DarkStar Spouts Off

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One United Online Bank

Personal Responsibility

I have questions for the people who are always preaching about personal responsibility, yet are pushing off the personal actions of some Blacks onto "Black Leaders":

• Which "Black Leaders" made a single young woman have a baby?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a young Black man commit a crime?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a young Black person drop out of school?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a young Black person take drugs?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a young Black man lay with a woman, create a baby, and then not support the baby?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a Black mother get on welfare?
• Which "Black Leaders" made a pregnant Black woman get an abortion?
• Which "Black Leaders" made Black parents keep their children in bad schools instead of finding an alternative on their own?

I next questions are for the people who are always saying that "Black Leaders" get Blacks to believe a certain point of view:

• How do the "Black Leaders" get Blacks to think according to the "Leaders" point of view?
• If "Black Leaders" can't get Blacks to support things like "homosexual marriage" how do they get Blacks to think according to the "Leaders" point of view?
• How does the NAACP lead Black people astray when the NAACP is desperate to get new members?
• How does the NAACP lead Black people astray when the NAACP admits that they are having trouble connecting with Blacks?
• How do the "Black Leaders" get Blacks to follow a certain line of thinking, yet can't be a majority of eligible Black voters to vote?

I have even more questions:

• Could the reason for your perceived lack of support by the Black community at large come from the perceived disdain "you" have for the Black community?
• If Blacks aren't willing to vote for Republicans, especially Black Republicans, how is it:
  • Arlan Spectre gets about 25% of the Black vote?
  • A Black Republican, Jackie Winters, got the Black vote?
• How did a Black Republican by the name of Shannon Reeves, get to lead the Oakland chapter of the NAACP for 2 terms?
• How often have you heard a conversation among Black people when a Black person states their view was formed or greatly impacted by the stance of "Black Leaders"?

Bonus Questions:

• How did Tavis Smiley get Blacks to buy "The Covenant with Black America" book? (Number 6 on the NYTimes list)
• How did Tavis Smiley get Blacks to submit their ideas of which issues are most pressing for Black America?

This Is A DISGRACE!!!

Early this morning, I posted about the state of Maryland taking over 11 schools whose students had performed poorly on state tests for 9 years straight.

This is an update (to be reformatted later):

The state legislators, controlled by Democrats, have fast tracked a bill to require the state General Assembly to review state take over of schools.

Here is a Black man, a Democrat, leading the charge to allow 11 schools to continue to miseducate Black kids.

Read about it in this Baltimore Sun article.

See my previous post on this matter.

Spouting Off On...

"People of Color"

I hate the phrase "People of Color" because it assumes that American Blacks, "other" Blacks, Latinos, Eastern Asians, and Middle Eastern Asians have something in common because of skin tone.

I know that is not the case.

One time I was part of an "international" group of Black people from different countries. It was a gathering and it just turned out that way. It wasn't done on purpose. But it was interesting to get into a "discussion" with a Nigerian or Liberian, Haitian, and Jamaican on where as Black people we stood on the ranking of "Blackness".

Africans were at the top, the West Indians were in the middle, and American Blacks were at the bottom. It was funny to hear the Haitian and Jamaican argue over who was the most rowdy people.

And then you bring Asians into the mix... Do I need to go there? And watch what happens with Latinos. Here's a hint. Find out about the "white" Cubans and their attitudes towards Blacks.

Illegal Immigration

Here is DarkStar's plan:

• Build a wall along the hot spot southern border areas first. The priority goes to areas of heavy traffic and those areas where there is increasing gun fire between illegals and law enforcement.
• In the areas where illegal immigration is most problematic, stage random and heavy "INS" type raids.
• Create a fine system based on the size of a company and the number of illegal immigrants hired by that company. But, the fine should be large enough to hurt the company when they continue to break the law by hiring illegal immigrants.
• Since more companies are requiring credit checks of perspective employees, why not use that to help determine if the person seeking employment is legal or not?

• Require it of all perspective employees. That way it is an equal opportunity pain in the butt.
• The credit check should show if a social security number doesn't match a name, age, or other background information. ( A side note: The IRS knows when the information doesn't match but they don't care. They still get the tax money).

