Posts tagged tumblrize

In the least surprising bit of news that I’ve seen today, Zeek Rewards has been shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to allegations of running a Ponzi scheme. According to the SEC, this was a $600 million scheme by a company with about a million users worldwide.

In a press release issued late Friday afternoon, the SEC called the company a $600 million Ponzi scheme on the verge of collapse, alleging that company revenues were soon to dip below its cash payouts to its customers and that the company’s chief executive officer, Paul Burks, siphoned off millions of investor funds to family members. - the-dispatch.com SEC shuts down Zeek, calls it pyramid, Ponzi scheme

The reason this isn’t surprising to me is because recently I was approached about the Zeek Rewards business opportunity. Some people I knew had made a return on their investment with very little effort. They were trying to get me to sign up in their downline. While I was being pitched the idea I was doing some google research on the program and the company. I could tell right off something wasn’t right and by the way he the plan worked it was obvious there was something going on here that wasn’t exactly legal. This comes after Zeek Rewards admitted in February 2012 that the company’s then business model was illegal. At the time they apparently adjusted to be in compliance with the law however the numerous results questioning their validity threw up many red flags to me.

Despite mountains of evidence from affiliates, observations of the mechanics of Zeek Rewards payouts and tracking of commissions paid out to thousands of affiliates, claims that Zeek Rewards were paying out a daily ROI that consisted of mostly new affiliate money, were often dismissed. - behindmlm.com THE FACTS: Dissecting the Zeek Ponzi apocalypse 

The way it was explained to me was that through Zeek Rewards program affiliate investors could partake in a share of the company’s profits made from their penny auction site Zeekler.com. That too was shut down today. As an affiliate you would pay a monthly fee to participate. Then, you would place an ad for packets of bids for the penny auction site. There was a free option as well but the return would of course be smaller. Every day that you placed an ad  you would be eligible to share in the days profits. The ads were the equivalent of posting a link on a site like Craigslist. Sounds easy enough right? You know what they say about something appearing too good to be true. Instead of withdrawing the profit you made for the day the company urged affiliates to use that money to buy more bids to give away in order to get a higher  revenue share percentage. The person that was trying to convince me to become an affiliate in their downline was actively trying to sell their motorcycle so they could invest more money into the Zeek Rewards affiliate program. Luckily the bike has yet to sell.

If you are familiar with penny auctions or how they work they are a bit of a cautionary type of auction themselves. You don’t bid what you’re willing to pay but you pay every time you make a bid. The price of the item that you bid on goes up by one cent every time a bid is made. So even though your final winning price may be low for the item you are purchasing you’ve already spent money bidding to get to that price. It costs you money whether you win or lose. That is definitely not for me.

Now this doesn’t mean that he investors weren’t making any money. People were making money. As a matter of fact shortly after Zeek Rewards got shut down affiliates took to a Change.org petition to try to get the company’s doors back open. At present almost 38,000 people signed the petition. The problem is the company was on the verge of collapse and a whole lot of people were going to lose a whole lot of money.

The site BehindMLM has covered Zeek Rewards extensively throughout its existence and has broken down the particulars of their troubles and why the program was a scheme doomed to fail. Some of the questions they raised in the articles I read confirmed my suspicions about the program and  kept me from investing any money with them.

The Attorney’s General office has opened a hotline for concerned Zeek Rewards affiliates or Zeekler.com retail customers, which can be reached by calling (919) 716-6046. A call to the line early Friday evening said the mailbox was full.

I can imagine.

Additional:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/17/technology/zeek-rewards-ponzi-scheme/index.html
http://myfox8.com/2012/08/17/zeek-closes-headquarters-in-lexington/
http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20120817/NEWS/308179988/1074
http://www.change.org/petitions/north-carolina-attorney-general-roy-a-cooper-keep-zeek-rewards-open-for-business
http://behindmlm.com/companies/zeek-rewards/the-facts-dissecting-the-zeek-ponzi-apocalypse/ 

Original Article

WikiLeaks founder and professional thorn in the side of many governments, Julian Assange was granted asylum by the government of Ecuador. Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden on sexual crimes he allegedly committed. As you can imagine, some aren’t to happy with Ecuador’s asylum decision. The UK in particular, since he is taking refuge inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in Britain.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office called Ecuador’s decision to grant Assange asylum “regrettable.”

