DarkStar Spouts Off

Here We Go!

Al Sharpton is getting a DNA test done.

If it comes back indicating a genetic link, I bet he sues for reparations.

Any takers?

You Are Going To Hate Me For This

You are going to hate me for this, but I have some questions:

1. Has this mother ever heard of toothpaste, tooth brush, and oral hygiene?
2. Did this mother realize sugar rots teeth?

How Do I Go Back To The Cubicle Farm

I used to watch a series on VH-1 or MTV that featured attempts to get musical groups that had broken up, to come back together for one "special concert." One show featured the women from Klymaxx. After they performed in concert, one member asked, "After this, how do I go back to the cubicle farm?" That comment has stayed with me ever since because it represents, to me, never being satisfied after you have tasted "the good life."

Last night, Mrs. D.S. watched "Building A Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy." Near the end, she turned to me and asked, "How can those girls go back to living they way they lived during school breaks? Here they are, in the lap of luxury with running water, toilets, and soft beds. During breaks, they have to go back to nothing."

I think the idea is that they "won't be able to go back to that" and with their education, will do something to change their circumstances and possibly the circumstances of others around them.

Definition: Sell Out

The last congressional session, congress saw fit to curtail the "pay day loan" practice as it pertains to men and women in the armed services. The congress-criters saw to it that the companies offering "pay day loans" didn't rip off, too bad, the men and women in the armed services. To bad the CBC and/or congressional Democrats didn't do the same for Blacks. (Honestly, I expect people to educate themselves and resist the pay day loan scam, and that includes Blacks. But please bear with me).

What are pay day loans? Michelle Singletary gives her definition in this article:

Payday loans are small loans that a borrower promises to repay out of his or her next paycheck, typically in two weeks. A $100 loan might carry a fee of $15.

Consumer advocacy groups are highly critical of these loans because when the fees are annualized, they often amount to triple-digit interest rates -- even more than 1,000 percent in some cases. The groups argue that the loans take advantage of cash-strapped consumers.

What does this have to do with the definition of sell out? Again, from the same Michelle Singletary article:

Unbelievably, several minority groups have partnered with the CFSA to promote financial literacy. Why would they do this, I wondered, especially when so many payday storefronts are located in economically depressed minority neighborhoods?

Well, it turns out there's money in it for the minority groups.

The CFSA is giving about $2 million to fund financial literacy programs for two groups, said its spokesman, Steven Schlein.

The trade association is partnering with the National Conference of Black Mayors to host summits "to teach young people the importance of building a solid financial future." I certainly hope it's a future that never involves a payday loan. The CFSA also is teaming up with the National Black Caucus of States Institute. As the trade group says in its news release, the partnership will "educate African-American legislators and community leaders on critical issues regarding consumer credit, and provide community volunteers with resources they need to educate consumers in their communities on how to become credit savvy."

The National Conference of Black Mayors got paid and sold out the people who elected them to office. From their website:

Established in 1974, the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) is a private,nonpolitical, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

It serves over 500 mayors , nationwide, who represent more than 30 million citizens. NCBM's mission is to enhance the executive management capacity of its members for the purpose of governing viable municipalities.

The National Black Caucus of States Institute got paid and sold out whomever they claim to represent. This is the first time I've heard of them. From their website, the NBCSI mission is:

To provide Black state legislators with the tools, data, research and analysis that will enable them to form superior solutions to address the issues confronting their constituents. To identify or create innovative partnerships that will serve as a catalyst to deliver viable initiatives to enrich the lives of African Americans.

None the less, ladies and gentlemen, both groups are the definition of sell out. Is there a "Black-pedia" out there somewhere? The definition of sell out needs to be updated.

What Can You Say About This?

OK, what can you say about this?

NEW YORK - Genealogists have found that civil rights activist the Rev.
Al Sharpton is a descendent of a slave owned by relatives of the late
Sen. Strom Thurmond, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Daily News said professional genealogists, working at the
newspaper's behest, recently uncovered the ancestral ties between one of
the nation's best known black leaders and a man who was once a prominent
defender of segregation.

