Cruz Inc Blogs
March 2012
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Cruz Inc Staff: Posted on Friday, March 30, 2012 11:43 AM
We want to know your thoughts...who's right, who's wrong?  George Zimmerman's brother said medical records will prove that his brother was attacked and his nose was broken by Trayvon Martin before he fatally shot the teen. Robert Zimmerman Jr. spoke to CNN's Piers Morgan Thursday night saying he wanted to correct some of the "mythology" and untruths that have been spread about the controversial shooting. "We're confident the medical records are going to explain all of George's medical history," Zimmerman Jr. said. "His nose looks swollen in that video. I'm his brother." George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot Martin in self defense after the teen attacked him last month. Martin, who was walking through the gated community back to the house of his father's fiancee, was wearing a hoodie in the rain and carrying Skittles candy and a can of iced tea he had purchased from a nearby convenience store. Authorities have said Zimmerman has not been charged because there are no grounds to disprove his account that he acted in self defense. Critics say Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, racially profiled Martin, who was black. The shooting of Martin, an unarmed 17-year old, has sparked an intense national debate about race, birthed protests and was addressed by President Barack Obama who called the incident a "tragedy." Robert Zimmerman Jr. also called the shooting a tragedy but warned that some of the responses have not been healthy. "This is a tragedy. Her son was lost," he said trying to send a message to Martin's mother. "I feel very badly about that and I want, in the end, not for her son's memory to be seen as how we degraded our system and turned it into mob rule and went into a hate speech. Ultimately, we all wish that this was a different situation." George Zimmerman has told police he shot Martin in self defense on February 26 in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman's father said on Wednesday that Martin threatened to kill Zimmerman, broke his nose and beat him so badly that Zimmerman was forced to shoot the teen. Robert Zimmerman Jr., on Thursday, told the same story. "You return force with force when somebody assaults you. George was out of breath, he was barely conscious," the brother said. "There would have been George dead if he had not acted decisively and instantaneously in that moment when he was being disarmed." Martin's family and legal experts have questioned the Zimmerman's family version after the recent release of surveillance videos from the Sanford police headquarters the night of the incident. It shows Zimmerman, his hands cuffed, exiting a patrol car and being led into the police station. First broadcast Wednesday by ABCNews.com, the video does not provide close-ups, but also does not show clear signs of injuries on Zimmerman. "We now have pictures of Mr. Zimmerman walking into the police station, and you see no injuries that would have come from abrasions on a sidewalk," said Lou Palumbo, a retired police officer who owns a private security firm. "Anyone who's seen a broken nose is aware of the fact that the blood spurts. That leads to a lot of bleeding. You would have expected to see blood on the front of George Zimmerman's shirt collar. Blood -- you know, in many more places," said Marcia Clark, the former prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial. Robert Zimmerman Jr. said his brother was treated at the scene before he was taken to police headquarters and it appears to him that the surveillance tape shows that his brother had injuries. Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, has said the video is among other evidence that proves her son was killed unjustly. "I believe that this video is the icing on the cake," she said. "This is not the first part of the evidence that they have had. They have had the 911 tapes and they also have witnesses. This is in addition to what the Sanford Police Department has always had. There is no problem with this case and he needs to be arrested." A witness of the incident also spoke to CNN Thursday. "It would have to be starting with hearing voices, but not seeing, and then, after the voices, opening a window and then seeing -- with two men or two people on the ground, one on top of each other," the witness, who has asked not to be identified, even by gender, told CNN's Anderson Cooper about the incident. The witness reported hearing through a closed window voices from an area where residents typically walk their dogs. "I thought it was rather loud, but I had just shut my window because it had just started pouring out rain," the witness said. "And then I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, who's out there walking their dog in the rain?' " But the witness did not immediately look outside to see what the commotion was about, according to the account. "I went and did something else, and then I heard the loud voices again," said the witness, who reported opening the window. "It definitely was a very loud, predominant voice," the witness said. "I couldn't hear the words but it was like, OK, this is not a regular conversation. This is someone aggressively, you know, yelling at someone." The witness recounted seeing two men on the