DarkStar Spouts Off

Sports Quickie

Michael Phelps is a cry baby about the "high tech" suits.

Baseball should just release all of the people who tested positive for 'roid use and move on. SOMEONE in MLB is doing it under the table anyway and needs to be fired.

More details later...

Another Example Why You Shouldn't Trust The Government

OK, this is another data point as to why you can't trust the government.

Remember the money the gub'mint wanted to give dealers as a way to spur sales, i.e., car dealer welfare you to get rid of your clunker?

I hope you got your government cheese deal done already!

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases.

The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Thought Crimes

Hey, if you don't like the idea of "thought crimes," then are you contradicting yourself if you support the idea of a cop arresting someone because that person "talked back" to the cop?

Awrite, I'm Gonna Put It Out There

There was A LOT of commentary put out about Muslims, who are Black, in the United States. This included comments about Black churches having "failed" because there are Blacks who have embraced Islam, Black Muslims being racist and hating America, etc.

I'm just wondering.

What do they say now?

Supporting Black Cops

This has to be short and to the point.

People are supporting the Black police officers who are supporting Sgt. Crowley. I really don't have a problem with that though I note the inconsistancies in reports and sense "The Blue Wall" is in action. What I wonder those is this.

Where is this support for Black cops when they are killed by "friendly fire" by their Brothers In Blue? Black policeman shot in the back? A cop chasing a thug? Killed by another cop.

Silence then, right? Unless it's to say Blacks are the reason the cop was shot.

Who wants to talk about that?

Circle The Wagons

911 Caller Didn't Use Black

The tape revealed that the woman who reported seeing two men trying to break into a house did not know their race. When pressed twice by the dispatcher to identify the men by race, Lucia Whalen said: "Um, well, there were two larger men. One looked kind of Hispanic, but I'm not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn't see what he looked like at all."

Now, BEFORE you slam Gates, read the following also in the story...

Whalen, who works at Harvard University's alumni magazine a few feet from Gates's house, had been vilified in online comments and blogs as a racist "white woman" who saw "two black men" trying to enter a home and assumed they were breaking and entering, but she had declined to comment until Sunday, when, through her attorney, she issued a statement knocking down a line in the police report filed after the incident. It describes Whalen telling Crowley, who responded to her call, that she saw "two black men with backpacks." The lawyer, Wendy J. Murphy, told CNN on Monday that Whalen did not identify the men by race at any point. Cambridge police officials, who released the tape of the 911 call, have said they stand by the report.

So, now you see both sides circling the wagons.

This is turning into a classic case and only those who are surface dwellers don't realize, or maybe don't want to realize, what the above quotes are all about.

Fo' Real, Fo' Real

Fo' real, fo' real?

or

Fo' real, fo' real doe?

or

Fo' real doe?

Cracks me up everytime someone says it.

Da PoLease, Fast Forward

My father was a NY city cop. One day he came home from duty and I followed him into my parent's room. He was taking off his clothes and showed me how to unload his gun. My mother didn't like it a bit. He told me not to ever touch his gun. I didn't.

Fast forward...

The little boy who would become DS learned his NYPD father was human.

Fast forward...

I meet "Officer Friendly" when I was in the 2nd grade. This is the first year being in the Baltimore City Public School system.

Fast forward...

I meet "Officer Friendly," again, when he comes to the Jr. high school I attended to get knuckleheads to stop walking the train tracks near the school.

Fast forward...

"Officer Friendly" dies in the line of duty. If I remember correctly, he was a motorcycle officer who was killed when his motorcycle crashed. People lined the streets for his funeral. Even the knuckleheads said he was a good cop.

Fast forward...

Brian and I finished taking an exam in high school. We were walking to the bus stop when a police officer stopped us saying we were breaking curfew. We told him we were in school and had taken exams. After the exams the school day is over. He didn't believe us and took us back to school where he was told we told the truth. He was taking us home when he got a call and dropped us off. We had a long walk to the bus stop.

Fast forward...