“British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden,” a spokesman for the office said. “We shall carry out that obligation. The Ecuadorean government’s decision this afternoon does not change that.” yahoo.com Ecuador grants Assange asylum; UK vows to ‘carry out’ extradition anyway

Assange and his allies believe if he is extradited to Sweden, they will in turn send him to the United States. WikiLeaks published more than 25,000 documents about the U.S. and the country’s activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ecuador even asked for a guarantee from Sweden that they would not take that action. They  wouldn’t guarantee it. The U.K. is saying they will send Assange to Sweden even if they have to storm the embassy to get him. That is a very serious action. It is akin to invading a foreign country. There has been talk of potentially revoking the status of the embassy and then going in as well.

It’s been a wild ride for Assange over the last few years. Governments don’t like their secrets being put on blast, especially when they are covering things up. The stance the governments are taking in this case is interesting to say the least. Yes the allegations against him are serious. Rape and molestation are not to be taken lightly. However, the actions that U.K. government is proposing is unprecedented overkill when you put it up against violating agreements between countries. This is over one man. On top of that, he hasn’t even be charged with a crime yet, anywhere. They are willing to pit the countries against each other, which will have far reaching repercussions, over a crime that is usually handled by local authorities. Interesting.

“We remind the public that these extraordinary actions are being taken to detain a man who has not been charged with any crime in any country,” the statement said. It added: “We further urge the U.K. government to show restraint, and to consider the dire ramifications of any violation of the elementary norms of international law.” - nytimes.com Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain

I think many would agree that there is more to it than this. I would speculate that the allegations for which Julian Assange is wanted for is being used as a thinly veiled  excuse to get him into custody for his WikiLeaks activities. It would seem that Ecuador thinks so as well and is not backing down. Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, in response to the threat of the embassy being raided responded, “We are not a British colony.” President Rafael Correa posted a message to his Twitter that, “No one is going to terrorize us!”

This is going to increase the strain on the relations between the two nations that already exist. It seems obvious that something more is going on here. Assange may have asylum from the government of Ecuador but that only helps if he is in Ecuador or in their territory. While the embassy is considered Ecuadorean territory, all protection is off if they try to get him to the airport to go to Ecuador.

Am I the only one that thinks this situation is a bit ironic, providing the assumption of the plan being greater than an extradition to Sweden is true? They are covering up the real reasons they are taking such a tough public stance on the case of a man that is known for exposing these types of actions.

And again, this type of major government posturing is being done over a man that hasn’t even been charged with a crime yet.

Interesting indeed.

Additional:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/assange-ecuador-asylum-u-k-123726223.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/world/americas/ecuador-to-let-assange-stay-in-its-embassy.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/28/wikileaks-us-embassy-cables-documents_n_788893.html

Original Article

Monsanto, probably the world’s most controversial company, is ready to hit shelves with their GMO sweet corn. Frankencorn, as some call it, MON 810 aka YieldGard as Monsanto calls it, has been genetically modified to resist its own Roundup herbicide and insects. The corn is engineered to contain Bt toxin, which tears up the digest system of insects when they eat it.

The corn’s DNA is equipped with a gene from soil bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) that produces the Bt-toxin. It’s a pesticide; it breaks open the stomach of certain insects and kills them.

But Monsanto and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) swore up and down that it was only insects that would be hurt. The Bt-toxin, they claimed, would be completely destroyed in the human digestive system and not have any impact on all of us trusting corn-eating consumers.

Oops. A study just proved them wrong.-mercola.com “Dangerous Toxins From Genetically Modified Corn Found in Blood of Women and Fetuses”

This year’s corn yield is projected to be the lowest since 1995, according to an Agriculture Department report that sharply cut production estimates for some major crops because of damage from the nation’s worst drought in 56 years. - nytimes.com “Citing Drought, U.S. Expects Lowest Corn Yield in 17 Years”

A helpful writer at Examiner.com put together a list of 15 things you can do to take a stand against Monsanto and avoid GMO foods. http://www.examiner.com/article/15-ways-to-take-a-stand-against-monsanto-and-avoid-gmo-foods

Original Article

Live broadcast by Ustream

NASA’s Curiosity Rover ends an 8 month long journey to Mars today. NASA will provide live coverage of Curiosity’s touchdown on NASA TV.

Curiosity, the car-size, one-ton rover is bound for arrival on Mars at 1:31 a.m., EDT on Monday, Aug. 6.

