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Opinion
Your Own Personal Fiscal Cliff
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
T ED B ANKS
Advertising Manager
J ERRY F OSTER
Account Executive
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
B RUCE P OINSETTE
Reporter
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
O
kay, I’ll admit it. I am
truly the Grinch who want-
ed to steal Christmas. It
takes me until about December 23
to get in the spirit, and I only feel
obligated to find gifts for children
and close family. I like to give,
which is why I share with a few
charities that are close to me. I like
to connect, which is why I have a
greeting card ritual. But all this
crazy frenzy after Thanksgiving,
before Christmas sale stuff truly
repels me. And while I don’t want
to put a damper on anybody’s
sprit, I want to say that this is the
season to be careful.
After all, we live in a consumer-
oriented society. When we spend,
other people get paid. When we
spend other people are blessed.
But if you spend what you don’t
have then you are sliding down
your own fiscal cliff, and you
won’t have a pillow to protect
you. The average American will
spend about $900 this year on
Christmas gifts and toys, but that
means that half will spend more.
‘Tis the season to be careful.
Some of the biggest scams come
from charities. They will reach
you through email, snail mail, and
even text mail. They may ask for
a little or a lot. You’ve got to ask
where your money is going. Some
organizations take as much as 80
percent of your gift, which means
that the people you want to help
get just 20 percent of your money.
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
Before you send a penny, ask the
right questions. Too many chari-
ties lean on this time of year to
make their money, but if the whole
truth is told, they are really leaning
Americans want to give, and
African Americans are among the
most generous, based on the per-
cent of income we give. But give
with your head and not with your
heart, and ask solicitors important
questions.
One of the other scams is the
sale scam. If you buy it now, you
will get a sale that will never, ever,
in your lifetime be replicated. So
standing line all night for the 52-
foot TV for $239, while the store
has only 10. Find some furniture
you like only to be told it is 50 per-
Can we be careful with our wallets
and open with our hearts?
on this time of year to make a liv-
ing. Check these folks out online,
and look for their annual reports.
If their overhead is more than 15
percent, walk on by.
Another scam is the garbled
name scam. You may think you are
giving to a worthy program, such
as the Police Athletic League, only
to find that you are giving to the
non-registered Police Athletic Pro-
gram. You may think you are
giving to an African American
cause, only to find that a garbled
name takes you someplace else.
cent off today, but not tomorrow.
Retailers are playing on your
greed and your panic. If you take
your time, you might find an even
better deal. And if seems too good
to be true, it is.
Scruffy little children will come
to your door this time of year, ask-
ing for money for their church, for
magazine subscriptions, for all
form of causes. You may want to
slip the child a few pennies, but
please know they aren’t going to
make more than that with the mag-
azine subscription scam, or with
the church solicitation. In fact,
most churches run their own solic-
itations, so maybe ask for the
name of the church and call them
before you make a donation.
I suppose I am the Grinch
because I am dismayed that our
holiday season that supposedly
celebrates the birth of the Christ
child has turned into a commercial
orgy with people shopping for a
full five weeks. It has also turned
into a solicitation orgy with almost
every organization you have ever
known asking for end of year con-
tribution. In the middle of all this
drama, the purpose of the holiday
is swallowed.
I am weary of seeing frenzied
faces anxious for the next sale, or
children (and grown folks) defin-
ing their worth by what goodies
they pick up. I am weary of the
folks who go into crazy debt to
prove a point, to buy affection, to
shower folks with gifts when they
should shower them with love.
Can we be careful with our wallets
and open with our hearts?
I hope that we will all remember
and embrace the meaning of
Christmas and not the crassness of
consumerism.
Julianne Malveaux is a Wash-
ington, D.C.-based economist and
writer. She is President Emerita
of Bennett College for Women in
Greensboro, N.C.
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
The Right-Wing Witch Hunt Against Rice
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Page 4 The Portland Skanner
M
edia Matters, the media
monitoring group, has
published a report titled,
“Myths And Facts About The
Right-Wing Witch Hunt Against
Susan Rice.” It is a point-by-point
rebuttal of some of the most fla-
grant lies being about United
Nations Ambassador Susan E.