grass, one on top of the other. "And at that point, not looking out the window, I heard the yell for help, one yell for help, and then I heard another ... excruciating type of yell. It didn't almost sound like 'help.' It just sounded so painful. But I wasn't watching out the window during that. And then the next time I looked out the window, there's the same thing: two men on the grass, one on top of each other. I couldn't see a lot of movement. It was very dark, but I felt like they were scuffling. And then I heard the gunshots, which, to me, were more like pops than they were like a bang." The witness recalled hearing more than one shot. "It definitely was more than one pop noise, so I don't know if it was an echo or anything else. But it definitely made more than one pop." The witness said the shots were audible as one man was on top of the other. But the witness recalled not having been able to see clearly which man was on top because it was dark. Within a couple of seconds after the shots, one of the men "was walking toward where I was watching, and I could see him a little bit clearer. Could see that it was a Hispanic man. He didn't appear hurt or anything else." But the man, who by now had left the grass and was walking on the sidewalk, did seem worried, "with his hand up to his forehead," the witness said. "Now, a couple of seconds later, in the dark, you see that person that's alive walk away; you know, obviously, OK, he must've got up and he walked away, where the other person is still laying there, face down." The person who was walking away did not appear hurt, said the witness, who has told police of the incident. "You're thinking, wow, I'm looking at the person that just shot someone," the witness said. |
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Courtesy Of Huff Post: Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 3:09 PM
 "Basketball Wives" star Tami Roman is recovering after suffering a "mild heart attack" yesterday. "She has since been released and would like to let her fans and supporters know she is doing fine and looks forward to resuming her scheduled engagements," the release said. Roman confirmed the cause of her health scare via Twitter last night and reassured fans that she is on the road to recovery. Tami Roman is a friend of Cruz Inc and we would like to send out our prayers for her complete recovery. Get well soon!!! |
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Cruz Inc Staff Writer: Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 2:42 PM
It doesn't matter who you are, if you wear a hoodie and you are black you are a hoodlum...even if you are a Congressman!!!  The congressman spoke during the morning session, when members are allowed to address any issue. He applauded young people across the country who are wearing hoodies to make a statement about Martin, the teen who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt when he was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida.As soon as Rush removed his jacket and put the hood on his head, Rep. Greg Harper, R-Mississippi, who was presiding over the House floor, began to gavel Rush down, saying he was out of order. Rush ignored him, and with the hoodie still pulled over his head, continued to speak, citing the Bible. Harper continued to bang the gavel. "The gentleman will suspend. The member is no longer recognized," he said. "The chair must remind members that clause 5 of rule 17 prohibits the wearing of hats in the chamber when the House is in session." A floor clerk approached Rush as he finished his remarks and led him away from the podium. Afterward, Rush told CNN he was wearing a tie, suggesting he was appropriately dressed for the House floor. He said the purpose of putting on the hoodie was to send a message to young people, "to stand their ground, stand up and don't stand down." As for violating the House rule on wearing hats, Rush pointed to his hooded shirt and argued, "this is not a hat, this is a hoodie." "I don't mind being out of order if it means standing up for truth and justice," Rush said. He said the public debate over Martin's death was a continuation of the movement in which he participated during the 1960's. "This is just another part of the struggle. I've never left those days. Those days are deep down in my soul." Noting that he was standing in the Capitol, Rush added, "Many people have given their lives so I can be here and once I got here I can't forget whose shoulders I'm standing on." The Illinois lawmaker said he understood that those on the floor who ruled him out of order and the staffer who moved him off the floor were doing their jobs, and said he was able to finish his speech. "A lot of it was theatrical, but I wanted the message to go forward," he said. Rush said he and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, were organizing a gathering of House members wearing hoodies on the East Front of the Capitol later this week. |
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Courtesy of NPR News: Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 11:15 AM
