AIG Issues:The Biggest Corporate Loss In History & Bonus Outrage!

I'm sure that you've heard by now that AIG paid out $165 million in bonuses to the very same folks who brought the company down.We have bailed these people out 4 freakin' times!And they get to reward themselves for the ultimate failure! WTF?!!!

AIG better beef up their security because the anger towards them is more than palpable.There is also a lingering question that the Obama administration has to grapple with.How come they didn't know about these bonuses before they bailed AIG out for the umpteenth time? All contracts should have been looked at & renegotiated when Tim Geithner spoke to the CEO of AIG last week & gave them another $170 million!The auto industry had to jump through hoops for their bailout money!Why isn't that the case here?

Here's more on this sheer madness from Politico:

"AIG is turning out to be one of the White House's biggest headaches. Allowing it to fail would send catastrophic ripples through the economy – because AIG’s complex insurance contracts are intertwined with almost every financial player in the global economy.

It is truly “too big to fail” – because it’s failure would mean that banks that are relying on AIG to back up their bad investments would suddenly be on the hook themselves. That’s why when the company first showed signs of stress last fall, the Bush administration was quick to move in to shore it up, arguing that the collapse of AIG could spark a world-wide calamity.

But in many ways, it’s also one of the hardest bailouts for Obama to defend – since it was AIG’s insurance policies on exotic investments that freed up banks to make some of their riskiest bets, bets that went sour and touched off the global meltdown.

AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.

Also adding to the political complications for Obama is a revelation Sunday that billions of American taxpayer dollars used to bailout AIG flowed to some of the largest foreign banks in the world. Some of the biggest recipients of AIG payouts were European banks, such as Societe Generale in France and Deutsche Bank of Germany, which got nearly $12 billion each.

In an interview aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said: "Of all the events and all of the things we've done in the last 18 months, the single one that makes me the angriest, that gives me the most angst, is the intervention with AIG."

"Here was a company that made all kinds of unconscionable bets," Bernanke said. "Then, when those bets went wrong, they had a-- we had a situation where the failure of that company would have brought down the financial system. ... I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG. ... I understand why the American people are angry."

Here is the president’s text:

Before I talk about the new steps we’re taking to get credit flowing to small businesses across our country, I want to comment on the news about executive bonuses at AIG.

This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed.

Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?

In the last six months, AIG has received substantial sums from the US Treasury. I’ve asked Secretary Geithner to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.

I know he’s working to resolve this matter with the new CEO, Edward Liddy, who came on board after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the article in its entirety here.

The Beautiful Widow Of Sammy Davis Jr. Has Joined Her Him On The Other Side!

I remember hearing about Altovise Davis's financial issues after Sammy Davis Jr. died.They were so immense that it was rumored that she tried to commit suicide.Here's an excerpt from a 1990 People magazine article on that very trying time for Altovise Davis:

"The mourners who once thronged outside the iron gate to pay their respects have long since gone, and the black, custom-made Cadillac station wagon sits on the circular driveway shrouded in a canvas tarp, as if to emphasize that he is no longer there to drive it.

There has been a pall, it seems, for the past four months over the house on Summit Drive, ever since performing great Sammy Davis Jr. died of throat cancer last May at age 64. "I know when he died he wanted me to celebrate his life," says his widow, Alto-vise, who was his wife for 20 years. "But I didn't see it that way. How could I?"

Now that the initial shock of his passing is gone, Altovise, 42, has even less cause for joy. After a tabloid report that a bodyguard found her unconscious last summer from an overdose of alcohol and pills, the onetime dancer now faces the prospect of raising the couple's recently adopted son, Manny, alone. She must also untangle a complicated financial skein: making good on the raft of charitable bequests in Davis's will and facing IRS charges that he owed $4.5 million in back taxes as a result of what Alto-vise's attorney, Vasilios Choulos, calls questionable shelter investments.

Altovise, who has admitted to her own past bout with alcoholism, adamantly denies the report that she tried to kill herself last July. "It wasn't true. I don't take drugs. I do drink," she says. "But I want to live for my husband, for my son, for the kids. I think the rumors started because, in the beginning, after his death. I didn't go out."

But she does not minimize her financial burden, which includes not only the IRS tab but also a $2.5 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. "If all obligations were met." says Choulos. "that would wipe out 80 percent of the estate." According to Altovise, Davis had hoped that the 11-country tour with Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli that he launched a year and a half before his death would earn enough to settle his debts. "Sammy thought the tour would solve a lot of problems," says Altovise. "He was very honest about it. Even when he had the throat cancer, we thought he'd get better, get through it and finish the tour."