• Illegal immigrants currently in the country, if caught, should be banned from coming back for 10 years.

My Wife

I love her. She's a real trooper.

NCLB: A School Take Over

I'm going to write about the take over of 9 Baltimore City Public School System (BCPS) schools because of failure to meet NCLB criteria. Actually, I'm writing about one of those schools in particular: William Lemmel Middle School. But I don't want to jump the gun.

Since this is "Brain Spew", I hope to hit all of the things that I want to talk about:

• Why now and not years ago?
• What is the politics involved, if any?
• Lemmel "back in the day".

Why Now?

I would like to know why it took this long before these schools were taken over.

The state school board voted today to seize control of 11 failing Baltimore middle and high schools -- an action that is believed to be the first school takeover in the nation under the controversial No Child Left Behind Act.

...

The changes will take effect in 18 months, at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. All 11 schools have posted at least nine consecutive years of very poor test scores.

Let me understand this. All 11, that's eleven, ten plus one, schools have posted poor scores for 9, that's NINE, that's 10 minus one, consecutive years!!! WTF!?!?!?!?!! And NOW there's a take over!?!?!?!

One of the schools is William H. Lemmel. I attended that school when it was a Jr. High school. I have 2 cousins who are 4 and 5 years older than I, who also attended the school. Lemmel is a big school. One graduating class could EASILY consist of 300 kids. Simple math: 300 x 9 == 2,700 kids who graduated that poor school during those 9 nears.

I know it's a lousy school. When I left Lemmel to attend Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, it took me 1 1/2 years to "catch up". Anyway...

Why did it take so long? One word: politics.

Politics Involved?

There is an election for governor of Maryland this year. The "common wisdom" of state politics thinks Gov. Ehrlich will run against Baltimore city mayor O'Malley (D). I think Ehrlich is using this to beat his assumed(?) opponent into the ground. O'Malley is going around the state of Maryland claiming that he has done a good job in Baltimore, but that is just not the case.

It's been 9 years of poor performance. But, instead of taking over the schools immediately, they are going to wait another year. That's criminal.

Back In The Day

This happened at Lemmel when I was in the 7th grade.

One day the first lunch period had a food fight. Just as the food fight was in full swing, the bell rang for the change of classes. Because of the location and the timing, kids ran out of the cafeteria into the main hallway into the change of class madness.

The second lunch period "decided" to continue the food fight.

There were kids running through the hallways, fights in the cafeteria, and food flying all over the place. Someone decided to ring the change of class bell early, and this compounded the problem. In the end, Lemmel had a full scale riot.

Police were called and they came into the school and fired tear gas into the hallways.

The school administration closed the school for 2 days to figure out what to do. This is what they came up with:

• The cafeteria would no longer use china and stainless steel utensils. From that point on, it was paper trays, paper plates, and plastic utensils.
• A teacher who was a part of the 2 day strategy session told my 7th grade class that they would push through all 8th and 9th graders (the majority of 1st and 2nd lunch period attendees) because they were "lost". They would work and try to "save" the 7th graders.

I had friends in the 8th grade, so I told them of the school plan. However, I didn't tell any adults, and to this day I wonder if I had, would things turn out someone differently.

• The 7th graders would get to go on field trips to help burn off excess energy. As such, I went on trips:
  • Skiing. (I still ski to this day).
  • Swimming at a swim club.
  • Roller skating.

The children of Baltimore deserve better. Those parents who give a damn should leave the city.

Again I'll state: BCPS administrative headquarters needs to be evacuated and then the building blown up. Next, anyone who was a part of that mess should not be allowed to be a part of any school administration ever again.

Vouchers should be given to all students in Baltimore city, and a tax break given to parents who send their kids to tutors.

[ Update ]

What is missing is a critical mass of parents of children in the BCPS system who give a damn. There are parents who care, but that critical mass is missing. That critical mass should be able to raise enough of a ruckus that something would have to change.

But, then again, the unelected school board has a habit of scheduling public meetings during weekdays between 10AM and 2PM. They also have a habit of closing public meetings to parents. And when they allow interested people to speak at their meetings, the people are restricted to about 3 minutes worth of time a piece.

Just nuke the damn system.

