Hate Groups See Obama’s Election as a Good Thing In the eyes of many White supremacist groups, the election of a Black president wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Federal law enforcement officials and those who keep a bead on racist organizations say that these groups have seen a dramatic rise in their Internet recruitment since Barack Obama was elected. “It is the dark, underside of the Internet,” Raynham Police Chief Louis J. Pacheco, one of the founders of the High Tech Crime Consortium, told The Enterprise News of Brockton, Mass. “The Internet allows instant gratification and positive reinforcement to things outside the mainstream idea that you couldn’t  get prior.” The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which monitors white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity, counted 630  “hate sites” on the Web last year.  ”Every time the television shows an image of Obama it will be a reminder that our people have lost power in this country,” said a recent posting on an Arkansas-based Ku Klux Klan Web site. Read the rest here.

Obama’s election spurs racial crimes. Racial epithets on cars and homes, cross-burnings and children chanting “Assassinate Obama,” are among some of the incidents that make up what officials say is a rise in post-election racial incidents across the country. From Maine to California, police have clocked a range of crimes that include vandalism, at least one physical attack and vague threats. There have been “hundreds” of incidents since the election, many more than usual, Mark Potok, director of the hate-crime monitoring Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told The Associated Press. Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in the notorious free-speech tunnel, including one that said: “Let’s shoot that (N-word) in the head.” In fact, Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say. In other incidents, crosses were burned in yards of Obama supporters in Hardwick, N.J., and Apolacan Township, Pa. A Black teenager in New York City said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four White men who shouted “Obama.” Racist graffiti was found in places including New York’s Long Island, where two dozen cars were spray-painted; Kilgore, Texas, where the local high school and skate park were defaced; and the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and “Go Back To Africa” were spray-painted on sidewalks, houses and cars. Potok, who is White, said he believes there is “a large subset of White people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them.”

Zambians cast their ballots for president. Voters in Zambia headed out to the polls Thursday to elect a new president, a successor to late President Levy Mwanawasa, who died of a stroke in August, reports Reuters. Although the campaign season has been generally peaceful, Patriotic Front opposition leader Michael Sata has accused the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy of rigging the vote. “I have never seen this type of panicking and this is because they have rigged the election,” said Sata as he was casting his ballot in the nation’s capital Lusaka. “They have rigged the election in favor of Rupiah Banda. It is the first time that the army commander, who is supposed to protect people, is predicting violence.”  Rupiah Banda, who is currently serving as acting president, has a lot of experience. The nation’s election monitoring group, the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), has said that there were a few issues with voter identification and verification. But they also said that while an army chief threatened people who misbehaved after voting, it did not amount to a threat to all citizens. “For sure, it was unnecessary for the army commander to issue threats, it does intimidate, it does create fear in some ordinary citizens,” an FODEP official said.

Charity leaves Niger after lack of government response. The charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) is set to pack up its bags and leave Niger, a region where they say they are desperately needed, reports the BBC. The charity was suspended from working in the country months ago but just recently decided to throw in the towel on charity work in the nation. “As we have not received a response from Niger authorities and in view of government statements, the French section of Medecins sans Frontieres cannot help but leave the country,” the group said in a statement. But Niger’s government says MSF is making the problem of malnourished children in the nation seem bigger than it really is; they also say the charity refuses to work with the government. And the country’s health minister said that the child hunger is something they are equipped to take care of;  a statement that charity officials couldn’t disagree with more. “Maradi is one of the regions in Niger most affected by malnutrition. Since MSF’s activities in southern Maradi were halted, and despite an increase in admissions into other health centers and MSF projects in the surrounding areas, thousands of children are not receiving treatment,” said the president of MSF’s international board, Christophe Fournier. “It is shocking that a government, after having allowed innovative programs to be established, would ignore the needs of thousands of children.”

Obama’s on a roll. Sen. Barack Obama will enter the final 15 days of the presidential campaign, with the coveted endorsement of former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, leading his rival in national polls, and raising record-breaking amounts of campaign cash.  What’s going to be next? Get more at Pamela on Politics.

America ranks 29^th worldwide in infant deaths. Despite spending far more on health care than most nations, America ranks 29^th in infant mortality, tying Slovakia and Poland but lagging behind Cuba, the CDC reports. Racial and ethnic disparities clearly play a role. In 2005, for every 1,000 live births, the infant mortality rate was: 13.63 among non-Hispanic Black Americans and 5.76 among non-Hispanic White Americans. Infant deaths are often seen as a barometer of a country’s overall health. Premature birth is a factor in more than two-thirds of infant deaths. From 2000 to 2005, the U.S. preterm birth rate went up from 11.6 percent to 12.7 percent. The CDC’s latest estimates for international rankings are based on 2004 data. But as of 2005, the numbers haven’t changed much since 2000. Nearly seven U.S. babies die out of every 1,000 live births. More than 28,000 American babies die before their first birthday. In Japan, ranked in third place behind Singapore and Hong Kong, the infant mortality rate is 2.8 per thousand live births — less than half the U.S. rate. In one way, the U.S. has improved since 1960. Back then, 26 in 1,000 infants died. That was good enough to land the U.S. in 12th place. We’ve advanced since then, but not as fast as many other nations. By 1990, the U.S. had fallen to 23rd place. “The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than rates in most other developed countries,” note CDC researchers Marian F. MacDorman, PhD, and T.J. Mathews. “The relative position of the United States in comparison to countries with the lowest infant mortality rates appears to be worsening.”

Fewer people are able to get employer-sponsored health care.