There are reports from The Miami Herald and CBS News that police in Sanford, Fla., were looking to arrest George Zimmerman on a manslaughter charge for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26. But the local state attorney's office "held off pending further review," the Herald says. According to CBS: "On March 12, police gave the case to State Attorney Norm Wolfinger. He told them they needed more evidence to arrest Zimmerman." ABC News adds that it has been told by multiple sources that "the lead homicide investigator in the shooting ... recommended that [Zimmerman] be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting." He has not been arrested or charged with any crime. Another state attorney is now handling the case and will be taking it to a grand jury. Martin's father told CNN Tuesday evening that he's convinced Zimmerman wasn't arrested because "the police profiled Trayvon Martin" and concluded that because he was a young black man, he had probably been up to no good. Zimmerman, 28, has told police he acted in self defense. The shooting, and what Martin's family and their supporters say was a lack of follow-up on the part of police and prosecutors, has ignited a national discussion about race and racial profiling. In its report, CBS also lays out some of the evidence about what police did in the hours and days after Martin's death. It reports that Zimmerman was questioned for five hours on Feb. 26, that the next day "detectives re-enacted the shooting with Zimmerman at the scene" and that "for the next two weeks, lead investigator Chris Serino pursued a manslaughter charge against Zimmerman." The Orlando Sentinel also tries today to dispel some "Trayvon rumors" with some facts. It reports, for example, that rumors about key evidence not being collected are not true, according to Sanford police: "They took [Zimmerman's] clothing as well as Trayvon's and packaged it for crime-lab analysis. A spokeswoman for Special Prosecutor Angela Corey would not disclose Tuesday where the clothing is now, but she wrote in an email that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement 'is assisting with the processing of physical evidence.' "
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Cruz Inc Media: Posted on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 2:55 PM
THE COMMENTS YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ COME FROM NBC 12'S VIEWER COMMENTS SECTION (RICHMOND,VA). WHILE WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE WE RECOGNIZE THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH...THE COMMENTS OF THIS PERSON REFLECTS THE THOUGHTS OF MANY WHO SIDE WITH ZIMMERMAN. Pamela - are you kidding. If you had some gold toothed, tatooed, unknown, 6'3" male in a hoodie, in the dark, coming towards you, I think you might be suspect of that person, too. I think Mr. Zimmerman was walking back to his vehicle as instructed by LE and was jumped and beaten by a gangsta talkin punk. You people don't want to hear the truth. You just want a story told of a poor black boy who was murdered by a white racist. Well, sorry dear. That's not the story unfolding. You guys should be ashamed. This kid's parents have lowered themselves to a new level. Oh boy, I'll remember Tvon. Trust me, just like I remember what the Duke Lacrosse team endured. |
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Cruz Inc Staff Writer: Posted on Monday, March 26, 2012 2:57 PM
Well, it is not surprising that there would be an attack on Trayvon's character to justify Zimmerman's killing of an unarmed teen. There is a subtle movement to continue to cast a shadow over the fact that a 28 year old man confronted a 17 year old teen. Trayvon Martin had as much right to defend himself from a man who was following and perhaps attempting to apprehend him for no reason. It appears Zimmerman thought he would be able to bully and intimidate a young man while no one was present. Trayvon out of fear for his life fought to save himself. Trayvon's adrenalin kicks in and he gets the best of Zimmerman in a hand to hand combat. Even if that was the case, Zimmerman shot and killed an UNARMED TEEN!!! When will those investigating this stick to the fact that Zimmerman NEVER should have confronted Trayvon...this was a community watch junkie, want to be Charles Brunson vigilante!! This claims in the story below are just another attempt to distort the facts and continue to blame Trayvon Martin for his own death. Trayvon Martin had been suspended from his Miami high school for possession of an empty marijuana baggie, a family spokesperson confirmed Monday. Martin had been suspended for 10 days from Krop Senior High School after the baggie was found, the spokesperson told MSNBC. Meanwhile, John Schuster, the spokesman for the Miami-Dade Public Schools, said the school district has not released any student records in accordance with federal law. The news comes as authorities revealed that Martin took down George Zimmerman with one punch then climbed on top of him and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times before the 17-year-old was shot to death by the community watch volunteer, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel. The latest report of the altercation between the teen and the 28-year-old man at a Sanford gated community on Feb. 26 has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities told the Sentinel. The Sanford Police said in a statement that the report was "consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the police department." "We do not condone these unauthorized leaks of information," said Norton Bonaparte Jr., city manager. " He said there would be an