Negro Please

*SMH* Is this what Nas was talking about on Hip Hop Is Dead? The fact these wet-behind-the-ears rappers pop shit and have no regard for their elders who've paved the way for their asses? His album better be a classic.

C. Hamilton needs to humble himself cuz he could easily find his way back to his old cardboard mat. You ain't been off the streets that long, homie.

H/T to I.G.O.D. over at the9elements.

Barack Obama Elected POTUS

Never did I think I'd see this day. I was prepared for this election to be stolen with all of the reports of faulty touch screen voting machines.

A Black man and his family in the White House. Amazing. It's really empowering to know that we can now honestly tell young Black children that they can be president. This is so surreal. I'm speechless and all cried out over this joyous moment.

See you at the inauguration :-)

"Vote for Me"

Please get out and vote. Be informed and vote the issues and vote your interests. I don't care who you vote for. Actually I do ;-) but still, vote.

Condi Rice Admits to White House Torture Talks

I just heard this on The Rachel Maddow Show.

These are news results that I've found so far:
http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS247US254&um=1&tab=wn&hl=en&scoring=n&q=condi+rice+admits+torture+talks&btnG=Search+News

It's always safe to 'fess up on your way out *Rolls eyes* Disgusting.

Why Is Georgia Rushing to Kill Troy Davis?

What’s the Rush?
By Bob Herbert

Troy Davis, who was convicted of shooting a police officer to death in the parking lot of a Burger King in Savannah, Ga., is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday.

There is some question as to his guilt (even the pope has weighed in on this case), but the odds of Mr. Davis escaping the death penalty are very slim. Putting someone to death whose guilt is uncertain is always perverted, but there’s an extra dose of perversion in this case.

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether to hear a last-ditch appeal by Mr. Davis on Sept. 29. That’s six days after the state of Georgia plans to kill him.

Mr. Davis’s lawyers have tried desperately to have the execution postponed for those few days, but so far to no avail. Georgia is among the most cold-blooded of states when it comes to dispatching prisoners into eternity.

So the lawyers are now trying to get the Supreme Court to issue a stay, or decide before Tuesday on whether it will consider the appeal.

No one anywhere would benefit from killing Mr. Davis on Tuesday, as opposed to waiting a week to see how the Supreme Court rules. So why the rush? The murder happened in 1989, and Mr. Davis has been on death row for 17 years. Six or seven more days will hardly matter.

Most of the time, the court declines to hear such cases.

If that’s the decision this time, Georgia can get on with the dirty business of taking a human life. If the court agrees to hear the appeal, it would have an opportunity to get a little closer to the truth of what actually happened on the terrible night of Aug. 19, 1989, when Officer Mark Allen MacPhail was murdered.

He was shot as he went to the aid of a homeless man who was being pistol-whipped in the parking lot.

Nine witnesses testified against Mr. Davis at his trial in 1991, but seven of the nine have since changed their stories. One of the recanting witnesses, Dorothy Ferrell, said she was on parole when she testified and was afraid that she’d be sent back to prison if she didn’t agree to finger Mr. Davis.

She said in an affidavit: “I told the detective that Troy Davis was the shooter, even though the truth was that I didn’t know who shot the officer.”

Another witness, Darrell Collins, a teenager at the time of the murder, said the police had “scared” him into falsely testifying by threatening to charge him as an accessory to the crime. He said they told him that he might never get out of prison.

“I didn’t want to go to jail because I didn’t do nothing wrong,” he said.

At least three witnesses who testified against Mr. Davis (and a number of others who were not part of the trial) have since said that a man named Sylvester “Redd” Coles admitted that he was the one who had killed the officer. (More Stuff...)

For more information on Troy Davis, visit http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

Anti-Racism Activist Tim WIse

I'm fairly familiar with Wise's work. He's an author, essayist, and lecturer on anti-racism. After reading this blog entry of his, you'll see that his last name's very fitting.

This is Your Nation on White Privilege
By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.


White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.


White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.


White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.


White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”


White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.


White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.


White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.


White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.


And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…


White privilege is, in short, the problem. (Source)

Preach it White man! Preach it!

"So Sambo beat the bitch?" - Sarah Palin

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”

by Charley James –
“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.

Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”
Racial and ethnic slurs may be “just Alaska” and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.

Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N’-Fetch-It, “darkie musical” swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska’s Aboriginal people as “Arctic Arabs” – how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description – as well as the more colourful “mukluks” along with the totally unimaginative “f**king Eskimo’s,” according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.

But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We’re talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.
No wonder the vast sea of white, cheering faces at the Republican Convention went wild for Sarah: They adore the type, it’s in their genetic code. So much for McCain’s pledge of a “high road” campaign; Palin is incapable of being part of one. (More Stuff...)


Let's see how the MSM spins this. That's if they even wanna touch it. They're so enamored with this politically empty woman with all of their coverage of her beauty pageant days and game-winning jump shots that they forgot to mention that she touched on nothing of grave concern to the American people in her RNC speech. Dumb voters get what they deserve though. Her fans are too busy consuming fluff rather than concerning themselves with where this country is going.

Palin's embroiled in a scandal, but who gives a fuck? I mean, giiirl, did you see her frames? Black and Brown girls are vilified for getting knocked up but we've got lay off her daughter? Conservatives are conveniently turning a new leaf on teenage pregnancy and the use of the gender card and only The Daily Show is brave enough to call them out on their shit? This "woman" is sharing a ticket with a man who is against equal pay for women, and her female fans aren't taking issues with this? This nutjob is still a staunch supporter of pro-abstinence education after her daughter is pregnant --- where's the sense in that? Even if a woman or girl becomes pregnant through incest or rape, abortion is still a no-no in her book. So we should be going back to the days of bloody hangers left behind in an alley, right?

"Oh fuck the issues. She brought the championship home for her high school." - Stupid Americans

Americans "get the leaders they deserve..." - Bill Maher

Undeniable truth starting from the 2:00 mark.

Obama's DNC Speech

Although I won't be voting for Obama, I'm very proud of this moment in Black History. I never thought I'd live to see this day. Ever. Much props on this great speech.

Kucinich's "Wake Up America" Speech

Tell it, Kucinich! Tell it!

The Archie Bunker Vote

I remember when everybody was doing cartwheels and the electric slide when the democrats won the majority. Man please. My cynical ass was unimpressed because it's obvious that the democratic party doesn't serve as a good alternative to the republican party. They're always kowtowing and trying to appeal to the Archie Bunkers of America.

