Life is Grand

My Last Thirty Days















by Dr. Basil Waine Kong


Life does not get any better than this. I have been on a great adventure with my loving, forgiving and accommodating wife (Stephanie). We are perfectly matched. We are both blessed with excellent health and strength, enjoy the company of ALL our children (4) and grand children (5.5). We also work as well as work out together daily.

Over the last thirty days, we visited Grand Cayman for three days (It rained every day but we met wonderful people, toured this small Island where the first civilians were certified as scuba divers) and we saw a wonderful performance by Cuban acrobats, dancers and singers; we attended the 35th Anniversary of the Association of Black Cardiologists in Las Vegas, (where I received an appreciation award for serving as their CEO for 22 glorious years). I also attended the Centers for Disease Control National Forum on Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in Atlanta where I serve on the International Committee on behalf of the "Heart Institute of the Caribbean Foundation". We saw a Broadway show in New York (FILA) where we also attended the 65th birthday celebrations of a dear friend (Obie McKenzie) and visited with another close friend (Josh Weinstein) who we do not visit with nearly enough.

In golf, I won a golf tournament in Jamaica (Kingston Hilton Open), played the famous East Lake Country Club and otherwise play an average of four times per week with wonderful friends whose company I thoroughly enjoy. Two weeks ago,I shot under par for the front nine at Caymanas with three birdies. Don't ask about the back nine.

I spend a great deal of time reaching out to others particularly with my eighty seven year old mother. It gives me a great deal of comfort that I am not a motherless child. The people of Woodlands District in St. Elizabeth, particularly the children, are a priority. We went to Hellshire Beach to swim and eat fish and festival, the Myrie’s in Kingston for soup on Saturdays after golf as well as play dominoes, swim, sing and dance whenever we have the opportunity. I have seven writing projects that are taking shape. In all that I do, I pray as if all depended on God and work as if all depended on me.

So, when anyone ask me, how I am doing, instead of saying “not so bad”, “could be better”, “I am still above the ground”, or some other cliché that shows how little we expect from life, I now respond:

“I am complete. I am perfect. I am happy. I am dynamite. I am lovable, loving, getting lots of good love. I am well off and doing well. I have it all together. I am basking in the riches of life. I am prospering right here and right now. I am being richly rewarded, even in my sleep. I am a miracle worker expecting a miracle right now. I am peacefully peaceful. I am walking the walk. I am talking the talk. I am claiming the victory right now. I am successful. I am wealthy. I am living in pure grace. I am a believer. I am standing on faith. I am on my way to the top. I am what I am because I just can’t help myself.” (Iyanla Vanzant, “Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color”, Simon & Schuster, 1993, December 7)

My wife and I can look backwards with joy and look forward with hope. And how are you doing?

Bullet Columnist Basil Waine Kong has written several pieces for this journal and especially likes to expound on his favorite subject: his beloved Jamaica. He is a former Atlien (resident of Atlanta GA), and was the CEO of the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) for 22 years before his retirement in 2008 to return to Jamaica. This article is reprinted with his permission from his blogsite; Coming in From the Cold... Bob Marley

I'm Perfect, You're Doomed by Kyria Abrahams

Book Review by Brenda Lee


Kyria's book, I'm Perfect, You're Doomed, is a bittersweet recipe of the author's excruciating adolescence combined with scorpion-piercing wit that may leave the average reader wondering: "Should I laugh or cry?" I found the book simultaneously sardonic while grossly disturbing. Because I too was once a Jehovah Witness teen who considered suicide as a means to escape the Watchtower's strangehold, but instead self-medicated through introspective humor, the undertones of falling prey to a dysfunctional lifestyle upon leaving a dysfunctional family were eerily but predictably unavoidable.



















The fact that Kyria has successfully shared her account with a flip of her strategic finger is indicative that she is on the road to recovery, purging the venomous sting of her painful past. I'm Perfect, You're Doomed is definitely not for cultic narcissists. Go Kyria, my "prodigal" sister.


