In an effort to reflect more of a diverse voice to Sunday morning talk shows centered around politics, Roland Martin has partnered with TV One to launch “Washington Watch.”  The first episode will air on September 27, 2009 at 11:00am.  Martin plans to feature guests from varied ethnicities and regions of the US- both demographics that he feels are not tapped enough on existing shows.

With our nation’s first African American president, Martin feels there’s an unsatisfied craving from the African American community to be plugged more into politics and government affairs.  Like “Meet the Press” and other similar shows, it will be filmed weekly in Washington, DC; however, being aired via TV One whose focus is programming for African Americans, Martin will cater his show to cover politics with an African American target audience in mind.

For more info, check out…

Huffington Post- WASHINGTON WATCH WITH ROLAND MARTIN: NEW SHOW AIMED AT BLACKS

NY Daily News- ROLAND MARTING LAUNCHES “WASHINGTON WATCH” IN RESPONSE TO LACK OF DIVERSITY IN SUNDAY TALK

EUR Web- ROLAND MARTIN TO HOST NEW TV ONE SHOW

General Info on Roland Martin…

Official Roland Martin web page- www.rolandsmartin.com

Twitter- @rolandsmartin

The fight to end malaria got some popular attention recently when CNN and Ashton Kutcher had a competition on Twitter to see who would get the most followers.  Ashton Kutcher won, and CNN Worldwide had to fork out $100,000 to UNICEF for mosquito nets to help protect people from contracting malaria.  In an article posted in UNICEF’s website, Ann M. Veneman explains, “These new donations will help deliver–insecticide treated nets to children at risk from this deadly disease, and will save lives.” (click HERE for article).

Yesterday, April 26, 2009 was 2nd annual World Malaria Day.  The name was changed in 2007 from Africa Malaria day in order to address malaria as a global problem, however, over 85% of malaria cases are within the content of Africa.

One of the simplest things to do is to purchase an insecticide treated mosquito net.  A friend of mine shared this link in her facebook status yesterday.

World Vision- DONATE to Malaria Prevention

You may also check these resources for more information regarding malaria and to make donations.

IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)

UNICEF- MALARIA NO MORE CHALLENGE

WORLD MALARIA DAY

World Health Organization (WHO)

MALARIA NO MORE

PRESIDENT’S MALARIA INITIATIVE (PMI)

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- WORLD MALARIA DAY

image source: blognetnews.com

I just heard a segment on CNN about doctors refusing treatment to patients based on their religious beliefs, and I wanted to put this post out to see what you’re thinking.

from CNN…

WHITE HOUSE SET TO REVERSE HEALTH CARE CONSCIENCE CLAUSE

The Obama administration plans to reverse a regulation from late in the Bush administration allowing health-care workers to refuse to provide services based on moral objections, an official said Friday.

The Provider Refusal Rule was proposed by the Bush White House in August and enacted on January 20, the day President Barack Obama took office.

It expanded on a 30-year-old law establishing a “conscience clause” for “health-care professionals who don’t want to perform abortions.”

Under the rule, workers in health-care settings — from doctors to janitors — can refuse to provide services, information or advice to patients on subjects such as contraception, family planning, blood transfusions and even vaccine counseling if they are morally against it.

From USA Today…

SOME DOCTORS REFUSE SERVICES FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS

Doctors are becoming more assertive in refusing to treat patients for religious reasons, expanding the list of services they won’t provide beyond abortion to include artificial insemination, use of fetal tissues and even prescribing Viagra.

The shift is prompting a new round of debate in courts and state legislatures over the balance between protecting the constitutional right to religious freedom and laws prohibiting discrimination…

…The collision between religious freedom and rules against discrimination occurs when physicians perform procedures selectively, offering them to some patients but withholding them from others, says Jill Morrison, legal counsel to the National Women’s Law Center.

This year in a case generating wide interest, the California Supreme Court will hear a first-of-its-kind lawsuit: fertility treatment denied to a lesbian.