Why is this voting bloc so sought after? They're miserably dumb and have no business voting. It's one thing to be ignorant and open to different ideas but it's a whole 'nother thing to be shamelessly ignorant and stubborn. I really think IQ tests should be a part of voter registration. We've gotta weed out the bullshit. We can't be upset with sorry politicians when idiots keep putting them back in office. Call me psychic, but I had an inkling that we were in for some real shit when Bush stole the first election. Unfortunately, the Johnny-come-lately asses are starting to realize that Bush is a miserable failure.

When the presidential election turns into some high school popularity contest, you know we have a serious problem. The thing about this particular popularity contest is that it's being conducted by the bitter, least likely to succeed students. You know the types. They're the ones who are mocking Obama for being healthy (orange juice vs. coffee, taste for arugula, being fit). They're the idiots who can't relate to an overachieving, Ivy League-educated (half) Black American man from humble beginnings that recently paid off his student loans but can relate to an underachieving, Ivy League-educated White American blue blood dolt. They're the idiots that get riled up over gay rights rather than abject poverty and piss-poor school systems. They're the idiots that still think that there are WMDs to be found. They're the idiots that believe that Osama and Saddam were in cahoots when they're fundamentally polar opposites of one another. They're the idiots that question Obama's "American roots" because of his tanned skin and African name as if White skin and European names are historically American.

Whatever happened to priorities? Don't you want the next generation to have it better? Shouldn't our schools be on par with one another? Don't you wanna breathe in air that you can't see? Is the idea of fresh water not sexy enough? Why does a lapel pin made in China mean so much? Whatever happened to holding the government accountable for the economy? Why vilify illegal immigrants when it is greedy US employers that are passing up Americans for them? (And let's not forget that there are Americans who believe that they are above the work that illegal immigrants do) With that (il)logic, I guess Indians should be vilified cuz they are killing the customer service game right now.

You know, I actually do understand why the Archie Bunker voting bloc is sought after --- political exploitation. Ignorant and fearful people are easily manipulated by their emotions. You see how politicians treat them. They're not spoken to or treated as adults. They appeal to the Archie Bunker types' senses by hitting up bars and throwing back a few shots. Politicians feel the need to adopt the vernacular of Archie Bunker. Politicians feel the need to discuss moral fiber and faith ad nauseam. The issues don't seem to take center stage too often. They're too occupied with trying to convince Archie Bunker that they're just like them when they're not.

Politicians (and conservative media) have a major role in dumbing down the Archie Bunker voting bloc by not speaking honestly and accurately on the aforementioned issues. The political scene is a lot like the mainstream rap scene in a sense --- they're both in the business of retarding their audience cuz they've got their own agenda. But when the hell is the audience gonna wake and realize that they're being taken for a ride?

Going Green

Call me a flip-flopper but when I see that there isn't a desire to change, when my votes and needs as an American are being disrespected, I will defect and join a space that has my interests at heart. I was a Democrat, then Independent, and I will soon be changing my political party to Green.

I respect their platform. They're not kowtowing. They're not appeasing to racists and chauvinists. Their platform is radical in the sense that they are pro-American. They have strong ideas on education, the economy, affordable housing and gentrification, HIV/AIDS in America, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Y'know --- issues. And they're proud liberals.

I know some will say that it's not wise to vote for a candidate that's least likely to win. What I say to that is it is not wise to continue throwing your vote away. It is not wise to subscribe to a two-party system when it is not working. We need different perspectives brought to the political table. Americans have the right to plentiful options and it is time that we act like it.

Voting for the FISA Bill, kowtowing to AIPAC, changing positions on oil drilling, coming off soft to appeal to stubborn and ignorant voters --- I can't accept that. And I won't accept that for the superficial desire to have a Black president.

Cynthia McKinney - Run Cynthia Run
Rosa Clemente - Rosa Clemente, VP Nominee for the Green Party

Michael Moore Keeps It Real

How The Democrats Can Blow It ...In Six Easy Steps
A blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history
MICHAEL MOORE

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

So you would think the Democrats would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win! So when you hear Democrats and liberals and supporters of Barack Obama say they are worried that John McCain has a good chance of winning, they ain't a-kidding. Who would know better than the very people who have handed the Republicans one election after another on a silver platter? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits — and the candidate himself — spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night, as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats' past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era.

1. Keep saying nice things about McCain.
2. Pick a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican.
3. Keep writing speeches for Obama that make him sound like a hawk.
4. Forget that this was a historic year for women.
5. Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter.
6. Denounce me! (More Stuff...)

I've gotta agree. This will be another close election.

RIP Isaac Hayes

Awwww man :-( I loved his music.

Pioneering musician Isaac Hayes dead at 65
Memphis TV station says singer found on floor near home treadmill

Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.

A family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known.

In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic crooners like Barry White. And he was rapping before there was rap. (More Stuff...)

Here are some videos to remember him by:


"Theme From Shaft"



"Walk on By"

Fela Gets an Off-Broadway Play

Fela Off Broadway

For those unbeknownst, Fela Kuti is a legendary Nigerian performer and the founder of Afrobeat. He is admired amongst my relatives and amongst many Nigerians because of his talent, political commentary on albums, and his outspokenness on Nigeria's politrix.

Some of you may already be familiar with his son Femi. He collaborated with Common on "Time Travellin" for Like Water for Chocolate.

To learn more about Fela, check out these links:
Fela Kuti - Wiki page
The Fela Project

Obama Prayer

This made me smile...



I wish I knew the origin of the pic. I'd gotten this in an e-mail and it said nothing about where it came from.

Jackass of Spades: Jim Jones aka...

... Jimmy Ones (as per Nas who asserts that "There's only one Jones in New York.").




*Sighs*

Have you really followed Nas, Jimmy? Nas always touches on socioeconomic issues.

I mean, how many mainstream or marginally successful rappers as of right now are really addressing the self-esteem of Black people? How many in that group are addressing the sexism towards women via The Bible? How many in that group have challenged the media's racist coverage of Black people in an intelligent fashion? How many in that group have touched on racism in a constructive manner?

If Nas were like the aforementioned group who wants to be real-life American Gangsters and/or the Black Tony Montanas (yes, yes, Nas sold out in the past), you wouldn't have shit to say. Or maybe you would. Dumb rappers are always beating their chests and trying to prove how "real" they are by being studio gangstas or pulling other rappers' cards. *Rolls eyes*

Somebody Rick Ross this dude already. He hasn't figured out that his time is up.

H/T to my dude IGOD at T9E.

The 9 Elements - In A Shock To No One, Jim Jones Calls NaS A Dweeb For His FOX Stance

The Obama Problem: Being Uppity Niggers That Don't Know Their Place

Obama Is Just Not A Good Negro
by Earnest Harris

I'm about at the end of my rope as it relates to giving certain people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to how they respond to and treat Barack Obama and his family.