I was driving when a motorcycle passed us. Someone said, "I bet you can't catch him" and I did. Too bad for me there was a radar trap. Long story short, it was a $250 fine and 5 points, but since I told the truth about the motorcycle rider not speeding, it was knocked down 1 MPH which made it a $50 fine and 2 points.

Fast forward...

The next summer, when I was working as a "Dial 0" operator, a woman came to the building upset, saying she had to see one of the other operators. She took the other operator away. That night, the news led with a story of a man being killed by a state trooper. The man reached for a screwdriver and the trooper killed him. It turned out the man reached for the screwdriver because the glove compartment was broken and he used the screwdriver to open it. The man was my co-worker's husband.

Fast forward...

I go to a neighborhood Chinese joint across the street from Pimlico. After ordering I go back to my little red Nissan Sentra to wait. A car comes up and gets in front of my parked car. "If I wanted to get out, I sure couldn't do it with the way..."

A Black man comes out of the driver's side and approaches me. A white man comes out of the passenger side and approaches me from the other side. Because of how the car parked, I couldn't leave. "Damn. I'm about to die in the middle of the day, waiting for Yat Gaw Mein." 

The Black men motions me to roll down the window and I refuse. The white man speaks into a microphone that he pulls out of his shirt. Now I see what is happening and I roll down the window. The Black guy asks to see my keys, looks in the car, and sees keys in the ignition. The white guy THEN identifies themselves as cops. I thank God I'm not dead because if I could have moved the car, I would have and they would have killed me because I damn sure would have tried to hit one of them to get away.

Fast forward...

A friend and I were coming from Atlantic City after giving the casinos our money. I got lost somehow. I went through a toll and a police officer pulled us over. I rolled down the window and started to say I was lost when he asked what was under my jacket.

"Me."

"Let me see the jacket!!!"

I handed it to him and he snatched it, patted it down, and threw it on the ground. He told us to get out and go to the back of the car. While he was talking to us in the back, another officer was searching the car in the front, without our permission. He ripped up carpet, turned out the glove compartment and found change in the seat. They asked to see what was in the trunk and said I could turn it down but that he has probable cause to tow the car and tear the car apart while we are in jail.

The probable cause? A Camel cigarette butt. A cigarette but that doesn't have a filter!

They searched, didn't see anything and was about to get into their car when my friend said, "Don't forget to get your license and registration!" They gave it to me, told me how to get back on the right path, and then followed us for about 10 miles.

Should I mention that I was on the New Jersey Turnpike?

Fast forward...

It was late and I was coming from the apartment of a woman I was seeing. I tried to merge but a car would not let me in. I slowed down and he slowed down. I sped up and he sped up. I slowed down and he slowed down. I punched it and got in. My car gets lit up and I pull over. The man screams at me and I scream back saying, "You wouldn't let me in! You slowed and I slowed, sped when I sped and..." Then I remembered I was in Prince Georges County, Maryland and I apologized and begged and said I was sorry and shut up. He let me go.

Fast fast forward...

I was working in the front of the house, moving boxes and doing other things. I tried to turn off the front of the house alarm zone and failed. The alarm sent a silent alarm to the police. While I'm moving boxes a patrol car comes up and stops. The cop gets out and says hi and asks if I live there. I say yes and he tells me a silent alarm came in and he has to check it out. He asks for my name and I tell him. He asks if there is mail in the house to verify. I go in the house and return with the mail. He then asks to see ID. I call for my wife, who is upstairs, to get my ID and why. She gets decent, comes down with my ID and, as I find out later, is ready to go to the police station to bail me out.

The police officer verifies who I am, apologizes and reiterates why the stop and I acknowledge and apologize. I had seen him before. It turns out my wife was in a slight accident that morning and he was the police officer who handled it. In fact, when I went to see what was wrong with her car, I talked to him for about 5 minutes.

Rikyrah Drills It

Whoa...

A poster claimed that obviously the officer needed more proof that Gates was who he said he was.

I asked a simple question: why wasn’t Gates’ government ID and employment ID, both of which had his address on it, sufficient enough proof of residence? Why did the officer have to search for more proof that Gates belonged in the house?

Just. Whoa...

H/T: P6

Not Saying It's Right...