The landing will mark the beginning of a two-year prime mission to investigate one of the most intriguing places on Mars.

[caption id=”” align=”alignnone” width=”471”] Curiosity Rover[/caption]

Check out an animated video of how Curiosity will land on Mars.

Original Article

Is it just me or is this year’s Olympic games full of a lot of so-called controversy?

Tennis superstar, Serena Williams kicked all kinds of butt this year to take home Olympic gold for her first win in the singles tournament. Following that win, Serena teamed up with equally amazing sister Venus to take home the gold medal for the doubles round. Congratulations you deserve it.

Serena admitted that she’s always wanted to take home a singles win in the Olympics. Her excitement was clear when, after beating rival Maria Sharapova, justifiable joy manifested itself in a huge smile and a little dance. And as the joke goes, “that’s when the fight started” so to speak.

Serena’s jig looked like a fun happy dance to most but others recognized it as the Crip Walk, a dance made up by the notorious Los Angeles gang the Crips. Yes, that one. Does this mean Serena is a Crip? Highly doubtful. Does this mean she advocates for the gang and the activities they engage in? No it doesn’t. Was it inappropriate? Yes, I believe so.

So then what does it mean??

It means that Serena grew up in Compton, California where the Crips hold a heavy influence upon the culture. Also, through many artists that have reached the mainstream, who have come up through the culture, have membership in or affiliation with the Crips, the Crip Walk has been popularized beyond that sub-culture. In other words, many people do it because many people do it.

I believe she was caught in the moment and that is what burst forth. Serena herself knew it was inappropriate, after the fact, when a reporter asked her what the name of the dance was then suggesting it might be “The Serena” or “The Wimbledon”.

“Actually, there is a name. But I don’t know if I — it’s inappropriate,” she dodged. “It’s just a dance we do in California.” - Serena Williams

Does this take away from her accomplishments or who she is? Not at all. She has apparently been the target of a lot of criticism recently, like the recent sexy Twitter picture incident. Serena supporters see her win as vindication of those who criticized her for various things. Serena showed and proved on the court and continues to in her public image. A mistake in the heat of the moment may be disappointing but doesn’t take away from that.

Crip Walking on worldwide television isn’t something advisable to do. Doing so does more harm than good. Opinions are mixed. Illseed at AllHipHop called it a “fail”.  Some see her C-Walk as “not forgetting” where she came from.

To celebrate her victory, Serena showed respect to her Compton roots by doing a “Crip Walk” - http://theurbandaily.com

This is also something I have issue with. Identifying the performance of a dance of a gang as “showing respect to her Compton roots” is misguided. I would bet the non-Crip residents of Compton or their victims wouldn’t appreciate being represented by this group. We have to be careful of what we accept and exalt. We also have to be mindful of what we allow to be a part of our daily lives. This is an organization that has a negative and violent impact on society and any representation of them, whether purposeful or accidental, normalizes ties to the group and what they represent.

That being said, Serena doesn’t deserve to be demonized for what happened. It was a mistake. Move on. Celebrate her wins and all that it took to get there.

http://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/230086661021786113

Yes you do and you got it.

[caption id=”attachment_889” align=”alignnone” width=”470”] This would have worked.[/caption]

Additional:
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/tennis/story/serena-williams-taints-golden-slam-with-crip-walk-dance-080412
http://necolebitchie.com/2012/08/05/serena-williams-makes-history-and-she-does-a-mean-crip-walk/
http://theurbandaily.com/1932341/serena-williams-olympics-2012/
http://hiphopwired.com/2012/08/04/serena-williams-crip-walks-after-winning-gold-in-olympics/
http://allhiphop.com/2012/08/05/serena-williams-crip-walk-epic-win-or-epic-fail/

Original Article

Gabrielle Douglas is now a two-time Olympic gold medalist and the first Black woman to win gold in an all-around event. First and foremost, congratulations to you Gabby. Regardless of those amazing feats, some in the African-American community, mainly black women, took to social media to display their ridiculousness.

On Twitter and Facebook, black women shared their disapproval of Douglas’ ponytail, the same hairstyle all of her teammates sported. It appeared unkempt to some, didn’t have enough gel for others and a few demanded a chance to make over her style. - NPR.com “If Gabby’s Got The Gold, Why Flip Over Her Hair?”