"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," the
newspaper quoted Sharpton as saying. "But nothing - nothing - could
prepare me for this."

"It's chilling. It's amazing."

Amazing. Good word.

Honoring Nursing and History

On Saturday, I went to an event sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the Black Nurses Association, the Gamma Chapter of the Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., and the Provident Hospital Helene Fuld School of Nursing Alumni Association.

It was an event meant to recognize individuals in the spirit of "The Nursing Legacy of Harriet R. Tubman." My cousin was one of the women who received the Harriet Tubman Legacy in Nursing Award.

I've attended Provident Hospital Alumni events in the past and these events have ALWAYS left me in awe at what the nurses educated at "the Black nursing school" of Provident has been able to accomplish over time.

For background information, the Provident Nursing School was the school in Baltimore, Maryland for Negro women to learn the art of nursing. The older women in my family who were nurses, including my mother, attended the school.

Two featured speakers were Lilyan Slater, R.N. and Esther McCready, R.N. About both women all I have to say is wow.

Lilyan Slater is older of the two women and spoke about the amount of materials she has about Black nurses in Baltimore. She is working with the Reginald Lewis Museum to get the material so that it is not lost.

Esther McCready spoke about what she went through to become the first Negro to attend and graduate from the University of Maryland Nursing School. This article matches, with much less detail, what she told to us about her path to attending and graduating from the University of Maryland.

One thing really struck me about what she said. She said she was isolated at the school. No one walked with her, talked to her, or ate with her. But, she said it didn't matter. When she was a child, she preferred to be by herself. That, she said, prepared her for being alone at the school. She said many times that she believes God prepared her for what she was going to do. Her faith, and the faith of Lilyan Slater came through strongly in their speech.

She also had an interest in music and had a second vocation which took her around the world as a musician. She also worked with Raven Symone.

At the end of the event, I spoke with my cousin and waited about 15-30 minutes to speak with both of the ladies. I told them both that I am not a nurse but my mother was a nurse. Given what my cousin told me, Esther McCready probably taught my mother. But, regardless of that, I wanted to thank them both for their contributions to Black nurses in Baltimore and the country.

Oh, yes, and how about this chain: Lilyan Slater mentored Esther McCready at Provident Hospital in Baltimore. Esther McCready taught my cousin at Provident. My cousin has taught at Provident and other schools. As people came up to speak with Lilyan Slater and Esther McCready, I kept hearing over and over again, "Thank you for teaching me." And what really moved me was hearing some women say the same to my cousin.

"Do This!" And More

This post is generated from this comment from LaShawn Barber:

For instance, suggestions like, “Get married and build a nest before you have children” or “Take responsibility for your own lives and accept the consequences of your actions” or “Take responsibility for your children’s education” apparently are not detailed enough for some people.

For me it is not detailed enough for a good reason: people in society are taught socialization and "life skills." For some, these skills are not being taught, or are not being accepted, or are not being applied. From my perspective based on the little I've seen in my 40+ years of life, just saying "Do this!" is not enough. There has to be some teaching along the way.

Since I'm using LaShawn as the reason for this post, I'll phrase it in a manner that, as a Christian, she should find acceptable.

A single man and a single woman enter the church and decide to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Their church offers a "Singles Ministry" designed to help and teach singles to navigate the single life as a Christian. Over time, the man and women get to know each other and become a dating couple. As they date, others in the church mentor them about relationships and the Christian life.

The man and the woman get married, proclaiming to the world their love for each other and their love for the Lord, promising to put God first and their spouses second, and forsaking all others, for better or for worse.

During their marriage, they attend financial workshops offered by the church to help them to be proper stewards of their money. They also attend "Couples Ministry" which is designed to help married couples navigate the peaks and valleys, in a Christian manner, that happen in marriage.

Later, they have children, and although they teach their children in the way they are to go, they put their children in "Children's Church" to learn the gospel and later "Youth Ministry". Youth Ministry is designed to help kids and young adults navigate their lives with all of the stresses that accompany being young, while maintaining a Christian life. Later, the children join a Singles Ministry.