About Kyria:
Kyria Abrahams is the author of I'M PERFECT, YOU'RE DOOMED: Tales of a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing (Touchstone, 2009).

Her humor has also been published in Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure (Harper Perennial, 2007) the THE BOOK OF ZINES: Reading From the Fringe. For two years, Kyria Abrahams was a regular columnist for Jest Magazine, where she was featured alongside performers and writers from The Daily Show and Chappelle's Show. She has been a past performer at alternative comedy shows like Eating It and Invite them Up, as well as literary readings like How to Kick People. She lives in Queens with an abused cat that she just knows will start to love her some day.
Follow Kyria on Twitter.

About Brenda
This is one of the latest columns by author and mind control educator Brenda Lee. Her book "Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult,” can be found at her site: www.outofthecocoon.net

She was the co-star of the documentary/reality series "The Secret Lives of Women" on WEtv. This site once carried all of her segments but experienced technical problems. The video segments will be re-posted soon.

Dear Mr. President: While in Afghanistan, Napalm the Poppy Fields

by Chris Stevenson


When it comes to news regarding Afghanistan, much of it is news reports and commentary relating to troop escalation. Many of us know how back in late March President Barack Obama approved of 21,000 more troops to be sent there. We have heard recent reports and debate concerning Obama sending 13,000 more troops etc., from a month ago (10/13). What has been conspicuous by it's omission is any major news reports of plans from Washington to destroy Afghanistan's far-famed poppy fields; those silent death fields that supply two thirds of the world's opium (heroin). Defense Secretary Robert Gates once said "You have to find a crop to replace the poppies or every farmer becomes a Taliban recruit." This is the same guy that worked under Bush (since 12/18/06), using Bush-like dogma in hopes of delaying heroin plant incineration. Why in the world would President Obama keep him on, wouldn't this be a compromise of his principles and future political directions?

Gates goes way back to the first Bush Administration (George H.W.) and was a 26-year CIA veteran, It's not just who you know, it's what you know. Can Obama trust a former member of an organization and Administration to assist him in cutting drugs at it's roots, when the record shows both of those parties to be key factors in the influx of illegal narcotics.

Hillary Clinton made an interesting statement about Mexico months ago if you remember, pinpointing America as the primary blame for their success in transporting illegal drugs past our border: "It is drug demand in the United States which drives the drugs north across the border. If there was not such a high level of demand it wouldn't be so profitable and you wouldn't have these drug gangs fighting for territory because they make so much money selling drugs to Americans." Understand Hil's words. "Drug demand in the United States." When she mentioned the US she wasn't talking about the government, she was referring to the consumer (She could have mentioned whether or not her husband had an alleged role in this as detailed in the book "Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA" by Terry Reed, but that's another column). My solution to illegal drug importation is to go after the source, after all, as Secretary Clinton inferred, war has been declared and the Americans have been targeted. You can only kill the demand by destroying the supply. You can only kill the snake by cutting off the head.

President Barack H. Obama should napalm (fire bomb) all poppy and coca fields made for the specific purpose of manufacturing heroin, cocaine and other narcotics. What better place to start than in Afghanistan where Obama is escalating a US presence anyway (something about defeating al Qaeda and maybe finding some dude named bin Laden). 'Bama, Bomb the Poppy Fields! Of course there will be those of you who will think this idea is wacked, but there has been reports that Obama has been planning this for some time. Some of you think Barack's hands are more tied than the town and city judges under the old Rockefeller laws, others will note the web of beneficiaries of illegal narcotics importation; the various urban police departments, the US judicial system, the prison industrial complex. This is a chance for America to succeed where the black and Hispanic single mother has failed; once the street supply dries up, her little pants-sagging/street corner brat will be forced to find a real job or start a business manufacturing or selling legal goods. These boys claim to be tough so it should be no problem to adjust right?