In Washington state, a gay man recently settled out of court with a doctor who refused to prescribe him Viagra…

Ok, I’m no doctor, but this legislation sounds insane!  I should’ve known it was from the Bush era.  As a doctor or health care professional, I feel like you have to take an “oath” of objectivity.

Before I go on and on…

Should health care providers refuse care to patients based on their religious or moral beliefs?

Are there certain circumstances where you think the choice is ok or is not ok?

I’m trippin’ on CNN’s statement about “janitors to doctors” meaning this applies to anyone working in a health care setting.  So can a janitor refuse to clean up a blood on the floor from a patient? or something like that?

Do you think this rule, as it exists today, enables a legal form of discrimination?

I have to thank my twitter friend @teferri for this lead like a week ago.  I’m finally carving out some time to put up a post about it.  I’m also wondering what your reaction is to this report as well as my own findings that reveal some inaccuracies and misleading journalism from those CNN folks.

Watch below.

Good ole Don Lemon. Sometimes, I’m with him, and sometimes I shake my head and wonder about his comments on stories relating to African Americans. I don’t know where I stand with this one, but I found Don’s conversation with John Hope Bryant to be on an interesting topic. Don is reporting on a Pew’s Economic Mobility Project poll where African Americans scored highest (65%) above the Latino (51%)  and white (34%) communities regarding their optimism about their children’s future.

So who is John Hope Bryant and Operation HOPE?

Don Lemon seeks the expertise of John Hope Bryant of Operation HOPE (http://www.operationhope.org/smdev/) to interpret findings from a study that came from Pew’s Economic Mobility Project.  John Hope Bryant, who according to his bio on Operation HOPE “is a philanthropic entrepreneur and businessman, in the business of empowerment.” He’s also the CEO and Thought Leader for the organization.  “Operation HOPE’s mission is to eradicate poverty in our lifetime through the ‘Silver Rights Movement’.” The accompanying You Tube clip about Operation HOPE further describes it as “the nation’s first non-profit social investment banking organization.” (About Us page- http://www.operationhope.org/smdev/clst4.php?id=162).

I don’t want to get too far off track, but I would like to add that I would have been intuitively more interested in hearing from the source of the study rather than a Thought Leader who may or may not have read the report.  However, John’s perspective was witty and he made a few points that held some value.

So what is Pew’s Economic Mobility Project?

Here’s an excerpt from their Project Overview page.  For full overview click HERE.

For the first time, data related to economic mobility in the United States will be consolidated and presented in terms the American public and policymakers can understand, debate and discuss. How do my children’s opportunities for economic advancement compare to mine, to those of my parents? Is mobility thriving in other countries while waning here in the U.S.? How much economic mobility is there for people in poverty? To what extent is mobility affected by inherited wealth? How is mobility impacted by gender, race, and level of education?

My commentary…

Unlike the CNN segment leads you to believe, the actual study was about American optimism in general and one of the reported results did a breakdown by ethnicity (black, white, latino/hispanic).  Pay close attention here because my 2:30am eyes may not be as sharp as I think they are.  However, what I’m reading from the actual report the posted slide data on CNN’s report seems to be incorrect.  See for yourself:

PRESS RELEASE, 3/12/09
PEW-COMMISSIONED POLL FINDS AMERICANS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT PROSPECTS FOR ECONOMIC MOBILITY DESPITE THE RECESSION

African Americans are the most optimistic group about their and their children’s opportunities for economic mobility. Eighty-five percent believe their economic circumstances will be better in 10 years than they are now, compared to 71 percent of whites and 77 percent of Hispanics. When asked whether their children would have an easier or harder time moving up the income ladder, whites are the most pessimistic, with 54 percent saying it will be harder to move up the income ladder, compared to 34 percent of African Americans and 41 percent of Hispanics.