I understand Dr. Gates behavior after being confronted by the police officer and identifying himself as the home owner. Or, actually I understand WANTING to behave that way, BUT you don't mess with the po'lease.

You don't mess wit' the po-po.

You go humble, read his badge number and or tag and or identification on the cruiser and then you come back the next day, loaded with 'Tree and ready to fight.

But you don't mess with the man who, if he shoots you, is assumed to have shot for a good reason, gimpy knee or not.

White People, Stand Away From The Hip Hop

White people, this is the style police. Ya'll have gone too far. Stand away from the hip hop!

A Rabbi, A Mayor, And A Kidney...

This is mind boggling:

By AMIR EFRATI, SUZANNE SATALINE and DIONNE SEARCEY

New Jersey has never been short of corruption scandals, but the one that unfolded yesterday was surprising even by the standards of the state that inspired "The Sopranos."

Federal agents swept across New Jersey and New York on Thursday, charging 44 people -- including mayors, rabbis and even one alleged trafficker in human kidneys -- in a decadelong investigation into public corruption and international money laundering.

The key to the investigation: a real-estate developer who became an informant after being arrested on bank-fraud charges in 2006, according to a person familiar with the case. The developer, Solomon Dwek, wore a wire for the Federal Bureau of Investigation while offering to bribe New Jersey mayors and other public officials, that person said.

Black In America, 2, Part 1

Straight up.
Black strength.

Anyone who has a problem with THIS one, is disturbed.

[ UPDATED ]

It seems as though people are having a problem with The Tuxedo Ball that was shown on the show.

I don't bring up slavery in my comments about Blacks because I know we are strong and have overcome a lot including slavery and Jim Crow. What I liked about the show was that it DEMONSTRATED that progress as well as people reaching back to bring others along. A legacy of slavery and Jim Crow is that many Blacks, ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, think that Blacks are defined by the Black underclass.

To those Blacks who think that way, you are mentally brain damaged.

The Talented Tenth

There was a lot I intended to write about the NON-sense Cobb wrote about the idea of the Talented Tenth. Some day I may come back to it and break it down, but right now, all I have to write about it is this: The first hour of part one of "Black in America, 2" on CNN shows The Talented Tenth in action.

The problem with this and all black role modeling. Only people with racial hangups need black role models. And only people who want to affect people with racial hangups want to be black role models. It is one of the great temptations of my class of folks, those formerly known as the Talented Tenth.

The first hour put the lie to the above quote, with efficiency and quickness.

I HATE lazy thinking. Cobb is now demonstrating lazy ass thinking more and more and I'm disgusted, especially when shots like the above are made. Frankly, he ought to be embarrassed. If he watched the first hour, and re-reads what he wrote, if the man has any shred of decency and thought, he'd write something saying, at least, that he has to reconsider some things, since he claimed he thinks all of the time.

'nuff said. Now I'm done.

Fatty Surgeon General

Can I ask a question?

Have all of the surgeon generals been thin?

And how many people have doctor's who meet the weight standard?

A Query Concerning Health Care

A family member of yours is in the hospital with terminal cancer. This family member wants to come home to spend his last days. To be blunt, he wants to die at home, not at the hospital.

Meanwhile, because the cancer is terminal and nearing the last stages, the hospital wants to stop dialysis treatments and medicate for the pain. In fact, they tell you they will no longer provide the treatments because it is too expensive. But, they won't release him because he needs dialysis treatments.

Catch-22.

You work it out and your family member is now at home. He does a few treatments and finally passes one morning with family around him praying for him.

Now change one word in the second paragraph. Substitute government for hospital.

Meanwhile, because the cancer is terminal and nearing the last stages, the government wants to stop dialysis treatments and medicate for the pain. In fact, they tell you they will no longer provide the treatments because it is too expensive. But, they won't release him because he needs dialysis treatments.

Does it make a difference?

Da Truf Is Out: It's About Black Politics, AKA, Party Pettiness

Here's a money quote, right chayah....

When I get some free time, I'm going to compare Obama's address to GW Bush's. That should be more fun than a barrel of monkeys. In the meantime, read all of Obama's "you're on your own" rhetoric like you should: The well is empty and that fiction y'all call black politics ain't going to deliver squat.

