Today's News NJ Person of the Week: Dr. Randal Pinkett

Biography

[Download Full Biography] [Download Intro Biography] Dr. Randal Pinkett has established himself as an entrepreneur, speaker, author and community servant.  He is the founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, a multimillion-dollar consulting firm based in Newark, NJ, that specializes in program management, information technology and public policy.  BCT Partners is a minority-owned and operated company and one of the leading firms in the country with expertise in the following industries: housing and community development, economic development, healthcare, human services and education.  Dr. Pinkett was also named the winner of NBC’s hit reality television show, The Apprentice, with Donald Trump.  He was selected as one of 18 candidates chosen from among 1 million applicants to compete for the opportunity to run one of Donald Trump’s companies.

Prior to founding BCT Partners, Dr. Pinkett gained corporate experience as a Member of Technical Staff at General Electric, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Lucent Technologies. Dr. Pinkett holds five degrees including: a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University, that he completed while serving as captain of the men's track and field team as a high jumper and long jumper; a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Oxford in England; and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, MBA, and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2009, Dr. Pinkett was named to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s official shortlist as a potential running mate for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.

Dr. Pinkett has received numerous awards including the following: National Society of Black Engineers–Entrepreneur of the Year Award, National Urban League–Business Excellence Award, Information Technology Senior Management Forum–Beacon Award, and he has been recognized by USA TODAY newspaper as one of the top 20 scholars in the country. Also, Dr. Pinkett has been featured on nationally televised programs such as The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Nightline and Larry King Live. He has served as a brand ambassador for Verizon Communications and Outback Steakhouse, and as a national spokesperson for Autism Speaks, the National Black MBA Association, the Miller Urban Entrepreneurs Series, New Jersey Reads, Junior Achievement of New York, and the Minority Information Technology Consortium. Most notably, Dr. Pinkett was the first and only African-American to receive a Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University.

Dr. Pinkett is a highly sought-after speaker for various corporations, colleges and universities, government agencies and community organizations. He is the author of Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business and No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash. His forthcoming book, Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness, to be released in 2010, presents the ten strategies African Americans use to successfully navigate today’s rapidly changing professional landscape. Dr. Pinkett is a proud graduate of Leadership New Jersey and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership program. He is member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the National Society of Black Engineers (NBSE), The National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA), the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), and Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), and has served on the board of directors for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), The New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute (NJPPRI), the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (N-TEN) and the National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP).

Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Dr. Pinkett attends First Baptist Church in Somerset, NJ, where he resides. He is happily married to his wife, Zahara, and they are both proud parents of their daughter, Amira. Dr. Pinkett firmly believes that “to whom much is given, much is expected,” so throughout his endeavors he places great emphasis on his desire to give back to the community.

Black Faces in Whites Places:
10 Strategies for African Americans to Redefine the Game and Reshape America 
Buy Now

For more information, please visit: http://www.randalpinkett.com

Obama’s Commerce Department—‘Spreading The Wealth Around’ Globally

By Howard Rich
The nomination of John Bryson as Barack Obama’s new Secretary of Commerce has been touted in some circles as “the latest in a recent string of moves by the Obama administration to mend relations with the business community.”

But is the selection of Bryson — who founded a radical environmental organization and helped spearhead the United Nations climate change movement — really a good choice for American businesses? Or is his nomination the latest example of Obama’s commitment to a massive expansion of “world welfare” — one that would further bankrupt our Treasury and place additional strain on our taxpayers?

By now, it has become abundantly clear that the real goal of the left-wing eco-radicals has nothing to do with climate change — and everything to do with international wealth redistribution on an unprecedented scale. Sadly, this goal has been enthusiastically embraced by the Obama administration — as Bryson’s nomination once again demonstrates.

At a 2009 conference leading up to the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen, Bryson proposed the establishment of training programs and a new global law enforcement regime aimed at blocking poor nations from using their forest resources. In fact, funding for this massive undertaking was part of the “global climate tax” approved at Copenhagen — a radical wealth redistribution scheme which hopes to siphon $100 billion a year from America and other countries to developing nations by the end of the decade.
Get full story here.

With Unemployment Still High, We Turn The Team Obama Spotlight On The Department Of Labor

Video by Frank McCaffrey

Get permalink here.

The ‘Stimulus’ Fallacy

By Robert Romano
Since Sep. 2007, when the recession began, to Sep. 2011, we will have borrowed and spent an additional $6.469 trillion. In addition, since then the Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet (minus treasuries purchases) by an additional $1.117 trillion.
In fact, the central bank has expanded its balance sheet in total by $1.930 trillion since then, but we’re not going to double-count its additional treasuries purchases, which are already accounted for in the new debt that has been racked up.

That’s a total “stimulus” of $7.646 trillion for FY 2008-2011. So, what have we gotten for all that borrowing, spending, and money printing?

Let’s be generous and assume that by Sep. 2011, the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will have increased to $15.376 trillion, which assumes exactly the same nominal growth as last year Q3 to Q3. In Sep. 2007, the GDP stood at $14.158 trillion. So, there has been total nominal growth $1.218 trillion since then.
Therefore, a “stimulus” of $7.646 trillion will have only generated growth of $1.218 trillion by the end of this fiscal year. Put another way, for every $6.27 borrowed, spent, and printed, the government achieved $1 of growth. Or, for every dollar borrowed, spent, and printed, there was 15.9 cents of growth — a measly .159 Keynesian multiplier.
Get full story here.