By "certain people" I am referring to the mainstream media (MSM) and to be frank, conservatives, most of whom are white, but by no means is this category limited only to whites. And by the way, I include some Hillary supporters and other Democrats in this category as well, because I don't for a minute believe just being in the Democratic Party makes one truly liberal or progressive.

But I have tried for quite some time in this campaign, and even before, as it relates to other situations in my lifetime, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to offer potential excuses for behavior that is so undeniably indicative of at minimum a double standard for how minorities are treated as compared to whites, and at worst, outright racism, and I do hesitate most of the time to use that word.

What has become very clear to me in the aftermath of Obama's historic trip to the Middle East and Europe is that the root of the opposition to, and extremely palpable dislike for Obama (and Michelle), is that he is just not behaving like the good negro that is expected of him. He has stepped out of his "place," beyond his station, into a position that was not agreed to and chosen for him by others. In short, he is being "uppity," that ultimate charge leveled at blacks for generations when they dared try to equate themselves with those who they should know are better than them.

Just look at some of the things that have been said, loudly and quietly, about Obama since this trip, which clearly pushed some of these people over the edge. In report after report, comment after comment, you could hear the grumblings. Obama was acting like a rock star; Obama was already acting like he was President; Obama was presumptuous; the trip and his talking in front of large crowds are symptomatic of Obama's hubris, his arrogance.

It was truly strange. Here you had an American man who was welcomed with open arms, indeed with great excitement about a new era that he just might represent, and many on the right (and some in his own party) were acting like he did something wrong. The double standard that couldn't be missed was that John McCain had essentially taken the same trip, and more, since he also went to Mexico and Colombia. And not once do I recall the MSM, or even the Democrats, questioning his right to go and the value of such a trip. Not once. But Obama goes and is greeted with much more excitement (an understatement) and he has to defend the trip. Outrageous. It is like Obama said himself at the Unity Conference this weekend in Chicago, it's like he is being punished for doing the trip better than McCain could. And for being more popular.

But you see, I don't ultimately think it is about whether or not Obama did it better or not. It is increasingly clear that this is about the fact that seeing a Black man (at least one who identifies as such in his case) in front of that crowd in Germany, seeing him with those heads of state, in a role as possible leader of the free world, was just too much. True colors are just starting to bleed through. We could see it coming with some people even before this trip. There were comments that Barack and Michelle were trying to act like the Black Kennedy's and there was, and still is of course, the much talked about charge that they are elitists. This charge has always been the most curious. It has come mostly, though not entirely, from Republicans who elected a current President who comes from generations of money and truly elite circles. How much more elite can a person be when their father was a President? Even McCain and his wife fit the definition of elite better, his father a Navy Admiral and his wife from one of the wealthiest families in the country. The Obama's, by all accounts, are from working class homes with no one in their families in a position to have "given" them anything they got. And yet it is the Obama's who are called elite.

No, they are not elitist. They are just minorities who are above and beyond what certain people are used to seeing, are better than what certain people are comfortable accepting since they do force the undeniable realization that they are indeed anybody's equal. And that just seems to be too much for some people to handle. (More Stuff...)

Well said Mr. Harris.

I mean, really. How in the world is Dubya more relatable than the Obamas? He's an American blue blood that had everything (including his terms as president) handed to him. And McCain and Hillary are not more relatable either. Hillary was killing me with that "elitist" mess. I don't care how many drinks you throw back with working class folk at a bar --- you ain't down wit 'em.

Anyway, the Obamas were working class (Barack was a welfare kid and Michelle's dad was a city employee for those unbeknownst) and had to overcome racial hurdles to get where they are today. Of course Michelle wasn't working class by her naysayers' standards cuz she didn't come out of Cabrini-Green. Last I checked, "working class" and "blue collar" can be used interchangeably. But I'll let the naysayers revise terms and argue semantics to suit their moot arguments.

This just goes to back to the failed effort to niggerize the Obamas. The Obamas don't fit the sordid stereotypes of Black folks that can be found ad nauseam by a Viacom network. The next strategy (that seems to be sticking with the feeble-minded, Archie Bunker types) was to Muslimize him. *Sighs* Only in American can you be a jihadist Muslim that frequents the church of a "radical," "anti-American," and "racist" preacher.

And why is being Muslim bad again? Oh yeah. Because of what happened twice at the WTC. Funny though, I don't see anyone vilifying disturbed White war veterans because of what happened in Oklahoma City. I guess it's sensible to have a selective memory and to be selective with the types of people we fear.

And why is being Muslim such a bad thing all of a sudden? I mean, we don't seem to mind their oil one bit. Islam's evil cuz of the WTC and other 9-11 attacks yet Christianity and Catholicism were, and are still used as tools to propagate some of the most heinous crimes to humankind. And with knowing that, I still don't feel the need to vilify Muslims and Christians/Catholics. Logic trumps media-controlled emotion in my book.

The Archie Bunker types puzzle me. Why is being stupid easier? Does critical thought cause headaches and rashes?

For My Naija Peeps

"Lollipop (African Remix)"

LMAO!!!

Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Crocodile Tears

*Sighs*

She was getting her Hillary on in that video wasn't she?

You know, I understand that there are Whites who were so sheltered that they're ignorant to the experiences of POC. Elisabeth is not of the aforementioned sheltered variety. She is running a hustle. Her hustles toggle amongst being a victimized neo-con, a picked-on White woman, and a blond airhead. Rinse. Repeat. Since I recognize game and am allergic to bullshit, I'm utterly bored with her feigned ignorance and pseudo-utopian views of race relations in the States.

For Elisabeth to say, with a straight face, that she and Whoopi live in the same world is patronizing and a boldfaced lie.

I mean, has she ever been advised to name her children "safe" names so as to ensure that they will be employable in the future? Has she ever been put in the position of speaking for her race? Has she ever been robbed of her emotions so as to not intimidate others and/or confirm their negative stereotypes about her? Has she ever had to pay a "White Tax" to prove that she's half as good as a Black person? I'll answer for her and say "No."

She's never walked a day in a POC's shoes so I can't take her myopic bullshit of a point-of-view seriously. And she seems to have a problem with LISTENING and loves to talk over people. She just wants to prove her case no matter what bullshit flies out of her mouth. I'd like to hear her challenge the LGBT, Italian, Latin, and other communities for their affectionate use of slurs directed towards their respective communities. I hope that she's challenging White women who embrace "bitch" and "on the rag."

The fundamentals of in-house jokes aren't rocket science. If my family called me "peanut head" or "stink butt," that doesn't give some outsider the right to use it as well. What's confusing about that?

