The Kaleidoscope Factor prides itself in telling the complete truth, even though it might hurt a bit. Some months back, The Kaleidoscope Factor reported that while Solange Knowles’ efforts to distance herself from mega star sister, Beyonce, by blazing a different musical path, ie. recording an entire album of original and throw back music, was admirable, but in the end, wouldn’t help her much at distinguishing an identity apart from Beyonce.

Apparently, Solange has gotten the memo. Sort of.

Solange’s quest to be her own person, a shining pop star comparable to her sister, has taken an interesting turn. Solange got rid of her weavy locks and is now sporting a closely cropped hair cut. Fans and critics alike are frowning at Solange’s new do. We love it! Perhaps the reason why Solange is getting so much heat about her new look is because African Americans have forgotten what a Black woman looks like without a weave! Let’s see. Who out there in celebrityland wears her own hair? Hmmm. I can’t think of a one. Except Oprah. Remember folks were hating on her naturally long hair saying that it was weave until Oprah announced that her long tresses were in deed her very own.

Yep. Black women can grow long, weave-free hair contrary to what some may have previously thought. It’s that weave thing that makes it hard for Black women who wear natural styles, like Solange, or sistas who rock locs, to walk proudly and confident.

Well, Solange, if you happen to come across this article in your web travels, know that you look beautiful and that only confident sistas with a healthy self-esteem can rock a cut like yours! You Go Gurl and shut those Haters down!

Maybe your sister will catch a clue, too!

Well, we can hope can’t we?

Unclaimed dead stack up in Wayne County morgue

Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News

Detroit — Poor Grandpa.

His corpse lies at the bottom of a pile of other bodies unclaimed at the Wayne County morgue. But Grandpa — whose name has been withheld to avoid embarrassing his family — is a special case. He has been in the cooler for the past two years as his kinfolk — too broke to bury him — wait for a ship to come in.

“There is destitution,” says Dr. Carl J. Schmidt, the chief medical examiner of this, the nation’s poorest big city. “But when you’re so destitute that nobody has claimed you, that’s a whole different level of being destitute.”

Peering into the small glass window of the cooler door, Schmidt counts 52 unclaimed bodies stacked like cordwood — in some cases four to a shelf; always two to a gurney.

Generally, the economic well-being of a municipality is measured by unemployment rates and quarterly earnings reports. But Schmidt’s cooler may say as much about metropolitan Detroit’s financial health as any statistics released by the Federal Reserve.

“It really is a sign of how bad things have gotten,” says Schmidt, 52, a 16-year veteran of the Detroit death scene. “Some people really have to make a choice of putting food on the table or burying their loved ones. It is very sad really. In all of my years here, I have never seen it this bad.”

As a comparison, the doctor said that just a few years ago, when credit was easy and SUVs were a must-have, he would typically have no more than 10 unclaimed bodies at any one time.

But nowadays, people are using his cooler like a no-charge cold storage facility, he says. Corpses linger longer and longer as family members wait for a paycheck, a tax return, the lottery or a lawsuit to get the money needed to give their dead a proper burial. And thus, Grandpa lingers. Some of the dead have been signed over to the county by people either unable or unwilling to pay for the burial.

The dead who have been signed away by their families find themselves bound in bureaucratic red tape. They await a $700 check from the state Department of Human Services, which, because of its own budgetary constraints, last year slashed the burial grant from $900.

Once the state money is received, Wayne County will kick in another $250 and the remains will be contracted out to a funeral home that will place them in a pauper’s grave. Cremation is never a consideration, says Schmidt, as state law prohibits it.

The process takes about two months, and by that time, another 15 to 20 corpses will have taken their places in the cooler. Schmidt may handle as many 200 indigent cases this year.

There are an additional 20 bodies in the cooler waiting for investigators to locate a next of kin. Another two bodies have yet to be identified, including a femur that has been there for several years.

Living on the margins

Any way you slice it, says Schmidt, the cramped cooler is a repository of the human condition. “How society treats its dead says volumes about the way society lives,” he says. “Civilization requires intrinsically that we bury the dead. It distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom.”

