.

Beyond a diploma The Urban Empowerment College-Bound Program started in October with 59 students. It provides them with classroom instruction, tutoring, financial counseling and career coaching. It gives dropouts a career path beyond the piece of paper, and the real-life skills to get there.

The local Urban League has offered GED classes for years at its Pine Hills office, but there came the realization that a high school equivalency diploma was not enough in today’s economy. The hard work

photos by RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA/ORLANDO SENTINEL/MCT

GED instructor Mary Key talks with student Renee Smith at Everest University on Nov. 8. wasn’t in the classroom but what came next: how to get a good-paying job. How to balance income with expenses. How to avoid debt yet pay for additional education and training.

“In the past, it was just about getting the GED credential,” said Allie Braswell, president of the Central Florida Urban League.

“We believe this is an onramp to higher education and better-paying jobs.”

In Greene’s class, students learn about the compound benefits of saving $1 a day instead of spending that dollar on things such as soda pop. Encouraged to think ahead, they are assigned to come up with a fiscal road map for the next five years.

“It doesn’t matter where you start. What matters is what’s ahead,” Greene said.

Jacksonville officer quits after Obama comments ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSONVILLE – A Jacksonville police officer quit after admitting he told colleagues that he would volunteer to assassinate President Barack Obama.

Sam Koivisto told the Florida Times-Union on Nov. 21 that his comments had been blown out of proportion and that he had planned to retire in five months anyway.

The 57-year-old retired earlier this month while facing an internal investigation into his comments to other officers after the election. He told them that if an order came to kill Obama, he “wouldn’t mind being the guy.’’

When questioned by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office integrity unit, he said he also didn’t care if a nuclear explosion killed everyone in the Northeastern U.S because they supported Obama. He told the investigators his comments were hyperbole and not actual threats.

Free program The teachers are employed by the Urban League, but the Everest campus gives those who never finished high school the experience of sitting in a college classroom. It makes real what could only be imagined.

“They are in an environment that isn’t like high school. It’s a mature learning environment,” said Jay Wilmoth, president of Everest University-South Orlando. “They’re on a campus. They have other students to mingle with.”

The program is free to anyone 18 and older who has not completed high school. It’s funded through a $1 million grant to the national Urban League from the parent company of Everest University.

The Central Florida Urban League received

$250,000 for its program, Braswell said. The Pittsburgh Urban League also was selected by the national organization for a pilot program with Everest University.

“We are targeting 18 and older, but if you’re 35 or 40 and you want to get a GED, we’ll take you, too,” Braswell said.

Once students pass the GED program, they can enroll in Everest. Or they can take that high school equivalency diploma to a community college, trade school or vocational-education program.

On the white board behind Mary Key is a quote from Henry David Thoreau: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.”

Cordaro Norwood’s dream is simple: “I want to be successful in my life.”

Cordaro Norwood, 22, attends a GED class at Everest University on Nov. 8. The Central Florida Urban League has partnered with Everest University on a GED college-bound program that is a pilot for other Urban League branches.

State sees spike in the number of Cubans arriving illegally

BY MIKE CLARY SUN SENTINEL (MCT)

MIRAMAR – When Carlos Velazquez arrived here in 1994 on a homemade boat fashioned from innertubes, he was one man in a wave of 38,560 Cubans who took part in a ragtag rafter exodus.

Earlier this month, his son, also named Carlos, made the journey. But he, his wife, Olga, and their 7-year-old son, Maikol, came by jet and presented papers documenting their status as entrants under the family reunification program.

“It took four years to do the paperwork,” said Velazquez, 34, who is now sharing space in his father’s tight, two-bedroom trailer in Miramar.

While he and up to 20,000 other Cubans legally entered the U.S. in the last year, an estimated 10,000 came in without papers in what U.S. officials and resettlement agencies say is a surge prompted by a poor island economy and disillusionment over the future.

Although a majority slip easily into the huge Cuban-American community in Miami-Dade County, many others follow the Velazquez family’s experience and put down roots in Broward or Palm Beach counties.

Grueling journey Church World Service, one of two agencies with federal contracts to resettle Cubans, this year opened an office in Fort Lauderdale and also sees Cuban clients in a Delray Beach office that serves Haitians.

In the fiscal year that ended in September, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped 1,275 Cubans heading for the U.S. in boats, and another 97 in the following month and a half. Those are the biggest totals since 2008.

But thousands of others are making their way into the U.S. by crossing the Mexican and Canadian borders, according to Adrian Duranona, a director of Church World Service.

Some of those crossing the Southwest border have endured a grueling 1,700-mile overland journey through six countries that began in Ecuador, a South American nation that has

LANNIS WATERS/PALM BEACH POST/MCT

A boat arrives at Singer Island, which is on the coast of Palm Coach, on Aug. 8 with 18 Cubans aboard. taken in some 100,000 Cubans since 2008.

“It may be under the radar, but as we know, Cubans arrive all the time,” Duranona said.

Desperate young people Duranona said he thinks the number of Cubans entering the country illegally, or overstaying visitors’ visas, may increase if the Cuban government follows through on a promise to loosen restrictions on letting its citizens leave the country for visits abroad.

Andy Gomez, a Cuban-born professor at the University of Miami, said that increases in Cuban arrivals could prompt the Obama administration to revamp the policy that gives arrivals an automatic pathway to residency.

“It would not surprise me,” Gomez said, “if the administration tackles this along with immigration reform.”

“The influx of Cubans into the U.S. is increasing,” said Ernesto Cuesta, associate director of Cuban-Haitian programs for the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in Miami.

“The young people we are seeing are desperate. There is no hope in Cuba.”

However, there is hope in La Yuma — Cuban slang for the U.S. — and that, along with family ties, is what has kept the northward

flow from the island strong and steady for more than half a century.

Preparing for change In Broward, Miramar is the residential heart of the Cuban community, and within that heart, the trailer park called Haven Lake Estates keeps a blue-collar Latin beat.

In preparation for the arrival of his son and his family, the senior Velazquez, 59, a forklift operator at a cement plant, punched a hole in the side of his peach-colored trailer and started to enclose a patio that within a few weeks will become another bedroom.

As he waits for the papers that will allow him to get a Social Security card, a work permit and a driver’s license, the younger Velazquez works on the home remodeling, talks to Olga about parlaying his experience as a waiter into a restaurant job, and watches as his son, as if by osmosis, picks up computer skills and English phrases.

“Everything is different here,” said Velazquez, who lived in Guanabacoa, a colonial town east of Havana. “Access to computers, eating good pork and beef, even the smell.

Everything smells clean here.”

EDITORIAL

A4

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

General Petraeus is ‘Pimp of the Year’ Former military General and U.S. spy chief David Petraeus is The Gantt Report’s selection for “Pimp of the Year.”

When it was revealed that Petraeus was involved in an illicit affair it didn’t surprise me one bit. It didn’t surprise me because most of the people I know that claim to be couples oftentimes stray away from their marriages and relationships.

No one is perfect but Petraeus seems to have made some perfect pimp moves.

General Petraeus cheated on his house cat and made a conscious decision to seek the companionship of wild cats and alley cats. Petraeus is the “Pimp of the Year”

Lucius Gantt THE GANTT REPORT

because all of the animals in his sex zoo were married.

The snake was married, the cats were married and the sex snitches were married.

Chasing the cat This is not the first time a soldier has been damaged by his quest to chase the cat.

Perhaps the best military man of all time was the Biblical Samson. Samson was

given exceptional strength

by God to conquer his enemies and to perform heroic feats such as wrestling a lion and slaying 3000 enemy soldiers with only the jawbone of an ass.

One day Samson went to a whore’s house where he soon fell in love with a lying alley cat named Delilah.

Delilah was approached by the lords of the enemy Philistines, to discover the secret of Samson’s strength, “and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

Three times she asked Samson for the secret of his strength, and all three times he gave her a false answer.

The first time, he told her,

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: BENGHAZI

David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star

Major Black groups woefully hypocritical I was once told, “Be what you are looking for. If you want friends, go be a friend; if you want love, go love someone and if you want happiness, go make someone happy.”

As I have reflected on this simple, but yet profound statement, I have found most of the major Black organizations are woefully hypocritical. They refuse to be what they are looking for.

Groups like the NAACP, The National Urban League and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) constantly complain about the lack of diversity in corporate America.

But what I find amazing is that these same groups do the very same thing they accuse corporate America of doing. The elections this month showed that America is becoming more diverse. But what is ironic is that within Black organizations, there is no diversity of thought.

What diversity?