Check Pat Robertson's House

I bet he knows where Charles Taylor is.

Former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor slipped away just after Nigeria reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, and the White House suggested Tuesday that President Bush may cancel a meeting with Nigeria's leader.

The Nigerian government said Taylor vanished Monday night from his villa in the southern city of Calabar, where he had lived in exile since being forced from power under a 2003 peace deal that ended Liberia's civil war.

The announcement came three days after President Olusegun Obasanjo _ under pressure from Washington and others _ agreed to surrender Taylor to a U.N.-backed tribunal. He would be the first African leader to face trial for crimes against humanity.

If you don't know why I wrote that I bet Pat Robertson knows, check out these links:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A7124-2001Sep21
• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/11/national/main562915.shtml
• http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/pat_quotes/pat_gold.htm
• http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/127/48.0.html

Same Facts, Different Conclusion

The following is a response, slightly revised, I made to a comment about the situation that Claude Allen is in.

A person can't come to a different conclusion based on the same set of circumstances?

I hate to use the Steele twins as an example, but look at Shelby and Claude Steele. They are brothers. To be more correct, they are twins. My assumption is they were raised in the same house, under the same rules. Yet, the two seem to have a different outlook on issues of race.

There are people who grow up in a harsh environment and thrive. Others in that same environment don't and take to a life of crime. Others don't and "self medicate" with alcohol, drugs, sex or some combination of the three. Some maintain a hope for tomorrow and continue to dream. Some only think of the here and now and don't care what happens tomorrow because the next second isn't even a sure thing.

My priorities now, aren't the same as they were when I first graduated. Time and events have changed my world view. I no longer think there is a think as a common U.S. Black cause nor is there a common "people of African ancestry" cause or causes.

If I'm struggling to make it day to day, why worry about the Sudan? As harsh and sad as that sounds, it comes down to hard reality.

People are different, people's views will be different as a result.

In my opinion, accusing people of a "Stockholm Syndrome" thinking when they take a position different from yours is intellectually lazy thinking, no matter how well "researched" it is.

Your mileage may vary.

Illegal Immigration

The Senate judiciary committee released a bill that would reward illegal immigration.

My father came to this country, legally, to gain employment and a chance at a better life. But he went through the process.

Meanwhile, when one friend was looking for work, he decided to try day laboring. He thought it would be a good way to find out who is hiring and then try to get something more long term. He went to the "unofficial" day labor pick up spots and tried to get a job. Guess what? He wasn't successful.

Another friend works with steel. He's tried to get Black men jobs but it doesn't work out. The reason? Other contractors are hiring illegal immigrants at low wages. When they bid on low cost contracts, guess who wins? So his company has to "fight fire with fire".

This really stinks.

Slept on CD: Mint Condition -- Livin The Luxury Brown

I brought the latest Mint Condition release some time ago.

I gave it 2 listens and decided it wasn't that good so I put it up.

Right now I'm listening to the CD because I need to crank out some code. Lo' and behold, after listening to it while doing my thing, I realize that the CD is a strong effort by the group.

It's not as strong as Musicquarium, but is it close.

Stokley and 'em did a good job. I'll give the CD a 7.5 out of 10.

I Predict

Much will be made out of one quote from this article, but much of contents will be ignored.

I won't provide the quote that will be discussed, but I will provide what I see to be more on point:

Among African Americans, the desire for marriage seems to have a different trajectory for women and men. My observation is that black women in their twenties and early thirties want to marry and commit at a time when black men their age are more likely to enjoy playing the field. As the woman realizes that a good marriage may not be as possible or sustainable as she would like, her focus turns to having a baby, or possibly improving her job status, perhaps by returning to school or investing more energy in her career.

As men mature, and begin to recognize the benefits of having a roost and roots (and to feel the consequences of their risky bachelor behavior), they are more willing to marry and settle down. By this time, however, many of their female peers are satisfied with the lives they have constructed and are less likely to settle for marriage to a man who doesn't bring much to the table. Indeed, he may bring too much to the table: children and their mothers from previous relationships, limited earning power, and the fallout from years of drug use, poor health care, sexual promiscuity. In other words, for the circumspect black woman, marriage may not be a business deal that offers sufficient return on investment.

