American Samoa Demands Citizenship Or Else Independence!

American Samoa is an unincorporated U.S. territory in the South Pacific Ocean. The territory is a chain of eight islands/atolls with the neighboring independent nation of Samoa to the northwest.

The capital of the territory is the town of Pago Pago.

The U.S. territory's governor is Lolo Matalasi Moliga who is an independent but aligns himself with the Democratic Party.

The U.S. territory is demanding American citizenship, voting rights and recognition. There are residents taking the matter into the Supreme Court.

Pago Pago is the capital of the United States territory of American Samoa.

Tuaua v. United States is being heard in the Court. What is being argued among the justices is the granted legal status of people born on U.S. soil. Those who are born in American Samoa are U.S. nationals, not citizens. They are denied voting rights, opportunities to apply for state and federal jobs if they choose to move to the mainland.

The Citizenship Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that “All persons born . . . in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”  Federal laws and policies that deny citizenship to people born in American Samoa violate this Clause and are unconstitutional.

I was interested in the matter when comedian/satirist John Oliver of HBO's Last Week Tonight brought attention to voting rights not being established in the U.S. territories.

Lene Tuaua is fighting for the right to be recognized as an American citizen. 

We The People's Project has invested heavily in this matter. Lene Tuaua was born in American Samoa. He served in the military and gave his life to the country.

Tuaua v. United States is a court case that originated when a group of American Samoans sued the State Department and the Obama administration. They sued to force the government to award American Samoans birthright citizenship, arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that anyone born in the United States is automatically granted citizenship.

The case originated as a complaint filed in 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and the case was docketed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2013. Briefs were filed in 2014, and an oral argument was made last year.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 3-0 to deny birthright citizenship to American Samoans, ruling that the guarantee of such citizenship to citizens in the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to U.S. island territories.

Republican congresswoman Amata Coleman Radewagen is the non-voting delegate from the U.S. territory of American Samoa. She became the first woman and Republican to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Attorneys filed a petition requesting that the Supreme Court of the United States review the Appeals Court's decision.

They are pressuring lawmakers in Washington to full grant citizenship to those living in American Samoa. They are pressuring Congress to grant full voting rights to all residents of the U.S. territories.

The residents on these territories aren't allow to vote for the President of the United States.

Did you know that 4.7 Americans live in the occupied territories administrated by the United States?

The District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands have U.S. Representatives who are non-voting delegates to Congress.

Black-ish Takes on #BlackLivesMatter, Police Brutality And Racial Profiling!

ABC's comedy black-ish takes on police brutality and #BlackLivesMatter

Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross star in the hit comedy black-ish. The show deals with a Black father who trying to bring his suburbanite children into the Black experience.

Tonight's episode is taking on police brutality, racial profiling and #BlackLivesMatter. 

I'm giving my honest opinion of the episode and revealing spoilers. 

Andre (Anderson) and Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) explain the experience of being profiled by law enforcement to their four children. Dre, Pops (played by Laurence Fishburne) and Ruby (played by Jennifer Lewis) are trying to let the children know that justice system failed Black America. 

Jack and Diane (played by Miles Brown and Marsai Martin) are concerned about how they're probably going to be killed by the police. 

They get into a huge argument into Bow's feelings towards police. 

They become preppers for a pending riot after a grand jury decided to not indict an officer who shot and killed an unarmed Black citizen. They get into an argument over the negative press coverage of the unarmed Black citizen. They also noted the feeling when Black America felt that electing Barack Obama was the beginning of a new era in race relations. Dre explains that even with a Black president, things aren't getting any better.

Dre explains to Bow when he sees Obama's opponents treat less than his title as President of the United States, he sees racism at its worst. 

There was a fight between Zoey (played by Yara Shahidi) and Andre, Jr. (played by Marcus Scribner). Junior wanted to join the protesters and Zoey warned him to not go because the rioters could end up hurting him. 

