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GRAVATAR | COMMENTING RULES

POLITICS: THE PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK / PATERSON TO RUN WITHOUT WHITE HOUSE SUPPORT / THE OBAMA PLAN IN FOUR MINUTES

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 |

President Barack Obama walks toward Marine One with Vice President Joseph Biden’s wife, Jill, prior to their departure from the White House on Monday.

The two traveled to New York, where Mrs. Biden introduced the President at Hudson Valley Community College where he spoke about the economy. The President is also in town for the United Nations General Assembly before heading to Pittsburgh for the G-20 Summit on Thursday. Check out photos below.

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Posted by: J. Dakar

GUESS WHO: SPEAKING AT THE UN

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 |

Guess who spoke at the United Nations Tuesday morning (aside from Pres. Obama). Hint: He is an Oscar-nominated actor who became a father earlier this year.

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Posted by: J. Dakar

TV BIT: PRESIDENT OBAMA ON LETTERMAN

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 |

On Monday, President Barack Obama sat down with David Letterman on the Late Show to discuss topics including race, the economy and, of course, health care reform.

When asked whether the reaction to his health care plan is driven by racism, the President replied, “First of all, I think it’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election.”

President Obama said he expects unemployment will be a “big problem” for at least another year, but he said the economy will rebound even stronger.

This was the President’s sixth appearance on Letterman’s show, but the first time for a sitting president.

44 Comments COMMENT?

Posted by: J. Dakar

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NEWS: FLORIDA FAMILY FOUND DEAD; FATHER IS ‘PERSON OF INTEREST’

Monday, September 21, 2009 |

The five children of Mesac DamasMichzach, 9, Marven, 6, Maven, 5, Megan, 3 and 11-month-old Morgan — are seen in a photo taken from Mesac’s Hi5 page. The five children and Mesac’s wife, Guerline, were found dead in their North Naples apartment Saturday night.

Collier County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Damas left Miami International Airport on a flight bound for Haiti about 10 a.m. on Friday. He is considered “a person of interest” but not a “suspect” at this point. A family member became worried after they hadn’t heard from anyone in the home and asked authorities to do a welfare check on Friday. Their knocks went unanswered, but nothing indicated anything was wrong.

On Saturday morning, the family member filed a missing persons report, and authorities requested from property management a key to the house and authorization to enter. When they did, they discovered the bodies of 32-year-old Guerline and her five children.

“I can tell you that in no uncertain terms this is the most horrific and violent event this community has ever experienced. This is the worst of the worst,” Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said at a news conference on Sunday. Foren Dieu said police told him his sister and her children all suffered slit throats.

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Posted by: J. Dakar

AWARENESS: MENTAL HEALTH & THE BLACK COMMUNITY

Thursday, September 17, 2009 |

Following the release of a video featuring actress Maia Campbell (best known from In the House with LL Cool J and Debbie Allen) shouting obscenities in an incoherent state, the internet began buzzing.

However, much of what was reported was that she was a prostitute with a drug problem, failing to mention her mental state…like many in the black community who suffer in silence when it comes to mental illness.

Maia has a co-occurring disorder after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder/manic depression and a substance abuse problem, which has symptoms similar to schizophrenia. According to a recent statement issued by her stepfather and grandmother, Maia “is in treatment and in a facility” getting the help she needs.

But there are so many in our communities who fail to do so.

We tend to rely on family, religious or social communities for emotional support, rather than turning to health care professionals. Because of this, mental health issues may be perceived as a failure of our faith. But there is no reason we can’t utilize all of our connections to deal with such things.

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Posted by: J. Dakar

WHITE HOUSE: PRESIDENT & FIRST LADY HOST OLYMPIC EVENT

Thursday, September 17, 2009 |

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House to promote Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics with First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday. Other attendees include Olympic athlete Jackie Joyner Kersee and the world’s fastest amputee, April Holmes, who joined them as they watched a judo demonstration and then jokingly fenced.

President Obama announced last week he would not be able to travel to Denmark to help his hometown host the Olympics. But he said he’d send the first lady instead. She and Valerie Jarrett, one of the President’s senior advisors and close friend of the first lady, will meet with the International Olympic Committee next month.

Check out the fun photos of the event below.

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Posted by: J. Dakar

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‘ROUND THE WAY: PRES. OBAMA CALLS KANYE A “JACKASS” DURING AN “OFF-THE-RECORD” INTERVIEW

Monday, September 14, 2009 |

ABC News reporter Terry Moran caused quite a commotion tonight on Twitter after writing the following:

Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a “jackass” for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.” (AUDIO NOW AVAILABLE)

Although Moran quickly removed the tweet, he has over a million followers, and it quickly bounced around Twitter through various users and can still be found here.

An ABC spokesperson explained to Politico what happened:

In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.

The White House has not commented on the incident, but I’m sure we’ll hear more in the coming days.

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Posted by: J. Dakar