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Dr. Ben Carson Gets the Nod for HUD Secretary

ben-carson

President-Elect Donald J. Trump Intends to Nominate Dr. Ben Carson as Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

December 5,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  President-elect Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to nominate Dr. Ben Carson to serve as Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Dr. Carson is a distinguished national leader who overcame his troubled youth in the inner city of Detroit to become a renowned neurosurgeon who served as the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland.

“I am thrilled to nominate Dr. Ben Carson as our next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities. We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a Presidency representing all Americans. He is a tough competitor and never gives up.”

“I am honored to accept the opportunity to serve our country in the Trump administration,” said Dr. Carson. “I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need. We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation’s housing needs are met.”

Ben Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 18, 1951. While his mother lacked access to a quality education, she encouraged her sons in their scholastic pursuits and instilled the value of hard work. Carson graduated with honors from Southwestern High School, where he also became a senior commander in the school’s ROTC program. He earned a full scholarship to Yale University and graduated in 1973 with a B.A. degree in psychology.

Carson then enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Michigan, choosing to become a neurosurgeon. Dr. Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33 and earned fame for his groundbreaking work separating conjoined twins.

Twenty years ago, Carson and his wife Candy started the Carson Scholars Fund, which is now active in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It has provided more than 7,300 scholarships since 1994 to students from all backgrounds that achieve at the highest academic levels and community service. It also encompasses the Reading Room program and reading rooms have been placed throughout the country to stimulate a love for reading, especially in those who are underserved.

In 2000, the Library of Congress selected Dr. Carson as one of its “Living Legends.” The following year, CNN and Time magazine named Dr. Carson as one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists. In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP. In February 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Dr. Carson the Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Dr. Ben Carson : Refugee crisis can, and must, be solved by Syria’s neighbors

Ben Carson

December 1,2015
By Ben Carson

In the decades following World War II, the world witnessed the greatest movement of populations in history. War refugees from displaced persons camps in Europe were helped to begin life anew in other countries and on other continents. Massive population exchanges in Asia were often bloody and brutal, when the new countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh were created as Muslim states and India achieved independence, its population majority Hindu. At the same time, the Jewish state of Israel achieved independence and rose to the challenge of accepting refugees from neighboring Arab countries, from Yemen to Morocco to Egypt.

With one singular exception, all people who were refugees in the second half of the 20th century have long been settled and integrated in their new countries. The one exception, which has been allowed to languish and be used as a political pawn, is Palestine. This was done with the connivance of the United Nations and the Arab League. We don’t want to see similar manipulation and mishandling of today’s Middle East refugees, with Syrians fleeing the horrors of four years of civil war and terror.

Most Syrian refugees find themselves in Turkey or Jordan, where every aspect of life is extremely difficult. Those who arrive with savings are permitted to live in the cities, such as Amman, where food and other expenses are high. Because they are not permitted to work, they soon spend their savings. When the refugee families’ funds are gone, their only choice is to move into a refugee camp and live on U.N. food vouchers. Many are now housed in refugee camps, such as the one I visited, the Azraq refugee camp.

The Azraq camp is located in a bleak and deserted stretch of desert that was built to house Iraqis and Kuwaiti Gulf war refugees. First opening in 2014, the United Nations and Jordan built Azraq with the capacity to hold 130,000 residents, which would have made it the largest refugee camp in the region. Today it is nearly empty, with a population of around 27,000 residents.

Is the camp nearly empty because the authorities have been so efficient in resettling those refugees? Quite the contrary! Conditions in Azraq, and the failure of Arab nations to receive refugees, have led to the refugees’ desperate flight in unsafe boats to Europe.

Here is a picture of life in Azraq: The camp is a bleak expanse of row after row of white sheet metal shelters. There is no electricity or air conditioning or heat against the scalding desert summer temperatures or cold winds of winter. Lack of electricity adds further hardship, as people are forced to choose between having light to see their way to the bathroom at night (six shelters share one bathroom) and charging their cellphones, which connects them to family and the outside world.

Despite the fact that refugees are in host countries that share their language, culture, ethnicity and religion, they are not helped to integrate into those countries, or into the many neighboring Arab, Muslim countries. Many refugees are educated professionals; many have other skills and occupations. But they are not allowed to work, and their children do not attend schools.

No wonder they want to leave! And they have, in droves — some preferring to take their chances back in Syria.

The media has focused on Europe and the United States’s willingness or unwillingness to welcome these refugees. This focus is all wrong. The solution to the Syrian refugee crisis is with Syria’s neighbors.

Syrian refugee resettlement should be concentrated in Arab countries, which are in the best position to help. The rich Persian Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates — have the resources to provide services that refugees require. With no language barrier and no religious or cultural gaps to overcome, refugees can find new and fulfilling lives with only enough support to make the transition. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other refugee aid organizations can best use their resources to train these Gulf states to provide housing and social services effectively.

Syrians have a reputation as being very hard working, determined people, which should only enhance the overall economic health of the neighboring Arab countries that accept and integrate them into the general population. The humanitarian crisis presented by the fleeing Syrian refugees can be addressed if the nations of the world with resources would provide financial and material support to the aforementioned countries as well as encouragement. There is much beauty in Syria, and I suspect that many displaced Syrians will return there when peace is restored.

This is a forward-thinking and wise strategy.

Carson, a retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, is a candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination

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Carson thanks ‘biased media’ for $3.5M fundraising haul

Ben Carson

By Jordan Fabian

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson claims his campaign has pulled in $3.5 million in fundraising dollars this week thanks to “biased media” coverage.

“We the People have made 10,000 donations each day this week, raising $3.5M this week alone. Thank you biased media,” Carson tweeted Saturday.

Carson’s dig at the media comes amid heightened scrutiny of the his extraordinary life story as he has risen to the top of the GOP primary polls.

A Politico report claimed Carson fabricated a story from his youth about being offered a full scholarship to attend West Point. Another report from CNN questioned whether the candidateembellished tales of his violent upbringing in Detroit.

Carson reacted with fury Friday, accusing the media of conducting a “witch hunt” against him.

“Here’s my prediction: My prediction is that all of you guys piling on is actually going to help me, because when I go out to these book signings and I see these thousands of people, they say, ‘Don’t let the media get you down,’ ” he said.

“They understand that this is a witch hunt.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/259469-carson-thanks-biased-media-for-35m-fundraising-haul

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Carson Doubles Down: Abortions Are the Number One Cause of Death For Black People

Ben Carson

by Ken Meyer | 8:50 pm, August 13th, 2015

Dr. Ben Carson spoke with Eric Bolling on The O’Reilly Factor about his recent controversial statements about how Planned Parenthood clinics are strategically placed in order to control the African American population. Carson began the discussion by reiterating his position that Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was a eugenist who was “was not enamored of black people.”

As Bolling asked him about abortion rates in black communities, Carson responded by saying it was a matter of deciding whether those black lives matter as much.

“The number one cause of death for black people is abortion, and I wonder if maybe some people might at some point become concerned about that and ask, why is that happening,” Carson said. He went on to continue his point about Sanger’s alleged eugenics leanings, saying that if Parenthood employees learned about her, they’d be less keen to defend their practices:

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/carson-doubles-down-abortions-are-the-number-one-cause-of-death-for-black-people/