Earlier this week, a spam message purporting to be from CNN began circulating the Internet. We decided to blog about this to alert those of you who hadn’t yet received it to be on the lookout for it; and also to assure those of you who did receive it that the message was NOT, in fact, from CNN.
As you may know, spammers often disguise or forge the source of their e-mail to give recipients the impression that the message derived from another system, especially one tied to a recognizable brand. In this instance, the spammer chose to use the CNN brand.
The message, claiming to contain CNN’s Top 10 news stories and videos of the day, is fraudulent and did not originate from CNN. If you have received it, we suggest that you delete it from your mailbox. Further, we recommend you delete any e-mail message from your mailbox that you believe may be illegitimate.
Thanks to all of you out there who alerted us to the existence of this spam purporting to be from CNN.
plez sez: Fradulent Spam is Everywhere... i guess it's just a by-product of the Internet Age.
well, plezWorld was a frequent recipient of said SPAM... actually, i received a message each day for the past week. one thing that tipped me off that it was SPAM: all of the messages showed up in my SPAM Folder AND none of the links in the e-mail message were for CNN.com. DUH!
From CNN.com: (CNN Student News) -- Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN launches a sweeping on-air and digital initiative, CNN Presents: Black in America. These documentaries, "The Black Woman and Family" and "The Black Man," focus on fresh analysis from new voices about the real lives behind the stereotypes, statistics and identity politics that frequently frame the national dialogue about Black America.
Black in America: The Black Man Aired: Thursday, July 24, 9 p.m. ET. Program overview: Soledad O'Brien evaluates the state of black men in America and explores the controversial topics of black men and fatherhood; disparities between blacks and whites in educational, career and financial achievement; and factors leading to the dramatic rates of black male incarceration. The documentary also examines the achievements of black men and the importance of the positive influences of black fathers. Resources associated with CNN Presents: Black in America.
plez sez: i'm still not feeling the spoken word poet who introduces each segment... been skipping it!
okay, i have to admit, "Black Man" was considerably better than "Black Woman & Family," but both leave a lot to be desired. In "Black Man," soledad did a much better job in providing the context and setting the table for the racial strife that gripped little rock, arkansas in the wake of the de-segregation order and the death of martin luther king, jr. but if you weren't listening closely, it almost appeared that the two gentlemen who were profiled were part of the Little Rock Nine!
but the message associated with the assistant superintendent's family was not lost on me: the two "successful" sons (the lawyer and musically-inclined college student) found their happiness with white women (not saying there's anything wrong with it, but...), while the ne'er-do-well son had a child out of wedlock and was sitting in jail on a weapons charge. and the son who is a DA couldn't even find any Black friends with which to socialize with outside of work (look at the gathering at his house).
and of course, ms. o'brien didn't have to look far to find a deadbeat dad who was too sorry to show up on time for his daughter's birthday party. alittle later in the show, the reason for his being tardy is evident... his baby momma is carrying the twins of some other dude! so if she is soooo damn upset with having to raise Deadbeat Dad #1's daughter, how the HELL is she gonna feel raising Deadbeat Dad #1's daughter and Deadbeat Dad #2's twins!!! what the HECK was she thinking?!? i guess she was like ole girl from "Black Woman & Family" who had FOUR kids by some guy (and adopted another one) who had no intention of marrying her.
i guess my main complaint is the same that i lodged after the first episode: this was not groundbreaking stuff! the statistics have been published and rehashed (it was kind of discouraging to hear about an educated Black man being no more desirable an employee than a white felon!). but nothing new and shocking. nothing tying the current situation to slavery (at least, a modest attempt was done on night one). there are no gay people in the Black community? are rap and hip hop artists the only expression of Black culture (what about Blues & Jazz, and pop, and rock, and R&B - all music forms that were invented by Black people, yeah, even pop!). there are Black men in real colleges, we all didn't get our degrees while incarcerated (there are more Black college-aged men in college than in jail).
she made a veiled reference to the light skin vs. dark skin "thing" that afflicts the Black community, while profiling high-yellow fast-talking Princeton educated Georgetown professor Rev. Dr. Michael Dyson (CNN profile here) and his younger darker skinned brother who is serving a life sentence for murder. unfortunately, this phenomenon and scourge of the Black community was not fleshed out... and if you are not Black, you probably had NO IDEA what they were talking about! that could've been a two-hour show all on it's own... actually, every topic that was glossed over could've been its own two-hour show.