Dre explains the "gray zone" between what's good and what's bad in the country. Dre and Bow believe that there's a need for change and even though they don't agree on everything, they have hope and strength to change policy.

The characters make reference to the most recent deadly encounters of unarmed Black citizens.

Don Lemon of CNN and Black activist Ta-Nehisi Coates were featured guests on the show. 

It's a controversial episode and it's certainly going to attract conservative outrage and reaction from police unions. Some of the police unions threaten boycotting entertainers who criticize law enforcement.

Anderson along with his executive producers Kenya Burris and Yvette Lee Bower are expecting a backlash from conservatives and police unions.

Trump Won The Nevada Caucus! Civil War Looming Between Republicans!

It may be too late for the Republicans to stop him.

Another huge victory for Donald Trump, the controversial business/media mogul.

The insurgent won with 43% of the vote with another statistical tie and major defeat for Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

The frontrunner Donald Trump is projected to win the state with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz trailing from behind. Another big victory for Trump shrinks the chances for Rubio and Cruz.

Matter of fact, it eliminates Ben Carson and John Kasich out too.

Rubio is becoming the establishment's last chance at winning. Rubio polls better against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The establishment are hoping that a Republican Party united could stomp out Trump and Cruz. The insurgency is vowing to oppose any candidate that sold their souls to liberalism.

The pro-Trump websites such as the conservative Craigslist has the siren blazing again!

TRUMP WINS NEVADA...
Ballot shortages, IDs unchecked at some caucuses...
Most angry with gov't...
LIVE: RESULTS... 

 

CIRCUS CIRCUS!
*TRUMP 43% CRUZ ___% RUBIO ___%

The party is gearing up for a brokered convention.

HIV On The Rise!

Black men who are gay or bisexual face the threat of HIV infection at greater rates.

Users of heroin and Black men are driving the HIV epidemic back up to record highs.

You heard of the "down low".

Urban slang for Black men who are secretly "bisexual" or "gay". They want to give the impression that they're "straight" but are trying to repress their feelings towards men or transgender women.

Men love sex. They don't care what happens as long as they get their sexual fantasies off, the men are satisfied.

They end up having sex with men and women at numerous rates. Some are willing to spread the HIV virus in malicious ways to their partners or spouses.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that one in 64 men and one in 227 women in the United States will be diagnosed with HIV at current rates. For black and Hispanic people, however, that risk increases dramatically.

The Daily Beast reports that the dangers are still prevalent in the Black and Hispanic communities. Regardless of sexual orientation, one in 20 black men and one in 48 black women will be diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS in their lifetimes, according to the CDC. For Hispanic men and women, the risks are one in 48 and one in 227, respectively.

White people have the lowest chance of an HIV diagnosis, with an overall lifetime risk of less than one percent. Gay and bisexual white men still have a lifetime risk of one in 11, though.

The CDC’s projections are based on data about HIV diagnoses and death rates collected from 2009 to 2013, and they assume that rates of new diagnoses remain constant. If that’s the case, one in six men who have sex with other men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes.

“These estimates are a sobering reminder that gay and bisexual men face an unacceptably high risk for HIV—and of the urgent need for action,” said Dr. Eugene McCray, director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. “If we work to ensure that every American has access to the prevention tools we know work, we can avoid the outcomes projected in this study.”

For Hispanic people living in the United States, the CDC has already outlined an array of factors behind the alarming rate of new infections: a high prevalence of HIV, poverty and lack of health insurance coverage, “machismo” that can encourage men to engage in risky sexual behavior as a show of strength, and reluctance to access prevention services for fear of revealing one’s immigration status.

For black people, CDC resources show, prevention challenges are similar: poverty, stigma, barriers to health care access, and too few people knowing their status. Risk in black communities is especially high, the CDC notes, because “African Americans tend to have sex with partners of the same race/ethnicity mean[ing] that [they] face a greater risk of HIV infection with each new sexual encounter.”

