July 17, 2009

the orlando

Advocate

July 17, 2009

Study: Blacks are most obese group MIKE STOBBE |AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) - Nearly 36 percent of black Americans are obese _ much more than other major racial or ethnic groups _ and that gap exists in most states, a new federal study finds. About 29 percent of Hispanics and 24 percent of whites are obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Overall, about 26 percent of U.S. adults are obese. Racial differences in obesity rates have been reported before, and health officials were not surprised to see larger proportions of blacks tipping the scales. But the new CDC report is the first to look at the gap stateby-state, finding blacks had significantly higher obesity rates

in 21 states and somewhat higher rates in many others. Experts believe there are several reasons for the differences. People with lower incomes often have less access to medical care, exercise facilities and more expensive, healthier food. In many places, minorities are disproportionately poor. “Poverty is a very strong driver of obesity,” said Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Attitudes about weight also are believed to be a factor, said Dr. Liping Pan, a CDC epidemiologist. Researchers cited a 2008 study that found black and Hispanic women had significantly lower odds of being dissatisfied with their body size than white

women. “Black and Hispanics are more accepting of high weight,” Pan said, adding that heavy people who are satisfied with their size are not likely to diet or exercise. However, it could be that over time as people struggle with poverty and environment “they come to accept the higher weights,” Brownell said. Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot7-inch adult who weighs 190 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity. The data comes from a national telephone survey of more than 1 million Americans over the years 2006 through 2008. For blacks, the highest obe-

sity rate was in Maine, where 45 percent were obese. Tennessee was the state where Hispanic obesity was most common. And West Virginia was the fattest state for whites. But generally, obesity was most common for both blacks and whites in the South and Midwest. The study also broke down the groups by gender, and found black women were the heaviest, with 39 percent counted as obese. Black men were next, at 32 percent, then Hispanic women, 29 percent, Hispanic men, 28 percent, white men, 25 percent and white women, 22 percent. The study is being published this week in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

o r l a n d o a d v o c a t e . c o m

the Advocate Credo of the Black Press

“I shall be an ADVOCATE of the full practice of the principles implicit in “Life, Liberty and Justice for All.” I shall be an ADVOCATE for these human and civil rights on behalf of those to whom they are denied, and I shall turn the pitiless light of publicity upon all men who would deny these rights to others. I shall be an ADVOCATE for my country, my state, my city, and my race, but I shall ever be on guard that I will not forget the greatest good for the greatest number while seeking benefits for the small segments who are disadvantaged by their denial.”

Tel. 407.648.1162 Fax 407.649.8702 email [email protected] http://orlandoadvocate.com Publisher Kevin Seraaj Managing Editor Louise Seraaj Production Manager Dihon Seraaj ~ Contributing ~ Writers/Reporters Frank Butler Cynthia Harris Sharon Fletcher Jones Lela Salter Columnists Judge Greg Mathis Sandra “Sandy B” Brown Derrick Drake Mary “Action” Jackson Basil A. Jones Kevin Seraaj Keysha Williams, Esq. Prophetess Yolanda Dean Photographers Janice LaBord Madonna Alexis Jennissha Casillas Paul Graine Circulation Manager Robert Brown Sales Derrick Drake, Manager The Adams Group Feotis Dean Lela Salter The Advocate is published weekly by Cornerstone Community Development Corporation of Orlando, Florida, and is available free of charge. ISSN: 1060-5715 This publication services the tri-county Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area, consisting of Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Alachua Counties. It focuses on local issues; and features political, business and entertainment personalities.

Publisher’s Word

Orlando discrimination office closing: have we finally arrived?

The City of Orlando is getting rid of its Human Relations Department.

Kevin Seraaj , J.D., M.Div.

In looking at the ongoing need for existing agencies, the city says it “identif[ied] departments or functions that have seen a decline in demand for services.” Since the mission of the Office of Human Relations (OHR) is “to promote equality of opportunity for the citizens of Orlando by advocating policies of nondiscrimination and administering City and Federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation,” closing it must mean that we’ve come a long way, baby. But, hey, I’m no rocket scientist. The City has for some time had an agreement with both the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under which it was responsible for investigating and resolving complaints of discrimination. Either we no longer need that kind of advocacy anymore, or we simply can’t afford it. Congress, the city notes, cut the funding to EEOC by $5 million for fiscal year 2008-2009. EEOC passed the reduction in funding down the the city, from 81 cases to 69. Interestingly, the City says that at “current inventory levels,” Human Relations could close as many as 100+ cases.” So even when EEOC was funding 81 cases, it wasn’t enough money to cover the need. Huh? Either we need it or we don’t. At my house, if we need something we can’t afford, we either cut back on things we don’t need, or we cut back on everything to keep from having to give up something that we do need. But that’s just me. And I’m no rocket scientist. The City says its focus in relation to the upcoming budget year is appropriately “on the delivery of quality, core, municipal services, while reducing the size and scope of our government.” Discrimination doesn’t seem to have made that list. So, perhaps it stands to reason that all those old non-quality, non-core municipal services need to be put to bed. But maybe-- just maybe-- there are some other ways we can look at shaving off unnecessary expenditures to help out with budgetary concerns. I’m the first to concede that sometimes you just have to reduce your workforce-- especially where outside funding is drying up, leaving the burden of financing on local revenue streams. It’s logical to take a look at the Office of Human Relations. OHR has operated for some time with a competent and qualifed staff of 10-- a director, an assistant to the director, an administrative assistant and an administrative receptionist, an intake specialist/ docketing coordinator and an intake supervisor, and four discrimination investigators. But maybe you don’t need an assistant to the director. Perhaps the administrative assistant will do just fine. And maybe the administrative assistant could also act as the administrative receptionist, meaning two people could operate in the capacities of four-- with a small pay raise, of course. Then you have the case intake process. If there is in fact a “decline in demand for services,” and case intakes are down, perhaps you don’t need an intake supervisor to watch over the work being performed by the intake specialist/docketing coordinator. Especially if the intake specialist is really a specialist. And, oh, maybe four discrimination investigators could be whittled down to say, two-- since case intakes, once again, are down (though not out). All of a sudden: Voila! A stafff of 10 becomes a staff of 5, with substantial cost reduction and a continuing commitment to fulfilling the mission of the department. Maybe the city has already reviewed every department and found all the others both necessary and optimally staffed. Maybe all this stuff about discrimination is better handled by sending it back to Washington, D.C., for the feds to handle.

Views from across the political and social spectrum will from time to time appear in these pages; they do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the publishers.

But I just can’t help but think this isn’t the best of decisions right now. The federal government conceded years ago that the best front on the war against discriminatory practices was to be found at the local level. I submit that even today, with an Obama in the White House, local enforcement efforts are still ideal.

Memberships: National Newspaper Publishers Association, Southeastern Black Publishers Association, Florida Press Association.

But then, what do I know? I’m certainly no rocket scientist.

2 The Advocate

July 17, 2009

Tracking Michelle Obama’s slave roots By Joe Johns and Justine Redman

cabins.” Watch Obama’s recent comments on slavery » GEORGETOWN, South Carolina (CNN) -- In many The shacks probably weren’t much refplaces across the South you can walk in the footsteps of uge from the vicious clouds of mosquitoes, slaves, and if you understand the history, it is not a happy chiggers, fire ants, and other pests that still journey. The same is true at Friendfield Plantation outside impinge on a person’s every move on the Georgetown, South Carolina. plantation. Then, consider the dangers of It’s not exactly “Gone With the Wind,” but what the alligators and snakes. makes this overgrown 3,300 acres of marsh and pine trees There was also the oppressive heat and stand out is this: The family of first lady Michelle Obama humidity of South Carolina. And on the believes her great-great grandfather was held as a slave day CNN visited, the skies opened up in a here and labored in the mosquito-infested rice fields. violent rainstorm. It makes Friendfield Plantation a symbol of something Add up all of these factors and you more than servitude. It’s the symbol of something that’s begin to get a picture of what life probnever happened before: One important segment of an ably was, and was not, for the slaves on American family’s journey from the humiliation of slavFriendfield Plantation. Workers on the rice ery to the very top of the nation’s ruling class. plantation -- and Friendfield was one of the CNN recently was the first television network allowed largest in these parts -- faced all these eleto visit the plantation and shoot video. It’s not a museum. ments, plus the threat of disease, including It’s just private land, still with shadows of its past. malaria and yellow fever. And unlike the CNN crew, the Friendfield’s most distinctive historical feature, perslaves were not free to leave. haps, is the dirt road known as Slave Street. Stroll across Even in death, the slaves stayed. Three cemeteries are the plantation with CNN’s Joe Johns » on the Friendfield grounds. The one slave cemetery CNN Six white-washed little shacks are all that remain of visited had mostly unmarked graves, but Jim Robinson the slave quarters, even though rows of these houses once -- who was born into slavery and died a free man -- is believed to be buried there somewhere. The cemetery clearly has been segregated from the rest of the property. Slave cemeteries were typically situated on land unsuitable for any other use. Surrounded by trees, it might have been a beautiful place. Now, it is hard to tell that you are standing in a cemetery -- except for half a dozen grave markers, some made of wood, bearing no names. All that’s known about Jim Robinson’s life comes from the few remaining records that mention him. Slaves weren’t documented as individuals in the census, nor in life and death certificates. They were property, not people. But Michelle Obama’s great-great grandfather was a teenager when slavery was abolished, so as a free man, he started to leave a paper trail. The 1880 census shows he was born about 1850, The Obamas recently traveled to Ghana, Africa, and toured in South Carolina, and that his parents were born in a slave shipping point. South Carolina as well. He married a woman named Louiser, and in 1880 they already had three children, stood on the property. About 350 slaves lived here during two boys and a girl, ages 1, 2, and 3. the 19th century. The son that would become Michelle Obama’s great The houses are nothing special -- no plumbing, of grandfather was not born yet. The census lists Jim’s occourse. The wooden walls are paper thin in places. It cupation as a farmer, and Louiser’s as “keeping house.” would have been hot and humid in summer, and most cerThey are both recorded as unable to read tainly cold in winter, although the shacks had fireplaces. or write. It’s good fortune to uncover even this They would have been crowded: probably one or much information; the original handwritten centwo families living in a space smaller than a modern-day sus got wet, the ink ran and it is nearly illegible. garage. Proof of life, nearly washed away. The White House is some 472 miles from GeorgeThere are a lot of unknowns concerning town, South Carolina. But long before Michelle Obama Michelle Obama’s ancestry -- how many generawas born, her great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, tions of slaves there were, or what route they likely toiled in the fields here six days a week, from took to this hemisphere. sunup to sundown. The Obama election campaign commissioned The place he probably called home was a little white a study of Michelle’s genealogy by the research shack smaller than -- by comparison -- a Secret Service group Lowcountry Africana, but they couldn’t security shed on the grounds of the executive mansion at make the link back to Africa. As with so many 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. African-Americans’ family histories, the paper All told, hundreds of people lived like this, on this trail runs dry. one plantation alone. “I don’t think that that sort of information is “Anywhere between 200 to 500 at different times,” available for anyone from Friendfield Plantation said Ed Carter, the property manager. “The older the at this point,” historian Tori Carrier, of Lowplantation got, they kept adding on more cabins. [Some] country Africana, said. “Very, very few, if any, of cabins are 1847. the Friendfield records actually survived except “There was some on the other street that were about in public records: wills and estate inventories. ... probably 1820s. And when they added on, got a bit more “There’s not a real Friendfield Plantation wealthy, they just kept adding on more slaves, more records set, or plantation journals that have been July 17, 2009

CNN Photo

This is a former slave house on Friendfield Plantation, where Michelle Obama’s family has roots.

preserved ... and there’s certainly not a shred of documentary evidence right now which would even suggest to us what the African origins would be,” Carrier said. In an interview with The Washington Post last year, Michelle Obama talked about learning her family’s past and understanding the history of slavery. “A lot of times these stories get buried, because sometimes the pain of them makes it hard to want to remember,” she said told the Post for an October story. “You’ve got to be able to acknowledge and understand the past and move on from it. You have to understand it, and I think a lot of us just don’t have an opportunity to understand it -- but it’s there.” Back in Georgetown, South Carolina, Margretta Knox remembers attending the Bethel AME church with the first lady’s grandparents -- Jim Robinson’s grandson and his wife -- when she was a girl. The couple spent many of their years in Chicago, but returned back South after they retired. “My father knew that Fraser Robinson’s father sold newspapers,” she recalled. “He made his kids read them. Mr. Robinson was very, very smart, he could recite poetry. ... Their grandfather could recite poetry and that kind of thing. ... Her grandfather and her grandmother, they were both very smart people.” But the family ties to the old plantation just got lost. “We let our parents die before we really thought about asking them questions,” Knox said. “We didn’t think about it until much later, and then it was too late. They were already gone. So there was no history after that. ...

