More Taxes

on banks...

President Barack Obama said the levy he wants to impose on as many as 50 large financial firms is aimed at getting back “every single dime” that taxpayers put in to bailing out those companies.

Here's a quote from Obama on the matter:

“My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people,” Obama said at the White House.

This doesn't sound like a good idea:

“Using tax policy to punish people is a bad idea,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, 53, said after testifying yesterday at a hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington. “All businesses tend to pass their costs on to customers.”

They're trying to promote bank recovery, but now they're trying to recoup tax payer money? It seems like they're trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, but those birds are in opposite directions.

So...

Apparently, Guantanamo is better than Haiti.

A Thought, A Prayer

There is a certain irony in the fact that a tragedy of this magnitude in which so many people are injured, killed and left without shelter is what brings people together and to aid one another. For the other 364 days of the year, there are wars of words, ideas, and arms that pollute our society and dehumanize the people that make it. However, that one day changes everything. We forget about our wars, our troubles, our lives. We begin to care about others. We look for ways to help. We regain our humanity.

Haiti Rocked By Earthquake

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. There needs to be a widescale humanitarian effort.

US Names 18 Cities for Its World Cup Bid

Here are the cities:

Eighteen cities were named on Tuesday as part of a United States bid for the 2018 or 2022 soccer World Cup, with Chicago notably absent from the list.

The 18 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Boston, have stadiums with average seating capacities of 78,000.

Other cities named in the bid that will be presented to FIFA on May 14 were Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

Personally, I haven't viewed all the bids to decide which one I'm behind. I'd love to see another World Cup in the States seeing as I was in India during the last one. However, I'm leaning towards providing my support to the English bid.

New Hope for Michigan Football?

While Michigan is currently ranked 11th for recruiting class, I have been very disappointed by the quality of the players. While Rich Rodriguez has brought in many players this recruiting class, the average rating of his recruits is just 3.25. He has only been able to procure one 5-star player and six 4-stars, with the majority of recruits bring 3-stars. Additionally, he has only two players in the top 100. Compare that with Florida who has five 5-star and fourteen 4-star, Texas with five 5-stars and twelve 4-stars, or even Penn State, who has one 5-star and fourteen 4-star. A program with the history of Michigan Football deserves a better recruiting class. I cannot help, but be disappointed. It is hard to recruit when you're not winning football games though.

However, with Pete Carroll leaving for the NFL, there could be a number of recruits that may decommit and be open to making the Big House their new home. One such recruit is Dillon Baxter, one of the top running backs in the country. Baxter was very disappointed with Carroll's departure and is rethinking his future:

“It’s crazy,” said Baxter, a record-setting running back who played yesterday in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. “It’s the thing I didn’t want to do.”

Baxter said his dream was to play for Carroll at USC but there was a “hot possibility that I’ll change.” He said he was now open to talking to any university or any coach. He said his high school coach already had been flooded with calls from colleges like Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, UCLA and Arizona.

While it's not certain whether Michigan has made a move for Baxter, he was close to committing to Michigan before he committed to USC.

Another player who could emerge donning Maize and Blue is Sean Parker:

"I'm still balancing it out and checking each school out to see what each school has to offer," Parker told Rivals.com’s John Talman on Sunday. "Michigan, it's because of their academic success. When I took a trip out there, I really liked it. USC, they've always been a school with my interest. Cal, it's also because of their academic success."

With USC losing Carroll, Michigan might be able to poach him as well, considering Michigan already seems to be on the right track.

Rich Rod has a solid base recruiting class, but with these players now back up for grabs, he needs to make a push to have a truly great recruiting class. Both these players could be difference makers for the Maize and Blue, and he should not let this opportunity pass by. It's time to restore the glory of Michigan Football.

Background of the Togo Attack

A recent revelation from Angolan rebels has revealed that the attacks were meant to be on the convoy and not the Togolese team:

"This attack was not aimed at the Togolese players but at the Angolan forces at the head of the convoy," Mingas told France 24 television. "So it was pure chance that the gunfire hit the players. We don't have anything to do with the Togolese and we present our condolences to the African families and the Togo government. We are fighting for the total liberation of Cabinda."

Rodrigues Mindas is the secretary general of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Flec). I didn't know much about the organization, so I decided to look up more information about what they are about:

The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda is a guerrilla and political movement fighting for the independence of the Angolan province of Cabinda.

It's guerilla organization seeking independence from Angola. Cabinda is separated from Angola by a strip of land of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are some of the largest oil fields in the world off the coast, making at an important territory for Angola. Disputes over the territories date back to Portuguese colonization and the Treaty of Simulambuco. The Treaty made Cabinda a protectorate of the Portuguese Crown:

“the princes and governors of Cabinda”.

