Obama became the first chief executive to receive the peace prize so early in his tenure.

A recent Associated Press article correctly noted that: “Obama was chosen for the award more for his aspirations and approach than his accomplishments thus far. The Nobel committee honored him for changing the tenor of international politics and pursuing goals that the winner himself says will take a world effort, like nuclear disarmament and reversing global warming.”

(NNPA)—University of Alabama running back Mark Ingram was awarded the Heisman Trophy Saturday night, the first Crimson Tide player to ever win college football’s most prestigious honor. And that is saying a lot when you consider such ’Bama greats as Joe Namath, Ken Stabler, Lee Roy Jordan, Ozzie Newsome and Cornelius Bennett.

The sophomore sensation’s on-field exploits would have never been recognized at the awards ceremony in New York, certainly not as a representative of the Crimson Tide, had it not been for the efforts of Vivian Malone and James Hood, two African-Americans who defied Gov. George C. Wallace’s famous 1963 “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” at Foster Auditorium.

For a number of years I’ve been a staunch advocate of prevention programs, but it’s obvious that new gold mines are called institutions of incarceration where the inmates are just housed. Formal education and the opportunity to learn a skill craft are almost nonexistent, and once they are released rehabilitation kicks in. Where was the rehab while they were locked up?

The outrageous statistics of the percentage of Black men incarcerated are printed and discussed everyday and a multitude of reasons given to some are valid but too many are excuses. The time is upon us that all of these people who run afoul of the law can’t be helped—much less saved, and too many people fool themselves that everybody can be saved. A number don’t want to be saved. In fact, large numbers fanaticize their lifestyle. I’ve heard them brag about how they got over with the ladies, burglaries, robberies of honest people and dope dealers and laugh at honest hard working people.

(REAL TIMES MEDIA)—For those who haven’t been watching the news lately, Tareq and Michaele Salahi have become the newest group of people to get famous for being famous. The couple, who are wannabe socialites in the D.C. area and erstwhile philanthropists, managed to sneak into the first official state dinner of the Obama White House. They shook hands with the president and first lady in the greeting line, took pictures with Joe Biden and hobnobbed the evening away without any proper identification or tickets to get into the event.