08/01/2009
HBO PRESENTS: The Nine Lives of Marion Barry

 THE NINE LIVES OF MARION BARRY, debuting MONDAY, AUG. 10 (9:00-10:30 p.m.), profiles the controversial Washington, D.C. politician, viewed by some as a philandering, drug-addled disaster, and by others as a folk hero.  His soaring achievements, catastrophic failures and phoenix-like rebirths have made him a symbol of indestructibility.  Today, Barry is once again in the political limelight. 

6/21/09
IRANIANS FIGHTING AGAINST THE ODDS
Written by: Prince W. Baggett

Iran right now is coping with the broadest unrest they have seen in over 30 years.  Iran state television reported that on Saturday at least 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

Media has been thrown out of Iraq and while the government tries to banish the use of social sites and different media platforms, Iranian protesters at the risk of their own lives are video taping through camera phones the harsh treatment in which the government is administering on its protesters and sending the footage and pictures to media sites across the web.

The protests over the last week stemmed from the alleged rigged election in which incumbent President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was declared the landslide winner of a second term. On June 12 he was declared the winner over moderate opponent, Mirhossein Mousavi.

Ahmadinejad is blaming the West for interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.

These Iranian protesters want their voice heard around the world and the Iranian government is using all their resources to limit any outside communication. The face of the protests has become a woman named Neda in which A 40 second video clip depicted her (an Iranian girl) being allegedly shot dead by a Basij soldier.

The footage shows the girl, with a single bullet wound in her chest, lying on her back as her family tries to unsuccessfully save her. Blood is first seen leaving her chest, and later flowing from her mouth and nose as her face is eventually left covered in blood. 2 minutes later she was pronounced dead.

The Iranian leadership told the protesters to end it or risk bloodshed, and with no end is sight, the Iranian protestors are willing to become martyrs for their cause and the situation is looking more and more dire if the United Nations doesn’t get involved in some way.

 

06/04/2009
Obama’s Historic Speech in “Cairo” Unprecedented
Written by: Prince W. Baggett

President Barack Obama delivered a historic speech in Cairo, Egypt today regarding the U.S. relationship with Muslim communities, which has been very volatile over the last decade, aided by the trashing of the Muslim community received as a whole, since the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil after 9/11, and wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan which many in the Muslim world perceived as a wage against their community more then the war against terror.

The hostility between the two sides have only accumulated though over the course of time and the White House Administration made sure to be clear that one historic speech by President Obama will not erase the mistrust and resentment but it is a start to closing the divide between the two sides.

In the Muslim world, America’s efforts to explain itself and reach out over the years have only been taken with a grain of salt, and as empty rhetoric used to alter public sentiments but President Obama made it clear that this is new times by denouncing torture tactics which go against our moral grain, talking about the importance of closing Guantanamo Bay and even while showing our loyalty to Israel by calling our bond with them “unbreakable”, also stated they must abandon their West bank settlements and recognize Palestinian as an independent state. Obama stressed the importance of pursuing a two-state solution to resolve the Middle East conflict, which would be in the interest of Israel and the Palestines.

President Obama repetitively explained the way in which we can ease tensions by “a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground.”

This speech alone has been perceived to many as a sign that the new administration is placing a higher-than-usual priority on resolving the conflict in the Middle East and easing tensions between the Muslim community and the United States of America.