Social Report

In his weekly radio address, President George W. Bush discussed his plans to regenerate the economy, as he explained how Americans filing tax returns will receive rebate checks. These “one-time” tax rebates are apart of the “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008,” a growth package that Congress signed into law in February.

Payment specifications:
People maybe entitled to a payment of up $600 or $1,200 if filing a joint return, plus additional amounts for each qualifying child. For taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 or more than $150,000 if married filing jointly, the may not eligible or possible reductions may apply.

F.Y.I. – www.irs.gov

Florida apologized for its role in slavery Wednesday, March 26. State legislators expressed “profound regret for the involuntary [enslavement] of [African-Americans] and called for reconciliation among Floridians.”

In its recent apology resolution, the state acknowledged Florida’s severe slave laws. For example, “…slaves duly convicted of robbery…or burglary shall suffer death or have his or her ears nailed to posts and there stand for one hour and receive 30 lashes on his or her bare back at the discretion of the court.’

Since January 2008, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey have apologized for its role of slavery in history.

F.Y.I. on Fla.
Web site: www.myflorida.com
Governor: Charlie Crist (R)
U.S. Senators: Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R)
Lt. Governor: Jeff Kottkamp (R)
Capital: Tallahassee
Largest city: Jacksonville

Visit www.myfloridahouse.gov to read the entire Florida Senate Concurrent Resolution.

At least 4,007 members of the U.S. military have died since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. “The [count] include eight military civilians. At least 3,261 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.’
‘The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korean, one death each,” according to www.nytimes.com.

Visit the www.defenselink.mil for army casualty updates at U.S. Dept. of Defense.

Twenty-year-old Spc. Joshua A. Molina died Thursday, March 27 “in Baghdad, Iraq from wounds suffered after his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. [The Houston, Texas native] was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany,” according to DoD.

Related Web sites:
www.dragoons.org
www.patriotguard.org

There’s been a lot of online controversy about Vogue’s cover featuring NBA star LeBron James and supermodel Gisele Bundchen. The cover supposedly demonstrates James as gorilla rescuing Bundchen, a damsel in distress.

What’s your opinion?

Detroit’s Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty maybe be facing jail time, for lying under oath in August 2007 about having an affair. This case supposedly emerged after the mayor fired Gary Brown, a then-city deputy police chief. To date, an investigation into Kilpatrick’s text messages sent to Beatty about Brown’s dismissal is underway.

For more information on Kilpatrick’s investigation, visit the following sites:
Detroit Free Press
FOXNews.com
WDIV Detroit

Gillian Gibbons, 54, a British teacher, was recently found guility of insulting religion and sentenced to 15 days in prison for allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Mohammed,” according to news reports.

Gibbons could have faced a sentence of 40 lashes, a fine, or a jail term of up to a year, according to the Foreign Office, which expressed Britain’s dissatisfaction with the verdict.

Robert Boulos, the head of Unity High School, said Gibbons asked the children to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats,” according to www.cnn.com.

Saturday, the Guardian Unlimited reported that British Muslims protested outside the Sudanese Embassy over the treatment of Gibbons.

Chanting “free, free Gillian” and “let her go, let her go,” demonstrators attempted to hand over a “goodwill teddy” to the embassy, but a staffer member refused to accept the gift”-Guardian Unlimited.

To read “Muslims in jailed teacher protest,” visit the Guardian Unlimited.

Today is World AIDS Day and free testing centers everywhere have been set up for around the world for people. Many people that HIV/AIDS is not a problem in the U.S., however the number is expected to rise. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that of all the nation’s racial and ethnic groups more African Americans have been impacted by the disease than any other.

The following statistics concerning HIV/AIDS in the African-American community were taken from the CDC.

• Although African-Americans represent less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, they were half of all AIDS cases detected in 2005.
• In 2005, blacks accounted for 18,121 of the estimated 37,331 new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the United States. By comparison, Hispanics accounted for 18%, whites for 31% and other 2%.
• In 2005, men made up about 65% of HIV/AIDS cases among black in the 33 states with long-term reporting.
• In 2005, black females aged 13 years and older accounted for 66% of the HIV/AIDS diagnoses among women. The rate of HIV/AIDS diagnoses for black women was 20 times the rate of white women.

