DarkStar Spouts Off

Comments R Us: Advice To Obama

Obama, I'm giving you unsolicited advice on getting Black women to back you instead of scary Hillary.

You need to start reminding people of how Bill Clinton threw THEIR LONG TIME FRIEND, Lani Guinier, a strong Black woman, under the bus when the Republicans started calling her, Guinier, a quota-queen.

If that doesn't make people stop and reconsider, then they are afraid of a Black person running the damn thang!

Bend Over Marylanders!!!!

A special legislative session starts today to "discuss" slot machines and raising taxes.

Thank you to all of you DOPES who voted for Martin O'Malley! And to those who voted for the con man to get him OUT of Baltimore, a double UP YOURS!

Increase in sales tax, expanding what is now subject to the sales tax, indexing of gas tax increases to inflation, cut in education funding, ...

How you like Marty NOW?!?!?!?!

Al Sharpton: The Media Black Leader

I've written things about Al Sharpton that some see as my support for him. It's not that I support him, it's that what he has said has been accurate, or most likely the case, what people have said about HIM, has NOT been accurate.

This article that appears in The Washington Post Outlook Section states things that I have written concerning Sharpton and his MEDIA APPOINTED position as a "Black leader."

Sharpton's r¿sum¿ isn't even in the same pile. His list of misses includes backing Tawana Brawley's fraudulent accusations of rape and his shilling on TV for predatory lenders. His 2004 campaign was a farcical remix of Jackson's. According to published reports, Sharpton's campaign was backed by Roger Stone, a controversial Republican political operative.

And when the votes were counted, Sharpton came up lame. In South Carolina, where African Americans made up almost half of the Democratic primary electorate, he not only lost overall but lost among blacks. He finished third among his alleged followers, outdone by Sens. John F. Kerry and John Edwards.

...

This "black Jesus" paradigm has become even more useful in the era of the 24-hour news cycle. It allows a struggle -- indeed, millions of people -- to be boiled down to a single, preferably colorful, person. The problem is that the past 30 years have seen the rise of a generation of African Americans with unparalleled opportunities. From their ranks have sprung leaders in nearly every field. If there is a message in the Obama candidacy, it's that being president of black America is irrelevant in an age when you could take the whole thing.

But the many competing and cooperating strains of black activism are impossible to capture in a sound bite or a five-minute "Crossfire" segment. Thus Sharpton is invoked as shorthand, as a way to avoid the time it takes to show complexity, nuance and humanity.

There's another reason why the media have elected the reverend president of black America. For cable networks, Sharpton is the gift that keeps on giving. He provides an easily disposable villain, a simple out for his most loyal constituency: white racists. For those who already doubted the humanity of black folks, who believe that we spend our days counting the ways white people owe us, who think we chant "Reparations now!" at least once every seven minutes, the bombastic Sharpton is a perfect confirmation.

To me, THIS ONE is the kicker!

A few weeks ago, when Fox News's Bill O'Reilly ventured to Harlem and discovered that black people, like other sentient beings, consume solid food and inhale oxygen, it was no shock that Sharpton was his guide. In describing the encounter, O'Reilly asserted that African Americans were moving away from "the Sharptons and the Jacksons, people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They're just trying to figure it out. 'Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.' "

How ungracious.

This is America's racial rift transformed into a reality show -- a place where Sharpton can cross swords with O'Reilly one day and take him out for fried chicken the next. O'Reilly was, of course, widely criticized for his dim comments. In his defense, he summoned the very man whom he claimed African Americans weren't listening to: Sharpton.

This is what I wrote concerning the O'Reilly comments:
Isn't this more proof of the symbiotic relationship the media has with "race hustlers"? Isn't this even more proof that Sharpton and others are more important to the media than to those who the same media claims these people "lead"?

But I'm just a Black person with an opinion. What do I know?

This Person Is "Touched"!

The woman who did this has "problems."

Woman charged in 'Internet Revenge' case

A 34-year-old woman has been charged with using the Internet to try to get revenge on an old boyfriend by breaking up his marriage. Pilar Stofega has been charged with second-degree harassment and breach of peace and released on $2,500 bond.