Who will hate this drug-strike? White conservatives, many who secretly felt secure or amused knowing the police were arresting an exorbitant amount of black boys. Expect people like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Tammy Bruce etc., to really reach with some twisted dialogue about Obama being a tyrant because he destroyed some Middle Eastern or South American families livelihood. Ignore them. My suggestion is nothing new by the way, as of 2006 when the United Nations estimated that poppy production increased 59% (407,000 acres), they now supply 92% of the world's opium. Since then the Afghan government began talks of eradicating the fields. Believe it or not, opium poppy cultivation is illegal by their laws.

Before the brutal war against the Soviets, Afghanistan's primary farming export was grapes and raisins. It's not as if the farmers should or would be left hanging. I'm sure Obama can find a way to work it out with the Afghan government to clear the way for the US to do a strike or joint strike to destroy those fields. The same plans should be made for nations that funnel illegal drugs through Mexico. According to the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, 90% of cocaine sold in the US in '04 came through Mexico. They were also the no.2 suppliers of heroin. Mexico has been the focus of much attention in the news recently, the old drug producing nations like Peru, Bolivia and Colombia still grow, manufacture and process cocaine, they just use Mexico to transport their product into the US.

"What is happening in Mexico, some experts say, is similar to Colombia in the late 1980's, when powerful drug cartels carried out assassinations and otherwise terrorized the county," according to an article by Bill Rodgers. Mexico's biggest produce is marijuana and humans (illegal aliens), it's the traffic they allow in that's the problem. Last year there were 6,000 drug-related murders in Mexico, most of these killings are based on US demand (Mexican President Felipe Calderon said '90% of Mexico's weapons come from the US). President Obama, if you really want change, if you want to cut down on the years it will take to shut down the oncoming drug cartels and street gangs, if you truly want to halt another drug influx like that in the late '80's-early'90's, then let your fighter pilots have some fun, cut 'em loose on the drug fields, napalm the poppy and cocoa fields and demand them to stop. Now that's a "Sound of Freedom" quite a few of us can relate to.

Chris Stevenson is a syndicated columnist, his articles also appear in the Buffalo Challenger. Follow him on Twitter & Facebook. Contact him by replying on the link below.

No More Suffering in Silence

by CHARLES M. BLOW


Last Saturday, actor, playwright and impresario Tyler Perry posted a heart-rending message on his Web site recounting the abuses of his childhood. It was hard to read it without welling up.

His father had constantly belittled and savagely beaten him. Perry wrote that one beating was so merciless that “the skin was coming off my back.” When he was about 10 years old, while trying to leave a friend’s house, Perry wrote that the friend’s mother made lewd and disgusting suggestions and pulled him on top of her.

At another point, Perry wrote about a man from church who had molested him.

Coming on the heels of the arrest of Roman Polanski for his 1977 crime of plying a 13-year-old girl with Champagne and Quaaludes before raping and sodomizing her, and the revelation from Mackenzie Phillips that she had had a 10-year “consensual incestuous” relationship with her own father that she believes began when she was a teenager, it raises the question: How pervasive is child sexual abuse and how often do these crimes go unreported?

The statistics are sobering.

According to a 2000 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 70 percent of all sexual assaults are committed against children. While the age with the greatest proportion of assaults reported was 14, more than half of all child victims were under 12. And of those under 12, 4-year-olds were at the greatest risk.

According to a Unicef report released this week, “5 to 10 percent of girls and up to 5 percent of boys suffer penetrative sexual abuse.” Up to three times of those numbers experience some type of sexual abuse.

The good news: Reports of sexual abuse in the United States seem to be sliding. The not-so-good news: Reports and prevalence are not the same, and it’s not conclusive that they move in concert. The bad news: If up to 3 in 10 girls and 3 in 20 boys are still being assaulted, these are epidemic proportions. And, if most cases are never reported, it’s a silent epidemic.

Like Perry, most child victims — scared, confused and ashamed — tell no one. Instead, they shunt the unsavory secret into a dark corner of the mind, where they try, alone, for years to make sense of it.

We must do a better job of helping these children realize that they are not alone, not at fault and not powerless, that there is hope and help and healing.