i know time was short (only two hours), but was it that short that the only successful Black family that she could profile was living in a white neighborhood, getting pulled over by the cops outside their house, yet braggadocios about the bermuda grass upkeep in that same neighborhood (notice, he was never on tape around any of his neighbors), and sending his kid to a white private school? she could've rolled through DeKalb County, Georgia and found successful Black families living in Black communities, sending their kids to predominantly Black schools, and bragging about the bermuda grass on their lawns! both nights played up a number of stereotypes, and then took the extra step of validating them.
i applaud soledad o'brien's efforts (even though, over the two nights, she said absolutely NOTHING about being Black - or mixed race - herself during the documentary), but her efforts completely missed the mark. before embarking on such an endeavor again, i suggest she talk with me, first!
From CNN.com: (CNN Student News) -- Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN launches a sweeping on-air and digital initiative, CNN Presents: Black in America. These documentaries, "The Black Woman and Family" and "The Black Man," focus on fresh analysis from new voices about the real lives behind the stereotypes, statistics and identity politics that frequently frame the national dialogue about Black America.
Black in America: The Black Woman & Family Aired: Wednesday, July 23, 9 p.m. ET Program overview: Soledad O'Brien explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the reasons behind the disturbing statistics on single parenthood, disparities between black and white students in schools, and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS. O'Brien reports on the progress of black women in the workplace and the status of the black middle class.
plez sez: i waited with bated breath for this show to air. got the DVR all queued up and ready to go. skipped over the hip hop/spoken word artist... that isn't my style, sorry.
alas, less than an hour into the two hour program, i am disappointed with the show. the Black experience, the segment on Black women alone could've run for two hours. maybe i'm socially aware, maybe because i'm Black, but i didn't see any groundbreaking information. the same tired issues were trotted out: single mother households, lack of emphasis on education, poverty in the Black community, rampant HIV/AIDS infection rates, lack of preventive health care, interracial marriage, ad nauseum.
and of course, hallelujah, low and behold, a WHITE ancestor! how in the heck did ole girl think she get that light skin and freckles! oh, not just any old white ancestor, of course, they found a family whose white great-great-great grandfather had a Black mistress, not a slave! he had two families: one white and one Black. each family had a gaggle of kids. earth to soledad o'brien, just about every damn Black family in the US has the DNA of some nasty, white rapist lurking in the shadows of its history. and just think, marriage between white men and Black women was against the law in most southern states until 1970! yeah... less than 40 years ago!
during this time of obvious miscegenation on the part of white men raping Black women, a Black man could be lynched for looking (or whistling) at a white woman... some shit about violating the purity of the white race! see Emmit Till, a 14-year old boy who was dragged from his uncle's home and shot and lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives in mississippi in 1955.
i guess my biggest issue with the "Woman & Family" episode was the lack of historical context (other than the white ancestor bit) surround all of the issues that were discussed in the documentary. are Black people that damn pitiful, that damn lazy and shiftless, and deserving of scorn for the failures in their communities, OR were there some contributing events in their history that saw them to this station in life? soledad o'brien didn't go there, even though she is Black, her parents were college professors, and her and her five siblings are all graduates of harvard. she couldn't take that extra step and delve into the why?
why do most of us have white ancestors, but rarely do we know who they are? why do most of the Black families not have two parents? why is there such a shortage of eligible Black men for professional Black women? why is education a failure for Black families at such an alarming rate? why do so few of our young men graduate from high school (less than 50 percent)? why is HIV/AIDS such a scourge in our community? why doesn't anyone step up to address the health care gap between Blacks in america and whites in america? why does a high percentage of Black children suffer from homelessness and poverty in america? why does it seem that slavery, something that ended over 150 years ago, still hold so many Black people back? why do so many Black people vote for the Democratic Party candidates? why did circumstances in New Orleans lead to such destruction of that city when similar catastrophes in other parts of the US don't have such a negative effect?
this was not a balanced story... they should have stayed with the Rand family and critiqued them in various scenarios rather than jump around. there was little continuity between segments (except when they referenced members of the Rand family). there was no acknowledgement of nuance, no shades of gray, few nuggets of information that would have made this a groundbreaking documentary. one would be better off finding a copy of "Eyes on the Prize," which covers 30 years of the Civil Rights Movement in a FOURTEEN HOUR documentary.
well... now, i'm off to watch Black men episode...