RAYNARD JACKSON NNPA COLUMNIST

Strictly politics According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 76 percent of Blacks identify themselves as Democrats.

However, 5 percent are Republicans and 16 percent prefer the independent label, though many independents lean toward the GOP. Back in the day, you had prominent Black Republicans on the board of the NAACP and the National Urban League. Today, these groups have become vestiges of the Democratic Party where one party takes them for granted and the other just ignores them. Sure, they still have some Republicans on their boards, but they are usually in the background.

If we are ever going to change our predicament, the least we must do is create an honest dialogue between all segments of our community. Otherwise, we’ll never be what we’ve been looking for.

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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“The Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, the home of modern day Hamas and the Palestinians.

Like most whores, Delilah took her money and went away while Samson was forced to work. Each time Samson went on the grind, so to speak, his hair began to grow longer and longer until one day he got his strength back and destroyed the temple by pushing down the columns that supported it.

There’s hope for Petraeus God helped Samson and if Petraeus is truly a good man, God will help him too.

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

Yes, the general can orchestrate a variety of battles and confrontations.

General Petraeus can also prompt and provoke a digital catfight with two married women.

Popcorn pimps, parking lot pimps and other pimps can learn a lot from General David Petraeus, a military pimp.

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

Raising Social Security retirement age hurts poor, Blacks Discussions of the fiscal cliff also include discussions about ways to change Social Security and Medicare benefits in order to save money. One of the proposals is to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70. After all, some argue, there is nothing magic about 65 or 67, so why not push the rate up to 70?

The difference is the kind of work we do.

I can’t imagine that I will ever stop talking and writing, advanced age notwithstanding. However, someone who is waiting tables, working in a nursing home, or doing private household work might not want, but need, to slow it down after 65, or maybe even earlier.

Some people take their Social Security earning, although they are lower, at age 62.

Tired, and with sometimes broken bodies, they’d rather take less money than keep working. Consider the construction worker who has not moved up into management.

Will he (or in 10 percent of cases, she) still want to wield a hammer, climb onto roofs, or do other heavy work? Raising the Social Security retirement age hurts these people.

Whites live longer

The aforementioned groups pretend to be non-partisan or bipartisan. However, when you look at their leaders, they are all unabashed Democrats or very liberal in their thinking.

When they have their conferences, they will put one token Black Republican on a panel (against five or six Democrats) so they can boast about being inclusive. Mind Raynard Jackson is president and you that no Blacks Republicans are ever in- CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates. volved in the planning or have any input His website is www.raynardjackson. com. about who will appear on a panel.

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“If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.”

Then he told her, “If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.” The third time, he told her, “If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web....”

On the fourth occasion, he gave her the true reason: that he did not cut his hair in fulfillment of a vow to God; and Delilah, when Samson was asleep on her knees, called up her man to shave off the seven locks from his head, then betrayed him to his enemies:

These folk are also hurt because their life expectancy is also lower. People with less education have shorter life expectancies than those who are more highly educated.

African-Americans have lower life expectancy rates than Whites (although this gap is closing), Thus, people who have paid into the system, but they will get less out of when they live shorter lives. Again, those at the bottom are disadvantaged by public policy that seems race and class neutral.

Why the gap in life expectancy? Part has to do with higher rates of smoking among less educated propel, obesity, and the lack of health insurance, especially among those with lower incomes and less education. Obamacare partly solves the insurance problems, but those living in an unreal time warp seem to think Mitt Romney won the election and they are acting accordingly by attempting to repeal health care reform.

DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

Women smoking rising Most of us got the memo about the dangers of smoking, but women who lack a high school diploma are more likely than others to smoke. Indeed, among women the levels of smoking have risen, while smoking rates had declined among men.

Researchers who study these issues suggest that women are smoking more because of the many pressures women face, including being part of the “sandwich generation” juggling both elder care and child care.

The health insurance gap between those who are highly educated and less well educated is growing. Among working age adults without a high school diploma, 43 percent have no health insurance, up from 35 percent a decade ago. On the other hand, only 10 percent of those with a college education lacked health insurance.

Attacking the poor Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy certainly has a disproportionate impact on the poor and working class, but there are hidden attacks on the poorest in our nation.

Raising the Social Security retirement age, eliminating Planned Parenthood, and attacking Obamacare are all implicit attacks on the poor. The class status of our federal elected officials (with median wealth of more than $750,000 excluding the value of their home, compared to just $20,000 for the average person) suggests that Congress just doesn’t get it.

But we elect these people. What does that say about us?

Julianne Malveaux is a D.C.-based economist and author. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Racists still reeling over election results Hundreds of thousands of disgruntled conservatives, still smarting from the re-election of President Obama, are signing petitions to allow more than 30 states to secede from the United States — and they are being joined by a motley collection of White nationalists, neo-Nazis and Klan sympathizers.

At least eight of the petitions, posted on a government website set up to encourage citizen participation, have crossed the threshold of 25,000 signatures required to prompt a guaranteed official reply from the White House.

The states are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, the state with the most signers.)

But the petitions carry no legal weight at all, and almost no one anywhere on the political spectrum expects them to result in anything more than a collective blowing off of right-wing steam.

Still, that hasn’t stopped the denizens of Stormfront, a huge White nationalist Web forum run by a former Alabama Klan leader, from enthusiastically embracing the cause. Shortly after the re-election of President Obama, a large number of comment threads began appearing on the site that encouraged the radical right to join in on the fun.

[sic] going to be removed by whatever means needed.”

MARK POTOK TRICEEDNEYWIRE

A White republic?

Of course, the discourse on the forum has that special Stormfront kind of feel — which is to say, the underlying concern of most participants there is how to create a country, or perhaps countries, that is all, or at least mostly, White.

“We would be better off using all of our strength to secede 80% white states,” wrote “MattwhiteAmerica” in one of more than a dozen threads discussing secession. “A state like Texas, LA, MISS, AL, CA etc are going to need a good old fashion [sic] war to remove the nonwhites. … I’m saying this as most non-whites are socialists and takers. We won’t get a good constitution without a solid white majority.”

“We need to form a WHITE republic,” MattwhiteAmerica added a little later. “One that is for whites by whites!”

Responded “Buffalo”: “I have a feeling a lot if not most of the coloreds would be more than willing to leave a state that actually seceded. I have a feeling they would be smart enough to know that it would be either leave on your own or your

All a pipe dream Most of those posting at Stormfront seemed to realize that they were engaging in a pipe dream. But a few had definite hopes. “Once the cumulative secession petition count exceeds one million then Obama will be very worried,” wrote “Disappointed American.” “One million pissed off armed Americans, coupled with the [antigovernment group] Oathkeepers 3%, can defeat the military. At 2 million signatures, it’s basically a certainty at least one state will secede.”

And then there were two direct responses to the secession petitions: “Force all states to pay their portion of the national debt before they can secede from the union” and “Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile Them.”

Which is just the kind of thing Stormfronters might actually like.

This column is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch.

Marc Potok is a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

EDITORIAL

A5

Covering AIDS conference an insightful, rewarding experience I was surrounded by thousands of people from all around the world dressed in their native garb representing Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Canada, South America and many other countries from all around the world.

I had never heard so much laughter and seen so many smiles on an assignment such as this, especially considering most of those in attendance were either infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. As I walked among mostly people of color, you could not tell, or would not know that many of them had HIV/AIDS. There was energy in the air as an estimated 25,000 greeted each other and shared information from their native lands as they came together for the first time in 20 years in the United States in Washington D.C. for the International AIDS Conference, which started July 22 and ran for a week at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Role of Black media I reflect now on my weeklong long experience at the conference as World AIDS Day approaches Dec. 1 and thousands of observances around the country are taking place to shine the spotlight on those infected and affected by the disease.

I was at the conference for a purpose. My trip was made possible by the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the Black AIDS Institute headed by Phill Wilson, CEO of the organization.

Wilson stressed the importance of the role of the Black media and HIV/AIDS. “Certainly Black media plays the critical role, and it is important for the media to continue to talk about this issue particularly the Black media. What we have found is that once we communicate to our communities the magnitude of the epidemic in our communities, we get a response,” Wilson said.

“The challenge is that HIV and AIDS had fallen off the media consciousness as of late. And I think basically the message today is to say to our communities, we still have a serious problem in our communities – that AIDS is

JAMES HARPER FLORIDA COURIER

still, you know, devastating in our communities, but it doesn’t have to – that this is a battle that we can win, if we get involved. And we have a history of being very resilient, and we can respond to this Shown above are some of the journalists who covered the HIV/AIDS conference in July for the issue,” Wilson continued.