About 4,000 people died last year in Wayne County, with 2,500 requiring an autopsy. According to Schmidt, perhaps 15 percent of those were murdered. Another 20 percent died as a result of accidents, even drug overdose, and another 10 percent committed suicide. The remaining 55 percent died of natural causes.

It is this “natural cause” type of death that appears to be on the rise due to the bad economic times.

“There are some people living on the margins who simply can’t afford their medication anymore,” he says. “Diabetes and what have you. And sadly, these types of deaths are preventable.”

Rarely will you find that children go unclaimed. “There is still a social connection to children,” the doctor says. And rarely will a person of Jewish or Muslim descent have to wait. Religious law requires that they be buried within the day.

Being nice matters

Schmidt is a sort of Descartes to the deceased — a detective of death who washes away the daily stress of his job by solving complex mathematical puzzles by lamplight. He continues to perform autopsies — about one a day — and has conducted more than 5,000 in his career. He believes in the concept of a soul and enjoys reading the existential philosophers Kierkegaard, Camus and Sartre, whose writings he boils down to this: You are really the consequence of your own actions.

“The essence of the dilemma is this: If you are nicer to people, your chances of ending up here are greatly reduced,” he says during a midafternoon tour of the circular facility in midtown Detroit.

The morgue features seven dissection stations, an anteroom stuffed with jars of flesh samples, lighting the color of flypaper, a sickly stench of death that is something of a mix of cherry and ammonia and, of course, the metallic cooler.

Not everyone in the cooler is there because his family is poor. Rather, some have arrived because they treated their family poorly, the doctor explains. Consider the son of a dead man who said of his father: “I didn’t like him when he was alive, why would I help him now?” Or consider the case of the man whose two wives first met over his dead body. Finding that they had little in common except for the cadaver, they left him.

“If you do end up here,” Dr. Schmidt advises, “your chances of getting out of here are greatly increased the nicer you were to people when you were alive.”

Looking for next of kin for unclaimed bodies at the Wayne County morgue

The remains of the following people are at the Wayne County morgue, their next of kin unknown.

If you have information, call (313) 833-2568.

• Michael A. Brown : black male born Jan. 8, 1973; arrived at the morgue on Aug. 30, 2007

• George Carter: black male born May 19, 1949; arrived at the morgue on Aug. 14, 2008

• Prazetta Dixon: black female born Dec. 6, 1951; arrived at the morgue Feb. 24, 2007

• Rafael Garcia : Hispanic male approximately age 50; arrived at the morgue on July 25, 2006

• Daniel Gorski: white male born March 30, 1955; arrived at the morgue on Aug. 11, 2006

• Charles Guthrie: white male born Aug. 12; 1948; arrived at the morgue on Dec. 2, 2008

• Neal Harden: black male born July 11, 1960; arrived at the morgue on May 14, 2006

• Dwayne Jackson : black male born April 20, 1949; arrived at the morgue on March 1, 2008

• Richard Johnson : black male born May 19, 1949; arrived at the morgue on Sept. 6, 2008

• Alan D. Jones : black male born Dec. 14, 1957; arrived at the morgue on June 28, 2006

• Lee King : black male born Aug 20, 1955; arrived at the morgue on July 26, 2007

• Joseph Lam : white male born April 11, 1950; arrived at the morgue on June 11, 2008

• Dewanda McNeil : black female born April 16, 1950; arrived at the morgue on Oct. 29, 2006

• Richard Nelson: black male born May 7, 1947; arrived at the morgue on Aug. 24, 2005

• Robert Owens : white male born Jan. 13, 1949; arrived at the morgue on April 9, 2008

• Dora Robinson : black female born July 4, 1951; arrived at the morgue on Oct. 7, 2007

• Joseph Shelley: black male born Nov. 23, 1957; arrived at the morgue on Nov. 12, 2006

• Beatrice Simms: black female born May 11, 1945; arrived at the morgue on May 1, 2008

• Shawn Thompson : black male born April 25, 1973; arrived at the morgue on Sept. 30, 2006

• Maurice Webber : black male born June 2, 1977; arrived at the morgue on Aug. 2, 2006

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

ON THE ECONOMY

Rose Garden

1:16 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I’d like to say a few words about the state of our economy, and what we’re doing to put Americans back to work and build a new foundation for growth.

