Paul has a strong following but is unlikely to win the nomination and Romney is hoping that Paul supporters will help him defeat President Barack Obama in the upcoming election.

The Washington Post reports:

The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.

Romney’s aides are “quietly in touch with Ron Paul,” according to a Republican adviser who is in contact with the Romney campaign and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its internal thinking. The two campaigns have coordinated on minor things, the adviser said — even small details, such as staggering the timing of each candidate’s appearance on television the night of the New Hampshire primary for maximum effect.

Read More At The Washington Post

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Terra Hall of Fox4 Kansas City recently reported that a slave named York helped Lewis and Clark gain access with American Indians during their trudge through the Midwest. American Indians saw York’s dark skin as a sign of strength and power.

“He’s [York] the first known African American known to make it all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back.  So he’s one of the greats as far as the explorers are concerned,” said Richard Edwards of the National Frontier Trials Museum in Independence, Mo.

For the entire month of February, Edwards will be sharing tales of York and other Black Americans who were instrumental in shaping America’s place in history.

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“He was glad that the president attended, but he felt that there were 364 days in a year to give a speech on your policies or campaign rhetoric,” said Gingrey spokeswoman Jen Talaber.

In a puzzling move, President Obama decided do a little blurring of church and state by enumerating the many ways that Christianity influences his economic policy:

If I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense. But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”

Then, in a subtle jab at the current GOP front-runner, Mitt Romney, who — in addition to being Mormon — recently “mis-spoke” when saying that the “poor aren’t [his] concern,” Obama seemed to pull Romney’s religion card by suggesting that his own Christian values ensured that he cares about those in poverty:

“[It's] a biblical call to care for the poor and to follow the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute,’” said the president.

Oh, it get’s better. Obama, who has made it a point to surround himself with Wall Street heavyweights during his first term, such as Lawrence Summers, Michael Froman, Neal Wolin, William Daley and Tom Donilon — or as National Review writer, Kevin D. Williamson so brilliantly put it, B.H. Obama & Co. LLC: A Wall Street Cabinet Company — then said that his Wall Street policy followed the commandment of God:

“The Wall Street reform [I] championed makes the economy stronger for everyone and abides by God’s command to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,” said Obama.

These remarks did not sit well with Gingrey. Going into further detail on what is sure to be viewed as another disrespectful action against the president — akin to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer losing her mind at pointing her finger in the president’s face like he was an errant school child –Talaber said that Gingrey was most upset at the president’s lack of reverence for the occasion:

“He was disappointed, because he wanted to know what was in the president’s heart, and not just rhetoric,” the spokeswoman said. “So he said that he decided to quietly get up and leave because he felt that it wasn’t the time or the place, and that the president didn’t seem to be aware of the meaning of the breakfast or why so many people came to hear him speak. He was offended by the very tone of the speech.”

I was too, Rep. Gingrey; though, I’m sure that my reasons have very little in common with yours.

My issue is that President Barack Obama has transparent pandering down to an exact science. Just in time for Black History Month, he managed to insult the intelligence of millions of Black Americans by concocting an end-zone campaign to ensure that the same voters he’s ignored for almost four years make it their mission to “Barack the Vote” in November. It’s amazing that he can’t specifically address the issues that plague our communities — because he’s the president for all Americans — yet, he has no problem specifically asking for our vote.

However it’s not just us; no “special interest group” is exempt.

He claims to be pro-choice, but then goes out of his way to symbolically sign an executive order in March of 2010 to show his unwavering support for the long-standing Hyde Amendment, which effectively bans the federal government from financing elective abortions.

He consistently shrugs his shoulder with that boyish grin when asked about his support of the legalization of same-sex marriages; veering hard to the right, the president repeatedly says that “he’s working on it.” In the mean time, as he continues to deny the LGBTQ community equal rights under the law, he was proud to eradicate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, effectively “allowing them” to fight and die for a country that finds suppression of their civil liberties “fair.”