Aside from her feigned concern for race relations, I was very annoyed by her turning on the waterworks. That was a great way to finish off the victimized neo-con, picked-on White woman hustle. Her act is sooo transparent but it amazes me that there are people (who are hell-bent on protecting White damsels in distress at any cost) who stay falling for the okey-doke. They say a sucker's born every minute. Seems like the lot of them watch Faux News.

How can Whoopi, Joy, and Sherri stand her? Are they in on this hustle?

"Autism Is a Fraud" and "Asthma Is a Money Racket" as Per Michael Savage

As you can see, trash radio is a huge market. I have a weakness for trash, but this type of trash carries a nasty stench.

For anyone who's idiotic enough to take Michael Savage's words as the gospel, here's some info on autism and asthma.

Here's a link if you wanna take action.

Why Are We Doing Business With Those That We Wanna "Obliterate?"

Another non-major media gem.

From the NY Daily News

U.S. exports to Iran grow tenfold during Bush years
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - U.S. exports to Iran- including brassieres, bull semen, cosmetics and possibly even weapons - grew more than tenfold during President Bush's years in office even as he accused Iran of nuclear ambitions and helping terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran , at least $158 million worth under Bush, than any other products.

Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume and musical instruments. Top states shipping goods to Iran include California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of seven years of U.S. government trade data.

Despite increasingly tough rhetoric toward Iran, which Bush has called part of an "axis of evil," U.S. trade in a range of goods survives on-again, off-again sanctions originally imposed nearly three decades ago. The rules allow sales of agricultural commodities, medicine and a few other categories of goods. The exemptions are designed to help Iranian families even as the United States pressures Iran's leaders.

"Our sanctions are targeted against the regime, not the people," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions. The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it's unclear whether anyone pays attention.

Sanctions are intended in part to frustrate Iran's efforts to build its military, but the U.S. government's own figures show at least $148,000 worth of unspecified weapons and other military gear were exported from the United States to Iran during Bush's time in office. That includes $106,635 in military rifles and $8,760 in rifle parts and accessories shipped in 2004, the data shows.

Also shipped to Iran were at least $13,000 in "aircraft launching gear and/or deck arrestors," equipment needed to launch jets from aircraft carriers, according to U.S. records. Iran's navy is not believed to own or operate any carriers.

Those numbers may seem small, but military items can sell for pennies on the dollar compared with what the Pentagon paid. Last year, federal agents seized four F-14 fighter jets sold to domestic buyers by an officer at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Calif., for $2,000 to $4,000 each, with proceeds benefiting a squadron recreation fund. When F-14s were new, they cost roughly $38 million each.

Szubin said it was unlikely exports of military gear occurred, but added that the government was looking into it to be certain after the AP raised questions. He said shipping records are subject to human error, such as citing wrong commodity codes or recording "Iran" as the destination rather than "Iraq." The Treasury Department said Monday it was still checking to see whether it could offer an explanation. (More Stuff...)

It's Never Wise to Wear Out Your Welcome

Found this on the Huff Post.

US Withdrawal Timetable Insisted Upon By Iraqi Government
Sally Buzbee

BAGHDAD — Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.

President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.

U.S. officials had no immediate comment Tuesday on al-Rubaie's statement.

Al-Rubaie spoke to reporters after briefing Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf on the progress of the government's security efforts and the talks.

"Our stance in the negotiations underway with the American side will be strong ... We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn't have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq," al-Rubaie said. (More Stuff...)

How come major media outlets aren't covering this? I guess it was between this and the Christie Brinkley divorce proceedings.

CROSS-POST: Verizon in Trouble Over "TechNigga" Partnership; "Mastermind" Apologizes

From The 9 Elements.

Several civil rights activists and media watchdog groups are calling on Verizon Wireless and company CEO Lowell C. McAdam to drop its contract and distribution deal with Loren Feldman and 1938 Media for promoting stereotypes about African Americans.

1938’s president Loren Feldman—who is white—hosts and stars in a skit titled “TechNigga” on the company web site.

In the three minute long skit, Feldman wonders aloud about the lack of black technology bloggers on the Internet.

“I’d love to see the black tech crunch and get a different cultural view on technology, that would be unbelievable,” he says in the skit. “I wonder what that would be like.”

After the screen fades out, Feldman comes back draped in a wave cap and costume jewelry representing fictional site “TheTechNigga.com.

”He is later seen on camera drinking and discussing another fictional site, “HoTracker.com.”

"Feldman has a history of using the Internet to promote racism and demeaning and negative racial stereotypes against African Americans on his internet site,” Najee Ali of Project Islamic Hope said in a statement.

“Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam needs to demonstrate that Verizon understands they should demonstrate corporate responsibility and will not tolerate racism, or bigotry. The Verizon distribution deal with Feldman sends a horrible message that Verizon seeks to partner with racists like Feldman and that Verizon and CEO McAdam find nothing offensive with 'TechNigga',” he added.

Ali and Project Islamic Hope, The National Action Network, L.A. Humanity Foundation, Sister Tammy Lee of Sister Lee Media Group, and Industry Ears are also calling on people to contact Feldman concerning the deal with 1938.

He can be reached here.

A national day of protest is in the works if Verizon fails to take action and drop its deal with 1938. SOURCE

How in the world did Verizon miss this one? Don't they have someone on staff to do their homework for things like this?

I find it ironic that for the past couple of years Verizon has been voted as a top diverse leader.

You kmow, I plan to leave T-Mobile soon and I was debating between switching to Verizon or Sprint. I guess Sprint won this one.

Peep Feldman's sorry-ass apology:

"I want to apologize to all the black tech bloggers. It could have been any ethnic group. It could have been gay guys, could have been Jews, could have been micks, skinnies, chinks, any of them...It was just your guys' bad luck that it went down that way...I'm a fucking idiot comedian and I did this." More Stuff...

The Black Female Has No Value As Per the Black Community

“I am sickened because this means that a black man who abuses dogs will go to jail, while a black man who abuses black girls will suffer no consequences,” Cobb told BlackAmericaWeb.com, referring to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding former NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving a 23-month prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/kellyverdictreaction616

I was really disturbed by the not guilty verdict of the R. Kelly trial. Now that I think about it, I was more disturbed by the lack of regard for the Black girls that he preyed upon. The lack of regard is indicative of our community's feelings towards Black females --- we are to be treated with total disregard and to be disposed of as absolute trash. Isn't it strange how that same sentiment is shared by some members of the White community with regards to Blacks as a collective?

Where does this resentment come from? Does it come from the fear of sending another brotha to jail? Does it come from the satisfaction of mistreating people because of what you've been dealt? Is this behavior reflective of a poor mother and son relationship? And where are their fathers for the proper guidance? Why is there a special love for slut culture in our community? Why is this type of behavior acceptable?