internal investigation into the leak and disciplinary action could include termination for anyone found to have been the source of the leak. City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. named Scott acting chief and Capt. Robert O'Connor acting deputy chief, just three days after he introduced both of them as the Sanford police department's temporary leaders in the absence of Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. On Monday, Bonaparte clarified that Scott will be the top official on duty at the police department. Calls to the FBI, U.S. Justice Department and Sanford Police weren't immediately returned Monday. Zimmerman told police he had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from behind and the two got into a verbal altercation, the report said. Martin punched Zimmerman in the nose and began beating him on the ground, leaving him bloodied and battered, authorities said, according to the report. Zimmerman told police he shot the unarmed Martin in self-defense. Police said Martin was visiting with his father at his father's girlfriend's home in the gated community and had gone to buy a bag of Skittles and iced tea at a nearby convenience store and was walking back when the altercation happened. According to police, Zimmerman was following the teen in his SUV and then on foot and called 911 to report a suspicious person. In a recording of Zimmerman's call to 911, a dispatcher tells him to stop following the teen. Zimmerman told police he had lost sight of Martin and was walking back to his car when Martin approached him from behind. Martin asked Zimmerman if he had a problem and Zimmerman said no and reached for his phone, he told police, according to the report. "Well, you do now," Martin said, according to Zimmerman, before he threw the first punch, the Sentinel report said. Zimmerman told police he began yelling for help, though the attorney for Martin's parents said the cries for help came from the teen. Witness Mary Cutcher said she thought the cry fro help may have come from Martin. "It sounded young. It didn’t sound like a grown man is my point," Cutcher said on NBC's "Dateline." It sounded to me like someone was in distress and it wasn’t like a crying, sobbing boo-hoo, it was a definite whine." When police arrived, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had bloody wounds to the back of his head. Zimmerman's attorney said he suffered a broken nose in the altercation. Zimmerman wasn't arrested and hasn't been charged in the shooting. His attorney, Craig Sonner, appeared on NBC's Today Show" Monday, where he backed up the self-defense claim. "This case has taken on a whole different meaning because it's been interpreted as being a racial issue and it's not a racial issue," Sonner said. "George Zimmerman is absolutely not a racist, whatever happened that night was self-defense." Martin's friends have said the teen never would have started a fight and Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump has called the claim that Martin was the aggressor "preposterous." The shooting has led to several rallies and marches throughout South Florida and across the country, with tens of thousands of protesters demanding Zimmerman's arrest. Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, will attend a rally at 4 p.m. Monday in Sanford. They're also expected to speak before the Sanford City Commission following the march. The U.S. Justice Department and FBI are investigating the shooting, and last week Lee, the police chief, announced he was temporarily stepping down during the investigation into the shooting. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation into Martin's death and has formed a task force to hold hearings on the shooting. |
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Reported by MSN.Com: Posted on Monday, March 26, 2012 11:04 AM
Friends of the man who shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin say he is now afraid for his life and hiding in a secure location. As outrage has built, friends say George Zimmerman, who says he shot the unarmed boy in self-defense, has received death threats and yesterday, the New Black Panther party put out a $10,000 bounty to locate him. "What makes all these people who are threatening George any better than the person they think he is?" said Joe Oliver, a friend of Zimmerman. "You've got all these people wanting to lynch the man, and they don't know the whole story." Our Editiorial: Mr. Joe Oliver, just tell your friend that people want justice, they want Zimmerman to tell the truth about the incident that occurred a month ago today. Tell us why he continued to follow Trayvon, why did he confront Trayvon...why didn't he allow the police to do their job? |
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Cruz: Posted on Friday, March 23, 2012 9:43 AM
Take a look at the photos below and then read the storyline below. We want to know based on general perception, who would be percieved as a danger? The next question is to blacks; before the Trayvon Martin Murder; when you would seen young black men, would you assume that they were up to know good? By James Eng, msnbc.com The fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a community crime-watch volunteer in a Florida suburb raises an uneasy question: Would he have been killed had he not been young, black and wearing a hoodie?
