Page 5 - 6-2-15 Tuesday's Edition

Editorials
Hate: Not For Blacks Only
S.O.S For A Medicare Drug
A senior citizen, age 74 (call her Annie) who has an auto- immune system disease is unable to take sulfa-drugs. To make matters worse, because there are only four non-
sulfa containing diuretics, Annie has been prescribed the only one that won’t require monitoring of her blood potas- sium levels, which could become a problem because she takes other blood pressure medications.
Consequently, the major problem is that Annie’s Medicare management insurance company will not pay for the medication which costs nearly $1,200 a month. Several requests to overturn the company’s denial have resulted in Annie having to take less than half of her prescribed dosage in order to keep her monthly medicine cost under $700.
The federal legislation that makes legal the ability of Medicare negotiation with drug companies for discounts needs to be passed. While the Veterans Administration is al- lowed to negotiate up to a 40 percent discount for prescrip- tion drugs, Medicare Part D does not have that privilege. Consequently, America’s most vulnerable citizens (the eld- erly and poor) are left to become sicker and die simply be- cause of an inability to afford the price of their medicines. Senate Bill 31, Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotia- tion Act of 2015 would allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.
However, could it be that the $85 billion annual profit (2012 profit) by eleven major pharmaceutical companies is the reason the legislation has failed repeatedly to pass pre- vious Congressional sessions? America is slowly, inex- orably, moving toward a crossroads of truth. The name of the crossroads is Affordable Medicine for the Poor and Eld- erly: Live or Die?
The response to Presi- dent Barack Obama’s in- augural Tweet and the hate spewed should have come as no surprise to Americans, es- pecially Blacks.
Thankfully, the love and welcoming responses from tweeters had overwhelmed the negative, hateful and death wish tweets.
The recent media talk shows and interviews on Is- lamic hate groups with little to any attention to our own domestic hate groups gave me cause to reflected what is happening here in America with Christian hate groups.
President Obama re- ceived bitter criticism when he reminded Americans of our violent Christian history, as if he invented the entire story. Lest history repeat it- self, it behooves us all to be aware of the increasing num- ber of hate groups in America.
As much as America would
This week presents me with a bit of a dilemma. That is mainly because two days from now the NBA Finals will begin and, for the first time ever, I don’t have a team I want to get behind.
Being an admitted fan of LeBron James, I would love to see him win his third title. But the fact that his ac- complishment would also allow the owner of the Cleve- land Cavaliers (Dan Gilbert) to hoist the trophy just doesn’t sit well with me.
This is the same guy who vilified LeBron to the ex- treme after LeBron decided to leave Cleveland in 2010 while “taking his talents to South Beach.” Following Le- Bron’s now infamous “Deci- sion,” Gilbert’s inner bigot bubbled to the surface as he became enraged by the per- ceived betrayal of someone he thought of as his personal property.
We all remember the rant and the full page letter Gilbert posted in a Cleve- land paper referring to Le- Bron as a “chocker,” a “heartless quitter” and wish- ing him ill will. It was the kind of venom you usually only hear coming from the mouth
wants to say the election of President Obama meant race relations in this country have improved, racial hate in- cidents occurring in this country every day prove oth- erwise.
Much like what took place in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s, when we quietly ac- cept or ignore the practice of hateful acts towards any group, we open the door for our own victimization.
Ignoring or supporting the trend of laws that will allow people and institutions to dis- criminate against others be- cause of their sexual orientation or identity leaves the potential for other groups to be treated in the same manner.
Indeed, Christians are currently being attacked in Middle Eastern and some African countries. The num- ber of Christians in America is declining even though the
of a scorned ex-girlfriend, never from an NBA owner who only happened to be on the losing end of a business deal.
LeBron announced that he was going back to Cleve- land last summer I went on record expressing my disap- pointment. It was hard for me to believe that a person, who I’d come to admire for how well he carried himself off the court, could return to play for a jerk like Gilbert.
Even though I understood his desire to win a champi- onship for his hometown and respected that he was willing to swallow his pride in an ef- fort to make it happen, I could never get around the fact that, somewhere in the shadows, Gilbert was liter- ally laughing all the way to the bank in the process.
With all of this going against Cleveland, you would assume cheering on the Golden State Warriors would be a no-brainer. But, unfortu- nately, that’s not the case ei- ther.
Even though it’s easy to root for Stephen Curry and his adorable daughter Riley, it’s hard for me to go for any organization that “Tony
most Christians in the world live in America.
Of the 939 hate groups in America, many of them are religiously uneven and at least five of them are listed as “dangerous” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. These groups strongly oppose racial equality, minority rights, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisex- ual, and Transsexual) rights, Jewish, Muslims, and gender equality.
Members of these groups have committed acts of ter- rorism, murder, bombings, robberies and shootings in the name of Christianity. Muslims have no monopoly on acts of terrorism while the religious affiliation of domes- tic terrorists goes unmen- tioned.
Blacks and Jews should feel obligated to speak up and oppose the hate and oppres- sion of other groups. Remem- ber that the failure of groups to speak in Nazi Germany contributed to the persecu- tion and prison camp intern- ment of more than 5 million.
Therefore, when it comes to hate, casting stones can be- come boomerangs. Most cer- tainly, what goes around comes around. Harrambee!
Dungied” its Black head coach. It simply won’t hap- pen.
In much the same way John Gruden benefited from the blood, sweat and tears Dungy put into build- ing the Tampa Bay Bucca- neers from nothing to something before Gruden inherited the team and won a Super Bowl, an identical sce- nario will take shape in Northern California if Golden State finds a way to win. This is due to the fact that Mark Jackson brought the War- riors back from the brink of obscurity before being fired last year. Now, ala Gruden, Steve Kerr is in the perfect position to receive all of the glory by taking them to the promised land.
It isn’t that I have anything against Kerr personally. But watching yet another white face take credit for Black achievement is something I can do without.
All of this is why I don’t have a dog in the fight. Like an old man told me a long time ago, “I’d rather see a monkey with a diamond ring than see any one of these teams win anything.”
So, with that being the case, all I can really hope for is a tie.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com.
Nobody Deserves To Win
Success, The Rewards of Discipline
According to Wikipedia a wanted poster is distributed, to let the public know of an illegal criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. Wanted posters may offer a reward for the cap- ture of a person or information leading to such capture.
May I suggest to you that now more than ever, we all need to make a personal wanted poster, for the capture of DISCIPLINE in our lives. Although discipline is not a crime, the lack of it can be. To capture or master the art of discipline by ruling oneself re- sponsibly will offer unlimited re- wards.
• The discipline of effectual and fervent prayer regularly will be rewarded with spiritual power, peace and purpose.
• The discipline of facing fail- ures will be rewarded with in- creased levels of persistence and determination to make it, despite what you’re going through.
• The discipline of exercising and eating nutritiously will be re- warded with good physical health, energy and mental clar- ity.
• The discipline of consistently confronting challenges will be re- warded with understanding and problem solving skills.
• The discipline of speaking positive affirmations to yourself, your spouse and your children will be rewarded with a strong and confident family of individu- als.
• The discipline of reading and educating yourself will be re- warded with knowledge and wis- dom (if applied).
• The discipline to successfully achieve goals be it great or small will be rewarded with ambition and perseverance.
No matter what area of your life that discipline is WANTED, when captured, the REWARD will be priceless.
Connect with Selphenia Nichols- Simmons to speak or provide workshop for your next event. Leave voice message at 813-956- 0185 Visit her website success- coachtowomen.com, email her Selphenia@successcoach- towomen.com, Facebook: Selphenia Nichols or Instagram: Selphenia
TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5