The Advocate 3

Local News

Unemployment Call Center Update

Stimulus Money Saving Summer Jobs For Florida Low-Income Students

The state’s unemployment compensation hotline is being bombarded by people seeking benefits. The call center is receiving more 14,000 calls a day. Not everyone is getting through. The call

TALLAHASEE, Fla. Stimulus funds are sending students across the state to the workplace this week, and for some it’s the first time. About 4,000 additional low-income youth in South Florida alone will now be on summer-job payrolls, thanks to $7 million in stimulus money. Rick Beasley, executive director of South Florida Workforce, the organization administering this money, says 18,000 people applied for these summer jobs in an area of Florida with unemployment as high as 24 percent. He says they are looking for a hand up, not a handout. “You really do see lives being changed. Children who were going to be out on the street are now able to help Mom and Dad - Mom, actually - make mortgage because

the house was about to go into foreclosure.” Beasley says many of these young people, ages 14 to 24, are first-time employees who need money to help their families, buy clothes for school or pay tuition for college. For example, he says, one young man is trying to support himself and children of his own. “He’s trying to change his life around. He says one of the main reasons for this is ‘I have two kids and one on the way. I’m tired of folks taking care of me; I’m trying to take care of them.’ Stories like this just make you want to go out of the way to assist these young people.” Beasley says, in the short-run, the program will help keep kids out of trouble, teach them to be self sufficient and stimu-

late the local economy but in the long-run, it will stimulate the future of the community. “These programs produce youth who see and understand what it takes to work on the job; the commitment it takes to be a good citizen. Here’s my investment in the future of my community: These children are our future leaders.” The program provides vital career experience at no cost to the employers, plus training in presentation skills, on-the-job behavior and even opening a bank account, Beasley explains. About 200 people a day still apply for the program; Beasley says he would need more than $20 million to fund jobs for all those in need.

volume has increased over the last two weeks because of people trying to find out if they’ll receive extended benefits. Robby Cunningham, a spokesman for the Agency for Workforce Innovation, says people need

����

by Whitney Ray to be patient. “The call volume remains at an all time high and Monday and Tuesday remains our busiest days. We are currently administering seven federal unemployment compensation programs above and beyond our state program so anytime we enact one of these extended benefits or these new programs the call volume dramatically increases for at least a short period of time,” said Cunningham. The state has already pumped out 55 million dollars in extended benefits payments to more than 30,000 Floridians. 84,000 applications have been received so fair. Those who qualify should receive payment by the end of next week.

����

� ������ ������ �� ����� ��� ������ �� ������ �

For the second year in a row, the City of Orlando has been designated a Playful City USA community. In a time when many parents believe children don’t spend enough time playing outside, the City is one of 93 communities across the nation that have taken innovative approaches to make play a priority for the health and well-being of their kids. KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into children’s lives, is in its third year of honoring cities making a commitment to play by granting them this designation. Creating initiatives designed to increase the

4 The Advocate

quantity and quality of play and playgrounds, while improving access to existing play opportunities are determining standards in selecting the top communities. The City of Orlando was selected in part for convening a committee of interested people to determine the next steps the City should take to best serve its citizen’s recreation needs. The committee determined that the standards for recreation needed to be reviewed and hired a consultant to develop a strategic master plan for parks and recreation resources. The condition of the parks, playground and community centers

demographics, trends, and funding sources are being evaluated, while a plan for improvement is being developed. The City of Orlando expects an increase in services, revenue and programming as a result of the findings. Playful City USA celebrates and highlights unique initiatives developed by communities across the country. A primary goal of Playful City USA is to encourage cities and towns to share creative ideas, concepts and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children.

���������������������

�������������������������������������������������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ������������������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������

������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������

� ���� ����������������������� ������

July 17, 2009

����� ������������������������������������������������������������ �����������������������������������������������������������������

Orlando Named One of 93 “Playful City USA” Communities

Local News McCollum Sues Arbitron over Pending Release of Flawed Radio Minority Broadcasters Seek Federal From Reports Station Ratings Bailout Assistance Newsroom America TALLAHASSEE, FL ratings of the radio sta- ings will negatively – Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today filed a lawsuit against Arbitron, Inc., seeking to block the release of flawed radio station ratings. The lawsuit states that Arbitron’s sampling methodology produces unreliable ratings that significantly undercount minority listeners and has thus failed to achieve accreditation in most markets. In conducting its radio station rating services, Arbitron solicits individuals intended to be representative of the demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, of the market being measured. Those individuals agree to have their radio usage monitored through Portable People Meters (PPMs), which record encoded transmissions in radio frequencies detected in the device’s vicinity. Arbitron then converts the data into

tions in that market. Advertisers rely heavily on Arbitron’s ratings, the sole source of audience measurement data, to decide where to place their advertisement buys. In turn, radio stations depend on advertising sales as their primary revenue source, making the reliability of Arbitron’s ratings crucial to each station’s existence. The lawsuit states Arbitron’s PPM service produces unreliable ratings because it fails to recruit minorities as panelists and ultimately fails to use sufficient data from minorities to calculate ratings. Arbitron plans to release ratings of Miami area radio stations this month, despite federal scrutiny and the lack of accreditation for reliability. The Attorney General’s lawsuit states that releasing these rat-

affect stations that air programming targeted to minorities because these stations will not be able to sufficiently compete for advertising revenue. The Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks to prohibit the release of any ratings based on the unaccredited PPM service. Arbitron’s PPM service is currently facing investigations by the FCC and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Arbitron has recently resolved lawsuits brought by the Attorneys General of New York and New Jersey concerning its implementation of the PPM service in those markets. A copy of the complaint may be obtained online at:

School Supply Drive Expands to En�re Central Florida Region

July 17, 2009

along with Colonial’s private banking group, business banking and commercial bankers in the Central Florida area. “Parents and families desire a strong educational foundation for their children, but with the current economy, some need assistance in providing their children with basic tools for success,” said Hunt Dawkins, executive vice president, retail banking director, Colonial Bank. “The Backpacks to Success program exemplifies Colonial Bank’s commitment to enriching the surrounding community through service.” According to Dawkins, the Backpacks to Success program goal is $40,000 this year. The price to buy a backpack filled with school supplies is $30, he said. Colonial Bank fundraising

The broadcasters said they could bounce back economically in time if given help while credit markets are sluggish. The broadcaster letter follows a similar one sent to Geithner by a group of House Democrats in May. That letter made a similar appeal and was signed by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D., S.C.) and a group of key committee chairmen, including Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank

(D., Mass.) Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) and Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, (D., N.Y.). Broadcast companies signing their letter included the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, the Inner City Broadcasting Coalition, the Spanish Broadcasting System, Taxi Productions Inc., and Carter Broadcast Group, Inc., the WSJ reported.

http://myfloridalegal.com/ webfiles.nsf/WF/ M R AY- 7 T X P F M / $ f i l e / ArbitronComplaint.pdf

COLONIAL BANK KICKS OFF BACKPACKS TO SUCCESS PROGRAM ORLANDO, Fla. – July 1, 2009 – Central Florida families struggling to provide their children with the necessary tools for success in school will get help from Colonial Bank. Starting July 1 through July 31, Colonial Bank will collect money, accept school supply donations and sponsor fundraising events as a part of its Backpacks to Success program, which provides backpacks to needy Florida children. Based upon its success, the campaign, which began in Seminole County in 2002 and was implemented in Orange County last year, has expanded to 11 Central Florida counties this year. Colonial branch offices in Brevard, Citrus, Lake, Flagler, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter and Volusia counties will participate,

A small group of minority-owned broadcasters have appealed to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seeking a portion of the federal aid package passed last fall, in order to remain viable. The Wall Street Journal reported that the broadcasters, in a letter to Geithner, said they “are close to becoming an extinct species,” adding that even “in better economic times, minority broadcasters have historically had difficulties accessing the capital markets.”

events will range from hot dog lunch sales and bake sales to car washes. Colonial Bank branch offices will accept cash and school supply donations to provide backpacks for elementary and middle school students in the area. “Donations made at any Central Florida branch office will have the donor’s name written on an apple and placed in the office to display the donor’s commitment to the community and our campaign. A red apple will be posted for any school supply donations, a green apple will be posted for any donation of cash up to $25 and a gold apple will be posted for any donation of $25 or more. We hope to fill our bank lobbies with an entire orchard of apples in every color,” Dawkins said.

NOTICE OF SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION

Notice is hereby given that the School Board of Orange County, Florida will meet on July 20, 2009, 3:00 p.m., Conference Room A, first floor, at the Educational Leadership Center, 445 W. Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida 32801 for a work session. The meeting will be for the purpose of discussing the Code of Student Conduct/Student Discipline. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act persons needing a special accommodation to participate in this proceeding should contact the office of School Board Services at (407) 317-3236 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Ronald Blocker Superintendent

The Advocate 5

National News

Obama nominates new Peace Corps director

WASHINGTON, DC - President Obama announced Tuesday that he would nominate foreign relations expert Aaron Williams to be director of the Peace Corps. “America was built on a belief that the best progress comes from ordinary citizens working to bring about the change they believe in,” Obama said at a news conference Tuesday. “Through a lifetime of service, Aaron Williams has embodied the very best of that American ideal. I am grateful for his service and honored to nominate him to direct the critical work of the Peace Corps.” Williams, vice president

for International Business Development with RTI In-

ternational, has more than 25 years of experience in the design and management of assistance programs in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. He was a senior manager at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and reached the

rank of career minister in the Senior Foreign Service. If confirmed, Williams will fill a slot that has been occupied in an acting capacity by Jody K. Olsen, the Peace Corps’ deputy director since 2002. Williams also is a former Peace Corps volunteer, serving in the Dominican Republic in 1970-1971. At USAID, Williams attained the rank of Career Minister in the US Senior Foreign Service, and served as executive vice president at the International Youth Foundation, where he was credited with developing innovative public-private partnerships around the world.

Obama unveils ambitious urban recovery plan By: Michael H. Cottman

President Barack Obama convened a meeting with community advocates, political leaders and policy experts on Monday to help create an ambitious agenda to overhaul the nation’s urban centers where millions of African Americans call home. The White House Office of Urban Affairs and Domestic Policy Council conducted the daylong discussion to offer “a new vision for urban and metropolitan policy in America.” The White house said participants included leading experts from across the country, cabinet officials, and representatives from several of the nation’s associations for state and local elected officials. “This is a subject that’s near and dear to my heart,” Obama told the group that gathered at the White House Monday. “I’ve lived almost all my life in urban areas. Michelle and I chose to raise our daughters in the city where she grew up,” Obama said. “And even though I went to college in LA and New York, and law school across the river from Boston, I received my greatest education on Chicago’s

6 The Advocate

South Side, working at the local level to bring about change in those communities and opportunities to people’s lives.” The Obama administration created the White House Office of Urban Affairs in February to allocate funds to urban areas for a range of initiatives, including job training and the creation of new jobs. The president’s urban renewal plan – from neighborhoods to downtown corridors – also calls for creating more opportunities for minority businesses, establishing more affordable public transportation, raising the minimum wage, ending tax breaks for businesses that send jobs overseas, providing additional funding for community policing and ending racial profiling. The office’s director is former Bronx New York Borough President Adolfo Carrion, who plans to travel from coast to coast to meet community leaders. “This is a full-court press. Our office is charged with looking at the long view,” Carrion told reporters. “We have to look at the fact that it’s estimated that by the year 2050, 70 percent