Most decidedly not, say some interested observers. “This kid happened to have fallen into a wrong shade of black, and coupled with the fact that he was hooded made it more problematic,” said Jason J. Campbell, a blogger and an assistant professor of conflict resolution and philosophy at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “There’s a sense that this child was naive in the way he conducted himself (by wearing a hoodie). Unfortunately, African American males cannot conduct themselves in the same way that young white males can,” Campbell, who is black, told msnbc.com. “It’s because society has said that a young black male dressed in this manner is up to no good,” Allie Braswell, CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, told msnbc.com. “Some of this is self-inflicted by dressing style, but it doesn’t mean every kid who puts a hoodie on is up to no good.” Which male would be perceived as the greater threat?? |
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Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:52 AM
IF
THERE WAS EVER A TIME FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO LET THERE VOICES BE
HEAR, NOW IS THE TIME!!! OUR URBAN BLACK WOMEN ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE
AND IT'SGOING TO GET WORST IF WE DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, EDUCATE AND FIND
SOLUTIONS TO COMBAT IT!! WHAT IS IT? THE DANGER OF PROMISCUITY AMONG BLACK WOMEN...
JOIN ME THIS SUNDAY AT WWW.BLOGTALKRADIO.COM/4URADIO OR CALL 323-693-3317. LOOK AT THIS ALARMING INFORMATION BELOW:
A national team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they
are surprised and dismayed by results of their new study showing that
the yearly number of new cases of HIV infection among black women in
Baltimore and other cities is five times higher than previously thought.
The data show that infection rates for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS,
among this population are much higher than the overall incidence rates
in the United States for African-American adolescents and
African-American women. The data come from an ongoing, larger
series of studies supported by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, and
reflect testing and analysis of at-risk women in six urban areas in the
northeastern and southeastern United States hardest hit by the global
AIDS epidemic. The so-called “hotspots” are Baltimore; Atlanta;
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Newark, N.J.; and New York City.
Researchers plan to present their findings March 8 at the 19th annual
Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle.
Specifically, the team found that among 2,099 women ages 18 to 44, 88
percent of whom were black, 1.5 percent (32 women) tested positive at
the outset of the study and were not enrolled, while among those who
remained, 0.24 percent tested positive for HIV within a year after
joining the study. All study participants were HIV negative, including
more than 200 from Baltimore, when they volunteered for the study.