National Newspaper Publishers Association: Floyd Galloway, presdent/CEO of Great Press

Shocking numbers I was shocked to learn during the conference that HIV/AIDS is at epidemic numbers among Blacks in the United States.

U.S. Congresswoman and HIV/ AIDS advocate Barbara Lee of California shared with us that of the more than 1 million people in the U.S. living with HIV, nearly half diagnosed are Black men and women even though Blacks make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population.

Then she dropped the bomb that Black women account for the largest share of new infections among women.

I was shocked because I thought we had come a long way since the disease was discovered.

Shocked because I can remember in the 1980s when we thought HIV/AIDS was a death sentence, yet here were thousands of people living and thriving after having being diagnosed.

I became overjoyed knowing many were living longer with the disease. But then I became worried as I thought about those who were born in the 1980s and 1990s who have no recollection of what it was like when HIV/AIDS was first discovered and thousands – I dare say – millions died before there was help for them.

Sobering questions All kinds of questions came to mind: Is there a conspiracy to infect Black people? Why are we the only ones being targeted to get tested? Could it be a cure hasn’t been found because HIV/AIDS is now considered a Black disease and those in a position to make a difference don’t care because their own are not infected or af-

America; Glenn Ellis, owner, Strategies for Well-Being; James Harper; Sherri Williams, writer and adjunct professor at Syracuse University; Rod McCullom, freelance writer; Hilary A. Beard, editor of Black AIDS Weekly; Othor Cain, managing editor at the Mississippi Link; Rebecca Nuttall, reporter, New Pittsburgh Courier; Duane Cramer, San Francisco-based photographer; Rhonda Crowder, reporter, Call and Post; and Fred Allen, Washington correspondent, National Newspaper Publishers Association. fected as much.

I arrived Saturday, July 21, before the opening session of the conference along with a couple of dozen Black journalists for a training session where we met and heard a dozen experts in the HIV/AIDS field whose job was to educate us about the subject.

I first learned about HIV/AIDS while attending the University of Florida from 1980 to 1984 majoring in journalism and minoring in theater so I did not consider myself a novice by no means on the subject. Yet there was so much more I would learn that day and during the week of the conference.

Institutes of AIDS and Infections Disease since 1984. He is also a prominent scientist in the United States in the AIDS movement.

I asked Dr. Fauci what can be done to get the message to more of our young people.

He responded, “The message to the young people… I think that we just need to keep at it. HIV is an equal opportunity employer. If you look at the infection . . . you go to where the virus is and the virus is not a general epidemic in the United States. And if you want to target populations, just look at where the virus is. And that’s what Phill has really been trying to do with his entire career in this. So it has to be a targeted message to the people who are actually in Hero succumbs I was affected early by HIV/ that category, that they are actuAIDS because one of my early he- ally at risk. roes, tennis great Arthur Ashe, would be diagnosed with the dis- What’s needed Wilson, who is also HIV posease after a blood transfusion. I had played tennis at Spruce Creek itive, added that there are five High School in Daytona Beach things that are needed to end the and was the first Black to be on AIDS epidemic. “We need to fulthe team. Ashe was my hero be- ly implement the Affordable Care cause he inspired me to take up Act that gives us 30 million people on care and treatment. We need the sport.

Many of us were ignorant then to create an environment where how the disease was contracted. people living with HIV come out.

Some people even thought you We need to have a system where could get HIV/AIDS from touch- we have treatment on demand. ing a door knob or by sitting on a We need to integrate the treatment and the science with comtoilet seat.

During a press conference in munity. We can’t do it alone . . .

July, I had a chance to meet An- and we need to retool our HIV/ thony Fauci, who has been the ex- AIDS infrastructure.’’

He continued, “Many of our ecutive director of the National

Fiscal cliff scare just a fake crisis Why do imaginary phantoms terrify, while real-life horrors seem normal? Why do our elected representatives act in ways that trample the values of those who elected them?

Consider the current debate in Washington. The city is in full uproar about the so-called fiscal cliff, the deep cuts in spending and hikes in taxes scheduled to take place at the end of the year.

To listen to this debate, you would think the end of the world will come if Congress and the president don’t reach an agreement to cut Medicare and possibly Social Security and increase taxes over the next 10 years to avoid going over the cliff.

Don’t believe the hype Don’t fall for the hype. The fiscal cliff is not a product of nature.

It is rather a dangerously foolish austerity bomb created by Congress in the debt-ceiling negotia-

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

tions 18 months ago.

Essentially, Congress is threatening to blow up the economy unless Congress agrees not to blow up the economy. The threat is used to extort agreements that would otherwise simply be unacceptable — such as cutting Medicare and Social Security, the basic pillars of family security.

And the supposed underlying threat of out-of-control deficits is equally imaginary. Deficits are down, as a percentage of the economy, by 25 percent since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009. They will continue to come down if the economy continues to grow. That is endangered not

by homemade bombs, but by a world economy that is headed back toward recession.

And growth is also endangered if Congress cuts deficits too rapidly by slashing spending and raising taxes — kneecapping an already-faltering recovery. Interest rates on U.S. Treasury notes are at near-record lows. Markets — investors — are telling us that Poverty too expensive the threat isn’t out-of-control Poverty costs in dreams deficits and inflation; the threat crushed, hopes stunted, lives is slow growth or worse. lost. It costs more to live in poverty. Food is more expensive, Real horrors ignored transportation is harder, illness While everyone is in hysteria is unaffordable. The loss of a job, about phantoms, the real hor- the theft of a paycheck, the illrors are ignored. Record num- ness of a child can sink a family bers of Americans have already struggling to stay afloat.

Poverty, violence, and racial gone over the cliff with no help in sight. More than 20 million and gender inequities also cost people are in need of full-time the country big-time. We won’t work, and Washington is focused put up with mass starvation. on cutting deficits, not creating The unemployed collect food jobs. stamps; the employed pay taxes.

Poverty is at near-record levels This country will pay big-time for

America becoming a nanny state In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a vision of the federal government as our savior is being perpetuated by the media and the left.

This romanticized vision of the benefits of an ever-expanding government assuming command of everything — from disaster relief to managing our waistlines to promoting breastfeeding to mandatory vaccinations and to how we live and die — needs to be given serious thought.

What price are we paying to allow the government to extend far beyond its constitutional mandate to “provide for the common defense” and “promote the general welfare” to the degree that America is descending into a nanny state that doesn’t “secure the

DR. ELAINA GEORGE GUEST COLUMNIST

blessings of liberty”?

Despite the praise for the government’s response to Hurricane Sandy, the sight of people standing in lines for hours for gasoline or huddled in their homes with limited or no supplies of food and water seems to provide an answer to the question.

Government intervention Dependence on the government has led to potentially trag-

and inequality at new extremes, and Washington is talking about cutting programs for the vulnerable. Racial and gender inequity still throws hurdles in front of a majority of the country, but isn’t on the agenda.

Violence still haunts our streets, but receives no attention.

These things are real, not imaginary. They exist now, not as phantom fears. And they cost big-time.

ic vulnerability. As a people, too many of us have voluntarily ceded our individual authority and responsibility to a system designed to treat us as a collective group of children incapable of making decisions for our own good and the security of our families.

Fear is the predominant driving force encouraging so many to remain passive — apparently valuing safety above the freedom to speak, think and strive to achieve the full extent of one’s God-given talent — which is systematically stripped away by government intervention.

Does the good of the many really outweigh the needs of the few when we are moving ever more rapidly towards creating a soci-

organizations are not currently equipped to deliver the kind of services that they need to deliver in a post-Affordable Care Act environment, and in a post biomedical intervention world.”

Journalist, advocate I left the conference indelibly changed. It will be difficult for me in the future to maintain my objective hat as a journalist when covering HIV/AIDS because of this experience.

It pains me to know Black people in the U.S. are disproportionately diagnosed with the disease. How can this be considering we only make up 14 percent of the U.S. population. It makes me wonder if they start targeting Whites and Hispanics the way they are targeting us, will their infected numbers be even higher.

For now, I refuse to accept as fact that Blacks are more irresponsible than other groups when it comes to having sex. This is another label we do not need.

My journey as a reporter will continue and I’ve become comfortable to also consider myself an advocate for those who live with and are affected by HIV/AIDS.

Florida Courier Staff Writer James Harper can be reached at harperjames59@yahoo.com.

Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response. a generation raised in poverty on mean streets.

Action needed We need action on jobs, a plan to put people to work. We need action on inequality, a plan to ensure that workers share in the profits they help to create.

