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« News Roundup for Thursday July 5 and Friday July 6, 2007
» News Roundup for Saturday July 7 and Monday, July 9, 2007

News Roundup for Saturday July 7, 2007


NAACP panel calls for better access to quality health care

Unequal health care was the big theme today at the 98th annual NAACP convention as delegates descended on Cobo Hall in Detroit.

Despite advances in overall health care, African-Americans suffer disproportionately when it comes to access to quality treatment, said panelists on a health forum inside the Detroit convention center.

No mention of Sicko, which probably should have been required preparation material for those attending.
[via Detroit Free Press]

Community Calendar

Selected events:

Wednesday, 7/11, 8:30 am

The 25th Annual Metro Detroit Youth Day will be held on July 11, 2007 at Belle Isle, Athletic Field, on the south side of the Island from 8:30am - 2:30pm. Youth Day is sponsored by more than 200 community organizations, including the Arab American & Chaldean Council (ACC) and made possible by the generous donations of corporate sponsors and the 900 volunteers from the community. Interested youth must pre-register and have written permission from a parent or guardian. Information and registration forms are available from the Michigan Food and Beverage Association at 586.393.8800, or through city recreation departments, or any participating youth organization and public schools.

Friday-Saturday, 7/13-14

The First Annual Arab American Comedy Festival is Seeking Actors and Actresses

Who: Men and Woman (17+), Middle Eastern descent, all body types, no experience necessary. What: Auditions for the 1st Annual Arab American Comedy Festival. Photos and resumes requested (but not necessary). Applicants do not need to prepare anything, will read from scripts. Where: Village Plaza, 23400 Michigan Avenue Suite 101, Dearborn MI 48124 (on the NW corner of Michigan Ave and Outer Drive). When: Auditions will be held Friday, July 13th 7pm-10pm and Saturday, July 14th 2pm- 5pm. Audition appointments are strongly suggested; Please call 313.580.3400 or email [email protected] to schedule an appointment.

Saturday-Sunday, 7/21-22

The Arab World festival was established as a non-profit community organization in 1972 and is now known as Arab & Chaldean Festival. It is the largest Arab-Chaldean-American cultural event in North America celebrating 36 years with more than 50,000 people attending the festival each year. This year’s festival will take place at the Hart Plaza located in downtown Detroit, on July 21 and 22. The festival features a variety of Arab and Chaldean food, an ethnic cultural gallery and an impressive entertainment program which will include a fashion show scheduled for Sunday, July 22, 2007, and children’s fair scheduled on Saturday July 21 from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. For more information, contact Dr. Jacoub Mansour at 248.960.9956 or e-mail the organizers at [email protected]

Thursday, 7/26, 2 p.m.

The Arab American & Chaldean Council (ACC) is excited to announce the groundbreaking of its Artisan & Adult Learning Center and the Grand Opening of its Behavioral Health Clubhouse, Thursday, July 26th at 2:00pm adjacent to ACC’s Detroit Headquarters. For further information about this important project, contact Isa Hasan, Director of the ACC Seven Mile Community & Neighborhood Development Initiative (CNDI) at 313.893.5269 or via email at [email protected] .Wednesday, 7/11, 8:30 am

The 25th Annual Metro Detroit Youth Day will be held on July 11, 2007 at Belle Isle, Athletic Field, on the south side of the Island from 8:30am - 2:30pm. Youth Day is sponsored by more than 200 community organizations, including the Arab American & Chaldean Council (ACC) and made possible by the generous donations of corporate sponsors and the 900 volunteers from the community. Interested youth must pre-register and have written permission from a parent or guardian. Information and registration forms are available from the Michigan Food and Beverage Association at 586.393.8800, or through city recreation departments, or any participating youth organization and public schools.

The Arab-American Comedy Festival sounds great and I like to see more Arab-American pop culture enter the mainstream and I hope the Detroit area continues to be ground zero for that. And Arab-American comedy club in downtown Dearborn in the future perhaps?

It’s also good to see new developments in Chaldean Town.
[via Arab American News]

Women patrol aims to take back Detroit streets

DETROIT — Holding signs with slogans: “Phenomenal Women” and “Take Back the Community,” about 25 members of a fledgling neighborhood group launched a patrol Saturday on the city’s northwest side.

A Detroit Police officer kept an eye on things as the patrollers held a rally at Grand River and Greenfield and then walked through the neighborhood.

Meeks said the patrollers will report crime, but will not try to bust up a criminal act.

“We hope to deter crime,” Meeks said. “We have no desire to intervene. That is the job of the police.”

Meeks said she hopes the patrol will serve as a reminder that reporting crimes is appropriate. She said there is a culture among rappers, their fans and many inner city residents that they should never cooperate with police.

Grassroots initiatives are what is needed here so it’s good to see these neighborhood patrols spreading. Maybe they can start integrating new surveillance technologies like maybe a network of web cams pointing outside from residents’ homes. For example, you could set up a camera inside your house that anybody on the Internet can watch so that your block is, in theory, being watched by many eyes, perhaps even ones halfway across the world. If you had a network of these you could watch a burglar trying to escape, switching your viewing angle from block to block updating the police on their current location. Or you could do it from a top-down approach. In Chicago you know you’re in a bad neighborhood because there’s a blinking blue light on a pole signifying that there’s a camera watching the street connected to Chicago police.
[via DetNews.com]

Report: Winterkorn says VW considering building first factory in …

The chief executive of Volkswagen AG says the German auto giant is considering building its first factory in North America.

Martin Winterkorn told the German weekly Focus that already VW is planning to set up a second administrative hub near Detroit, “to get closer” to its North American customers.

He also said that “if the dollar exchange rate stays at its present level, we will have to begin thinking about a factory in North America.”

The U.S. dollar, which began to weaken broadly in early 2002, has fallen more than 50 per cent from its October 2000 trading peak against the euro, which bought US$1.3623 on Friday.

Volkswagen is based in Wolfsburg, Germany. Its subsidiary, Volkswagen of America, is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The American economy, despite what the current administration keeps trying to say, has been beaten down over the last several years while Europe and Asia have been growing stronger. Anybody who has traveled abroad since 2002 knows this. Foreign investment in this country weakens while it strengthens in places like China and so nobody wants US dollars except for the Chinese who want to keep their currency from going up in relation to ours. But in some situations it advantageous to Americans like when cheapness in America becomes attractive to Europe.
[via Canada East]

• Buddy Guy plays the blues the way it’s supposed to be

At 71 years young, Buddy Guy remains the guitar hero’s guitar hero.

Guy acknowledged early in the show that Ann Arbor holds special significance to him, after the response to a 1967 concert he played at the Canterbury House convinced him that, at 31, he could make a living playing the blues.

“Ann Arbor made me feel like I could stop driving a tow truck,” he said. “You are the ones who gave me that lift.”

Leave it to Ann Arbor to convince you to drop out of the real world.
[via Ann Arbor News]

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