Former astronaut Charles Bolden new NASA chief

A former astronaut and Marines general has been confirmed as the new administrator of NASA. Charles Bolden was voted in unanimously by the US State Senate yesterday, making him the first African American to head the US space agency. The announcement came shortly after the successful launch of the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station after five abandoned attempts in a month. It also coincides with the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20. Mr Bolden, 62, became

a NASA astronaut in 1980. He took part in four space shuttle missions between 1986 and 1994, and commanded two of them. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope aboard Discovery in 1990, and a historic first joint US-Russian shuttle mission in 1994. Mr. Bolden told senators last week that if the US wished to maintain its world lead in space technology it must strive to inspire children to contribute to science and engineering and that NASA would need to step up its role in researching and monitoring the Earth’s

environment. “Either we can invest in building upon our hardearned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to others who are working vigilantly to push the frontiers of space,” he said during a hearing on July 8. Lori Garver, 48, was confirmed as NASA’s deputy administrator. Ms Garver served as an associate administrator from 1998 to 2001 and was the lead civil space policy advisor for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

of the world’s population will live in cities. ... It’s going to continue.” There were no solid proposals raised at the meeting, but participants described the session as a first-step, a foundation for future, more detailed, discussions. In February, Obama created an executive order that said about 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, and “the economic health and social vitality of our urban communities are critically important” to the quality of life for all Americans. The order also said that a myriad of problems in urban America have been ignored in the past. “What’s also clear is we’re going to need to do more than just help our cities weather the current economic storm,” Obama said Monday. “We’ve got to figure out ways to rebuild them on a newer, firmer, stronger foundation for our future. And that requires new strategies for our cities and metropolitan areas that focus on advancing opportunity through competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. And that’s why all of you are here today.” July 17, 2009

��������

������������ ������������ ���������������������������������������� ��������������������������

��������

���������������������������� ��������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������� �������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������� ���������� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� �������������������� ��������������� ������������

���������������� ����������������� ������������

������������ � ���������� ������������ ��������������������

�������������

���������

����������������

�������������������������

National News

AARP Moves to Increase Black and Latino Membership by Pharoh Martin NNPA National Correspondent WA S H I N G T O N (NNPA) - As the American population continues to brown, an increasing number of organizations are making calculated strides in an effort to ensure that the diversity of their membership mirrors the diversity of the nation. One such organization is AARP, the premier advocacy group for older Americans. The largest of its kind in the country, AARP ironically has a membership base that is 88.5 percent White. Realizing the need for more color in their member ranks the organization has appointed two executives that reach out to Black and Latino communities and spearhead initiatives that will increase Black membership. ‘’Last year, our executive team recognized that it was going to take an above and beyond effort to realize the growth in membership that we want. So they restructured and created new positions to be able to accommodate those goals.’’ says Edna KaneWilliams, vice president in charge of African-American outreach. Kane-Williams’ counterpart, Raquel Egusquiza, heads the Latino outreach campaign. ‘’We’ve always done diversity but these roles are different in that the two vice presidents for AfricanAmerican outreach and Hispanic and Latino outreach have a really organizationalwide responsibility. So it’s not just membership and it’s not just communications,” Kane-Williams says. AARP is apparently serious about diversifying. In April, the organization hired the first African-American CEO in its 50-year existence. Addison Barry Rand is a staunch supporter of civil rights and diversity in corporate America. In his 30 years at Xerox 8 The Advocate

Corp. he helped the global document management company one of the most diverse companies in the Fortune 500 before leaving as executive vice president for worldwide operations to become president and CEO of Avis and one of the first Blacks to chair a Fortune 500 company. “If you look at his history he’s brought awareness, renewed interest and just robustness to the organizations that’s he’s led previously, Kane-Williams says. “So we expect that he will be more than supportive in making sure that we have the resources and capabilities to really deliver on this promise of growing our membership of AfricanAmericans and Hispanics. He sees that as the future of the organization because that is where the demographics of the country is going and we want to look like America.” The corporate veteran now heads one of the most powerful lobbiers of issues concerning the aging but very few of the members look like him. In fact, less than 5 percent of AARP’s 40 million card-carrying members are African-American, according to Kane-Williams. “[A. Barry Rand] almost becomes a billboard for our efforts,” Kane-Williams said. “We are trying to engage him as a spokesperson. He’s a CEO that happens to be African-American. He’s not the CEO of the African-American community but certainly him being African-American helps us make the point that AARP is an organization that cares about the African-American community and that we are ready to work hand-inhand to improve the quality of lives of older AfricanAmericans.” In order to increase African-American membership above the 2.5 million

it currently has, AARP is focusing on an ‘’on-theground’’ approach in 11 key communities, includng Atlanta, Chicago and New Orleans. The organization is partnering with community organizations and media and hope the on-the-ground engagement with the AfricanAmerican community will help build membership. Kane-Williams said that their research shows that the way to grow African-American members is to get them engaged with the organization. AARP is working with their state offices in those communities to field a community presence. The advocacy group has

two areas of emphasis when reaching out to AfricanAmericans. They are financial security and health and wellness. Kane-Williams said that because of the recession people are losing jobs and homes so they have less income. They are trying to target their programming and informational resources around financial security. Kane-Williams says the other area of emphasis came about because of the enormous health disparities that exist in the AfricanAmerican community. “This is kind of complicated but we have excess morbidity and mortality for any number of diseases,” she said. “We get sicker and die sooner of primarily preventable diseases. There are things like exercise, behavior, food diet, smoking, alcohol abuse and we feel like we can impact and help improve wellness within the African-American community.” A major part of the

AARP’s escalated outreach to African-Americans is a new partnership with the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. The organization’s wire service, which serves more than 200-Black-owned newspapers, has hired a fulltime journalist, financially sponsored by AARP, who will focus largely on issues of the aging as well as work as a general assignment reporter and national correspondent. Other on-the-ground and media strategies include a web page dedicated specifically to African-American members and targeted print advertising. AARP is also trying to create unique events and also take advantage of preexisting events. They organized and kicked off cultural events called LiFestivals (pronounced Life Festival) for both African-Americans and Latinos where AARP was the sole sponsor. They held LiFestivals in San Antonio for the

Hispanic market in May and in Chicago in early June for African-American market. “In Chicago, we pulled in about 4000 folks and we had Tom Joyner, we had NFL commentator James Brown and Mellody Hobson, who’s a financial adviser, and that was our own unique event,” Kane-Williams said. “But also, we’re going to have a presence at the Essence Music festival in New Orleans over the July 4th weekend and we were at the Sisterhood Showcase, which is a major African-American women event that pulls like 20,000 women each year so we have an event strategy, a media strategy and a community-based strategywhere we are working with community organizations to create more volenteer oppurtunities for African-Americans and more oppurtunities for them to participate in programs.”

E VERYT HI NG N E E D S T O G O ! ! ! Dressers King size Bed set w/ frame and mattress Baby crib Baby carrier Baby car seat Lots of baby stuff Office furniture Lots of books Mirrors Wall pictures Printers

TOO MUCH TO MENTION!!!!!

COME AND SEE!!!

off of Oakridge Rd, between Millenia and John Young Pkwy. TAKE HARCOURT TO: 4502 Canna Dr Orlando, FL 32839

Blvd AVE

Saturday July 18th, 2009

Time: 8:00am to 1:00pm We have so much stuff from all participants. You must come and see.

July 17, 2009

The Orlando Advocate

Lifestyle Page 16

Movies Music Beauty Fashion Health Wellness Events Home Family

Relationships

Bait By G. Craige Lewis Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Don’t forget the people that need Jesus! In this [era] of self improvement, self focus, self achievement, and self empowerment, please people of God, keep the main thing the main thing. God desires to make you into something and does not desire to keep working and working on a product that he can never finish. What I’m saying is, there must come a time in your life when you are whole and complete enough to go out and begin to win people into God’s kingdom. You must be bait! Understand, it’s not the hook that attracts fish, but it’s the bait. And the bait has to be what the fish desires. I’m not talking about using something dumb like music or using a sub cultural tool like Hip Hop to speak their language. But I’m talking about living a life that is pleasing to the eye and shows progress and security. So much so that people desire to be and have what you have. The bait is you.

You are the bait. Your life should reflect change that only the God of all God’s can give you. Your speech, your actions, and no compromising should make those that struggle in this life desire your freedom from struggles. But this requires YOU to be free. Many of us are spending our entire lives trying to fix what we keep messing up and this causes us to be in

10 The Advocate

When Should you Tell your Spouse, “We have a problem.”

A

marital complaint usually falls into one of two broad categories: 1) “You are not meeting my emotional needs,” or 2) “Your behavior is upsetting me.” The first category reflects a failure to make your spouse happy, and the second category reflects a failure to avoid making your spouse unhappy. When you meet your spouse’s emotional needs, you deposit love units into your spouse’s Love Bank. And when you avoid behavior that makes your spouse unhappy, you avoid withdrawing love units. That combination leads to romantic love, the feeling of incredible attraction that is essential in a happy and fulfilling marriage. So if your spouse ever registers a complaint in either of these two categories, my advice to you is to take care of the problem as quickly as possible. Don’t wait for it to become an even greater problem, in hopes that it will eventually go away. And then, let the Policy of Joint Agreement (never do anything without an enthusiastic agreement between you and your spouse) guide you to a solution. I give you this advice because I want you and your spouse to be in love with each other, and I’m sure that you want that, too. But most marital therapists disagree with me on this issue. Because their advice is so pervasive, and so destructive to the love of couples that follow it, I use whatever opportunity I have to defend this crucial position. The difference between my approach to saving marriages, and the approach of most other therapists, is that I focus on building romantic love (being “in love”) between spouses, rather than simply focusing on conflict resolution. As it turns out, I also address conflict resolution, but I do it in a way that builds love between spouses. Since most marital therapists fail to address the romantic love issue when they try to help couples, their approach to conflict resolution usually fails to build love, and as a result, the couples divorce, even after “resolving” some of their conflicts. An example of this current effort to “resolve” marital conflicts is found in a book by Jacobson and Christensen, Integrative Couples Therapy (Norton, 1996). In this training manual for marital therapists, couples are to be encouraged by their therapists to lower their marital expectations by becoming more understanding of each other’s dysfunctional background. Irreparable wounds inflicted during childhood should inspire empathy toward a thoughtless spouse, not disappointment. Awareness of each other’s limitations should lead to acceptance of each other’s behavior and a willingness to meet one’s own needs, instead of expecting each other

Willard F. Harley, Jr., Ph.D.

to meet those needs. The suggested goal of therapy is to teach each spouse to make themselves happy, and not look to each other for their happiness. While this approach to therapy may resolve a couple’s conflict, it most certainly will not lead to love. When couples follow this advice, few love units are deposited and many are withdrawn. In the end, the couple is likely to divorce. The same sort of advice is given in Getting the Love You Want by Hendrix (Holt Rinehart, & Winston, 1988). While the book title seems to address the issue of romantic love in marriage, the author’s strategy for couples is to learn to accept each other’s marital failures, rather than doing anything to overcome them. I guarantee you, if you follow this strategy, you will NOT get the love you want. My experience, and the experience of a few others who are carefully studying what it takes for a couple to be satisfied with their marriage, proves the opposite of what is currently being popularly recommended. Instead of spouses trying to lower their expectations, I believe that they should raise them. Instead of spouses learning to meet their own emotional needs, I believe that they should expect to have them met by each other, and met in a professional manner. Why? Because that’s what it takes for a couple to be in love and stay in love. Furthermore, couples should not waste their time trying to “understand” each other’s failures, but rather, they should try to overcome them as quickly as possible so the issue does not have time to drain their Love Banks. In a great, but mind-numbing, article entitled “The Mathematics of Marital Conflict: Dynamic Mathematical Nonlinear Modeling of Newlywed Marital Interaction” (Gottman, Swanson and Murray. J. of Family Psychology, 1999, Vol. 13, No.1, 3-19), the authors provide evidence that couples should not “let things ride and have a chance to build up” (p. 17). Instead, couples should address any conflict as soon as it arises, and resolve it quickly. The authors indicate that the biblical principle from Ephesians (4:26), may be helpful in marriage, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” In this study, newlyweds who divorced within 6 years were compared with those

who remained married during those years. It was found that the divorced couples tended not to respond to each other’s complaints as quickly as those who remained married. These divorced couples ignored each other’s complaints until they became intensely negative. Those who remained married, on the other hand, went to work addressing each other’s complaints soon after they were mentioned, not giving the complaint a chance to build up. My experience with couples agrees with the results of this study. In successful marriages, spouses expect to change to accommodate each other’s needs, so when a spouse registers a complaint, it’s a signal for action. In failed marriages, on the other hand, spouses expect to be accepted as they are, without change. A complaint is interpreted as an unwillingness to love unconditionally, a failure of the complaining spouse. So instead of adjusting to the complaint, the defense is offered, “if you really loved me, you would not try to change me. You would let me continue to do whatever it is I’m doing.” The Buyer and the Renter In my Q&A column, Living Together Before Marriage, I described two approaches to marital conflict: The approach of the Buyer and the approach of the Renter. To help you understand why it may be difficult for you to complain to your spouse as soon as problem arises, I return to that analogy. When a couple live together before marriage, they tend to be “renters.” By that I mean that they view their relationship much as they would renting an apartment. If something goes wrong in an apartment, the landlord is expected to fix it -- if it needs paint, the landlord paints it; if it needs repairs, the landlord does the repairing. In