The married couple, having gone through life in a Bible based church have a lot to offer to others. So, now they may be helping lead Children's Church or the Youth Ministry or the Singles Ministry or the Couples Ministry. They are now in a position to help teach those coming behind them. For me, the key is teach. Or, as I prefer to call it, mentor.

There are parents, single and married, who are teaching their children how to be good citizens and good people and how to take care of themselves. There are parents, single and married, who are not properly teaching their children how to be good citizens and good people and how to take care of themselves. In fact, those parents may actually be overtly teaching them to be non-productive.

For those children and people who have not been taught properly or just do not know because what they do know is incorrect, some call this the generational curse, they have to be taught the proper way.

It's necessary to point out problems, but it is also necessary to point out solutions. Those solutions should be must be based in reality. Yes, people should graduate high school, get a job, and get married before having children. But do we, as a society, stand to gain by just saying that and ignoring those who don't do that? As a society, do we gain by "waiting around" for the children to get older, to become criminals, and then lock them up?

Yes. Tell children and childless young people their chance for success increases by doing things the proper way. But the people who are single parents, or who are married, who are handling money in crisis management style instead of a wealth building style, who are abusing their children because that is how they were treated, who don't have the proper work ethic, MUST be taught and counseled on the proper way to do things.

It is my STRONGLY HELD opinion that commentators who just point out the problems but don't point out how to change lives around, are part of the problem and they actually do more harm then good. They should be pointing out the groups and individuals who are trying to turn things around. They should be pointing out groups listed at Black Self Help Information (and dropping email to list more groups there) or Black Male Appreciation.

NBA All Star Weekend

I first heard the NBA All Star weekend was a success with little bad behavior.

Then I read the opposite on the Drudge Report.

On radio, some people who attended said the atmosphere was great and there was no trouble.

Now, Jason Whitlock is adding his commentary and saying it was out of control.

I don't know who to believe or rather, how much of what happened is more than can be expected from any large event that people show up, Black or white.

I say that because I've been to the Essence Festival in pre-Katrina New Orleans and nothing jumped off. I've been to the Capitol Jazz Fest and, again, nothing jumped off. I've been to summer Black festivals and there were scattered incidents but nothing major. I've been to the Black Greek Picnic in Philadelphia, although I'm not a Black Greek, and nothing happened. I've never been to Freaknik but people who have been have told me that the negative information coming out of it was overstated.

I mentioned Freaknik because this statement I regard as hyperbole:

If something isn't done, next year's All-Star Weekend will surpass the deceased Freaknik, a weekend-long party in Atlanta, in terms of lawlessness. Wide-spread looting and a rape killed the Freaknik in 1999.

"Wide-spread looting and a rape"?

Hell, ever hear of Mardi Gras and Summer Break in Florida? The wet tee-shirt parties? "College kids" doing headers off of hotel room balconies? Rapes of women passed out drunk?

Whoops... I shouldn't have mentioned that, should I?

Syndicated Black Radio

On the weekday mornings, I listen to the radio as I prepare myself for the work day and as I travel to work. When I do, I tend to do a lot of channel jumping.

I listen to:

• The Donnie Simpson Morning Show for a few segments and "Huggie Low Down" (local not syndicated)
• The Russ Parr Morning Show for a segment or two
• The Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS) for certain segments (His re-arranging his segment times has thrown me off)
• The Larry Young Morning Show (Black talk radio and not syndicated).

I listened to The Steve Harvey Morning Show a few times and decided it stunk, but I have heard enough of it to say it fits the pattern.

Something that I noticed some time ago is these shows not only "entertain" but they weave social activism and commentary into the shows. The shows listed have dealt with health issues in the Black community, crime, police abuse, education, HIV/AIDS, etc. The TJMS does it as a regular part of the show and has contributed millions of dollars to the United Negro College Fund.

Sometimes I listen to The Michael Baisden Show as well and he does something similar. He talks about topics that he believes Blacks need to discuss.

The only reason why I bring this up is because I can't think of other syndicated radio "entertainment" shows hosted by non-Blacks that do something like this as a regular part of the show.