My sistahs, my sistahs. SMH. My personal brush (see what I did there) with this nonsense was an encounter with a friend on a telephone call. She, my friend, said that something needed to be done with Gabby’s hair much like the rest of those who spoke about it. Let’s be clear Black women, and any others that apply, there is nothing wrong with Gabrielle Douglas’ hair.

This young woman has accomplished what only the elite in her craft have. The training, dedication, talent, and work ethic necessary to reach that point is tremendous. She’s also made history in doing so. These are the things that should stand out to you. This is the type of girl you should aspire to be like or show as a role model to your daughters.

Black people and hair are a sensitive topic and serious issue. Even more so among black women. Chris Rock’s 2009 documentary/movie “Good Hair” addressed this topic. On The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, Lauryn Hill rapped to the women, “It’s silly when girls sell their souls because it’s in, Look at where you be in, hair weaves like Europeans“ Growing up, natural Black hair is considered bad among many in the Black community. If you are mixed or your hair is straight you are said to have “good hair”. It’s a mentality that is impressed upon us young. It is an unconscious form of self hate and brings about self-esteem issues. This ideology has its roots in slavery and also in just being in a primarily ‘white’ dominated culture where the ideal identity and example of feminine beauty, more often than not, has been the attributes associated with white women.

Dodai Stewart, editor at Jezebel says it well:

The point is that hair — black hair, especially — remains a hot-button issue. Hair is political, laden with subtext and meaning. Curly, textured hair — the kind a lot of black people have — is often called “wild.” Straight hair — the kind a lot of white people have — is considered “polished” and “professional.”

Whether it’s readily admitted or not, this image is attempted to be recreated with wigs, hair weaves, chemical relaxers and extensions. This is expensive and actually in some cases, specifically in those involving relaxers, dangerous. Aside from the burning and damage to hair, chemical relaxers have been linked to high uterine fibroid risk in black women. On top of that, this image conscious society that we live in has everyone thinking they need some sort of exterior enhancement just to feel like they look normal.

[caption id=”attachment_876” align=”alignnone” width=”475”] This used to be Lil’ Kim.[/caption]

Ladies, give Gabby Douglas a break. While you’re at it, give yourself one. Stop looking at your hair as anything other than good hair. If anything Gabrielle should be praised for being her and going on world-wide television with her own natural hair.

http://twitter.com/gabrielledoug/status/231137438897143809

And, Thank you Gabrielle for setting such a good example by giving young black girls an exemplary image of strength, courage, talent and perseverance who looks like them. It’s important.

Additional:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetorch/2012/08/02/157858684/if-gabbys-got-the-gold-why-flip-over-her-hair
http://jezebel.com/5930785/haters-need-to-shut-the-hell-up-about-gabby-douglass-hair
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/02/gabby-douglas-takes-two-olympic-golds-and-hair-criticism.html
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/gymnastics/story/gabrielle-douglas-aly-raisman-victoria-komova-deng-linlin-womens-all-around-080212
http://newsone.com/2028413/gabrielle-douglas-twitter-hair/

Original Article

A nation’s flag is supposed to be the symbol of patriotism. Evidently, even patriotism is being outsourced overseas. At least partly. A bill floating in limbo in Congress is meant to curb that.

Currently, federal law requires that U.S. flags purchased by the federal government contain a minimum of 50% American-made materials. The legislation would require federal agencies to purchase only flags made entirely in the U.S. “from articles, materials, or supplies 100%  of which are grown, produced, or manufactured in the United States.”

S.1188 - All-American Flag Act was introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH] June 13, 2011. It unanimously passed the Democrat controlled Senate on July 26, 2011 and was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform  in the Republican controlled House two days later. According to the Library of Congress’ Thomas system (so named in honor of Thomas Jefferson), nothing has happened with the bill since then.

On the day before the United States’ Independence Day, Senator Brown called on the House to pass the bill. According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. imported $3.6 million dollars worth of American flags last year. $3.3 million of that came from China. Imported American Flags.

Apparently we need a bill that says American taxpayer dollars being spent by the government shouldn’t go towards the purchase of American flags to be flown at American government locations that weren’t made in America. How much of that money was spent by the government on foreign-made flags hasn’t been reported. There’s also current bill that takes that idea a step further. Genuine American Flag Act which was reintroduced as H.R.474, in April 2011, by Representative Dan Boren [D-OK] seeks to ban all sales of foreign-made American flags in the United States. It also sits in the House. Ideally, you would think that anything the government spends American tax dollars on should be American made. If our own taxes don’t go to support domestic business then how can we expect jobs to come back home in the public sector?