Naturally, I’m a little confused on the actual data reported by CNN.  I welcome a comment from Don Lemon or anyone of the right authority at CNN to help clarify my findings with your report. Just a quick google search from my end.   …and if you’re hiring sharp journalists, give me a shout throug my CONTACT page (http://affrodite.net/?page_id=506).

Data details aside…

Are African Americans more resilient in times of economic uncertainty than other races?

Are African Americans more optimistic about the economic future for their children?  If so, why?

What are your thoughts about our economic future?

Nerd alert…

For you data nuts like myself who’s academic background or natural tendencies require understanding the methods used for the study before even allowing yourself to engage in this conversation, then here’s another excerpt about how the study was conducted.  It’s from the same page that I quoted earlier with the results.

Research Specifications:
This research reports on 10 focus groups conducted between January 6 – 15, 2009 in Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Diego among a racially diverse set of panelists. In addition, Pew’s Economic Mobility Project commissioned a national survey of 2,119 adults. This survey included oversamples of African Americans (517 total cases unweighted), Hispanics (520 total cases unweighted) and people under 40 (497 total cases unweighted). Given the growing phenomenon of young people without land-line telephones, all interviews in the under-40 oversample were conducted on cell phones. This survey was conducted between January 27 and February 8, 2009 and lasted approximately 22 minutes. The overall margin of error for this survey is +/- 3.4 at a 95 percent confidence interval.

I’m up tonight watching CNN which had Obama on Larry King Live and now Lou Dobbs, and I’m just getting annoyed.  They are still going after Obama’s affiliation with Reverend Wright and picking apart every sentence in Obama’s speech earlier this week that inspired me so much.  This is just ridiculous.  Now he’s being labeled “controversial”.  When media vultures harp on race then it gets white people scared and all of a sudden there’s an issue where there was none before.

Back off media vultures!  Go chase someone else.  I’ll even let you chase Michael Jackson since he’s coming out with that 25th anniversary of Thriller album (which makes me feel old by the way).

I experienced an Obama moment recently at work.  The Higher-Ups dissected an email that was accidentally copied to them (note to self…ALWAYS check the names on a distro list).  It was a harmless set of 3 emails intended for my co-workers regarding my status of coming into work during the blizzard.  I thought they were getting all huffy about a different email and soon realized it was these innocuous emails that put the Higher-Ups into a tizzy.  “What do you mean by…?”  “I feel you’re trying to negatively influence…”  I honestly can’t remember the emails nor do I think they’re still sitting in any of my co-workers’ inboxes.  However, the Higher-Ups read every single word over and over then sent my boss over the course of 2 weekends to poke and prod at me.  You might as well have locked me in a dimly lit interrogation room like you see in the movies.  I know I’m the furthest thing from a celebrity, but if I take a moment to imagine this scenario magnified a million times over and broadcast through every possible media venue, I can see how those celebs end up in rehab, and Lord only knows how politicians handle it behind the scenes.

Don’t crack Obama!  Don’t let them trap you with the race card!  “…typical white person…”  They’ll never let you live that down.  They can’t wait to label you something other than a good candidate.  They’re preying for a scandal.  Lou Dobbs, Barack is NOT creating a race issue as you claim.

Pause…I’m cracking up now that they (CNN) have Geno’s infamous cheese steaks owner(Joe Vento) from Philly talking about his court win regarding a sign (really a sticker) insisting that people speak English to get service.  “This is America, Please Speak English.”  I never went there while we lived in the area because I believed a story that someone told me that they had a cockroach in the cheese steak they ordered.  That just grossed me out.   Now, I’m a rumor spreader.  Eat there if you want.  I don’t want a lawsuit because I said I heard a story about cockroaches in their cheese steaks    Good!  Let’s obsessively focus on that stupid ass story instead, so Obama can go back to addressing bigger issues.

Mmmm…now I’m craving a cold, clammy pretzel from Wawa.  Good times, people.  Good times….  What the hell is Columbus known for?