I guess this happens "in private" so I shouldn't write about it.

Justice/Injustice Is...

Justice Is: Being charged for throwing an object out of a moving car into another moving car, even if the target is a jerk.

Justice Is: Being found guilty of the charges when you admit you lost control.

Injustice Is: Facing two years in jail for throwing the object out of the car, given the outcome. By this I mean, no accident and no injuries.

Justice Is: Being given probation and time-served by the judge despite the 2 year recommended sentence by the jury.

Thursday Musings

• The Anna Nicole Smith mess is another confirmation that people need to create a will and keep it up to date.
• The Anna Nicole Smith trial supports the belief that cameras do not belong in the court room. That judge HAD to be playing to the cameras.
• Can someone tell me why there is no "blog swarm" in support of net neutrality?

Education? Nahhhh....

You have a JACKED family!

The larger problem is that New Orleans has too many social problems - drugs, poverty, broken families, poor education - all present before Katrina.

A recent murder encapsulated the difficulties. After a 17-year-old was beaten up, his mother gave him a gun and told him to get revenge, and he killed the boy he fought with.

When police went to his home to investigate, they found the mother with cocaine and a family photo on display of the son with a gun in one hand and a fistful of cash in the other.

"For us to correct this, we have to look at the root of the problem. The root of the problem is our education system," Police Superintendent Warren Riley said in an interview.

Education?

Helllllllllllllllll naaaaaaaaawwwwwww!!!!

And calling the people there a "family" and callling them jacked is being polite!

Just Because 'They' Now Hear It?

Shay from Booker Rising, after quoting from this article, started her commentary by stating this:

Black conservatives started this debate

I responded by saying this:

Shay, even when I disagree with you, you still bring a high level to the discussion and you generally get the information straight, but this time you are WAY off base and, IMO, you should know better.

The debate between Booker T. and DuBois was years ago.

Next, I'm tired of the lie that debates have been done "in secret."

Just because white people haven't paid attention it doesn't mean the debates haven't been going on in public.

It's strange that you have advocated that we can't base our judgements of us on [ what ] white people['s standards] but want to say, seemingly, that just because the white media have caught on, that things are now "in the open."

If, as Juan Williams states, these things have been said "in private" by many Blacks, then why is that not public, at least to Black people? [Why is "our debate" only good if brought up in the white media?]

Does that make sense? From the article Booker Rising quotes:

For generations, African-Americans have bickered over what's wrong with black America. But mostly they've done it in places other ethnic groups weren't listening: around dining room tables; within lecture halls at black universities; from black church pulpits and in the black press.

Just because they haven't been listening, it doesn't mean we haven't been discussing. All of a sudden, "they" get to hear it and now it's breaking news?

Better yet, the writer states:

Such voices, while a minority among African-Americans, are increasingly vocal and pointed. They are shattering the unwritten rules of black solidarity: Let's all work together. And if we can't, let's at least keep our fights within the family.

How can the voices be a minority if the same comments have been made around dining room tables; within lecture halls at black universities; from black church pulpits and in the black press? The logic used doesn't add up.

Chris Rock was among the first to go on the attack in public.

OH, so I guess the writer never heard jokes by Richard Pryor? How about jokes by Dick Gregory?

I mean DAMN!!!!

The Black media ain't legitimate for debate?

The article even stated the class of "urban" and "rural" Blacks as a result of the Northern Migration:

Around the turn of the 20th century, urban blacks often criticized other, typically poor, blacks who were moving en masse from the rural South into big, northern cities, said Mary Pattillo, a political scientist at Northwestern University. In a sort of noblesse oblige, the National Urban League even published gentle advice to the newcomers on how to fit in – for instance, don't spit in the streets.

And that wasn't public? I FIRST heard about this in elementary school, in a HISTORY BOOK!

[ Update: 2/18/07 ]

P6 nails what I'm trying to say and does it in "DarkStar" fashion by being quick and to the point:

There's nothing new in the article. It's only useful to Black folk to show how thoroughly our discussions have been ignored.

There it is!