>>>

Cont

July 17, 2009

<<
July 17, 2009

an effort to force your spouse to do what you want without consideration for how your spouse will feel doing it. “Do it, or else,” is the clear message given in a demand, and it coveys an insensitivity to your spouse’s feelings or interests. It’s a Love Buster because demands withdraw love units. Instead of helping to solve a problem, it creates a new problem. A thoughtful request, on the other hand, is a good way to ask your spouse for help, because it takes his or her feelings into account. “How would you feel if you were to do this for me,” introduces the problem with a willingness to negotiate a win-win solution. DO NOT make a disrespectful judgment. When you present the problem, avoid expressing it as being the fault of your spouse. “If you were less selfish, we wouldn’t have this problem,” is an example of a disrespectful judgment that will get you nowhere. Instead of blaming your spouse for the problem, view it as a problem for you that is, apparently, not a problem for your spouse. Respectful persuasion is an effort to try to change your spouse’s behavior that, in the end, will not only help you, but will help your spouse as well. DO NOT have an angry outburst. An-

spouse view this same situation and what might make it difficult for him or her to accommodate you? Third, brainstorm possible solutions to the problems, looking for a plan that would solve your problem, and at the same time take your spouse’s feelings into account. Avoid any solution where one of you gains at the other’s expense. Don’t give or expect sacrifice because that means that one of you will be losing love units so that the other can gain them. If you sacrifice for each other, in the end, you won’t have the mutual love for each other that you want. But also recognize the importance of eventually finding a solution that solves the problem. Finally, from your list of possible solutions, choose the one that has the enthusiastic agreement of both you and your spouse. That way, the solution will deposit love units into both of your Love Banks simultaneously. If you can’t find one that meets that standard, keep brainstorming. To guarantee your love for each other, you and your spouse must address each other’s complaints as soon as they arise. Don’t let your problems build up before you find solutions, because the longer you wait, the more love units you lose. But, if you’re

ger is your Taker’s way of punishing your spouse when he or she does not give you what you want. It’s not only an ineffective way to produce long-lasting change in your spouse’s behavior, but it also destroys your spouse’s love for you. Granted, if you present your complaint in a thoughtful way, and your spouse responds with thoughtlessness, you will be very tempted to revert to your Taker’s instincts by being demanding, disrespectful and angry. But it takes two to fight, and if your spouse does not respond positively to your presentation, simply end the discussion, and re-introduce your problem again later. It’s very important for both you and your spouse to do a good job meeting each other’s emotional needs, and avoiding behavior that causes each other’s unhappiness. But when either of you have a complaint, I suggest that you use this procedure: First, state your complaint as clearly as possible, guaranteeing your spouse’s safety by avoiding demands, disrespect or anger. Be cheerful as you discuss the problem, and try to make it brief. Second, ask for your spouse’s perspective on your problem. How does your

not careful, the way you go about presenting your problem and trying to find solutions can also cause you to lose love units. You will not only deposit love units by solving the problems themselves, but you will also deposit love units in the very way you go about solving the problem, if you do it the right way. Most couples lose love units whenever they have a conflict because they present their complaints with demands, disrespect and anger. And then they look for solutions that help one spouse but hurt the other. That’s no way to resolve conflicts, and it’s certainly no way to stay in love. The better you become at stating your complaints with your spouse’s feelings in mind, and then finding solutions with the same thoughtfulness, the more you will feel like getting to each problem immediately. But until you get to the place where you feel like presenting your problems as soon as they occur, do it anyway. Don’t try to lower your expectations, and don’t try to meet your own emotional needs. Instead, learn to become experts at meeting each other’s emotional needs. That way you will have what you have always wanted -- a fulfilling and passionate marriage.

a bad place in the eyes of the world. And it makes it hard to reach them. Even though it’s the spirit of God that draws men to him, that spirit has to be in operation in a person! God wants to use you my friend. Not to be a great TV evangelist or a world renown celebrity preacher. But he wants an example of what his power can do when it’s operable in the life of a true believer! But when the saints are no longer saints in the eyes of the world, then what good are we to them? When they see us divorcing, getting caught up in sin, cussing, lying, and living like devils, then what kind of bait is that? What kind of fish will that catch? I’m telling you, we have to stop this madness and get ourselves together. When this economy fails, and the presidential candidate fails, and our very banking system fails, what will we say to the world that we did not warn? Get uncomfortable saint of God. The end is near and our nation is on the brink of disaster. If America won’t hear God now, they will when the bottom comes out of our economy. So, I suggest that we all get busy becoming fishers of men and begin standing for what is right before disaster strikes. Be God’s bait and help this country get back to him. We could save America from the danger ahead if we do what God says. Remember he said in 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Suggested Reading: 2Cor. 4:3, Phil. 2:15, James 1:26, 1John 2:2 ©2009 G. Craige Works, All Rights Reserved

www.exministries.com

The Advocate 11

Sponsored by Turn PB & J into PB & A - peanut butter and apples! This lunchtime treat is a great way to please picky sandwich eaters and make sure they get some healthy fruit.

Open Face Caramel Peanut Butter Sandwich

Prep Time: 5 minutes Servings: 2 2 tablespoons (1.25-ounce individual container) Marzetti Disney Cinnamon Caramel Apple Dip 2 tablespoons favorite peanut butter 2 slices favorite bread Sliced apples, peanuts, dried cranberries or raisins In a small bowl, mix together dip and peanut butter until smooth. Spread two tablespoons of caramel mixture on each slice of bread. Arrange sliced apples, peanuts and dried fruit atop each sandwich and serve. Put some crunchy fun into snack time with this fruity rice cake. This is one treat the kids will love making themselves - just set out the ingredients and let them build a fruit-filled snack!

Rice Cake Snack

Prep Time: 3 minutes Servings: 1 2 tablespoons (1.25-ounce individual container) Marzetti Disney Cinnamon Caramel Apple Dip 1 rice cake Topping options: Diced red or green apple, chopped bananas, favorite dried fruit, mini chocolate chips or favorite chopped nuts Spread 2 tablespoons dip onto a rice cake. Top with one or two topping options and serve.

Helping kids learn to love healthy eating Family Features

A

ccording to the 2007 Produce For Kids study, 96 percent of children don’t get the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That won’t surprise a lot of parents. Getting children to eat any fruits or vegetables at all can be a big challenge. With 39 percent of all U.S. children overweight or obese, getting kids to make better food choices is more important than ever. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins, nutrients and fiber, are low in calories and can help prevent many diseases, including high blood pressure, heart disease and some cancers. But kids aren’t compelled by the nutritional benefits of produce. They want to have fun eating food they like. So they need some help to become healthy eaters. How can a parent get fruit-phobic or veggie-avoiding kids to eat more of what they really need? Mypyramid.gov, a Web site dedicated to helping people make smart food choices, has some tips for coping with picky eaters. *Let your kids be “produce pickers.” Let them help pick out fruits and veggies at the store. *Kids like to try foods they help make. All of that mixing, mashing and measuring makes them want to taste what they are creating. *Make meals a stress-free time. If meals are times for family arguments, your child may learn unhealthy attitudes toward food. *Offer choices. Rather than ask “Do you want broccoli for dinner?” ask “Which would you like for dinner: broccoli or cauliflower?” Another suggestion, from The Produce For Kids study, is to use dips to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Sixty-eight percent of the moms surveyed said that their children ate more fruit and vegetables when they were served with dip. One of the latest items on the market to help meet this need is Marzetti Disney Dips, a line of fruit and veggie dips 12 The Advocate

for children that makes eating produce fun and nutritious. Each portion-control package contains the right amount of dip for a serving of fruit or vegetables. The packaging also features favorite Disney characters, games and trivia questions ? all of which make eating healthy a lot more fun. Picky eaters don’t have to stay picky eaters. With some encouragement and creative ideas from parents, they can learn to love eating what’s best for them. For more information, visit marzetti.com/ disney.

Do your kids turn up their noses at fruits and veggies? Here are some fun and smart ideas to please even the pickiest of eaters: Bagel snake ? Split mini bagels in half. Cut each half into half circles. Spread the halves with tuna salad, egg salad, or peanut butter. Decorate with sliced cherry tomatoes or banana slices. Arrange the half circles to form the body of a snake. Use olives or raisins for the eyes. English muffin pizza ? Top half an English muffin with tomato sauce, chopped veggies and low-fat mozzarella cheese. Heat until the cheese is melted. Potato pal ? Top half a small baked potato with eyes, ears, and a smile. Try peas for eyes, a halved cherry tomato for a nose, and a low-fat cheese wedge as a smile. Fruit smoothies ? Blend fresh or frozen fruit with yogurt and milk or juice. Try 100 percent orange juice, lowfat yogurt, and frozen strawberries. Ants on a log ? Thinly spread peanut butter or apple dip on narrow celery sticks. Top with a row of raisins or other diced dried fruit. Fruit kabobs - Spear chunks of pineapple, banana and melon on skewers or chopsticks. Let kids dunk them in a fruit dip. July 17, 2009

���������������������

�������������

�

�� ��

�������������

���������������������������������������������������� ������������������

������������� ������

�

����������������������������������������������������������������������

���������������������������������������� �������������������������������� ������������������

�����������

���� ������������ ������������� �������������

���

����������������������������������������

��������������� �����

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������

��

���������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ����������������������� ������������������

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������

���

������������������������ �������������������������������� ����������������������������������� ��������������

����������������

�

�� ����������� ������������� ���������������

���

��������������������������������

��

������������������������������� ����������������� ��������������������������������������������

1 Mm

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������

������

��������

� ���� ��

���������������

�������������� ���������� �����

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������������������������������� ����������������������������� ����������������������������������� ���������������

���

��������� �������� ������� �����������

1 Mm

������������������

������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� ���������������

�������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� July 17, 2009 071609_JAX_FULL_INC_XSm.indd 1

������������ ������������� �����

2 M���

��������������������������������������������������������������������

������������������������������� ��������������������

����������������������������������������� ������������������������������� ������������������������� ���������������������������������� ���������������������������������������� ������������������������ �������������������������� ��������������������������������� �������������������������

��������������������������������������� The Advocate 13 ������������������������� 7/9/09 10:39:16 AM

Health

School Physicals: The Easiest Exam Your Kids Will Take All Year

Health Tips

MSM

Here are some benefits of taking the supplement MSM. * MSM makes your hair look better. * MSM is effective for treatment of overuse injuries of muscles, ligaments and joints. Very good results have been reported in treating tendonitis, as well as treating tennis elbow. * MSM gives relief against lower back pain. * MSM enhances circulation, thus speeding up tissue repair. * MSM cures or alleviates many gastrointestinal disorders, often with as little as 100 mg per day. * MSM produces remarkably good results for heartburn. People who tried to combat increased stomach acidity with conventional medication, can get much better results with MSM and no side effects. * MSM restores integrity of a cell wall, making it more flexible, thus reducing or even completely eliminating pain.

Take steps to keep your child healthy for the school year.

NU

B

ack-to-school physicals are an important step in any student’s school career. After all, going back to school is a hectic time, and a child’s performance in school can be affected by his health. Many schools have health care requirements that must be met at the start of a new school year. Taking your child for a backto-school physical will ensure that he will be able to handle the physical and psychological stress of school, while also giving

you the opportunity to learn about important vaccines that will protect against diseases like meningitis and chicken pox. Take Care Clinics offers these tips for parents who want to keep their kids healthy throughout the school year. * Vaccinations. Stay up to date on all of your school’s vaccination recommendations. Visit a Take Care Clinic to find out which vaccinations are right for your child. * Create a Bedtime Routine. Earlier wake-up times call for earlier bedtimes.