Global summary of the AIDS epidemic
Numbers taken from the World Health Organization
December 2007

Number of people living with HIV in 2007
Total 33.2 million
Adults 30.8 million
Women 15.4 million
Children under 15 years 2.5 million

People newly infected with HIV in 2007
Total 2.5 million
Adults 2.1 million
Children under 15 years 420,000

AIDS death in 2007
Total 2.1 million
Adults 1.7 million
Children under 15 years 30,000

World AIDS Day is Saturday, Dec. 1. Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been celebrated around the world. This day is recognized as an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.

The estimated number of people living with HIV worldwide in 2007 is 33.2 million, a reduction of 16 percent compared with the estimate reported in 2006, according to the World Health Organization.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) as the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The virus can be passed from one person to another when infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions come in contact with an uninfected person’s broken skin or mucous membranes.

In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has ordered lights dimmed from 6:45 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1, at the State Capitol in Springfield and other state government buildings.

In 2005, the Illinois Department of Public Health estimated that 42,000 people in Illinois were living with HIV/AIDS. Just over 31,000 of these individuals have been tested and know their HIV status. An estimated 10,000 HIV-positive state residents do not know they are infected with the disease,” according to the Illinois Government News Network.

Chicago World AIDS Day Events:
Champaign-Urbana Holiday Parade
Downtown Champion
Champion
5:30 p.m.
IDPH Wellness on Wheels Van on site

Chicago Westside Branch NAACP
World AIDS Day Brunch, speakers, free HIV rapid testing
Bethel New Life
1140 N. Lamon Street
Chicago
10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Chicago BULLS Basketball Game
BASUAH Promotion during the game
United Center
Chicago
7:30 p.m.

Image source: National HIV Testing Resource

Nairobi, a Kenyan human rights group claimed the Kenyan police killed 8,040 people by execution or torture during a Mungiki sect crackdown. The group said another 4,070 people had gone missing. The deaths and disappearances occurred over five years up to August 2007.

Mungiki is a politico-religious group and a banned criminal organization in Kenya. The religion is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. The group favors a return to indigenous African traditions and reject of Christianity and practicing forced female circumcision.
-Wikipedia

Mungiki sect

Other relevant articles:

BBC News: Profile: Kenya’s secretive Mungiki sect

Brisbane Times: Boy, 2, beheaded and diced

Chicago Tribune: Violent cult patrols Kenya slums

A resident in Mathare slum, east of Nairobi, spoke to the BBC News website about the killing of his brother, the late Murefu, 24.

“My late brother who was known by the nickname Murefu – tall man – disappeared on Wednesday, July 11.

It was at that time when we heard that the police were using intelligence to hunt down Mungiki sect members.

I don’t know what kind but apparently they were.

These guys arrived at his place of work. No one knows if they were police officers or gang members or who they were because there were disguised in civilian clothes.

These people who picked him up had said they wanted to talk about some small things with him.

So they all went off together.

But later my brother Murefu was nowhere to be found.

We have never seen him again.

No one knows anything either, no matter who we approach or ask.”

Read the entire article at BBC News.

“How do we beat the b_____?”

That was the question asked of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a few nights ago in South Carolina. An older woman, referring to Sen. Hilary Clinton, stood and asked Sen. McCain, “how do we beat the b____?”

Groans, laughs and applauses followed.

McCain, also laughing, asked for a tranlastion. He later told the crowd “that’s an excellent question.”

Watch the video.

Imagine the outrage over calling Sen. Barack Obama “boy.” No one could get away with calling John Edwards, et al. “little pricks.” Sure enough, that other ultimate putdown slithered out: It’s the one where women who know their business and mind it are denigrated for their savvy. I’m talking about evoking the ‘B’ word when referring to Hillary Clinton. – Deborah Douglas, Chicago Sun-Times.

Read Deborah Douglas’ entire article.

Video source: youtube