"The Black man doesn't belong in jail."
I can accept that. It's not the Black man's destiny to be ex-cons. I don't care what those garbage rap songs say. I don't care about that false sense of manhood that's embraced by far too many in the 'hood. We are not supposed to be useless members of society. Walking the path of lawlessness is not what's hot in the long run. So when it's said that the Black man doesn't belong in jail, I can accept that. But what about the knucklehead that needs to be properly reprimanded? What about closure for the victims and their families? Whatever happened to preserving the quality of life of your environment and wanting something better for the little shorties coming up in the world?

I understand the origins of the Stop Snitching movement but we're only hurting ourselves. The law-abiding and the lawless shouldn't have to coexist. My safety shouldn't have to be compromised over some bullshit solidarity for degenerates. Fuck that.

Sexism as a Reaction to Racism.
The Black woman has two strikes working against her. For whatever reason, a lot of Black men don't wanna acknowledge it cuz they'd rather engage in a contest over adversities. It's understood that brothas have got it hard due to racism and I'd never pretend that it doesn't exist. But please, understand that we too have it hard as we are dealing with both racism and sexism on the daily. Don't trivialize our pain as you wouldn't appreciate that being done to you. Support, like respect, is a two-way street.

Is Momma to Blame? Yup. And So Are Absentee Dads.
The pattern that I see with a lot of men these days is this reluctance to man up. I think this problem is enabled by their mothers' unwillingness to cut the cord or their mothers are expecting them to automatically know everything as if children don't come into the world with a clean slate. What also enables this problem is the uninvolved father who wasn't there to properly groom their boys into decent human beings.

I see it all the time when a mother's going "Not my baby. My baby wouldn't do that." Or they're coddling their sons from much needed reprimand for their wrongdoing. Mothers also don't give their sons enough responsibility (e.g., chores), like to cut them a lot of slack (e.g., lax curfews), and they also have low expectations of their sons (e.g., "At least he ain't out running in the streets."). Why is that supposed to be OK? And why aren't Black girls afforded the same treatment? What makes us so bad that we aren't given a pass for the same things Black boys do?

Now, absentee fathers do not help this situation at all. Being uninvolved in the development of a boy does serious damage. The boy feels like no one cares about him, there's no real male role model for him, and this all feeds into him becoming an uncaring, irresponsible man.

Because of those problems it's fundamental that a child is raised by both parents. It's especially helpful that both parents be well-adjusted. I can't stand the large number of immature people having children. It grinds the hell out of my gears.

The Love of Slut Culture.
Slut culture has been around for eons. But since the mid 90s, the culture has been on steroids. There isn't a day where you don't see a Black music video with a girl gyrating her hips while being scantily clad. I hate those videos because they always feature Black (or partially Black) women. This isn't how I like to see us represented to the world. I especially hate those videos because they're targeted to children. These kids can't decipher between real and make-believe so why is it acceptable for them to watch those garbage videos?

I don't want little Black girls thinking that all they have to offer are their bodies. I don't want little Black girls to not build on their intellect. I know some people will say "People should raise their own damned kids." Well guess what? A large number of people aren't raising their own damned kids. Should those parentless children fend for themselves and go the wayward path so that people can feel guilt-free when they're "stepping in the name of love?" Aren't those kids worthy of protection and guidance? Of course not. It's perfectly acceptable for young girls to deviate into Black girls lost looking for love and attention in the absolute worst places because no one cares to put them on the right path, nurture them, and teach them that they're beautiful no matter their hair texture or skin tone. It's perfectly acceptable for Black girls to engage in risky behaviors when they're already the largest group of STD carriers.

The Black female has been turned into a malcontent and that's an accepted notion in our community. And this isn't an indictment against Black men. They're not alone in throwing the Black female under the bus. It takes the apathy or full acceptance from Black women to realize such a notion as well.

It boggles my mind that these sellouts are jumping over each other to absolve R. Kelly and his ilk of any crime against Black girls. They've even got the gall to quote The Bible. The consensus from the intellectuals of the Essence.com reader comments section is "Only God should judge." Man, shut the fuck up! That is absolute bullshit when applied to a SERIAL STATUTORY RAPIST. What business does a grown-ass man have fucking a 14-year-old GIRL? What business does that same dirtbag have marrying a 15-year-old GIRL? What business does that man have hanging around the Rock and Roll McDonald's on prom night? What business does that man have hanging around Kenwood Academy? There's no exemption to be applied when examining despicable behavior. I mean, what will it take for members of our community to cut this nigga loose? If there were boys on that sex tape, would that do the trick?

Why Is This Behavior Acceptable?
I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the accepted disdain for the Black female. After all of what's been mentioned earlier I just can't accept that it's OK or deem it understandable to reject the Black female the way that our community has. All we've ever done is repeatedly assume the role of foot soldier and sacrificial lamb. Perhaps it is that type of selflessness that is causing this problem.

Angela Davis has a great quote about society and sexism and I'd like to end this piece with it: "To understand how any society functions you must understand the relationship between the men and the women."

Please sign the petition in the column, Black Men Against Exploitation of Black Women.

*Downloads Canadian Citizenship Application*

Israel Prodding U.S. To Attack Iran
White House Weighs Striking Iran's Nuclear Complex, Which Could Trigger 3rd War In Region

(CBS) Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen leaves Tuesday night on an overseas trip that will take him to Israel, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. The trip has been scheduled for some time but U.S. officials say it comes just as the Israelis are mounting a full court press to get the Bush administration to strike Iran's nuclear complex.

CBS consultant Michael Oren says Israel doesn't want to wait for a new administration.

"The Israelis have been assured by the Bush administration that the Bush administration will not allow Iran to nuclearize," Oren said. "Israelis are uncertain about what would be the policies of the next administration vis-à-vis Iran."

Israel's message is simple: If you don't, we will. Israel held a dress rehearsal for a strike earlier this month, but military analysts say Israel can not do it alone.

"Keep in mind that Israel does not have strategic bombers," Oren said. "The Israeli Air Force is not the American Air Force. Israel can not eliminate Iran's nuclear program."

The U.S. with its stealth bombers and cruise missiles has a much greater capability. Vice President Cheney is said to favor a strike, but both Mullen and Defense Secretary Gates are opposed to an attack which could touch off a third war in the region.

U.S. intelligence estimates Iran won't be able to build a weapon until sometime early in the next decade. But Israel is operating on a much shorter timetable.

"The Iranians, according to Israeli security sources, will have an operable nuclear weapon by 2009. That's not a very long time," Oren said.

For now, the Bush administration is counting on new economic sanctions which took effect Tuesday to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program. But nobody's counting on it. (Source)

I guess it doesn't matter that we're already involved in two unsuccessful wars. I guess it also doesn't matter that there are 4.103 confirmed deaths in Iraq. The number of Iraqi casualties eclipses the number of fallen soldiers.

