On the strength of exceeding all expectations during his first season as head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team (and to ensure that he doesn't jump ship anytime soon), for posting a 9-3 record, and for whuppin' the Georgia Bulldogs for the first time in 7 years, ACC Coach of the Year Paul Johnson was given a 7 year, $17.7 million contract extension.
Next year, he'll make $2.3 million and an opportunity to make more in incentives (probably based on the bowl selection and team wins). This deal makes Johnson the second-highest paid coach in the ACC, behind Bobby Bowden at FSU (around $2.4 million a year). He joins Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech and Butch Davis at North Carolina in the $2 million-a-year club in the ACC.
Johnson was named the ACC coach of the year after leading the Jackets to a 9-3 record, including wins over FSU, Miami, Clemson and Georgia. Tech will play LSU in the Chick-fil-A bowl on Dec. 31. A win would be their second 10-win season in the past decade.
Johnson was hired by Tech AD Dan Radakovich in December of 2007 after Johnson spent six seasons at Navy. He has a 116-42 career record as a coach at Tech, Navy and Georgia Southern.
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Here's to you Coach Johnson, the "Ramblin' Wreck Song"
GO JACKETS! STING 'EM!
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plez sez: this is a well-deserved contract... he is worth EVERY PENNY! and i'm sure he will get an upgraded contract in a few years when Tech becomes a perennial threat for top ACC and national championship honors. johnson turned around the attitude and play of a football team that was comfortable in its mediocrity. he took players that he didn't recruit and turned them into winners. imagine what he's going to do with a team that is stocked with his recruits?
we were competitive against north carolina and just weren't mentally prepared to finish off virginia. if we'd won those two games, not only would we be in a bcs bowl game this year, but we would've been getting some serious consideration for national championship play. we haven't had a team this primed for national exposure since george o'leary slithered off in 2001 to scratch his notre dame itch!
oh yeah, he's a really nice guy, too. during the hub-bub after tech's win over fsu, johnson stopped amidst the throng of well-wishers to autograph the back of my daughter's t-shirt while we waited for the team to emerge at the players' gate. a true class act in plezWorld!
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AS AN ASIDE: i'm pleased as punch with this development, because this will ensure that coach johnson will remain on the flats for at least a few more years. but on the other hand, this news is a bit disturbing in light of the nation's economic woes and the growing unemployment figures for the state of georgia. georgia tech is a state school and a number of programs that i've supported over the past couple of years at the school have either had budget cutbacks or have been eliminated completely... and NONE of these programs have budgets that come close to a million dollars, much less $2.3 million.
it's a shame that tech can find $2 million to pay a football coach, but cannot find a fraction of that amount to support the students of a leadership development program who i mentor.
According to numbers released by the Department of Labor, the state of Georgia remains above the national average of 6.7 percent to log a 7.5 percent unemployment rate. This is the highest rate in the state since Reagan was in the White House.
Read excerpts of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about the latest news:
Georgia’s unemployment rate continued its steady march higher in November, rising to 7.5 percent.
It is the highest rate in more than 25 years, the state Labor Department said Thursday.
The rate has climbed a full 3 percentage points from a year ago, when it was 4.5 percent. It was 6.9 percent in October.
“Job losses are accelerating throughout most of the state’s economic sectors, with the exception of healthcare, education, and the federal government,” State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said in a press release. “Although it may be difficult to find a job in this environment, it is not impossible.”
Georgia’s jobless rate has been running above the national rate, currently 6.7 percent, for the past several months.
The Labor Department said 365,244 Georgians are currently looking for work.
Over the last year, the agency said, the number of payroll jobs decreased 94,400 or 2.3 percent.
That includes 67,400 jobs lost in metro Atlanta, a 2.7 percent decline.
Manufacturing, construction, and trade, along with administrative and support services, including temporary employment agencies, were especially hard hit, the labor department said.
One should note, the jobless rate doesn't include people who are no longer looking for work! So it is probable the the unemployment rate is significantly higher since people tend to stop reporting their jobless status after a few months. Some have said that in some communities, the rate may be over 10 percent.
plez sez: this is tough news to be receiving the week before christmas. plezWorld is really feeling the crunch, as i was downsized six months ago and have only received scant nibbles from organizations that may be looking to hire. very few people are hiring these days.
coming on the heels of the news about the chrysler shutdown next week, the failed big three automakers bailout, the continued credit crunch in spite of the wall street bailout, and news that our economy started grinding to a halt 12 months ago... it appears this recession is going to live up to the expectations that it will be long in duration and cut deep into our economy.
Chrysler announced on Wednesday that it will close all 30 of its auto manufacturing plants for at least a month starting at the end of shifts on Friday as it tries to conserve cash and avoid bankruptcy amid plunging demand for its vehicles.
The third-largest U.S. automaker said that it is taking the action to bring its inventories more into line with reduced U.S. demand for new cars and trucks. It blamed its current difficulties largely on customers' inability to obtain financing to purchase new vehicles and said tight credit markets were discouraging would-be buyers.
Chrysler said manufacturing operations would resume at the earliest on Jan. 19. Two factories in Toledo, Ohio, that make the Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Nitro will be closed until Jan. 26. A minivan plant in Canada and a plant in Detroit that makes the Dodge Viper will remain shut until Feb. 2.
A total of 46,000 employees will be affected. The workers will be paid during the time off through a combination of state unemployment benefits and Chrysler contributions, but they will not receive the full amount of their working pay.
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Chrysler (in fact, most automakers) normally shuts down operations between Dec. 24 and Jan. 5. This closure would add roughly two weeks to that shutdown.
On the heels of the Chrysler shutdown announcement, Ford Motor Company said that it would extend the holiday shutdown at most of its plants to a third week.
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Auto sales have been bludgeoned by tight credit and the struggling economy. Overall auto sales in the United States were down 37% last month compared with November 2007. Chrysler's situation was especially bad: its sales dropped a whopping 47%.
Chrysler's financing arm, Chrysler Financial, has tightened lending terms for buyers and earlier this year, it announced it would no longer offer leases.
Chrysler said the decision to add more down time was largely based upon reports from its dealers that they have many willing buyers, but that they are unable to close deals because of a lack of financing.
“People have to get credit to purchase vehicles,” Chrysler spokesperson Shawn Morgan said. “We have dealers telling us that they have customers who want to buy, but they can’t get financing. When they can get credit. Sales will improve... [but] we shouldn’t be producing vehicles without orders.”
Chrysler dealers report a loss of about 20% to 25% of their volume because of the credit situation.