We need action on racial and gender discrimination, so that equal opportunity is more than a slogan. We need action on poverty and hunger, so that every child has the opportunity to soar.

These are real-world challenges that cannot be ignored because of congressionally invented phantoms.

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.

the northeast may yet reveal that a big government hasn’t really been the solution to Hurricane Sandy’s victims.

Expanding government can still be controlled. But America is coming to a potential point of no return. Emotions cannot be allowed to dominate the promulgation of policy. An explosion of Remember Katrina government interference will not Chest-thumping about the won- help our nation, and — once big ders of FEMA and the alleged effi- enough — cannot be stopped. ciency of the federal government leaves lingering doubts. RememDr. Elaina George, a member ber the people affected by Hur- of the national advisory council ricane Katrina who were forced of the Project 21 Black leaderinto formaldehyde-laced trail- ship network, is an otolaryngolers? How about the prolonged fiogist and host of a weekly talk asco surrounding the oil spill in radio show, “Medicine on Call.” the Gulf of Mexico?

This is the recent past — gov- Click on this story at www.flernment has not changed. And courier.com to write your own declining goods and services in response. ety that is increasingly more petty, selfish and small-minded in the name of fairness and spreading the wealth around?

Some might consider it a fair compromise if the government actually took measures to protect us from harm. But the assumption really doesn’t meet the reality.

NATION

TOj A6

NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 6, 2012

President’s foes want out of the United States Texas leads pack of states pushing for secession

BY JAMES ROSEN MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS (MCT)

WASHINGTON — In the three weeks since President Barack Obama’s reelection victory, his most ardent foes — nearly 1 million people from all 50 states — have signed online petitions to take their opposition to the extreme: seceding from the United States.

They’re doing it on the White House’s “We the People” website, taking advantage of a pledge to review any petition that gains at least 25,000 signatures.

Texas was far ahead of the pack with 117,373 digital signatures on its petition by midday Monday.

“Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union,” the petition states.

“To do so would protect its citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers, which are no longer being reflected by the federal government,” it says.

Obama called socialist Randy Dye, a North Carolina Tea Party member and retired trauma nurse from Pittsboro, started his state’s petition, which had drawn more than 30,000 signatures, good for sixthmost among all states.

While helping victims of Hurricane Sandy in the New York City borough of Queens, Dye explained why he would like North Carolina to leave the union.

“States need to turn into countries where we keep our own money,” Dye said in an interview.

“It would be a lot easier to control government at the state level than at the federal level,” Dye said.

“I believe that President Obama is probably a good

Secession fever?

Nearly 1 million people have signed secession petitions on the White House web site.

Eleven states have more than 25,000 signatures and are entitled to formal review.

Texas

117,373

Georgia

52,707

South Carolina

39,572 Louisiana Missouri Florida

36,974

35,633 34,772

Tennessee

31,059

North Carolina

30,392

Alabama

30,256

Oklahoma

27,645

Ohio

NOTE: Figures as of Nov. 26

25,033

Source: White House Graphic: Judy Treible

© 2012 MCT

CURTIS COMPTON/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/MCT

man and a good daddy to his kids, but he’s a socialist. I think we’re headed toward a socialist nation, and I want nothing to do with that.”

Florida reaches 25,000 As of Monday afternoon, 11 would-be seceding states — Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida and Ohio — had reached the 25,000-signature threshold that the “We the People” website promises will gain an official Obama administration review.

Nine of the 11 states voted against Obama in the Nov. 6 election, with only Florida and Ohio as proObama outliers.

“Every petition that crosses the threshold is reviewed and receives a response,” White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said. “As a rule, we don’t comment on the substance of those responses until they’re issued to the petitioners.”

The would-be secessionists have looked for

Study blames bounce houses for increase in child injuries

BY MICHAEL MUSKAL LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

Although they have become a popular staple at children’s parties, inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous and are associated with a 15-fold increase in the number of injuries from 1995 to 2010, according to a study published in a scientific journal.

Writing in the journal Pediatrics, a group of researchers examined records from the federal National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, operated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

They looked at patients 17 years old and younger who were treated for injuries from inflatable bounce houses from 1990 to 2010.

“The number and rate of pediatric inflatable bouncer-related injuries have increased rapidly in recent years,” they wrote. “This increase, along with similarities to trampoline-related injuries, underscores the need for guidelines for safer bouncer usage and improvements in bouncer design to prevent these injuries among children.”

The study was co-authored

by Meghan C. Thompson, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Dr. Huiyun Xiang and Dr. Gary

The Atlanta crowd shown above cheers as President Barack Obama was projected to win re-election against Gov. Mitt Romney at an election party on Nov. 6. But more than 52,000 Georgia residents have signed a petition to secede since Obama’s win. support to Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate and longtime libertarian leader, who has long said states have the right to leave the union.

“It’s very American to talk about secession,” Paul said in an April 2009 YouTube video. “That’s how we came into being — 13 colonies seceded from the British and established a new country. So secession is very much of an American principle.”

‘Move to Canada’ Some constitutional law scholars say that while it wouldn’t be impossible for a state to secede, to do so legally would entail highly implausible steps such as gaining ratification of a constitutional amendment or passage of a law redrawing the nation’s boundaries.

“It all boils down to whether the larger country is willing to accept a peaceful withdrawal,” said San-

A. Smith. All are affiliated with the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Smith is the director.

Injury every 46 minutes Overall, an estimated 64,657 were treated 1990 to 2010, the researchers found. The numbers suggest 31 children a day in 2010 were treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains and cuts from injuries in bounce-house accidents. That is the equivalent of one injured child every 46 minutes, they said.

Part of the problem is that the bounce houses have become increasingly popular for parties and that means the number of injuries from children bouncing off of walls, floors and one another has risen. There were fewer than 1,000 injuries in 1995 but almost 11,000 by 2010.

“From 1995 to 2010, there was a statistically significant 15-fold increase in the number and rate of these injuries, with an average annual rate of 5.28 injuries per 100,000 U.S. children,” the authors said in the abstract of their findings.

“The increase was more rapid during recent years, with the annual injury number and rate more than doubling between 2008 and 2010.”

Bounce houses can be rented for home or recreation center use. According to the findings, 43.7 percent of the injuries occurred at a recreation facility while 37.5 percent took place at a home.

A majority of injured patients, 54.6 percent, were male and the average age was 7.5 years old.

ford Levinson, a law professor at the University of Texas-Austin.

“I think it is a fantasy, but given the history of the United States, secession is not necessarily a laughing matter,” Levinson said.

“The Constitution doesn’t specify an answer one way or another. My view is that it’s a close call.”

Akhil Reed Amar, a Yale University law professor, disagrees.

While the Constitution doesn’t directly address secession, Amar said, the founding document makes it clear in a half-dozen clauses that such a move is banned and would be tantamount to treason.

Amar said the most important provision, known as the Supremacy Clause in Article 6, makes clear the authority of the Constitution, along with federal laws and treaties, over “anything in the constitution or laws of any state.”

“What the Constitution says repeatedly is once you’re in (as a state), you’re

in,” Amar said. “If people want to secede, they are allowed to leave, they just can’t take the land and the water with them. There is a lawful way to secede — it’s called emigration. They can move to Canada.”

A few kinks The secession movement has prompted a counter-secession drive on the White House website.

Several petitions demand that any seceding state pay its share of the national debt or make another form of restitution before leaving the union.

More than 8,500 Austinites and supporters have petitioned for the Texas capital to withdraw from the state before it secedes, while more than 1,600 Atlantans and allies are making the same request should Georgia go.

The White House website does have a few kinks.

There’s no way of verifying the residence or even the identity of any petition

signers, and indeed among those who have signed onto the Texas secession drive, there appear to be as many who say they live outside the Lone Star State as in it.

Dozens of secession movements have existed before Obama’s re-election fueled the new wave.

Christian Exodus, bemoaning “the moral generation of American culture,” has called on all “Christian constitutionalists” since 2003 to move to South Carolina and create “an independent Christian nation that will survive after the decline and fall of the financially and morally bankrupt American empire.”

Independent Long Island is a 5-year-old initiative that wants the slice of New York jutting into the Atlantic to become “a viable and independent new country,” though its promoters avow that mere statehood will be “seriously considered” if full nationhood can’t be achieved.

Economy expert: Blacks must become No. 1 employer of Blacks TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

There are more than 9,000 Black public officials in America, yet African-Americans remain at the rock bottom of every negative statistic in crime, health, economics and education.

This is the reason that one lecturer and award-winning author says the Black community must pay equal attention to business ownership, economic development and wealth as it does to political empowerment.