Waterford police say she created phony profiles of the former boyfriend's current wife on some adult Web sites that included the wife's home and work phone numbers and high school yearbook picture.

Stofega said she did to it "to be vindictive, knowing that the profiles would create marital problems between" the victim and her husband, according to court documents.

Some would say she was sprung. I say she was NUTS before that!

That was some COLD stuff she did.

Quick Saturday Notes

Not much time and it will be that way for awhile.

• I was invited, again, to do the Blogger's Round Table on News and Notes. I can't do it Monday but should be able to do it the following Monday. Stay tuned.
• Is this America? I mean, really, is this THE United States of America or a communist country?
  

  The Federal Emergency Management Agency's No. 2 official apologized yesterday for leading a staged news conference Tuesday in which FEMA employees posed as reporters while real reporters listened on a telephone conference line and were barred from asking questions.

  "We are reviewing our press procedures and will make the changes necessary to ensure that all of our communications are straight forward and transparent," Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr., FEMA's deputy administrator, said in a four-paragraph statement.

  "We can and must do better, and apologize for this error in judgment," Johnson said, a view repeated yesterday by press officers at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, who criticized the event.

  
  You mean NO ONE spoke up and said, "This is not a good idea?"
  Un-FREAKIN-believable!
• A friend of Mrs. D.S. went to a Farmer's Market to get fresh food. She was buying turkey sausage and decided to ask what comprises the sausage casing.
  Yep. PORK!!!!
• I was in a car accident last week. A truck decided to make a right turn from the left lane. I didn't suffer any injuries but the D.S. mobile, which has a lot of mileage on it, had some nice damage done. The D.S. mobile, [un]fortunately wasn't totaled. But in my anger and frustration at the accident scene, the police officer had to remind me of proper priorities.
  I wasn't hurt and that is what really mattered.

I'm Joining The Republican Party

Enough is enough! I've decided to join the Republican party!

Rudy is leading in Maryland in the polls. I can't stand by and do nothing. I'm joining the GOP just to vote against his ass!

Links

Very short on time. Two links you may think are relevant.

J. C. Watts on the old story of the debate at Morgan.

A response to a recent Christian Science article.

If Democrats Are Friends Of Blacks

If you believe Democrats are friends of Blacks, please answer these questions:

• How did Southwick get confirmed? He needed Democrats for this to happen since Democrats control the Senate.
• Will the Democrat leaders "punish" those Democrats who voted for Southwick?
• Will Black Democrat politicians call for punishment and obtain punishment for those who voted for Southwick?

Spring Framework

I've read about the Spring Framework, so conceptually, I understand what it is about. However, as a result of interviewing people for positions, I decided to learn enough of it to ask strong technical questions about it. In learning it, I am realizing exactly what the positive hype about it is, and not just as another web tier framework.

There are some good things behind the hype. In fact, something I helped develop seems like a perfect fit for the Spring Framework. In fact, I'm making a reference application to demonstrate how the existing application may be slowly retrofitted with Spring.

Investing: Behind The Stats

Ariel and Schwab released their annual study on investing habits of Blacks, and there seems to be some bad news:

According to this year's just-released Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey of 500 Blacks and 500 Whites earning more than $50,000 annually, the median amount of money saved by Blacks surveyed is less than half of their White counterparts ($48,000 versus $100,000). On a monthly basis, median savings is $182 for Blacks versus $261 for Whites.

The survey was first conducted by the two companies in 1998, when 57% of Blacks and 81% of Whites said they owned individual stocks or stock mutual funds. A decade later, still just 57% of Blacks are stock investors, compared to 76% of Whites. During the past ten years, the number of Blacks who own stocks or mutual funds rose as high as 74% (in 2002) only to fall again, while White participation has consistently hovered within a few percentage points of 80%.

However, Michelle Singletary gives her readers some more information as well as opinion:

Lost in the headlines is this fact gleaned from the survey: A larger percentage of middle-class blacks than whites work for employers such as the government that tend to provide traditional pensions plans.