Develop a regular bedtime routine to ensure your child is getting plenty of rest. * Plan Healthy Meals. Nutritional breakfasts and lunches help your child stay focused and energized. Be sure to pack plenty of healthy snacks and low-sugar beverages. * Keep Active. Make it a family affair by planning weekly bike rides, nature walks and other activities to ensure your child gets the exercise they need. * Update Your Calendar. Set up a central family calendar to help you stay organized and manage your child’s busy schedule. * Stay Safe. Be sure your child knows his phone number and address and is aware of school bus and playground safety rules. * Physicals. Drop into your local Take Care Clinic for a convenient $30 back-toschool physical designed to help your child meet school health care requirements. Sports physicals are also available at clinics for the same price except in Kansas. Take Care Clinics are open seven days a week and weeknights and can be found at select Walgreens. They combine best practices in health care and the expertise and personal care of its board-certified providers, Take Care Nurse Practitioners and Take Care Physician Assistants, to fill a critical need in America by providing easy access to health care. For more information, visit TakeCareHealth.com.

* MSM also alleviates muscle pain.

Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been linked by many scientists to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and other western countries. The Corn Refiners Association claims that the product is no worse for you than sugar. Part of what makes HFCS such an unhealthy product is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar. Because most fructose is consumed in liquid form (soda), its negative metabolic effects are significantly magnified. Those effects result in diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, an increase in triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and liver disease. Fructose contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals, and it leeches micronutrients from your body. Unbound fructose, found in large quantities in HFCS, can interfere with your heart’s use of minerals such as magnesium, copper and chromium. This is just the tip of the iceberg on the dangers of HFCS. Read more on this at: The Murky World of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

14 The Advocate

Recognize the Signs of Seizures NU

E

pilepsy is a serious neurological disorder that can develop at any time in life, but there is a particular susceptibility in young children and the elderly. The condition produces seizures, which can range from a momentary disruption of the senses to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells to convulsions. A seizure happens when a brief, strong surge of electrical activity affects part or all of the brain. When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy. Epilepsy affects more than 3 million people in the United States and 50 million people worldwide; yet, many people do not recognize the signs of a seizure. Many times, the symptoms are misinterpreted as alcoholic or drug-induced intoxication. Some epilepsy symptoms have even been known to confuse law enforcement officers, who may mistake someone expe-

riencing a seizure or post-seizure behaviors for mentally ill or criminal behavior. For example, in Oakland County, Mich., police didn’t see a seizing Daniel Belongea’s medical bracelet and tasered and arrested him for disorderly conduct. In Nashville, Tenn., Federico Becerra, Jr. died after emergency personnel attempted to physically subdue his movements. To prevent these tragic oversights and to ensure that first responders know how to care for people with epilepsy, the Epilepsy Foundation, a national non-profit organization, is expanding its “First Responders Training” program. The goal is to teach law enforcement and emergency medical response teams the correct way to respond to people experiencing seizures. For more information on seizures, or to find out if training is available in your area, call the Epilepsy Foundation at 800-3321000, or visit www.epilepsyfoundation.org.

People with epilepsy who are experiencing seizures may sometimes be mistaken for alcohol or drug users by police.

July 17, 2009

Money Homeowners Can Save Thousands on 2009 Tax Returns NU

T

he American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is making homeownership and green improvements more affordable. It essentially puts more money in homeowners’ pockets. The First-Time Homebuyer Credit is for qualifying individuals who purchase a home between December 31, 2008 and December 1, 2009. Those who have not owned a principal residence at any time during the three years prior to the date of purchase can receive a credit of 10 percent of the home purchase price, up to $8,000. The credit phases out when modified adjusted gross income is $75,000 or $150,000 for joint filers. Married taxpayers must both qualify as first-time homebuyers in order to receive the full credit. The amount must be paid back only if the home ceases to be the owners’ principal residence within a period of 36 months that begins on the purchase date. The credit was initially created to be

claimed after a home is purchased, but qualified taxpayers can now use it beforehand. Homebuyers with mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) could receive advanced credit that can be used for closing costs, fees and down payment beyond the FHA’s required 3.5 percent minimum. Although anyone can apply for an FHA-backed mortgage, there are limits on mortgage size, and lenders may charge a fee for advanced credit. Some states are offering similar programs. The Act also includes a credit equal to 30 percent, up to $1,500, for certain home energy improvements. The Residential Energy Property Credit can be claimed on 2009 and 2010 returns for improvements such as adding insulation or installing energy efficient windows, doors, or heating and air conditioning systems. Bigger improvements involving alternative energy equipment, including solar hot water heaters, geothermal heat pumps and wind turbines may be claimed on 2009 to 2016 returns under the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit.

With the right knowledge, homeowners can save thousands on their 2009 taxes.

In addition to homeowner provisions, the Act includes several new or increased tax breaks. Learn which ones you qualify for starting in October when TaxACT releases preview versions of its 2009 software. Do-

ing so allows you to plan ahead and start your return early. Learn details about the 2009 stimulus plan at www.IRS.gov, and visit TaxACT at www.TaxACT.com.

Working At Home

July 17, 2009

ing jobs, such as medical transcription or legal data entry, are done through a business and may involve an occasional trip to an office. Work for self jobs can be anything from having an Internet product store, to running your own creative writing and authoring service. Both types can be highly convenient and lucrative, but make sure you’re prepared. Many folks are blindsided by the amount of effort it takes to pursue the work-at-home dream. Those who are successful in their home-based careers, will tell you that working from home takes as much dedication as a traditional job. In some cases, it will take more. So what types of work-at-home jobs are available? We’ve listed some of the most popular workat-home careers below: * Medical Transcription * Website Business * Consulting * Photographers * Investigators * Writers and Editors * Design and Illustration Work * Data Entry Work If you have a skill that you can use in a telecommuting job, there are thousands of possibilities available on the Internet. For information about the job titles listed above, type in the title below to search. For a more general listing of work-at-home jobs, enter “work at home jobs” to locate opportunities.

orlandoadvocate.com

I

t sounds so enticing. Waking up on a chilly morning - watching all of your neighbors crawl into mile-long traffic as they rush off to their pitiful, white-collar jobs. You roll over in your king-size bed -- hug your plush pillow and think to yourself, “What a joy it is to work from home!” The only problem is - this isn’t you. Like most people, you’re a part of the rat-race and have to commute to your job on a weekly basis. You have to deal with co-workers, managers, bosses, and a work environment you probably despise. Add to that the constant worries of company downsizing,

lost contracts, corporate scandal, mergers, loss of pensions -- it’s a wonder why more employees aren’t desperate to find legitimate home-based careers. Though we often speak about being our own bosses, not many people possess the discipline or attitude to work from home. Even more intriguing is the fact that most people wouldn’t leave the familiar confines of their present work environments to pursue an at-home opportunity. To have a successful work-at-home job, you will have to be persistent, responsible, and extremely dedicated to your chosen field. This may involve sitting in front of a computer for hours on end; adding an extra phone line and making numerous business calls throughout the day; or commuting back and forth between warehouses to stock your inventory. The opportunities available to a sole-proprietor have skyrocketed over the past 5 years and there is plenty of pie to go around. There are two types of work-at-home jobs - telecommuting jobs (working for others) and soleproprietor jobs (working for self). Most telecommut-

The Advocate 15

Music

Whitney Houston Premieres New Album in London Mark Sutherland, London Whitney Houston appeared at the world premiere of her new album, “I Look to You” (Arista), in London July 14th. A healthy-looking Houston appeared briefly on stage at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge after Sony Music chief creative officer Clive Davis played nine tracks from the album, due to be released Sept. 1 in the U.S. The U.K. release is via RCA on Aug. 31. Houston thanked Davis for his work on the album, saying: “When Clive called me I was pretty ready to buy my island home [and

16 The Advocate

retire] but he said, ‘No, you’re going to sing again, people want to hear you.’” Describing the album as “a labor of love” she said: “I hope that these songs stay with you for a lifetime.” Davis - who worked with Houston for the first time in 10 years on the album - stressed the album is “by no means done,” while many of the songs played were still in unfinished form. “We didn’t try to fit Whitney Houston into the market,” Davis said. “The copyrights associated with Whitney in the 1980s and ‘90s are part of the fabric of music today.” Nonetheless, collaborators on the album read like a who’s who of contemporary pop/ R&B, with songwriters and producers including Alicia Keys, Diane Warren, Stargate, R Kelly and Akon, who duets with Houston on “Like I Never Left.” The tracks played were “Million Dollar Bill,” “Nuthin’ But Love,” “Call You Tonight” (which Davis said was a likely lead single), “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength,” “Like I Never Left,” “For the Lovers,” “I Look to You,” “Worth It” and a cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song for You.” The overall feel of the album was notably contemporary, while retaining Houston’s trademark vocal flourishes. The up-tempo songs “Nuthin’ But Love” and “A Song for You” received the best reaction from the invited audience of international media, while Davis particularly praised slower songs like the Warren-penned ballad “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” and R Kelly’s title track, hailing Houston as “the premium balladeer of our time.”

July 17, 2009

Opinions/Commentary/Forum To Be Equal

The Gavel

Give Grave Diggers Life

W

hen family members lay a loved one to rest, they expect that the final resting place for their body will the same as the one they envision for their soul: peaceful. So it’s no surprise that relatives of those buried in Burr Oak are outraged that the graves of their dearly departed have been desecrated all because of greed. Those who are responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law; life in prison for such deplorable behavior is not too much to ask. If you aren’t familiar with the story, the manager of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and three grave diggers dug up more than 300 grave sites, reselling the plots. Bodies were found pounded down, buried on top of one other, body parts were scattered around and head stones carelessly tossed to the side. Family members are horrified, and rightly so. So many have no idea of knowing where the remains of their loved ones actually are; they can only wait for authorities to identify the bodies. For a time, Burr Oak was one of few cemeteries near Chicago that buried blacks. Its early importance to the African American community makes this story all the more outrageous. Over the years, cemeteries began to tear down their color lines, allowing blacks to be buried among whites. However, African Americans in the area continued to revere Burr Oak. In return, the owners victimized those who have supported it for generations. Emmett Till, the 14-year Chicago boy

Ursula Burns: First Black Woman Fortune 500 CEO

Judge Greg Mathis who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, is buried at Burr Oak. The gruesome nature of Till’s death, and the public funeral his mother was determined to have, breathed life into the civil rights movement. Till’s family reburied him in a new casket in 2004 after his body was exhumed as part of a new investigation into his death. His original casket, viewed by more than 50,000 at his funeral, should be considered an important piece of civil rights and American history and treated as such. Instead, it was found rusting in a shack on the cemetery grounds. That a company which originally showed so much support to the black community could show so little respect for one of its most memorable figures is shocking. Thankfully, Till’s gravesite was intact.Four people were charged with felonies in connection with the case. Justice will only be served if they are sentenced to life in prison. These individuals not only disturbed the final resting places of the dead to turn a profit, but showed so little respect for how they disposed of the remains after they were unearthed. Their actions have opened old wounds and created new ones for the families of those buried there. Because of the way the bodies were tossed together in piles, it is possible some family members may never recover the remains of their loved ones. The four people charged with this crime abused the trust of those who selected them to handle a very personal and private matter. No sentence is too harsh for them.

Commentary

OCPS Emphasizes Vision Tests “Now that I can see, I can dream.”

I

asked the Orange County School Board to embark on a vision emphasis proposition, which had the full support of the Board. Our ultimate goal is to get all our children’s vision checked by real eye professionals this next year. We would first urge all parents, who have the means, to take their child to an optometrist during this summer, if they had not done so in the past two years. This will be emphasized July 17, 2009

Vicky Bell

by our public relations department and with the help of the media. Why is it important to get our children’s vision checked? As a teacher I have seen the effect on children’s lives when they had a vision problem that went unchecked. When a child can’t see clearly what they are reading, what are they to do? Usually they are not doing well in all subjects that have reading,

2009

Marc Morial

is turning out to be quite a year of firsts. America’s first Black President was inaugurated on January 20th, This was followed by the nomination of the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice on May 26th. And on July 1st, Ursula Burns became the first African American woman Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 500 company when she took over the reins of Xerox Corporation. In addition to the fact that all three of these historic breakthrough achievers are people of color, I think it is also important to note that they all come from working class backgrounds, with parents who taught them through the power of example, the importance of education and hard work. Ursula Burns is a striking case in point. Raised by a single mother in a lower East Side Manhattan housing project, Ms. Burns had already begun to defy the odds when she came to Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern. Her extraordinary leadership skills were quickly noticed and after two decades with the company, she was named senior vice president of corporate strategic services in 2000. Seven years later, she was named president of Xerox and was elected to the company’s Board of Directors. On July 1, she succeeded Anne Mulcahy as CEO. Mulcahy, who is retiring, said, “The decision to move on is made easy only in the fact that Ursula Burns is so well positioned to take Xerox to the next level…Ursula takes on the leadership role in the old-fashioned way.

