DarkStar Spouts Off

Black Gentrification

Say what?!?!?!

Black people gentrifying a neighborhood?

A group of young black professionals in Anacostia has gathered over spinach-strawberry salad and white wine, when the conversation turns, as if often does, to what they call the “G-word”: gentrification.

“I used to think it was about race — when white people moved into a black neighborhood,” said lawyer Charles Wilson, 35, who lost to Marion S. Barry Jr. in the 2008 Ward 8 D.C. Council race. “Then, I looked up the word. It’s when a middle-class person moves into a poor neighborhood. And I realized: I am a gentrifier. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t like that word. It makes so many people uncomfortable.”

“Actually, I thought it was if you see a white guy in Anacostia, listening to an iPod, jogging or walking a dog!” joked Sariane Leigh, 33, who writes a blog called Anacostia Yogi, putting her hand on her hip and waving a sweet-potato fry for emphasis.

The friends fold into laughter. They agree not to use the G-word, at least for one night.

That doesn't happen! Does it?

Speaker of the House John Boehner Shows Why A Balanced Budget Amendment Is A Farce

Speaker of the House, John Boehner, shows, unintentionally, why a balanced budget amendment is a farce. Boehner created a plan to cut spending so the deficit ceiling can be raised. Unfortunately for him, the CBO showed his plan DIDN'T do what Boehner hoped it would do. It would only save $850 billion over 10 years.

Whoops.

Make no mistake, $85 billion a year is a lot of money, but, here's the thing. It doesn't even SAVE over the automatic budget increases. More later, but look up "baseline budgeting" and that's a good start on WHY
$85 billion a year is really NOT a cut.

Whoops x 2.

Democratic Mayor Bing To Poor Detroit: Tough Noogies!

OK, who believes that Democrats are the protectors of the poor?

DETROIT - Detroit's mayor unveiled a plan Wednesday that could determine what the city looks like as it fights for vitality, announcing that neighborhoods will receive different kinds of services depending on the conditions of homes, how many people live there and
the level of blight.

Mayor Dave Bing released details from his Detroit Works Project, calling them part of a "short-term intervention strategy" to serve residents at a time when the city has limited financial resources and a $155 million budget deficit.

"Our focus is going to be on the people in the neighborhoods," Bing said. "We can effect real change and improve neighborhoods."

Do I need to break this down?

Mayor Bing is going to support the areas of the city that need the support the least, and not support the areas of the city that need the support the most. So, look at this example. If area A is decent and
has a recreation center, the center will get support. But if area B is not decent, and has a recreation center, that center will not get support. Schools in more affluent areas will get more support, while
schools in other areas, will get less support.

Despite what he said about fire and police services, do YOU believe the police will serve the worst areas the same? Especially since they don't do it, now?

 

Typical Washington Kick The Can Down The Road

The House GOP leaders want a 2 part deficit reduction plan where part 2 calls for a bi-partisan commission to come up with more changes? And President Obama is being criticized?

The commission is THE. TYPICAL. WASHINGTON. kick the can down the road move.

The U.S. Should Have Let Chrysler Fail and Saved $1.3 Billion

According to this, the U.S. lost $1.3 billion in the Chyrsler bailout.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. taxpayers likely lost $1.3 billion in the government bailout of Chrysler, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.

The government recently sold its remaining 6% stake in the company to Italian automaker Fiat, wrapping up the 2009 auto bailouts that were part of TARP.

Let me repeat, the U.S. TAXPAYERS GAVE AWAY $1.3 billion to a failing company!

For those of you who say the U.S. should get out of the wars we are in because other things can be done with the money, what about this?

All of My Life, We Have Been In Space

I've taken it for granted, but now that it's over, I feel a big void.

Alan West Is An Attention Seeking Punk

Alan West is an attention seeking punk. It's standard fare for a politician to seek attention, but this is over the top:

The controversy began Tuesday when Wasserman Schultz called into question West's stance on Medicare during the debate over a spending cap and balanced budget bill before the House.

West, a first-term Republican from south Florida, responded by sending an email to numerous lawmakers as well as Wasserman Schultz, who also is the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

The subject line of the email: "Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman Schultz."

The email said: "Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up."

I took a look at the video, and this shows West is WAYYYYY over the top:

 

Note the time of the clock in the video and note how EMPTY the well of House is. This is the time period where representatives are allowed to make prepared statements concerning what ever they want to comment upon. Of COURSE West wasn't there. He either already had his time and left, or his time hadn't come up yet and he was doing something else!

West's response to what she said was way overboard and he's playing his base for suckers.

West is a punk.

Herman Cain And Sharia Law

On Sunday, I watched "Meet the Press" and watched as Herman Cain said that communities should be able to ban mosques because believing in Islam means the person believes in Sharia law. As such, using his own words, he said there was a combination of religious values, Islam, and political values, Sharia law, thus there was no religious protection of Islam. He said you can't separate the two because they don't separate church and state.