We need a public education campaign that speaks directly to children — on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, at the beginning of G-rated movies, on classroom bulletin boards, everywhere. Nothing graphic, just something simple: “If it feels wrong, it’s wrong. Say something. It’s your body.”


Once again the bullet is proud to present New York Times Columnist & nationally known commentator Charles M. Blow; heartthrob of women, heartburn of men, with several hundred words of blistering political commentary: I invite you to join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, or e-mail me at chblow@nytimes.com.

The Need for a System of Health Rather than a Health Care System in Jamaica

by Dr. Basil Waine Kong


It is difficult to imagine that with all the sunshine, ocean, open spaces, and such a strong sports tradition, 20% of our children are overweight. All aesthetics aside, being fat ought not to be perceived as anything other than unhealthy. Obese children become obese adults.

As has been noted in The Gleaner, obesity has reached troubling proportions in Jamaica. Since 1980, we have seen a 50% increase in the incidence of obesity every decade. This dramatic rise in obesity is inevitably accompanied by an equally critical rise in diabetes, resulting in over 20% of Jamaican adults suffering from this awful disease. Diabetes is particularly nasty as it impairs eyesight, causes impotence, and may result in the amputation of toes and legs. How did a society where people walked miles each day, succumb to this plague of inactivity, diabetes and obesity? An unhealthy country is a country without a future.

The United States has taught the world that there isn’t enough money to pay for all the disease caused by obesity, lack of exercise, cholesterol, smoking and diabetes. However, the United States spends 20 cents of each dollar collected as revenue on health care. Still, the life expectancy of an average African American men is less than Jamaican men. The United States has a so-called ‘state-of-the-art’ healthcare system, yet they are way behind the rest of the world in promoting health and well-being. When a patient has a disease, treat the disease; similarly, when a large segment of a population has a disease, treat the country. If you want to reduce violence, crime and unwanted pregnancies in Jamaica, let children have the opportunity to know their grandparents.

Jamaica needs a system that promotes health and not an expensive “healthcare system” that only treats disease. In a country where the average household income is less than US$1,000 per year, Jamaica can ill afford to provide invasive and expensive medical services to treat illnesses that should have been prevented. A “System of Health” emphasizes prevention, while a “health care system” places emphasis on the treatment. By being proactive instead of reactive, we can inspire people to take health promotion and disease prevention seriously.

Jamaicans live on an island of sunshine and cool breeze and most of us must live and eat by the sweat of our brow. Europeans and Americans come to our island to lose weight through exercise and heart healthy eating, so why can’t we take advantage of these home grown remedies? If we consider the fact that most of the disease that plague us and cost so much can be prevented, it becomes apparent that promotion of heart health and exercise would allow enormous savings for the health care system. In fact, just about all the heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, diabetes, kidney failure (diseases that kill 50% of us) could be prevented by making simple adjustments to our lifestyles. Being proactive in health can add 10 more years to enjoy the company of our grandchildren and guide them to a happy, healthy and productive life. I grew up reciting the nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty who was lazily sitting on a wall, had a great fall and nothing could put him together again. If Humpty was not sitting on the wall, his risk of falling would be far less. We can take an important message from this nursery rhyme by understanding that no matter how good our reactive plans in medicine and surgery may be, it will never be as good as prevention. An ounce of prevention is always going to be worth more than a pound of cure.

At the Heart Institute of the Caribbean, I am fortunate to work for a private entity that excels in the gamut of these services. In the hopes of implementing a “System of Health” we are eager to share our secrets and methods for prevention with readers of the Gleaner. We also offer executive physicals that may help determine the risk of a premature heart attack, using state of the art diagnostic equipment and Board Certified Cardiologists. If you are already aware of your condition, there is absolutely no better place to receive treatment for a wide range of cardiovascular related diseases. We realize that treating disease in an expensive undertaking and so, we offer our services for less than 20% of the cost for the same services in the United States. Again, preferring that you didn’t have the disease in the first place, we counsel family members who come to the Institute to be treated for heart disease, encouraging prevention. If you are sick, you are not making money, you are spending it. The best place to put your money is in your health. Healthy people are likely to be wealthy people and at the end of the day, we want a System of Health, not just a healthcare system