“Your wealth will determine where you live, where you live will determine where your children go to school, where your children go to school will determine the quality of your children’s higher education; and the quality of your children’s higher education will determine your children’s lifelong earnings,” George Fraser told a group at last week’s State of the Black World Conference at Howard University.

“And your children’s life-long earnings will determine where your grandchildren live and where your grandchildren live will determine where your grandchildren will go to school and where your grandchildren go to school will determine the quality of their higher education and their life-long earnings. Do you understand the cycle of poverty here?”

‘Great gathering’ of Blacks Fraser, president and CEO of FraserNet, a 20-year-old firm that specializes in Black economic growth, has written multiple books on economic wealth and unity, including “Success

Runs in Our Race; The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African American Community”; “Race for Success; The Ten Best Business Opportunities for Blacks in America”, and “Click: Ten Truths to Building Extraordinary Relationships.”

The activists, professionals and students in the audience were attending the third George day of the conferFraser ence, sponsored by the New Yorkbased Institute of the Black World – 21st Century. IBW President Ron Daniels described the conference as the first “great gathering” of African-Americans postelection.

The theme was “State of Emergency in Black America – Time to Heal Black Families and Communities.’’ The third conference of its kind held after the last three presidential elections, the goals were to establish a Black agenda regardless of who was elected.

Broke but not poor In the Saturday session on economics, Fraser pinpointed what he says is the No. 1 issue that Blacks should be dealing with – Black wealth.

“We are not poor. We’re just broke,” he told the audience, some of whom shouted “Speak!” “Tell the Truth!” and other words of agreement. Some even moaned, rocked and shook their heads as he spoke. “We have a $900 billion annual economy. If we were a nation, we’d be the fourteenth richest nation in the world.”

Fraser said with the “intellec-

tual capital” in the Black community, there is no reason that African-Americans should be as economically destitute as they are.

According to the Census Bureau, 25 percent of African-Americans live below the poverty level and fewer than five percent of small businesses are owned by Black people.

Yet, Fraser estimated that Blacks have multiplied W.E.B Du Bois’ dream of the talented tenth more than 70 times when counting the number of African-Americans with college degrees.

More high-profile speakers He was one of dozens of speakers during the conference that drew more than 300 people. Other high profiled names included Susan Taylor, Julianne Malveaux, Elsie Scott, Melanie Campbell, George Curry, Hilary Shelton, and Jeff Johnson.

Fraser’s economics message comes as African-Americans are hoping that Obama will do something special to deal with the Black jobless rate, which remains in double digits even as the national average has dipped below 8 percent. Fraser says it is unfair to put pressure sole on politicians and challenged the audience to take a lesson from communities of Jews, Asians, East Indians, and Arabs.

“Every immigrant group that has ever come to this country is now the No. 1 employers of their own people,” he stressed. “We too must become the No. 1 employers of our own people. Why? Because the only way to raise up the poor is to create work and jobs for your own people.”

HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD November 30 - December 6, 2012

IFE/FAITH

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Treats for a holiday party See page B3

Gift guide for tech fans See page B4

SUN COAST / TAMPA BAY www.flcourier.com

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Understanding the ‘fiscal cliff’

Congress must address tax and spending deadline by the end of year

By Lisa Mascaro and Kim Geiger Chicago Tribune

The “fiscal cliff” is a term first used by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to describe the impact on the economy of about $502 billion in expiring tax cuts and spending reductions, both separately set to occur within a two-day time frame at the end of the year. Bernanke warned that if Congress fails to deal with the issues, the fragile economic recovery could be dashed.

What makes the cliff?

Where the two parties agree DEFICIT CUTS Both sides are aiming for a deal that would slash $4 trillion from the federal deficit over the next decade.

They also agree that there are some ways not to do it.

AUTOMATIC SPENDING CUTS (Sequestration)

$64 billion $24 billion

DEFENSE CUTS Part of the debt ceiling resolution included the stipulation that some spending cuts come from defense.

$40 billion

SPENDING On the spending side, neither party wants to see the automatic across-the-board cuts that would take place under sequestration, and they want to prevent the looming cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

REVENUE On the revenue side, both parties want to avoid an expansion of the alternative minimum tax, and they agree that the Bush tax cuts should be extended — for 98 percent of taxpayers.

Couples who make less than $250,000 and individuals with income below $200,000 should continue to receive those breaks, both sides have said.

Where they disagree

NONDEFENSE CUTS Among proposed cuts, Medicare is scheduled to be cut by 2 percent. For schools, the National Education Association warns that cuts would hit 9 million students, including those in Head Start and special education, with 80,000 jobs lost.

INCREASED TAXES

$330 billion

EXPIRATION OF THE “BUSH TAX CUTS” On Dec. 31, 2012, the 2001, 2003 and 2010 tax cuts (often referred to as the “Bush tax cuts”) will expire. Congress must decide whether to allow the cuts to expire, to extend the cuts, or to extend cuts to all except the wealthiest 2 percent of taxpayers.

President Barack Obama and many Democrats support the 2 percent option while Republicans favor extending the cuts for everyone.

39.6% if tax cuts expire

HISTORICAL TAX RATES Percentage of income Clinton

40%

Bush

Obama

Highest tax bracket

35

BOEHNER’S POSITION House Speaker John Boehner has said that raising tax rates is “unacceptable” and insists that any attempt to do so would never pass the House. Most lawmakers in the Republican majority have signed a pledge never to raise taxes.

Boehner wants to see all the tax cuts extended for another year to buy Congress time to put together a big deal. He has said that he would be open to producing new tax revenue in conjunction with an overhaul of the tax code that would also lower rates. Most experts say that approach would not raise enough money.

35%

30

28%

Middle tax bracket

Four possible outcomes OFF THE CLIFF Congress could do nothing, allowing income tax rates to rise to pre-Bush-era levels. Doing so would rattle Wall Street and cause consumer spending to contract. But it would also put new pressure on Republicans and would spare them from having to actually vote for a tax increase. The two parties could then negotiate lower tax rates for some or all taxpayers.

25

31% if tax cuts expire 20

1994

2000

2006

2012

ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, is an additional income tax that currently applies to household taxable income of $75,000 or greater. The AMT has had a legislative patch dating back to 2000 that excluded many families. If Congress does not act, the AMT would be applied to millions more citizens.

Currently, only 4 million people pay the AMT. If no action is taken by Congress, 28 million Americans (those who make more than $48,000 in taxable income annually) will be required to pay it.

According to the Tax Policy Center, the average family affected by the AMT would have to pay an additional $3,700 in taxes.

WHO DOESN’T PAY AMT Taxable income in thousands for those who don’t have to pay, by year Married filing jointly

Single

$80

OBAMA’S POSITION Obama opposes extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy — the top 2 percent of taxpayers — and has said that he won’t sign a bill that continues those breaks.

He campaigned heavily on a pledge to “ask the wealthy to pay a little more” and views the election result as an endorsement of his position. Indeed, national exit polls show that 60 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthy. And a recent Gallup poll found that 56 percent say that at least half of any deficit-reduction deal should be accomplished through tax increases.

In his budget, Obama proposed a deficit reduction plan for the next decade that would raise $1.5 trillion in new revenue, largely by allowing the tax cuts for the rich to expire, and would cut $1.5 trillion in spending. Obama has signaled that he is open to making changes to entitlement programs as part of those spending cuts. The remaining $1 trillion is already in place, through caps on discretionary spending that Obama signed into law last year.

SHORT-TERM DEAL Congress could buy some time for a broader deal if it puts a down payment in place to prevent panic on Wall Street. Democrats would insist on some sort of new revenue in exchange for spending cuts. Obama has called on Congress to extend the Bush-era tax rates for all but the wealthy, but Republicans are more likely to offer to close some loopholes or limit some deductions instead.

THE PUNT Congress could postpone coming tax hikes and spending cuts while talks continue, but that would put Obama in the position of having to renege on his campaign pledge to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy by Jan. 1.

How the economy might react

The limit for married filers would drop by nearly $30,000, single $15,000.

What would happen if we went off the “fiscal cliff”? The Congressional Budget Office projected just such a scenario. The result in the short term: The gross domestic product would drop by 0.5 percent in 2013, which would likely cause unemployment to rise and as a result imperil the economic recovery. It’s widely believed going over the cliff could spook the markets and raise questions with credit-rating agencies. The two scenarios shown below represent letting the tax cuts expire and spending cuts go into effect (off-the-cliff scenario) or conversely continuing the tax cuts and delaying the spending cuts (delay scenario). The CBO projects the delay scenario would be easier on unemployment in the short term but would also add to the federal deficit, which could have longer-term consequences if it is not dealt with.