In last year's investor survey, three times as many African Americans as whites (29 percent compared with 10 percent) said they planned to start a business after they retire. Wouldn't that provide them with needed retirement income?

A higher percentage of blacks than whites own real estate other than their home (42 percent compared with 33 percent), and of these, a greater share of blacks (58 percent compared with 48 percent) say they expect these investments to help fund retirement.

When we look at these surveys, we have to ask who is paying for them. Ariel and Schwab are investment companies. Of course they want to see more people invest. That translates into more business for them.

Still, I believe the overall message from the two companies is valid. Investing is important and should be a key component of a diversified retirement portfolio. It is for me.

What concerns me is the portrayal of blacks as culturally inept at understanding the importance of building wealth for retirement. But as Ariel and Schwab write in the report, "While whites have saved considerably more than blacks, the harsh reality is they, too, are underinvested and ill-prepared for retirement."

I think her comments deserve some thought and consideration.

There Is NO Reason To Feel Guilty

There is absolutely NO reason for David Nicholson to feel guilty. He did what, as a parent, he is REQUIRED to do. He put his family FIRST before his lofty ideals.

As a parent who sent his daughter to Lutheran and then Catholic school from K - 8, and then a public magnet school, I whole heartily support charter schools, vouchers, and "school choice." As a parent whose son will be entering school in about 3 years, I whole heartily support the idea that parents should make what they think is the best choices for their children, be it sending them to charter schools, private schools, or home schooling. We have to do what is right for our children. I won't sacrifice my son, either!

When a high school friend told me several years ago that he and his wife were leaving Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood for Montgomery County, I snickered and murmured something about white flight. Progressives who traveled regularly to Cuba and Brazil, they wanted better schools for their children. I saw their decision as one more example of liberal hypocrisy.

I was childless then, but I have a 6-year-old now. And I know better. So to all the friends -- most but not all of them white -- whom I've chastised over the years for abandoning the District once their children reached school age:

I'm sorry. You were right. I was wrong.

After nearly 20 years in the city's Takoma neighborhood, the last six in a century-old house that my wife and I thought we'd grow old in, we have forsaken the city for the suburbs.

...

Any one of these academic and social issues would have been problematic; together, they were reasons to start looking elsewhere. So in early September -- after putting our house on the market at the start of the mortgage loan crunch, after closing on one house in the morning and the other in the afternoon and then moving the next day -- our son started at his new school in Vienna. Fairfax County schools have consistently been rated excellent, and I was encouraged by the simple things that parents here take for granted, but that too often turn out to be impossible in Washington.

When I e-mailed a Fairfax principal one evening in May, I didn't expect a response before the morning. Ten minutes later, he replied with an invitation to visit his school. I said that I wanted to talk to a teacher or two. One called the next day. I couldn't return her call immediately. A day later, she left a message asking me to phone her at home that weekend.

When I called my high school friend to tell him that I was writing this, he was surprised to hear that we'd moved. "I'd always sort of admired you," he said, "for your commitment to the city." I felt as guilty as I'd probably made him feel years ago.

Like I wrote above, there is no need to feel guilty. What will be interesting, to me, will be the comments made by opinion types to the article.

Financial Thought

I wonder how much of the market boom is do the the fact that people are putting money into their 401(K)s and the investment companies HAVE to buy stocks with the money so there is no where for the overall market to go but up.

Now, what happens when the baby boomers start to redeem money to live on?

Honestly, that worries me more than the Social Security disaster that is about to happen. I'm already of the mind that I'll never receive the benefits even though I'll live long enough to get them.

Coz Interview

These quotes caught my attention:

DR. POUSSAINT:  And that was the spirit, I think, in many of the callouts. People who have reached rock bottom—drugs, jail and so on—were able to pull themselves together, sometimes with a self-revelation, but because other people cared and helped them, were able to come back and still succeed and make something of themselves.

...

DR. POUSSAINT: I think what separates us is, is kind of a socioeconomic divide, that you have many poor black people now suffering a lot of the things we talk about in this book.  If—you know, if you’re a high school dropout, you’re likely to be poor and you’re likely to go to, go to jail.  That’s not as true for black middle class people.  And in many, many urban areas, you have huge clusters of the very, very poor without kind of balanced communities over class lines, so that there is a separation and sometimes a feeling that the two groups are not communicating with each other.

