Mama Nature Rules the Air
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041901101.html?hpid=topnews
The biggest disruption of air traffic since 9/11 continues to strand millions of travelers. Four days after an Icelandic volcano erupted spewing ash that can damage jet engines, just a third of European flights are expected to operate today. A few small airports opened as air authorities pushed back on the airlines' pressure to resume service. It's a reminder that man's technological prowess can be no match for an pissed-off Mother Earth.
Can't Trust It: 78 Percent Polled Don't Trust Big Government
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36629520/ns/politics
Welcome to the club. Black folks haven't trusted the government since slavery. It sucks when you can't trust the very institution put into place to protect society from running amok and it runs amok all over you. Welcome to our world. We're happy to scoot over and make some room.
U.S. Government Reneges on $1 Billion Settlement for Black Farmers
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/15/black.farmers.lawsuit/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Let's get this straight. 80,000 black farmers that were discriminated against by the USDA have yet to receive any money from the $1 billion settlement awarded in 1999. Why? Because Congress has not funded it. The government gets to discriminate against them, acknowledges it, but won't pay up, forcing the farmers to sue individually to recover money that should have already been paid. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. That's asinine, emphasis on the first syllable.
Better Late Than Never: Blackwater President Indicted
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j5bT6zBuFB23rj9mMRTJbqC0xHYgD9F4F8MO0
It's about time. Blackwater has been throwing shade for years, so why authorities are now trying to hold them accountable, we don't know. Could be the Obama effect everybody's talking about. Could be that falsifying documents and stealing weapons to gift to the King of Jordan, was too much. We thought killing 17 civilians in 2007 was too much. Funny how boundaries shift when presidential administrations change. We wonder how they'll wiggle out of this one.
East Texas Plant Masquerades as East Texas Plantation
http://cbs11tv.com/local/racial.discrimination.paris.2.1632168.html
Why is a workplace in 2010 sounding like one in 1910? Nooses, racial epithets and discriminating against folks — all at the same time? The only thing missing is an actual lynching. Is this a variation on Juneteenth? East Texas still hasn't gotten the memo that there has been a civil rights movement and civil rights act. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
A Hard Habit to Break: Pope Vows to Protect Children
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36625387/ns/world_news-world_faith
It's a sad day when a Pope has to issue a statement that the Catholic Church will protect young people from abuse, as opposed to what? Sanctioning predatory behavior for centuries. Sorry, we're not buying it. Do we hear Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams in the background? Yes, we do because this proclamation is too much, too little, too late.