Experts say this rate of infection, or seroconversion, is five times
previous estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention for urban African-American women. |
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Cruz: Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 12:29 PM
 CNN) -- If Joseph Kony wasn't the most wanted man in the world, he may be now.In the past week, a documentary detailing accusations of vile acts committed by the Ugandan warlord has spread like wildfire on social media (at the time of writing it has had more than 50 million views), prompting international outrage and a groundswell of support for his capture. In the documentary, "Kony 2012," which was posted online by the U.S.-based group Invisible Children, the tales of atrocities are horrifying: armed supporters force abducted children to kill their own parents, brutal mutilations include the hacking off of lips and limbs, and the sexual slavery of young girls stolen from their families. The group says its aim is to raise awareness and bring Kony to justice. While some critics question whether the film captures the full scope of the conflict, one matter is without debate: Kony now ranks as one of the International Criminal Court's most wanted men, facing arrest on charges of crimes against humanity after a 26-year campaign of brutality in his failed bid to overthrow the Ugandan government. How did Kony rise to power? Kony, a former altar boy, was a young man in his early 20s when he was caught in the storm of violence that marked the final years of Milton Obote's presidency. Obote was deposed in a military coup in 1985, and soon after Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) seized power. Kony's Lord's Resistance Army was among those who rose up against Museveni's NRA. Kony was a spiritual leader, known as a healer among the Acholi people. He inherited a powerful support base from Alice Lakwena, a spirit-medium. Lakwena's followers would "daub themselves in shea butter crosses which they believed would protect them from bullets and they believed that stones would explode like grenades," explains Matthew Green, author of "The Wizard of the Nile - The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted," about Kony. "It was a mystical rebellion," Green says, adding that Kony "was very much an inheritor of her mantle." Lakwena fled to Kenya after Museveni's forces launched a brutal attack on her and her followers. Staying in northern Uganda, Kony rallied Lakwena's remaining supporters and recruited more with a powerful mix of mythical claims, charisma and unconscionable violence. What is Kony like? Green describes being one of the few journalists to ever meet Kony when the rebel leader briefly emerged from his jungle hideout in 2006. "Although he was surrounded by phalanxes of child soldiers with Kalashnikov rifles and bayonets fixed to them, he actually looked terrified of meeting strangers," Green said. Despite Kony's apparent fear and paranoia, Green says the rebel leader was charismatic and clearly a "very powerful orator" when speaking to his people. "He had an almost musical voice as he spoke in his Acholi language and you could see that the people listening were completely captivated." What are Kony's tactics? If Kony attracted supporters through his "mystical powers" and charisma, he kept them through fear. "Certainly the violence is what made his movement so terrifying," Green says. "These attacks were carried out often with machetes or clubs and the violence was designed with a very clear political purpose. It was designed to illustrate to the people in northern Uganda that the government of President Museveni could not protect them." Kony's forces are believed to have abducted thousands of children to join his cause -- however the exact number is unconfirmed. At the height of the violence during the mid-2000s, parents tried to protect their children from harm by sending them to sleep in towns, away from Kony's ruthless kidnappers. Brutal punishments were inflicted on those who were accused of disloyalty by an increasingly paranoid leader, Green says. "Kony once gave an order that anyone caught riding a bicycle should have their legs cut off. Bicycles were a very common means of transport in rural areas and he was worried that informers, if they saw the rebels, would rapidly pedal away and alert the nearest army post." And similarly he would cut off people's hands as a kind of warning not to raise any hands against the rebels," Green adds. How organized is the Lord's Resistance Army? Kony created the Lord's Resistance Army with the intention to lead, based on his version of the Ten Commandments. Since then it has grown into a "disciplined fighting force," says Green, explaining that its members occupy a rank and are rewarded for loyalty. Kony has been able to maintain his hold over them with his mix of self-proclaimed spiritual powers and military strategy, Ned Dalby, Central Africa researcher with the International Crisis Group, said in a 2011 interview with CNN. "He cultivates this image of himself as a medium for the power of the spirit and at other times, he presents himself as a ruthless military leader. So he's able to maintain cohesion as a group and maintain the loyalty of his fighters," Dalby said. He noted that some former LRA fighters from northern Uganda have given clues as to why some outside the group stayed loyal to Kony. "They expressed the feeling that because they were given a rank, they were given a certain purpose, and respect and authority," Dalby says. "And then, once they're outside the LRA, they find they've become just another poor person, trying to survive." Where is Kony now? "Kony fled back into Sudan probably in late 2005, 2006 and he has not been back into Uganda since, as far as we know," Green said. He is believed to be accompanied by a small band of supporters, though his followers are still said to be terrorizing people elsewhere on the continent. "The mass abduction of Ugandan children and the terrible atrocities, the massacres that Kony committed have not occurred for some years now," added Green. "However, his forces are still on