George Dubya Bush should be proud. A truly fine American.[/extreme sarcasm]

Hillary Supporters? You Have My Blessing to Vote for McCain

I stumbled upon this article a few days ago and it left me wondering "Why?"


Obama and the Democrats Owe Hillary Clinton and Her Supporters a Formal Apology for the Campaign's Sexism

by Bonnie Erbe

Sen. Hillary Clinton may have come out full bore for the Barack Obama campaign on Saturday, but many of her supporters are having none of it.

Check out this CNN video on YouTube, which sums up the palpable anger many of her supporters feel. Another must-see Web stop is Ed Hale's site, hcsfjm.com. That is shorthand for Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain. Hale claims to have garnered 35,000 supporters within a week of launching the site.

The Democratic National Committee either doesn't get it or refuses to admit it. Nothing short of a lengthy, detailed mea culpa by the DNC and by Obama himself, directed to Clinton supporters for the sexist name-calling and personal, nasty characterizations Clinton was alone forced to endure, will do. Even that may not persuade these voters to consider supporting the party this fall. The DNC, Democratic Party leaders in Congress, and Obama should have been at her side, calling her treatment by the media (and even by some Obama supporters) unacceptable.

(More Stuff...)

I'm sorry but I don't understand how you can suggest that the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party owe Hillary an apology. On what grounds exactly? Your article failed to substantiate any claims of sexism on the part of Barack Obama, his campaign, and the Democratic party.

I also don't understand how sexism is to blame for Hillary's loss. Is Obama completely devoid of merit? Have the American people not spoken? Did Obama not run a better, cleaner campaign with stronger financial backing? Wasn't it Hillary who discredited the value of caucuses? Wasn't it Hillary who wanted to revise the party rules to her liking? Was Hillary not taken by surprise as she felt that she had this presidential bid in the bag due to her false sense of entitlement?

Hillary repeatedly race-baited and was divisive along class lines. Bubba was asked to stop attacking Obama. Hillary is a selfish, horrible liar. Hillary used right-wing, Rovian tactics and still lost. Hillary insulted the American people. For you to make Hillary out to be the victim is very telling of how much attention you paid to the presidential bid on both ends. And I don't believe that she and Chelsea weren't victims of sexism, but to suggest that Obama and the Democrats owe her an apology --- why? The Clintons constantly attacked Obama. Did you miss this gem? She should also apologize to the Kennedy clan while she's added. Perhaps you should direct your apology request to the likes of Chris Matthews.

The Clintons should also apologize to the Black community for taking our support for granted. Many in the community foolishly stood by her husband when the Monica Lewinsky scandal went down. So in return for the support, 1.) Trivialize Obama's South Carolina victories and compare it to that of Jesse Jackson's South Carolina victories in his previous bid, 2.) Trivialize the Civil Rights movement by only recognizing LBJ for signing the Civil Rights Act, and 3.) Align your campaign with Bob "Dirtbag" Johnson of the Blaxploitation Entertainment Network.

Hillary should also apologize to women for taking "testicular fortitude" as anything short of a sexist statement. She owes an even bigger apology to the working class community to whom she is hugely indebted.

If you're looking to support John McCain or stay home, do whatever makes you feel better. Shoot yourself in the foot cuz a vote for McCain is a vote against the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. A vote for McCain is a vote against the economy. A vote for McCain is a vote to prolong the quagmire in Iraq. A vote for McCain is a vote against a woman's reproductive rights.

So just to make sure we've got it all covered, McCain doesn't care about women, the troops, and is ignorant of the economy and he's your plan B out of spite? When you consider the aforementioned, who are you really hurting?

Kucinich Proposes 35-Article Impeachment Against Dubya

I got this in an email from Democrats.com:

Kucinich Introduces 35 Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush!
On Monday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich made history on the floor of the House by reading 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.

At last!!!!!

We've waited years to find one Member of Congress brave enough to stand up for our Constitution, for which generations of Americans have fought and died. We are thrilled and honored that Dennis Kucinich has chosen to be that one genuine patriot.

We congratulate him on his historic leadership, and pledge to do everything in our power to persuade the House to adopt all 35 Articles and put George W. Bush on trial before the Senate of the United States, exactly as the Founding Fathers wanted.

Of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-8), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5), and Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (IL-5) all remain adamantly opposed to impeachment - despite the overwhelming evidence of High Crimes, including the "Phase II" report by the Senate Intellligence Committee and Scott McClellan's new book.

And when Rep. Robert Wexler (FL-19) called for Judiciary Committee hearings on Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney in January, only 17 Democrats joined them: Neil Abercrombie (HI-1), Tammy Baldwin (WI-2), Michael Capuano (MA-8), Yvette Clarke (NY-11), Lacy Clay (MO-1), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Sam Farr (CA-17), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7), Luis Gutierrez (IL-4), Barbara Lee (CA-9), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Jim Moran (VA-8), Mike Thompson (CA-1), Ed Towns (NY-10), and Lynn Woolsey (CA-6).

So Kucinich's heroic efforts will be in vain unless we inundate Congress with emails and calls (202-224-3121) showing our full support for Rep. Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment:

http://www.democrats.com/35-articles-of-impeachment

And if you have time to do more, please login to Democrats.com, click "Local" and connect with other activists in your Congressional District to organize a Honk-To-Impeach gathering at the District Office of your Representative or a major local intersection:

http://www.democrats.com/honktoimpeach

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your constant support throughout this long and historic struggle.

Bob Fertik

Let's do our part people. Let us not allow Congress to put the brakes on this.

Much props to Dennis Kucinich for being a fine American.

A Sign of Progressiveness [/Extreme Sarcasm]

*Sighs* I took the above pic at Astor Place on the 6 train line in liberal, progressive NYC. Whatever. There are neighborhoods that my Black ass wouldn't be caught dead in. The South isn't anymore racist than the North and I'm sick of the myth suggesting that the South is worse. The South has James Byrd, Jr. and The North has Sean Bell. No need to argue.

I was livid when I read that insult in the above pic. I felt very hurt. I felt insulted. I saw red. Like I haven't been this enraged in my life. The type of rage I had is the kind that you have after watching a marathon of Roots, Eyes on the Prize, and the Rodney King beating video. That's how pissed I was.

Racism always tests my rationale. Acts like this always leave me distrustful of White people. I know it's wrong. I know plenty of good White people. I should know better but. I know. But I can't help the thoughts that run through my mind when I'm angry. Who knows if the vandal is actually White though.