A new study illustrates a steady erosion of employer- sponsored health coverage between 2000 and 2007. The number of uninsured workers nationally fell by 4 million between 2000 and 2007, with a disproportionate number of uninsured people being young, Black or Hispanic, lower-wage earners, says a new report. Employer coverage also fell for more highly educated workers earning higher pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank. “Health insurance is a struggle,” said Susan Toalson, executive director of the Urbana Business Association. So many small businesses are struggling with the costs, she said, that she is looking into options for pooling employers to see if they can get lower-cost group rates. Which candidate will address the AIDS crisis in America? With more money going to fight HIV/AIDs abroad than at home, many people are wondering which candidate will actually develop a domestic plan to fight the disease, which infects African Americans disproportiately. Vital Signs has a comparison of the two presidential candidate’s approaches.

Blogger Paul Slansky’s had harsh words for President Bill Clinton. Read his words below:

Given that we would never have had the odious George W. Bush in the White House in the first place if it wasn’t for your blow jobs, Bill, it seems obvious that you owe it to the people of this country, and especially to the parents whose kids died in the Iraq War that Gore would never have started, and to all the parents whose kids would be killed in the WarFest that would be a McCain/Palin — sorry, Palin/McCain — administration to do everything in your power to get Barack Obama elected. But that’s not what you’re doing, Bill, and it’s not going unnoticed. We see your rage, Bill, it’s too huge to hide. We see that — as Chris Rock so brilliantly pointed out — it pains you to even speak Obama’s name. We see you petulantly rooting against him even as you go through the motions of doing the barest minimum on his behalf to avoid being blamed if he loses. You’re not fooling anyone, Bill. You’ve gotten so caught up in yesterday that you’ve stopped thinking about tomorrow. You have the power to influence millions of voters and you’re spitefully sitting on it. Get the rest of the note here. Do you think he has a point about Clinton?

AFL-CIO acknowledges that Obama’s skin color could be a factor in November.

Traditionally, Democratic presidential nominees can count on the vote of union workers in November. But even union brass admit that their members are less enthusiastic about a Black Democrat. “We feel there is a racial component for some union members,” AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman told Congressional Quarterly, noting that union leaders are doing all they can to limit the role that racism is plays in this election. “We feel confident we can overcome it.” The AFL-CIO has pumped $53.4 million into its effort to reel in members. This includes a million pieces of direct mail this week alone in the key battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, CQ reports. During the primary elections earlier this year, Sen. Hillary Clinton helped stoke the racial fires, repeating her claims that White, working-class, non-college-educated voters – Democrats and Republicans alike – weren’t prepared to vote for a Black candidate, particularly Obama, whom she painted as elitist and out of touch. “There has never been an African-American candidate for president, and many folks around this country have never voted for an African-American candidate for any office,” she said. But Ackerman said that union leaders are stressing the importance of choosing Obama. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about how to talk to union voters . . . to identify closely what issue is preventing some union voters” casting a ballot for an African American. It’s also important to remember, say AFL-CIO officials, that union Whites are far more likely to vote for Obama than are non-union Whites. “Our goal is not just to elect Barack Obama but to build a progressive movement,” Ackerman said.

Black Republican’s don’t want to be counted out in 2008

A group of high-profile Black Republicans want their presumptive nominee, Sen. John McCain, to woo the Black vote. While admitting that running against Sen. Barack Obama will make it tough, they’re encouraging him to go for it. Get the latest details at Pamela On Politics.

Musicians rev up for Nelson Mandela concert
Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, and South African musicians are set to perform. Se the photos and more at BET.com/News.

Zimbabweans head to the polls today to vote in run-off election
Voters in Zimbabwe head to the polls today to vote in the country’s presidential run-off election. Following what he claimed were violent attacks against his supporters in the weeks leading up to the election, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out of the election Sunday. But the government says it’s too late to take his name off the ballot. Tsvangirai spoke out against today’s election, which he had previously said could not be free and fair. “Today is not an election. Today is a shameful humiliation, another tragic day in our nation’s history. Today’s results will be meaningless because they do not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe,” he said, reports CNN. International leaders and the United Nations also have spoken out against the run-off election, which has been deemed unfair by many from the start. Some nations have called for the government to delay the poll. According to Tsvangirai’s party, Movement for Democratic Change, 86 of his supporters have been killed, 10,000 wounded and 200,000 made homeless in the weeks leading up to the run-off. But Mugabe’s party, Zanu-PF, accuses the MDC of exaggerating the violence. An aide to longtime leader and presidential candidate Robert Mugabe believes Mugabe will win re-election, and also hinted at a willingness to share power with Tsvangirai and his party. “When the process is done (Friday), as a country, we (will) have a win that I think should include all the other players,” a spokesman for Zanu-PF told CNN. “This is the reason why my president says, ‘Look, Zimbabwe is too big a cake to eat for Zanu-PF; bring everyone in.’ As a country… we can mend bridges.” In related news, MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti, who was arrested earlier this month on charges of treason (which could result in him being executed if he is convicted), was released on bail Thursday.

South African police exchange bullets
In South Africa, national police officers and local police officers exchanged bullets as the national officers attempted to break up a strike held by local forces. Metro officers were striking because of issues with pay and nepotism, but since they were blocking and disrupting traffic, national officers had to get involved. That’s when things turned even uglier. According to the South African Police Service Superintendent Eugene Opperman, the national officers fired rubber bullets to disperse the protest, but “they fired back with live bullets…we only used rubber bullets all through,” he said. But officials on the other side deny the allegation. “If our members had fired live bullets at the SAPs, there would have been a bloodbath,” Vincent Vena, a member of the South African Municipal Workers Union, said in response. The incident left seven metro officers injured, they said.