Ultimately he did not."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the entire article here.

Altovise Davis was still entangled in money-related issues when she died on Mar.14 at the age of 65.Here's more on that from CBC News.ca:

"When the tax liability was settled in 1997, she set about restoring Sammy Davis Jr.'s legacy, organizing a musical touring show called Mr. Bojangles: The Ultimate Entertainer in 2006.

Last year, she sued two former business associates for the rights to her husband's life story and the management of his legacy.

She claimed they tricked her into ceding some of the rights to his estate, and asked for unspecified monetary and punitive damages. The suit is still pending."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Now,Altovise Davis will no longer be plagued by financial difficulties because she has moved on from all of that.May she find peace & happiness on the other side.

NAACP Says Blacks Were Forced Into Subprime Loans! Does Will.i.am Still Think That Blacks Are Viewed As Equals Now?

Has the euphoria over the election of President Obama died down enough for folks to realize that racism has not been conquered?The Oscar Grant killing,the NY Post chimp cartoon,& sub prime lending to mostly blacks are just a few examples of the racism that still exists.The NAACP is here to let the world know that these disparities are unacceptable.

On Valentine's Day of this year,Will.i.am wrote an interesting post after he was given a NAACP award by his "black community". Here's his post on the NAACP from The Huffington Post:

"in the 100 years of the existence of the NAACP and fighting for equality they are now victorious...

because a black man is in the white house...

built by slaves now run by a black president...

the battle was won...

and now i ask this question...

what does the "C.P. " mean in the NAACP now?

today's definition is...

NAACP:

the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

we have advanced to the highest seat in office...

the president...

we have advanced to oprah status...

we have advanced...

congratulations...

and now...

where do we go?

i know we still have to fix mississippi, new orleans and our ghettos...

but what about the other colors...

filipino?

brazilian?

indian?

cambodian?

afghani?

and chinese?

if the NAACP fought so that a black man could be president in a country that practiced slavery...

then the NAACP should now stand and represent all people of color...

and fight to unite every version of "pigment"...

and lack of it...

the NAACP should now march and protect the most important colors of all...

GREEN...

"the planet"...

and "GREY"...

the mind...

education...

equal education...

because no matter if you're black, white, blue or orange...

we all live on green...

and we all think with grey...

and what good is a united people if there is no green to live on...???

and what good is a united people if our grey is filled with nothingness...

i am so proud to have performed "take our planet back" at the NAACP image awards...

i am so proud to have use my grey and sing about green in a black gathering...

i am so proud to have performed that song on that night...

during this time in american history...

we have a new mission ahead of us...

we all have to rethink the priorities...

we all have to put our best foot forward and walk together...

all colors...

all the different versions of pigment...

and lack of it...

we all have to protect the important colors...

"green, and grey"

and i propose this new title to the NAACP...

:)

the National Association for the Advancement of Consciousness and People

let's wake up..."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Well,Will.i.am,have you woken up yet? The NAACP has won the battle for all blacks to be considered & treated equally,according to you.But,what a crock of bullshit because everyone has not advanced past racism!People still think of folks in racial terms.

We're not the one's making disparaging remarks about whites in the media & putting mostly blacks in commercials,print,& film.It sounds as if you think that if blacks just made the effort,then there would be racial unity.Sorry,honey,but the NAACP ain't stopping the unification of the people of the United States! We aren't all treated or viewed equally in this Eurocentric society,as you seem to suggest.God,how I wish we all thought like you!I really,really do!

But,it's the way that we have been conditioned to think of each other since the formation of this country that needs to change.Not the NAACP!How can you change a family legacy of racial hatred? If you have been told that most blacks are stupid,shiftless,& lazy,you probably view President Obama as the exception.You're not going to believe or admit that generations of your family were bigots.That's why you've got folks who still love the Confederacy.It's a family tradition for them.

Will.i.am asked what the role of the NAACP should be now,as if things have dramatically changed in this country.Thus far,the real big change has been in the color of the family that resides in the White House!Black folks are proud & inspired by this new chapter in American history.But,most of us are painfully aware that history repeats itself.And the following story emphasizes that point greatly!

Here's more on what the NAACP is doing to help the black victims of subprime mortages from CNN:

"In a statement, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Melissa Murray said, "The NAACP's allegations are totally unfounded and reckless. We have never tolerated, and will never tolerate, discrimination in any way, shape or form in any of our business practices, products or services."

She added that the company has been "working with the NAACP for the past two years to develop a partnership that would benefit the NAACP, its constituents and our communities, so we are dismayed that the NAACP has chosen to abandon that constructive dialogue in order to pursue this litigation."