the loose in places like Central African Republic and Eastern Congo, and they still retain the capacity to kill large numbers of civilians. So although they're not a threat to Uganda now, they certainly are a threat to the region." The U.S. has listed the LRA as a terrorist group and in October, Washington authorized up to 100 U.S. Special Operations trainers and military advisers to assist African forces searching for Kony and other leaders of the LRA. The activities of the group are tracked on a website that uses information from the Invisible Children's Early Warning Radio Network, U.N. agencies and local NGOs to map and document recent crimes. Here is a real question; do blacks here in America even care that other people of color are being subjected to this type of Warlord? What about the Joseph Kony's here in America...the Drug Dealers, some of the Rappers that depict and promote black or black violence in their songs and videos? Maybe this is why we are so numb to this type of story outside of the US, simply because we see Joseph Kony and his homies everyday in ours, in our communities, on TV. To borrow a line from "Boyz n da Hood", 'it is just another day in the hood"; both here in America and in Africa...what do you think? |
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Cruz Inc Staff: Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 11:58 AM
After 20 plus years of terror and abuse by Joseph Kony, his terrible deeds come to the eyes of the world!! Why did it take so long for this black bastard's acts go under the radar for so long? This shouldn't surprise anyone; the plight of people of color is always by-passed or over-looked. People of Color are not priority, until thousands are affected. But now that his reign of terror and abuse has come to light, what should the UN or the United States do? Should we send Special Forces and cut the head of this snake off? Should he be arrested and brought up on charges? What do you think should happen? Why does it take so long for people to react to the issues of "people of color"? Joseph Kony- A terrorist...it is time to include him in our war on terroism???? |
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Cruz Inc Staff: Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 10:16 AM
 Newswise — A national team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere say they are surprised and dismayed by results of their new study showing that the yearly number of new cases of HIV infection among black women in Baltimore and other cities is five times higher than previously thought. The data show that infection rates for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, among this population are much higher than the overall incidence rates in the United States for African-American adolescents and African-American women.
The data come from an ongoing, larger series of studies supported by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, and reflect testing and analysis of at-risk women in six urban areas in the northeastern and southeastern United States hardest hit by the global AIDS epidemic. The so-called “hotspots” are Baltimore; Atlanta; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Newark, N.J.; and New York City. Researchers plan to present their findings March 8 at the 19th annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle.
Specifically, the team found that among 2,099 women ages 18 to 44, 88 percent of whom were black, 1.5 percent (32 women) tested positive at the outset of the study and were not enrolled, while among those who remained, 0.24 percent tested positive for HIV within a year after joining the study. All study participants were HIV negative, including more than 200 from Baltimore, when they volunteered for the study.
Experts say this rate of infection, or seroconversion, is five times previous estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for urban African-American women.
“This study clearly shows that the HIV epidemic is not over, especially in urban areas of the United States, like Baltimore, where HIV and poverty are more common, and sexually active African-American men and women are especially susceptible to infection,” says principal investigator for the Baltimore portion of the study, Charles Flexner, M.D., a clinical pharmacologist and infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins.
“We, as care providers and policy makers, have our job cut out for us in devising HIV prevention programs targeted to sexually active men and women in Baltimore and other cities,” says Flexner. He says prevention tactics should include more counseling about sexually transmitted infections, distribution of condoms, and intensive education about safer sex practices. Flexner is a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In Baltimore, the study conducted from May 2009 to July 2010 asked participating women who about their safe sex practices and other health issues, then asked them to come to The Johns Hopkins Hospital for HIV testing at no cost. Those who tested positive were offered counseling and treatment.
“While we have always known that African-Americans had a higher risk of HIV infection than other American racial groups, this study confirms it and underscores the severity of the national and local problem, especially in cities,” says Flexner.
Flexner says women of all races account for a quarter of the 50,000 new HIV infections each year in the United States, which adds to the more than 1 million men and women already known to have tested positive. Sixty-six percent of the women newly infected each year are black, even though African-American women represent only 14 percent of the U.S. female population. The national age-adjusted death rate for black women in the United States is nearly 15 times higher than that observed for HIV-infected white women.
The new study, formally known as HPTN 064 Women’s Seroincidence Study, was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The study site leader was co-investigator Anne Rompalo, M.D., Sc.M., an infectious disease specialist and professor at Johns Hopkins.
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