DarkStar Spouts Off

It Seems To Me...

It seems to me that the claim that someone is anti-Semitic if they claim that Hollywood is controlled by Jewish people is nullified by the reaction to Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rantings.

I'm watching the media ask if Mel Gibson's career is over because of the Jewish influence in Hollywood and I'm left thinking that if the ADL isn't saying anything about who controls Hollywood, it must have a grain of truth to it.

Profit Isn't The Indicator

There is nothing wrong with a for-profit company making a profit. In fact, it is mandatory for that company to make a profit or else it ceases to exist. The idea that a company makes too much profit, is a concept that should be unknown to those who live in a capitalist, even regulated capitalist, society.

Lets say my software consulting business comes up with a software application that I decide costs $100 a piece to make and I decide to price the software and license at $110 a piece. That means I make $10 profit on each software and license. That is a 10% profit.

If I sell 100 units, that's $1000 profit. If I sell 1,000,000 units, that's $10,000,000 profit. Is $10,000,000 profit "too much" when my profit rate is still 10%?

If I sell 10,000,000 units, that's $100,000,000 profit. I would be a record profit for my company, going by this example. Is this "too much" profit when my profit rate is still 10%?

Now lets say the cost per unit rises and I decide that I want to keep a profit rate of 10%. So, as the cost per unit rises, I raise the price per unit of the software and license to keep pace. The amount of profit would reach "record levels" if I sold 10,000,000 units at a greater price per unit, but my profit margin would still be 10%.

From the best I can tell, this is the situation with Exxon-Mobile's record profit numbers. They are making the most profit than they have ever made, but their profit margin rate isn't far out of line with their historical profit margin rate. Their costs have gone up as oil prices have gone up. Remember, they pay leases to land owners to drill for oil and they also pay the oil traders for barrels of oil that they do not retrieve.

Despite what Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Bill O'Reily states, it isn't the record profits that should be examined, but the profit rate that should be examined. Even then, those who believe in a capitalist economy should not begrudge their rate of profit.

Family Reunions: Interesting Times

Family reunions are interesting events in time.

You get to find out about family you didn't know existed, family squabbles, and family history.

You get to see people you don't see very often, except for funerals. It's a time to see those people in happier circumstances.

One of the things you may learn is, if you love your family and you want family harmony, as much as
possible with people anyway, please write a will so your family can't fight about your material belongings after you die.

Well, they may want to fight but it reduces the chance of it occurring. And if there is any hurt or blame, it will lie with the person who wrote the will.

The long term damage to the extended family fighting over materials after a person dies is unbelievable. So, please make a will.

I may post some pictures or I may not. It all depends on how I feel.

Blade: The Series

I watched an episode of Blade, The Series.

All I can say is, it stinks.

Conversation With My Daughter: Crime

I had a recent conversation with my daughter that segued into the issue of crime. I thought her comments were interesting.

Some "problem" areas where she goes has "police cameras" looking over the area. She said that when they first came out, some dummies kept acting like nothing had changed, so they got busted. However now, they still do their thing outside, out of the line of sight of the camera or they do their thing in the house.

I mentioned that I thought the ideal thing was for them to do their thing in the house because that would cut down on the turf wars that cause innocent people to get hurt. It would also help the neighborhood because the activity is hidden, although the traffic would still be a problem. But I told her that in most cases, they just move which just... And then she finished it off: ...just moves the problem.

She then said that maybe it should be legalized, that way some of the problems go away. This is just what Kurt Schmoke, and others, have said. I was stunned and impressed by her reasoning. This caused us to go into another area which revealed a strong libertarian streak, marked with strong idealism.

We then talked about curfews. I said if kids are hanging out at night, doing whatever, curfews won't work. She laughed and agreed. She said parents need to be more responsible, but she also said some kids are just going to do what they are going to do.

Overall, an interesting conversation.

Mo'Nique

Mo'Nique showed her azz and now wants Blacks to cover it up and back her.

This brutha ain't havin' it.

She was on the plane, she showed her azz, and she got kicked off. That's what happens when you act the fool. She played herself. And in my circle of the world, I'm not the only one thinking this way.