On the other hand, many people in the black middle class are involved in programs trying to help the black community, from social programs to mentoring programs to financial support for the programs, and I think that’s all very important.  And even organizations like The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, One Hundred Black Men, Concerned Black Men, these men, most of them in these organizations, have middle class blacks involved in them who are reaching out and trying to do something, particularly for black youth in the black community.

...

MR. RUSSERT:  Let me end our discussion by reading your final essay in this book, and I’d like to read it, it’s long, but it’s important I think for our viewers.

“Victims To Victors.”

“The most important thing that is within the reach of just about everyone is to make sure that every black child has two active parents in his or her lives.  If something happens to the boy’s natural father, it’s time for the stepfather or the grandfather or the uncle or the godfather to fill the void. Likewise with the mother.  A two-parent home is less likely to be poor, and the children it produces are much” [less] “likely to end up in prison.  If, a generation from now, every black child grew up in a functional two-parent home, the problems of crime and poverty in black communities would greatly diminish.

“Black women seen to understand this better than our men.  Few of them, even those living in poverty, fit the stereotypes society tends to impose. Most are trying to do the right thing for their families and children. Most care about their children getting an education and staying out of jail.  Such parents and caregivers are involved with schools, churches, health clinics and community settlement homes.  Probably many more would be involved if they felt it was safe to go out without becoming a victim of crime or senseless violence.  They are the key to reach our men.

My Financial Future

I don't worry too much about the future of social security. My assumption is that I won't get it and neither will my children, but we will have to put money into it because they will continue to confiscate funds to fund it.

I worry more about people who start to withdraw funds from their 401(K), 403(B), and IRAs for their living expenses. Seeing that is where I expect to have my funds for living, I wonder what happens to the stock market when stocks have to be sold and the buyers are not there. That's devaluation, right?

What got me thinking about this was this article about the first Baby Boomer who is going to file for Social Security benefits and this article about the government retirement savings program.

Brain Damaged

There is a Cosby skit that has been titled, "Kids are brain damaged." Reading the comments in this Booker Rising entry, makes me, again, state, many Blacks are psychologically damaged.

At 3:30PM, EDT, on Oct 15, 2007, there are about 140 comments and not one mentions mentoring.

Look, people who are doing wrong, and know they are doing wrong and don't care, can be written off, or at least placed at the end of the line for aiding. Those people who are doing wrong, or rather, not doing what is required to do better, should be given a helping hand, and like I wrote before, mentoring is the way to do it.

But, 140 comments and most of the back and forth is, "Cosby is RIGHT!", "Cosby is WRONG!" while people don't offer solutions except, "people need to take responsibility," doesn't cut it. It doesn't get the damn job done.

Yeah, brain damaged.

This Is Why A Government Bailout Is Not Needed

This is why a government bailout is not needed.

Several of the world's biggest banks are in talks to put up about $75 billion in backup financing that could be used to buy risky mortgage securities and other assets, a move designed to ease pressure on a crucial part of the credit markets that still looms over the broader economy.

Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, along with several other financial institutions, have been meeting to come up with a plan to create a fund that could prevent a sharp sell-off in securities owned by bank-affiliated investment vehicles. The meetings, which began three weeks ago, have been orchestrated by senior officials at the Treasury Department, and the discussions have intensified in the last few days.

A broad framework for an agreement could be reached as early as tomorrow, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, but many important details still need to be hammered out. Another round of discussions is taking place this weekend, and it still possible that the parties will not reach agreement.

They made the mess, let them fix the mess or suffer!

Breakdown In Command

Even though he is retired, this demonstrates the breakdown in command. Yes, I do realize he was forced out, however, I think that he would still have respect for the troops and honor for the troops. I think he still has contacts in the service and his contacts are telling him to stand firm.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The former top commander of U.S. troops in Iraq slammed the handling of the war and gave a bleak assessment of the current situation in Iraq.

“There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight,” retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told a convention of military journalists on Friday.