Saturday Thoughts

• When a baby is born, the hospital requires you to fill out a social security application. I wonder if you apply for an individual tax identification number, ITIN, around the same time for the child, if that can be used in place of the social security number for things like loans. The social security number would only be used for government related data while the ITIN would be used for everything else. This site states the ITIN is used only for tax purposes and is not identification, but the Social Security Number is not supposed to be used for identification purposes either, but it is.
• Tim Hardaway said what he said. I see no reason why he apologized for what he said. He said it. He meant it. He should just deal with the consequences.
• Maryland had a "winter weather event" this past week. There was a combination of snow and ice on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, I got home from work and shoveled the snow/ice mix because I knew it would freeze overnight and make it harder. I also cleared off my wife's car for the same reason.

On Wednesday, school systems were closed as well as my place of work. I cleared off the cars and cleared the sidewalk. Afterwards, I placed "salt" on the sidewalk to help keep things clear.

The next day, some neighbors still hadn't cleared their walkway, which was now a thick sheet of ice. Some fools were driving down the highway with ice on their cars and trucks. The ice didn't say there and the resulting ice bullets caused many accidents and broke many windows. People who drive in this manner need to serve jail time. They clear the ice and snow off the hood so the stuff doesn't fly at them, but don't do the rest.

• This presidential race madness has to stop.
• Given all of the insanity/greed/meanness/voyeurism that has followed the death of Anna Nicole Smith, I say with stronger conviction that this is the best post on the matter of her death.

Let's Assume For A Moment...

Let me assume for a moment the crap commentary about Blacks not supporting Obama because of questions about his "blackness" is true.

If I go by that assumption, isn't it good that just because a candidate is Black, that Black voters don't automatically back that candidate? Of course, this has been the case for some time and it is more that case that white voters will vote for the white candidate when given the choice between a white candidate and Black candidate.

Anyway, with more than a year left before primary races, why is the news focusing on the "presidential race"?

Ordered Steps

When I was in elementary or junior high school, a teacher said if we typed a paper, we would get extra points on the paper. I told my mother who talked to her uncle, my great uncle, and we brought a typewriter from him. Actually, he gave me the typewriter with one condition: I had to learn to touch type.

He gave me the typewriter and a book teaching touch typing. I learned how to touch type.

Before that, I joined the Boy Scouts. One of the tasks we had to learn was how to tie a tie. I learned how to tie by reading the Boy Scout book the Den Mother had given us.

During my high school years, a cousin who worked at DuPont took me to his job. He was a computer programmer and he wanted to see the results of his batch job. He showed me, and another cousin, how to read punch cards and showed us the code printout and the stack of punch cards that made the program. In my junior year of high school, I learned FORTRAN as a part of a math class. There, I saw, again, punch cards. I laughed as the teacher told us about the punch cards and I was actually able to read them without seeing the text printed on them.

When I go to the work, I regularly wear a tie. I make a living designing software systems and writing code.

"Trivial"? Ordered steps?

Your Social Security Number

By law, your social security number is NOT to be used as a form of identification.

Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.

The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.

So why is that getting some people mad?

Yes, immigration, but also, we all know that your social security number is now just that, a form of identification.

State Of The Black Union: Accountability Ladder

Renamed the title:

Stay tuned.

Some people are going to eat a lot of crow.

8 Rungs Of Accountability

4 Rungs of Unaccountability

Blame others
Unconscious unaware
"I Can't"
"Wait and Hope"

Victims are people who don't know there is a problem, or who know there is a problem and blame someone else, or they say there is nothing they can do about it or they say they will wait it out and hopes it gets better.

4 Rungs of Accountability -- The Powerful

Making it happen
Owning the responsibility for making it happen whether people help you or not
Finding a solution
Acknowledge reality

Acknowledge problem, find the solution, take responsibility for making it happen whether you are helped or not and then you make it happen, you are accountable and the most powerful people do this.

This came about in parable form by Bruce Gordon telling a story about his son coming home from school and telling his father that he, the son, forgot about a project that is due the next day.

That's Bruce Gordon, head of the NAACP.