I Said Someone Is Lying

After hearing more about the Steele "off the record" or "on background" interview, I've come to the conclusion that Steele is lying or he's stupid about the media. I don't think he's stupid about the media.

Some One Is Lying

Some one is lying.

Yesterday, I wrote about Michael Steele's comments being published by the Washington Post. He said the interview with 9 columnists was "off the record." Steele also said that some of the other reporters at the interview have called him to say they were mad that Milbank wrote about the "off the record" interview.

Dana Milbank said the interview was "on background," meaning the comments could be published but not attributed by name.

Today, Thursday, it was Milbank's turn. He gave an interview on the same station that I gave yesterday. Here is the audio to the interview.

Someone is lying. If Milbank is lying then he needs to be censured by The Post. If Steele is lying, then his ass needs to be looking for a job the day after election day.

Anonymous vs. "Off The Record"

Michael Steele is saying his comments to the reporters were supposed to be "off the record" vs. anonymous. If this is true, the reporter broke a reporting rule and the article should not have been written. If it was anonymous, the article was fine to write.

OK, hold on. Steele is on a talk show right now...

Steele is saying the comments, in entirety, is off the record.

Concerning "scarlet letter" comment, he is stating that, in Maryland, being a Republican is like wearing a scarlet letter. This point is accurate since the registration is 2:1 Democrat. In short, Mibank took that comment, and others, out of context. Steele notes that there are no direct quotes, so Milbank is writing his interpretation of the comments.

Steele is saying that the comments he made are nothing new and people can find similar comments he has made in the past.

Steele said Milbank has admitted, on MSNBC, the comments were off the record. OK, Milbank is foul.

[ 10:30 PM Update ]

This doesn't seem like it was calculated. Based on early talk show comments, this hurts Steele based on conservative Republicans who called into the radio show.

Here is a link to the interview.

To make this clear, I'm writing about this because I think this makes for more interesting politics in the race.

According to current polls, if Steele goes against Mfume, the race is tight. If Steele goes against Cardin, Cardin wins by about 10 points. If I remember correctly, all three candidates have similar positions on the Iraq war.

Thora Institute

Check out this link.

Steele Being Thrown Under The Bus?

Whoa....

An article about a Republican not trying to be linked to President Bush is being said to be Michael Steele. The person claiming this is Rush Limbaugh.

More later....

[ 9:10PM Update 'cuz it is later ]

Here is the article that Limbaugh mentioned. This is an excerpt:

The candidate, immersed in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, sat down to lunch yesterday with reporters at a Capitol Hill steakhouse and shared his views about this year's political currents.

On the Iraq war: "It didn't work. . . . We didn't prepare for the peace."

On the response to Hurricane Katrina: "A monumental failure of government."

On the national mood: "There's a palpable frustration right now in the country."

It's all fairly standard Democratic boilerplate -- except the candidate is a Republican . And he's getting all kinds of cooperation from the White House, the Republican National Committee and GOP congressional leaders.

Not that he necessarily wants it. "Well, you know, I don't know," the candidate said when asked if he wanted President Bush to campaign for him. Noting Bush's low standing in his home state, he finally added: "To be honest with you, probably not."

I thought that Limbaugh was off base for a simple reason: Bush has been in Maryland to raise money for Michael Steele. But, Steele has been running a campaign where he states that he is trying to be a bridge between both parties.

Then, looking for the link to the article above, I came across this one on The Washington Post web site:

A Republican in a competitive Senate race called his party affiliation "an impediment," said he'd "probably not" want President Bush to campaign for him and the GOP-controlled Congress should "just shut up and get something done."

Michael Steele's campaign confirmed Tuesday that the Maryland lieutenant governor made the comments a day earlier on the condition reporters only identify him as a GOP Senate candidate. However, the campaign said his published remarks were just a sampling from a wide-ranging, 90-minute interview in which he praised the president.

OH, this race is getting good! I can't wait to hear the talk shows on Wednesday!

Another Data Point Against "Right" vs "Left"

What is about to follow is another data point why I believe Blacks can't afford to get wrapped up in the "liberal" vs. "conservative" "debate". And, again, I acknowledge by doing this, I'm taking part in what I decry.

