DarkStar Spouts Off

Etta James, RIP

Republican Politics

Rick Perry is pulling out of the race.

Meanwhile, the results from Iowa have changed and it appears Rick -- I
don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody
elses money -- Santorum appears to have have won by 30 something
votes. Meanwhile, __ EIGHT PRECINCTS IN IOWA ARE MISSING
VOTES_.

Is Iowa the new Chicago?

Uhhh... No Comment

Affirmative-Action Foe Is Facing Allegations of Financial Misdeeds

"He also said the group had reduced his pay to $850,000.

One reason Mr. [ Ward ] Connerly has been a particularly effective advocate is that he is black. Mr. Clegg said there were “few people who can do or would do what he does,” adding that it is hard to set a salary on a job that requires enduring racially charged name-calling from fellow blacks. "

What Is PIPA?

Start here for a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

What Is SOPA?

Try this definition for a start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Paula Deen and Crass

Paula Deen disclosed she has type 2 diabetes. Given the way she cooks, that shouldn't be a surprise. What, to me, however, was distasteful -- HAH! -- about her announcement was the disclosure that she is now the
pitch woman for a drug to combat diabetes.

In my opinion, that's just crass.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr and all of those who worked directly and indirectly with him, I say thank you. The legal rights have been won and the rest is up to "us".

If Maryland Is #1 In Education

If Maryland is number one in education as is being reported, why do Maryland public colleges say half of Maryland high school graduates need remedial classes?

I Keep Asking Where Are The Capitalists Protecting Capitalism

I keep asking where are the capitalists who should be out there
protecting capitalism? The following is from Newt -- Black people
should stop demanding food stamps -- Gingrich:

GINGRICH: If we identify capitalism with rich guys looting
companies, we're gonna have a very hard time protecting
it.

He's right on that statement.

Too Busy To Write Today

I'm busy standing in line demanding food stamps and welfare.

Sell Off Baltimore City Hall

When it was first reported that then acting mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had authorized the Baltimore City Housing Department to ignore a court order to pay victims of lead paint poisoning in Baltimore housing projects, I thought to myself that the lawyers should have a lien filed on city hall. Then, after field, chain lock the doors on city hall and hold an auction to sell everything in the building. Today, I read this:

Representatives from the Baltimore sheriff's office moved across a city housing authority parking lot Wednesday morning, tagging 20 of the agency's vehicles to be seized and eventually sold to pay part of a court judgment to lead paint victims.

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City has resisted paying siblings Antonio Fulgham and Brittany McCutcheon the $2.59 million awarded by a jury in 2010, as the agency appeals the case. But the plaintiffs, who suffered lead poisoning while living in public housing, have filed legal actions to move forward with collecting the debts. The levy against the vehicles, and Wednesday's tagging, paves the way for them to be auctioned.

It's not city hall, but it's a start. It's a great move on the lawyers part.

Waxing Rhetorical On Ron Paul

Actually, I'm waxing rhetorical on the Republican response to Ron Paul:

1. How many people bashing Ron Paul as a racist for what was written in the Ron Paul newsletters, supported Charles Murray's "Bell Curve"?
2. Why are Republicans upset about Ron Paul ideas on 9-1-1 now? He's had those views for years, now.
3. If Republicans think Ron Paul is nuts, why didn't they supports candidates running against him in congress when he was running for re-election?

Just, rhetorically, asking.

The U. S. Financial Mess Stated Simply

From an article I saw somewhere, and now I can't seem to locate it:

That professionalism is evident in the GAO analysis of the net present value of the Social Security and Medicare promises Washington has made to Americans. “Net present value” means the total that would have to be set aside today to pay the costs of these programs in the future. The government puts these numbers in appendices, rather than in headlines. But the costs are real.

In fiscal 2011, the cost of the promises grew from $30.9 trillion to $33.8 trillion. To put that in context, consider that the total value of companies traded on U.S. stock markets is $13.1 trillion, based on the Wilshire 5000 index, and the value of the equity in U.S. taxpayers’ homes, according to Freddie Mac, is $6.2 trillion. Said another way, there is not enough wealth in America to meet those promises.

I think that does it.

 

Republicans: Ron Paul and Racists

How is it for all of this time that Ron Paul has been a member of congress, not one Republican has brought up the racist newsletters that appeared under Ron Paul's name:

As Ron Paul rises in the polls, he is once again fending off questions about those pesky newsletters where racist material appeared under his name. This time around, rather than expressing much in the way of regret, Paul is instead slamming the media for rehashing what he considers an old, irrelevant story.

To recap, back in the 1990s, Ron Paul produced a series of newsletters, all with his name on them, which published a ream of racist and anti-Semitic columns. Among a long list of offensive comments, one notorious column about the LA riots said that, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” Another pilloried Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as “Hate Whitey Day.” Paul has always denied writing them and insists he doesn’t know who did. He has expressed regret that the comments were printed.

but now that the "isolationist" Ron Paul appears to be picking up support, the neo-conservative Republicans NOW want to play the race card on Ron Paul? These newsletters were known the last time Ron Paul ran for the Republican nomination.

Facist Police

I keep telling the facist law & order conservatives that the longer unwarranted stop and frisk happens, the more the people it happens to will distrust the police and when those same people get into a court room, they won't believe the police and that may result in a criminal being found "not guilty."

We need change. When I was young I thought cops were cool. They had a respectable and honorable job to keep people safe and fight crime. Now, I think their tactics are unfair and they abuse their authority. The police should consider the consequences of a generation of young people who want nothing to do with them — distrust, alienation and more crime.

Last May, I was outside my apartment building on my way to the store when two police officers jumped out of an unmarked car and told me to stop and put my hands up against the wall. I complied. Without my permission, they removed my cellphone from my hand, and one of the officers reached into my pockets, and removed my wallet and keys. He looked through my wallet, then handcuffed me. The officers wanted to know if I had just come out of a particular building. No, I told them, I lived next door.

One of the officers asked which of the keys they had removed from my pocket opened my apartment door. Then he entered my building and tried to get into my apartment with my key. My 18-year-old sister was inside with two of our younger siblings; later she told me she had no idea why the police were trying to get into our apartment and was terrified. She tried to call me, but because they had confiscated my phone, I couldn’t answer.

Meanwhile, a white officer put me in the back of the police car. I was still handcuffed. The officer asked if I had any marijuana, and I said no. He removed and searched my shoes and patted down my socks. I asked why they were searching me, and he told me someone in my building complained that a person they believed fit my description had been ringing their bell. After the other officer returned from inside my apartment building, they opened the door to the police car, told me to get out, removed the handcuffs and simply drove off. I was deeply shaken.

In many areas, the police are out of control.

Hat Tip P6