She has earned it.” “Earning it” for Burns has not only meant working hard, it has meant rising up from poverty to achieve a level of success that was unthinkable for any person of color 40 years ago. According to a recent BusinessWeek article, “Three decades after women flooded into professional jobs, the C-suite continues to be dominated by men. While women make up 59.6% of the U.S. labor force, fewer than 16% of top corporate officers are female. For minorities, the figures are even worse. While other black women have run major divisions, Burns is the first to lead a large public company.” Burns grew up in a low-income housing project on Delancey Street in Manhattan, where, as she put it, “There were lots of Jewish immigrants, fewer Hispanics and African Americans, but the common denominator and great equalizer was poverty.” Her mother took in ironing and ran a day care center from her home to make ends meet and to scrape up enough money to send her three children to Catholic schools, where she felt they had the best chance to get a good education in a safe environment. Always a math whiz, Burns went on to earn an engineering degree from the Polytechnic Institute of New York before earning her Masters from Columbia in 1981. She has said, “My perspective comes in part from being a New York Black lady, in part from being an engineer. I know I’m smart and have opinions worth being heard.” We know it too. We congratulate her on being a first; we know she won’t be the last.

they get restless, some act out and become discipline problems and for most, if not all, their self-esteem is damaged. 25% to 30% of children have vision problems. Studies have shown there are some detention centers that have had up to 90% of their inmates with unchecked vision problems. Well, don’t our schools check and screen students for vision problems? Yes and no. We give the Snelling distance vision chart screening. According to the optometric society, we only identify up to 5% of those students that have vision problems. We don’t screen for close vision problems at all. So, don’t wait for the schools to tell you if your child has vision problems. Also, you probably should not wait for your child to tell you they have a vision problem ei-

ther. Whatever their vision is, it is normal to them. As one seventh grade student reading on a third grade level told me after finally getting his eyes checked, “Wow, I didn’t know words were supposed to look that way.” Often a child may appear to have a learning disability when, in fact, he or she has a vision problem. We have a new web-site just for vision connected to our OCPS homepage. You can find out more about vision there as well as organizations to help with funding and dates and places of screenings in the county. We are adopting the slogan “NOW THAT I CAN SEE, I CAN DREAM!” (There will be more forthcoming on our vision program.) Vicky Bell is an OCPS Board member, representing district 4. The Advocate 17

Train Your Brain for Better Memory NU

E

stablishing a connection means personalization. If you can’t remember another person’s name, you’re going to struggle to form a relationship, whether social, business or otherwise. No wonder corporations like Microsoft and Lexus hire Ron White, winner of the 2009 USA Memory Championship in New York, to conduct memory seminars. White, who can memorize a 167-digit number in five minutes, teaches clients to quickly recall names and product information.”The human brain is the best computer ever made,” says White. Of course, if White’s brain is a NASA space computer, most of our brains look like abacuses. Many people leave keys at home, lose IDs, lock themselves out of cars and forget to pick up the kids from soccer practice -- but that doesn’t mean that memory can’t be improved. SUCCESS magazine, which aims to help its readers achieve both personally and professionally, offers these tips to train your memory: - Keep your mind active. The more you involve your brain, the more easily it will function. Play memory games and cross-

words to keep your mind sharp. - Make sure you learn the information. You can’t recall what you haven’t learned. Focus when you need to learn something. Involve all of your senses. For example, read out loud what you want to remember. Physically write it down. Use pictures or color-coding in your notes to make a visual impression. - Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. The more often you use information, the better you’ll remember it. If you’re meeting someone for the first time, try using their name several times in conversation. You’ll be more likely to remember it later. - Take care of yourself. Physical health affects memory. Regular exercise, sufficient sleep and good stress management can help you stay sharp, while smoking can constrict arteries that bring oxygen to the brain, thereby harming memory. - Stay confident. Tell yourself that you can’t remember anything, and you likely won’t. Believe in your brain power, and you’ll memorize names, faces and facts more quicklythan you think. For more information, visit www.SUCCESS.com.

Your memory is probably better than you think -- it just needs training.

rvices Taylor Made Se 0 407-218-076

REMOVAL

CLEANING

We Remove Appliances and/or Metal from your Property Free of Charge

We Clean Garages Carports Homes Businesses

Reasonable Prices; Superior Service. Give Us a Try. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

407-218-0760 18 The Advocate

July 17, 2009

Thoughts For Success Nine Rules for Becoming a Success

By Herbert Harris (Author of The Twelve Universal Laws of Success, 2nd Edition)

1. Do not procrastinate.

of being goal oriented.

2. Do it now.

7. Visualize your goals and believe you can attain them.

Do not wait until all conditions are right to become a success. You could wait the rest of your life. Believe that you always possess the understanding, courage and self-confidence to take action. Realize that procrastination is a state of mind.

Take the first step. There is always something you can do RIGHT NOW to move closer to your success. Use need, desire, ambition and attitude to motivate yourself to immediate action. Overcome thoughts of helplessness, limitation, lack, negativity, and failure.

3. Stand on your own two feet.

Do not depend on anyone or anything for your success. They may be depending on you. Believe that you already have everything you need to get everything you want. You should become independent as a part of your interdependence.

4. Do not fear failure.

To fail proves that you are trying. Every failure is a dress rehearsal for success. Every opportunity for suc-cess also contains the possibility for failure. Learn from your mistakes and failures. Concentrate on your possibilities for success.

5. Do not sell yourself cheaply.

You are worth exactly what you say you are worth. Know your full potential and the true value of your talents. Recognize that you are a very special individual with boundless capacity for health, wealth, happiness, love, success, prosperity and money.

6. Develop the success habit July 17, 2009

Set realistic goals for yourself. Determine what must be done to attain your goals. Make plans for their attainment. Keep a record of your performance and achievements. Stick to your goals until they are accomplished.

See each goal clearly and in great detail in your mind’s eye—your imagination. Develop a sensory relationship with your goal. Know how it looks, feels, smells, tastes, and sounds. See yourself as though you had already attained your goal. Hold that vision constantly in your mind and believe that you can and will accomplish it. Know that your goal will be achieved in a timely manner.

8. Plan your work, and work your plan.

Analyze your goal. Write down each and every action that must be performed to accomplish your goal. Make a plan for its attainment. Prepare a time schedule for the performance of each action. Execute your plan in accordance with your timetable and produce desired results. When you execute your plan effectively, you attract the attention of other people who will help you in your efforts.

9. Do not quit.

To quit demonstrates your own lack of belief in yourself. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Be prepared to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes.

Refueling the Tanks: Learning to Value Time Off NU

W

hy do many Americans suffer from burnout, reduced productivity, diminished creativity, failed relationships, stress, depression, heart disease and stomach ulcers? The answer may be as simple as a failure to rest and relax. America’s puritanical work ethic emphasizes effort and extra hours, but overscheduling can destroy creativity, not to mention mental and physical health. Consider Denmark, the world’s happiest country, according to independent studies from the University of Leicester and the University of Michigan. Danish workers receive 31 days of paid vacation each year -- the most in the world. American workers, on average, only accumulate 10 paid vacation days per year, which many employees skip. According to a Harris Interactive research group, Americans failed to take 438 million paid vacation days in 2007. Working nonstop doesn’t make workers more productive. Instead, it hurts effectiveness. Relaxation clears frenetic energy from minds and bodies, dramatically improving mood and attitude. Taking time off helps workers regain their bearings, so that, when they return to work, they feel more focused and productive. Darren Hardy, publisher and editorial director of SUCCESS Magazine, offers these tips to Americans who need to recharge their batteries: * Rephrase “time off.” If you can’t handle the idea of taking time off, call your down time something else. Hardy calls his

Learning to rest and relax could improve your productivity, as well as your health.

time off “Rejuvenation Time,” which sounds purposeful, productive and worthwhile. * Schedule time for yourself. Mark vacation time on your calendar, then treat it like an unmoveable appointment with Oprah or the Queen of England. When you do take time off, turn off your e-mail and Blackberries. * Declare when you’re going on vacation. Tell everyone what your doing and that you won’t be available. * Measure your time off. Measure the number of times you eat dinner with you family, take naps, meditate, read for pleasure, watch movies and engage in activities that you enjoy. If you only have fun every once in awhile, concentrate on building more time for yourself into your busy schedule. For more tips about balancing your work and personal life, visit www.SUCCESS.com.

Need a Handyman? We can handle all your exterior and interior repairs. EXTERIOR Painting Rotten wood replacement Roof leak repair INTERIOR Painting Install fixtures, telephone jacks Dry wall repair Plumbing leaks Troubeshoot electrical problems

Doing it yourself can be expensive

H HHHandymen Fixing things is what we do!

No job too big or too small. All work professionally done; superior customer service.

References available upon request. Call Willie 407-446-8962

The Advocate 19

President Obama in Africa: Taking HUD Offers Permanent Responsibility Begins at Home Homes For More Than

10,000 Homeless Vets

While discussing Africa ahead of his trip to Ghana, President Obama stated he is not a big believer in excuses. I understand the President’s frustration. It pains me to see the same stories of poverty, violence, and corruption play out time and time again. As a native son, the President has a unique and daunting opportunity to leave the African continent in a better position than when he took office. However, unlike the messages being sent to the people of the Middle East, Latin America or even Russia, President Obama is taking what some in the Administration have called the “tough love” approach toward Africa. But if we are going to demonstrate ‘’tough love’’, we also need to talk about the facts. The fact is that the U.S. behaves badly in Africa. Not 20 years ago. Not 5 years ago. I am talking about today. The fact is that the U.S. has historically and repeatedly undercut Africa’s ability to develop real democracies and sustainable economies. During the Cold War, the U.S. hand-picked and supported several dictators. In the aftermath, we left Africa to deal with the mess and the debts of those dictators. We demanded repayment of the debts in full despite widespread poverty and a growing AIDS pandemic. The fact is that the U.S. dumps underpriced food into many African nations, undercutting indigenous farming, and perpetuating a culture of dependence. Under our current trade policies, we demand African markets stay

wide open to our imports, while refusing to allow one African banana through customs. At the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila last week, President Obama spoke of the global hunger crisis, and stated that wealthier nations have a moral obligation to address the issue. He talked about the villages in Kenya where his family lives, and suggested that people on the ground believe that the institutions and governance aren’t working for ordinary people and must be addressed. How are we to address those issues if we are behind the governance problem which suppresses so many African people? We don’t have to look all the way back to slavery, colonialism or the overthrow of democrats like Lumumba. Even today, U.S. corporations act with impunity in many countries of the continent because the governments are too impotent to stop them. Bono, in writing about Obama’s message to Africa, has said “Corruption stalks Africa’s reformers. ‘If you fight corruption, it fights you back,’ a former Nigerian anti-corruption official said.’’ Well, this is very true, but we cannot ignore the fact that behind the corruption, it is too often an American policy or corporation pulling the strings. Admittedly, these facts do not play well in a sound bite. It is easy to blame Africans for “their problems,” but the U.S. seems unwilling at times to admit our own responsibility in the creation of those problems. If we demand a trend

of responsibility, then the U.S. should lead the way by doing just that. We must take responsibility for our fiscal and trade policies which have undercut vital reform in Africa. We must also take responsibility for our involvement in funding corrupt leaders to help them stay in power, which further destroyed organic progress and development. A new day seems to be dawning as we explore a new way forward with the Middle East, Latin America and Russia, yet our relationship with Africa seems to lag behind. While I genuinely believe that there is a will to produce a sound partnership based on trust and common values, but many in Africa must wonder how these promises will differ from those they have heard before. Taking responsibility begins at home, and there is no excuse for the U.S. not to own up to our own past. We must acknowledge the negative effects of so many of our current policies. Then, and only then, can we strive to lead from place of virtue and not of sympathetic condescension. Nicole C. Lee is executive director of TransAfrica Forum. and an NNPA columnist.