[ Update: PM ]

I quoted the piece that I did because I thought it was the key component in this article.

Men are "enjoying the field" when women are ready to "settle down". What wasn't mentioned is many women are also "enjoying the field" when they are ready to "settle down".

Some of the women are hanging out at the clubs, displaying the "goodies" they know will attract men. But when you display the goodies, men aren't thinking, "That's my future wife", are they?

Hellllllllllll naaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww....

So he steps to her, and asks for a dance. After some chatting, the digits or email addresses are exchanged. A few (one?) date later, they are having sex.

For the men who are players they have already scored. They may play the relationship game for awhile, but then they move on. And then the women move on, rarely thinking about what happened and what went wrong, until they are older.

Then and only then, the thinking occurs. Meanwhile, the men are "enjoying the field".

It's rough placing primary responsibility on the women, but that's where, in my male opinion, it needs to be placed. That's what I told and tell my daughter and any woman who is willing to talk and listen.

[ Update 2 ]

How could I forget to mention the unreasonable requirements a young woman seems to have for a mate?

Do I need to list them?

• A job paying 6 figures.
• A certain type of car.
• A certain look (light skinned, tall, "good" hair, etc)
• A house
• A certain type of job

But what is she bringing to the table?

OH, I'm not bitter or anything. I'm married, but I got married late because I wasn't ready to be anyone's husband.

Baltimore City Schools Don't Give A Damn

I think this quote shows, yet again, that for the most part, the Baltimore Public School administrators don't give a damn about educating the kids that attend the school system.

In Copeland's letter to New Song's board of directors, she said the school and others like it were "challenged to offer innovative programs while receiving the same level of staffing and funds as other traditional schools. Implementing a program that is more expensive than a traditional school, even if it is successful, defeats the purpose ... and is not sustainable."

...

"The schools that are rewarded are the failing schools," Tibbels said, arguing that the system has a tendency to throw money at new initiatives without addressing the root causes of low student achievement. "There's no point in having a public school system that is in the business of [running] perpetually mediocre or failing schools."

I say again, the BCPS administration building needs to have everyone removed and then blown up. None of the high level administration workers should never be allowed to work in a public school system EVER again.

He's Right, But Come On

Judge Scalia is right about this, but by commenting on it, isn't he now obliged to recuse himself from the upcoming hearing?

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia reportedly told an overseas audience this month that the Constitution does not protect foreigners held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

...

The comments came just weeks before the justices are to take up an appeal from a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. The court will hear arguments tomorrow on Salim Ahmed Hamdan's assertion that President Bush overstepped his constitutional authority in ordering a military trial for the former driver of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Hamdan has been held at the prison for nearly four years.

...

"War is war, and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts," Newsweek quoted Scalia as saying. "Give me a break."

Of course, I still think that the U.S. is not Constitutionally at war, although we are fighting a war and it is a war that we must win.

But, does Scalia give a damn that his comments will mean that he will be asked to recuse himself?

For Every Action ....

there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In simple terms, that's the first law of thermodynamics.

I wonder what the opposite reaction of the protests will be? (Of course, this is the opposite reaction of a bill).

Thousands of immigration advocates marched through downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history.

More than 500,000 protesters - demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along the border - surprised police who estimated the crowd size using aerial photographs and other techniques, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said.

Wearing white T-shirts to symbolize peace, the demonstrators chanted "Mexico!" "USA!" and "Si se puede," an old Mexican-American civil rights shout that means "Yes, we can."

This is a helluvalota people!

 

For Black folks, I'm not feeling good about this.

Health Savings Account

Some summary information on Health Savings Accounts (HSA), if you're interested:

The HSA, from the employee point of view:

Dollars put into a health savings account can be withdrawn instantly for qualified medical expenses as needed; any dollars remaining can be saved for spending in future years, or invested to accumulate savings for health needs after retirement.

How Does an HSA Coordinate with Your Health Insurance?

HSAs don’t replace a normal or typical health insurance policy. They are designed as a supplement to a high-deductible health insurance policy.