That's at the core of that rhetorical sewer that I've come down on in a few posts. Instead of being straight up about the core of his thought, he wrote mainly a turd to drill down to this: Black politics, aka identity politics when the phrase is used by conservatives, doesn't work.

If he said the Black community is fractured enough that there is no core set of political goals that can fit under a "Black politics" umbrella, then I could have agreed. I could have pointed out on the AFROAM-L listserv I wrote that it makes little sense for people to expect a Black consensus in politics at this point. For example, my family members who are not doing well, are more worried about the safety of their neighborhoods, job opportunities, and public schools. My family members who are more well off are more worried about 401(K), moving into neighbhorhoods with good school systems, being a part of the schooling of their children, legacy wealth, politics, and other things. There's a disconnect and it's because of money.

Or maybe I would have pointed out my defense of Jack & Jill and how J&J is a part of Black America no matter how much people want to define the Black community as the poor Black America.

Or maybe I would have, again, written on his blog that the Congressional Black Caucus, as a group, is useless because, as a group, they don't know how to use the power they SHOULD have in the Democratic Party.

Or, maybe it, I would have pointed out, again, supporting Jewish causes to get the Jewish vote is identity politics. I would have pointed out that making sure you speak to Christian groups and throwing them "red meat" is identity politics. I also would have pointed out, again, that anti-identity politics IS identity politics. Refusing to address gay Republicans because "the religious Right" would see it as "pandering to gays" is identity politics. I would have pointed out that refusing to ask for the Black vote or address Black groups even when they ask Republicans to address them, is identity politics.

Or, if I was in a snarky mood, I would have pointed out that OUR party, the Republican party, has had some recent identity politics screw ups missteps and he, Cobb, hasn't written jack about it but will complain at times about non-Republican Blacks attacking Black Republicans?

Cobb's piece was pure rhetorical small minded partisan pettiness.

I ain't done...

[ Update ] Project 21 is identity politics.

Why No Uproar?

You say you back the military?
You say that women serving on the front lines undermines military readiness?
You say "don't ask don't tell" is wrong?

But you say nothing about this?

A controversial suit brought by a U.S. Army reservist has been joined by a retired Army two-star general and an active reserve Air Force lieutenant colonel.

Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook filed the suit July 8 in federal court here asking for conscientious objector status and a preliminary injunction based upon his belief that President Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as president of the United States and commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.

However, before the issue got to court, Cook’s orders to deploy to Afghanistan were revoked. Lt. Col. Maria Quon, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Army Human Resources Command-St. Louis, said Tuesday that Cook was no longer expected to report Wednesday to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida for mobilization to active duty. Cook, who claims he is now the victim of retaliation due to his suit, received his mobilization orders to report for active duty at MacDill on Wednesday. From there, he was to go to Fort Benning on Saturday for deployment to Afghanistan.

Then you ain't $%$#@%&^!

Talented Tenth Horse Pukies

Another money quote:

See if you were Talented Tenth, then you already know about a litany of black role models, because you study prior role models with a bit of envy and a bit of spite. If you buy into what I call the role monkey circus, then you already know that somehow you have to overcome the same demons you intend to chase out of your followers. So you might start during Black History Month with Carter G. Woodson and get enough inspiration from him for you to be a beacon to others. And basically you need enough self-esteem to assume the task, that plus the initiative taken on Woodson, and an opportunity to play show and tell. Bam, instant role model. Do it enough times for enough media and you become a 'black leader'.  Do it in a calculatedly brilliant way in front of all America in the political arena and you might even become Barack Obama. But the underlying premise never changes, you're a show off in front of people who don't have the courage and demon-shields to do for self.

I am an acquaintance of a man who used to be in the correctional system. Many times he has said he was tired of seeing men, especially Black men, on that end of the system, so he left the system to help men BEFORE they even have a chance to enter the system.

He's a pastor who speaks many times to Black men about Black men needing to take care of our health, being men of God, being good husbands and leaders of the family, being good fathers, being good providers.... Not struggling alone in issues that other men have.