Rice, President Obama’s leading
candidate to succeed Hillary Clin-
ton as Secretary of State. Below
are some of the highlights:
MYTH: Rice Fabricated Her
Statements As Part of An Obama
Administration Cover-Up.
FACT: A Washington Post edito-
rial [11/22/12] noted: “Ms. Rice’s
Comments” On Sunday Shows
“Were Based On Talking Points
Drawn Up By The Intelligence
Community.” It explained:
“[A]s congressional testimony
has established, Ms. Rice’s com-
ments on several Sunday
television talk shows on Sept. 16
were based on talking points
drawn up by the intelligence com-
munity. She was acting as an
administration
spokeswoman;
there was nothing either incompe-
tent or deliberately misleading
about the way she presented the
information she was given.
“… Nor was her account of what
happened as far off the mark as
Republicans claim. Though inves-
tigations are not complete, what
has emerged so far suggests that
the attack was staged by local
jihadists, not ordered by the al-
Qaeda leadership in Pakistan.
Officials believe that it was
inspired in part by demonstrations
that took place that day in Cairo.
December 5, 2012
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
That is not so far from Ms. Rice’s
explanation that ‘this began as a
spontaneous . . . response to what
transpired in Cairo.’”
MYTH: Rice Had No Reason To
MYTH: Rice Prematurely Gave
A Definitive Assessment Of The
Attack.
FACT: During Sunday Shows,
Rice Repeatedly Emphasized
Ongoing Investigations And Cau-
tioned Against Jumping To
Conclusions.
RICE: …. first of all, it’s impor-
tant to know that there’s an FBI
investigation that has begun and
will take some time to be complet-
ed. That will tell us with certainty
what transpired.
“But our current best assess-
ment, based on the information
that we have at present, is that, in
Ms. Rice’s comments on several
Sunday television talk shows on Sept.
16 were based on talking points
drawn up by the intelligence
community
Connect Benghazi Attack To Anti-
Islam Video.
FACT: Rice Said Benghazi
Attack Was A Response To Violent
Protest At U.S. Embassy In Cairo
… “On-the-ground accounts indi-
cate that Ms. Rice’s description of
the attack, though wrong in some
respects, was accurate in others.
Witnesses to the assault said it was
carried out by members of the
Ansar al-Shariah militant group,
without any warning or protest, in
retaliation for an American-made
video mocking the Prophet
Muhammad.” [The New York
Times, 11/27/12]
fact, what this began as, it was a
spontaneous – not a premeditated
– response to what had transpired
in Cairo. In Cairo, as you know, a
few hours earlier, there was a vio-
lent protest that was undertaken in
reaction to this very offensive
video that was disseminated.
“We believe that folks in Beng-
hazi, a small number of people
came to the embassy to – or to the
consulate, rather, to replicate the
sort of challenge that was posed in
Cairo. And then as that unfolded, it
seems to have been hijacked, let us
say, by some individual clusters of
extremists who came with heavier
weapons, weapons that as you
know in – in the wake of the revo-
lution in Libya are – are quite
common and accessible. And it
then evolved from there.
“We’ll wait to see exactly what
the investigation finally confirms,
but that’s the best information we
have at present.” [ABC News,
This
Week
with
George
Stephanopoulos, 9/16/12]
MYTH: Rice Should Have
Called The Attack Terrorism
Because She Saw Classified Intel-
ligence Suggesting Possible Al
Qaeda Involvement.
FACT: References To Al Qaeda
Were Removed To Protect Nation-
al Security …
The New York Times reported
on Nov. 16:
“David H. Petraeus, the former
director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, told lawmakers on Friday
that classified intelligence reports
revealed that the deadly assault on
the American diplomatic mission
in Libya was a terrorist attack, but
that the administration refrained
from saying it suspected that the
perpetrators of the attack were Al
Qaeda affiliates and sympathizers
to avoid tipping off the groups.”
Read the rest online at
www.theskanner.com
George E. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of Emerge magazine, is
editor-in-chief of the National
Newspaper Publishers Association
News Service (NNPA.) He is a
keynote speaker, moderator, and
media coach.