Back in April 2008, CNN started the Black in America presentations with an in depth review of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Over the course of two nights in July 2008, Soledad O'Brien hosts an in depth and groundbreaking documentary on what it means to be Black in America.
From CNN.com: (CNN Student News) -- Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN launches a sweeping on-air and digital initiative, CNN Presents: Black in America. These documentaries, "The Black Woman and Family" and "The Black Man," focus on fresh analysis from new voices about the real lives behind the stereotypes, statistics and identity politics that frequently frame the national dialogue about Black America.
Black in America: The Black Woman & Family Wednesday, July 23, 9 p.m. ET Program overview: Soledad O'Brien explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the reasons behind the disturbing statistics on single parenthood, disparities between black and white students in schools, and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS. O'Brien reports on the progress of black women in the workplace and the status of the black middle class.
Black in America: The Black Man Thursday, July 24, 9 p.m. ET. Program overview: Soledad O'Brien evaluates the state of black men in America and explores the controversial topics of black men and fatherhood; disparities between blacks and whites in educational, career and financial achievement; and factors leading to the dramatic rates of black male incarceration. The documentary also examines the achievements of black men and the importance of the positive influences of black fathers.
Before and after viewing these programs, use the overview questions and discussion activity that follow to facilitate a discussion with your pre-teen and teenaged children.
Before viewing:
What is your impression of black culture in American society?
What accomplishments have blacks made in America since Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination?
What challenges do you think exist for black men and women in American society today?
Has Barack Obama's candidacy impacted your view of black men and women in America? Explain.
Do you think that your family's history has affected your life? If so, how?
After viewing:
What factors for success did you observe in the documentary? Are these factors present in your life?
Did any of the individuals in the program grow up in an environment similar to yours? Explain.
In your opinion, are there any aspects of black society that could have been added to the program? If so, what are they?
Did anything in the documentary surprise you? If so, what?
Has anything in this program affected your view of blacks in America? Explain.
plez sez: CNN usually does a very good job with these types of documentaries, with a good job, i mean a balanced story which captures the nuances of the subject matter. i am anxious to see their treatment of this subject, because there are so many nuances to Black folk, i am more than a bit curious as to how they will capture them all in two two-hour presentations.
as groundbreaking and noteworthy that this project appears, plezWorld hopes that the people who would benefit the most from viewing it (non-Black folk) will actually take the time to watch it. any public school education will leave you with the knowledge of what it is like to be non-Black in America, but there are scarce opportunities to have the light shown on the Black experience, except during the brief lessons on slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. and throw in the criminal element that stars on the nightly news all over the country, it would be too easy to have a distorted view of what it is like to be a Black person in America.
NOTE: The reason why I blog is to give readers an opportunity to hear and respond to various points of view. Unfortunately, some points of view are so abhorrent and vile that I refuse to let plezWorld be a forum for them. No more comments will be allowed on this subject, due to the cowardly and racist diatribes of a few.
Almost three years later and the foul winds of Hurricane Katrina continue to blow ashore.
CNN reports, the agency that regulates Mississippi's casinos got pillows, stoves, dinnerware and other items meant for Hurricane Katrina victims. The Mississippi Gaming Commission was among 11 state agencies that received the household items from the state's surplus agency. A breakdown of what each agency received shows the commission took a coffee maker, a case of pillows, wash kits, two dual-burner stoves, plates and utensils, two cases of hand sanitizers and 20 five-gallon containers.
A CNN investigation revealed in June that for two years after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency stored 121 truckloads of household items that were purchased or donated for Katrina victims. FEMA eventually declared the items surplus, saying it was too expensive to keep warehousing them, and then offered them to federal agencies and states. Sixteen states, including storm-ravaged Mississippi, took the items. However, CNN discovered that those items were given to the 11 state agencies, schools, cities and fire departments rather than being distributed to residents trying to rebuild their homes.