At the regular men's breakfast on Saturday, a meeting/minstry/bonding group that he started, another man spoke for about 15 minutes about how he and his wife adopted a son and about he is now mentoring another teenage boy and how that mentoring is starting to positively affect the teenager's life. He encouraged us to look around and see what young boy needs a man in their life and to engage.

100 Black Men of America, Inc

Concerned Black Men

Project Alpha

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first black Greek letter fraternity in the nation, understands the importance of a community of support in every youth’s life, specifically focusing on fatherless African American boys and their need for a strong, male role model. The word mentor means a wise and trusted counselor or teacher or an influential senior sponsor of supporter. Even boys with supportive fathers in their lives can benefit from the program objectives set forth by this altruistic group of young men and their mission to nurture other male youth.

Through their partnership with the March of Dimes, Alpha Phi Alpha’s Project Alpha seeks to provide mentoring to at-risk youth working within the African American community. Project Alpha is a national initiative that seeks to provide “education, motivation and skill-building on issues of responsibility,” teaching young men ages 12 to 15 about fatherhood and the role of males in healthy relationships. Their program includes education on abstinence, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy in the hopes of inspiring wise decision making in the future.

I listed "Project Alpha" because Cobb is an Alpha Man.

But why did I point out mentoring groups?

I pointed them out because mentoring IS role modeling, which Mike makes lite of in the quote above. When that kind of non-sense is put out there, it has to be smacked down with the fierceness.

But I ain't done...

Project Alpha

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first black Greek letter fraternity in the nation, understands the importance of a community of support in every youth’s life, specifically focusing on fatherless African American boys and their need for a strong, male role model. The word mentor means a wise and trusted counselor or teacher or an influential senior sponsor of supporter. Even boys with supportive fathers in their lives can benefit from the program objectives set forth by this altruistic group of young men and their mission to nurture other male youth.

Through their partnership with the March of Dimes, Alpha Phi Alpha’s Project Alpha seeks to provide mentoring to at-risk youth working within the African American community. Project Alpha is a national initiative that seeks to provide “education, motivation and skill-building on issues of responsibility,” teaching young men ages 12 to 15 about fatherhood and the role of males in healthy relationships. Their program includes education on abstinence, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy in the hopes of inspiring wise decision making in the future.

I listed "Project Alpha" because Cobb is an Alpha Man.

But why did I point out mentoring groups?

I pointed them out because mentoring IS role modeling, which Mike makes lite of in the quote above. When that kind of non-sense is put out there, it has to be smacked down with the fierceness.

But I ain't done...

Credulity

A money quote to me:

Obama has proven to be, in my opinion, a great litmus test for American credulity.

OK, that's just straight partisan b.s. and although I think Obama's policies, largely, are wrong, I'm calling Cobb out on this one.

Wasn't "credulity" exactly what Christians were guilty of in supporting George Bush, especially with the faith based initiative?

A former senior presidential aide has accused the Bush administration of using evangelical Christians to win votes but then privately ridiculing them once in office. The allegations by David Kuo, the former deputy director of the White House office of faith-based initiatives, come at a devastating time, when the administration is counting on born-again Christians to vote in sufficient numbers to save the Republicans' hold on Congress in the November elections.

In a book entitled Tempting Faith: an Inside Story of Political Seduction, to be published on Monday, Mr Kuo portrays the Bush White House's commitment to evangelical causes as little more than a cynical facade designed to win votes.

"National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ridiculous, out of control, and just plain goofy," Mr Kuo wrote, according to MSNBC television, which obtained an early copy of the book. In particular, he quotes Karl Rove, the president's long-serving political adviser and mentor, as describing evangelical Christians as "nuts".

From what I could tell, largely based on this, and the fact that Bill Clinton was the epitome of immoral, Bush was able to ride the wave of evangelicals into office.

Or what about the so-called "compassionate conservative" nonsense? What exactly did that mean? If you asked 10 different people who were politically aware what it means to them, you would get 10 different answers. Isn't THAT the definition of credulity? People assigning beliefs to something that is not really spelled out?

How about this one? How about people believing Republicans will cut government spending when, during the Bush administration, they spent this country into the toilet just like the Democrats are doing right now?