70 60

HISTORICAL AND PROJECTED UNEMPLOYMENT Percentage of population unemployed

50 40

Projected

10%

30 20

8

10

2000

2004

2008

2012 2000

2004

2008

2012

ESTATE TAX INCREASE The estate tax is currently 35 percent on any assets over $5.12 million. On Jan. 1, the tax will be 55 percent on assets over $1 million unless Congress changes the law. Most Republicans support a complete repeal of the tax, while Obama urges a compromise of 35 percent on assets over $3.5 million.

OTHER EXPIRING BENEFITS

$108 billion

PAYROLL TAX CUTS EXPIRE A key plank of Obama’s stimulus plan, the payroll tax cut trimmed the employee portion of the Social Security tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. This legislation was part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. The average worker will pay about $1,000 more in taxes if the payroll tax cut expires.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS Also coming to an end are the extended unemployment benefits, which provide jobless benefits for up to 99 weeks in many states.

These items are likely to expire as there is little partisan disagreement over them.

6

Off-the-cliff scenario: The CBO predicts short-term pain with unemployment peaking at 9.1% in Q4 of 2013, then gradually declining.

Delay scenario: The CBO predicts continued short-term recovery with unemployment down.

4

NOTE: Large figures represent costs in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

0

THE LARGE DEAL Both Boehner and Obama would prefer this option, which would address spending and revenue in one grand bargain, but it is not likely to be accomplished during the lame-duck session, so a short-term solution to the “fiscal cliff” would have to take place first.

Actual 1994

2000

2006

2012

HISTORICAL AND PROJECTED DEFICIT OR SURPLUS Percentage of GDP 4%

Off-the-cliff scenario: The CBO predicts raising taxes and cutting spending would greatly reduce the deficit in short order.

Projected

2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10

Actual 1994

2000

2006

2012

2016

Delay scenario: Not dealing with tax or spending challenges would keep the deficit at a high percentage of GDP, which could be problematic.

Graphics by Carolyn Aler and Ryan Marx, Chicago Tribune SOURCES: Congressional Budget Office, Reuters, Tax Foundation, Tax Policy Center, Tribune Newspapers reporting

CALENDAR • OBIT

B2

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. will host the second annual holiday affair with Santa Dec. 1 at the Jacksonville Marriot, 4670 Salisbury Road. More information: www.jackandjill-jaxs.com or robbinbray@yahoo.com.

“Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy’’ is coming to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Naples and Orlando.

Shown at right are Victoria Clark and Patina Miller. More information: http:// sisteractbroadway. com/.

BRUCE BRUCE

Tampa: The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus will be at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, Jan. 2-Jan. 6 for various show times. More information: www.ringling.com.

WANDA SYKES

Jacksonville: Author and televangelist Joel Osteen will be at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Tampa: Join Mayor Bob Buckhorn and “American Idol’’ Michael “Big Mike” Lynch for the annual tree lighting ceremony at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park at 6 p.m. followed by an 8 p.m. free movie in the park of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.’’ Also the Santa Fest and Downtown Holiday Parade will take place at 11 a.m. on Dec. 1 followed

TOJ

‘SISTER ACT’

Jacksonville: A Brand New Woman Conference focusing on health, wealth, relationships and career development will be held Dec. 8 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel, 10605 Deerwood Park Blvd. $25.

More information: www. totalcareseminars.com.

St. Petersburg: Red and Green: A Holiday Affair will be held at Sunken Gardens, 1825 4th St. N., Nov. 30 from 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. featuring a 100-year-old garden, live entertainment, food, and private access to St. Pete’s botanical treasure and valet parking. Semiformal or holiday attire.

Tickets and more information: www.stpetepride.com.

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

Comedian Bruce Bruce joins Sheryl Underwood and Tony Rock at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre for an 8 p.m. show.

YOLANDA RABUN

A Christmas concert in Orlando, “Songs of the Season,’’ will feature Yolanda Rabun, called the jazz lawyer. The concert is at 3 p.m. Dec. 16 at Washington Shores Presbyterian Church. 3600 Rogers Drive. More information: 407- 295-4741.

Comedian Wanda Sykes will be at the Parker Playhouse, 707 NE 8th St., Fort Lauderdale, Dec. 1 for a 7 p.m. show.

by a 4 p.m. festival. More information: Tampagov.net.

Tampa: Tampa’s Downtown on Ice will take place through Jan. 5. Tickets are $10 for 90 minutes on the ice and covers skate rental.

The rink is open from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday nights and Friday nights until 10 p.m. On Saturdays, the rink

Civil rights activist Lawrence Guyot dies at 73

BY AVIS THOMAS-LESTER SPECIAL TO THE NNPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Lawrence Guyot, the scion of the Civil Rights Movement who later turned his efforts to statehood for the District of Columbia died Nov. 23.

He was 73.

Guyot died at home after a long battle with diabetes and heart disease. Friends who had spoken with him in recent weeks said he was elated at having seen the re-election of President Obama, of whom he was an ardent supporter.

He told the AFRO newspaper he voted early beLawrence cause he wanted to make Guyot sure his vote was counted as his health failed.

Guyot was born in Pass Christian, Miss., on July 17, 1939. He grew up in atmosphere where Blacks had more freedom than they did in other areas of Mississippi.

However, after enrolling in Tougaloo College at age 17, he discovered the depth of the discrimination that other Blacks suffered in terms of voting and exercising their full citizenship rights. He was one of the early volunteers for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Suffered for cause Working closely with activists like Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bob Moses and Dorie Ladner, Guyot was among the students, Black and White, who put forth their energy and risked their lives to regis-

is open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 9 p.m. More information: tampasdowntownonice.com.

Ocoee: The City of Ocoee will award $10,000 in matching grants for neighborhood improvement projects as part of its Most Valuable Partnership (MVP) Matching Grant Program.

The maximum grant award is $2,000. Applications are available at www.ocoee.org or at the City Hall reception desk. The deadline to submit applications is Nov. 30. More information: www.ocoee. org or call 407- 905-3100.

Orlando: Orlando Community Arts Inc. presents “Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker’’ at the Bob Carr

Performing Arts Center, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

p.m.-10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

Tampa: Wiz Khalifa’s tour stops at the University of South Florida Sun Dome Dec. 2 for a 7:30 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: The theatrical musical “West Side Story’’ returns to Jacksonville as presented by The Artist Series at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, Dec. 4 – Dec. 9. More information and show times: www artistseriesjax.org.

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Petersburg at 250 Central Ave. between Second and Third Avenues from 5:30

ter voters and protest discriminatory policies in everything from business to education.

He was jailed at the infamous Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm. More than once, he suffered several brutal beatings at the hands of corrupt law enforcement officials and faced down death several times. But that did not reduce his resolve to help his people.

Less than five years after entering the movement, he was named director of the 1964 Freedom Summer Project in Hattiesburg, Miss. The effort that drew thousands of young people to Mississippi to register voters.

Lobbied for rights That same year, he and other activists founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the seating of all-White delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention and later was involved in efforts that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

After moving to Washington, he continued to lobby for voting rights, becoming one of the foremost experts on the topic and a staunch believer that Blacks needed to be vigilant to ensure that their voting rights weren’t compromised.

He watched in consternation and concern as state after state moved, by Republican machinations, to limit access to the polls for the November 2012 election and was elated that Obama was re-elected despite them.

“The people stood up,” he told the AFRO a few days after the election. “The people refused to be denied their right to exercise that most precious right.”

After being hospitalized for several weeks, the former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner returned home, where he died with his family at his side.

This story is special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspaper.

The LATCH system makes it easier to be sure your child’s car seat is installed correctly every time. Just clip it to the lower anchors, attach the top tether, and pull the straps tight. To find out more, visit safercar.gov.

Subscribe now at: www.flcourier.com

TOJ

NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 6, 2012

FOOD

B3

Holiday House Treat, Crispy Cheese Crackers, Eggnog Hot Chocolate, Salted Caramel Bacon Cordial Cups, Fire Roasted Jalapeño Onion Dip, Gingerpops Cookie Kit Holiday House Treat Makes about 12 servings 6 cups cinnamon-flavored toasted oats cereal 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 1 bag (10 ounces) mini marshmallows 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Assorted Tube Icing, Decorating Gel, Sprinkles, Colored Sugars, Icing Decorations and other favorite candy Prepare Wilton Stand-Up House Pan with vegetable pan spray.

