A Great Book by Helene Cooper of the New York Times

The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood

"About 150 years before Eunice came to Sugar Beach, two men set in motion the series of events that would lead to the day that I, a privileged almost-eight-year-old Congo girl, acquired my new sister, Eunice, a not-so-privileged eleven-year-old Bassa girl.

The chain started by those two men would eventually separate me from black people in America, and at the same time separate me from most black people in Africa. Their names were Elijah Johnson and Randolph Cooper. They were my great-great-great-great-grandfathers. At the turn of the nineteenth century in pre-Civil War America, they both belonged to that nebulous class of freed-blacks-once-removed from southern plantations.

When presented the choice between America and Africa, they chose Africa. Because of that choice, I would not grow up, 150 years later, as an American black girl, weighed down by racial stereotypes about welfare queens. Nor would I have to deal with the burdens of a sub-Saharan girl, with a life expectancy of about 40 years, yanked out of school at the age of eleven so I could fetch water and cook over a coal pot and bear babies barely younger than myself.

Instead, those men handed down to me a one-in-a-million lottery ticket: birth into what passed for the landed gentry upper class of Africa's first independent country, Liberia. None of that American post-civil war/civil rights movement baggage to bog me down with any inferiority complex about whether I was as good as white people. No European garbage to have me wondering whether some British colonial master was somehow better than me. Who needs to struggle for equality? Let everybody else try to equal me" P. 29

HA HA HA HA: Ford to be profitable in 2011:

From Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

"Ford sees at least breakeven in 2011

In what has to be the joke of the day, Ford sees at least breakeven in 2011.

Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday it expects overall and North American automotive business pretax results to break even or be profitable in 2011.
* Says submits business plan to Congress
* Says plans electric vehicles
* Says will sell its corporate aircraft as part of overall cash improvementplan
* Says asking for access to up to $9 billion of bridge financing
* Says does not anticipate a liquidity crisis next year, barring a bankruptcy of one of its domestic rivals
* Says hopes to complete its transformation without accessing government loan
* Says company plans call for investment of about $14 billion in the US on
advanced technologies and products for fuel efficiency over next seven years

Ford To Break Even in 2009

Flashback May 22, 2008: Ford To Break Even in 2009

Ford said Thursday it likely will not hit its target to be profitable in 2009, but will just break even, due to the deteriorating economy, soaring gas, steel and other commodity prices and a dramatically shifting consumer preference toward fuel-efficient cars and crossovers from more lucrative trucks and SUVs.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally in a statement issued by Ford Thursday morning. "Overall, we expect to be about break-even companywide in 2009 -- with continued strong results in Europe and South America."

Ford To Be Profitable in 2009

Flashback November 8, 2007 Despite $380 million loss, Ford is optimistic

Ford said it was on track to meet its goal of being profitable in North America and in all of its automotive operations by 2009.

Ford To Be Profitable in 2008

Flashback Jun 22, 2006 Ford on track to be profitable in 2008

Ford Motor Co. said it was on track to meet its goal of making its North American auto business profitable by 2008 and remained committed to that target.

Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, announced the company's upcoming vehicle line-up and a push to offer more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Forgive me for not believing a damn thing Ford says."