Because the HSA is tied to a high-deductible health insurance policy, you will “pay as you go” for medical care, using your tax-free HSA dollars, until you spend up to the deductible. Once you meet the deductible, the health insurance pays for most of your medical expenses for the rest of the year. You may choose your own doctor and level of care. By themselves, HSAs are savings vehicles — not insurance policies — so they don’t restrict your access to coverage or your choice of providers.

The HSA program has two parts: a high-deductible health plan (which usually costs less than other health plans) and a tax-advantaged, portable savings account for payment of current medical expenses which builds like a Medical IRA.

The HSA, from the employer point of view:

High-deductible health plans cost less (rather than trying to pay for another year of double –digit premium increases, your business could be saving money)

Health insurance is the #1 benefit sought by employees – the HSA program will enable your company to continue offering health insurance or perhaps start offering it; while helping your employees build a retirement nest egg.

The cost of the insurance premium and any contribution to employees’ HSAs are tax-deductible.

Make your firm more competitive by enabling it to attract and keep better, healthy employees.

HSAs can pay for many more medical procedures and products.

How do HSAs compare to other plans, such as HRAs and FSAs? Favorably. HSAs utilize lower cost high-deductible health plans. HSA are eligible for multiple classes (employees, retirees and owners). The employee becomes responsible for their medical expense spending. The money in the HSA account accumulates and earns interest and dividends. Any contributions are deductible for the business. The two possible drawbacks are because the employee owns the HSA account, when he/she leaves the account goes along; and the yearly contribution is limited (in 2005, $2,650 for an individual and $5,250 for a family).

 

More detailed information from the Treasury Department.

From the Treasury Department information, a high deductable health plan (HDHP) is defined as the following:

Health insurance plan with minimum deductible of
(for 2005):

– $1,000 (self-only coverage)
– $2,000 (family coverage)

• These amounts are indexed annually for inflation
• Annual out-of-pocket expenses (including deductibles and co-pays) cannot exceed (for 2005):

– $5,100 (self-only coverage)
– $10,200 (family coverage)

• These amounts are indexed annually for inflation

...

HDHPs must apply costs of prescription
drugs to the annual deductible or the
individual may not contribute to an HSA

Abdul Rahman Freed

Abdul Rahman was freed by the Afghan court. Thus, he will not be killed by the court for converting to Christianity.

Hooray.

But, what about the Sudan?

Why Compare?

Thinking and writing off the cuff. I'll probably need to clean this up and put it together in a better manner. I just need to get this out there.

When discussing "issues" of the Black community, many times I will do a comparison of the situation in the Black community vs. that of whites, the American majority. When I make the comparison, it will be said that whites should be ignored and we should address the situation in our community.

In theory I agree with that comment, but in reality, most times I make the comparison because the situation with Blacks is being compared to that of whites, implicitly or explicitly.

For example, in one of the State of the Black Union panels, it was clearly stated that Blacks should focus on creating businesses because we are not building enough businesses. When that was said, there was an implicit comparison to other ethnic groups in the U.S. At what rate can it be said that Blacks are creating/owning businesses that is good enough? What is the yardstick? How is this yardstick created.

I maintain that the yardstick is the American white population.

Another example was the concern that Black people were not taking part in the Internet revolution. The so-called "digital divide" was being trumpeted by a lot of Black commentators and politicians. At the time I thought the concern was too much hype and not enough substance.

My concern was that I knew of Black families of decent and greater means who had computers and who were on-line or considering getting on-line. Meanwhile, the Black families of limited means that I knew, were not concerned. I wondered if it was a digital divide based on race or on class. Later, after more research was done, it was shown that the digital divide was class based.

I use this example for 2 reasons:

1. Because Blacks were comparing themselves to whites, the real issue of class was being overlooked.
2. If we looked at just us on-line, we would have to determine what is a "good enough" or "reasonable enough" percentage of Blacks to be on-line.

But, doesn't that support the idea that we should ignore whites and just look ourselves?

Yes, but again, how would we have come up with the yardstick for measuring "good enough"? Again I'll state, it would have been white people. But as was pointed out in #1, the class issue was hidden. But that drives me to the core of something I've been thinking about, and believing in, for some time.

When looking at issues that affect the Black community, I think it is helpful to get an understanding of the situation. Is it really "just Blacks" or is it a larger societal issue? And then if it is an issue of "just Blacks", is it class based on broad based?