Place cereal in large bowl. In large saucepan, melt butter; add marshmallows, ginger and cinnamon. Cook and stir con­stantly until melted.

Pour over cereal and mix well. Spread cereal mixture into prepared pan. When cool to touch, remove from pan; secure to foil-wrapped cake board with icing. Deco­rate as desired with icing, sprinkles, sugars, icing decorations and candy.

Crispy Cheese Crackers Makes 16 to 20 crackers 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup (about 2 ounces) finely grated Asiago cheese 1 ounce (about 1/4 cup) toasted pine nuts, finely chopped 1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare Holiday Cookie Pan with vegetable pan spray.

In medium bowl, beat butter, cheese, pine nuts, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper with electric mixer until creamy and well combined.

Add flour; beat until mixture looks sandy and holds together when squeezed in your hand.

Press into prepared pan, filling cavities 1/2 full.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Family Features

Host a holiday party that’s simple and festive with a combination of pre-made and homemade delights from the celebration experts at Wilton.

For starters, a cookie pan does double duty for holiday-shaped homemade Crispy Cheese Crackers. Serve these aromatic rosemary treats, made into Christmas trees, snowmen and stockings, alongside a colorful assortment of fresh vegetables and made-from-scratch fire-roasted jalapeño dip.

“Guests will think you spent hours baking in the kitchen when you wow them with a seasonal selection of hand-decorated gingerbreads,” says Nancy Siler, vice president of consumer affairs at Wilton.

Easy to assemble with all the trimmings included, there’s a ready-to-decorate gingerbread kit to fit any yuletide gathering. Complete with pre-baked ginger­bread, each kit contains decorating accessories like candies and icings to per­sonalize your own mini village, Christmas tree, gingerpop cookies and more.

For another fun twist on a traditional gingerbread house, Siler recommends getting the kids involved. They’ll love the marshmallow-y Holiday House Treat made of cinnamon toasted oats cereal. Once the house is built, watch the kids decorate their yummy creation with a variety of gumdrops, licorice, icings and candies.

To cater to a more sophisticated palate, Siler suggests Salted Caramel Bacon Cordial Cups. A lavish blend of vanilla pudding, crisp-cooked bacon and whipped cream is flavored with caramel ice cream topping and piped into edible, dark cocoa Candy Melt cordial cups. They’re bite-sized holiday bliss.

Don’t forget eggnog. This year, give your favorite prepared eggnog a chocolate kick and serve Eggnog Hot Chocolate garnished with peppermint Candy Curls.

For more holiday recipe project and decorating ideas, or to purchase ginger­bread kits, visit www.wilton.com.

Deluxe Gingerbread Kit, Gingerbread Tree Kit, Gingerbread Boy Cookie Decorating Kit, Gingerbread Mini Village Kit, Gingerpops Cookie Kit

Eggnog Hot Chocolate Makes about 4 servings 2 cups milk 2 cups prepared eggnog 1 cup Dark Cocoa Candy Melts Candy 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Whipped cream Candy Curls In large saucepan, cook milk and eggnog on medium heat until the mixture is hot; turn off heat. Whisk in Candy Melts candy and vanilla extract.

Continue whisking until candy is melted and mixture is smooth.

Pour into mugs; garnish with Candy Curls.

Fire Roasted Jalapeño Onion Dip Makes about 1-3/4 cups dip 4 jalapeño peppers 1 package (5.7 ounces) onion soup mix 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup mayonnaise Preheat broiler.

Place peppers on non-stick cookie pan; broil, turning at least once, 6 to 7 minutes or until blackened. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove stem and seeds; coarsely chop.

In large bowl, stir together onion soup mix, sour cream and mayonnaise.

Fold in peppers. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Serve with cucumber and zucchini slices, celery, carrot sticks, sliced bell peppers and other favorite vegetables.

Note: For spicier dip, include seeds from peppers.

Salted Caramel Bacon Cordial Cups Makes about 24 filled cordial cups 1-1/2 cups Dark Cocoa Candy Melts Candy 3 containers (3.2 ounces each) vanilla prepared pudding 1/2 cup finely chopped crisp-cooked bacon 1 tablespoon caramel ice cream topping plus additional for drizzling 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped Sea salt Fill cordial cup candy mold 1/3 full with melted candy. Using a decorator brush, paint the candy up the sides of each mold to the top edge. Coat mold so that no light can be seen through the shell. Refrigerate until firm, about 5 minutes. Repeat if needed. Carefully remove shells from mold.

In medium bowl, combine pudding, bacon and 1 table­spoon ice cream topping; mix until thoroughly combined.

Fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Using tip #33, pipe filling into candy cordial cups. Drizzle with additional ice cream topping and sprinkle with sea salt.

TECHNOLOGY

TOj B4

Stoj

NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 6, 2012

By Gregg Ellman, McClatchy-Tribune

Tech gifts are always a good way to go, especially with teens, young adults, men, women… oh, and kids. Which is to say, pretty much everyone.

So with lots of people to shop for, here’s a guide to help you select the best tech gifts for everyone on your list.

Wireless is the trend this holiday season, with audio, tablet and smartphone accessories (all hail Bluetooth!) leading the way. Here are our picks for holiday shopping 2012:

Gift boxes to keep them guessing

The 30 Watt Prank Packs fake gift boxes keeps your gift recipient guessing what’s in the box.

What the company calls ridiculous products from non-existent companies are printed on the boxes, giving no clue of what’s really inside.

Some of the choices include motorized rolling pins and PetPetter, which gives your pet up to 85ppm (pats per minute).

• $8 each or 3 for $20, www.prankpack.com

30 Watt Prank Packs fake gift boxes

Protect (your iPhone) and secure (your cash) CUBEDGE EDGE.sound portable wireless speaker

Speaker/mic offers sound on demand

If you must stuff your audio gift in a stocking, try the CUBEDGE EDGE. sound portable wireless speaker.

It’s shaped like a brick and connects via Bluetooth 3.0 for a wireless connection or with a 3.5-millimeter headphone connection.

In addition to the great portable sound, you get 10 hours of battery life after a USB charge; it also works to answer calls, Skype or other voice options with a built-in microphone.

• Available in black or white for $149, http:// cubedge.com

Kensington’s slim profile and pocket-sized Portafolio Duo wallet for iPhone 5 works like any other case to protect all sides of the iPhone and even covers up the screen when it’s tucked away, not in use.

What gives it an edge versus the other millions of iPhone cases available is it doubles as a wallet with slots on the inside for a driver’s license, credit cards or — crazy idea — even cash.

But it doesn’t end there: It has a built-in stand to keep your device hands-free for calls, video

Kensington Portafolio Duo wallet conferencing or just to look cool in both vertical and landscape positions.

• $39.99, in choices of brown marble, red snake and black, www.kensington.com

Kitschy cup adds power options to your car The 200 watt PowerLine PowerCup looks like a coffee cup, but don’t fill it with liquid.

It sits in your vehicle’s cup holder and has an 18-inch cord to plug into a vehicle’s 12V power port.

On top of the cup is a pair of AC outlets and a USB port for powering and charging just about any electronic gadget for a road trip or camping.

• $26, www.powerline.com

PowerLine PowerCup

Bluetooth tablet speaker/stand has style, too

Dexim ClickStick remote and stand

Get in the shot with shutter remote for iPhone Dexim’s ClickStik Bluetooth remote for iOS will come in handy right out of the box for the holidays.

Just pair the devices via Bluetooth and now you can not only take the photo but also be in the photo using the shutter release button from up to 30 feet away.

A free ClickStik app controls the digital photos and also gives you the option for a direct upload to social media.

The app also lets you add text, frames or photo filters to the images before uploading.

The ClickStik remote is available with a stand, which works with the smaller iOS devices including the iPhone 5 ($42.98, amazon.com), or without ($29.99, bestbuy.com).

• www.dexim.net

The iLuv Mo’Beats (iSP245) portable stereo Bluetooth speaker stand turns tablets into a portable hands-free speaker system.

At first glance, this stand looks really cool. It’s a simple but handy desktop device, with a stand for your tablet (vertical or horizontal) and has speakers on both ends.

The speakers are powered by a USB-charged internal battery and non-Bluetooth devices can connect with a 3.5-millimeter cable.

It also comes with a carrying bag for travel.

• $82, www.iluv.com

iLuv Mo’Beats

Stocking-sized portable chargers perfect for travel, power outages Energizer’s pocket-sized USB Universal Multi-Port Charger ($75.99) has a pair of 10-watt USB ports. This allows simultaneous charging of a 10-watt tablet and a 5-watt smartphone.