Two Harry Reid Medicare Savings Myths

By Victor Morawski Responding recently to the Senate’s rejection of the Paul Ryan Budget Plan, Sen. Harry Reid propounded two myths regarding ObamaCare Medicare savings when he said, “standing up [for] our seniors by keeping the promise to protect and strengthen Medicare as we did with our health care bill which we saved — waste, fraud and abuse — 500 billion dollars, extended the life of Medicare by more than twelve years.” The first myth is that all (or at least the lion’s share) of the projected Medicare savings from ObamaCare over the next ten years will come from combating waste, fraud and abuse and not in reductions to seniors’ services and benefits. The reality is that this is so far from the truth that it deserves the title of a myth. According to the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) who first projected the $575 billion savings for Medicare over the next ten years, only a tiny fraction of these projected savings — $4.9 billion — would be realized under the category “Fight waste, fraud and abuse.” To suggest otherwise is to perpetrate a myth but this seems to be one that Harry Reid and the rest of the Democrats that he speaks for want you to believe. The second myth is that projected Medicare savings from ObamaCare will be used to shore up the Hospital Insurance trust fund (HI) and keep Medicare solvent for twelve more years. Here Harry Reid is hoping that you won’t remember the double-counting debate of a year ago. Get full story here.

Trial opens for Cleveland man accused in 11 deaths

Anthony Sowell

CLEVELAND (AP) — The bodies were removed many months ago, but the stench of them still clings to the boarded-up house on Imperial Avenue.

The smell surfaces every so often: a reminder of the horrors that unfolded here in November 2009, when police began pulling the remains of 11 women from the depths of this rundown white duplex on an impoverished Cleveland street.

"Every once in a while you can hear people saying ... 'What's that smell?,'" says Tracy Chapman, who lives across the street.

The murder trial gets under way Monday for Anthony Sowell, 51, a convicted sex offender and ex-Marine charged with killing the women and hiding their remains in his home and backyard. The trial, expected to last several weeks, will force Cleveland residents to revisit a dark chapter in the city's history that most would rather forget. Prosecutors say Sowell, who has pleaded not guilty, lured women from the neighborhood into his home with the promise of alcohol or drugs, then killed them.

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FBI partner attacked by hackers, passwords taken

News Link  •  Law Enforcers or Peace Officers

06-05-2011  •  AP 

Nearly 180 passwords belonging to members of an Atlanta-based FBI partner organization have been stolen and leaked to the Internet, the group confirmed Sunday. 

 

The logins belonged to members of the local chapter of InfraGard, a public-private partnership devoted to sharing information about threats to U.S. physical and Internet infrastructure, the chapter's president told The Associated Press.
 

  Read Full Story


Reported by Powell Gammill

House resolution requires Obama to explain Libya objectives

News Link  •  Obama Administration

06-03-2011  •  Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau, LA Times 

The House voted Friday to require President Obama to swiftly report to Congress the rationale behind continued U.S. military engagement in Libya, launching a potential showdown over federal funding for the NATO-led operation.

Amid mounting antiwar sentiment in Congress, the House voted 268 to 145 for the resolution, which also said that the administration failed to make its case for military action as required by the authority of the War Powers Act.

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How Wall Street, the US Army and Obama Benefit From Militarizing Mexico's Drug War

Imagine what your reaction would be if the Mexican government agreed to pay Barack Obama $1.4 billion to deploy US troops and armored vehicles to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to conduct military operations, set up check points, and engage in fire-fights that end up killing 35,000 US civilians on the streets of American cities. If the Mexican government treated the United States like this, would you consider them a friend or an enemy? This is exactly how the US is treating Mexico, and it's been going on since 2006. America's Mexican policy--The Merida Initiative--is a nightmare. It's undermined Mexican sovereignty, corrupted the political system, and militarized the country. It's also resulted in the violent deaths of thousands of mostly poor civilians. But Washington doesn't give a hoot about "collateral damage" as long as it can sell more weaponry, strengthen its free-trade regime, and sluice more drug profits into its big banks. Then everything is just Jim-dandy. There's no point in dignifying this butchery by calling it a "War on Drugs"? That's nonsense. What we're seeing is a giant powergrab by big business, big finance and the US Intel services.  

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Five U.S. soldiers killed in Five U.S. soldiers killed: statement

  June 6 (Today's News NJ)- Five U.S. soldiers were killed in central Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The statement did not give further details about how or where exactly the five were killed.

"The names of the deceased and details of the incident are being withheld pending notification of next of kin," the statement said.

The death toll of U.S. soldiers, who have been killed in Iraq since the war broke out in 2003, rose to about 4,459, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.

In mid 2010, U.S. troops in Iraq had been reduced to below 50, 000 soldiers. Washington said that the remaining U.S. troops in Iraq are conducting support and training missions.

U.S. military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011 according to the security pact named Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, signed late in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.