Last week, we received a report on America’s Gross Domestic Product — a key measure of our economic’s [sic] health — and it showed marked improvement over the last few months.  This morning, we received additional signs that the worst may be behind us.  Though we lost 247,000 jobs in July, that was nearly 200,000 fewer jobs lost than in June, and far fewer than the nearly 700,000 jobs a month that we were losing at the beginning of the year.

Today we’re pointed in the right direction.  We’re losing jobs at less than half the rate we were when I took office.  We’ve pulled the financial system back from the brink, and a rising market is restoring value to those 401(k)s that are the foundation of a secure retirement.  We’ve enabled families to reduce the payments on their mortgages, making their homes more affordable and reducing the number of foreclosures.  We helped revive the credit markets and opened up loans for families and small businesses.

While we’ve rescued our economy from catastrophe, we’ve also begun to build a new foundation for growth.  That’s why we passed an unprecedented Recovery Act less than a month after I took office — and did so without any of the earmarks or pork-barrel spending that’s so common in Washington.  Now, there’s a lot of misinformation about the Recovery Act.  So let me repeat what it is and what it is not.  The plan is divided into three parts.

One-third of the money is for tax relief that’s going directly to families and small businesses.  For Americans struggling to pay rising bills with shrinking wages, we’ve kept a campaign promise to put a middle class tax cut in the pocket of 95 percent of working families — a tax cut that began showing up in paychecks about four months ago.  We also cut taxes for small businesses on the investments they make, and substantially increased loans through the Small Business Administration.

Another third of the money in the Recovery Act is for emergency relief that is helping folks who have borne the brunt of this recession.  For Americans who were laid off, we expanded unemployment benefits — a measure that’s already made a difference in the lives of 12 million Americans.  We’re making health insurance 65 percent cheaper for families that rely on COBRA while they’re looking for work.  And for states facing historic budget shortfalls, we provided assistance that saved the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers and police officers and other public service workers.

So these two thirds of the Recovery Act have helped people weather the worst phase of this recession, while saving jobs and stabilizing our economy.  The last third is dedicated to the vital investments that are putting people back to work today to create a stronger economy tomorrow.  Part of that is the largest new investment of infrastructure in America since Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System back in the 1950s.  These are jobs rebuilding America:  upgrading roads and bridges, and renovating schools and hospitals.

Now as we begin to put an end to this recession, we have to consider what comes next — because we can’t afford to return to an economy based on inflated profits and maxed out credit cards; an economy where we depend on dirty and outdated sources of energy; an economy where we’re burdened by soaring health care costs that serve only the special interests.  This won’t create sustainable growth, it won’t shrink our deficit, and it won’t create jobs.

And that’s why we’ve put an end to the status quo that got us into this crisis.  We cannot turn back to the failed policies of the past, nor can we stand still.  Now is the time to build a new foundation for a stronger, more productive economy that creates the jobs of the future. 

And this foundation has to be supported by several pillars to our economy.  We need a historic commitment to education, so that America is the most highly-educated, well-trained workforce in the world.  We need health insurance reform that brings down costs, provides more security for folks who have insurance, and affordable options for those who don’t.  And we need to provide incentives that will create new, clean energy sources for our industries.  That’s where the jobs of the future are, that is the competition that will shape the 21st century, and that’s a race that America must win.

So we have a lot further to go.  As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a true recovery as long as we’re losing jobs, and we won’t rest until every American that is looking for work can find a job.  I have no doubt that we can make these changes.  It won’t be easy, though.  Change is hard — especially in Washington.  We have a steep mountain to climb, and we started in a very deep valley.  But I have faith in the American people — in their capacity for hard work and innovation, in their commitment to one another, and their courage to face adversity.

We’ve seen already that strength of character over the course of this recession.  Across the country, people have persevered even as bills have piled up and work has been hard to come by.  Everywhere I go, I meet Americans who’ve kept their confidence in their country and in our future.  That’s how we’ve pulled the economy back from the brink.  That’s why we’re turning this economy around.  I am convinced that we can see a light at the end of tunnel, but now we’re going to have to move forward with confidence and conviction to reach the promise of a new day.

Thank you very much.