President Obama is passionate about green energy. If we don’t hear anything else, rest assured that we will hear about green energy. Ironically, when the president had the opportunity to stand firmly behind the Environment Protection Agency and a regulation that would ensure a dramatic decrease in smog production, he caved to business and Republican protest and rejected the potentially life-saving measure. The American Lung Association was so disgusted that they threatened to pursue legal action against the current standards, which  were proposed by George W. Bush.

Noticing a theme here? Obviously, President Obama has perfected the art of the Beltway Two-Step as if he’s been dancing it his entire life. Still, in no arena is he as obviously awkward as when pouring on the hallelujahs. His blatant merger of church and state is the antithesis of words spoken earlier in his career when he spoke eloquently against the very idea.

In one of the most intelligent explorations into the hypocrisy and infeasibility contained within portions of the Bible, a little known speech given by a young Senator Obama at turns ridicules the Good Book (see: Leviticus, stoning and shellfish) and refers to religion as a hindrance to Democracy. He makes it clear that America is not a Christian nation, and that if it ever was, “it’s not anymore.” He quips that if Abraham (see: Genesis) had attempted to slash his son Isaac’s throat in modern society, at the very least, “police would be called and child and family services would be expected to take Isaac away from Abraham.” He convincingly makes the point that faith has no place in politics, because we do not share common spiritual eyesight, we can only share common laws. Most powerfully, he says that “religiously motivated [politicians] must translate their concerns into universal — not religious — values.

Where was that Obama at the Prayer Breakfast?

The president’s injection of personal faith into politics — when he so clearly stands against it — was about as bizarre as Sarah Palin being anointed by a witch-hunter who  asked Jesus to fund her campaign and as laughable as four GOP candidates, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain, claiming that God led them all to run for president — he was clearly wrong about three of them because only Perry remains.

In Matthew 5:17,  Jesus says “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy them, but to fulfill them.” Unfortunately, when it comes to conservative politics, Wall Street cronyism and now his politically advantageous blurring of church and state, that is one verse in the Bible that Obama obviously takes to heart.

He doesn’t seem to understand that not everyone is going to like him, but we should be able to respect him. I’m not referring to that generic “respect the office of the president,” I’m speaking of literally respecting him. He can’t continue to say that the sky is blue at 8:00 a.m around blue lovers, then tell yellow lovers that it’s actually a lovely shade of saffron at noon. He needs to find a position that he’s comfortable with and play it, regardless of who tries to tackle him; if he doesn’t, he will continue to be viewed as ineffective and untrustworthy by many people who worked tirelessly to get him elected in 2008.

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Graham, 19, was pursued by a team of police who had attempted to stop and question him.  Reportedly, police witnessed the youth adjusting the waistband of his pants on the street and immediately assumed he had a gun.  The youth, who had a prior arrest record for marijuana possession and burglary, ran from the officers who then gave chase.

The unarmed boy was tracked down by police in his residential second-floor apartment.  When Graham managed to make it inside his apartment, he reportedly ran inside the bathroom with two officers in hot pursuit.  A tussle ensued and one of the policeman fired a bullet from his .9 mm gun, hitting Graham in chest.  The name of the officer who did the shooting has not been released, but reports state that he is a 30-year-old, two-year veteran who has never been involved in a prior shooting.

According to sources, Graham was unarmed:

“He had some weed on with him,” a family friend told the Daily News. “It wasn’t a big deal. They shot him inside the house. … He didn’t have a gun.”

Police reports state that a small amount of marijuana was found in the bathroom and speculate that perhaps the teen had been trying to flush it down the toilet to avoid further arrest.

Graham was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

Constance Malcolm, 39, who is Graham’s mother, witnessed the incident and is distraught over the death of her son.

“They chased him into the house.  Nobody deserves to be shot in their own home.”

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(Indianapolis)  — Indiana AFL-CIO union president Nancy Guyott says its members will not disrupt the Super Bowl festivities this Sunday and instead take its fight against the right to work bill signed into law this week to the ballot box in November. On Wednesday, Gov. Mitch Daniels made Indiana the 23rd state to ban labor contracts requiring workers to pay union fees.  Thousands of union members protested outside the statehouse and then marched into Super Bowl village hours after Daniels signed the legislation. Union protesters had threatened work slowdowns and traffic jams near Lucas Oil Stadium.  An estimated 150,000 Super Bowl fans are expected downtown for the game Sunday. Protesters say they will hand out anti-right-to-work pamphlets in the Super Bowl Village.