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plez sez: is this the harbinger of the Big Two?!?
no less than one week ago in this space, plezWorld predicted the demise of one of the big three us automakers. in light of the recession and continued credit crunch, will chrysler open any of its plants in january? in february? in march?
i find no joy in the news. this slowdown will undoubtedly affect over 100,000 workers (automakers, dealers, and suppliers) over the next month. i grew up in shouting distance of a large GM plant in north tarrytown, new york, so i know what an economic engine an automaker has in the community where it operates.
i'm afraid any bailout at this point will do little to keep chrysler afloat. the recession is cutting deep and there is no reason to believe that in one month that the credit crunch or job loss numbers will be better to allow people to once again roam the glistening dealerships of chrysler autos. seven or eight billion dollars will allow them to make payroll, make insurance payments, bolster the pension, purchase raw materials, and make more autos that NO ONE will be able to purchase in february or march.
with those facts in mind, i can foresee chrysler continually pushing back the factory startup date until they finally have to admit to themselves and the public that those plants will remain idle... and chrysler will be a us automaker no more.
this has to be worst news about the us economy since the word of the wall street collapse in september. on monday, we will talk of chrysler in the past tense. and our nomenclature will change, as we now have the Big Two.
What premiered to low viewership in October ended with over 2.8 million viewers and a television phenomenon... those wacky "Housewives of Atlanta." Many in Atlanta were aghast at their antics and ghetto-fabulous ways, others around the country were taken in and took a weekly hour long escape with the women who call the metro Atlanta area home.
"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" is the third incantation of the "Real Housewives..." brand of Bravo television. The first one began a few years ago with a similar line-up of ambitious women obsessed with conspicuous consumption on a grand scale in a gated community in Orange County, California (I just started watching Season 4 which has a few new faces). Earlier this year, a New York group was added to the franchise. And a predominantly Black group of women were found to anchor this year's newest series.
The premise is pretty simple: film the day-to-day antics of a close knit group of financially well-off women, and then let the sparks fly as they try to out spend, out class, out brag, and out consume their female counterparts on the show. Add a healthy dose of alcohol (fine wine and champagne, of course), big houses in gated communities, and plenty of free time for them to show each other up... sit back and watch the fur fly! All three series (Orange County, New York, and Atlanta) followed the same formula and all three series (to a certain extent) receive the same reaction from the "cast."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found some Atlanta housewives who weren't particularly happy with the depiction of the ATL in the show (basically lapping up the Haterade):
“It was a mess — the worst representation of women in Atlanta I’ve ever seen,” said Andrea Clark, a housewife in Hampton, south of Atlanta.
“I would not want to show my face in public after that,” she added.
“I just thought it was awful,” said Sherri Caldwell, a housewife in Virginia-Highlands and author of the book “The Rebel Housewife.”
“Incredibly distasteful,” added Marie Killory, an Atlanta mother of three.
The Bravo series, which debuted last week and continues tonight, follows five very wealthy women living in gated communities in the northern suburbs as they shop, spat and crow about their status.
“I consider myself among Atlanta’s wealthy elite,” Sheree Whitfield said in the first episode, as she threw herself a birthday party with security guarding the front door and a cake shaped like a huge Louis Vuitton purse. Her friend Kim Zolciak wrote a $68,000 personal check for a Cadillac Escalade, while another housewife, Deshawn Snow, took viewers on a tour of her 15,000-square-foot mansion and interviewed applicants for her staff.
Two are married to professional athletes, and a third is divorcing an athlete, seeking a “lump sum” in “seven figures.” Another appears to be supported by a man she calls “Big Poppa.”
The timing of a TV show that wallows in wealthy indulgence when millions are panicking about their financial futures struck some viewers as especially tacky.
“In this dreadful financial climate, it is particularly unbelievable to watch this level of conspicuous consumption,” Bethenny Frankel, who was one of the “Real Housewives of New York,” posted in a blog — one ostensibly set up to promote the series on Bravo’s Web site.
Frankel called the Atlanta series “ ‘Cribs’ meets ‘Jerry Springer.’”
Well, Bravo has decided the peach of the Atlanta group is too juicy to pass up, so they are about to begin filming Season Two. The final episode of Season One broke the record for the number of viewers of a cable show! Trashy? Yes! But then again, who can look away from a train wreck that is barreling down the track?!?
Who isn't curious to find out what has happened with Kim and Big Poppa?
Will Eric Snow - the pro basketball player - let his wife, DeShawn, come back to the show? She appeared to be the most level-headed and drama-averse of the group.
How fake can Sheree get? And did she get seven-figures in her divorce from former Atlanta Falcon's player Bob Whitfield?
How is business going with Lisa? Did she ever snatch big wig Kim bald-headed in a catfight?
And rumor had it that NeNe and her family was put out of their big house... did they get to keep it? Or are they living in an apartment?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the popular Bravo series will be back for Season Two:
Or we can take the press release quote from the Bravo exec, in less-than-colorful business-speak:
“The level of engagement on Atlanta far surpasses a typical series on cable or broadcast, with our viewers deepening their connection to the show through live wireless chats, daily blogs and additional footage online,” said Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bravo. “This, along with the colorful personalities of our housewives, helped drive the series to a watercooler sensation.”
I anticipate all five housewives will be back. I’m not sure if they are contractually required to be around for a second season but my guess is yes. I ran into Sheree Whitfield yesterday at Frank Ski’s [an Atlanta radio personality] wine auction and she said the promotion the show gives her is priceless in terms of getting her clothing line off the ground, that it’s well worth the aggravation of being insulted online and being scrutinized to such a degree.
A launch date for season two has yet to be identified though my guess is late spring or summer. I bet they will start shooting the season in January or February.
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plez sez: okay, guilty as charged! i still have season one of "real housewives of atlanta" saved on my dvr - i can't get enough of the reunion show! before you level any attacks on plezWorld, you need to know i am also recording season four of "the real housewives of orange county" as i type (it comes on tuesday nights at 10 PM ET on Bravo).
for some reason, trashy reality television like this appeals to the voyeur in me... it's also good to see that having lots of money in a bank account doesn't absolve one the troubles that everyone else experiences. i didn't see the atlanta housewives as a representative cross-section of atlanta anymore than the group in orange county speaks for the women of southern california! actually, it was pretty cool seeing how money doesn't change things that much; yeah, you can hire a chef to cook for you and you can live in a 15,000 square-foot home and drive high end automobiles. but more than likely, you still have to get your ass up for work everyday, your kids still need parental guidance or they'll go astray, happiness isn't found in a bank account or with material things, and if you're ghetto before you "get paid," more than likely you'll remain ghetto well after you "gotten paid," right, Sheree?!?