Sanchez commanded U.S. troops in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004. His controversial tenure saw the capture of Saddam Hussein and the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi government, but also the rise of the insurgency and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Honestly, I hope he's wrong.

Recognition

From Greg Kane, a Black self-proclaimed conservative who writes for the Baltimore Sun.

Aisha is 15 years old and is in Milford's International Baccalaureate program. The Sun has done five news stories mentioning Milford's IB program. But Aisha and the others wonder why, when this paper reported the droves of black students in Baltimore County who haven't passed the high school assessments, not one mention was made of Milford sophomores enrolled in the IB program.

"What you didn't read is that the IB class of 2010 passed their tests," Aisha said. (The Sun's report focused on Maryland students who graduate in 2009. They are the first class required to pass the High School Assessments in algebra, English, biology and government. The percentages of those in Milford Mill's class of 2009 who passed algebra, English, biology and government were, respectively, 47.2, 41.8, 22.2 and 49.4.)

Torri Hughes, 15, is a member of that IB class. She wasn't bashful about telling me what a poor job she thinks we media types are doing in reporting all the news, not just the bad, that comes out of her school.

"It would be nice if they put in the newspaper how many seniors are getting scholarships and going to college," Torri said.

Some of the students suggested the media's coverage of Milford may smack of a more subtle racism than what went on in Jena.

"I don't really understand why Milford Mill is put down so much," said LaTasha Dunston, a 15-year-old sophomore in the IB program. "Is the whole system racist?"

On WBAL radio he said he wrote that piece because the students were right.

Al Gore Gets A Nobel?

Well ain't that a ....
Gore gets a Nobel for a movie that misrepresents scientific data about the Earth's "global" temperatures?

Is he going to have to return the Nobel when "global warming" fears turn out to be wrong?

The COS Communities

The COS Communities

The COS (pronounced cause) Communities provides a place where you can ask questions, share answers and socialize with people who are seeking advice on topics that are vital to communities across the country. Come on in and get involved.

Why Participate in the COS Communities?
For the last generation or two, the world’s sense of community has dissolved and our parenting skills have broken down — this puts our young people at risk, especially young black males.

The COS Communities address critical issues Americans face all over the United States. The goal is to prepare our communities with an education and skill set that can support the success of our young people.

How did the COS Communities get their start?
Our communities began with a group of dedicated citizens that were ready and willing to deal with the serious issues that face our youth today. From three and a half years of town hall meetings hosted by Bill Cosby — Cosby Call-Outs — we learned a lot about what issues are most pressing in the United States today. We listed five issues that outline different cases where this country has lost its sense of community. We then created five communities that act as forums for you to talk and learn about each of these issues. The communities are as follows:

• Get an Education/Skills
• Be a Parent/Caregiver
• Be Healthy
• Stop Violence
• Get a Job

We invite you to participate in our communities by interacting with others who share the same concerns as you. Come ask your own questions and help provide answers for others by contributing to the COS Communities today.
 

My Coz Conniption (Draft)

[Updated] This is going to be a series.

I probably shouldn't do this, but I have to vent NOW, so I'm putting this in draft form, and publishing it, but I'll clean it up later.

I'm hot because Bill Cosby has a website that is designed to help people in troubled communities or help people concerned with trouble communities come up with solutions to conquer those troubles.

I'm not mad about the idea. I'm mad because it's getting heavy pub now, while other websites that have existed for some time have not received such publicity. His idea isn't new but I guess with the fame comes the pub, but it ticks me off because those on the ground are going to get blown away.

Discarded.

Not recognized.

I'm also ticked because I know conservatives will go nuts over the web site and Cosby's book (link to book here) which is co-authored with Dr. Alvin Poussaint. But what about the many other books out there that address these issues? Here is a book written in 1983(!) that people are STILL saying needs to be read if you are raising a Black boy.

I've been "all over the 'net" on issues and when it comes down to "conversations" with self identified conservatives, especially self identified Black conservatives, one of the basic questions I ask is, "What are public Black conservatives writing/saying about encouraging mentoring?" I get no response to that one.

