DarkStar Spouts Off

Boston Bombing

If you are taking any media seriously concerning the Boston bombing, shame on you. You know they don't know squat.

The 2014 Caddy CTS Looks Kinda HOT

This is nice.

Corvette, 2014

Kasandra Perkins Died As A Result of Domestic Violence

Kasandra Perkins, the mother of a 3 month old girl, was killed by her "boyfriend," who happened to be a football player. Kasandra Perkins, and her daughter, are victims of domestic violence. In this case, the weapon used wasn't her boyfriend's fists, nor a knife, nor a car, but a gun. 

I mention the weapon here only for one reason: it doesn't matter what means her boyfriend used to kill her. Kasandra Perkins is dead and her baby no longer has a living mother. And, as I write this, what is now being reported is the murderer has a history of domestic violence against other women.

The killer's occupation is not an issue. The means the killer used to kill Kasandra Perkins is not an issue. The rate of violence for people who have the killer's occupation is not an issue. Domestic violence is the issue and Kasandra Perkins is dead.

The rest of it is noise. End of story.

Al Sharpton Has A Habit Of Not Paying Bills

Al Sharpton seems to have a recurring habit of not paying bills. I remember the old school thinking that Blacks had to be twice as good at everything, which also meant paying your bills on time. 

Trade association claims Al Sharpton's group owes $28,000 in unpaid rent

For the leaders of a minority trade organization with some extra office space in downtown D.C., it seemed like the Rev. Al Sharpton was the perfect tenant.

But a year and a half after the activist/MSNBC host signed a lease for his National Action Network to sublet from the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, the two groups are feuding over past-due rent.

Julie Cunningham, COMTO’s president and chief executive, told us that with the lease about to expire Friday, NAN was seven months behind in its payments, a total debt of more than $28,000

Didn't he just have an issue over the summer concerning the non-payment of car insurance?

They Must Get Government Money

For a group to do something THIS stupid and THIS desperate, they must get government funding based on how many people are in their program.

A Northeast Baltimore clinic that once pitched on-demand methadone to desperate addicts during the late-night hours is focusing on a new idea — paying addicts to come in for treatment.

"We are targeting a non-traditional population of addicts that isn't so interested in treatment," said the Rev. Milton Williams, who runs Turning Point Clinic, housed in his New Life Evangelical Baptist Church. "This will be an incentive."

The state has yet to approve the original on-demand, or "open access" idea, citing federal rules that require, for example, a lengthy examination of anyone getting methadone, a Schedule 2 narcotic. The incentive, $20 supplied by a private foundation or other group yet to be named, is a "Plan B," one Williams believes doesn't need any special approvals because the program would be run as a traditional clinic, just at night with no appointments.

Yes, I'm sure they get money from the government. Regardless, it's a dumb idea. First off, methadone "treatment" isn't treatment at all, it's just substituting one drug for another. Next, PAYING addicts to come in off the street and do methadone treatments? When the "treatment" requires recurring doses?

Is there ANY common sense with ANYONE who works in that program?

The Honor Code

I went to, and graduated from, the University of Virginia which has an honor code. I promised not to cheat on tests as a requirement to attend the school. If I did cheat, and was reported and I was found guilty in honor court, I would be kicked out of the school.

BYU has an honor code as well, which among other things, states students are to remain chaste. In other words, no boinking. :-) The star basketball player admitted to having sex with his girlfriend. (How did they find out?) He has been suspended from the team.

Some people are saying that's too harsh. To me, it's a punishment for breaking a rule which he knew about. BYU did the right thing and Brandon Davies has manned up by accepting it.

Nice Story, But Are His Demons Conquered?

The story of the homeless man with the radio voice, Ted Williams, is all over the Internet and news channels. It really shows promise as a story about failure because of alcohol and drugs and a rise because of prayer and a drive to show his mother, before she passes, he is back on track. He appears to be successful in marketing himself, even though he is down. But I have to ask, why was he still homeless?

Many people are homeless because they have mental health problems. Many people are homeless because they have substance abuse problems, and that can be a result of the mental health problems. Many people are poor because their financial situation, not due to drugs and alcohol, became dire.

Ted Williams said he fell to the demons of alcohol and drugs. But is that situation "solved" or to put another way, is he in recovery? Before businesses offer him compensation for Williams' vocal talents, they should make sure his demons are under his heel. They need to ask, "Are your demons conquered"? And they need to verify.