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plez sez:if you missed season one, bravo plays a healthy dose of re-runs on the weekends... check out the housewives of the ATL!
On Sunday, during a press conference while on a surprise (last) visit to Baghdad, an Iraqi journalist -- identified as Muntadhar al-Zaidi -- threw both of his shoes at President Bush. And as they say in the business, the rest is history...
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Excerpts of CNN.com report on "shoe throwing" incident:
An Iraqi TV reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference remained in custody Monday, while judicial officials decided whether to charge him with assault.
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, a reporter for the TV channel Al-Baghdadia, faced testing for alcohol and drugs to determine his state of mind, said a government official, who requested anonymity.
At Sunday's news conference, the journalist whipped off his shoes and hurled them at Bush during the president's unannounced stop in Baghdad. The reporter called his shoe-throwing, a traditional insult in Arab culture, a "farewell kiss" to a "dog" who launched the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Excerpts of New York Times article on "shoe thrower":
Barely 24 hours after the journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, was tackled and arrested for his actions at a Baghdad news conference, the shoe-throwing incident was generating front-page headlines and continuing television news coverage. A thinly veiled glee could be discerned in much of the reporting, especially in the places where anti-American sentiment runs deepest.
In Sadr City, the sprawling Baghdad suburb that has seen some of the most intense fighting between insurgents and American soldiers since the 2003 invasion, thousands of people marched in his defense. In Syria, he was hailed as a hero. In Libya, he was given an award for courage.
Mr. Zaidi, a correspondent for an independent Iraqi television station, Al-Baghdadia, remained in Iraqi custody on Monday. While he has not been formally charged, Iraqi officials said he faced up to seven years in prison if convicted of committing an act of aggression against a visiting head of state.
Hitting someone with a shoe is a deep insult in the Arab world, signifying that the person being struck is as low as the dirt underneath the sole of a shoe. Compounding the insult were Mr. Zaidi’s words as he hurled his footwear at President Bush: “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!” While calling someone a dog is never polite, among Arabs, who traditionally consider dogs unclean, the words were an even stronger slight.
The incident has been a source of embarrassment for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who, in a statement on Monday, called the shoe throwing a “a shameful savage act” and demanded a public apology from Al-Baghdadia.
“The act damaged the reputation of Iraqi journalists and journalism in general,” the statement said.
As of Monday night, no apology from the station was forthcoming. Instead, the network posted an image of Mr. Zaidi, 29, in the corner of the screen for much of the day. Viewers were invited to phone in their opinions, and the vast majority said they approved of his actions.
Opponents of the continued American presence in Iraq turned Mr. Zaidi’s detention Monday into a rallying cry. Support for the detained journalist crossed religious, ethnic and class lines in Iraq — vaulting him to near folk hero status.
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plez sez: okay, okay! we all had a nice chuckle at our inept and goofy looking lame-duck president bush ducking the incoming shoe. and a helmet sticker goes to the iraqi prime minister for blocking the second projectile aimed at bush's cranium. some quick hands by al-maliki!
but after the laughter has subsided, let's all remember that until january 20th at high noon, george w. bush is still the president of the united states and leader of the free world. if not bush himself, the office of the president should command a certain level of respect not only here in the united states, but also in other countries around the world... especially in a country where we have squandered close to 5,000 soldiers' lives and over a trillion dollars over the past five years.
although, my household got a nice belly laugh with bush's theatric duck of the flying shoes (something that will certainly find its way into an upcoming Saturday Night Live skit), this was still a deplorable act directed at our president and indirectly at the american people who were duped by this president in "liberating" iraq from the rule of sadaam hussein.
al-baghdadia found an ideal stage for his protest; he is being hailed as a folk hero in iraq. but to my way of thinking, he has also hurled an international insult to the people of the united states. i'm sure the iraqi security detail has delivered the beatdown he so deserves - the BBC reports that muntadar al-zaidi suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury according to his older brother, dargham.
and now it's time for plezWorld to keep it real! for the past eight years, Dubya has disrespected not only the people of iraq, the untold thousands of dead iraqis, the us servicemen (and women) who've given their limbs and lives for the illegal war in iraq, but also the american people who've had to put up with his jacked up and illegal policies that have so diminished the presidency of the united states that our country is a joke to these people. the line of people who'd like to put a foot up in the arse of george bush would stretch for miles in iraq... ...around the world... and throughout the united states!
al-baghdadia's shoes represent the feelings of millions of people who cannot wait for george bush to leave the white house on january 20th!
Federal law requires state electors to meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast votes for president and vice president. Electors are expected to vote for the winner in their state, but there is no federal law or Constitutional provision that requires them to do so, although some states have such requirements.
December 15th is the date when all of the Electoral College meets in the capitol of every state and the District of Columbia. The electors cast their ballots and the President of the United States is officially elected.
Based on the results from the November 4th election, the outcome was preordained, but it doesn't make the moment any less monumental.
Barack H. Obama is officially the President-Elect of the United States of America.
Entire Associated Press story:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — As 13 electors cast ballots Monday for the nation's first black president in the Confederacy's old Capitol, Henry Marsh emotionally recalled the smartest man he ever knew — a waiter, who couldn't get a better job because of his race.
"He waited tables for 30 years, six days a week, 12 hours a day, from 12 noon to 12 midnight, and he supported his family," Marsh, 75, a civil rights lawyer and state senator, said of his father as he fought back tears. "He suffered a lot. He went through a lot."
In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the 538 electors performed a constitutional process to legally elect Democrat Barack Obama the 44th president.
More than 131 million voters cast ballots — the most ever in a presidential election. But Obama's election is not complete until Congress tallies the outcome of Monday's Electoral College vote at a joint session scheduled for Jan. 6.
Monday's voting was largely ceremonial, the results preordained by Obama's Nov. 4 victory over Republican Sen. John McCain. Obama won 365 electoral votes, to 173 for McCain. With every state reporting, all the electors had cast ballots in accordance with the popular votes in their states.
In many states, the formal, staid proceeding was touched with poignance, particularly among people old enough to recall a time when voting alone posed the risk of violence for black Americans.
The contrast at Virginia's Capitol, where the Confederate Congress met, was particularly striking.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine noted in his speech that the 200-year-old Capitol was where lawmakers just 50 years ago orchestrated the state's formal defiance of federal school desegregation orders. But he also noted that it is where L. Douglas Wilder took his oath as the nation's first elected black governor in 1990.
"This temple of Democracy shines very brightly today," Kaine told a standing-room-only crowd attending what had always been a sparsely attended afterthought.
In Florida, state Sen. Frederica Wilson, 66, never thought she would see a black man elected president.