TA L L A H A S S E E -- Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson today announced that his department has instituted the first regulation in the nation - and perhaps the world - prohibiting any additives, chemicals or adulterants in honey that is produced, processed or sold in Florida. The regulation, which takes effect July 14, provides the first-ever “Standard of Identity” for honey. “We want to assure consumers that the product that they are buying is pure,” Bronson said. “Too 20 The Advocate

often in the past, honey has been cut with water or sugar, and sometimes even contaminated with insecticides or antibiotics. In the future, when you’re paying for honey in this state, pure honey is what you will get.” State Rep. Alan Hays, of Umatilla, has been a major advocate of the new regulation, which is supported by Florida’s honey industry, and joined Bronson at a press conference here today to unveil the new rule. “I am pleased that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is leading the way

for all America in establishing this standard by which all honey may now be measured,” Hays said. Under terms of the new regulation, honey containing anything other than the “natural food product resulting from the harvest of nectar by honeybees” is considered an adulterated or mislabeled product. Such products are subject to a “stop sale” order in which a manufacturer, processor or merchant would be served with an order prohibiting the product’s sale. Repeat offenders would face fines of up to $500 per violation. Florida is the fourth-

$75 million HUD-VASH program to provide rental housing and support services

by Nicole Lee

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced today the final allocations of more than 10,000 vouchers to local public housing authorities across the country to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans. For a local breakdown of the rental vouchers announced today, visit HUD’s website. “Numerous men and women voluntarily leave their families and put their lives on the line to ensure that we, their fellow Americans, live safely in our homes,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who announced the $75 million in funding last month with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “These vouchers offer veterans a permanent home and critically needed supportive services to those who have served our nation.” HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) will provide local public housing agencies with 10,290 rental assistance vouchers specifically targeted to assist homeless veterans in their area. Public housing authorities, that administer HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV), work closely with Veteran Affairs Medical Centers

to manage the program. In addition to the rental assistance, VA Medical Centers provide supportive services and case management to eligible homeless veterans. “The announcement of an additional 10,290 HUDVASH vouchers for homeless Veterans and their families allows us to take another giant step forward with a collaborative effort to reach some of the most vulnerable Veterans; including women Veterans and Veterans with children,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki “We will connect these Veterans with dedicated case managers to insure they receive the health care and benefit assistance to help them to move on with their lives with dignity.” HUD allocates the housing vouchers to local public housing agencies across the country that are specifically targeted to homeless veterans based on a variety of factors, including the number of reported homeless veterans and the proximity of a local VA Medical Center with the capacity to provide case management. HUD’s HCV program (Section 8) allows participants to rent privately owned housing and generally pay no more than 30 percent of annual adjusted income. The VA will offer eligible homeless veterans

clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S and Puerto Rico. The VA addresses the needs of more than 100,000 homeless veterans who access VA health care annually. In the last two years, HUD has provided $150 million that will sustain 20,000 vouchers to support the housing and service needs of homeless veterans across America. In its proposed 2010 budget, the Obama Administration demonstrates its support of homeless veterans by renewing these and other special purpose vouchers. Local communities or “Continuums of Care” that receive HUD homeless assistance will work with local VA Medical Centers to identify eligible participants. The VA will then screen homeless veterans to determine their eligibility. Those eligible vets will receive treatment and regular case management to retain the voucher. VA Medical Center case managers will also work closely with local housing agencies to help participants find suitable housing. Participating local housing agencies will also determine income eligibility in accordance to HUD regulations for the HCV program.

Florida Announces Nation’s First Regulation Banning Additives In Honey leading honey producing state in the country with cash receipts to beekeepers of more than $15 million in 2008 and an industry that has an economic impact estimated at $40 million a year. It employs more than 500 Floridians. As a result of a flood of adulterated honey from overseas into Florida in 2006, a petition was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later that year by five major honey producers and processors, asking the federal agency to establish a U.S. standard of identity for honey. Two years later,

the FDA responded that due to other pressing matters, it would be unable to review the petition. At that point, the industry asked Bronson’s department if it would consider developing a standard of identity for the product, and today’s announcement is the culmination of that effort. Bronson noted that despite efforts in various quarters, international governing bodies have to date been unable to establish an international definition of

or standard of identity for honey, making it likely that Florida’s regulation governing honey may be the first of its kind anywhere.

July 17, 2009

INDEX

100 LEGAL NOTICES 110 ADOPTIONS 112 ANNOUNCEMENTS 115 ANTIQUES 120 AUCTIONS 130 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 135 EDUCATION 140 FINANCIAL 145 FINACIAL SERVICES 150 FOR SALE/RENT 160 HEALTH & MISC. FOR SALE 170 HELP WANTED 180 LEGAL SERVICES 190 MISCELLANEOUS 200 SUPPLIES 205 PET SUPPLIES 210 MISCELLANEOUS FOR SALE 220 REAL ESTATE 223 RVs/TRAILERS 225 STEEL BUILDINGS 228 Vacations/ Resort Rentals 227 WEDDINGS/PERSONAL 229 WANTED TO BUY 230 YOUR AD COULD BE HERE

100 Legal Notices NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA Case No.: DR09-9442 KELEESHA FERRILSITAL Petitioner, and CLAN C. SITAL, Respondent TO: CLAN C. SITAL ADDRESS UNKNOWN YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that an action for Dissolution of Marriage has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to the Petitioner, KELEESHA FERRIL-SITAL whose address is 1015 MILDRED DIXON WAY, WINTER GARDEN, FLORIDA 34787, on or before August 6, 2009, and file the original with the Clerk of this Court at, 425 N. Orange Avenue, Room 320, Orlando, Florida 32801 before service on the Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the Petition. Copies of all court documents in this case, including orders, are available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office. You may review these documents upon request. You must keep the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office notified of your current address. (You may file Notice of Current Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915.) Future papers in this lawsuit will be mailed to the address on record at the clerk's office. WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings. Dated June 25, 2009 LYDIA GARDNER, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT by Marc LaRusso Deputy Clerk Pub 7/3, 7/10,7/17/09 4x

July 17, 2009

classifieds Deadlines

Notice

Advertiser may request classification of any ad according to our INDEX. If we fail to properly classify an ad, the extent of our responsibility will be to run the ad a second time.

Adjustments

Ad copy & cancellations With prior space reservation: Tuesday, 4:30 pm (corporate accounts only) Ads requiring construction: Monday, 12:00 noon Cancellations must be received by Tuesday, 3:30 pm

Check your ad the first time it appears. Notify us immediately of any error. Our responsibility for incorrect insertion will not exceed the cost of the space advertised, first run only. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for inadvertent deletions or failure to publish ads.

Credit/Rate Policies Rates are determined when ad is placed. Courtesy credit limit on noncontract private party advertising is $250. All ads subject to credit approval. Some classified ads require advance payment.

The Advocate respectfully reserves the right to reject or cancel any ad received.

Email us your classified ad copy: [email protected] NOTICE OF ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA Case No.: 09-DR-2833-02D-W MAISHA A. TESIS Petitioner, and HECTOR TESIS, Respondent TO: HECTOR TESIS 620 Monica Rose Drive, #1520 Apopka, FL 32703 YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that an action for Dissolution of Marriage has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, to the Petitioner, MAISHA A. TESIS whose address is 620 MONICA ROSE DRIVE #1520, APOPKA, FL 32703, on or before August 1, 2009, and file the original with the Clerk of this Court at, 301 N. PARK AVE., SANFORD, FL 32771 before service on the Petitioner or immediately thereafter. If you fail to do so a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the Petition. Copies of all court documents in this case, including orders, are available at the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office. You may review these documents upon request. You must keep the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office notified of your current address. (You may file Notice of Current Address, Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.915.) Future papers in this lawsuit will be mailed to the address on record at the clerk's office. WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including dismissal or striking of pleadings. Dated June 26, 2009 MARYANNE MORSE, CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT by Deputy Clerk Pub 7/3,7/10,7/17/09 4x

Your business is our business. For hassle-free legal and classified advertising, call us at 407-648-1162 or e-mail your ad and instructions to

[email protected].

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

T&G Constructors invites open call to participate to bid on

T&G Constructors invites open call to participate to bid on

Orange County Corrections Bldgs. D, E, and F, Electrical, Mechanical and Elevator Upgrades. (Orlando, Florida) Bids are due to T&G Constructors: July 13th, 2009 2:00 P.M. Scope of work: Demolition of existing HVAC system in the elevator equipment rooms and construction of new HVAC. Connect new HVAC to existing HVAC control system and all associated electrical work. Demolition of existing elevator equipment and accessories and installation of new elevator equipment and accessories. Trades include: Elevators, HVAC and Electrical.

Apopka Service Center AHU Replacement in Apopka, Florida 32712 Bids are due to T&G Constructors: July 27th, 2009 2:00 P.M. Scope of work: Remove and replace AHU & associated ductwork, install screen wall on roof, remove and replace ceiling tile, roof repairs, and associated electrical. Trades include Demolition, Structural Steel, Roofing, Acoustical Ceiling, Tile, HVAC and Electrical. T&G encourages all MWBE / LDB firms to participate in this project. Please submit proposals to: T&G Constructors 8623 Commodity Circle, Orlando, FL 32819, ATTN: Estimating Dept: Fax: 407-352-0778. Phone: 407-352-4443

Auctions AUCTION- COMMERCIAL & DEVELOPMENT REAL ESTATE: 1,091 Acres offered in 36 tracts, located in Kingsland and St. Mary’s Georgia near Interstate 95, Exit 3. Auction on July 30 at 5:00pm at the Western Motel in Kingsland, Georgia. Auction staff will be available July 22, and 29 from 3- 6 pm at the Western Motel, Kingsland. Call (800)551-3588 for information or go to www.woltz.com. Jim Woltz #AUNR002906. Woltz & Associates, Inc., Real Estate Brokers & Auctioneers. Roanoke, VA Auto Donations

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE RECEIVE $1000 GROCERY COUPON UNITED BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION Please submit proposals Free Mammograms, Contractors License No. to: T&G Constructors CGC 36059 Breast Cancer Info 8623 Commodity Circle, COR 5825833 www.ubcf.info FREE Orlando, FL 32819, ATTN: Pib 7/17/09 Towing, Tax Deductible, Estimating Dept: Non-Runners Accepted, Fax: 407-352-0778. (888)468-5964. Phone: 407-352-4443 For professional Contractors License No. Building Supplies legal CGC 36059 COR 5825833 and METAL ROOFING. 40 Pub 7/10/09,7/17/09 classified yr Warranty-Buy direct SOLICITATION FOR from manufacturer advertising, BIDS 30/colors in stock, w/all call us at The Orange County Board accessories. Quick turn of County Commission407-648-1162 around. Delivery availers is soliciting bids (IFB) or e-mail your ad able. Gulf Coast Supply and proposals (RFP) for and instructions to a variety of goods and & Mfg, (888)393-0335 services, construction, and www.GulfCoastSupply.com [email protected]. T&G encourages all Certified MWBE / LDB firms to participate in this project.

architectural/engineering services. Interested parties may receive documents via the internet at orangecountyfl.net. A list of open solicitations is also available on the County’s Bid Hotline at (407) 8360011, or view Orange TV, TWC cable channel 9.

NEW FEATURE: Visit our web site (orangecountyfl.net)* and sign up for electronic notification of County solicitations. On the web site, select Services Online and click on Vendor Registration System. For assistance, please email [email protected] or call (407) 836-5635. Pub 7/3/09 -7/17/09

Announcements Advertise in Over 100 Papers! One Call - One Order - One Payment The Advertising Networks of Florida - Put Us to work for You! (866)7421373 www.nationalclassifieds.com, [email protected] For hassle-free legal and classified advertising call us at 407-648-1162 or email your ad and instructions to [email protected]

Business Opportunities ALL CASH VENDING! Do you earn $800 in a day? 25 Local Machines and Candy $9,995. (888)629-9968 BO2000033 CALL US: We will not be undersold! BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN THE CHRISTIAN MARKET Concessions available for only ONE person per city. Keep 100% of the revenue. Go to www.ChristianLeaders Wanted.com

Cars for Sale

Legal Services

Acura Integra 95 $500! Honda Civic 97 $400! Toyota Camry 98 $850! Ford Taurus 00 $900! Police Impounds! For listings call (800)3669813 ext 9275.

$$$$ LAWSUIT ADVANCE $$$$ No credit check, MONEY when you need it FAST! Car Accidents, Slip and Fall. If you don’t win, you keep the CASH! Need a Lawyer, Doctor or CASH Today? Call NOW (813)270-9874, (877)275-8299 ext 4 or (813)699-2157.