With all of this hatred leveled at Obama, I wonder "Why are White people scared of us?" "What warrants the hatred?" They make up over 75% of the country so what gives? Is there a fear of a revolution amongst Black people? I don't see that happening. A number of us Black folks are content with their byproducts of Americanism (e.g., HD TVs, iPods, auto financing), think racism is becoming a thing of the past, or are riddled with apathy. Then there's the number of us who know the obstacles that we face yet continue to persevere. I'm a member of the aforementioned group but still I wonder how that works. Like how mentally stable are we?

Does racism seem a tad bit overt now since Obama's campaign? How should one deal with racism? What say you?

Young Woman Killed Over a Bruised Ego

Teen shot after rebuffing advances dies
Mildred Beaubrun's family wants to find the man who shot her after she rejected advances.

RIP Mildred.

Susan Jacobson Sentinel Staff Writer
June 4, 2008

Mildred Beaubrun's family celebrated her final birthday, her 19th, with cards and balloons at her bedside Sunday at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Two days later, the young woman, who was shot after she rebuffed the advances of several men who spotted her at a downtown Orlando gas station last month, was declared brain-dead and removed from life support.

Beaubrun's mother, grandmother and aunt stood beside her, stroking her hair and hands, crying and praying as the machines were turned off. Now, they want the public's help in tracking down her killers.

"I let her know: Thank you -- thank you for being here," said Beaubrun's aunt, Margaret Francis of Marietta, Ga. "It's going to be all right. She's in God's hands."

Beaubrun of west Orange County and two girlfriends were accosted early May 19 after a night of partying at Club Firestone. As they left a 7-Eleven on Colonial Drive after buying gas and something to drink, three or four men in a silver or gray Chevrolet HHR followed their dark-blue Nissan Maxima.

"Hey, baby, what's your phone number?" they called out as the cars headed west.

At John Young Parkway and Princeton Street, a bullet ripped through the door of the Maxima and shrapnel struck Beaubrun, who was sitting in the back seat. She had been fighting for her life ever since, losing part of a lung, beating back pneumonia and suffering potentially paralyzing spinal damage.

In the end, her injuries were too severe. She died about 1 p.m. Tuesday, her family said.

"Every day was a struggle," Francis said. "She was fighting to be here." (More Stuff...)

This breaks my heart. This young girl was killed. And over what? A fucking bruised ego? Who failed those little boys that holla'd her? Who didn't teach them to take rejection like men? Why is it OK to kill over rejection which was terribly misconstrued as disrespect? Why do women have to handle men so delicately as if they're a ticking time bomb?

I used to just shake my head at my friends who would oh so politely turn down an unrelenting guy who wanted their number (read as "ass"). They did so in order to not be called a "bitch." I'm not like them. I hate giving out fake numbers. I hated lying about having a man (now I have one and it's the same unrelenting behavior). They don't let up when you tell them you're involved: "We can be friends." "Well, does he allow you to have friends?" "Are you faithful?" "Is he faithful?" Why can't I reject some sex-thirsty clown that acts like that? You're acting desperately and I'm supposed to want you? Huh?

I've been called a "bitch" and "stuck-up" for refusing the advances of jackasses who would interfere with my personal space, grab my arm, hit me with a host of questions regarding my relationship, or yell out "Ay you, with the tight jeans on!" or "Ay you, with the big ass." That's very attractive. I mean, why wouldn't I wanna give you the goods after that? *Sighs* This is the reason I wear a "'FUCK OUT MY FACE" scowl when I'm at the unofficial singles venue (read as "outside of my home"). My friends act like I'm bugging when I put up a shield but this act of madness and the aforementioned behavior warrant my actions.

I don't know what's in the water these days, but we've got a new brand of jackasses that can't handle rejection. Especially when in the company of their boys. What are women to do about street harrassment? Should we handle these fools delicately? Seems like being insulted is the very least that can be done.


MUST-READ LINKS:

UPDATE: Mildred Beaubrun passes on
Mildred Braeburn: Rest In Peace for Sticking to Your Principles

Barack Obama Becomes the Democratic Nominee; Michelle's "Whitey" Tape

Obama Clinches Nomination, Capping Historic, Bitter Contest:
First African-American To Lead a Major Party Ticket; Clinton Refuses to Concede
By JACKIE CALMES

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama captured enough convention delegates Tuesday to make a historic claim to the Democratic presidential nomination, the first African-American to earn a major party's nod.

The first-term Illinois senator defeated what had once been the most powerful machine in the party. His rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who sought to be history's first female nominee, saluted him. But she did not concede, even as she signaled openness to being considered as his vice presidential running mate.

Sen. Clinton's refusal to drop out immediately came after her surprise win in South Dakota's primary Tuesday. That victory didn't change the dynamics of the race. But it underscored some of Sen. Obama's weaknesses, which were on display over the final month of the long campaign, when he suffered a string of landslide losses to his challenger.

Still, the nomination marked a remarkable accomplishment for the son of a Kenyan immigrant who spent part of his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia.

"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States of America," Sen. Obama told an estimated 32,000 people gathered in St. Paul, Minn., late Tuesday. (More Stuff...)

All I can say right now is that I'm very excited for him. I don't wanna get too excited because I can only imagine what the Republicans have in store for him. So far, there's this alleged tape out there of Michelle Obama sitting on a panel with Louis Farrakhan and tossing around epithets like "Whitey." If this has been around, then why hasn't it come out yet? I guess they're looking to ether Obama's campaign. We'll just wait and see.

Here's Obama's victory speech



UPDATE: Just wanted to add this pic



Now that's looove :-) H/T to Yaowwwwww!!! on that pic.

MUST-READ:
So Will the INFAMOUS Michelle Obama Tape Drop Today???

Why I Like Keith Olbermann Pt. 2

Part 1




Part 2



And Billary is such a bad liar. According to Daily Kos, Bill Clinton became the presidential nominee in April 1992 --- not June 1992. I guess Billary will say anything and think it will stick.

Cable News and the Fostering of Xenophobia

Fear & Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News

"Number one, the illegal aliens shouldn't be here. And number two, the culture from which they come is a lot more violent than the USA."
-- The O'Reilly Factor, January 15, 2007

There are many problems facing the United States today: a faltering economy, a health-care crisis, and the continuing war in Iraq, to name a few. But viewers of some of the most prominent cable news programs are presented a different reality in which one issue stands above all others: illegal immigration.

Media Matters Action Network undertook this study in order to document how immigration is discussed and debated on cable news. When it comes to immigration, cable news overflows not just with vitriolic rhetoric, but also with a series of myths that feed viewers' resentment and fears, fostering hostility toward immigrants.