Da Hate

Why the hate on Tyler Perry for bringing a play done in the 70s to the big screen? Perry did the screen play, with collaboration of the original author and, he claims, he couldn't do the movie without putting in "one good man."

And I'm not even going to get into how he has built wealth AND entertainment power by catering to "us folks." I don't get into the male bashing, but I'm just saying I think it's over the top. Don't blame Perry, blame the author of the play and book.

No Comment Needed

Recent Sexual Survey

About 85 percent of men report that their partner had an orgasm at the most recent sexual event; this compares to the 64 percent of women who report having had an orgasm at their most recent sexual event. (A difference that is too large to be accounted for by some of the men having had male partners at their most recent event.)

The Roots, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberfake

OK, The Roots you know are real. As much as I hate to write this, only because he did Janet cold, you know Justin Timberfake is real. This seals it for Fallon. Dude gets an entry level ghetto pass.

Indictment Against A Sperm Donor

[UPDATED]

I just heard the interview of one of the men who claimed Eddie Long used his position to coerce them to engage in sexual activities. In the interview the man said he always longed for a father in his life.

 

 

There it is.

Leana Horne

She could SANG.

Showed class.

FOINE.

Showed class.

FOINE.

Decent actress.

Showed class.

FOINE.

Ear worm of the day: "Stormy Weather".

Pants on the Ground

This is funny and on point. There is one thing, however. If you noticed, the saggin' just isn't there now as it has been in the past.

One? Sick. Three? Terrorism

If it is accurate that 3 SOLDIERS were involved,...this is terrorism.

[ UPDATE ]

Let me shut up about this.

First there was one, then three, now it's back to one. Two people were released.

First he was dead now he's alive?

The media is in their report everything to beat the crowd mode, so I'm going to sit back and wait for it to calm down. Meanwhile, I'll pray for the families.

Naaaahhhhhh,... Ya Think?!?!?!

Balloon Drama Was A Publicity Stunt

fort collins, colo. -- The story that a little boy had floated away in a giant balloon was a hoax concocted to land a reality television show, authorities said Sunday, and the boy's parents probably will face felony charges.

The stunt two weeks in the planning was a marketing ploy by Richard and Mayumi Heene, who met in acting school in Hollywood and have appeared on the ABC reality show "Wife Swap," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said. The Heenes have reportedly been working on a reality TV deal in Los Angeles.

Falcon Heene, 6, may not have even been hiding in the rafters of his family's garage during the intense five-hour search for him Thursday, Alderden said.

The stunt temporarily shut down Denver International Airport and caused the National Guard to scramble two helicopters in an attempt to rescue the boy, who was believed to be inside the homemade balloon that floated more than 50 miles across two counties.

Charging them with filing a false report is not enough. Make them pay 300% of the cost for responding to the hoax.

In Bad Taste, But Funny

Double Damn...

OK, how much worse can this man's life get?

D.C. Council member Marion Barry found himself mired in more political, legal and personal drama yesterday after his arrest late Saturday on charges that he was stalking a female companion.

Barry's latest run-in with the law centers on his relationship with political consultant Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, who alleges that he continues to approach her even though they split up a few months ago.

He used to be The Mack, now he's a stalker?

This is not how I would expect this man's life to end.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Shot twice in the head and two more times in the chest, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was the victim of a homicide, police declared Sunday. But authorities wouldn't say it was a murder-suicide - even with his 20-year-old girlfriend dead at his feet from a single bullet.

McNair had been dating Saleh Kazemi for several months, and Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that a semiautomatic pistol was found under her body. She was shot in the head.

People need to understand that women do crazy as well, and the numbers indicate they do far more deadly damage.

3rd Side To Henrietta Hughes Story

As heard on The Tom Joyner Morning Show

Presented Without Comment

Presented without comment

Palin, who backed an abstinence-only sex education program when she ran for governor in 2006, told Van Susteren to expect abstinence from all teenagers was "not realistic." "Get beyond the ideal of abstinence," the 44 year old, new grandmother said. "Hey, life happens." "Not the most ideal situation, certainly you make the most of it," said the governor. Bristol Palin said she is getting help from many members of her family with raising the infant while continuing her studies. She told Van Susteren she has no immediate plans to marry Levi Johnson, who she described as a 'hands on Dad." Last year, there were reports that the couple would marry in the coming year. "Eventually we'd like to get married," the young mother said. "We're focusing on getting through school though, getting a career going."