According to the CDC’s new projections, all of the states with the highest lifetime risk for HIV are in the South, with the exceptions of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. All of these states and the South tend to have large black and Hispanic populations, higher rates of poverty, and less health-insurance coverage.

The CDC estimates that HIV risk is highest in Maryland, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida, with about 2 percent of these states’ populations believed to test HIV positive eventually.

No single area may be worst-hit than Washington, D.C., which is nearly 50 percent black and 10 percent Latino. According to the CDC’s projections, a staggering one in 13 D.C. residents will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes.

But the CDC doesn’t want its projections to be interpreted as a death sentence.

“As alarming as these lifetime risk estimates are, they are not a foregone conclusion. They are a call to action,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention.

If the U.S. can reduce new infections, those lifetime risk numbers will go down, too. The CDC’s current prevention approach emphasizes HIV testing, condom use, treatment for those who have already been diagnosed, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a daily medication that has been shown to reduce risk by more than 90 percent when used correctly.

“The prevention and care strategies we have at our disposal today provide a promising outlook for future reductions of HIV infections and disparities in the U.S.,” said Dr. Mermin, “but hundreds of thousands of people will be diagnosed in their lifetime if we don’t scale up efforts now.”

MSNBC Under Fire For Being In The Tank For Trump!

Why do any advertising? Trump got Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Sean Hannity, and The Drudge Report all in the tank for him.

The liberal network that devotes a portion of its coverage trashing Republicans is embracing Donald Trump. The two morning nuts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were interviewing Trump.

Joe and Mika are the conservatives on the network. Joe has somewhat endorsed Trump. He's a huge supporter of Marco Rubio.

Trump of course, was cordial to the two. Scarborough and Brzenziki both sang praises.

Throughout the six minutes or so, Trump and the MSNBC hosts chat amiably about a variety of topics, including politics, the primaries, golf, Morning Joe‘s coverage of Trump’s campaign, and their fellow journalists. On at least one occasion, the duo appear to discuss questions for the next segment within earshot of Trump. At times it can be difficult to determine who is speaking to who; Brzezinski and Scarborough appear at several points to be speaking to producers who were not picked up by the mics at the same time they were speaking to Trump.

Who brought attention to this controversy. It was Harry Shearer, the voice actor/comedian/talk radio host/satirist who voices a majority of characters on the Fox sitcom The Simpsons.

On Sundays, Harry hosts Le Show on many NPR stations. He also has My Damn Channel which gave open mic credence to Laura Ingraham, Katie Couric and now the Morning Joe crew.

Will The Real Ben Carson Please Stand Up?

Ben Carson's campaign is near the end.

He's still in the race. Dr. Ben Carson is facing pressure to get out the race. After a disappointing last place finish, in the South Carolina primaries, Carson will not concede.

Carson will leave the race when he's good and ready. Despite the stubbornness, Carson will carry on through Super Tuesday.

Well it was apparent that Republicans can't tell the difference between Ben Carson and other Black people is........"I guess they all look alike!"

The former SNL alum Tim Meadows goes undercover as the struggling presidential candidate and its funny.

It's a sad reality of the Republican Party and the Black community. An embarrassment of reality versus the reality of comedy. Tragic combination.

Thank Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and his crack team of satirists for bringing Carson down even more!

Ke$ha: Get Me The F**k Off Kemosabe Records!

Pop singer Kesha feuding with longtime producer Dr. Luke. They duke it out in court.

Kesha is a signed act to RCA records and Kemosabe Records, Inc. Łukasz Gottwald (aka Dr. Luke) is the founder of the label. The label has acts such as Kesha, Juicy J, Becky G, and Lil' Bibby.

Dr. Luke and Kesha were close during her rise. After all, she released her debut album Animal with the hit singles, "Tik Tok", "Your Love Is My Drug" and "Take It Off".

She also scored major hits with "We R Who We R", "Sleazy", and "Blow" off the Cannibal EP.