"White water fountains, colored water fountains. You couldn't sit at the lunch counter, go to the bank or get a hamburger," Wilson said after signing a document certifying that Obama got all 27 of her state's electors.
"The pain will always be there, but I think there's a realization that people have evolved," she said.
In North Carolina, 61-year-old Janice Cole said Monday's event was a joyous marker for black people to put old Dixie's trouble past behind them.
"Sen. Obama reminds us that only in America could this story be possible," Cole said.
As a pro football legend, Franco Harris signs his autograph countless thousands of times. But the signature he made as one of 21 Pennsylvania electors for Obama was the one the Pittsburgh Steelers great running back won't ever forget.
"That was special," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said. "This was the most valuable thing I've ever signed my name to."
In Augusta, Maine, the moment was freighted with emotion for Jill Duson, the first black mayor of Portland and chairwoman of Maine's four electors.
"Every time I think of it, I get a little misty eyed," Duson said. "I am undone by the election of Barack Obama and what it says to me as a black American, and his victory in the whitest state."
Sedrick Rawlins, a retired 81-year-old dentist from Manchester, Conn., traveled to Selma, Ala., in 1965 to help the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., with the bloody march to Montgomery. The night Obama won the election, he said, he wept with joy. On Monday, he couldn't stop smiling.
"The election is one thing, but it's really official when they seal those ballots with wax and send them off," Rawlins said.
Colorado elector Wellington Webb, Denver's first and only black mayor, said the chance to cast an electoral vote for the first black president was the honor of a lifetime, one that would have made King proud.
"He would find the dream fulfilled," Webb said.
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Excerpts of Deseret News story out of Salt Lake City, Utah:
In Salt Lake City, members of Utah's Electoral College cast their five presidential votes for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
The five Republican electors unanimously voted for McCain in the Supreme Court chambers at the state Capitol. The electors also unanimously voted for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president.
While some states held large celebrations to mark the historic occasion of electing the nation's first black president, Utah's ceremony attracted only about two dozen observers, most of whom were news reporters or staff in the Lieutenant Governor's Office, which administers elections.
The entire ceremony took about 10 minutes and President-elect Obama was not mentioned once.
McCain was heavily favored to win Utah's five electoral votes after winning the Republican nomination. He won the popular vote in state in November with 62 percent of the vote.
A few weeks ago, I received a review copy of "Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America" by Frederick Douglass Opie. The book is a comprehensive history of the origins of soul food beginning to pre-colonial Africa and spanning the African Diaspora to America and the Caribbean. In exchange for receipt of the review copy of the book, I have agreed to write a review on plezWorld.
Dr. Opie is associate professor of history and director of the African Diaspora Studies Program at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
plezWorld Review
In a word, the book is delicious. Even though, it reads like it was written by a college professor (which it was) who is defending his thesis, "Hog and Hominy" was an easy read and I found it difficult to put down. Being of African descent myself, I marvelled at how Opie easily wove a rich and informative tapestry that blended the foods the indigenous Africans consumed with the changes in diet upon their interaction with Europeans. This is a history book about cooking with a few recipes in it.
The creolization of Africans' diets went through a number of transformations: while on the African continent, when introduced to Native American, and after close exposure to the Europeans who enslaved them in America and in the Caribbean. One of the items in the book was how the slaves adapted their diet to the food that they found in America: replacing yams with sweet potatoes, the use of corn and corn meal, the introduction of pork products into their diet, and the continued ritualization of chicken with ties directly back to Africa.
Since I grew up in upstate New York from parents who were raised in the North Carolina, I often wondered how certain foods found their way onto our dinner table; foods that my white classmates had never experienced. "Hog and Hominy" also goes into great detail about the Great Migration of Blacks from the South to the North in the early 1900's and the second wave (that also included Blacks from the Caribbean) in the 1950's.
Midway through the book, I realized that the author's grandparents migrated and raised their family in my home town of North Tarrytown, New York. I happen to have known several of the author's kin while growing up since most of the Black folk in North Tarrytown lived in one area. Opie and I were even born in the same hospital!
Lastly, "Hog and Hominy" touches on the Black Power Movement and the campaign by a number of Black leaders to move away from soul food. It was a sobering look at how the effects of the Diaspora and slavery still affect many Blacks today through their diet.
plezWorld encourages you to visit Columbia University Press where you can purchase copies of the book. ~ End of Review ~
Description of "Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America" from Columbia University Press:
Frederick Opie's culinary history is an insightful portrait of the social and religious relationship between people of African descent and their cuisine. Beginning with the Atlantic slave trade and concluding with the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Opie composes a global history of African American foodways and the concept of soul itself, revealing soul food to be an amalgamation of West and Central African social and cultural influences as well as the adaptations blacks made to the conditions of slavery and freedom in the Americas.
Soul is the style of rural folk culture, embodying the essence of suffering, endurance, and survival. Soul food comprises dishes made from simple, inexpensive ingredients that remind black folk of their rural roots. Sampling from travel accounts, periodicals, government reports on food and diet, and interviews with more than thirty people born before 1945, Opie reconstructs an interrelated history of Moorish influence on the Iberian Peninsula, the African slave trade, slavery in the Americas, the emergence of Jim Crow, the Great migration, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. His grassroots approach reveals the global origins of soul food, the forces that shaped its development, and the distinctive cultural collaborations that occurred among Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Americans throughout history.
Hog and Hominy traces the class- and race-inflected attitudes toward black folk's food in the African diaspora as it evolved in Brazil, the Caribbean, the American South, and such northern cities as Chicago and New York, mapping the complex cultural identity of African Americans as it developed through eating habits over hundreds of years.
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View or listen to Opie's discussion of "Hog and Hominy" at the Atlanta Forum Network
"While I would be honored to serve the people of this state, it is clear to me that I am no capacity to serve them if there is a cloud over my head that seems to suggest that I am involved in some unscrupulous scheme to be a United States senator or anything else... I want my name back." - U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) speaking with Don Lemon of CNN on Friday, December 12, 2008 after being identified as "Senate Candidate 5" in the federal criminal complaint against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
Jackson, the son of famed civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and a six-term Democratic congressman from Chicago, had publicly sought to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Jackson had talked to Blagojevich, the person with the sole power to make the appointment, on Monday, just one day before federal agents arrested the Illinois governor. Jackson said he only presented his credentials and polling information that suggests he could win re-election in 2010.
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BLOG UPDATE (12/16/2008): CNN.com reports that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who was cited in a criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich, went to the U.S. Attorney's office about alleged wrongdoers, including the Illinois governor, a Jackson spokesman said Tuesday.