If there is such a thing as "victimology," what follows is, what I believe, a prime example of it coming from "the Black Right." This is reply to "Al from Bay Shore" on Booker Rising. What I will do is make my reply here. His comments are in Italics, mine are in bold.

Everytime these types of sentiments are uttered, the Civil Rights industry dinosaurs frantically rush to amend them with the "blame the white man" corollary.

People have always said what Cosby uttered on that day BUT they made sure not to say it too loud nor around the white folks. Cosby got the ball rolling.

So, it's a "rush to amend" when the press "rushes" to the "Civil Rights" industry to ask them questions? This is what Mfume said:

Mr. Cosby was embraced by NAACP President Kweisi Mfume as he left the podium. Mr. Mfume later said that he agreed with Mr. Cosby and that, in fact, he, himself, has expressed the same dismay with the black community.

   
What you will find in that article a mixture of comments. But, according to Al, it was all of one type, and that is just false.

Whenever someone echoed comments similar to those of Cosby's they were subjected to negative epithets of all sorts.

Yet, the same people you claim are throwing the epithets, are saying they agreed with Cosby? Something doesn't parse.

This has nearly quashed out alternative points of view to the point where those types of comments were only limited to private conversations.

The following are 2 groups that are addressing public problems, "in private." All private groups addressing public problems, "in private."

Concerned Black Men.
100 Black Women

OK, those are 2 national groups who are doing the work to address problems that you claim, are only being said "in private."

Something doesn't add up. If these issues are not being addressed, why would those two groups exist? Why would the groups listed at Black Self Help Information exist? Given that context, the logic you are using doesn't make sense at all.

If you don't believe me, then go into any black owned bookstore or even the black section of your local Barnes and Noble. Why is Thomas Sowell's book (Black Rednecks and White Liberals) listed in the politics section and and Dyson's in the "black interest" section?

Karibu Book Store has Sowell, McWhorter, Smiley, Shelby Steele, Larry Elder and Dyson books in the same area. Karibu Book Store is Black owned.

I went to Borders these evening after work. McWhorter, Smiley, Shelby Steele and Dyson were all in the same section of African American books in the social science area. Sowell's latest book was in that area as well as political history.

You are wrong.

The largely leftist black community that is constantly spoonfed the disenfranchising gospel of "blame whitey" politics.

OK, now you resort to calling the Black community, "leftist". Here is your largely leftist Black community. Read the comments by the Black people.

Now, if you believe polls, and I bet you will discard this one, this representative of "largely leftist Black community" seems to run counter to your imprecise rant.

People have always said what Cosby uttered on that day BUT they made sure not to say it too loud nor around the white folks.

When Mfume and Jackson, Sr. said they agreed with Cosby, and said it in the media, it wasn't the white media which is around white folks?

End of reply.

The reason why I wail against "right" vs. "left" "debating" is because, as what I replied to shows, most times the "debate" is long on emotion and short on critical thought. In this case, IMO, "Al from Bay Shore" is feeling "put upon" so he is "striking out" without applying good thought to the process. Al is playing the victim.

Am I saying that Michael Eric Dyson is correct in going after Cosby? No.

What doesn't get mentioned is Bill Cosby interview he gave to Tavis Smiley on Smiley's PBS show,  after Cosby's remarks were put in the white media. (Note my use of words here).

Cosby said that he was wrong for phrasing his comments in the manner that he did because he applied too broad of a statement.

Next, while I find Dyson "entertaining," I place little confidence into what he says or what he writes. This is the man who claims to defend Black women, yet defended the misogynist lyrics of some rappers. But, he is the only person I have seen who shut down Ann Coulter on one of the shouting talking head shows.

"Private" vs. "Public"

Can someone answer a question for me?

If there are groups and individuals that are addressing problems in the Black community, then how can it be said that Blacks don't discuss problems in the open, only behind closed doors? Or is it really a question of certain Blacks, like "Black leaders," discussing issues?

Then the next question is, when "Black leaders" say things but the media doesn't report it, are they still saying things "in public"?