While our government struggles daily with how to allocate our limited resources, it should be recognized that it would be a good investment to spend more on prevention. At present, the Government spends less than 5% on prevention of diseases and we need to increase our spending here to at least 25%. In a Gleaner article dated 13/8/2008, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in identifying this problem addressed 750 delegates from 80 countries at the opening ceremony of the 57th August General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations disclosing the fact that the Government is planning to launch an island wide program aimed at getting people to adopt healthy lifestyle practices. In outlining the Government’s plan, Prime Minister Golding emphasized the need to sensitize the public of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, letting them know that “you can eat yourself to death in the same way that you can smoke yourself to death.” However, other than this speech, no much has been done in this arena.

Comparable to the above mentioned program, The Heart Institute of the Caribbean has developed a plan which involves an island wide tour aimed at training “Community Health Advocates” in various parishes. This plan also involves cardiac screening and group counseling thus effectively identifying the healthiest and most at risk communities in Jamaica. This way, we can educate and motivate our citizens to maintain good health.

Just as it would be unconscionable not to have an infectious disease program, it is unacceptable not to have a cardiovascular disease prevention program. Every citizen must recognize that if they do not take time to exercise and eat well, they will prematurely succumb to disease. God made us to be strong and physically fit, and by choosing to be “fat and lazy”, we will have to pay the price.


Bullet Columnist Basil Waine Kong has written several pieces for this journal and especially likes to expound on his favorite subject: his beloved Jamaica. He is a former Atlien (resident of Atlanta GA), and was the CEO of the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) for 22 years before his retirement in 2008 to return to Jamaica. This article is reprinted with his permission from his blogsite; Coming in From the Cold... Bob Marley

They Stone Children Don’t They?

Well not anymore, but in biblical times they did. I know it’s hard to imagine something that seems so barbaric, but it was the way society of that time dealt with incorrigible children. Jesus taught us to be as innocent as children. Well therein lies the question, are children innocent anymore?



It seems with greater and greater frequency we are horrified at the behavior of children in our society. For instance, there’s a case in Florida where a boy was doused with rubbing alcohol and set on fire. There are so many reports of beatings, murders, girl gangs and torture being perpetrated by kids and what’s equally astounding to the acts of violence, is the age of the children involved, fourteen, eleven and six? Worse yet is the utter lack of shame or remorse for their actions. Children are committing acts of violence that send chills down my spine, perhaps Jesus should have admonished us to be as innocent as infants.



So I have to wonder what has caused so many of our children to act out whatever evil thought that comes into their minds? We live in a land of plenty, with cell phones and video games, computers and designer clothes, albeit knock offs for most. Even the children legitimately categorized as poor, for the most part have a roof over their head and some kind of food to eat. They are not living in a land ravaged by war and famine nor are they being forced into slavery or guerrilla warfare. They are no where near as bad off as our ancestors of just four or five generations back who were slaves from the time they could pull a head of cotton off the plant. So where are we going wrong? We can blame the breakdown of the family without a doubt. We can also blame the media for bombarding society with images and messaged of violence and hatred. While not everyone is compelled to act out what they see, others are more susceptible, so ok. But I think there is another contributing factor to this crisis and it’s the “he’s only a child” mentality.



Too often parents choose to ignore disrespect and violence because “he’s only a child.” Here’s an experience I had with a little brat who when I was done with him decided to reconsider his actions.