In a statement, spokesman Kenneth Edmonds described Jackson's interaction with federal authorities this way:
"As a responsible citizen and elected official, Congressman Jackson has in the past provided information to federal authorities regarding his personal knowledge of perceived corruption and governmental misconduct.
"This was completely unrelated to the current investigation regarding the U.S. Senate appointment. [But] Jackson has given information regarding the embattled Democratic governor of Illinois, though not in the case currently under investigation."
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plez sez: call me cynical, but to paraphrase Shakespeare, "the [gentleman] doth protest too much, methinks."
this is not a good time to be associated with the current governor of illinois. the taint about him rubs off on anyone with any close association.
the vulgar language. the brazen disposition about him. the arrogance and high mindedness of rod blagojevich. congressman jackson cannot be faulted for wanting to vault into the upper chamber of congress on the heels of BARACK OBAMA's awesome win of the white house. but he should've also been aware of the volatility and risk that he was taking in even going to speak with blago.
jackson would do well to find the "emissary" who spoke on his behalf and have this "emissary" publicly disclose his or her involvement in putting jackson's name out there for blago to think he would "pay to play". just as jesse, jr. made an attempt to clear his name, that name won't be stain-free until all the facts about the use of his name in the context of the sale of Obama's senate seat are aired in public.
i'm afraid saying "i don't know who did it" won't cut it this time around!
On March 11, 2005, Brian Nichols was being transferred from the Fulton County lockup to the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta to be arraigned on a rape case. The rape case was never heard.
While he was supposed to be changing out of the prison garb into a suit, Nichols overpowered the 51-year-old female sheriff's deputy, 5'1″ Cynthia Hall, took her service revolver and proceeded to the courtroom of Judge Rowland Barnes. According to hospital sources, the deputy sustained significant brain injury, facial fractures and a large laceration to her forehead. After the attack, her condition was reported as critical, but she survived. Deputy Hall's injuries were so severe that doctors at Grady Memorial Hospital initially believed that she had sustained a gunshot wound to the face.
Nichols shot and killed Judge Barnes and court reporter Julie Ann Brandau. He was chased outside by Sgt. Hoyt Teasley; Nichols got the drop on Teasley and shot him dead.
Brian Nichols had the entire city of Atlanta gripped in fear as he seemingly vanished in a stolen car outside of the courthouse. Nichols reappeared briefly the next day when he killed off-duty U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm as he worked on a house in Buckhead. He was captured later that day after a standoff with police in the apartment of a woman he had taken hostage in Gwinnett County (just north of the city).
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Nichols held Ashley Smith hostage for seven hours prior to his capture by the police. What follows is the transcript of her statement a few days after his capture:
It was about 2 o'clock in the morning. I was at--I was leaving my apartment to go to the store. I noticed a blue truck in the parking lot with a man in it pulling up. And he parked in the parking space. And I really didn't think too much about it because I just moved into that apartment, you know, two days prior. So I thought maybe he was a neighbor coming home or something. So I left and went to the store. And I came back to my apartment about five minutes later. And the truck was still there. And he was still in it. . . . And I kind of got a little worried then. I thought there's somebody still in that truck. So I got my key to my house ready. And I opened up my car door, and I got out and shut it. And I heard his shut right behind me. I started walking to my door, and I felt really, you know, scared. . . .
I started to scream, and he put a gun to my side and he said, "Don't scream. If you don't scream I won't hurt you." He told me to go into the bathroom, so I went to the bathroom. And he followed into the bathroom and he said, "Do you know who I am?" and I said no because he had a hat on. And then he took his hat off, and he said, "Now do you know who I am?" And I said, "Yeah, I know who you are. Please don't hurt, just please don't hurt me. I have a 5-year-old little girl. Please don't hurt me."
He said, "I'm not going hurt you if you just do what I say." I said, "All right." So I got--he told me to get into the bathtub, so I got in the bathtub. And he said, "I really don't feel comfortable around here. I'm going to walk around your house for a few minutes just so I get the feel of it."
I said, "OK."
He said, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody else, so please don't do anything that's going to hurt you." He said, "You know, somebody could have heard your scream already. And if they did, the police are on the way. And I'm going to have to hold you hostage. And I'm going to have to kill you and probably myself and lots of other people. And I don't want that."
And I said, "OK. I will do what you say."
He looked around my house for a few minutes. I heard him opening up drawers and just going through my stuff. And he came back in. And he said, "I want to relax. And I don't feel comfortable with you right now. So I'm going to have to tie you up."
He brought some masking tape and an extension cord and a curtain in there. And I kind of thought he was going to strangle me. I was--I was really kind of scared. But he told me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. And he wrapped my hands in a prayer--in a praying position, so I did that. And he wrapped masking tape around my hands. And then he told me to go into my bedroom. And I sat down on the bed like he asked. And he wrapped my legs with masking tape and an extension cord. . . .
He said, "Can you walk?"
And I said, "No."
And so he picked me up and took me to the bathroom. And he put me on a stool that I have in my bathroom. He said he wanted to take a shower.
So I said, "OK. You take a shower."
He said, "Well, I'm going to put a towel over your head so you don't have to watch me take a shower."
So I said, "OK. All right."
He got in the shower. Took a shower. And then he got out of the shower. And he had the guns laying on the counter. But--I guess he really wasn't worried about me grabbing them because I was tied up.
He asked me if I had a T-shirt. I told him where to find one.
So he got dressed. He put on some clothes that I had in my house that were men's clothes. And then he came back in the bathroom.
He said, "Can you get up?"
So I got up.
He said, "Can you walk now?"
I said, "No, but I can hop."
So I hopped to my bedroom and sat on the bed. And he cut the tape off of me, unwrapped the extension cord and curtain. I guess, at that point, he kind of made me feel like he was comfortable enough with me that he untied me. So--we went back in the bathroom. That's where he felt more comfortable--in the bathroom away from the front of the house, I guess. And we just talked.
I asked him if--I told him that I was supposed to go see my little girl the next morning. And I asked him if I could go see her. And he told me no.
My husband died four years ago. And I told him that if he hurt me, my little girl wouldn't have a mommy or a daddy. And she was expecting to see me the next morning. That if he didn't let me go, she would be really upset.
He still told me no. But I could kind of feel that he started to--to know who I was. He said maybe. Maybe I'll let you go--just maybe. We'll see how things go.
We went to my room. And I asked him if I could read.
He said, "What do you want to read?"
Well, I have a book in my room." So I went and got it. I got my Bible. And I got a book called "The Purpose-Driven Life." I turned it to the chapter that I was on that day. It was Chapter 33. And I started to read the first paragraph of it. After I read it, he said, "Stop, will you read it again?