The 5000 mAh Lithium Ion battery charges up in about 6 hours and can triple the amount of run time for many device. How long it lasts depends on your device and how much of a charge

it needs.

They also have the Instant Charger made for iPod/iPhone ($19.99 online) with a 30-pin connection for Apple devices. It runs on three AA (included) lithium batteries to give your device up to double the run time.

Both are really handy, pocket sized and stocking stuffer-friendly chargers.

• www.energizer.com

Energizer USB Universal Multi-Port Charger

Contact Gregg Ellman at greggellman@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greggellman.

iHome iP76 tower stereo

Surround the room with sound

The 3-foot tall iHome iP76 tower stereo speaker system isn’t stocking-stuffer friendly and will cost you a bundle in wrapping paper, but bigger is better when you hear the room-filling sound.

Your device can connect via Bluetooth, use a top-loading Apple-friendly dock with the included wireless remote or just plug it into the aux-in jack for using any portable media player. iHome’s website says they will “deliver astounding clarity, depth and power” and after hearing them — well, hearing is believing.

Additionally, the sides of the tower have LEDs, which change colors in a choice of modes — indigo, blue, green, white, orange, red, violet and yellow.

• $199, www.ihomeaudio.com

STOJ

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2012

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

Parthina McCrary, who is most recognized by the name Flawless Doll, models swimwear, casual, and formal wear, but is looking forward to being in runway shows, videos and magazines to broaden her experience. She describes herself as friendly, kind, and funny, with a personality made of gold. She plans to earn her B.S. in psychology and enjoys shopping, spending time with family and friends, and modeling.

Contact Flawless Doll on Facebook at www.facebook. com/parthina. pagetwo or via email at parthina. mccrary@yahoo. com.

Credit: DARTphotography

submitted for your approval

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christophor Christophor Letrell, a 25-year-old songwriter, author and member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity is a senior at Georgia State University majoring in psychology with plans to attain his Ph.D. in clinical psychology and open his own practice. The author who has a “hope to just make a difference in the world” has have written a book titled “No Obstacles in My Way.” Contact Christophor via e-mail at christophordouglas2010@gmail.com.

Credit: Trevor Green

Cornelius, New Edition honored during Soul Train Awards EURWEB.COM

The Soul Train Awards 2012 was held at Planet Hollywood Live in Las Vegas and simulcast on BET and Centric on Nov. 25.

The Soul Train Awards is a presentation of Centric Network.

The host was Cedric the Entertainer and included performances from artists including: Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, New Edition, Ne-Yo, and 2 Chainz.

Celebrities from music, film, sports and television such as Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Levert, Billy Crystal, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Melanie Fiona, Jody Watley, Doug E. Fresh, Tony Rock, Luke James, Estelle, Donny and Marie Osmond, Vampire Diaries star Kat Graham, and Tamar Braxton, joined Soul Train in celebrating some of the best musical contributions of 2012.

Tribute by Watley This year’s show honored New Edition with the Lifetime Achievement Award and paid tribute to late Soul Train founder, Don Cornelius.

The contributions Cornelius

made to music changed the landscape of the industry. As a tribute, the awards show featured video vignettes from old broadcasts, as well as movDon ing words from Cornelius his son, Tony Cornelius and “Soul Train’’ standout Jody Watley, who attributes much of her success to Cornelius and Soul Train.

New Edition, whose career has spanned 30 years, were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award and followed their moving acceptance speech with a performance of their hits: “Candy Girl,” “Telephone Man,” and “If It Isn’t Love.” Their performance reminded the audience why they fell in love with New Edition from the very beginning.

A performance by Stevie Wonder turned into a massive celebration of President Barack Obama when his hit “Superstition” was followed by a performance of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours,” which was accompanied by projected photos

of The President.

2012 winners The 2012 Soul Train Awards winners are: Best New Artist: Elle Varner Centric Award: Leah Labelle Best Gospel/ Inspirational Performance: Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks’ “Celebrate” Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year: Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz “Mercy” Best R&B/ Soul Female Artist: Beyoncé Best R&B/ Soul Male Artist: Miguel Album of the Year: Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange’’ Song of the Year: Tyrese’s “Stay” The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award: “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”: John Legend featuring Ludacris Best Dance Performance: Beyonce – “Love On Top” CentricTV.com: Best Caribbean Performance — Sean Paul’s “Tomahawk Technique” CentricTV.com: Best International Performance – Estelle’s

A roundup of the best new holiday music

BY RANDY LEWIS LOS ANGELES TIMES (MCT)

This year, there are plenty of new holiday albums to pick from. Cee Lo Green, English pop-rocker Tracey Thorn and the left-field collective Redtenbacher Funkestra are just a few of the dozens of entertainers with albums out there made for celebrating the season. But which ones will offer yuletide cheer and which will feel like the same old thing, re-gifted?

Here’s a 2012 roundup of the best new holiday music releases Cee Lo Green “Cee Lo’s Magic Moment” (Elektra): The clown prince of R&B often lets his outsized public persona overshadow his music, but the man can sing. In fact, this collection might be the best guidance he could offer any contestants on “The Voice” — or “American Idol” or “X Factor,”

Cee Lo Green is among the artists with a new holiday CD out this year. for that matter. The holiday spirit’s in full force here, in his loopy Motown-esque collaboration with the Muppets (“All I Need Is Love”), an inspired a cappella arrangement of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” with Straight No Chaser and a stunningly powerful reading of Mark Lowry and Lee Green’s “Mary, Did You Know?” Magic indeed. 3 1/2 stars.

Various Artists “’Twas the Night Before Hanukkah: The Musical Battle Between Christmas and the Festival of Lights” (Idelsohn Society): Easily the year’s most

New Edition was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Thank You” CentricTV.com: Best Independent R&B/ Soul Artist or Group — Eric Roberson CentricTV.com: Best Traditional Jazz Artist/ Group was a tie – The Robert Glasper Experiment, “Black Radio,’’ and Tony Bennett, “Isn’t It Romantic.’’

CentricTV.com: Best Contemporary Jazz Artist/ Group — Esperanza Spalding-Radio Music Society.

informative, illuminating holiday release, and it traces the parallel rise of Christmas and Hanukkah among religious and secular communities. The first of its two discs is devoted to Hanukkah-related songs, and its second disc to Christmas tracks written or sung by Jews including Bob Dylan, the Ramones, Lou Reed, Benny Goodman and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. An accompanying 32-page booklet features several essays with excellent context, including one by rock journalist Greil Marcus. 3 1/2 stars.

PumpYouUp “Christmas Nutcracker Dubstep & Techno Classics” (PumpYouUp): Maybe it’s because there’s such a flood of more conventional holiday releases year in and year out that this throbbing electronica workout sounds so refreshing. Blatting low frequency bursts counter shimmering high-end sounds in a generous chunk of the Tchaikovsky seasonal war horse plus a handful of classic carols and random classical-music staples. Wendy Carlos is smiling somewhere. 3 stars.

Various Artists “Now That’s What I Call Today’s Christmas” (Universal/ EMI/ Sony): “Today” is a relative term here — the oldest of the 18 tracks is 16 years old (Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24”), and Christina Agu-

Encore presentations of Soul Train Awards 2012 will air: • Saturday, Dec. 1 at 9 p.m. on BET • Thursday, Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. on BET • Saturday, Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m. on Centric • Friday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. on Centric For more information, visit www.BET.com/SoulTrain.

ilera’s “Christmas Time” dates to 2000. But most of the acts, also including Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepson, Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Carrie Underwood, still have currency in today’s music world. The originals — Train’s pumping “Shake Up Christmas,” Coldplay’s wistful “Christmas Lights” — generate more interest than most of the covers. 2 1/2 stars.

Redtenbacher’s Funkestra “A Very Funky Christmas” (Wooden Hat): This five-song EP is just the thing to brighten up any staid holiday gathering. These instrumentals percolate with Latin jazzfunk, bringing big-band juice and rhythmic punch to four yuletide classics and one original, the title track. 3 stars.

Rod Stewart “Merry Christmas, Baby” (Verve): The dubious latter-day keeper of the Great American Songbook flame applies his raspy vocal cords to the canon of classic holiday music. He’s no Bennett, and this is a long way from “Gasoline Alley,” making the tracks with a rhythmic pulse (especially “Red-Suited Super Man,” with Trombone Shorty) better suited to his rocker’s swagger than those demanding interpretive nuance. Stewart’s holiday spirit also will take center stage on PBS in December in his special, “Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas, Baby.” 2 stars.

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NOVEMBER 30 – DECEMBER 6, 2012

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