On Friday, August 7, 2009, the President signed into law:

H.R. 3357, which provides funding to cover expected shortfalls of the Highway Trust Fund and the Unemployment Trust Fund and increases the loan guarantee authority of the Federal Housing Administration and Government National Mortgage Association.

The View’s Sherri Shepherd made good on her promise to wear a bathing suit on the show after getting her body prepped for summer. On Thursday, Shepherd strolled on stage in a one piece swimsuit that looked to be of some sort of lycra material.

While we at The Kaleidoscope Factor applaud the weight loss, we can not stand behind that body! How glad we were that Sherri Shepherd didn’t go with the original plan of coming out in a two piece bikini!

To reward Shepherd for the tremendous effort that she put forth to boost The View’s ratings, executive producer Bill Getty provided a feast of ribs, macaroni and cheese, corn bread and every other fatty food. This will almost guarantee that next year, the summer of 2010, Shepherd will be  forced to do a repeat as a sure ratings winner!

Oh the horror!!!

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

ON THE CONFIRMATION OF JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR

Diplomatic Reception Room

3:38 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  Well, I am pleased and deeply gratified that the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as our nation’s 111th Supreme Court justice.

I want to thank the Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly its Chairman, Senator Leahy — as well as its Ranking Member, Senator Sessions — for giving Judge Sotomayor a thorough and civil hearing.  And I thank them for doing so in a timely manner so that she can be fully prepared to take her seat when the Court’s work begins this September. 

The members of our Supreme Court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult task of applying principles set forth at our founding to the questions and controversies of our time.  Over the past 10 weeks, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate have assessed Judge Sotomayor’s fitness for this work.  They’ve scrutinized her record as a prosecutor, as a litigator, and as a judge.  They’ve gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms. 

And with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court. 

This is a role that the Senate has played for more than two centuries, helping to ensure that “equal justice under the law” is not merely a phrase inscribed above our courthouse door, but a description of what happens every single day inside the courtroom.  It’s a promise that, whether you’re a mighty corporation or an ordinary American, you will receive a full and fair hearing.  And in the end, the outcome of your case will be determined by nothing more or less than the strength of your argument and the dictates of the law.

These core American ideals — justice, equality, and opportunity — are the very ideals that have made Judge Sotomayor’s own uniquely American journey possible.  They’re ideals she’s fought for throughout her career, and the ideals the Senate has upheld today in breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union. 

Like so many other aspects of this nation, I’m filled with pride in this achievement and great confidence that Judge Sotomayor will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice.  This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it’s a wonderful day for America. 

Thank you very much, everybody.

Q    Are you happy with the 68 votes, sir?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m very happy. 

President Obama On South Lawn Wednesday

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

ON THE RELEASE OF LAURA LING AND EUNA LEE

South Lawn

9:37 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  I want to just make a brief comment about the fact that the two young journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, are safely back with their families.  We are obviously extraordinarily relieved.  I had an opportunity to speak with the families yesterday once we knew that they were on the plane.

The reunion that we’ve all seen on television I think is a source of happiness not only for the families but for the entire country.

I want to thank President Bill Clinton — I had a chance to talk to him — for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists.  I want to thank Vice President Al Gore who worked tirelessly in order to achieve a positive outcome.

I think that not only is this White House obviously extraordinarily happy, but all Americans should be grateful to both former President Clinton and Vice President Gore for their extraordinary work.  And my hope is, is that the families that have been reunited can enjoy the next several days and weeks, understanding that because of the efforts of President Clinton and Gore, they are able to be with each other once again.

So we are very pleased with the outcome, and I’m hopeful that the families are going to be able to get some good time together in the next few days.

Thank you very much.

Former President Bill Clinton met with N. Korean leader Kim Jong II in North Korea Tuesday to negotiate the release of U.S. journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Both journalists were arrested on the border of N. Korea and China and were tried in a secret kangaroo court styled trial and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a North Korean labor camp.

After the sentencing of Ling and Lee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Obama administration at the time was “engaged in all possible ways through every possible channel to secure their release. We urge North Korea to grant their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.” However, recently the tone has changed and the Obama administration has asked that the two journalists be released on amnesty instead of humanitarian grounds.