I said, "Yeah. I'll read it again." So I read it again to him.
It mentioned something about what you thought your purpose in life was. What were you--what talents were you given? What gifts were you given to use?
And I asked him what he thought. And he said, "I think it was to talk to people and tell them about you."
I basically just talked to him and tried to gain his trust. I wanted to leave to go see my daughter. That was really important. I didn't want him to hurt anybody else.
He came into my apartment telling me that he was a soldier. And that people--that his people needed him for a job to do. And he was doing it.
And--I didn't want him to hurt anybody else. He didn't want to hurt anybody else. He just told me that he wanted a place to stay to relax, to sit down and watch TV, to eat some real food.
I talked to him about my family. I told him about things that had happened in my life. I asked him about his family. I asked him why he did what he did.
And his reason was because he was a soldier.
I asked him why he chose me and why he chose Bridgewater Apartments. And he said he didn't know, just randomly.
But after we began to talk, he said he thought that I was an angel sent from God. And that I was his sister and he was my brother in Christ. And that he was lost and God led him right to me to tell him that he had hurt a lot of people. And the families--the people--to let him know how they felt, because I had gone through it myself.
He told me that he didn't--he didn't want to hurt the agent that he hurt. He begged and pleaded with him to do things his way, and he didn't. So he had to kill him. He said that he didn't shoot the deputy, that he hit her. And that he hoped she lived. He showed me a picture of the--the agent that he did kill. And I tried to explain to him that he killed a 40-year-old man that was probably a father, a husband, a friend.
And he really began to trust me, to feel my feelings. He looked at pictures of my family. He asked me to--if he could look at them and hold them. . . .
I really didn't keep track of time too much because I was really worried about just living. I didn't want to die. I didn't want him to hurt anybody else. And I really didn't want him to hurt himself or anyone else to hurt him. He's done enough--he had done enough. And he really, honestly when I looked at him, he looked like he didn't want to do it anymore.
He asked me what I thought he should do.
And I said, "I think you should turn yourself in. If you don't turn yourself in," this is what I said, "If you don't turn yourself in, lots more people are going to get hurt. And you're probably going to die."
And he said, "I don't want that to happen."
He said, "Can I stay here for a few days? I just want to eat some real food and watch some TV and sleep and just do normal things that normal people do."
So, of course, I said, "Sure. You can stay here." I didn't want--I wanted to gain his trust.
Most of my time was spent talking to this man about my life and experiences in my life, things that had happened to me.
He needed hope for his life. He told me that he was already dead. He said, "Look at me, look at my eyes. I am already dead."
And I said, "You are not dead. You are standing right in front of me. If you want to die, you can. It's your choice."
But after I started to read to him, he saw--I guess he saw my faith and what I really believed in. And I told him I was a child of God and that I wanted to do God's will. I guess he began to want to. That's what I think.
He got to know me. I got to know him. He talked about his family. How--he was wondering what they were thinking. He said, "They're probably--don't know what to think."
We watched the news. He looked at the TV and he just said, "I cannot believe that's me on there."
About 5:30, 6--well, 6, 6:30--he said, "I need to make a move." And I said, "A move?" He said, "I need to get rid of this car before daylight, this truck [the agent's]." I said, "OK."
I knew that if I didn't agree to go with him, follow him to get the truck--he'd just take the truck, then one thing--or two--one of two things. He would kill me right then, and say, "All right, well, if you're not going to help me, then I won't need you anymore." Or the police would never find him, or it would take longer. And someone else would get hurt, and I was trying to avoid that.
So I went . . . I said, "Can I take my cell phone?" He said, "Do you want to?" I said, "Yeah." I'm thinking, well, I might call the police then, and I might not. So I took it anyway. He didn't take any guns with him. The guns were laying around the house. Pretty much after he untied [me], they were just laying around the house.
And at one point, he said, "You know, I'd rather you shoot--the guns are laying in there--I'd rather you shoot me than them." I said, "I don't want anyone else to die, not even you."
So we went to take the truck, and I was behind him, following him. And I thought about calling the police, you know, I thought, he's about to be in the car with me right now. So I can call the police, and when he gets in the car, then they can surround me and him together, and I could possibly get hurt, or we can go back to my house.
And I really felt deep down inside that he was going to let me see my little girl. And I said--or then when I leave, he can be there by himself, or he--he finally agreed to let me go see my daughter. I had to leave at 9, 9:30. And I really believed that he was going to.
From the time he walked into my house until we were taking that truck, he was a totally different person to me. I felt very threatened, scared. I felt he was going to kill me when--when I first--when he first put the gun to my side. But when I followed him to pick--to take the truck, I felt he was going to--he was really going to turn himself in. So he took the truck.
He got in the car and I said, "Are you ready now?" And he said, "Give me a few days, please." I said, "Come on, you've got to turn yourself in now." I didn't feel like he might--I felt like he might change his mind, that he might not want to turn himself in the next day, or a few days after that, and that if he did feel that way, then he would need money, and the only way he could get money was if he hurt somebody and took it from them.
So we went back to my house and got in the house. And he was hungry, so I cooked him breakfast. He was overwhelmed with--"Wow," he said, "real butter, pancakes?"
And I just talked with him a little more, just about--about--we pretty much talked about God . . . what his reason was, why he made it out of there.
I said, "Do you believe in miracles? Because if you don't believe in miracles--you are here for a reason. You're here in my apartment for some reason. You got out of that courthouse with police everywhere, and you don't think that's a miracle? You don't think you're supposed to be sitting here right in front of me listening to me tell you, you know, your reason here?"
I said, "You know, your miracle could be that you need to--you need to be caught for this. You need to go to prison and you need to share the word of God with them, with all the prisoners there."
Then 9 came. He said, "What time do you have to leave?" I said, "I need to be there at 10, so I need to leave about 9:30." And I sat down and talked to him a little bit more. And he put the guns under the bed, like . . . I'm not going to mess around with them anymore.
He gave me some money when I was about to leave. Just kind of like he knew. I said, "You might need this money." And he said, "No, I don't need it. I'm going to be here for the next few days."
I basically said, keep the money. And he said, "No, I don't need it." He asked me if there was anything I could do--or he could do for me before I left, or while I was going. He says, "Is there anything I can do while you're gone?"
I know he was probably hoping deep down that I was going to come back, but I think he knew that I was going to--what I had to do, and I had to turn him in, and I gave him--I asked him several times, you know, "Come on, just go with me." He said, "I'll go with you in a few days."
But when he asked me, "Is there anything I can do while you're gone, like hang your curtains or something?" And I said, "Yeah, if you want to."
