In an update to our post about Stephanie Tubbs Jones, I am sad to announce that the Congreewoman passed away yesterday at the age of 58.

She’s had career to proud of, here are some of the highlights:

• Ms. Tubbs Jones co-sponsored legislative efforts to expand health care coverage for low- and middle-income people and of programs supporting the re-entry of convicts into their communities
• She was the author of legislation requiring certification for mortgage brokers and stiffer penalties for predatory loans.
• In January 2005, Ms. Tubbs Jones joined Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, in initiating a challenge (quite rare) to Congress’ ratification of George W. Bush’s re-election. They objected to accepting Ohio’s 20 electoral votes for Mr. Bush and cited voting irregularities
• Ms. Tubbs Jones voted against emergency supplemental financing for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her reason is stated after the jump.

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U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and lots of white male politicians.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress, is in critical condition after suffering an aneurysm last night.” She is said to have limited brain function.

Tubbs Jones has long been one of the region’s most recognizable politicians. Often clad in red — the color of her sorority Delta Sigma Theta — she is a regular at parades, senior centers and schools. Her annual Labor Day picnic at Luke Easter Park is a must-stop for any serious Democratic candidate running in the city, county or state. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]

Tubbs Jones is 58 and has served five terms in Congress.

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Our green video of the week shows CNN’s Anderson Cooper tackle the topic of environmental racism. Environmental racism refers to the idea that race and class determine which areas you’ll find good things like parks and trees, and which areas you’ll find not so good things like pollution-pumping factories and industrial waste depots. A 2005 Associated Press study found that black people were 79% more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution is thought to impose the greatest health risks:

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Actor, director, and philanthropist Paul Newman is battling cancer, his longtime neighbor and business partner said Wednesday.

A.E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start Newman’s Own salad dressing company in the 1980s, said the 83-year-old actor told him about the disease about 18 months ago. He doesn’t say what kind of cancer but said Newman is in active treatment.

“I know that it’s a form of cancer,” Hotchner said. “It’s a form of cancer, and he’s dealing with it.”

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Before you make your next cell call, you may want to read this article at http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/05/healthscience/sncell.php. The piece warns about cellular phone dangers saying:

Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.” [International Health Tribune]

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Fareed Zakaria is bringing a new hour long program on foreign affairs and policy to CNN with GPS, an acronym for Global Public Square. The show, airing Sundays at 1PM, will feature Newsweek International Editor and Foreign Affairs expert Zakaria interviewing prominent figures from around the globe on current events and issues that affect the United States.

The purpose of the program is to fill the gap in US press coverage of international news and how it affects us here at home, which is obviously no small task given the enormous crater in American public knowledge about life outside the 50 states created by our infotainment news culture. But if anyone is up to the job, it’s Fareed Zakaria with his deep understanding of world affairs and vast experience covering international news around the globe.

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According to GOP consultant Alex Castellanos “tough, abbrasive, agressive, irritating” women deserve to be called bitches. See the clip below.

It doesn’t matter if you like Hillary or not, derogitory labels have any place in presidental campaigns.

However “bitch” isn’t always a bad thing.  and check out bitchmagazine.org. Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, is a print magazine devoted to feminist analysis and media criticism. Bitch features critiques of TV, movies, magazines, advertising, and other elements of pop culture.

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A teenage girl named Crystal has turned to Youtube to share her story of being raped. According to CNN, Crystal is among dozens of young people who are turning to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to talk about sexual assault.

Sadly, the comments which appear below the Youtube video are disgusting. Many think the girl is putting on an act, while others support the attacker. Everything about this makes me sick: the fact that a girl who claims she was raped has no where to turn but to the internet, that people commenting on the video think rape is funny, and that rape even happens at all. I’m really not sure what to make of all of this.

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It’s quite difficult to hold back tears and vomit as I read the disgusting report of a 73-year-old man in Austria who confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her! WTF!?

The father, called Mr. F, lived upstairs with his oblivious wife Rose F while his captive daughter and three of their kids remained locked in the basement! Again, in case you didn’t catch that, Rose F lived above four of her husbands prisoners and never noticed a thing!?

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Eight Florida teenagers, six of them girls will be tried as adults and could be sentenced to life in prison for their alleged roles in the videotaped beating of another teen, the state attorney’s office said Thursday. [CNN]

Okay first of all, gross, sad and gross. Second of all, why do people continue to tape themselves breaking the law?

The disgusting video (which I will not post here) shows a a 16-year-old being punched, kneed and slapped by other girls. Authorities say the eight teens said they attacked the victim after she posted insults against them on the Internet. Also, police say the teens planned to post the video on YouTube.

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