Analysts say that former President Bill Clinton would not have embarked on this trip to North Korea to negotiate a release for Ling and Lee if a release was not plausible.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibb stated late Monday that “while this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we have no comment. We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton’s mission.”

Naomi Sims - 2005

Naomi Sims, the world’s first African American Super Model, businesswoman and author, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. She was 61.

Naomi Sims ruled the fashion industry for five straight years; appearing on the covers of some of the most popular magazines of the late 1960′s and mid  1970′s. Sims was sought after by the industries brightest designers such as Halston, Teal Traina, Fernando Sanchez, and Giorgia di Sant’ Angelo. Famed designer Halston once told the New York Times in 1974 that “Naomi was the first. She was the great ambassador for all Black People. She broke down the social barriers.”

Essence magazine commented on Naomi’s legacy in the 1970′s by acknowledging that before Sims, “never had a model so dark-skinned received so much exposure, praise, and professional prestige.” In 1969 and 1970, Naomi Sims was voted top model by International Mannequins and received numerous accolades and awards for her ground-breaking achievement.

However, Naomi Sims would say in various interviews that the road to major success was quite bumpy at best. Darker-hued African American models rarely were hired by designers or advertisers for print work. It was only through an entrepreneurial spirit that Sims’ modeling career took off at all.

Naomi heard that a former model was starting a modeling agency. Naomi made a deal with the agency owner. She would shop her head shots to various ad agencies and businesses. On the back of the pictures would be the former model’s new agency contact info. The plan worked. Within days, the new agency garnered a massive surge in clientale and Naomi Sims was the reason why. The owner of the agency’s name? Wilhelmina Cooper. Willie, as she was loving called by those who knew her stated that Naomi “could make any garment, even a sack cloth, look sensational.”

But after five whirlwind years on the top of the fashion world, Naomi Sims left it all behind. “Modeling was never my ultimate goal,” she said in an interview. “I started to model to supplement my income to go to college. But the idea of starting my own business had always appealed to me.” Thus the Naomi Sims Wig Collection was born. Sims noticed the need for  high quality wigs produced for African American women that appeared and felt like African American hair. After much experimentation in her own kitchen, Naomi Sims perfected a synthetic wig that had the same texture of naturally coarse hair.

The Naomi Sims Collection was a hit with African American buyers and  became a multimillion dollar business with Sims expanding into the world of cosmetics and fragrance. Naomi Sims authored four books:

1976 – All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman

1979 – How To Be A Top Model

 1982 – All About Hair Care For The Black Woman

1982 – All About Success For The Black Woman

Naomi Sims is survived by her son, Robert Findley, one grandchild, and a sister.

Malaria Cells

Scientists have found the origins of malaria. The human strain of malaria can be traced to chimpanzee malaria. The chimpanzee malaria DNA is older than the human DNA which proves that malaria jumps from chimpanzees to humans using the dreaded mosquito as a conduit.

Biologists say that plasmodium reichenowl, the chimpanzee strain of malaria, is similar in genetic code to plasmodium falciparum, or the human strain of malaria and probably was transmitted to humans thousands of years of ago, if not more. However, this major discovery has not  brought researchers any closer to finding a cure, or a viable vaccine for the millions who die from malaria each year.

The vast majority of malaria infections and death occur in Africa, south of the Sahara. 90% of malaria deaths occur in Africa. Malaria is Africa’s leading cause of death in children five and under. 500 million Africans are infected annually. A million die yearly due to the dreaded disease. Malaria is resistant to the widely used and affordable antimarial drug, chloroquine. More expensive antimalarial drugs are now being used but because of cost, most African hospitals can not afford the cost. Some say that the more expensive drugs are just as resistant to the malaria strain and therefore not worth the price tag.

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA

AND HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH,

 AMIR OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT

BEFORE MEETING

Oval Office

1:00 P.M. EDT

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I want to extend my welcome to the Amir of Kuwait.  We are grateful for his visit.  When I was traveling in the region, the Amir showed me great hospitality, so I’m glad to be able to return the gesture.  Although, I have to confess that I think the meal that we’re preparing is much smaller than the one he prepared for me. 

