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They’re Leaving
ell, I think it's official.
The decades old fan- tasy written about in countless books and depicted in just as many movies, about creating colonies on Mars, is actually in the process of becoming a re-
ality.
President Barack Obama confirmed as much this week when he released an op-ed on CNN stating that the U. S. government is currently working with private sector companies to develop a way for astronauts to travel safely back and forth from the "red planet." According to Presi- dent Obama, the ultimate goal is to "remain there for an extended time."
President Obama's an- nouncement came on the heels of a newsletter recently re- leased by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk that detailed a plan Musk created through his company Space X. Musk estimates that the spacecrafts he's manufactured will be able to transport people to Mars on excursions that will arrive to their destination 3 months after takeoff.
Both President Obama
and Musk have targeted the year 2030 as the time they ex- pect the first ships to launch. Coincidentally, that date fits perfectly into a time frame when the comet Apophis is scheduled to make its first ap- pearance inside of our solar system.
Not much has been men- tioned about this ominous rock speeding through space lately. But 10 years ago scien- tists projected that this comet would buzz closely by Earth in the year 2029 and return 7 years later in 2036 for a direct hit. If these calculations are in- deed accurate, then what is being touted as an adventur- ous expedition through space could actually be the begin- ning stages of a low-key evac- uation.
While the idea that a con- tingency plan exists to pre- serve human life in the face of a global catastrophe may sound promising, the sad truth is, if there is something devas- tating headed our way, most of us won't be able to afford avoiding the impact.
According to Musk, one seat on his rocket to Mars will
cost somewhere in the $200,000 range. And that price doesn't include your daily expenses once you get there.
This means, if you're not inside the inner circles of peo- ple like Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Jay-Z, War- ren Buffet or Mark Zuckerberg, you're proba- bly, not only going to be left behind to clean up the mess but, you'll have a front row seat to an extinction level event.
For me, personally, not being able to make the trip isn't that big of a deal. After all, like the book says, "what shall be will be."
Besides, living inside of a biosphere on an extremely cold and desolate planet that has no beaches or seafood is not exactly how I would want to live the rest of my life any- way.
So when or if that time comes and the rockets are blasting off into the great be- yond I won't be sad or mad. I'll just bid those making the jour- ney a fond farewell and pray that, when they get to where they're going, they won't have to leave again anytime soon.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can TEXT C.B., II, at (+18133080849).
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Who Is Billy Bush, And Why Should We Be Concerned About Him?
illiam Hall “Billy” Bush is a radio and television host
who gained fame by being featured on The Billy Bush Show (a nationally syndicated radio program), who’s been a correspondent on Access Hollywood, and became a primary anchor and co-host on NBC’s Today Show until October of this year when he became embroiled in a controversy regard- ing Bush’s secret recording of a lewd conversation he had with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump five years previously.
Following the airing of the incident five years later, Billy Bush was summarily suspended from the Today Show. Why? Was Billy given the boot because he’s a member of the presidential Bush family (Herbert Walker, George Dubyuh etc.)? Naah! Was it because he received a Bachelor of Arts de- gree in International Studies and Government from Colby College then married Ms. Sydney Davis (who?) and begat
three children?
Obviously, we are at a loss as to why the Today Show fired
Bush for blowing the whistle on a man who had hopes of fill- ing the highest office in the land if not the world.
So, what did the Billy do wrong?
According to Today’s Show pundits, “B.B.” was sus- pended indefinitely due to the fallout of his released conver- sation with Trump thereby running the risk of ruining Trump’s chances to tramp around the Oval Office. That’s what he did wrong!
But such “lockerroom” logic reminds us of whistle blow- ers of the past who learned too late that “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED!”
Remember Black Watergate security guard Frank Wills who alerted police about a possible break-in and for his hero- ism died sick and penniless? Then ask Edward Snowden about the thanks he got for alerting the world about “Big Brother” NSA. No, Billy Bush did nothing wrong except to save America from being the laughing stock of the world. Now you know why you should remember his name.
BY MARC H. MORIAL, President And CEO National Urban League
Advancing Diversity In Law Enforcement
he interagency report
released this week by U. S. Department of Justice and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Ad- vancing Diversity in Law En- forcement” is a welcome tool that examines those key barri- ers as well as promising prac- tices in the recruitment, hiring and retention of law enforce- ment candidates that can ad- vance much-needed diversity in our law enforcement agencies.
Developed with support from the Center for Policing Equity, the report aims to pro- vide law enforcement agencies, especially small and mid-size agencies, with a resource to en- hance the diversity of their workforce by highlighting spe- cific strategies and efforts in place around the country, such as:
Ensuring that the agency’s
organizational culture is guided by community policing (a strat- egy of policing that focuses on police building ties and work- ing closely with community members); procedural justice (the idea of fairness in the processes that resolve disputes) and cultural inclusivity (wel- coming and including all peo- ple).
Engaging stakeholders – both from within and outside the law enforcement agency – to help create a workforce that reflects the diversity of the community.
Being willing to re-evaluate employment criteria, stan- dards, and benchmarks to en- sure that they are tailored to the skills needed to perform job functions, and consequently at- tract, select, and retain the most qualified and desirable sworn officers.
The report builds on the rec- ommendations of the Presi- dent’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, to which I provided testimony on our 10- Point Plan for Police Reform and Accountability. It empha- sizes that “while greater work- force diversity alone cannot ensure fair and effective polic- ing, a significant – and growing – body of evidence suggests that diversity can make policing more effective, more safe and more just.”
Police departments face chal- lenges when it comes to the issue of diversity in recruiting. In her own testimony to the President’s Task Force, NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, said of youth in poor communities, “By the time you are 17, you have been stopped and frisked a dozen times. That does not make that 17-year-old want to become a police officer . . . . The challenge is to transform the idea of polic- ing in communities among young people into something they see as honorable. They have to see people at local events, as the person who lives across the street, not someone who comes in and knows noth- ing about my community.”
Trump Attacks Political Correctness
umerous times, Donald Trump has charged President
Obama and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton of being “too politically correct” because they refuse to label terrorists as “Islamic terrorists.”
Indeed, according to Julian Zeller, author and Princeton University Public Affairs Professor, “...political correctness in his (Trump’s) mind, is the cancer that eats away at Amer- ica . . . he is using the term to lash out against the powerful social movements that have challenged social, ethical and cultural discrimination.”
So, how could Trump or his troupe swear that avoiding expressions (use of name-calling, policies, other actions etc.) that exclude, marginalize, endanger, or insult groups of peo- ple who are.... discriminated against is wrong?
Indeed, Trump’s use of the term “Pocahontas” to refer to Senator Elizabeth Warren; his reference to Black Americans as “THE BLACKS;” his tweeting of anti-Muslim messages; his name-calling of President Barack Obama; his reference to Mexicans as rapists and criminals; and his use of vulgar lan- guage to describe women and their body parts seem not to
bother many of his supporters.
Further, among his advisors are Steve Bannon, a Far-Rightist who hates everybody not
blue-eyed and blonde; advisor, retired Lt. General Michael Flynn who served on an anti-Mus- lim group’s board of directors; as well as an advisor who was anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-Jewish, and part of a militia that massacred people during Lebanon’s 13 year civil war.
Moreover, the Associated Press found communication between current and former Trump staffers ridiculing Muslims and Mexican’s accents; calling for Secretary of State John Kerry to be hanged and stating their readiness for a possible civil war. No doubt, America is quickly losing its human kindness that places it on a path to social destruction.
Our question to you is simply, where do you stand on the issue of political correctness?
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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