I'm not done.

Rhetorical Butt Whippin' To Commence

I don't have time right now, but before the weekend is done, I'm going to deliver a rhetorical butt whippin' to Cobb. I respect the man's thinking ability but what has frustrated me more and more lately is his complete LACK of thinking and relying on "conservative" vs. "liberal" b.s. instead of looking at things they way they are. Before he went comment-less, I stated that it seemed his "thoughts" were based on "I am a conservative thus I think..." vs. "I think this way and because of this, I'm a conservative."

To me, this piece proves it, and I'm gonna use him like an old dish rag; I promise.

I Smell A Scam

Verizon encourages you to "go paperless" to reduce their costs help the environment. I enrolled in web pay so that I can pay online. The other day I log in so that I can pay and the site says my account is not eligible.

WTH?

I contact Verizon and they state the web pay portion of the site is not functioning and they have no estimate on the time it will take to repair.

"If I don't pay until the site is back, will I incur a late fee charge?"

"Yes. You can do pay by telephone."

"OK".

"But there is a fee of..."

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

Paying online is not an option because of your problem. Paying by telephone has a fee. And you encourage people to "go paperless"!!!!!!!

I'm smelling a scam.

Who Will Speak Up?

I remember "The Eagle Forum" made a big deal about Bill Clinton's leadership hurting the morale and functioning of the armed services, especially the Air Force. Will The Eagle Forum write anything about this?

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, set to deploy to Afghanistan, says he shouldn’t have to go.

His reason?

Barack Obama was never eligible to be president because he wasn’t born in the United States.

Actually, Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, two years after it became a state.

So much for military readiness.

Spouting Off On: Judicial Prejudice

Justice is supposed to be blind and it is that canon that's at the center of attacks by conservatives against Sotomayor. There is a concern that her comment about a "wise Latina" means that she will take her bias to the bench and adjudicate based on that bias. That's a fair point but I'd like to point out some things that, to me, dispel the idea of "justice is blind."

People on trial are presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is a canon as well and one that, to me, is quickly disappearing in reality. However, my point is, isn't that bias? Here is where some may say the bias she represents is a bias of "a group" against "the individual" and that is the problem.OK, that's a point I counter with the idea that the police are given deference in testifying before the court AND in their actions on the street. Let's take the last, first.

The "non-activist Supreme Court" has increased the rights of police to make stops and searches of property without a warrant. If you are driving a car and are stopped, the Supreme Court has ruled that the police just need "reasonable belief" of wrong doing to search your car. The "non-activist" Supreme Court has increase the power of the group, the police -- actually, the Government -- to search you and/or your possession.

When testifying in court, juries are expected to give more weight to the testimony of a police officer than the testimony of those on trial. Think about this. Many conservatives have spoken out against juries in "urban areas" because they don't give deference to the testimony of police officers over defendant's. (Personally, I think they should both be weighed the same UNTIL on or the other demonstrates their integrity is in question. Just because a person is on trial, the person's integrity is not automatically suspect. That person's integrity is shown to be suspect by the case built against the person on trial). When the "urban juries" don't believe police testimony, people scream "jury nullification."

And speaking of activist court, why isn't the Supreme Court said to be activist when it is working to take less cases per session?

But I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on the 'net, so what do I know?

Well, Who Would Guess The Winner of This One?

So, who would have thought she would win?

A Louisiana woman Saturday won the top job in the Young Republicans National Federation despite a national flap over racist comments on her Facebook account.

Nearly 600 Young Republican delegates from across the country spurned the controversy during voting for new leaders at a convention in the Downtown Hyatt Regency hotel.

Calling the posting just political mudslinging, delegates selected Audra Shay, 38, as their new chairman. She will head the group of up-and-coming Republicans ages 18-40 for two years. In a vote closed to news media coverage, Shay defeated Rachel Hoff 470-415 to become chairman, according to TheConservativist.com blog.

On the online social networking site Facebook, Shay had supported a friend's bashing of President Obama, according to a column on TheDailyBeast.com by John Avlon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

I wasn't sure she WOULDN'T.