Article 1 of the treaty, states, “the princes and chiefs and their successors declare, voluntarily, their recognition of Portuguese sovereignty, placing under the protectorate of this nation all the territories by them governed”

Article 2 goes farther:

rticle 2, which is often used in separatist arguments, goes even further: “Portugal is obliged to maintain the integrity of the territories placed under its protection.”

Cabinda was incorporated separately into the Portuguese Empire from Angola. This is the heart of the separatist fight. The claim that Angolan rule is illegal. You can read more about Cabinda here.

Race Riots in Italy: Mafia Suspected?

You heard me mention the race riots in Southern Italy in last night's "What's goin' down." More information has come out regarding the event. It appears that the mafia is suspected for the violence:

The clashes began Thursday night in Rosarno, a working-class city amid citrus groves in Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot, after a legal immigrant from Togo was lightly wounded in a pellet-gun attack in a nearby city. It is not clear who pulled the trigger — the authorities said they were investigating whether organized crime had provoked the riots — but the consequences were severe.

Blaming racism for the attack, dozens of immigrants burned cars and smashed shop windows in Rosarno in two days of riots, throwing rocks at local residents and fighting with the police. More than 50 immigrants and police officers were wounded, none seriously, and 10 immigrants and locals were arrested before the authorities began sending the immigrants to detention centers elsewhere in southern Italy on Saturday.

It really is a very bad situation over there.

Conan Leaving NBC?

After NBC announced that Leno would be moving back to 11:35, it appears Conan might be leaving the network as a result of his dissatisfaction with this move (He would move to 12:05). Here's a quote from a source:

"He's done a great job for NBC," the source told the Post. "He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this?"

While I don't get to watch him as much as I should, he's by far my favorite late night talk show host.

What's Goin' Down? Europe Edition

Croatia has elected a new president that will hopefully lead a new period lacking in corruption and filled with prosperity:

The new president had this to say:

Gray-haired and bespectacled, Josipovic usually appears in light blue shirts and gray suits that underscore his laid back image. He says he decided to run because he ''couldn't bear the injustice that has been done to the people of Croatia for years.''

''I am aware of presidential responsibilities,'' he said once. ''With my own example, I want to inspire decisiveness, optimism and civic courage of Croatian people to change our society and make it a better one.''

I wish only the best for Croatia.

You heard me talk about racism in Italy through the lens of football. Well, let me share with you another story of racism in Italy.

Hundreds of African immigrants have been evacuated from a southern Italian town, authorities said on Sunday, following some of the worst racial violence in Italy since World War Two.

The evacuation followed three days of clashes in the southern Calabrian town of Rosarno, which began when some local residents began attacking immigrants who responded by rioting.

At least 53 people, including 18 policeman, were injured in the unrest in the town, located in Italy's southwestern toe.

Authorities moved more than 1,000 people, mostly illegal temporary workers from sub-Saharan Africa to immigrant centres around Italy in an operation that lasted from Saturday through to the early hours of Sunday.

Not just that, but it brought up dangerous comparisons:

Even workers with regular residence permits left the town to escape a climate that one political commentator compared to the 1960s Ku Klux Klan racial violence in the United States.

I think America has a generally positive view of Italy and I'm not saying we shouldn't. However, we should recognize that every country has its faults, some are very serious.

Harry Reid: Racially Insensitive?

I always find it funny when the people judging or talking about racially insensitive remarks are white. Can we get a black person's take on this? Were they offended? How do they feel about the apology? Can they trust this guy?

2010 Africa Cup of Nations Kicks Off

And Pulls Out Again

Togo has followed orders from the government and left the ACN. Here's what Adebayor had to say:

"We all decided to do something good for the country and play to honour those who died. Unfortunately, the head of state and the country's authorities have decided otherwise. We will pack up and go home."

And the Togolese PM:

The Togolese prime minister told L'Equipe: "We understand the approach of players who wanted to express a way to avenge their fallen comrades, but it would be irresponsible on the part of the authorities to let them continue.

"The team must return today. The government's decision is unchanged. It is a conscious decision since Friday. If a team or a person present themselves under the banner of Togo, it would be a false representation."

In related news, the Togolese goalkeeper has undergone surgery to remove the bullet, but remains in intensive care:

Doctors treating the Togo goalkeeper who was seriously injured in Friday's terrorist attack have said that it is too soon to discuss his prospects. Kodjovi "Dodji" Obilale is in intensive care in South Africa.

Obilale was shot in the lower back in the attack on the Togo team's bus. He was flown to Johannesburg's Netcare Milpark Hospital for surgery. The trauma specialist Elias Degiannis said Obilale was stable, but sedated and on a respirator.

Hopefully, he is alright. Thoughts and Prayers to his family.