While standing at the checkout line in a grocery store, a boy of about four or five years old, left his mother’s side and walked towards the back of the line and deliberately kicked each adult along the way. Each person he kicked gave him more confidence for the next, some he even kicked twice. You could tell he was enjoying himself. The people in line ignored him. They dared not chastise this child or react in any way, even though some winced in pain. The mother looked back from time to time and saw what he was doing. She chose to ignore him and didn’t even have the decency to apologize to anyone or at the very least make him stand by her side. The kid approached me with a snotty “you’re next” look in his eyes. Little did he know I would not stand for his nonsense. I would never allow my own child whom I adore to kick me, there’s no way this side of heaven that he’d get away with it. As he reared back his leg and gave me a “what cha gonna do about it” look, I stared him straight in the eye and very calmly, in a very even and convincing tone said “I’ll kick you back.” Suddenly, when faced with the prospect of having to take what he’d been dishing out, he was no longer interested in violent behavior. Suddenly, if he’d have to feel pain, then this isn’t fun. He turned and ran to his mother, hugging her side and hiding his face from me as though I were some bully just looking for the opportunity to hurt him.



Just think of that, I’m at least twice his height and so was everyone else but that didn’t deter him. He had absolutely no reservations about walloping each of us. Oh, and obviously the fact that we are adults didn’t matter either. When I was a kid, striking or kicking an adult was not an option. I didn’t even dare to roll my eyes for fear that I’d have to wait ‘till next week to find them.



So the message that this child is receiving is “I’m a kid and I can get away with anything. Even if it’s bad, if my mother knows, if it’s disrespecting adults or even if it causes pain, there are no consequences for what I do.”



There it is, well at least part of the problem. Parents, grandparents or whatever adult is in the child’s life is failing to stop these children from becoming bullies. That’s truly where a lot of this horrible behavior starts. The very first time a child bites, hits or kicks someone, it must be addressed. It’s neither cute nor innocent. For the most part, violent behavior is ingrained in our children from early childhood because we tolerate it due to our own ignorance, stupidity and sheer laziness.



Look at it from the child’s point of view. “I’ve been punching my uncle, screaming at my grandmother and kicking my mother since I was little, now that I’m fourteen and I slap your face, knock you down to the floor and kick you, why is it a problem? People either laughed or ignored me before, why should I be expected to change now?” As with everything, the more you get away with something, the more brazen you become. That’s why what starts out as a toddler smacking a parent in the face develops into an uncontrollable bully at grade school, and then a teen or pre-teen the parents are afraid of, who commits some violent act and society has to figure out what to do with them.



Is stoning an option? After the brutal deaths of so many children in Chicago and the aforementioned case of the child being set on fire, we are forced to ponder what is an appropriate response to such senseless or more accurately, deranged behavior. Clearly incarceration is not a deterrent, as kids aren’t afraid of jail and furthermore the penal system is just that, a system to penalize not rehabilitate. Don’t look for that to change because recidivism is a phenomenon worth billions.



This is a very complex problem that has many aspects to it. Issues such as abuse, drugs and the absolute lack of any form of anger management and conflict resolution skills are just a few of the contributing factors, but good child rearing certainly goes a long way to developing well adjusted youths.



So now what? I believe this is a crisis and it’s just as significant as health care or the economy. When I was a kid I was taught about the dangerous stranger. You know the scruffy looking guy with beady eyes and bad teeth. Be warned, today the dangerous stranger is our youth.





A.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION

CAN WE MAKE HISTORY AGAIN? YES WE CAN!!


by Gloria Dulan-Wilson

















For those of you who have had some moments of trepidation as to whether Bill Thompson can win the election, allow me to remind you and assure you that BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION.