What!

This ain't about hawkin' the NAACP.
This isn't about supporting old school leadership.

This is about "reporting" what was said and documenting it for the next time, soon I bet, when someone from "the right" criticizes certain Blacks for not saying so and so or for not "saying anything about 'accountability'".

And that goes for Cosby too.

Gettin' Uppity, KneeGrow Please!

This link is making the email rounds:

"I think the identity politics should not be based on race," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a 2004 presidential candidate. "It should be based on agenda and policy -- who stands for our best interests. We cannot put our people's aspirations on hold for anybody's career, black or white."

As the conversation at yesterday's session shifted from health care to education to politics, it quickly went to Obama, who kicked off his presidential candidacy yesterday in Springfield, Ill. Among the panelists were two African-Americans who have run for president, Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Sharpton strongly urged the nearly 10,000 people who filled Hampton University's Convocation Center not to select a candidate next year just because they want to see an African-American or a woman or a Hispanic in the White House for the first time.

Without naming Obama, Sharpton added that "just because you're our color doesn't make you our kind." He pointed to President Bush's secretaries of State, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, as examples of African-Americans he said haven't necessarily worked in the interest of the African-American community.

Sharpton also chided Obama for making his presidential announcement in Springfield rather than before the predominantly African-American audience at Hampton, and said the Illinois senator needs to declare "what's his embrace of our agenda."

It's kinda lookin' like "the old guard" is ready to try to smack Obama in line for gettin' uppity.

Here's the deal: I am 43. Most of the people in my close "inner circle" are in the 38-45 age range.  We are the transition generation. I expect to that age group, some of the statements from "the old guard" still ring true but some of it makes us, OK, me, say, "KneeGrow please! It's a different day! Adapt! Evolve!"

Obama is one form of that transition. The "Black conservatives" are a form of that transition. Conservative Blacks are another form of that transition. "New school" Black Dems like Cory Booker are another form of that transition.

Tavis Smiley is a form. If you listen to Tavis for an extended period of time, you may notice he's more "conservative" or in the mold of a Cory Booker than his boy Cornel West.

Change is acomin'. Who can handle that change? Damn sure not the media, be it liberal or conservative.

Damn sure not the old school Black politicians who kiss the ass and lick the stank boots of the white Dem power structure....

OH, let me stop here before I really start to go off...

OH what the hell...

Sharpton is pissed because Obama is getting media attention and maybe some traction. I saw, somewhere, that Holly-weird money is starting to flow into Obama's coffers instead of Hillary's.

Right now, the media is setting up Obama to be "the" real deal and the media is making it seem as though Obama can win or at least present a serious challenge. Compare that to Sharpton, who won no primary and only won ONE, UNO, A SINGLE, majority Black voting district.

Sit back and let that marinade for awhile.

Remember that the next time the Perm spouts off.

And for the record: I'm not an Obama supporter, but this b.s. is setting me off....

And don't get me started on Cornel West...

THE DOROTHY JEMISON FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE

The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (DJF) develops and implements teaching methods, curricula, materials and programs that foster educational experiences resulting in individuals fully able to participate and contribute effectively and beneficially to society. DJF, a non-profit foundation places special emphasis on building critical thinking skills, experiential teaching methods, science literacy, integrated approaches to learning and individual responsibility in achieving excellence.

The goals of the foundation are modeled around the teaching principles and life accomplishments of Mrs. Dorothy M. Jemison. Mrs. Jemison-a highly effective, dedicated, educator for over twenty-five years in some of the most difficult schools in the Chicago Public School system-- believed that each person can and should be expected to achieve a level of excellence that allows a unique contribution to society. And educators, parents, teachers, school boards, governments, and society at large must foster these achievements. Her formula for "personal excellence" was instilled early in her own highly motivated, successful children and many of the students she taught throughout her career. DJF works to capture and implement the caveats of excellence Mrs. Jemison advocated and translate them into programs to enhance achievement and individual excellence throughout the world. Our return on investment is the creation of a workforce society that understands and appreciates other nations, cultures, and societies.