Help Wanted Help Wanted. No Truck Driver Experience-No Problem. Wil-Trans Will Teach You How to Drive. Company Sponsored CDL Training. Must be 23. (888)368-1205 $600 Weekly Potential$$$ Helping the government PT. No Experience. No Selling. Call: (888)213-5225 Ad Code: M RV delivery drivers needed. Deliver RVs, boats and trucks for PAY! Deliver to all 48 states and CN. For details log on towww.RVdeliveryjobs.com OTR Drivers for PTL! Earn up to 46 cpm. No forced Northeast. 12 months experience Required. No felony or DUI past 5 Years. (877)7406262 www.ptl-inc.com Call 407-648-1162 or e-mail your ad and instructions to [email protected].

I

Miscellaneous ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from Home. *Medical, *Business, *Paralegal, *Accounting, *Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial Aid if qualified. Call (866)858-2121, www.CenturaOnline.com. AIRLINES ARE HIRING - Train for high paying Aviation Maintenance Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified - Housing available. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance (888)349-5387. Real Estate Coastal Georgia BANK ORDERED SALE 1+ Acre Ocean Access $29,900 (888)982-8952 x 5192 www.oceanaccess299.com

Looking for me?

'm conscientious, hardworking, serious about my future. And the paper I read is the Advocate. So, if you’re really looking for me, this is where you’ll find me.

321-286-6087

The Advocate 21

Michael Jackson ‘rebuilt his nose to ease breathing problems’ PORTLAND, Ore. Michael Jackson rebuilt his nose before his death because extensive plastic surgery had left him with breathing problems, his doctor has disclosed. Arnold Klein, Jackson’s dermatologist, said that he stopped him from going to a plastic surgeon and began rebuilding his nose and cheeks using fillers last year. “I thought he had a nicelooking nose... but it got to the point where it was far too thin. It didn’t look natural to me,” Dr Klein told the CNN program Larry King Live. “I rebuilt it, using fillers. He was beginning to look like the nose was normal again. And that’s all I wanted — and to regain the breathing passages of his nose, because there was a total collapse of the cartilage.” Dr Klein had completed work on the singer’s nose but was continuing to treat him for severe acne and scarring from plastic surgery before his planned series of concerts in London. He saw Jackson for the last time just three days before his death. “I just was trying to get him ready to do the concert, because in the way he looked in his face he wanted it to be absolutely as perfect as it could be,” he said. Dr Klein first met Jackson almost 25 years ago when he diagnosed the autoimmune disorder lupus. He said that Jackson also suffered from vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder that affects the pigmentation of the skin, and that he was not lightening his complexion to try to appear white. “Michael was black. He was very proud of his black heritage. He changed the world for black people,” he said. Dr Klein said that the skin condition gave Jackson a “totally speckled look” all over his body, particularly on his face and hands. “We basically used creams that would even out the same color and we destroyed the remaining pigment cells.” he said. “He had blotches but we evened out almost all of them.” Jackson had to be ex22 The Advocate

tremely careful with sun exposure and began to shade himself under an umbrella, he said, but Jackson’s facemask was just a “gimmick”. Dr Klein also revealed that Jackson had “lost a great deal of hair” as a result of it catching fire during filming for a Pepsi advertisement in

1984 and the ensuing scalp treatments. In an effort to cut out the scar, Jackson’s doctors used tissue expanders under his scalp. “Because he had lupus, what happened is that every time they would do it, the bald spot would keep enlarg-

ing,’ Dr Klein said. “So he went through a lot of painful procedures with these tissue expanders until I put a stop to it. He had to wear a hat all the time and it was really painful for him.” Dr Klein denied that he had prescribed the star any drugs that could have killed

��������� �����������������������������

��

�

him. “If you took all the pills I had given him in the last year at once, it wouldn’t do anything to you,” he said. He revealed, however, that Jackson had once gone to a “secure setting” in Britain for treatment for drug addiction, “where he went off drugs altogether”.

���

����������

����������������������������������������������������������������

�������������

����������������������������� ������������������ ��� ��� ����� ��� � ��������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ���������������������������������������������� ������������������ ��

��������������� ������������ ����������������������������������� ��������� ������������������������������ �������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������� �����������������������������

��� ���������

����� �����������������

����� ���������������

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������� ����������� ����� ����� ���������� ������������ ������ ����� ���� ������ ��� �������� ����� ������� ����� ��� ������ ��� ����� �������� ���� ��� �������� ��� ������� �������� ������� ��� ���� ��������� ������ �������������� ������ ���� ������ ���� ��������������������������� ���� ��������� ������� ���� �������� ��������� ������������ ����� ������������ ����� ���� ������������������� ���� ��������� ����������� ��������� ��� ���������� ���������� ������� ���� ������ �������� ���� ���� ��� ������������ �� ������ ��������� ���������� ��������� ����������� ���� ����������� ����� ���� �������� ������ ��������� ����������� ������� �� ���������� �������������� ������ ������� ���� �������� ������ ������ ��� ���� ��� ������ ���� ������ ��� �������� ���� ��������� � �� ������� ������ ����� ���������� ��� ��������� ���� ���� ����� ����������� ����� ���� ������ �������� �������� �������� ��������� �������� ���� ������������ ����� ����������� ����� ��� ����� �������� ����� ���� ��� ������� ���������� ����� ��� ���� ������ ��� ������� ������������� ���� ������������ ���� ����� ���� ��������� ���� �������� ��� ������ ���� ���� ������� �� ������ ������� �������������� ���� ���� ����� ��������������� ���� ������� ��� ���������� ��� ��������� ���������� ���� ���������� ������� ��� ����� ��� �������������� ������� ����� ���� �������� �������� ���� ������� �������� ������� ������� ��������� ������ ��� ������� ����� ����� �������� ���� ���������� ������������ ������ ����������� �� ������ ����������� ���� ������� ��������� �������� ������ �������������� ��� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������

July 17, 2009

Fix it! Across 1: PC software 5: Pea pest 10: Incidentally, in Netspeak 13: Game on horseback 14: Apt 15: Soft cheese 16: Chowder-eating aids 18: Metric foot 19: Energy unit 20: Impart temporarily 21: Tiffin treats 23: Keg tap 24: Get better 25: Knight’s sleeveless tunic 28: Eats 32: Reason and Enlightenment 33: Days gone by 34: Lady’s man 35: Wine of Bordeaux 36: These can be checkered 37: Wild about 38: Fries, often 39: Vexes 40: Hearty meal 41: Moments 43: Provides provender 45: Smithereens 46: Auto shop compartments

HARD

Puzzles, Crosswords & Toons

47: Petal oils 50: Entangle 51: Fancy affairs 54: Brat’s stocking stuffer 55: Rainbowlike 58: Think (over) 59: Districts 60: Grad 61: List abbr. 62: Redacts 63: Light spray

17: Pronounce indistinctly 22: Vehicle at a drive-in movie 23: Court game 24: Party throwers 25: Ankle bones 26: ‘Play It ___, Sam’ 27: Emulates a Silly Straw 28: Port containers 29: Al ___ (pasta order) 30: ‘Come on in’ 31: Puts away Down 33: Roles 1: Church recess 36: Teeny 2: Like Richard and 42: Tune Yorick? 43: Dove rival 3: Commercial endorse- 44: Motion-carrying votes ment 46: Bathroom fixture 4: Absorb, with ‘up’ 47: Very top 5: Add 48: Talk up 6: Projecting part 49: Baby powder 7: Robin of Sherwood 50: Revealing dress 8: Quaint lodging 51: Home of heroes? 9: Viennese table array 52: Responsibility 10: Breakfast grain 53: Acct. summary 11: Magazine founded by 56: Abacus part Henry Luce 57: Video recorder, for 12: Spider-Man slings short them 15: Julian Huxley and James Watson

Cryptogram

, Cryptograms are solved primarily by two methods. First, pattern recognition. The easiest to recognize are single-letter words, which generally can only be A or I (or, rarely, O). Then there are a limited number of two-letter words such as IN, IS, IT, TO, AN, AT, AS, WE, HE, US, etc. One trick in particular is to look for the common TH- words, i.e. THE, THAT, THEN, THEY, THERE, THEIR. Secondly, use letter frequency to help with a difficult puzzle. The twelve most frequently-used letters in the English language are ETAOIN SHRDL, in that order. The least common letters are JXQZ. If you notice a certain letter being used again in again in any given cryptogram, more frequency than any other letter, its a good bet that its one of the ETAOIN group. NOW, don’t you feel better? L OXFA AQ M RXMKQQP PLRWQ CMRA OXXU... MFP HICCXP M VIRRXC. Food joke. Clues: R = S; Q = O]

Word Search bon bons

Sweet things

Sudoku

exercise your numbers side Here’s how to do a sudoku puzzle: Each puzzle is separated into 9 squares with 9 spaces in each square. Solve the puzzle by filling in the open spaces with “missing” numbers so that when you finish, each column and row contains every number from 1 to 9. (In column 1 for instance you see the numbers 1, 2, 7 & 9) Each number 1 to 9 can only appear one time in each column, and only 1 time in each row, AND only one time in each of the 9 squares. Have fun.

jelly beans

dolly mixtures rainbow drops maltesers

cough candy

snickers

liquorice

bubble gum

shoelaces

fredo frog milky bar spearmint chews caramac fruit gums pastilles tiny gems caramel gobstoppers pear drops travel sweets

Cryptogram answer: I WENT TO A SEAFOOD DISCO LAST WEEK... AND PULLED A MUSSEL.

cherry lips

BackPage the Orlando Advocate

July 17, 2009

Kimberly Anyadike: 16-year-old makes historic flight across country!

Levi Thornhill, 87, one of original Tuskegee Airmen, made historic flight with teen

LOS ANGELES-- A 15-year-old Los Angeles girl who navigated a single-engine Cessna through thunderstorms in Texas and took in breathtaking aerial views of Arizona’s sunsets landed her plane to cheering crowds at Compton Woodley Airport on Saturday. She is believed to be the youngest African American female pilot to fly solo across the country. Kimberly Anyadike took off from Compton 13 days ago with an adult safety pilot and Levi Thornhill, an 87year-old who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. They flew to Newport News, Va., making about a dozen stops along the way.

PHOTO: Fernando Medina, Orlando Magic

Anyadike learned to fly a plane and helicopter when she was 12 with the Compton-based Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, which offers aviation lessons to at-risk youth and economically disadvantaged students through an after-school program. The organization owns the small plane Anyadike flew. Anyadike said she loved the feeling of streaking across the sky. She told her mother that it was like a wild ride at Magic Mountain. She came up with the idea to fly across the country a few months after learning to fly. Robin Petgrave, the aeronautical museum’s founder, warned her that it would

take a lot of preparation. “I told her it was going to be a daunting task,” he said, “but she just said, ‘Put it on. I got big shoulders.’ “ The organization said there is no official group that tracks such records, but their research showed that her trip at age 15 is rare among pilots. Anyadike said she didn’t want to make the trip to set a record or become some kind of celebrity. “I wanted to inspire other kids to really believe in themselves,” she said. She also wanted to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, the U.S. Army Air Corps’ all-black combat unit that served during World War II. “They left such a great legacy. I had big shoes to fill,” she said. “All they wanted to do was to be patriots for this country. They were told no, that they were stupid, that they didn’t have cognitive development to fly planes. They didn’t listen. They just did what they wanted to do.” Anyadike’s Cessna and the other planes at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum have red tails, similar to the Tuskegee Airmen’s planes. During her cross-country trip, Anyadike met about 50 Tuskegee Airmen who autographed the Cessna. “That way they can fly with us forever,” Petgrave said.

On Wednesday, July 15, the Wells’Built Museum of African-American History unveiled an exhibit on the Orlando Magic, featuring historic photos, jerseys and other items of interest from the franchise. On hand for the unveiling were, from left, Wells’Built Museum Executive Director Derrick Gatlin, Orlando Magic Community Ambassador Nick Anderson, Orlando Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins and Florida State Representative Geraldine Thompson.

o r l a n d o a d v o c a t e . c o m