Now why is that? Is it because he has some magic powers? Yes, it’s the magic of believing that New Yorkers deserve the best across the board. It’s the magic of not just pretending to understand the middle class, but to be a part of the middle class and under stand and support it’s aspirations and concerns. It’s the magic of being able to speak to people on their level without a speech writer having to put the information together for him. It’s the magic of having risen in the ranks of public servantship and not losing sight of what is needed regardless of where and when he enters.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION Is it because he has tons and tons of money and can buy all the votes he want; advertise anywhere he wishes, buy lies to evade the truth? Definitely not the case. In fact, the soul of New York cannot be bought or sold. It has to be won. The unvarnished, unfiltered truth is that despite hardships, despite Democrat or Republican in the state capital or in Gracie Mansion, Bill Thompson has always delivered and made New York City his priority. He has been an exemplary Comptroller, instrumental in holding the line in terms of budgetary and cost overruns despite Bloomberg.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: Is it because he can buy votes? No, and neither can anyone else. Votes are given in support of an individual who is giving you the best each and every day, despite the challenges and obstacles. Bill Thompson has never tried to rest on his laurels or reputation.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: Because at the end of the day, when his opponents pulled every trick in the book, told all the lies; distorted all the truth; blocked all the media information, twittered their last invective twitter; at the end of the day New Yorkers took their own personal inventory. Are they actually better off after 8 years of Bloomberg? And the overwhelming answer is NO!

Despite the glitter, despite the promises -- which have largely gone undelivered; despite the cast of characters who back him (do you really trust someone that is backed by Rudy Giuliani?) Do you really want someone who thinks the Public Advocate should be vacated and let the News media be the critic of last resort for the city? Do you really want to back someone who wants to bring people in from other countries to do the work in New York, while our city, which has been blessed by having the largest immigrant population is now struggling to provide decent jobs for them as well as for “native” New Yorkers. Where the jobs are being privatized as opposed to being distributed to people who are already here.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: Each and every time Bill Thompson has run for office of any kind, people look at his actions, accomplishments, sincerity, integrity, strength of character, and in their heart of hearts, know they must follow their conscience and act on their best interests. New Yorkers know sincerity, integrity, dedication, determination and the truth when they see it. And it shines through Bill Thompson.

New York has been entangled by slick words, distortions, lies, deceit, veiled threats on the part of the Bloomberg doom berg machine. It’s these same distortions that have brought our city to the brink of financial and social disaster, depression, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of the people.

Bill Thompson is devoted to developing New York City’s assets for all New Yorkers, not just for a hand picked few. Bill Thompson has always stood for transparency, making sure that he gives New Yorkers what they need as well as what they want. Bill Thompson’s track record has always been that of success and progressiveness. However, rather than leaving people behind, or segregating people from the benefits of a greater New York City, he practices the policy and politics of inclusion -- not exclusion.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: because people can see into the heart of the man. People SERVANT LEADER who will do more for all New Yorkers in the next four years than Bloomberg has done with his millions in the past eight years. If Bloomberg was going to develop affordable homes it would have already been done. Instead he focused on stadiums, glass building, bulldozing neighborhoods, walking over the wishes and autonomy of New Yorkers by disenfranchising them through the dismantling of term limits, and the violation of tax exempt funds to build properties that are of no benefit to the people who are most in need.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: Though he faced what appears to be insurmountable odds, he stands steadfast and looks the problem in the face, and works to provide a viable solution that is beneficial to all concerned He has never rolled over or abandoned his constituents, or put the interests of one over that of another.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: because he’d diligent, dedicated, caring compassionate on the one hand; tough, focused, and vigilant on the other. Through all his roles in the City of New York he has never stooped to abuse of power, which usurps the rights of New Yorkers on Main Street in order to curry the favor of those on Wall Street. He has never insulted the intelligence of New Yorkers.

BILL THOMPSON HAS NEVER LOST AN ELECTION: And New Yorkers have never lost with Bill Thompson, no matter what his current role or responsibility. His track record has always been that of success.

SO LET’S MAKE SURE THAT BILL THOMPSON WINS THIS ELECTION: It’s the most important one of all. New Yorkers must vote for Bill because he puts New Yorkers first. We are his number one priority. We must turn out in record numbers as we did for President Obama, because we recognize the truth when we hear it, when we see it. It’s time for a change.

IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE, IT’S TIME FOR NEW LEADERSHIP, IT’S TIME FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT. IT’S TIME TO ELECT BILL THOMPSON MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY. CAN WE MAKE HISTORY AGAIN? YES WE CAN!!

VOTE NOVEMBER 3RD 2009.

Stay Blessed and Eclectically Black,

Gloria Dulan-Wilson