DarkStar Ponders

I've been reading articles and blogs and comments in blogs about the "idea" that "Blacks don't think Obama is 'really Black' " or "Blacks don't think Obama is 'Black let them'" and it struck me.

In my small circle of the world, I'm not hearing much about Obama at all. Of course I realize that is ancedotal, but it is another point of reference.

Is the "Blacks don't think Obama is like 'them'" something that is real or is it a media creation?

I tending to think it is a media creation.

Anna Nicole Smith

Baldilocks addresses her death in a manner that I think can't be topped.

Baldi, how about praying for her daughter?

How I SEE This

Here, I asked how others saw these quotes that appeared in this article. Now I give my interpretation of the quotes:

• When he started Green Forever in 1989, he recruited and hired black workers but was frustrated when they often left after a few months. That kind of turnover is typical of the low-skilled labor pool, and in those first few years Floyd paid his workers slightly more than minimum wage and did not yet offer health benefits.

If this is written accurately, I would like to know what minimum wage job or job that pays slightly more than minimum wage, that requires hard work, DOESN'T have a high turn over.

One summer, I worked in a book warehouse where I made a few cents more than minimum wage. The work was hard and the warehouse had a high turnover rate. The workers were multi-racial.

• Some of the guys would come in late, and Floyd hates to waste even a minute of daylight. He fired a man who nearly chopped off his arm on a log splitter after coming to work drunk. Others left for better-paying jobs. High school and college students hired in summer saw no future in landscaping.

Again, if this is written accurately, what is the crime in leaving for better paying jobs? And if most of the work for the landscaper is in the summer, why are high school and college students not good hires unless he believes they don't work hard because they know they are their for a short amount of time.

• He wanted workers who were hungry for the jobs he offered, as he was after dropping out of college and starting the business with a loan from his mother to buy a walk-behind lawnmower, a tiller and a weed whacker.

This point I understand, however, is it reasonable to assume workers will make the same amount of effort to build YOUR business as you will build YOUR business? Isn't one of the reasons behind offering stock options to employees is to give employees a sense of ownership in the company with the hopes that they will be more inclined to work harder for THEIR company or THEIR self interests?

• Floyd said he'll pick "the best person" for the job. "I would love to hire an African American. Someone who would stick by me and just want to work."

I'll leave that one to speak for itself. After my comments, I think that is all that is needed.

Of course, the assumption that I'm making is the writer of the article was accurate in capturing the statements made by the owner of the business AND the writer was accurate in capturing the overall tone.

A Cry For Help?

Sometimes people do a series of "stupid" and/or "destructive" things that, in reality, is a cry for help.

The defense attorney for D.C. Council member Marion Barry said yesterday that he is meeting with the former mayor this week to decide how best to respond to a recent request by federal prosecutors to revoke Mr. Barry's probation in a criminal tax case.

If the motion is granted, the revocation could put Mr. Barry back behind bars more than 15 years after he served six months on drug charges.

"Just because they write it doesn't mean it's true," attorney Frederick D. Cooke Jr. said of the court filing last week in which prosecutors stated that Mr. Barry had failed to pay his 2005 taxes.

Mr. Barry received three years of probation last year after pleading guilty to failing to file returns on more than $500,000 in income from 1999 to 2004.

"I haven't had a chance to draft a response because I have to talk to my client and gather information," Mr. Cooke said.

 

Note that I wrote SERIES. Given the recent troubles of Marion Barry, I am now wondering if this is a cry for help, him being in the first stages of dementia, or if it is as I first thought, he just doesn't give a damn.

Wearing A Diaper Doesn't Mean You're Crazy

Just because you wear a diaper as you drive 900 miles to pepper spray, kidnap, and possibly kill a person who you consider a rival to a person you consider a love interest, doesn't mean you are crazy.

You are crazy BECAUSE you drove 900 miles to pepper spray, kidnap, and possibly kill a person who you consider a rival to a love interest.

She's an astronaut who has been trained to use diapers in order to do work in space. So, I don't think that would define her as bat crazy. The additional stuff? That's bat crazy.