Michael Steele Supports Hate Crime Legislation

Michael Steele was on a local talk show this morning. He stated that he supports the idea of hate crime legislation. This came out because the talk show hosts were discussing the boric acid that was sent to a couple local NAACP offices.

More later...

Stuck On The Plantation?

So, is J.C. Watts stuck on the plantation?

“I take my hat off to Ken [Mehlman]; what he has done is unprecedented in the time I’ve been a Republican,” said J. C. Watts Jr., a former congressman from Oklahoma, who is black. “However, I remain unconvinced that it is in the DNA of our party to get it done. There are just too many things out there that I think Americans of African descent have concerns about.”

[ Update ]

Is Michael Steele stuck on the plantation? He is quoted as saying if he wins his senate race, he is going to join the CBC. More later...

The NAACP

Quickies on the NAACP:

• Bush spoke to the NAACP this year. OK, great. It was a good, Democrat, pandering speech that he gave.
• The NAACP national organization has made itself irrelevant. Times changed and the national organization has not. They are living the past. The local organizations are where the action is at, and they are a hit and miss situation. The membership numbers tells the tale.
• Why is it when people mention the "James Bryd ad," no one gives his daughter, who was a part of the ad, a hard time?

Quickie Notes

It looks like WalMart won one against the insane Maryland state legislators who decided to write a law that only applies to WalMart.

Judge rejects state's WalMart law

A federal judge in Baltimore struck down a state law today that sought to require retailing giant Wal-Mart to boost spending for employee health care, saying the legislation violated a federal law that promotes uniform treatment of employers.

The state legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, demands that companies with more than 10,000 workers spend at least 8 percent of their payroll for employee health care or make up the difference in an equivalent payment to the state.

Of companies that size, only Wal-Mart appeared to cross the law's threshold, leading to Wal-Mart's charge of singular discrimination.

The Baltimore Examiner has been doing a series of articles showing how the Baltimore Police Departmart is [mis]applying the "broken windows" policing method. Here is an excerpt from one such article:

Marcus Hines, Gary McDaniels and Edward Goins learned that the hard way. After being told by police to turn down the music, the trio found themselves handcuffed and arrested for drinking beer in the backyard at a neighborhood event.

“We were just trying to enjoy ourselves for a cookout, then the police came into the backyard and slapped the beer out of our hands,” Hines said.

Hines said police entered the backyard without provocation. The police report said Hines had been observed “drinking one 12-oz. bottle of Corona.”

“The humiliation is something I have never experienced,” said Hines who said the trio spent about eight hours in central booking.

“The sad part for me is that, after 38 years, I now have a police record,” said the rental store manager. “I’ve been photographed and fingerprinting. It’s terrible. We were just enjoying ourselves, and we end up in jail.”

Prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

A rational law concerning child support. To me, the lowest thing a man can do to a woman is rape her. The lowest thing a woman can do to a man is claim a child is his when she suspects or knows that the child is not his.

A new law says men in Florida can stop paying child support if they are not the child's biological father.

The idea for the bill came to Tallahassee Representative Curtis Richardson two years ago.

He said more men in his district were asking for legislative help after not getting any legal help. They thought they were paying unnecessary child support.

Richardson was hearing complaints from men who were financially bound to a child who didn't belong to them. When they went before a judge asking for a change, the judge said they didn't have the power to change it.

Finally, this is a reason why some people just don't trust the po-po.

Using electric shock, beatings and suffocation, Chicago police tortured criminal suspects into giving confessions during the 1970s and 1980s, the authors of a report said on Wednesday.

But the abuse inflicted on suspects by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge -- who has since been fired, lives in Florida and receives a full pension -- and detectives under his command occurred too long ago to pursue criminally, a four-year investigation concluded.

"We have concluded that there was violence and there was violence on more than one person," special prosecutor Robert Boyle told reporters.

"We have also concluded ... that based on our investigation, that if the statute of limitations had not run, we would seek a criminal indictment in three cases" from the 1980s.

Lastly, if anyone tells you, or if you believe, that Blacks don't accept blame for their own circumstances, and if you believe in polls, then download this and read it. If they, or you, are honest, they will have to rethink their position.