Identifying a problem is fine, but to solve the problem, you have to correctly identify the problem and categorize the problem. If a problem is seen in the Black community, but is a societal wide problem, then it is best to highlight the societal wide problem and use a broad based scheme to help solve the problem.

If it is class based, then you know where the majority of resources should be concentrated vs. not wasting resources on a group for which the problem doesn't exist. I look at that as the "Glenn Loury school of thought".

If someone says Blacks have a problem and I see enough of the problem to be able to show it's society wide, then is it a "Black problem"? If the reason for saying there is a problem is because white America was used as the baseline, if I then show that white America also has a problem, why is it denial to point that out?

The following comment from Carol Swain, rings true to me:

Many of the problems, if not all, that masquerade as being about race are really about social class and culture.

Why not, at least, do some basic research to see if a problem being discussed, indeed, is about social class and [sub]culture?

 

R. Kelly

I didn't see "the tape" of R. Kelly and his "sexual antics" but I know people who did see it, and to a person, they say it is him.

There seems to be a lot of "jokes" about him and under aged girls so a lot of people seem to believe that he did some foul things to/with under aged girls.

"Age Ain't Nuthin' But A Number" with Aliah comes to mind.

R. Kelly has a lot of money and has hired good lawyers. So, years later, he is still free, writing hits for Ronald Isley and Charlie Wilson as well as for himself. I heard the Isley and Wilson CDs and I have to say they were good. But I refuse to put money into the pocket of a child molester.

Meanwhile, Kelly is on tour and is selling out venues. I just have two words to say about that: I'm DISGUSTED.

Carol Swain Speaks

Front Page Magazine has an online "symposium" titled "The End of 'Black' History?". The panel consisted of Ron Christie, John McWhorter, and Carol Swain.

I want to present one set of comments by Carol Swain:

Since we right-wing conservatives need to stick together for maximum impact, I appeal to Ron to use his black influence in the White House, and to John his at the Manhattan Institute, to join with me in support of the national apology for slavery. The apology should be championed by the Bush Administration. It is a no-brainer, win-win for the Republican Party. It is the morally correct thing to do and could set in motion a series of events that would at minimum weaken the allegiance that many blacks have with the Democratic Party. 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 states “to every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” I contend that this is the season to make history by having the Republican Party take the lead on this issue. Republicans would benefit the most because of its association with racist politicians and policies that are often insensitive to the needs of minorities and working people.

 

Ron, the apology does not preclude the Republicans and the Democrats working on issues such as education, housing, immigration, and human trafficking. In fact, it would give them more credibility on a host of domestic and international issues.

 

The apology I envision would be offered to the descendants of all persons adversely affected by slavery and its Jim Crow legacy. The apology would not place blame on individual whites and it should not be avoided because of what the Black Caucus, Jesse Jackson, Julian Bond, or the black intellectual elites on University campuses might say. The apology is not for them. 

 

The apology is for the people and for the cleansing and healing of the nation. It makes no sense to offer the apology exclusively to blacks since some blacks participated in the practice while some whites were staunch opponents. One source reported that in 1860, roughly 3,000 free blacks held almost 20,000 slaves. You can bet that these slaves were not all family members. The bottom line is that slavery was a national crime that all our ancestors participated in, including American Indian tribes, such as the Cherokee.

 

The apology would be meaningful to many ordinary black Americans who have no interest whatsoever in reparations. All they want is an acknowledgement of the injustice that was done to the weakest of the weak. John, I beg to disagree with you about affirmative action, Martin Luther King Day, and the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s being apology enough for slavery and the Jim Crow Legacy. There is something healing about having one of the greatest nations of the world join other great nations in acknowledging a collective wrong that was allowed to continue far too long. 

 

One final point for John on the unrelated matter of the frequency of black invitations to college and university campuses, perhaps, the cracks that you see are related to the platform provided by the Manhattan Institute. My experience tells me that it is extremely difficult to get any conservatives invited for university-wide speaking engagements and that black conservatives within academia find themselves isolated and devalued. It is the nature of the beast.  The Soul Patrol does not operate alone. The problem lies with the values and missions of the institutions as a whole. 