He just wanted some normalness to his life right then. He--I think he realized all this--all this that I've been through, this is not me. I don't know, that's my opinion of what he . . .
Then I left my house at 9:30. And I got in the car. And I immediately called 911. I told them that he was there, and she asked me where I was. I said, "Oh, I'm on my way to see my daughter." I felt glad to just really be on my way to see my daughter. She said, "You've got to turn around and go to the leasing office." So that's what I did.
Prosecutors said Nichols confessed to the shootings shortly after his arrest. His defense team did not dispute whether he was the gunman, focusing instead on his mental state and claiming he suffers from a disorder that "overmastered" his will to refrain from criminal acts.
The jury was made up of five Black women, two white women, three Black men, a white man and a man of Asian descent, court officials said. Their options were to convict Nichols, find him guilty but mentally ill, acquit him or find him not guilty by reason of insanity. They convicted Nichols after several weeks of testimony.
During the penalty phase of his trial, the jury was deadlocked for several days, finally voting 9-3 in favor of death; the death penalty requires a unanimous decision by the jury. On Saturday morning, Superior Court Judge James Bodiford sentenced Brian Nichols to seven life sentences and four sentences of life without parole plus 485 years for the crimes he committed on March 11, 2005. Judge James Bodiford made all the sentences consecutive — meaning each sentence starts after the prior one is completed — to make the point of the seriousness of Nichols crimes.
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plez sez: i remember being away on business but seeing the news reports about the grip of fear that brian nichols had on the city. the biggest fear was that he would go on a killing spree, especially after the off-duty customs agent was found dead.
nichols was on the loose for over 24 hours, spending 7 hours with ashley smith, the hostage who turned him in. she collected a reward of $70,000.
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the entire ordeal continues to be bizarre. how does an inmate mastermind such a bold daylight escape from custody only to be turned in by his hostage in gwinnett county a day later? brian nichols is a smart, college-educated man who comes from a good family (plezWife works for the same government agency where nichol's mother was employed, prior to her retirement). on the day of his murderous rampage, nichols was probably the smartest guy in the entire courthouse... but his anger and level of frustration with the system took him over the edge.
unfortunately, his rage cost four families the lives of their loved ones. it is an awesome responsibility for a citizen to determine that another human being no longer deserves to live and by and large, plezWorld is against the death penalty. but in a case like this where the convicted person is obviously the perpetrator in the wanton death of another, i don't see another alternative. i'd be interested in finding out the reasons why the three jurors voted against the death penalty for brian nichols.
~ ~ Citations ~ ~
Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution articles about the death penalty phase of the Nichols trial here and here.
An Obama transition spokesperson says the family initially "explored the idea" of moving into Blair House early so that daughters Sasha and Malia could start school on schedule. President-elect Barack Obama will not be moving his family across the street from the White House early, despite his request to do so. Blair House, which incoming presidents traditionally occupy 5 days before inauguration day on January 15, is apparently booked in the early part of January.
The family was told there were previously-scheduled events and guests that could not be displaced.
Sally McDonough, spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush, is quoted as saying, "The Blair House, the President's guest house for visiting dignitaries, is available to President-elect Obama and his family starting January 15, as is historically the case."
A State Department official said he didn’t know of any foreign dignitaries staying at Blair House in early January. A White House official said that President Bush does not have family or friends from Texas staying at Blair House during the period which the Obamas requested. But Blair House, the official said, has been booked for “receptions and gatherings” by members of the outgoing Bush administration. Those receptions, the official said, “don’t make it suitable for full-time occupancy by the Obamas yet.”
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The Obama transition spokesperson emphasized the White House has been "extremely accommodating" to the Obama family, adding that the entire process has been "smooth and friendly."
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plez sez: i applaud the Obamas for wanting to have their girls in school at the beginning of january AND as much as plezWorld can't wait to see Obama in the Oval office AND say goodbye and good riddance to bush; this isn't a big deal. if its tradition for the new first family to move into the guest house 5 days prior to inauguration, then the bush administration has used its prerogative and has booked the house up until that time with other engagements; i don't see a problem.
now who they have booked in blair house and why so close to the end of his term when he ain't doing a damn thing is another story... and another blog post!
On Thursday night, the US Senate abandoned all efforts to fashion the passed House bill that would rescue General Motors (GM) and Chrysler (Ford claims it has enough cash to stay afloat). Senate Republicans refused to play ball and support a bill endorsed by the White House and Senate Democrats.
The failure to reach agreement on Capitol Hill may spell doom General Motors to a bankruptcy and closure in the coming weeks, with Chrysler potentially following close behind. While Ford Motor has more cash on hand to avoid an immediate crisis, its production could be disrupted by problems in the supplier base, as could the production of overseas automakers with U.S. plants such as Toyota Motor and Honda Motor.
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After Senate Republicans balked at supporting a $14 billion auto rescue plan approved by the House on Wednesday, negotiators worked late into Thursday evening to broker a deal, but deadlocked over Republican demands for steep cuts in pay and benefits by the United Automobile Workers union in 2009. The failure in Congress to provide a financial lifeline for G.M. and Chrysler was a bruising defeat for President Bush in the waning weeks of his term, and also for President-elect Barack Obama, who earlier on Thursday urged Congress to act to avoid a further loss of jobs in an already deeply debilitated economy.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is quoted as saying, "We have worked and worked and we can spend all night tonight, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday, and we're not going to get to the finish line. It’s over with. I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight. This is going to be a very, very bad Christmas for a lot of people as a result of what takes place here tonight."
Speaking for the Senate Republicans, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, "We have had before us this whole question of the viability of the American automobile manufacturers. None of us want to see them go down, but very few of us had anything to do with the dilemma that they have created for themselves. The administration negotiated in good faith with the Democratic majority a proposal that was simply unacceptable to the vast majority of our side because we thought it frankly wouldn’t work."
Moments later, the Senate failed to win the 60 votes need to bring up the auto rescue plan for consideration. The Senate voted 52 to 35 with 10 Republicans joining 40 Democrats and 2 independents in favor.
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There is still hope and the struggling automakers may get some money anyway.
CNN.com reports as part of their effort to urge skeptical Republicans to back the deal, Bush officials made clear that if Congress didn't act, the White House would have to step in to save Detroit from collapse with funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), according to the sources familiar with the conversations. One of the sources said that a White House official made it clear to a GOP senator that would be the worst option, because the loan could go to the auto companies with few or no requirements along with it.