Read the entire CNN story about the misdirected aid for Hurricane Katrina victims here.
plez sez: One Hundred Twenty-One. 121. CXXI.
no matter how you write it, 121 truckloads of household items were purchased and donated for people who were trying to rebuild their lives after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. All of these items have now been disbursed to agencies who have no interest in helping those who need these items. with a conservative estimate of $10,000 per truckload, more than $1.2 million worth of household goods have been misappropriated.
this is maddening!
who oversaw this misuse and betrayal of the public trust? who is going to want to contribute and donate items for disaster relief when the window for corruption and misuse is wide open?
i have a good friend who grew up in New Orleans. his mother lost EVERYTHING in her home due to Hurricane Katrina. she moved to texas to live with his sister. alittle over a year after the hurricane, my friend's mother passed away... the loss of her way of life was just too devastating. when i hear that there were means to assist the people of the gulf coast to rebuild their lives and those items were just given away with little regard for their intended use, it makes me very angry.
to my way of thinking, the agencies who received these items are in receipt of stolen goods. they should return their ill gotten gains to FEMA, who should in return take the necessary steps to begin to make this right. even though it is three years later, it is not too late to help a family attempt to recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Barack Obama began the conversation on race in America a few weeks ago. CNN continues the conversation with six hours of on-air programming and massive digital background at CNN.com.
The following is a press release from CNN:
Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CNN will launch a sweeping on-air and digital initiative, CNN Presents: Black in America. Breaking new ground in revealing the current state of Black America, this landmark programming features six hours of documentaries, a weekly series of reports that will air on CNN/U.S. and CNN International and appear as part of a multimedia online effort. The programming, which airs over four months in 2008, focuses on fresh analysis from new voices about the real lives behind the stereotypes, statistics and identity politics that frequently frame the national dialogue about Black America.
Reported by anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien, Black in America begins with the two-hour premiere of Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination, a first-person account of what happened on April 4, 1968.
Black in America: Eyewitness to Murder – The King Assassination, Thursday, April 3, 9 p.m. (two hours)
In this first installment of CNN’s Black in America series, O’Brien investigates how James Earl Ray, an armed robber and escaped convict, had already spent an uncommon year on the run that included plastic surgery just a month before his path collided with that of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tenn. Through interviews with witnesses and investigators, O’Brien retraces the steps of King, Ray, the FBI and Memphis police and explores alternative scenarios of who was ultimately responsible for the murder that, for some, represented the end of the American Civil Rights era.
Black in America continues in July with two additional two-hour documentaries that will air on CNN/U.S. and CNN International:
Black in America: The Black Man, Wednesday, July 23, 9 p.m. (two hours)
Perhaps the most misreported group in America today, black men are often stereotypically depicted in the media as convicts, gang members and absentee fathers. Told through the personal stories of graduates of the 1968 class of Little Rock Central High School, their sons and grandsons, for The Black Man, O’Brien seeks to determine whether life is better for black men now than it was 40 years ago. She reports on the disparities between blacks and whites in educational, career and economic achievement and factors leading to the devastating rates of black male incarceration. Contributing expert analysis are Harvard economist Dr. Roland Fryer, Princeton professor Dr. Devah Pager, journalist/social commentator Ellis Cose; and Georgetown University professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson; and others. O’Brien reports on successes and dissects myths to explore the state of black men in America today.
Black in America: The Black Woman & Family, Thursday, July 24, 9 p.m. (two hours)
In this installment of Black in America, O’Brien, examines the unique and varied experiences of black women and families in America. O’Brien looks at the reasons behind the disturbing statistics on single parenthood, disparities between black and white students in the classroom, and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS on black women. The Black Woman & Family yields insights into black achievements and struggles and perspectives on King’s hopes for progress. The documentary is told through the experiences of the Houston-based Rand family with expert commentary from economist and Bennett College president Julianne Malveaux, Essence magazine editor-in-chief Angela Burt-Murray, Dallas-based preacher and life coach Bishop T.D. Jakes, TV/radio personality Michael Baisden, entrepreneur and activist Russell Simmons, actor Vanessa Williams, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher Dr. Camara Jones and others.
As part of the Black in America series, weekly special reports will air between April and June that investigate topics including parenthood and marital rates among black adults, high rates of HIV/AIDS among African Americans, achievement gaps in education, careers, and even disparities in life expectancy rates between African Americans and the general population. These reports will debut after the world premiere of Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination.
“Only CNN could and would undertake a project this comprehensive and ambitious,” said Mark Nelson, vice president and senior executive producer for CNN Productions. “So many passionate journalists have poured themselves into this effort, turning up some surprising storylines and controversial theories about what’s been happening to black people in this country. The stories they will tell will impact all Americans.”
“As we developed this series, it was critical to go beyond what viewers believe and already know to introduce them to the real people behind the headlines that we report every day on our assignments,” O’Brien said.