     Kuwait and the United States enjoy very strong bilateral relations.  We are looking to make those relations even stronger.  Kuwait has been an outstanding host for the United States Armed Forces during its operations in Iraq.  And as we transition our operations in Iraq, it’s important for us to emphasize not only our gratitude to Kuwait, but also our ongoing commitment to Kuwait’s security.

     We’re also discussing important regional issues ranging from the importance of moving the Arab-Israeli peace process forward, to the situation in Afghanistan, our joint counterterrorism efforts, and our need to emphasize Iran meeting its international obligations.  And I’m confident that, based on this conversation and ongoing work between our two countries, that we can strengthen not only Kuwaiti-U.S. relationships, but also to create a more stable region of peace and security in the region.

     HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH: (As translated.)  Thank you very much, Mr. President, His Excellency, for this kind welcome.  And I would like to affirm to the American people that Kuwait shall remain a partner of the United States.  Kuwait shall remain an ally and a partner of the United States.

     At the same time, I’m very delighted to be here with my colleagues during this visit.  I also am very delighted to congratulate President Obama on his birthday tomorrow.  And I also would like to congratulate him on the finding of the remains of the pilot, the U.S. pilot Speicher, that was lost back during the first war of Iraq.

     I also would like to congratulate President Obama on his presidency.  We have also discussed various issues of Afghanistan, the issue of Iran, and the issue of the Israeli-Arab relations.  I affirmed to President Obama that we are interested in bringing about peace in the Middle East.  It is in our interest that peace be brought about.  And the indicator is that the recent Arab peace initiative that was agreed upon by all of the Arab parties and states, and we would implement this peace initiative when Israel implements and fulfills its obligations.

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay.  Thank you, everybody.

Katherine Jackson

Katherine Jackson has been granted permanent custody of her grandchildren, Prince Michael I, Paris Katherine, and Prince Michael II. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff also granted Debbie Rowe, the children’s mother, visitation per psychiatric counseling on the children’s behalf.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff will hear Katherine Jackson’s petition to be named co-executor of Michael Jackson’s estate; temporary executorship was given to longtime Jackson attorneys John McClain and John Braca. Katherine Jackson’s petition alledges that McClain and Braca have willfuly and unjustifiably kept “her in the dark” about important matters regarding Michael Jackson’s estate.

Attorneys for McClain and Braca contend that that statement and those in that vain are “inaccurate.” The issue concerning disclosure is one of confidentiality. John Braca and John McClain argue that full disclosure of her son’s estate is provisional if Katherine Jackson adheres to the confidentialty clause that restricts third parties from having access. Katherine Jackson has refused those terms.

A decision will be rendered by Judge Mitchell Beckloff later Monday as to the permanent executorship of Michael Jackson’s estate.

President Barack Obama - July 31, 2009

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

Saturday, August 1^st, 2009

Today, I’d like to talk with you about a subject that I know is on everyone’s mind, and that’s the state of our economy. Yesterday, we received a report on our Gross Domestic Product. That’s a measure of our overall economic performance. The report showed that in the first few months of this year, the recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time.  It told us how close we were to the edge.

But it also revealed that in the last few months, the economy has done measurably better than expected.  And many economists suggest that part of this progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act.  This and the other difficult but important steps that we have taken over the last six months have helped put the brakes on this recession.   

We took unprecedented action to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages.  We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses.  And we enacted a Recovery Act that put tax cuts directly into the pockets of middle-class families and small businesses; extended unemployment insurance and health insurance for folks who have lost jobs; provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers; and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.  

Now, I realize that none of this is much comfort for Americans who are still out of work or struggling to make ends meet.  And when we receive our monthly job report next week, it is likely to show that we are continuing to lose far too many jobs in this country.  As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs.  And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one. 

But history shows that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth.  And the report yesterday on our economy is an important sign that we’re headed in the right direction.  Business investment, which had been plummeting in the past few months, is showing signs of stabilizing.  This means that eventually, businesses will start growing and hiring again.  And that’s when it will really feel like a recovery to the American people. 