Then her follow up album Warrior which produced the hits "Die Young", "C'mon" and the Pitbull single "Timber".

She scored worldwide fame as an iconic pop singer. Now five years later, the pop singer is feuding with the label and Dr. Luke. She wants to get off the label, but the U.S. federal court said, no!

Kesha sued producer Dr. Luke for alleged sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, emotional abuse, and violation of California business practices over their 10 years of working together.

She claimed that Dr. Luke repeatedly drugged her, with and without her consent, and that his abuse caused her eating disorder. Kesha asked the court to break her contract with Dr. Luke as well.

In response, Dr. Luke filed a countersuit against Kesha for defamation, accusing her, her mother, and her management of fabricating the abuse claims to break her contract with him.

In November, Dr. Luke asked the judge to dismiss Kesha's allegations of sexually abusing her.

In early December, Dr. Luke filed a defamation lawsuit against Kesha's lawyer, Mark Geragos, accusing him of implications that Luke had raped Lady Gaga. Gaga's team denied any such incident.

Later in December, Luke's defamation lawsuit took a new turn. His lawyers amended the official complaint which now included a handwritten birthday card from Kesha back in 2009. Luke's attorney claimed the card is several years after Kesha alleges he started abusing her. Other additions included several emails between Luke and Kesha's mother, where the latter wrote to him 'You are part of our family'. Dr. Luke further accused Jack Rovner, president of Vector Management of "longstanding antipathy" towards him, alleging Rovner wants more money and control of Kesha's career.

In 2015, during New York Fashion Week, Kesha wore a Discount Universe dress with the words "You Will Never Own Me" on the front of the garment, which has been speculated as an obvious jab at Dr. Luke amid Kesha's recovery.

During the year, Kesha amended her complaint against Dr. Luke and added a suit against Sony Music Entertainment, with Kesha's lawyer claiming "Dr. Luke's proclivity for abusive conduct was open and obvious to [Sony Music Entertainment] executives, who either knew of the conduct and turned a blind eye, failed to investigate Dr. Luke's conduct, failed to take any corrective action, or actively concealed Dr. Luke's abuse."

Kesha sought an injunction with Sony against working and releasing music with Dr Luke and for greater artistic freedom. Kesha's lawyer, Mark Gregaros, responded about the injunction saying "She cannot work with music producers, publishers, or record labels to release new music. With no new music to perform, Kesha cannot tour. Off the radio and stage and out of the spotlight, Kesha cannot sell merchandise, receive sponsorships, or get media attention. Her brand value has fallen, and unless the Court issues this injunction, Kesha will suffer irreparable harm, plummeting her career past the point of no return." Without the injunction, her career could be effectively over.

Since then, a new petition has been started by Austin Dean, in hopes of gaining awareness to Kesha's situation and support for her injunction. The petition currently has more than 120,000 signatures.

Kesha in the courtroom visibly upset over the court ruling. Her mom is to the left.

Kesha is still under contract with Dr. Luke and has to finish up the albums owed before she can bolt from the label. Kesha wasn't going for that. So this month, she took it to federal court.

New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled against Kesha's request for a preliminary injunction that would release her from her contract with Kemosabe Records.

The decision was made after the judge told her lawyer, Mark Geragos, that he was essentially "asking the court to decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry".

According to the defense, Dr. Luke had already invested $60 million in her career and also offered to allow the singer to fulfill her contract and record without his involvement. The judge also cited what she felt was vagueness in Kesha's counterclaims, referring to the lack of documentation or hospital records supporting the alleged attack.

Before her legal battle against Dr. Luke, in 2011, Kesha had previously sworn under oath that the producer had never assaulted or drugged her in a deposition for a lawsuit against her former managers at DAS Communications, a key piece of evidence that played a role in the court ruling in favor of the defense.

The verdict sparked protests outside the courtroom by Kesha's supporters, and started the "#FreeKesha" movement online.