CNN.com’s interactive special section for Black in America, available at www.CNN.com/blackinamerica, will launch in late March and will feature excerpts from the series and exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses to history. The section also will include timelines, maps and multimedia stories that highlight the ripple effects the King assassination had on the United States.
Bud Bultman and Steve Robinson are the managing editors for Black in America. Jeffery Reid is an executive producer; James Polk is a senior producer for the series; Jen Christensen and Elise Zeiger are producers. Mark Nelson is the vice president and senior executive producer for CNN Productions. Black in America was filmed in high definition.
Soledad O’Brien has reported on human events, politics, natural disasters and war zones from across the nation and around the world.
plez sez: i'm interested in seeing the treatment by CNN and encourage you to take the opportunity to view the special on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the fortieth anniversary of his assassination.
On Monday night (July 23, 2007), the Democratic presidential contenders took to the stage in South Carolina to answer questions submitted by "real people" on the CNN "YouTube Debate (follow the link to see the question and each candidate's answer)." For the most part, the submissions to YouTube.com were far more creative and interesting than the boilerplate, rote responses by the Dems.
Things were going along swimmingly until there was a question about meeting with foreign leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea.
Watch the YouTube.com video below:
As you can see from the video, there was a BIG difference of opinion by the two leading candidates. Since Monday evening, both Clinton and Obama have dug in behind their statements during the debate. A number of newspaper articles have been written about the two contenders taking of the gloves and going toe-to-toe on this one (read articles here, here, and here).
Obama has since referred to The Hillary as "Bush-Cheney Lite." He contends that another Clinton presidency will result in a continuation of a failed foreign policy.
Clinton's camp has referred to Obama as "irresponsible and, frankly, naive." She thinks that meeting with foreign leaders requires diplomacy, strategy, and tact that Obama doesn't have.
I happened to catch a segment on CNN's "The Situation Room" where men from each campaign held a mini-debate over which candidate was "right" and which one was "wrong."
plez sez: the question as asked by the YouTube.com submission mentioned meeting with these foreign leaders "without precondition during the first year of your administration." i am not a statesman by any stretch of the imagination, but i would tend to think that ANY meeting with a foreign leader would carry some conditions and diplomatic "mumbo-jumbo."
but i do like the SPIRIT with which Obama answered the question: he states that unless there is a change in approach, we will continue to have the same FAILED foreign policy that led us to war in Iraq! he correctly asserts that Reagan met with Gorbachev during the Cold War with Russia, Nixon went to China, and JFK had discussions with Russia during the Cuban Missile Crisis. i agree with Obama, i don't see how you can avoid firing missiles at your "enemy" if you've never sat down with them to discuss your differences.
Hillary is leading in the polls, but i'm still feeling the fresh (albeit inexperienced) perspective from Obama.
On CNN's "The Situation Room" on December 6, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), was also asked about a run for the White House in 2008 by anchor Wolf Blitzer:
Blitzer: "You want to be president or you want to be vice president?" Obama: "Well, you don't run for vice president." Blitzer: "So what does that mean? You want to run for president?" Obama: "I answered the question, Wolf. I've got to go vote."
plez sez: I like Barack Obama as a presidential candidate in 2008 because I feel that he is a fresh alternative to the stale re-treads currently in the Democratic stable (Kerry, Gore, Edwards, etc.). Unfortunately, I also get a "Flavor of the Month" feeling about him and wonder how much luster will be left on his now-twinkling star after 2 years of media scrutiny. The media is going to all over him like white-on-rice until the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary in 2008! You have to remember how Gov. Howard Dean was basically a shoo-in before his early primary losses in 2004.
~ husband ~ father ~ son ~ brother ~ mentor ~ subdivision dweller ~ northern by birth ~ southern by choice ~ raised a black baptist, now guided by the spiritual ~ raised a kennedy democrat, now politically dead center (moderate) ~ raised in a Cadillac Coupe Deville, now hooked on an SUV ~ college educated and still a student of life ~ wild college frat boy and now a settled alumnus ~ intellectual yet fun-loving geek ~ technical and leading edge ~ corporate cog ~ consultant ~ college football saturday devotee ~ and a ramblin' gamblin' helluva engineer (GO JACKETS!) ~
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine; and they are in no way associated with the views of my employer, family, friends, or associates.
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