We focus our analysis on a trio of cable commentators: Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. While hosts on other cable programs regularly discuss illegal immigration (particularly on Fox News, where it is a frequent topic on Hannity & Colmes and Special Report with Brit Hume), these three are the most notable for a number of reasons. On their eponymous programs, Dobbs, O'Reilly, and Beck serve up a steady diet of fear, anger, and resentment on the topic of illegal immigration. (More Stuff...)

I find it strange that illegal immigrants are on the receiving end of hatred while Americans who exploit their labor aren't even considered. Isn't that something? The greatest benefactors of illegal immigration have yet to be taken to task. Stupidity must be bliss too.

Feel free to contact these jokers directly and help stop the madness:

FOX News Channel
Comments@foxnews.com
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 1-888-369-4762

CNN
One CNN Center, Box 105366,
Atlanta, GA 30303-5366
Phone: 404-827-1500
Fax: 404-827-1906

CNN Headline News

Sen. Byrd (D-WV) Has Caught That Obama Fever

Obama is killing it!!!

Sen. Robert Byrd endorses Obama

The Charleston Gazette reports an endorsement deep with symbolism: West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd is endorsing Barack Obama.

"Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support," Byrd says.

He said he has "no intention of involving myself in the Democratic campaign for President in the midst of West Virginia's primary election. But the stakes this November could not be higher."

Byrd, 91, a master of Senate rules and Iraq war foe, has spent much of his political career repenting the racism of his youth. He's acknolwedged having joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1942, and campaigned against civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

In The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote of meeting Byrd, and their joint awareness of the past; his endorsement is a note of reconciliation that underscores Obama's message.

Obama wrote of meeting Byrd as new senator in one of his book's most compelling passages:

Listening to Senator Byrd I felt with full force all the essential contradictions of me in this new place, with its marble busts, its arcane traditions, its memories and its ghosts. I pondered the fact that, according to his own autobiography, Senator Byrd had received his first taste of leadership in his early twenties, as a member of the Raleigh County Ku Klux Klan, an association that he had long disavowed, an error he attributed—no doubt correctly—to the time and place in which he'd been raised, but which continued to surface as an issue throughout his career. I thought about how he had joined other giants of the Senate, like J. William Fulbright of Arkansas and Richard Russell of Georgia, in Southern resistance to civil rights legislation. I wondered if this would matter to the liberals who now lionized Senator Byrd for his principled opposition to the Iraq War resolution—the MoveOn.org crowd, the heirs of the political counterculture the senator had spent much of his career disdaining. (More Stuff...)

Note to Billary --- Throw. Up. The. Deuces.

Michael Moore - The Awful Truth

Moore really knows satire :-D

"I'll take my diversity to go."

I've come across a lot of articles (print, online, and blog) that discuss assimilating and how a lot of Black people feel pressured to do so. I found an article on AfroSpear dealing with the topic and I left the comment below.

Well said.

I remember when I was interviewing for jobs and my coworker (a sista) asked me "Don't you think that your hairstyle may be a hinderance?"

I said "If it is, fuck 'em. This is New York City where I see successful Black people with unprocessed hair all over the place. My hair's neat, my appearance is clean and conservative, I'm articulate, I'm personable, I have a bachelor's, I have work experience, and I have no problems doing work and showing up on time to do so. If my braids are too distracting, then fuck 'em."

She laughed at me. Not at what I said (maybe she was laughing at me, LOL) but my delivery was in my usual sass. But yes, she's very much a proponent of assimilation. She even argues that assimilation be extended into choosing first names for kid.

The problem I have with that is what exactly is so defective about Black people that we have to compromise our uniqueness? The idea of validating racism and chauvinism by way of altering my appearance doesn't sit well with me. If the goal is to achieve a diverse work environment, why not hold people to the standards that they're trying to set? There has to be something more satisfying than just seeing us peppered amongst a sea of White people.

At the time that I had that discussion with my coworker, I had cornrows that weren't of the Allen Iverson variety. Normally, I'd pulled the braids into one big braid that laid on my back or I would ball it into a bun. I think that's professional, no? None of my White coworkers gave me weird looks; I got some compliments; thankfully, no one had the nerve to touch my hair; and one White coworker thought my hair grew over night, LOL!

I wear braids because I’m transitioning back into my natural hair texture and because of the very low maintenance. There’s no better feeling in the morning than to just get up and go :-) No way am I tryna go back to the garden variety Make You Wait Hair Salon. There will be a whole lot of kicking and screaming on my end. And besides, the same ingredient that helps unclog your sink is used in relaxers. I think I'll have to pass on that.

With regards to the name argument, I think people have the right to name their child whatever they want. I don’t like that some people challenge those like me for wanting to give my future kids African (e.g., Chioma) or Hebrew (e.g., Malachi) names. So long as the name has a meaning to it, or sounds really pretty, I can appreciate it. Now, there are three arguments that I’ve heard from nay-sayers: 1) “Those (read as “Rejected by White folks”) types of names affect people’s chances at landing a job,” 2) “You’re in America, you’re American-born, so why go for that type of name?”, and 3) "Multisyllabic names are hard to pronounce." I can’t help but sigh.

The first argument is definitely true as I have seen and read studies to substantiate that hinderance claim. What that argument fails to consider is that being a non-White male can also be a hinderance. You don’t know what’s going through the minds of these interviewers. They could be thinking, “I’ve already fulfilled that quota. NEXT!” or they could assume that you fit some negative stereotype.

Another thing that’s overlooked are zip code lookups. Your name could be as mainstream as Bob and Becky, but if you’re coming from an undesirable neighborhood, your resume could have a meeting with the trash bin.

I really hate the second argument about going the American route with names. I mean, what the hell is “American?” No, seriously. What is it? You’ve got members from every part of the globe in this country with unusual (read as “non-English”) and lengthy first and last names but then assimilators wanna suggest that there are American names and that you should give your child such names. Huh? Ummm...I’ve met Americans with first or last names like Levi, Juanita, Renee, Wale, Chan, Ramadan, Kapalski, and Jackson and not one of those names are of American origin yet those people are as American as they come.

The third argument is comical. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an actor turned governor, Shoshanna Lonstein is a fashion designer, yet my short, Nigerian last name stays butchered. Whatever.

Let’s keep it funky since we know what’s the real issue: Americans DON’T like diversity unless it comes in the form of a dish. Oh yes. I said it. Chicken Tikka Masala is sexy, trendy, delicious, and diverse. Now, Parmita the Indian cook, she gets the stink eye cuz she ain’t the type of “diversity” that’s all that appreciated.

Diversity should be about tolerating and/or appreciating someone’s differences. Don’t just pepper me in there tryna kill two birds with one stone. That's insulting and the goal of diversity obviously isn't an honest effort.

Now, on to the million-dollar question: "Should Black people be conducive to White people?" Other people of color are welcome to leave a comment as it may pertain to your experiences.