Oh, This Will Help Your Cause

This is just unreal.

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband — an influential member of the local Muslim community — reported her death to police Thursday.

Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder.

...

Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.

Yep, that will really help.

Appropriate Outrage

A man named Oscar Grant was shot and killed by a transit police officer. (The video of the shooting is here.) On Wednesday, a protest turned into a riot. I am the son of a former NY cop and understand the primary concern of policemen and their families is that the policemen come home to their families after their shift. However, I also think because policemen carry lethal weapons and are allowed to use the lethal weapons, that policemen should be held to very high standards and a review must be held when they use their weapons and injure or kill someone.

Having written that, is a riot appropriate? I think it isn't. Is a demonstration appropriate? I think it may be depending on the circumstances of the situation involved. Basically it hinges on accountability and the full visibility into the process of holding people accountable.

Some people ask, where is the similar outrage over things like crime in "urban areas" as the outrage over police shootings? I admit I have some agreement with the reason behind why the question is asked, but I don't fully agree the question is appliciable.

Some may say the appropriate outrage is the "demonstration" held in Philadelphia when Bill Cosby walked streets with residents upset about the homicide rate and crime in the city * and the attempt to organize men to "walk the streets" ** to help lower crime. I would, and do, respond by asking, why a "Cosby-like" person leading a demonstration is showing appropriate outrage, but not the vigils, and mini-marches that occur in areas where a particular "horrendous" crime has occurred?

Or why not the responses such as the effort to organize mentors like that being done by Susan Taylor and the National CARES Mentoring Movement or any of the organizations listed at Black Self Help Information?

Or, as I ask on a seemingly periodic basis, are Blacks only said to be doing things when the media shows up?

---

* I heard the other day that the Philadelphia homicide rate for 2008 actually FELL when compared to 2007.

** The outcome of the "walk the streets" was actually to join people and or organizations that already exist in the area to combat problems in the city.

Call For Submission: Down To The Wire

HBO's The Wire came out of left field and captured the attention of
hundreds of thousands of devoted viewers in Black communities
throughout the country. The question is, "Why?" On one level, the show
gave numerous Black actors the opportunity to showcase their talents
and to breathe life into nuanced, three-dimensional roles. "Stringer
Bell" and "Michael Lee" are two of the most compelling characters in
the history of American television. Another reason for the show's
tremendous popularity amongst Black audiences is that we love to see
ourselves excel, and The Wire gave us five seasons of stellar
performances, a mirror in which to gaze and appreciate what we saw.

Yet, as excellent as those characters and performances were, The Wire
did not always reflect back images black folks wanted to embrace.
Many of the show's best characters were drug dealers. Filmed on
location in the most blighted sections of Baltimore, Maryland, the
show's storylines tackled the maladies of urban America head-on. The
Wire's success was definitely not rooted in the feel-good, uplifting
mode of The Cosby Show. Instead, The Wire appealed to Black people
because it chose to tell the truth, warts and all, about urban life,
and it did so deliberately, but rhythmically, like an extended blues
song.

Down to The Wire will be a collection of essays exploring the cultural
significance of The Wire, particularly to Black folks and our
communities. The collection will explain why, contrary to popular
belief, The Wire is indeed the greatest TV show ever produced by HBO.

The editor welcomes submissions from emerging and established Black
writers, entertainers, cultural critics, and other observers. We seek
well-constructed critical essays and creative nonfiction which address
such topics as:

Getting Out of the Life: The vision of Stringer Bell

Gay Thugs: Omar and Snoop

The White Perspective Still Comes Through: The death of Proposition
Joe and the skewering of Black Baltimore history

Crying Foul: White Characters and the Race Card

I'm Just a Gangster, I Suppose: Avon Barksdale, Marlo Stanfield and
the New Day Co-op

Playing with the Boys: Snoop Pearson, Kima Greggs, Marla Daniels and
Nerese Campbell

Real-Life Drama: How The Wire changed the lives of individual viewers
and their contributions to the communities in which they live

The Wire as scholarship: What did the show teach us about American
society, culture, racism, classism, economics, and public policy? Can
these lessons translate into meaningful social change and exchange?

Why was The Wire so popular with black viewers, but less so with white viewers?

Does The Wire glorify drugs and violence? If so, why do we give it a pass?

Hopeful or Hopeless: Bubbles and Duquan

This is not, of course, an exhaustive list of possibilities.
Generally speaking, we are interested in original, provocative musings
and analyses which address what The Wire means to Black folks.

