Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Only Two Arguments Democrats Need On Mitt Romney’s Taxes
Mitt Romney has bank accounts flung across the globe; The Washington Post noted a few countrieswhere he has them, including Luxembourg, Ireland, Cayman Islands, and, until 2010, Switzerland, which is a notorious tax haven.
I’m not suggesting that Romney has done anything untoward when it comes to his taxes. On the contrary, it looks as though he has toed the legal line extremely well. But therein lies his problem:
(1) If the system as is benefits people like Romney so much, what is the motivation for him to change the tax code? Clearly he’s doing just fine.
(2) How exactly will Romney make the argument that the average American is overtaxed? He’s not one of them. And most wealthy people in his position are paying a similarly low effective tax rate. How can he help the middle class with tax woes?
Read more here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-only-two-arguments-democrats-need-on-mitt-romneys-taxes/
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Am I Playing the Race Card?
What I find peculiar though is this: Some readers have asserted that I'm playing the race card. How so? It wasn't me who broadcast to the nation that Hollywood wouldn't support this movie due to its all-black cast. It also wasn't me who said that the movie "was made for black teenagers." So while it may be easier to assert that the writers sparking commentary about the film are "pulling the race card", it's really just lazy and flat wrong.
Lastly, if I was wrong and the typical audience for black films wasn't predominantly black, then why would Hollywood have such strong misgivings about their ability to market an all-black film? Wouldn't they jump at the opportunity if they felt everyone would want to see it, especially considering George Lucas was behind it?
See the problem here isn't just Hollywood, it's also the fact it's still hard for society to have candid conversations about these kinds of subjects.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
“Red Tails” Could Set Black Film Back
Over at NewsOne, my newest outlet for writing opinions of all kinds, I've sparked a discussion about the movie "Red Tails," the all-black film produced and marketed by George Lucas. Below is an excerpt. Check out the full story here.
Red Tails, an all-black film, is opening January 20 at a theater near you. If you happen to see it, do me a small favor: take a gander at the rest of the audience and see if they resemble the thespians on film. Chances are, they will. Supporting black films, and black art in general, should be a tenet of the African-American community. And frankly, it’s usually the African-American community that Black films are accustomed to relying on. What makes Red Tails unique in this regard is that it was produced, financed, and marketed by George Lucas, the billionaire creator of the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, who is white.
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Red Tails tells the story of a crew of African-American pilots who are called to service while in the Tuskegee Airmen training program during World War II. Lucas is to be commended for truly believing in this story — he started working on it in 1988 — to bring it to the big screen and to do so with his own money. Sure, he has plenty, but Red Tails cost $58 million to produce and another $40 million to market — that’s not chump change. And Lucas also gave us a candid bird’s-eye view into how Hollywood thinks.
Red Tails tells the story of a crew of African-American pilots who are called to service while in the Tuskegee Airmen training program during World War II. Lucas is to be commended for truly believing in this story — he started working on it in 1988 — to bring it to the big screen and to do so with his own money. Sure, he has plenty, but Red Tails cost $58 million to produce and another $40 million to market — that’s not chump change. And Lucas also gave us a candid bird’s-eye view into how Hollywood thinks.
While appearing on the John Stewart Show, he said he was shocked not only at the fact Hollywood wasn’t willing to get behind the film but also by the reason he was given: they didn’t “know” how to market a film with an all-black cast, Hollywood said.
Red Tails is a universal story of integrity, leadership, perseverance, and values. There’s little doubt that everyone should watch it. I wish for it to be successful and spawn more faith in the creation, promotion, and patronage of black film, but chances are it won’t achieve any of that.
And George Lucas is to blame.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
NDAA's Critics are Wrong
Many people have somehow gotten the idea that certain sections of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) stifle our civil rights by allowing for the indefinite detention of American citizens on the mere suspicion that they are loosely affiliated with Al-Qaeda or if citizens simply decide to openly oppose the government. This is not true.
The NDAA for people who don’t know anything at all, is a law passed annually for the past 50 years. At its core, it’s a piece of defense legislation that simply details the spending budgets and authority of our Defense Agencies. Sometimes, things are added in to detail specific projects or initiatives that the Federal Government is taking on at the time. This year is the first time it has received such widespread international attention from the masses. Why? I won’t make any unfounded assertions, but it’s no mystery that the President has been on thin ice ever since he was sworn into the White House because of this and every move he makes is under intense scrutiny, and with good reason, because our nation is in a very delicate state.
The National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2012 is controversial among the general public mainly for the following two portions of the legislation:
- Subtitle D – Counterterrorism: Section 1021: Affirmation of the Authority of the Armed Forces of the United States to Detain Covered Persons Pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
- Subtitle D – Counterterrorism: Section 1022: Military Custody For Foreign Al-Qaeda Terrorists.
Friday, November 18, 2011
What's going on with AIDS Activism?
While this study is good news , the idea that we are going to simply treat our way to the end of the pandemic has serious flaws. First, treatment is not prevention. Treatment – in this case, taking pills – neglects to address the individual and societal transformations necessary if we are to truly have an HIV-free generation. We need education that overcomes stigma and fear. Consider this simple fact: currently, many of the highest-risk people do not get tested for HIV because of stigma, fear, and denial. Merely replacing a test with treatment is not going to get people in the door. In addition, there are these considerations:
- While treatments decrease transmission risk, there is a false sense of security that we need to be on alert for.
- There is an upward trend in the prosecution of people with HIV not telling their partners of their HIV-status; will this trend continue, or will a person on treatment be less responsible for communicating his/her status.
- There are growing waiting lists for treatment already. Merely demanding more money seems to be in denial of what is going on in the fiscal world, especially when the commitment to treatment needs to be open-ended.
- Ignored in all of this are studies that indicate self-testing for HIV can reach those higher-risk folks, can be done more cost-effectively, and when done in conjunction with digital education, can be very effective in both educating and encouraging testing, but activists and HIV/AIDS organizations stay silent on this while demanding more funding for treatment.
UPDATE: Just after this was posted, UNAIDS released its annual World AIDS Day Report. In it, on page 21, the case is made for home self-testing for HIV. It will be interesting to see if perhaps an organization like this can help open eyes and minds. See more here.
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