This won’t happen overnight.  As I’ve said before, it will take many more months to fully dig ourselves out of a recession – a recession that we’ve now learned was even deeper than anyone thought.  But I’ll continue to work every day, and take every step necessary, to make sure that happens.  I also want to make sure that we don’t return to an economy where our growth is based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards – because that doesn’t create a lot of jobs.  Even as we rescue this economy, we must work to rebuild it stronger than before.  We’ve got to build a new foundation strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity. 

Next week, I’ll be talking about that new foundation when I head to Elkhart County in Indiana – a city hard hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months but by the broader economic changes of recent decades. For communities like Elkhart to thrive, we need to recapture the spirit of innovation that has always moved America forward.

That means once again having the best-educated, highest skilled workforce in the world. That means a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs. That means leading the world in building a new clean energy economy with the potential to unleash a wave of innovation – and economic growth – while ending our dependence on foreign oil. And that means investing in the research and development that will produce the technologies of the future – which in turn will help create the industries and jobs of the future.

Innovation has been essential to our prosperity in the past, and it will be essential to our prosperity in the future. But it is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people. All it takes are the policies to tap that potential – to ignite that spark of creativity and ingenuity – which has always been at the heart of who we are and how we succeed. At a time when folks are experiencing real hardship, after years in which we have seen so many fail to take responsibility for our collective future, it’s important to keep our eyes fixed on that horizon.

Every day, I hear from Americans who are feeling firsthand the pain of this recession; these are folks who share their stories with me in letters and at town hall meetings; folks who remain in my mind and on my agenda each and every day. I know that there are countless families and businesses struggling to just hang on until this storm passes. But I also know that if we do the things we know we must, this storm will pass. And it will yield to a brighter day.

Alright folks! Here I go! A couple of days ago, The Kaleidoscope Factor became aware of ANOTHER case involving police officers guilty of acting badly which actually translates into Caucasian law enforcement officers arresting African American men for no reason at all.

Since I happen to know this African American man, I am going to say that the Huntsville, Al. officer “acted stupidly.” Walter Emanuel Jones, also known as the original Black Ranger from the wildly successful cult television show, “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” was reportedly arrested on a DUI offense. Does he look drunk in the above mug shot? No!

Now, reports coming out of Huntsville, Al. are stating this:

Walter Emanuel Jones attended a Power Rangers convention held in Huntsville and drove into a gas station at around 4am Sunday to ask for some directions. Upon leaving the gas station, Jones was pulled over by the Huntsville police for failure to dim lights. The Huntsville police officer gave Jones several field sobriety tests; which he PASSED every single one. But the officer cuffed Jones anyway and placed him under arrest, took him to jail and booked him. Later, Jones was released on bail.

The Huntsville arresting officer is currently under investigation. I am going to say it and continue to say it: There are police officers that truly honor the citizens they have sworn to protect and serve. Then you have the select few who see the badge as an ego booster. They use that badge to wage a personal war based on their own ideology which holds no merit and they could care less who are intimidated by it.

Walter Emanuel Jones is not as well known as Skip Gates in some circles, his case will probably not be heatedly debated on CNN, but he still an African American man. A human being that doesn’t deserve to be treated like a criminal simply because a police officer has decided that he wants to show a citizen whose in charge in order to make himself seem like a big man on campus.

Walter Emanuel Jones is a friend of mine and the Huntsville police officer that arrested him “acted stupidly” and I’ll go as far as to say that that officer ‘racially profiled’ him and took him in for no other reason than DWB. Driving While Black. Driving while Black in the South! Yep! I said it! I can guarantee that there won’t be a meeting at the White House over a few beers with President Obama presiding either. Why? Because if President Obama held a mediation reagrding each and every case like this one and Skip Gates, he would never get any work done because his schedule would be filled from morning to evening, seven days a week!

So to those of you who believe the Skip Gates/Sgt. Crowley situation was a random case, stop and ask a Black man when was the first and most recent time that a police officer stopped him for doing absolutely nothing but minding his own business? Ask him how many city blocks a squad car tailed him for no reason? See, I already know the answer to those questions. I am also well aware of the millions of dollars that cities across the country are shelling out to citizens for wrongful arrests. So, what is my advice to Walter?

Get a good attorney! I see a HUGE SETTLEMENT in your future! Then again, it is Huntsville, Al. I guess this going to have to be another “teaching moment.”