 

Comrades, these are my thoughts on this matter. As a black Independent, I have no home notwithstanding Professor Kilson’s desire to force me into the black conservative camp. By choice, I am an intellectual nomad who owes her existence and stature to the beneficence of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. I close by appealing to my brethren and sisters of all races to join me in the pursuit of the national apology for slavery and then help me and help others to work towards a lasting racial reconciliation that takes the black agenda away from knee-jerk liberal causes and demands and pushes it towards social and moral internal rehabilitation within. Many of the problems, if not all, that masquerade as being about race are really about social class and culture.

That's all.

Things That Caught My Eye Today

I saw previews of Ice Age 2 while watching Ice Age on FX. I will see that movie.

Changes at MicroSoft

As expected, Microsoft reshuffled its Platforms & Services Division, appointing Steve Sinofsky to lead a new group overseeing Windows OS and Windows Live services development, the company said today.

The restructuring--part of a plan by the vendor to repair what it sees as lack of agility and growth in the division that oversees its largest property, Windows--also breaks up and renames groups that were formerly part of the MSN division.

Kevin Johnson, copresident of the Platforms & Services Division, announced the changes in an e-mail to his division. The group overseen by former Office group leader Sinofsky--the Windows and Windows Live Group--is one of eight groups that now comprise the division, according to Microsoft.

The following appeared in a George Will opinion piece.

This even though many public schools are providing nothing of the sort; the public school that Octavia would have to attend were she not at Archbishop Curley has been rated a failing school for three consecutive years by the state .

Will pointing out that the school had been rated as failing is a reason why, a few years ago, I came around to supporting vouchers.

I think that we are at the point of triage for students attending public schools.

For those parents/guardians who give a damn and want to have options for educating their kids, vouchers is a small way to provide the option. In short, it is a first step in saving kids.

Russia gave Iraq our war plans?!?!?!?!?

Two Iraqi documents dated in March 2003 -- on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion -- and addressed to the secretary of Saddam Hussein, describe details of a U.S. plan for war. According to the documents, the plan was disclosed to the Iraqis by the Russian ambassador.

...

A newly released prewar Iraqi document indicates that an official representative of Saddam Hussein's government met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan on February 19, 1995, after receiving approval from Saddam Hussein. Bin Laden asked that Iraq broadcast the lectures of Suleiman al Ouda, a radical Saudi preacher, and suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. According to the document, Saddam's presidency was informed of the details of the meeting on March 4, 1995, and Saddam agreed to dedicate a program for them on the radio. The document states that further "development of the relationship and cooperation between the two parties to be left according to what's open [in the future] based on dialogue and agreement on other ways of cooperation." The Sudanese were informed about the agreement to dedicate the program on the radio.

...

• That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq.
• That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America.

The Bush administration doesn't know how to use the press.

Ladies and Gentlemen

This world needs an enema!

That is all.

About That NY Times Article

About that NY Times article titled "Plight Deepens for Black Me, Studies Warn", here is what I got out of it.

Keep your ass in school until you graduate, don't get involved in criminal activity, and don't knock up any women, and your chances of getting a job, and building a decent life, are much better than if you didn't.

It ain't rocket science and there are plenty of men who do it.

File Sharing Music Helps Sales

Get a load of this tid bit of information. It appears that file sharing isn't the reason for declining music sales.

There have been plenty of academic studies over the years that have suggested that file sharing (a) doesn't hurt the music industry, and may help it and (b) the reason music sales are down often has nothing to do with file sharing. However, every time this evidence is presented, the recording industry ignores it, and trots out its own, often questionable, studies instead. Well, now the Canadian equivalent of the RIAA has done one of their own studies -- but released the details very quietly. Perhaps that's because the study pretty much disproves much of what the recording industry keeps claiming. It shows that those who download music from file sharing services are the people who tend to buy the most music.

Ain't that something?

New Light Leadership Coalition, Inc

I heard about this group on the radio today.

New Light Leadership Coalition, Inc.

New Light Leadership Coalition (NLLC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is governed and managed for youth, by youth. Our mission is to empower youth through a holistic, peer-centered approach to leadership development by teaching, training, and uniting youth leaders.

...