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Foreign automakers have been silent on the entire bailout plan. Toyota, Honda, Nissan and nearly all the other foreign companies that build vehicles in the United States have said little publicly concerning whether their American rivals should get the billions of dollars in emergency aid they have requested in recent weeks. To be sure, the companies themselves have little to gain by commenting on the bailout beyond expressing concern about the general health of the industry.
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Asian stocks sank deep into negative territory and the dollar fell to a 13-year low against the Japanese yen on Friday following the collapse of a $14 billion bailout plan for the flailing U.S. auto industry. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 share average ended 5.6 percent lower during morning trading after it became clear that the negotiations to bailout Detroit automakers had failed in the Senate.
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plez sez: much ado about nothing! the last act of the lame duck bush will be to bail out gm and chrysler... there is no way bush is going to let these guys falter before he hands over the reins to PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA on january 20th.
if necessary, the treasury will claw back some of the $700 billion wall street bailout money to keep detroit afloat for at least a few more months. and the bad thing is that this money will come with NO STRINGS ATTACHED! you can bet the gm ceo (wagoner) will hang around long enough to spend the windfall!
without a wholesale overhaul of their business practices, the detroit automakers are only prolonging the agony of their demise. plezWorld is convinced that at least one of the big three will fail within the next 12 months.
plezWorld's Big Number is 84. According to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, 84 percent of Illinois voters say indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich should resign, with only 9 percent who disagree.
A whopping 79 percent say Blagojevich should spend some time in jail. According to the survey, only seven percent say the governor is doing a good or excellent job in office while 83% rate his performance as poor (his poll numbers are lower than those of President Bush).
FBI agents arrested Blagojevich on Tuesday on federal corruption charges related in part to the selection of a replacement for Obama's Senate seat, which became vacant after the presidential election. Federal officials allege that Blagojevich was looking to sell or trade the position.
In a related story, CNN.com reports President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that "no representatives of mine" engaged in any deal making with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over who would fill the state's U.S. Senate vacancy. Obama also said he was as "appalled and disappointed as anyone" by the allegations against the Democratic governor and said he was confident that none of his staff members was involved in the alleged scandal.
The Senate position "belongs to the people of Illinois, and they deserve the best possible representation," he said. Obama has asked his staff to gather the facts of any contacts made with the governor's office.
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plez sez: when your favorability ratings fall below those of george bush, there should be a rule that you have to step down! blago has obviously violated the public trust and there is very little he can do to repair that... short of proving ALL of the federal governments allegations false (which is unlikely).
save the people of your state the embarrassment, step down!
What follows are excerpts from a CNNMoney.com article on the House bill:
The House passed a stopgap $14 billion bailout to U.S. automakers Wednesday evening, but Republican opposition cast doubts about its fate as it moves on to the Senate.
The House vote came in the wake of an agreement on the measure earlier in the day between Democratic Congressional leaders and the Bush administration.
The bill is designed to keep General Motors and Chrysler out of bankruptcy through at least March to give the new Congress and Obama administration a chance to craft a more long-term solution.
The measure passed by a count of 237 to 170 thanks to overwhelming Democratic support. But only 32 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill.
During the House debate, Democrats and Republicans from Michigan both expressed heavy support for the bailout. But virtually all other Republicans who spoke during the debate argued that it would not solve the problems dogging the industry. The White House so far has failed to generate support among Senate Republicans, who have the power to kill the bill when it shows up in the Senate.
The $14 billion is $1 billion less than what was being discussed earlier in the week, and less than half the $34 billion requested by automakers last week. Still it may well be enough to stave off the immediate threat of bankruptcy.
GM has said it needs $4 billion by the end of the month to continue operations, and believes it'll need an additional $6 billion in the first three months of 2009. Chrysler has said it needs $4 billion by the end of the first quarter.
Ford Motor, which has more cash on hand than its U.S. rivals, is not expected to tap into this bailout in the coming months.
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The stopgap measure is designed to let the new Congress and incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to craft a longer-term solution. It would also give the companies time to negotiate with creditors and the United Auto Workers union on additional concessions needed to stem their ongoing losses.
But the bill also sets strict oversight of the companies. There would be limits on executive pay, prohibitions for so-called golden parachutes and requirements that the automakers get rid of their corporate aircraft and not pay dividends while loans are outstanding.
The bill also provides for a presidential appointee, popularly referred to as a "car czar," to oversee the company's efforts to restructure their operations. If the car czar determines that the companies have not made progress on cutting costs, the loans would be recalled within 30 days.
In addition, the government would receive warrants - the right to buy a stake in the companies at a certain price - equal to 20% of the loan's value.
plez sez: horse whoo-ee! the house democrats have lost their collective minds.
fourteen billion dollars is not going to save detroit... not even for a couple of weeks! this is putting the proverbial band-aid on a cancer. one of the big three is going down and they'll be taking $7-10 billion of our dollars with them.
this is a market correction exacerbated by this recession. one of the big three is not supposed to survive and a lifeline is not going to save them. and because of this act, the house democrats may be looking at BARACK OBAMA presiding over the demise of the US auto industry as we know it, instead of them failing on george bush's watch!
the mortgage companies that got fat and then got skinny with those sub-prime loans... got a bailout!
the wall street brokerage houses that got fat and then got skinny propping up those sub-prime loans for the mortgage companies... got a bailout!
the US auto manufacturers got real fat and are now looking really skinny after foisting their "less than stellar" wares on a US public that now has numerous alternatives to their shitty products... is halfway there to getting a bailout!
the 1.7 million people - like plezWorld - who worked hard but watched their jobs blow away like sand on a hurricane ravaged beach since the recession began in December 2007 (there were 533,000 job losses in November 2008 alone)... get no relief, get no sympathy, and damn sure get NO BAILOUT!
who's next? what is the next industry with a powerful lobby in washington, dc that is going to belly up to the goodwill trough in congress. we're staring at over one trillion dollars in bailout cash heading to special interest groups without ONE PENNY of relief to the people who pay their taxes. there is something wrong with this picture... something is eerily wrong here!
i will be contacting my senators to urge them to vote against ANY bill that bails out the auto industry! i'll be checking tonight to ensure that my congressman (rep. hank johnson) voted against this bill.
~ ~ Citations ~ ~
Read and download a draft version of the auto industry bailout bill here.
Read the November 2008 Bureau of Labor Statics report and then see if you support floating GM and Chrysler for another two or three months before they come back to washington looking for another handout.
~ 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.
On the strength of exceeding all expectations during his first season as head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team (and to ensure that he doesn't jump ship anytime soon), for posting a 9-3 record, and for whuppin' the Georgia Bulldogs for the first time in 7 years, ACC Coach of the Year Paul Johnson was given a 7 year, $17.7 million contract extension.
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