Under subprime lending, people who don't qualify for lower interest rates can borrow money at higher rates. The NAACP argues that the companies gave subprime rates to African-Americans who qualified for better rates and gave better rates to white customers with similar credit histories.

The lawsuits note studies showing African-Americans have been disproportionately affected by subprime lending. But that's not solely because of intentional efforts to target African-Americans, according to the lawsuits.

"These statistical disparities are not mere happenstance, but instead result from the systematic and predatory targeting of African-Americans, as well as facially neutral lending policies and practices that have a disparate adverse impact on African-Americans," said the lawsuits, which were filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The NAACP has launched similar suits against numerous other lenders. In its statement Friday, the nation's oldest civil rights group said, "One lender has already entered into a preliminary settlement agreement with the NAACP, and a number of other lenders are engaged in similar discussions."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the whole article here.

Who were the main victims of the sub-prime mortage crisis? African-Americans were!So much for the idea that Oprah & President Obama's successes signals the end of racism for all blacks!Tell that to the disproportionate amount of blacks who were given these really awful loans.No matter how hard some of us work,the cards are still stacked against us!I hate to be victimized by anyone,but as a black woman I know it's more than a reality.It's a probability!Let's truly address racism instead of trying to Will it away!

So,Will.i.am,the NAACP does not to be renamed or redefined.They should keep on fighting for equality & justice.GREENPEACE shouldn't fight for the rights of blacks,just like the NAACP shouldn't fight for a greener society.Each organization is needed to address the problems that they were formed to solve.NAACP does not need to redefine it's mission.Equality for all blacks has not been won.

Will.i.am should be asking the Jewish,Korean,Filipino,& countless other communities why they feel the need to have a ethnic organization.Why is he singling out the NAACP? But more importantly,he should ask why we still have "whites-only clubs" & sundown towns!Why do folks still fly the confederate flag when they know it's insulting to most blacks? Here's more on the reality of racism from asanet.org:

"Right Under Our Nose

Loewen’s survey of this hidden-inplain- sight demographic landscape goes back to his undergraduate days at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. Some of his fellow students were from the area, and Loewen was shocked to hear them talk about the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, where it was proudly declared that there was “not one Negro and not one Jew.” Fast forward a few decades, and find Loewen in a convenience store in Anna, IL, which, according to a store clerk, stood for “Ain’t No Niggers Allowed.” And so began Loewen’s research on “sundown towns,” so named after the common practice of city limit signs that posted threatening messages warning African- Americans, and often other racial/ethnic groups, to leave town before sunset.

“All-white” Legacies

The Illinois-born Loewen was surprised to find 472 such municipal jurisdictions in his native state and that outside of the south, such jurisdictions have been more the rule than the exception. And how did Loewen investigate this open secret, maintained by ordinance, intimidation, and even murder? His first step was to look at census data, excluding institutionalized African Americans and live-in servants, and follow all-white towns through the decades. Any town that was consistently all white, or saw a marked decline of the black population, went on what Loewen called his “suspect list.” Then Loewen would learn everything he could about that particular town’s historical racial makeup to determine if the population’s composition was likely the result of systematic policies versus chance demographics. His research also included examining published history, phone calls to local historians, and inperson interviews. Loewen extended his research on particular areas by interviewing African Americans in neighboring interracial communities. Accounts of cross-burnings, exclusionary legislation, mob violence, and other telling details within a town’s history helped confirm the sundown history of a particular place.

Exclusive without Excluding

Despite the incendiary nature of Loewen’s inquiry, he found most people were willing to talk, although he did get a door slammed in his face. “A few towns had a defensive response.” Upon publication, the reaction has been more astonished than antagonistic, although African Americans tend to be less surprised. “People are amazed to learn how many sundown towns there have been in America,” he states. “People are sometimes amazed that they still live in one.” That’s why, according to Loewen, “we need to clean up every last sundown town in America.” His recommendation to these towns is for them to admit to their history, apologize for it, and make clear that African Americans are now welcome. “After all,” Loewen adds, “George Wallace did those three things before he died, so we can certainly expect that from sundown towns.” Loewen notes the strong correlation between racial composition and prestige in certain places—that is, the greater prestige, the lower the presence of African Americans. Places like Edina, MN, Darien, CT, and La Jolla, CA, “want to be known as ‘exclusive’ and not ‘excluding,’ or racist or classist,” Loewen argues, but exposing these towns is one way “to decrease their prestige and decouple racism from prestige.”(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.