Either You Are Or You Are Not

Either you are "pro-life" or you are not "pro-life". There can be no inconsistencies as far as I'm concerned.

The topic of the moment is invetro-fertilization.

Here is a fact: multiple eggs are extracted and fertilization is attempted before multiple eggs are placed back into the woman. However, not all are immediately placed back into the woman. Some are left for later attempts.

What happens to the rest of the fertilized eggs that are left over?

Those who have moral reservations about the fertilized eggs, donate them to a system that is set up to use those eggs to, hopefully, impregnate another woman. Others donate them for research. Others just have them destroyed.

If you are really pro-life, you would know about these options and you would be working to make the donation for impregnation use more widely known. But, from what I can tell, that is not happening.

With President Bush's veto of the stem cell research bill, at some point I expect pro-life activities to focus on restricting, or banning, the use of invetro-fertilization methods because of the likeliness of unused fertilized eggs being destroyed.

But that would cause a big fire storm that probably does not want to be faced.

[ Update ]

I saw today that Bush talked about the veto in front of, and standing in front of, a group of people who used donated fertilized eggs to have a family.

I'm going to go the next step and wonder why he doesn't ask for a law that bans the over fertilization of eggs or bans the destroying of fertilized eggs that won't be used.

It is about human life, right?

Wait... This is the same man who refused to comment on Texas wanting to execute a man whose lawyer fell asleep during trial.

I Have A Question

I have a question.

Why would Syria, who was and still is interfering in Lebanon because it meets their needs, want to "Cut that s*** out!"?

The Color Is Bad

This is really funny!

Orioles players have joked in the past that they didn't look like their bobblehead dolls. But when a recent shipment of Brian Roberts bobbleheads arrived, team officials knew something was wrong.

Roberts, who is white, had dark skin. It wasn't just a deep tan.

"It didn't look like Brian Roberts. The coloring was bad," Orioles spokesman Bill Stetka said. "I didn't actually see it. I've heard various versions that it was very dark and bluish."

 

China The Master Puppeteer?

Here is the Clift's Notes version of how I understand some things.

North Korea

A communist country that is seriously hurting. If your family is a member of the ruling party or if you are in the military, you are well taken care of. Otherwise, you are out of luck.

North Korea is attempting to build nuclear capability and has demonstrated its -- lack of? -- capabilities of firing long range missiles. North Korea's efforts are supported by China even though it would appear that China would not want to have another nuclear power in the region.

An axis of evil country.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is what it is. The fighting is flaring up again, which I'm sure Russia loves since the U.S. fought a proxy war against Russia in Afghanistan and Russia lost. Afghanistan's economy is supported by the illicit drug use of segments of the Europe and the U.S. population.

Israel

Supported by the U.S. and hated by everyone in the region.

Iran

Iran is alleged to be supporting some of the insurgency in Iraq. Meanwhile, it is asserting its right to be a country with nuclear capability. Iran gets some of it's military capabilities from China.

An "axis of evil" country.

Hezbollah

Israel states that Hezbollah is firing missiles at Israel that are from Iran which are from China.

Umm....
Is China the master puppeteer?

Robert Johnson Does Movies

Robert Johnson, founder of BET, is getting [ back ] into movies:

Yesterday, Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, moved to even the landscape. He announced the formation of Our Stories Films, a company dedicated to producing African-American family comedies. He's chosen partners who've proven themselves at making fresh inroads with audiences and moviemakers: Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-founders of Miramax and co-chairmen of the Weinstein Co.

"The one consistent cry I've heard from the black creative community in Hollywood is, 'Why is there no black-owned film studio where a black person green-lights the movies?'" says Johnson. The obvious answer, to Johnson, was, "No African-American was in the position or willing to take the risk to put up his or her money to put that studio in place."

I have something harsh to say about this, and I don't care if I'm called a "crab in a barrel" for saying this, but it must be said.

When Johnson took BET public, one of the things he said he was going to do was to create a production studio for television AND movies. This is really the second incarnation of Our Stories.

