Wyclef Jean Contemplating Presidency

Did someone say President Wyclef Jean? Reports are floating around the net that the ex-Fugee singer is considering a bid for the Haitian presidency. Jean has been a strong supporter of his homeland and its youth for several years. He founded the Yele Haiti Foundation in 2005 to help raise funds for Haitian youth putting almost 7000 children in school, and informing over 2000 young people a month about AIDs and HIV. Rumors of Jean’s aspirations could be traced back to when the singer was appointed ambassador-at-large in 2007, by the current president, Rene Preval. In an e-mail to the media, the Jean family stated, “Wyclef’s commitment to his homeland and its youth is boundless, and he will remain its greatest supporter regardless of whether he is part of the government moving forward … If and when a decision is made, media will be alerted immediately.” (Huffington Post) In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Jean reports he intends on being apart of the election on Nov. 28, whether his name will be found on the ballot is still unsure. Most candidates are expected to publicize their bids by Aug. 7,2010.

This is a tough decision for the artist to make. The impoverished Caribbean nation’s elections are often combative and violent. If Jean does decide to run, he would then have to prove that he has resided in the country for the past five years, own Haitian property, and has never been a citizen of any other nation.

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Conan

Is Tavis Airing Dirty Laundry or Keeping it Real?

From Tavis Smiley’s “We Count! The Black Agenda is the America Agenda” symposium on March 20, 2010.

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The Editor

Completely Not Fake Hollywood Stories: Aaron McGruder (The Creator of the Boondocks)

I’m no baller, but over the course of the last several years I have had many interactions with the rich and the famous. Of course, most times nothing really spectacular happens. Famous people after all, are just regular people like you and me. (Well, some of them are regular, others are either extremely short or pretentious buttheads…but I digress.)

But there has been one or two times when I have been kicking it with a baller and something really cool happens. Like the time I almost got beat up at Death Row’s corporate office or the time ?uestlove told me that he’d “rather spin records than do coke.” (I think he was trying to say he likes to DJ because it keeps his mind busy, but ?uestlove is a bigger nerd than me so it was sort of hard to interpret what he was saying.)

So in the spirit of Charlie Murphy and Rick James, every now and then I plan to drop a blog about one of my Completely Not Fake Hollywood Stories. Heck, if Eddie’s little brother can get famous retelling his big bro’s experiences why can’t I get some blog traffic telling mine.

After the jump is a Completely Not Fake Hollywood Story about the legendary cartoonist Aaron McGruder.
… Continue Reading

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Biko Baker

Winning the Fickle Vote

According to social scientists and political practitioners, people are less loyal to products and political parties than they were in the past…a trend that is likely to affect the next election.

Think about it…Everyone knows people who have abandoned their religion, been divorced, or changed their political affiliation. Americans today are more likely to make such important changes than ever before.

Peter Hart, Democratic pollster, found that college students are more willing to transfer schools and that 40% of Americans will change their religion at least once. Linda Lea Viken, divorce attorney, has found a clear increase in the number of divorces among the elderly, even after being married for fifty years.

So how does this affect elections? When running Howard Dean’s campaign in 2004, Joe Trippi witnessed the fickleness of Americans. After coming in third place in the Iowa caucuses, Dean lost his supporters as quickly as he gained them. According to Morris Fiorina, political science professor at Stanford University, “Obama benefited from the looser ties people have today…” (Not a surprise considering the distrust of the Bush administration.) However, “…the flip side is that he cannot count on the depth of support that a winning candidate might have had a generation ago…And, of course, if ties are looser, then change can occur faster than if the ties bind more tightly.”

After all, didn’t we learn not to trust politicians? It may not be fair to say that it’s bad to be fickle and good to be loyal. Of course, fickle isn’t exactly a positive adjective but blind allegiance isn’t something we want either. What do you think? Is it good that Americans aren’t bound to a specific politician or should we be more loyal?

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Kiera Aaron

Live From Laylo in Iran: The Revolution Begins

Iran’s elections have been all over the news lately. Anger is visible in the streets. Youth are tired of the same old thing and a revolution may be bubbling underneath the surface. We’ve got a firsthand account from a friend of The League/99Problems who is brave enough to venture in a field report directly from Iran! Check out this article by Laylo Fagroovy!

…………………………………….

The Revolution Begins by Laylo

June 15, 2009 The eerie howling of “Allah al-Akbar! Allah al-Akbar!”
(God is Great) could be heard from rooftops in the streets of Tehran
after dark. It is an echo from the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution 30
years ago, when Ayatollah Khomeini and his supports ousted Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlavi, to replace the monarchy with a religious democracy,
forming the Islamic Republic of Iran.

But in recent years, the people of Iran have yearned for more freedom
under the current regime, with some sacrificing their lives to be
heard. On Monday, June 15, possibly as many as one million people took
to the streets of Tehran to march from Enqelab (Revolution) Street to
Azadi (Freedom) Square to support Mir Hossein Mousavi in the contested
presidential elections.

… Continue Reading

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Steve Romain

Funny & Foreshadowing at the End of the Day

We’re wrapping it up over at 99problems but this story caught our eye:

Do not adjust your monitor, that is in fact a judge, shuffling a deck of cards,  flanked by two nervous/excited Arizonans.  Oh, the shoddy camera work; mic in the shot! But seriously…that card shuffle sounds good, right?

Don’t wonder what a deck of cards has to do with the American legal system; about as little as you expect.  That whole ‘checks & balances’ dealy doesn’t leave a lot of room for Lady Luck most of the time, but every now and then your legal compass leads you to the end of a heated city council race in Cave Creek, Arizona, and you really don’t have any other choice.

Well, not true.  You could play dice. … Continue Reading

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Sam Patton

20 Years Ago: Tiananmen Square – A Testament To Youth Activism

There are a number of images that permeate our collective psyche. Some are tragic, others hopeful. Every now and then, there is an image that embodies a state of mind so well that it can’t be described or explained. You just have to see it.

On June 4th, 1989, a young, unidentified man stood directly in front of a line of tanks in Beijing, China to express a sense of dissatisfaction, attempting to stop the Chinese government’s attacks on young activists.

Despite the defiance of Tank Man, the struggle continues.
… Continue Reading

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Steve Romain

The X Fact(her): Five Political Topics That Don’t Go Over Well

“There are three things I never talk about in public: politics, religion and money.”

My experience as a journalist has shown me that a lot of people think this way. It’s normally the people who have money that don’t want to talk about it. People who don’t really care too much about religion are the ones that don’t want to talk about it. And folks who are staunchly conservative try not to talk about their views in the street for fear of being publicly stoned to death.

Obama’s historic race had everyone discussing politics, so much that for the year and a half that he ran his campaign it became as normal a conversation starter as “How’s the weather?” Now that he is in office, the culture he created for using one’s voice is allowing folks to speak their minds on American policy, the economy and such. But don’t think that everything is fair game.

“Five Political Topics That Don’t Go Over Well”

1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Talk about a mood killer. Try uttering the words, “Well I think Israel/Palestine should…” and watch people’s smiles disappear and ears perk up. The war between the two nations has been going long before Israeli was made into an independent Jewish state in 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is like the abusive couple that lives upstairs. Sure, you hear them fighting every night. You wonder why they still live together. Time to time you call the cops, who only get turned away because the couple is determined to work it out themselves. At some point, you become numb to it.

… Continue Reading

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Chloe