Colts quarterback has been cleared to play

(Indianapolis) –  ESPN is reporting this morning that doctors have given Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning the green light to begin playing football. Manning missed the entire 2011 season due to a  neck injury and two surgeries. Colts owner Jim Irsay stated on Twitter early this morning that Manning has not passed the team’s physical nor has he yet been cleared and says he will issue a statement later today. Manning told Eyewitness Sports News earlier this week that his rehab was going well and that he had no plans to retire. Meanwhile The Colts owe Manning a $28 million option bonus due on March 8th.  If the team decides against paying him, Manning will become a free agent. Irsay says he expects to address the issue of Manning’s roster bonus next week. The Colts have the top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and are expected to take Stanford QB Andrew Luck with the top overall selection.

Super Bowl spending estimated to be in the billions 

(Indianapolis)  – Super Bowl 46 is predicted to be a huge winner for the economy.  The National Retail Federation expects Sunday’s game to add about $11 billion dollars to the economy with the average game watcher spending about $64 dollars on related merchandise, apparel and snacks; that figure is up about five percent from last year.  Also, the big game is expected to draw a record television audience of 173 million people.  The NFL’s Super Bowl matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots happens this Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Pacers ending road tour

(Dallas, TX)  –  The Indiana Pacers wrap up a brief two-game road swing tonight against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.  The Pacers have won three games in-a-row to improve to 15-and-6 on the season, coming off a 109-99 victory at Minnesota on Wednesday.  Indiana opens up a two-game homestand tomorrow evening against the Orlando Magic.

Police release the name of woman killed on I-69

(Fishers) –  An identity has been made on a woman killed Wednesday afternoon in what investigators say was a suicide.  Linda Jackson, 44, of Indianapolis, was reported by witnesses as running in front of cars along Interstate 69 in Hamilton County. Jackson in ran in front of a semi-trailer around 2:30 p.m. near the 9 mile marker and fell into a ditch. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Before the accident, police received numerous calls about a female running in front of vehicles. The incident remains under investigation. The semi driver was not injured in the incident.

Man faces charges for battery against patient

(Richmond)  — A man is facing charges this morning, accused of fondling a patient while visiting his mother at a mental health facility. “The Palladium-Item” reports Billy J. Ward, 40, of Hagerstown was arrested last Saturday on two counts of sexual battery. Court documents contain statements from a female patient at the English Manor mental health facility who says Ward inappropriately touched her and removed his pants and forced her to touch his genitals. The victim also reportedly said that on separate occasions in early 2011, Ward also involved her in the viewing of inappropriate material and inappropriately touched her body. 

Since Planned Parenthood is the focus of an inquiry spearheaded by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), in efforts to determine if public money was illegally spent on funding abortions, the life-saving partnership between the bastions of women’s health has been nullified.

Coincidentially, conservative Karen Handel, who lost a gubernational race in Georgia in 2010 running on a strict anti-abortion and anti-Planned Parenthood platform, was recently named Komen’s vice-president. In her campaign blog, Handle made her position clear:

I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.”

While Barbara Walter consistently stated that “federal funds are not used to fund abortions at Planned Parenthood” and Whoopi Goldberg insisting that the “the investigation is false,” Elisabeth Hasselback stayed true to conservative form, stating:

If it was political and if Susan G. Komen would never be associated with someone because they are the nation’s largest provider of abortions, then why would they have ever have partnered with them over the years and years and years?”

See The View debate below:

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“I don’t think there’s a better time than African-American History month to consider the tremendous progress we’ve made through the sacrifices of so many, or a better time to recommit to the challenges we face right now,” said Obama in a video to his supporters.

It is expected that the Democrats would work to shore up their Black base right before the president’s bid for re-election. The dampened enthusiasm among Black voters who are facing 15.8 percent unemployment and rapidly declining wealth levels is also expected. The Black unemployment number is more than double that of white Americans, which stands at 7.5 percent. Throughout the Obama presidency, White unemployment has improved, while Black unemployment has gotten markedly worse.