[Update]

Look, like I wrote before, I think MOST people will do the right thing in raising their children if they know the right things to do. For example, this is what Baby Steps is all about. Obviously, this is not happening in a minority of the Black community, so, how do you go about "teaching" those not doing the right thing, to do the right thing? These people need to be mentored.

All over the 'net and in articles and in commentary, you will see people strongly criticizing and denouncing anti-social behaviors of the minority of Blacks not doing the right thing but NO WHERE, in public, will you see those same people saying this is how you do it. Or so it seems to me anyway.

[Update] Let's use marriage as a quick example. Those of us who are married or have been married, know that it is not always easy. But how many of the public Black conservatives go past, "get married!" to "how to stay married"? Joseph C. Phillips recently wrote an article about helping others out with marital issues and holding people in marriages accountable. (2 links here). Joseph C. Phillips has a few essays on marriage.  In this one, he mentions holding people in marriages accountable to their vows. I really liked that one. In fact, the premise was something that was being said a lot in my world around that time.  Who else? Here's something that Something I'm seeing and hearing about more in my areais churches are implementing married couples "ministries" where the older married couples mentor the younger couples. That's what I mean by mentoring.

If anyone can show me where Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, or any other prominent public Black conservatives have written about mentoring in the Black community, please let me know because I read them regularly, and I don't recall any articles.

[Update]

(Insert the lib vs. con paradigm here. I HAVE to put people on full blast or maybe a post on its own. This will probably be a post in its own. Heck, this will be a series I think).

This ain't about hate, although I know people will say it is. This is about recognizing people already doing things and getting US to acknowledge some of US are already trying to address OUR issues. And this is about HOW some of US need to DO things to help others out. This is WAY beyond shouting "STOP THAT!" which is what my original bone of contention with Cosby was all about.

As I said then, what comes after "STOP THAT!"? Now we see and I have no problems with it. But since the "STOP THAT" was already being said, I don't think it was necessary.

Shooting Success

It's a shame when a majority Black magnet high school, which graduates 95% of its students and where only students who are academically gifted get in, gets recognition for a shooting instead of their academics.

Success Tech Academy

Please pray for the students and for the family of the shooter.

Nooses: Something To Think About

How many of the recent "noose incidents" are "blow back" responses to what happened in Jena? How many are "kids" just being "stupid" and playing a "joke"? How many are serious? How many are hoaxes?

Be ready for the latter and be ready to speak out HARSHLY against the hoaxes.

Which One Will Cause The Most Fire Storm?

Which statement will cause the most outcry?

This one?

"Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren't religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that – we had a person blow up our – blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that's not a Christian act to kill innocent people.

Or this one?

Obama said he was pleased that leaders in the evangelical community such as T.D. Jakes and Rick Warren were beginning to discuss social justice issues like AIDS and poverty in ways evangelicals were not doing before.

"I think that's a healthy thing, that we're not putting people in boxes, that everybody is out there trying to figure out how do we live right and how do we create a stronger America," Obama said.

He finished his brief remarks by saying, "We're going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth."

Both should cause a ruckus.

Innocence Project Does It Again

Houston man freed after DNA testing proves his innocence

Innocence Project client Ronnie Taylor walked out of a Houston courtroom on Tuesday, October 9, after prosecutors agreed that DNA testing had proven he didn’t commit the rape for which he had served 12 years in prison. After a Houston woman was raped in her home in 1993, she misidentified Taylor in a videotaped lineup and he was convicted by a jury in 1995. At his trial, an expert from the Houston Police crime lab said a sheet collected from the crime scene did not contain evidence from the crime. This was an error, and DNA testing this year proved that Taylor wasn't the rapist. The profile from the crime scene also implicated another man, who is currently serving time in Texas prison for unrelated crimes.

This is not the first mistake uncovered at the HPD crime lab by DNA testing. Before Taylor, Josiah Sutton and George Rodriguez were both exonerated by DNA evidence after faulty testing at the lab led to their convictions. Inconsistencies have been noted at the lab for nearly five years, and a major independent audit recently found that several hundred cases require immediate retesting.

Hat Tip: Baldilocks