“In a time when we face economic hardship, it is critical to invest in the manufacturing base,” Brown said during Senate consideration of his bill last year. “There is no product that deserves a U.S.A. label more than American flags.”

Now in the grand scheme of things $3.6 million worth of manufacturing may not be a lot, especially when compared with the size of our economy but the very symbol of American patriotism should at least support the country. It also leads to the question of how much of our tax dollars are being spent outside of the country? Shouldn’t government purchases be on items made domestically? If we keep spending our money overseas then our stability will continue to be in jeopardy. That’s just basic economics. How can the government or elected officials who receive tax dollars and spend them outside of the country admonish domestic corporations for shipping jobs off shore to take advantage of cheaper prices when the government itself isn’t following suit? This is where capitalism shows its uncaring nature. It holds no allegiance to anything other than profit.

[caption id=”attachment_846” align=”alignnone” width=”500”] [image via inky mess][/caption]I’m sure Betsy Ross would feel the same way.

Additional:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-flags-made-in-usa-20120703,0,5957962.story
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1188
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1188/show
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas

Original Article

Comedian Chris Rock stirred up the dander of the Internet on July 4th with an Independence Day tweet.

“Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed fireworks,” - Chris Rock

As can be imagined, people had things to say regarding Chris’ comment. Some took it as a joke from a comedian albeit with some truth to it. Others were upset and took it as an unpatriotic statement. Of course people aren’t going to agree on everything that’s said by anyone. In this case though a couple things need to be looked at. One, Chris rock is a comedian. Now I don’t believe in the idea that being a comedian protects a person from the things they say. Comedy can be taken too far. However, this statement isn’t highly unordinary for Rock. It actually sounds like something that would’ve come from one of his routines. So there shouldn’t be anything extra controversial about his statement unless you’re looking for it. Secondly, there is truth to the statement. At the time of the first Independence Day, and many thereafter, that celebration really didn’t apply to everyone living in America. The slaves may have been American because they were here but definitely weren’t a part of the celebration of America’s independence.

On July 5th, 1852, Frederick Douglass spoke on the perspective disparity in a speech entitled “What to a slave is the 4th of July?” delivered in Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York.

“I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.”

Conditions aren’t the same as they were in Douglass’ time however repercussions are still felt. To be upset by what Chris rock said discounts the reality that America’s history still has an effect on people today. This is similar to when Michelle Obama was under fire for her remark about being proud of her country for the first time. The fact is, many America born Americans still feel and are treated as second-class citizens.  Acknowledging this doesn’t  undermine the idea that success stories like Rock’s and Obama’s aren’t as possible in other countries in the world. It just says we have come a long way but, even with a black president, we still have further to go. it’s always difficult to look in an ideal from someone else’s perspective. It’s easy to not understand what experiences led them to that outlook.

One  anonymous comment on a very divisive conservative blog reads, “163 years after the emancipation proclamation, GET OVER IT!” If only it were that easy and if only some of that mentality didn’t still exist today it might be. By reading many of the comments on that page it’s obvious some of that way of thinking  is still alive and well. Personally, I’ve had several run-ins in the last two weeks with that old mentality and they were supposedly liberals so this isn’t just limited to one side. I do agree though that we have to work to get over the demons of our past but that effort can’t only be one-sided. Also, we shouldn’t segment ourselves from the present reality of being American because of by-gone times. Additionally subsequent generations shouldn’t be perpetually judged by their predecessors.

Addtional:
http://twitter.com/chrisrock/status/220512157937315842
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/chris-rock-white-peoples-day-july-4th-tweet_n_1651833.html
http://thegrio.com/2012/07/05/chris-rock-under-fire-for-white-peoples-day-july-4th-tweet/
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/07/nice-far-left-comedian-chris-rock-tweets-happy-white-peoples-independence-day/
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/02/michelle-obam-1-2/
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=162

Original Article

So with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as Obamacare, being upheld in court the debate is going to escalate. Unfortunately so is misinformation, divisive vitriolic rhetoric, and many unfortunate insults; like the quote accompanying the image on Facebook that reads “the Donald………..calling Obama’s Trump card! or is he Just calling a Spade………..A SPADE???!!!!!”.