Take a position and defend it. Tell a well-crafted story. Make us
laugh, cry, think, shout.

Submission deadline: December 17, 2008

Length: Up to 6,000 words

We will only consider submissions of previously unpublished works and
those for which the author hold rights allowing for re-printing.

Please include your name, email address, mailing address, phone
number, and a short bio (50 words or less) with your submission.

Email is the preferred method of submission. Send essays within the
body of the email to: submissions@posro.com, with the subject heading:
Down to The Wire submission. No attachments, please.

Submissions may also be postmarked by the above date and sent via
regular U.S. mail to:

Down to The Wire
c/o Roland Laird
Posro Media LLC
PO Box 585
Trenton, NJ 08604

Unfortunately, we cannot acknowledge every submission. Authors of
those essays selected for inclusion in the anthology will be notified
via email by February 26, 2009.

About the Editor:
Roland Laird is both an author and entrepreneur. His book Still I
Rise: A Cartoon History of African Americans was named "One of the
Best Books in Print" by the New York Review of Books Readers Catalog
when it was published by W.W. Norton in 1997. He recently completed an
update of Still I Rise for a February 2009 release by Sterling
Publishing. He is also the founder of Posro Media an entertainment
company specializing in producing compelling African American images.
Roland and Posro have been the subject of numerous media stories
including in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and on NBC's
Sunday Today Show and on MTV. In 2004, the US Mission to the United
Nations recognized him as a global ambassador for his tireless
devotion to his world community and heritage.

Dead Cop, Few Care

A cop was killed when a person chose to escape from a crime in progress by running the cop over. The suspected killer was killed while in jail. He was in solitary confinement and under watch. It turns out that he was strangled to death.

The prison guards aren't talking.

It wasn't clear why the correctional officers reportedly declined to answer questions. Sgt. Curtis Knowles, president of the county's correctional officers union, said the union's position is that its members can be interviewed only during work hours and with a union representative or attorney present, unless a criminal investigation is underway.

However, a state police spokesman said the agency considers its efforts a "criminal investigation."

And the police are mad the policeman's death is not getting the attention it deserves.

County police expressed frustration yesterday that the controversy over White's death seemed to be overshadowing the death of Findley, whose funeral is scheduled for tomorrow.

Well, they can thank the person/people who killed the cop-killer suspect.

Here is some attention.

Free Moment For Quick Brain Pellets

Supreme Court 2nd Amendment Ruling - I like the ruling, especially them striking down the requirement for trigger locks. I think trigger locks on guns in a home with children make sense and I think keeping guns loaded with kids around is foolish. But don't mandate, as does Maryland, that if the gun doesn't have integrated trigger locks, they can't be sold. The next stage of the fight will be to define what are "good gun regulations."

And I still wonder how Black people can be against gun ownership when many Blacks live in neighborhoods where police response is DOCUMENTED to be slower than in other areas.

Mugabe - Gangsta. Straight. Gangsta.

Bush Tax Cuts - Why should I be for the repeal, or should I say, supportive of letting the tax cuts sunset when, as the head of a family which a child, the tax cuts get to "allow" me to keep more of my money?

Mortgage Issues - I say again, let the people who got mortgage loans they couldn't afford in the long run, sink or swim. The current relief plans being discussed bail out the companies who made the loans based on bad business decisions, and puts the bad debt on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. There is no incentive to force change on the people getting the loans nor those making the loans. If big daddy government is going to bail out these businesses, what is going to stop them from doing it again? (Isn't that the same rationale used against welfare?)

Corn - From Cobb's post, I responded with this:

There is a documentary about 2 people who farm 1 acre of corn and follow the corn path through the markets that is eye opening. Everything stated here and more.

I've stopped drinking soda because of the movie. That movie did it. I don't each much beef anyway. But all of the food allergies people are developing is really starting to become an issue to look at for me.

Dirty Jobs - Dirty Jobs is one of the best shows on television. Cable television really is challenging, and many times surpassing, traditional broadcast shows. Mike Rowe is off but has to be one of the best overall in shape persons on television.

Politics and the Presidential Race - I'm going to do a series of posts about political things/ideas/theories that interest me and how they will affect how I vote and who I vote against, more so than who I vote for. I'll end it by stating who will not get my vote and who will, by default, get my vote. I think it's going to be interesting.

Blogger's Round Table -- I return on Monday.