When he said this, he stated that he was building a production studio in Largo, Maryland, which he did. He placed the restaurant, BET Soundstage, there. ( It had good food and was THE spot for a bit ). Tim Reid approached Johnson to use Johnson's studio and Reid's studio, which was located in Virginia, to collaborate on production. Reid thought that the two studios, working together, good get good stories by and about Black people out into the public.

Johnson, according to Reid, didn't bite.

Remember, this is Robert Johnson who said that the 'E' in BET stood for Entertainment. This is the same Robert Johnson who has defended the business model of BET saying that, as a businessman, bootieshaking and degrading videos made money. This is the same Robert Johnson who, when BET first came out, said he wanted to serve the Black audience with information and entertainment, then said it was about entertainment only, and killed the SMALL information/news portion of BET.

I have no problem with the brother making money. I just don't appreciate the lying to the Black community and the world about intentions.

Here's the real deal: family entertainment makes money. Right now, family entertainment is what is making the most money for movie studios. Ergo, what should Johnson do to make money?

Make family movies. Only, he claims he's going to do it in Black-face because "we" want to see it.

True, "we" may want to see it, but the money is going to be made with all races, not just Blacks. So, mark this: in time, if the studio stays, they will do mostly "white" movies with some Black ones thrown in.

That's not a bad thing. I'm just saying, be upfront instead of frontin'.

NAACP By The Numbers

This article about the NAACP membership count, by George Curry, discusses the membership numbers for the NAACP. That's all I really care about in this article.

...In less than a year, Gordon has done something no other NAACP president or board chair has done in more than 50 years – he has told the truth about the organization’s anemic membership numbers.

When I began covering the NAACP in the early 1970s for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Executive Director Roy Wilkins and his successor, Benjamin L. Hooks, would boast that with 500,000 members, the NAACP was the oldest, largest and most powerful civil rights group in the world. But Hooks – and the chief executives that followed him – continued to lie about the size of the volunteer organization. Finally, Gordon has acknowledged that the venerable organization has a membership of less than 300,000. He won’t say how many members shy of 300,000, but other NAACP sources say the figure has fluctuated between 150,000 and 250,000 over the past three decades.

The NAACP has had various membership drives over the years and for some reason, they expected the public to believe they had a half-million members. When they weren’t having membership drives, they were claiming 500,000 members. At the end of each drive, the figure reported to the public would still mysteriously remain at 500,000. The Baltimore Sun did some research and discovered that the NAACP has been claiming 500,000 members since 1946. For 60 years, it has been telling the same lie.

It wasn’t like top officials didn’t know the actual numbers. My friend DeWayne Wickham, who has been researching a book on the NAACP, came across a memo written by Benjamin Hooks stating that as of November 30, 1982, there were 178,000 members. Hooks made a report to the executive committee of the board on December 17, 1982 citing those figures. Hooks and Board Chair Margaret Bush Wilson clashed over a number of items, including the low membership numbers and some questionable fiscal practices. While working in St. Louis, I broke the story in 1983 that she had suspended Hooks after a very heated board meeting at which Hooks had to be physically restrained. The board overturned Wilson’s action and later refused to re-elect her to the board. As leaders came and went, the membership lie remained a fixture.

Dear Mr. Cosby, X

Dear Mr. Cosby,
    I have a very simple question I would like to ask. While you are on your tour, why are you not also showing groups and/or individuals who are trying to address the problems you are bringing up? Or, are you doing so and the media is not covering it?

When you get the chance, look at the Black Self Help Information website. I would appreciate it as you find out about groups doing things, that you would use the "Contact Us" link to let the web site know.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. Cosby, IX

Dear Mr. Cosby,
    A group of us have been friends for a number of years now. One friend, "Troy," has a quick temper that, occasionally, leads to him getting into a physical confrontation.

    We have tried to get him to use techniques to calm himself down before things escalate. We have tried to get him to "just walk away." We have told him to take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program at his job to help him out. His temper, naturally, has been shown at work and has prevented him from getting promoted.

    The other day, someone said something they really had no business saying to another close friend of ours. Troy spoke up. The other person cursed Troy and a fight ensued. Troy got beat down.

    That's all Mr. Cosby.