OK.

1. There is nothing in the Constitution about separation of church and state. What IS in the Constitution is banning the federal government from establishing (declaring) a national religion.

2. If someone does something under Sharia law that violates local or federal law, the local or federal law is what is followed. For example, if a man has a teenage girl who is Americanized, and she "gives up the cookies" to a boy and her father finds out and kills her, no matter what he states about Sharia law, he is going to be charged and tried for murder.

3. The freedom of religion is protected in the United States. Christians in the U.S. are correct when we say it appears Christians are the only religious believers whose religious ideas are under attack, but Cain is going against the Constitution, which in our county, reigns supreme for LAW.

The more Herman Cain speaks, the more he seems to be under and misinformed.

The Balanced Budget Amendment Is A Joke

The idea that Republicans want to push a balanced budget amendment is a joke. It is nothing but a lame symbolic gesture.

1. Why wasn't this pushed when Republicans controlled congress and the presidency?
2. Given the accounting tricks that go on with Washington, how is there assurance they will use traditional accounting practices instead of shady accounting?
3. Congress and the President, _currently_, ignore the Constitution. How in the world will they be compelled to follow the Constitution if the a balanced budget amendment makes it out of congress and is ratified by the states?

More Baltimore Politician STUPIDITY

I don't live in Baltimore and I suggest, strongly, that motivated and striving young people get out of Baltimore because that city saps your soul. Anyway, some FOOL politician wants to have a $1 per bullet tax as a way of reducing crime.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/28595846/detail.html 

A mayoral candidate's plan to reduce violence in Baltimore includes a "bullet tax" that he said will increase the cost of committing a crime.

Otis Rolley said he would, if elected, propose a $1 per bullet tax on all bullet purchases in the city.

...

As for the bullet tax, Rolley said the measure would cause a decrease in "random firings that too often happen around holidays" and put a high price tag on the cost of committing a crime.

Does that fool think people are THAT stupid to think that it would help or that criminals won't go out of the city to get the bullets?

 

Murdoc Tabloids Snooping; There Is More To This

The British tabloids have been exploiting phone calls since the days of Lady Diana being a royal. I don't know why this has exploded, now, but there is more to come.

LONDON (AP) -- An intensifying voicemail hacking and police bribery scandal cut closer than ever to Rupert Murdoch and Scotland Yard on Sunday with the arrest of the media magnate's former British newspaper chief and the resignation of London's police commissioner.

Though the former executive, Rebekah Brooks, and the police chief, Paul Stephenson, have denied wrongdoing, both developments are ominous not only for Murdoch's News Corp., but for a British power structure that nurtured a cozy relationship with his papers for years.

Brooks, the ultimate social and political insider, dined at Christmas with Prime Minister David Cameron. His Conservative-led government is now facing increasing questions about its relationship with Murdoch's media empire.

The arrest of the 43-year-old Brooks, often described as a surrogate daughter to the 80-year-old Murdoch, brought the British police investigations into the media baron's inner circle for the first time. She was questioned and released on bail some 12 hours later, Scotland Yard announced early Monday.

This has been going on for too long for it to be limited just to the Murdoch tabloids. I'm waiting for more shoes to drop.

Mumbles As A Sports Analyst?

Why hire Shaq as a sports analyst?

The calls came as soon as Shaquille O'Neal decided to retire, all wanting to hire one of the NBA's greatest entertainers.

TNT's "Inside the NBA" studio show had been O'Neal's favorite as a player, so the choice was easy.

Get ready for the Big Analyzer, Big Commentator, or whatever other nickname he takes in the next phase of his career.

O'Neal agreed Thursday to a multiyear deal with Turner Sports to become an analyst on its NBA coverage, where he will fold his 7-foot-1 frame into the fourth chair on the TNT set alongside Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.

"I'm just going to try to make it more fun than it already is," O'Neal said during a conference call.

Don't they have to TALK and BE UNDERSTOOD?

 

This Whole Pledge Thing Is Stupid

First of all, when politicans sign pledges to do something or not do something, it is all a meaningless game. Remember the pledge taken by the "Republican freshmen" who said they would willingly term limit themselves? Remember how many then didn't hold to their own pledge?

When this pledge nonsense first happened, I read the offending passage and saw it didn't make an excuse for slavery or justify slavery or whatever, as was being stated by critics. What was said was stupid because it brought into play the marriage rate during the time of slavery.

That ignores if marriage of slaves was allowed or recognized. It ignored any data showing how many families were broken up because of selling of a spouse. It was just a plain stupid way to try to make a point.

Look, this bears repeating...

A politician can't make a person take drugs; or not.

A politician can't make a person commit a crime; or not.

A politician can't make a woman get an abortion; or not.

A politician can't make a man have unprotected sex with a woman; or not.

A politician can't make a woman have unprotected sex with a man; or not.

A politician can't make a man leave his children; or not.