Ironically, the “African Americans for Obama” website says that the president has been fighting “to restore economic security that has been eroding for American families for a decade.”

President Obama won 96 percent of the Black vote in 2008. His approval rating today stands at 91 percent. The black community continues to be the strongest and most loyal base of the Obama Administration.

Political commentator, Yvette Carnell, has something to say about the issue:

“I have no problem with Obama targeting African-American voters. None. He needs us and he knows it,” said Carnell. “What I do have a problem with, however, is how most of the targeting begins during campaign season and ends on election day. We’re more than just a voting bloc. We’re real citizens with real needs, needs which I hope the President begins to acknowledge and address.”

Columbia University Professor Christopher Emdin doesn’t agree with Carnell’s assessment.

“I do not believe the ‘frustration and dampened enthusiasm’ cited within Af-American communities is as pervasive as we are led to believe. With that being said, these facts do not negate the fact that these communities are dealing with serious issues related to education and poverty,” said Dr. Emdin. “I do not believe that Obama’s campaigning in Af-American communities is reflective of some ulterior agenda to “use them when he needs them.  It very well may be an effort to make a shift to explicitly focus on the needs of this community.”

The pending re-election of Barack Obama has put Black voters in a quandary. While many would agree that conditions have worsened for the Black community under Obama, the Republican Party provides no reasonable alternatives. In many cases, Black people have become the political orphans of America:

You can either live with the parents who abuse you or live with the child molester down the street. While one fate is clearly worse than the other, there is no end to the pain in sight.

It is actually logical for the Obama Administration to keep Black voters on the back-burner. When a group gives you 91 percent approval and asks for nothing in return, there is almost no political incentive to do anything for them. This calculation likely played a role in the statement that the “rising tide will lift all boats” made three years ago, when the president was asked about inequality in wealth and unemployment. The “lift all boats” policy was a clear and miserable failure, for most economic experts can tell you that racial inequality is not going to fix itself without targeted economic policy.

Right now, in the Black community, there are at least two types of people: those who are suffering and those who are not. The suffering group consists of the poor, unemployed, and those who live under the thumb of the criminal justice system. The rest of us have jobs, food to eat and are not impacted directly by mass incarceration. If you’re in the second group, it’s difficult to find fault with the Obama Administration, for a Black president grants the symbolic comfort that comes along with the “Mama I Made It” syndrome that justifies the trade-offs many of us make for the sake of economic and social progress in a White supremacist society.  Being the first Black president is the granddaddy of all “proud mama” moments, so there are millions willing to forgive nearly any short-coming of the Obama White House to maintain access to the throne.

For those who care about the poor, there is almost no redemption when the president barely mentions poverty in his speeches.  For the unemployed, it’s hard to imagine how your life will get better by supporting an administration that helped white folks find jobs while letting the Black numbers reach levels approaching those of the Great Depression. For those suffering with the effects of mass incarceration, it’s hard to get excited about a president who has not directly confronted the debilitating effects of the drug war, which has destroyed millions of families and an entire generation of children.  All of these issues indicate a state of emergency in the Black community; but thus far, we’ve only given White Americans the right to express dissatisfaction with their condition.

The implicit African American slogan for the Democratic Party is “You should just stop complaining, because the Republicans are even worse than we are.” The threat of political punishment is clearly enough to secure the Black vote without doing a thing. But at the same time, the Black political orphans of America do have a choice. WEB Dubois, when faced with few quality political options 50 years ago, simply said that he refused to vote at all.  Rather than behaving like a teenage girl who shares her body with the first man who buys her a cheeseburger, Dubois advocated for the idea that we save our votes for politicians who have truly worked to earn them.

After a mass holdout from conscientious Black voters, perhaps the Democrats will then strive to honestly earn the Black vote instead of simply telling us that they are not as horrible as the Republicans.  It should not be taboo to request that Black voters have enough self-respect to demand that all politicians give priority to the issues that lead to our suffering. There are no victims, just volunteers, and we don’t have to be political orphans forever.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here,

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Here’s some more information on the story:

A housewife died after suffering a massive allergic reaction possibly triggered by the glue in her hair extensions, an inquest heard today.