Young people in the streets, the schools, the basketball courts, the barber shops, the hair salons, the mall, the PAL Centers, all around the city need to know that there are peer leaders who are concerned about our current condition. NLLC is dedicated to being a part of the solution rather than dwelling on problems of the past. We know that the potential is there for positive change to be made, and we are on the front lines of that change. We hope that the Youth Empowerment Movement will help improve the attitude that young people have about themselves and that adults have about us. NLLC is on the front line of that change. We are one of the few youth-governed organizations that truly seek to empower rather than pacify the warrior spirit in our peers.

...

The Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP)  is a comprehensive guide to leadership development for young people. Topics covered include the areas of personal, social, educational, economic, political, technological, and organizational development. This holistic course of study prepares young leaders to be proficient in all aspects of life.  Select one of the options above for more information about the training programs offered by New Light Leadership Coalition, Inc.

...

In addition to our training program, NLLC provides the Youth Leadership Development Workbook as a year-round resource for emerging youth leaders. It addresses issues such as conflict resolution, working with people, budgeting, organizational development, goal setting, networking, personal development, the principles of leadership, and more. This valuable resource mirrors our training program in content and is often used in conjunction with the YLDP. The Youth Leadership Development Workbook is a comprehensive guide to youth who wish to prepare themselves for leadership.

Shhh....
Don't tell anybody.

Defending "The Black Church"

On a web forum, the comment "I can't but help thinking that the Black church is failing" was made.

That got me to "go off" and defend "The Black Church". Here is how I responded:

This is what I am going to do:

I'm going to state a moral truth.

I'm going to state a statistical truth.

I'm going to state a social fact.

I'm going to use an associative relationship between the moral truth and the statistical truth to make a corollary.

I'm going to use the corollary and the social fact to provide a hypothesis.

I am going to ask if the hypothesis is valid.

Moral truth: Those who engage in premarital sex are committing a sin.

Statistical truth: 65-70% of the white population has engaged in premarital sex.

Social fact: Sunday is the "most segregated day" in the U.S. Most of the white population goes to a "white church".

Corollary: If engaging in premarital sex is a sin, then 65-70% of the white population are sinners, then most of the white population are sinners.

Hypothesis: If most of the white population attends a white church, yet most of the white population engages in premarital sex, then the white church is failing the white population.

True or false?

 

Things That Caught My Eye Today

Microsoft Delays Next Version of Windows, Again

Microsoft Corp. delayed the general release of the next version of Windows until January, potentially wiping out holiday sales for computer makers and crimping revenue at the world's largest software maker.         

The Vista version of Windows, which runs 90 percent of the world's personal computers, is already two years late and Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said as recently as last month that the release was on target for this year.         

``This is a major slip with material consequences,'' said Rob Enderle, president of San Jose, California-based researcher Enderle Group. ``Missing the fourth quarter will have a significant impact on consumer sales.''

             

Google Finance On Line

The finance section Google Inc. unveiled Tuesday continues a philosophical shift that's turning its once-pure Internet search engine into an all-purpose Web site that seems increasingly interested in getting people to stick around instead of sending them elsewhere.

The evolution has been unfolding during the past four years as Google has introduced free e-mail, news, photo sharing, instant messaging, shopping and mapping services that are staples of one-stop Web sites commonly known as "portals."

The changes have sparked a debate about whether Google is moving wisely to counteract its biggest rivals - longtime Web portals like Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN - or overextending itself in a way that ultimately will diminish the appeal of its Internet-leading search engine.

"There have been concerns that Google is doing just about everything these days but focusing on search," said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch, a closely watched industry newsletter.

Click this link for Google Finance

This last one worries me a lot:

IRS Allows Selling of Tax Return Information

The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers will be able to sell information from individual returns - or even entire returns - to marketers and data brokers.

The change is raising alarm among consumer and privacy-rights advocates. It was included in a set of proposed rules that the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them "not a significant regulatory action."

IRS officials portray the changes as housecleaning to update outmoded regulations adopted before it began accepting returns electronically. The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.

Critics call the changes a dangerous breach in personal and financial privacy. They say the requirement for signed consent would prove meaningless for many taxpayers, especially those hurriedly reviewing stacks of documents before a filing deadline.