In the final take, a pledge can't make a politician uphold an idea; or not.

"I would rather be talking about..."

I just heard President Obama say, "I would rather be talking about new
programs" than what he's talking about now.

UHHHHHHH.....
DON'T YOU GET IT!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

TOO FREAKIN' MUCH SPENDING has the country in this mess!

"Omar": I Had No Idea

I'm going to let this one speak for itself.

 

 

Donnie Andrews' life is one that David Simon and Ed Burns would have had to invent if he hadn't already lived it.

"I am the real Omar," Andrews tells me by way of introduction, referring to how he was the inspiration for the ruthless yet moral stickup man in the Simon and Burns HBO series "The Wire."

Omar Little didn't make it through "The Wire's" five-season arc. He was shot to death in the final season — as was a member of his crew, Donnie, who was played by Andrews himself in a bit part.

In real life, Andrews managed to survive the kind of street justice so accurately depicted in "The Wire." At 57, he seems grateful to be alive, speaking repeatedly about "blessings" on Thursday evening to a group gathered at the University of Maryland Law School to launch and raise funds for his new nonprofit organization targeting urban youth.

The law school is just a half-mile away but worlds apart from Lexington Terrace, the since-demolished public housing complex where he was a part of a notoriously violent drug trade. To a crowd that included Burns, former congressman Kweisi Mfume, Maryland Law Dean Phoebe Haddon and Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree, Andrews spoke of his hopes for the group Why Murder?

The name stems from 1986, when Andrews, then a drug dealer and stickup artist, was paid by a drug lord to kill a rival. Just before Andrews fired the fatal shot, the victim looked him in the eye and said, "Why?"

"To this day, I'm still trying to find that answer," he said.

Wow.

Black Unemployment

We all know that the numbers for Black unemployment are always,
"officially," twice the rate of white unemployment. The unofficial,
read TRUE, rate is always estimated to be higher. Given that, today's
news about the unemployment rate and the "adjustment" to the previous
calculations, paints a more horrible picture.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/economic-outlook-worsens-as-us-adds-only-18000-jobs-in-june/2011/07/08/gIQAL8lU3H_story.html?hpid=z1

Job growth in April and May was revised downward by a
combined 44,000 positions. Temporary employers, often a leading
indicator of future activity in the labor market, cut 12,000 jobs. And
roughly 272,000 Americans dropped out of the labor force, perhaps out
of frustration with their job prospects. The unemployment rate would
have risen even higher had they continued their job hunts.


Where is the Congressional Black Caucus on this?

http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff4/congressional-black-caucus-obama-unemployment/

“Can you imagine a situation where any other group of
workers, if 34 percent of white women were out there looking for work
and couldn’t find it?” asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat
and chairman of the caucus. “You would see congressional hearings and
community gatherings. There would be rallies and protest marches.
There is no way that this would be allowed to
stand.”

This criticism isn't new but I think only now is it being reported in
the mainstream media.

JP Morgan Allowed To Rape And Plunder Again

JP Morgan has done some REAL shady deals in the financial markets. One
of the deals was rigging the municipal bond market. That costs some
localities a lot of money, and if I remember correctly, may cause a
few local bankruptcies.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/07/news/companies/jpmorgan_sec_muni_settlement/

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- JPMorgan Chase will pay $228 million in a
setttlement of charges that the bank's securities division rigged the
market for municipal bond derivatives, state and federal regulators
announced Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and state attorneys general
accused the company's JPMorgan Securities unit of anti-competitive and
fraudulent conduct in reinvestment transactions linked to municipal
bonds.

According to the SEC, JPMorgan Securities reaped millions of dollars
in ill-gotten gains by manipulating the bidding process for securities
that state and local governments use to reinvest proceeds from the
sale of municipal bonds.

The SEC alleges that JPMorgan Securities (JPMS) entered into "secret
agreements" with bidding agents to obtain information on rival bids, a
practice known as "last looks."

This stinks. It gives capitalism a real bad name and the strongest
pro-capitalist screamers never say squat! THIS is why
regulations are necessary.

This Is Sad and Tiresome

This is sad and really is tiresome.

In Baltimore, yet again, they have discovered inconsistencies, meaning
high erasure and corrections, on students tests papers for the tests
used to determine student progress for No Child Left Behind. The same
cheating has been going on in other cities as well. Now, it's reported
that it happened in Atlanta. In Baltimore, they are finding a few
schools here and there, although the drastic increases in test scores
a few years ago indicates, to me, it was more wide spread. In Atlanta,
it looks like it's a major cheating scandal brewing.

It's sad because the children are being cheated. It's tiresome because
this is an ongoing situation.

Vouchers and more charters may not solve the problem, but it will
provide more options to parents who can't afford private schooling.

Let. My. Children. Go.

Who Is The Bigger Threat?

I wonder who is the bigger threat: Jon Stewart going after Fox News or
Stephen Colbert getting a Super Pac?