Let me get this straight…

We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress who didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government who has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that is broke!!!!

Here is another go round in the get-your-facts-straight category. Social media is currently passing around the above image and quote supposedly said by Donald Trump on Obamacare. Except that Trump didn’t say it.

However, that criticism didn’t originate with any public statement made by Donald Trump: it’s an anonymous bit of political humor that has been posted and reposted many times in blogs and social media since at least as far back as March 2010. - snopes.com. “Donald Trump on Obamacare”.

With sites like Snopes.com, About.com’s Urban Legends section and the almighty Google search engine, you’d think people would do some research first. This is the gift and the curse  of social media.People pass on something immediately without knowing what’s behind it or if it’s actually true or not.

Personally, I was not a fan of the mandate from the beginning but I do agree we need a better health care system in this country. In any case, my opinion on that doesn’t matter. My point here is that we need to at least look into something before we take part in the discussion. We may still end up being wrong but it will bring some civility back into the conversation.

Also for those that oppose Obamacare, know that his current opponent, Mitt Romney, passed a very similar law as governor of Massachusetts. Mandate included.

Romney’s attempt to distance himself from Mr. Obama’s law got tougher Monday when senior campaign adviser Eric Fehrnstrom veered off-message, saying the mandate in Romney’s own health care plan was a penalty, not a tax - essentially siding with the president. - cbsnews.com. “Romney in bind over health care mandate”.

We are all angry and upset at everything but let’s look for reasons not to be instead of automatically looking to fuel the fire.

Additional:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/trumpobamacare.asp
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505267_162-57465525/romney-in-bind-over-health-care-mandate/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_health_care_reform

Original Article

Gwyneth Paltrow on WhoSay

So Twitter talk puts yet another celebrity in the hot seat for comments. This time around we’ve got actress Gwyneth Paltrow cooking from a tweet she made on June 1, 2012 that said “Ni**as in paris for real @mrteriusnash (the dream) tyty, beehigh”. She tweeted the above photo, along with that statement, showing her on stage in Paris while Jay-Z and Kanye West are performing their hit song entitled “Ni**as In Paris”.

Now this isn’t another post to debate whether or not it was appropriate for her to make that tweet. That topic is being debated all over blogosphere, twitterverse, and whatever media likes to report controversy. The issue that I want to bring up is a bit different.

In reacting to Gwyneth’s tweet and in efforts to spread the fury further, several blogs, Facebook posts and the like have been passing around the wrong picture to go along with Ms. Paltrow’s quote. The following picture being the one I’m speaking about.

Again, this is not the correct picture. This picture, coupled with Gwyneth’s tweet, sends a completely different message. The context isn’t the same. This picture shows Gwyneth surrounded by black people, namely Kelly Rowland, Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Spike Lee. The statement “Ni**as in paris for real” takes on a whole new meaning in this situation. It makes it look like Gwyneth was referring to black people by that racial epitaph. The real picture, show above, is her on stage during an eleven-times in a row performance of the song “Ni**as in Paris”. The incorrect conclusion not only says something about Ms. Paltrow but also opens up those she is in the picture with to judgement. I saw one response to the tweet being accredited to this picture that read “More like house ni**as in paris”. Because this makes it look like they are all cool with her referring to them in that manner.

My point is this, let’s make sure we have the facts correct before we make judgements and assumptions. The message can be completely changed and skewed causing people to come to conclusions that they  might otherwise not come to. Again, this particular commentary is one about the appropriate nature of her tweet or using that phrase as a title of the song. This was simply about getting the facts straight and not letting false propaganda rule the conversation. Besides Jay Smooth and others have already spoken on the topic.

Additional:
http://twitter.com/GwynethPaltrow/status/208693551163379712
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/gwyneth-paltrow-in-trouble-for-tweet-cissy-houston-to-write-book-about-whitney/2012/06/05/gJQAzLNoFV_blog.html
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/gwyneth-paltrow-whips-up-racial-storm-on-twitter_1339028
http://missxpose.com/2012/06/gwyneth-paltrow-n-word-controversy/
http://thebuzzinthecity.com/beyonces-bff-gwyneth-paltrow-is-catching-some-flack-for-tweeting-nias-in-paris-for-real/ 

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