Atasha Graham, 34, collapsed after a night out dancing at a club where her boyfriend was the DJ.

The hearing at Southwark  Coroner’s Court in London was told the allergic reaction may have been caused by the glue used to attach her hair extensions – but there was no way to be 100 per cent certain.

Home Office pathologist Doctor Michael Heath told the inquest: ‘I’ve seen cases where people using solvent to apply hair extensions has actually caused anaphylactic shock.

For more, go to the Daily Mail.

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Obama’s remarks Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast were his most explicit account of how his personal religious beliefs factor into his decision-making on the nation’s pressing problems. The comments came amid election-year criticism from Catholic groups and some Republicans that the president is waging a war on religion following his decision to require church-affiliated institutions to cover free birth control for employees.

Speaking to more than 3,000 people at the annual breakfast, Obama said “faith and values” should play as much as role in tackling the nation’s challenges as sound decision-making and smart policies.

He said, for example, that his own call for fairness in the tax code – a central tenet of his State of the Union address and his 2012 campaign – is both economically sound and consistent with the teachings of Jesus.

“If I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense,” he said. “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that `for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”

He also said the Wall Street reform he championed both “makes the economy stronger for everyone” and abides by God’s command to “love thy neighbor as thyself” because it helped people who had been hurt or treated unfairly by financial institutions.

And Obama said he believed in a “biblical call” to care for the poor and to follow “the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to `Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.’”

The president’s remarks came one day after Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, created a flap with clumsy comments about the poor.

Romney said wasn’t concerned about the “very poor” because they have a safety net. He also said he wasn’t concerned about the very rich and intended to focus his campaign on the middle class.

“You can focus on the very poor; that’s not my focus,” Romney said.

While the White House said the president’s remarks were not meant to be political, his comments did fit neatly into the Obama campaign’s effort to draw sharp contrasts between the president and Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor is among Republicans who have criticized the president for not exempting religious organizations from a requirement in the 2010 health care law that requires insurers to cover birth control for their employees. Romney said this week that the president was ordering “religious organizations to violate their conscience.”

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Obama has “declared war on the Catholic Church,” and House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday the mandate violates the Constitution.

Obama never mentioned the controversy in his remarks Thursday, nor did he reference his Republican rivals by name. But his broader defense of his policies was a rare interjection of politics into the annual prayer breakfast. The breakfast is organized by bipartisan congressional lawmakers, but speakers often avoid overt political references beyond calling for civility and respect in Washington.

While Obama speaks often about his faith, he prefers to worship in private. He said Thursday that he starts each morning with a brief prayer, then spends time reading scripture. Sometimes, he said, pastors come to the Oval Officer to pray with him, for his family and for the country.

He also described his own religious transformation in deeply personal language Thursday, from growing up in a non-religious home to finding Christ later in his life. He recalled a visit a few years ago with the evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, which ended with the president feeling compelled to pray for the aging Graham.

Obama said when he found himself at that moment not knowing what to say, the Holy Spirit interceded.

“I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong,” he said.
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DETROIT – On Tuesday, a Detroit couple was on the verge of being evicted from their home of 22 years, before they were allowed to stay thanks to help from local advocacy groups including Occupy Detroit. The family is allowed to stay after a year of wrangling over the home’s foreclosure.

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William and Bertha Garrett have lived in their home on Pierson Street on Detroit’s northwest side since 1990 and had been making consistent mortgage payments for years before a botched laser surgery rendered William blind in one eye and cost him half of his income. After a second surgery in 2003 left William legally blind, the family began to struggle with mortgage payments.

“My parents’ mentality is, ‘My daughter got married there, my two sons got married there, babies have been born here, this is not just a house,’” Michele Finley, the Garretts’ daughter told the Huffington Post. “This is our life.”

For more on this story, go to theGrio.

WATCH THE GARRETTS SPEAK ABOUT THEIR PLIGHT: